I’ve never been great at math.
Truthfully, it was always a struggle for me. To this day, I’ll second-guess my arithmetic when figuring out our tips, or I’ll double-check my math on simple addition.
But I still had to learn how to balance a checkbook. If you don’t have a checkbook (I can’t tell you the last time I wrote a check!), I am referring to the ability to keep up with my income and expenses in my bank account.
I use paid software that downloads my transactions, and I can reconcile them. I know within $100 what is in our checking and savings accounts on any given day. I have to work harder than some, but I get it done, and I understand it.
The Lord, however, doesn’t have this problem. He knows the state of His “books” down to the spiritual penny. You’ll see why that matters very soon.
Last week, we dealt with what I think are the most difficult passages in the Bible (Genesis 6:1-6). By contrast, today’s passage isn’t difficult to understand. There are a few interpretive issues, but the implications are far more dire.
We continue our study of Genesis in Genesis 6:7-8.
So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”
Genesis 6:7-8, New International Version
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
Here is God’s just and righteous decree: (verse 7) “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”
God knew humanity needed to be reset. Something had to be done. Things had gotten so evil on the Earth that the Lord had to hit the reset button. If you reread Genesis 6:1-6, you can see how evil it got.
Sin could not go unpunished, and the Lord was not unjust. His righteousness and justice always balance His love. He could not—would not—allow humanity’s sinfulness and the darkness of our hearts to continue downward. It must stop.
The sad conclusion to the sinfulness of our forbearers is that the Lord regretted He ever made humans. We’ve come a long way since Genesis 1 and 2, when the creation of humanity was pleasing to Him and was the pinnacle of His creative acts. Now, the Lord regrets it.
The Lord isn’t responding in a fit of anger. There are no thunderbolts or fire. The text shows our Lord with grief, not rage.
Still, our human understanding of “regret” conveys the idea of not wanting to do it again. That’s probably a bridge too far when we see the Bible as a whole.
Perhaps it’s best to think of this idea in financial terms. When a company’s books are out of balance, something must be done to reconcile that difference. An adjustment to the books must be made.
Using this metaphor for a minute, the Lord’s books of righteousness are out of balance because humanity was so evil. That had to be reconciled. Some adjustments had to be made. Since the Lord could not become sinful Himself (and be like humans), He had to adjust the level of sinfulness on the Earth.
In the Lord’s audit of His creation, there was only evil and “bad debt.” So, the “balance correction” was the judgment of the Flood.
“But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (verse 8).
The purpose of verse 8 is more than just an exception to what happened. In simplest terms, it finishes this section of Genesis (spanning Genesis 5 through Genesis 6:8).
But there is more.
Significantly, Noah is the exception to all the evil on Earth and a central figure in the coming Flood. Scripture never states that Noah was perfect, but he was already pursuing the Lord in the middle of all the wickedness. Whereas Genesis 6:1-6 establishes the evil that makes the annihilation necessary, Genesis 6:8 declares the presence of the Lord’s grace.
When we enter the section next week, we will begin to see how and why Noah found favor in the Lord’s eyes.
My question I leave you today is this: as the Lord audits His books of righteousness, which side of the ledger are you on?
Life Meets Theology 