GOD REGRETS - NYOBS 79.09

GOD REGRETS

God has emotions; LOVE, MERCY & COMPASSION as well as SORROW, GRIEF & REGRETS.

God is not a man

·         The Book says man was made in God’s image, so we try to attribute to God, who lives outside of time physical attributes just like us - We say he has eyes because he sees all and  because we use our hands to make things, we say; by God’s hands all things were created. – So, DOES GOD HAVE HIS BAD DAYS like us where He REGRETS stuff?

·         There is a movement today called “Open-Theism”; that God is like us, He does not know how the future will unfold; that if He did, He would do things differently.

·         The Book says HE IS NOT A MAN with attributes that He would lie, change his mind, or REGRET. - Known unto God are ALL His works from the beginning of the world. - Everything He plans will come to pass, for He does whatever He wishes, it will be as He has decided. - It will all happen as He has planned. - His thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways our ways because His ways and thoughts are so much higher than ours. This makes it impossible for us to understand His decisions and His ways.

·         If God is All-Knowing; then He is not growing in knowledge and wisdom, He is not in a learning curve, He cannot improve upon His perfection; He is the same yesterday, today and forever; He does not change.

·         So the elephant in the room is the question; how can an All Knowing, All Powerful and All Present God; knowing the end from the beginning REGRET what he has done when He already knew how it was going to end? – SELAH; ponder that –

Genesis 1:26-27 – Man made in the image of God
²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

(ESV)

Isaiah 55:8-9 – God’s ways and thought are higher than man
⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.  
⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

(ESV)

1 Samuel 15:29 – God does not regret like a man
²⁹  And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret,

FOR HE IS NOT A MAN, that he should have regret.”

(ESV)

Numbers 23:19 – God does not change His mind like a man
¹⁹ GOD IS NOT MAN, that he should lie, or a son of man,

that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? (ESV)

Hebrews 13:8 – God is the same yesterday, today and forever
⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (NLT)

Romans 11:33 – It is impossible to understand his ways
³³ Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! (NLT)

Isaiah 14:24 – Everything God decides will happen as planed
²⁴ The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has sworn this oath: “It will all happen as I have planned. It will be as I have decided. (NLT)

Acts 15:18 – God works are known unto Him from the beginning
¹⁸ Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. (KJV)

Isaiah 46:10 – Everything God plans will come to pass
¹⁰ Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. (NLT)

Image of God

·         God’s Image or Likeness is His NATURE; the Book gives examples of His COMPASSION; in reaching out to others, having the desire to lift others up. – This is His image of LOVE.

·         Mortal man differs from all other creatures because of his self-reflective, rational nature of thought processes - His capacity for abstract, symbolic as well as concrete deliberation and decision-making, this is truly being made in God’s image, no other creature on earth has been given this likeness.

·         Man was made in God’s Image to be able to SEE, HEAR and SPEAK with KNOWLEDGE; and with His COUNSEL to have understanding of what is GOOD and what is EVIL. – We were made in His likeness to UNDERSTAND, ADMINISTER, RULE and JUDGE concerning His commandments and “The Law of Life”.  – NYOBS 71.27 - IMAGE OF GOD

·         GOD IS NOT A MAN; He is not physical; He is Divine and it is in the spiritual attributes of His Image in which we are created. – The only thing that is lacking is to be ETERNAL like Him and He has provided “THE WAY” for those who would “seek it”.  

·         Before we go any further, you must get this; God in His awesome mercy created and surrounded man with everything he could possible need before He created him and then set him smack dab down in the middle of it.  This Image of God is LOVE, MERCY and COMPASSION.

·         God did not create Death nor does He take pleasure in it. - Man was created to have “the HOPE of eternal life”; to be ETERNAL just like God and that attribute comes by the way of “FREE WILL”. -  Man’s Free Will can reject the spiritual and moral likeness of God.  

