6/30/2004 07:08:31 AM|||Laura|||

I have begun a bible study plan where I will read the bible in 6 months. It seemed a bit daunting, until I realized it was only 8 chapters a day, and if it were the latest Tom Clancy or Left Behind book, I'd have no problem with reading 8 chapters. Mind you, this is not a "deep" reading, just an overview. But some things do jump out at me, and this is one:

And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And Jehovah repented that He had made man on the earth, and He was angry to His heart. And Jehovah said, I will destroy man whom I have created, from the face of the earth, both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air. For I repent that I have made them. (Genesis 6:5-7)

Especially in light of the new "translation" (read that VERY sarcastically) of the bible put forth by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and written by former Baptist minister John Benson. The "Good as New" translation is simply unbelievable. The KJV translation of 1 Corinthians 7:1-2 reads:

"Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: [It is] good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, [to avoid] fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband."

The "Good as New" version translates it:

"Some of you think the best way to cope with sex is for men and women to keep right away from each other. That is more likely to lead to sexual offences. My advice is for everyone to have a regular partner."

In a BBC article,

Dr Williams said he hoped the new translation would "spread in epidemic profusion through religious and irreligious alike. Instead of being taken into a specialised religious frame of reference... we have here a vehicle for thinking and worshiping that is fully earthed, recognisably about our humanity," he said.

We are surrounded by evil, and we are the perpetrators of it. We are killing babies and old people, sanctioning sin of all kinds, even glorifying it in our media and entertainment. I don't see where we are any better off than people in Noah's day, and probably much worse. If Jesus is not coming back soon, I hate to think about what's next... but what does it mean that God repented of having made us? (Not that I blame him but it doesn't seem right to ascribe such a human characteristic to God... but then it's NOT a human characteristic, is it? Repentance comes from God.)

Repent
H5162
nâcham
naw-kham'
A primitive root; properly to sigh, that is, breathe strongly; by implication to be sorry, that is, (in a favorable sense) to pity, console or (reflexively) rue; or (unfavorably) to avenge (oneself): - comfort (self), ease [one’s self], repent (-er, -ing, self).

But being sorry implies an error was made. Does this mean that God did not know all along that we would be like this? That's not possible. God is sovereign, his plan is unfolding as expected. He didn't wake up one day and say, "I can't believe these idiots... what a mess!" The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary explains it this way:

Gen 6:5-6 - God saw it . . . repented . . . grieved--God cannot change (Mal_3:6; Jam_1:17); but, by language suited to our nature and experience, He is described as about to alter His visible procedure towards mankind--from being merciful and long-suffering, He was about to show Himself a God of judgment; and, as that impious race had filled up the measure of their iniquities, He was about to introduce a terrible display of His justice (Ecc_8:11).

We are long overdue for another display.

|||108860055757815108|||Can God Repent?