·         THE APOCRYPHA contains books that may or may not be written by the author as its title might suggest, as many were just outright FAKES.  Therefore most were left out of our Bible, but I find they shed a lot of light on what the people were thinking during that time.

THOUGHTS FROM THE APOCRYPHA

2 Enoch 65:1-2 – God created the physical and the spiritual

1 And Enoch answered all his people saying: Hear, my children, before that all creatures were created, the Lord created the visible (physical) and invisible (spiritual) things.

2 And as much time as there was and went past, understand that after all that he created man in the likeness of his own form, and put into him eyes to SEE, and ears to HEAR, and heart to reflect (THINK), and intellect wherewith to deliberate. (REASON).

2 Enoch 44:1- God created man in His likeness

1 The Lord with his hands having created man, in the LIKENESS of his own face, the Lord made him small and great.

2 Enoch 44:3 - Compassion to lift up, help and give to the needy

3 Blessed is the man who does not direct his heart with malice against any man, and HELPS the injured and condemned, and RAISES the broken down, and shall do CHARITY to the needy, because on the day of the great judgment every weight, every measure and every makeweight (will be) as in the market, … and according to his measure shall take his reward.

Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-14 – Created all things, but not death

13 For God made NOT DEATH: neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the living.  - For he created all things,

14 that they might HAVE THEIR BEING: and the generations of the world were healthful; and there is no poison of destruction in them, nor the kingdom of death upon the earth

Acts 17:28 – In God we live, move and have our being
²⁸ for “In Him” we live and move and HAVE OUR BEING’; “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

(ESV) 

Wisdom of Solomon 2:23 – Created with the hope of eternal life

23 For God created man TO BE IMMORTAL, (full hope of eternal life) and made him to be an image of his own eternity.

Sirach 17:4 – God made man ACCORDING to His Image

1 The Lord created man of the earth, and turned him into it again.

2 He gave them few days, and a short time, and power also over the things therein.

3 He endued them with strength by themselves, and made them ACCORDING to his image,

4 And put the fear of man upon all flesh, and gave him dominion over beasts and fowls.

Sirach 17:5 – Gave man Understanding and Speech

5 They received the use of the five operations of the Lord, and in the sixth place he imparted them UNDERSTANDING, and in the seventh SPEECH, an interpreter of the cogitations thereof.

Sirach 17:6 – Gave Counsel to speak, see, hear and understand

6 COUNSEL, and a tongue, and eyes, ears, and a heart, gave he them to understand.

Sirach 17:7-10 – Filled man with knowledge of Good and Evil

7 Withal he filled them with the KNOWLEDGE of understanding, and shewed them GOOD and EVIL.

8 He set his eye upon their hearts, that he might shew them the greatness of his works.

9 He gave them to glory in his marvelous acts forever, that they might declare his works with understanding.

10 And the elect shall praise his holy name.

Sirach 17:11 - Gave them the law of life

11 Beside this he gave them knowledge, and THE LAW OF LIFE for a heritage.

Sirach 17:12 – Gave them His judgments and commandments

12 He made an everlasting covenant with them, and shewed them his JUDGMENTS.

13 Their eyes saw the majesty of his glory, and their ears heard his glorious voice.

14 And he said unto them, Beware of all unrighteousness; and he gave every man COMMANDMENT concerning his neighbor.

2 Esdras 8:44 – Gods’ mercy surrounded man - all his needs met

44 Even so perishes MAN also, which is formed with thy hands, and is called thine own image, because thou art like unto him, FOR WHOSE SAKE YOU HAVE MADE ALL THINGS, and likened him unto the husbandman's seed

Adam & Eve

·         Before God created humans in his own image, He first placed into effect the Law of Sin and Death AND the Plan of Salvation. – This was because, that in His Omnipotence, He knew that Adam and Eve would eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  This sin would SEPARATE them from God, but the Plan of Salvation would give them a way back to Him if they chose to “seek it”.

·         The literal translation says God was grieved “all the way to His heart”. – Consider the depth of an infinite God, how much grief it took to fill all the way to His heart. – Now wrap your mind around the fact that our Omnipotent; all knowing God knew what would happen and did it anyway. – Consider that in the end, God’s perfect plan of love WILL result in a world WITHOUT SIN.

·         Sin grieves God and He REGRETTED that mankind would become so sinful and be separated from Him, and would have to ENDURE SO MUCH in order to find their way back to Him.

Genesis 1:27 – God created humans in His own image
²⁷ So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (NLT)

Psalm 139:16 – God knew mankind’s actions before creation
¹⁶ You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

(NLT)

Genesis 2:15-17 – If you sin, you will surely die
¹⁵ The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.
¹⁶ But the LORD God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—
¹⁷ except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” (NLT)

Genesis 6:5-6 – God regretted he had ever made humans
⁵ The LORD observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.
⁶ So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. (NLT)

Romans 6:23 – The wages of sin is death
²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (NLT)

Romans 8:1-3 – God gives the plan of salvation
¹ So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.
² And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving

Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.
³ The Law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do.

He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. (NLT)

1 Corinthians 15:57 – Thank God for the Plan of Salvation
⁵⁷ But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. (NLT)

King Saul

·         God does not regret through ignorance of future events, He repents or regrets based on knowing that He has already foreseen the future and knows how it will end. – The Book says He knows the End before it has ever begun.

·         The Hebrews wanted a King like all the other nations. – The Priest Samuel was deeply hurt with their demands and told God what the people were saying.  God told Samuel to not despair; they were not rejecting him, they were rejecting Jehovah God. - Samuel WARNS the Hebrews of what will happen if they choose to be like the other nations.

·         God chooses Saul to be king and states that there is “no one in Israel like him”.  Time moves on and Saul takes it on himself to offer a sacrifice to God instead of waiting on his Priest Samuel as he was instructed. – Later on King Saul disobeys God’s command to completely destroy the heathen Amalekite nation; men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels and donkeys.

·         God said I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments and THE LORD REGRETTED that he had made Saul king over Israel. - Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of ram.

1 Samuel 8:6-7 – The Hebrews reject God’s leading for a King
⁶ Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the LORD for guidance.
⁷ Do everything they say to you,” the LORD replied,

 “for it is me they are rejecting, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. (NLT)

1 Samuel 8:11-20 – God WARNS what a king will do to them
¹¹ This is how a king will reign over you,” Samuel said. “The king will draft your sons and assign them to his chariots and his charioteers, making them run before his chariots.
¹³The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him.
¹⁴ He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own officials.
¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and your grape harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants.
¹⁶ He will take your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle and donkeys for his own use.
¹⁷ He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves.
¹⁸ When that day comes, YOU WILL BEG FOR RELIEF FROM THIS KING you are demanding, but then the LORD will not help you.”
¹⁹ But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said.
²⁰ We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.”

(NLT)

1 Samuel 10:21-24 – Saul is chosen to be the King of Israel
²¹ Then he brought each family of the tribe of Benjamin before the LORD, and the family of the Matrites was chosen. And finally Saul son of Kish was chosen from among them. But when they looked for him, he had disappeared!
²² So they asked the LORD, “Where is he?” And the LORD replied, “He is hiding among the baggage.”
²³ So they found him and brought him out, and he stood head and shoulders above anyone else.
²⁴ Then Samuel said to all the people, “This is the man the LORD has chosen as your king. No one in all Israel is like him!” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

(NLT)

1 Samuel 13:9-14 – Saul disobeys and offers a sacrifice
⁹ So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering.
¹⁰ As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him.
¹¹ Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash,
¹³ And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.
¹⁴ But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”

(ESV)

1 Samuel 15:3 – Destroy the ENTIRE Amalekite nation – Disobeys
³ Now go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation — men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys.”

1 Samuel 15:22 - Obedience is better than sacrifice
²² But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice.

(NLT)

1 Samuel 15:11 – God Regrets Saul has turned his back
¹¹ I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” …

(ESV)

1 Samuel 15:35 – God regrets He made Saul King
³⁵  And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel. (ESV)

Last Thoughts

·         There are two kinds of regrets;

1.   Reveals God’s nature, He does not change, alter nor regret His plans that He performs.

2.   Reveals God’s emotions of sorrow about rebellion and sin; He has deep emotion of regrets knowing that mankind will be separated from Him.

·         When an “infinite” God says TWICE that He regrets making mankind and making Saul King of Israel, He is allowing a “finite” people to understand His emotions by briefly pulling back the curtain and letting us have a glimpse into what He foreknew before He created the World.    

·         He knew the pain and the Sorrow mankind would bring Him, but yet He did it anyway in order for the His Plan of Salvation to be put into effect.  – God knowing something does not diminish how He feels.

·         He knew that His greatest creation would become SEPARATED from Him; so before He ever created mankind, He placed into effect a plan for us to FIND OUR WAY BACK to Him. 

·         Imagine the hurt and grief in your heart knowing that because of FREE WILL some of your kids will reject YOU. -  God knew the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few will ever find it; yet He created mankind anyway.

·         If you are not given the opportunity to choose, then the outcome can never be known. – Abraham could have changed his mind going up the mountain, he could have changed his mind when he stacked the firewood.  But it was only when Abraham raised his knife to sacrifice Isaac did we know for sure that he would not change his mind. – SELAH; ponder that awhile.

·         This is hard to fathom, but in the end, because of FREE WILL we will live in a world that is totally without sin. – LIFE IS CHOICE DRIVEN – It’s in the Book  –

Genesis 6:6 – IT BROKE GOD’S HEART – Knowing man’s rebellion
⁶ GOD was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. (MSG)

Matthew 7:14 – It BREAKS GOD’S HEART; few will choose Him
¹⁴ But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. (NLT)

Matthew 22:14 – LIFE IS CHOICE DRIVEN
¹⁴ For many are called (to come by FREE WILL), but few are chosen (PREDESTINED to come).” (NLT)

In the multitude of counselors,

there is wisdom.

Proverbs 11:14

I am grateful to those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical

information, and scripture verses.  Because of them I can stand on their shoulders

                         and see further that I otherwise ever could have.              

                                                                                                                                     

A Commentary; Critical, Experimental and Practical - Eerdmans

All the Women of the Bible – Edith Deen

Antiquity of the Jews – Flavius Josephus Matthias

Apocrypha – Goodspeed

Baker Commentary on the Bible – Elwell

Bible Almanac; The – Packer-Tenney-White

Bible Commentary – F.B. Meyer

Bible Dictionary – Harper and Row

Bible Dictionary – Nelson’s

Dake’s Annotated Bible – Dake

English Standard Version Bible – ESV

Expositor’s Bible Commentary – Frank E. Gaebelein

Forgotten Books of Eden; The – World

Illustrated Bible Dictionary; The – Tyndale

Interlinear Greek-English New Testament - Baker

King James Version Bible – KJV

Lost Books of the Bible; The - World

Lost Books of the Bible; The - Bell

Matthew Henry’s Commentary - Zondervan

Missing Books of the Bible; The – Halo Press

Mysteries of the Bible – Readers Digest

Nag Hammadi Library; The – James M. Robinson

Nave’s Topical Bible - Zondervan

New International Dictionary of the Bible; The – Douglas - Tenney

New International Version Bible (2011) – NIV

NOTE: The “new” NIV has been corrupted & made gender neutral.  AVOID IT.

New Living Translation Bible - NLT

Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls – Hugh J. Schonfield

Thru the Bible – J. Vernon McGee

Vincent’s Word Studies of the New Testament – Mac Donald

Who’s Who in the Bible – Paul D. Gardner

Wycliffe Bible Commentary; The – Pfeiffer & Harrison

Wikipedia –

Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible; The –