Hi! 
 The question that I have is about Gen 6:5-6.

“The Lord saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth; and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time. And the Lord regretted that He had made man on earth, and His heart saddened.”

I was wondering why it says that God regretted making  man if he created man that way and knew that he (man) would be sinful and disobedient. It just seemed odd to me. I hope to hear from you soon. K____

 Hi K____,
Thank you for your question. You ask why the scriptures tell us that that “it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth?”

Gen 6:5  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man [ was] great in the earth, and [ that] every imagination of the thoughts of his heart [ was] only evil continually.
Gen 6:6  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
Gen 6:7  And the LORD 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 it repenteth me that I have made them.
Exo 32:14  And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
Jdg 2:14  And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.
Jdg 2:15  Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.
Jdg 2:18  And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.

1Sa 15:11  I t repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.
 
1Sa 15:35  And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

2Sa 24:16  And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.
Psa 106:43  Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked [ him] with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.
Psa 106:44  Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:
Psa 106:45  And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.
Jer 26:19  Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.
Amo 7:3  The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.
Amo 7:6  The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.
Jon 3:10  And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way;and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

There are twelve different places telling us that “God repented of the evil that He had said that He would do and He did it not,” and it repented Him that He had made man on the earth, it repented him that he had made King Saul to be king, etc.
The natural man will read these verses and deduce that God is actually operating most of the time on plan B, and is constantly having to revise his plans to cope with mankind’s evil ways or mankind’s repentance. But is this really the case or is God simply telling us how egregious are our sins, and how serious He is about dealing with our sins? That, of course is the purpose of twelve times telling us that “God repented him…”
When God told Moses to stand aside and let Him destroy Israel so that He could raise up a nation from Moses and Moses’s seed, God knew already exactly what would be Moses reaction to that statement. So why did he put Moses through that?  Why is any of this written as it is about God repenting over anything?
This is not something we have to guess about there is one reason all of this happened, and there is one reason it was all written down:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written f o r our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

The word ‘ensamples’ is the Greek word ‘tupos’ or type. All these things are types of you and me, “and they are written for our admonition.”
When those twelve verses tell us that God repented, they are telling us that He repented for our admonition, so that we can see and understand that God is deadly serious about dealing with sin in our lives. God destroyed mankind from off the earth, He divorced his physical ‘Israel’ to marry His spiritual ‘Israel.’ The only reason He did not destroy Nineveh was because they had judged themselves and had repented.
Every one of these twelve times we are told that God repented is written for our admonition, and the different things that provoke the statement that ‘God repented’ are also written, not to show us how God changes His mind, but to show us just how serious God is about rooting sin our of our lives.
Read the paper entitled After The Counsel Of His Own Will to see just how true it is that God was working the actions and the very thoughts of Noah, Moses, the judges of Israel, Samuel and King Saul, and “all things after the counsel of His own will.” Nevertheless He speaks to us in a manner which conveys to us just how serious He is about rooting out sin in our lives, and that is the reason why He is working all things after the counsel of His own will. God’s ‘repentance’ is His way of telling us just how much He despises and will not tolerate the dominion of sin over our lives. He will destroy that dominion , and He will not repent of that goal.
Look at this interesting statement, tucked in between the two times in 1Sa 15 where we are told that God repented of making King Saul to be king over Israel.

1Sa 15:29  And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.

This verse is preceded by this statement:

1Sa 15:10  Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,
1Sa 15:11  It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.

And it is followed by this statement:

1Sa 15:35  And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

Why is this apparent contradiction all right here in the same chapter? This is typical of God’s Word. It is as it is for two reasons. It tells those who are given eyes to see that God truly is sovereign over all things good and evil:

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these [ things].

This sovereignty extends to God’s creation of wicked men for the day of evil:

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

The story of Job, and Ishmael and Isaac, the stories of Jacob and Esau and Joseph’s brothers, the story of Nebuchadnezzar, and many other Biblical stories, all demonstrate clearly how the evil deeds of all men, have us all convinced that the idea of those evil deeds, originated within our so- called ‘free’ will. But what is the Truth of this matter? Is our will really free? Do our deeds and our petitions to God force him to have to resort, from time to time, to plan B? How absurd to think that a sovereign, all powerful and all knowing God would ever really have to change His mind. Here is the truth of every evil deed any human being has ever devised:

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, [ is] from the LORD.

Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

Joseph’s brothers just knew that the idea of selling Joseph into Egypt was the product of their own fabled free will. But what was the Truth of that matter?

Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

When Joseph tells his brothers that “it was not you,” does that mean that His brothers will not be required to acknowledge their evil deed which God worked in their lives? Will Joseph’s brothers now not have to give an accounting of what they were caused to do? No, there is no way to avoid having to give an accounting of the sins we have committed while in these weak, corruptible vessels of marred clay. Here is what Joseph later told his brothers after their own concept of vengeance had plagued them for 17 years. Joseph, typifying Christ in the day of judgment, says this to His brothers:

Gen 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as [ it is] this day, to save much people alive.

One day we will all acknowledge that all the evil we have ever done, and all the evil which has ever been done by any man at any time and in any place, was all God “working all things after the counsel of His own will… to save much people alive… and through death destroy Him that has the power over death, that is the devil.”

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

The second reason we have an apparent contradiction in 1Sa 15 is to serve as a stumbling block for all who are not chosen to see “the mysteries of the kingdom of God.” God has not, at this time, set His hand to save all men. He is instead, actually hiding the Truth of His word from the masses who come to Him and who profess to know Him. Any one who still thinks that they have a will that is free from the influence of the Great Cause of all things, is a victim of God’s strong delusion, which has been cast over all nations on earth at this particular time:

2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
Eze 14:9  And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

But it is all temporary, for the purpose of choosing a few faithful at this time, through whom God will bring all the rest of mankind to himself in their own order:

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

Each in his own order:

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

“All… in Adam,” will be saved at the time of “the end,” and those who are in Christ while still in these vessels of clay, will be the conduit of that mercy.

Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

We are all saved through God’s fiery word:

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because i t shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Our evil deeds will all be burned up “yet he himself shall be saved… by fire.” The fire that will save all who are not in that “blessed and holy first resurrection, is called “the lake of fire,” and the fire which saves those who are being judged now is described again in this verse:

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

So the scriptures speak of salvation through the fire. But not all go through the fire at the same time. Some few go through the fire in this life, but for most it is after resurrection, and it is in a fire call “the lake of fire.” It is right here in this same chapter.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of Go d: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Those enduring this fiery trial,” those who are now being judged, will become the fire of the lake of fire:

Isa 33:14  The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the d evouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15  He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

It is the “great white throne judgment” and contrary to every  thing we have been taught, it is not eternal torment. It is, rather, the greatest single act of God’s chastening grace,(read What Is Grace? on iswasandwillbe. com) in the history of mankind. God is not going to ‘plan B.’ He does not need to change His mind about anything which He has already determined to be done. When evil comes, it comes to the city, it comes because, “the Lord hath done it.”

Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

Truth is not found in one verse nor for that matter in a dozen verses. Truth is only to be found in “the sum of thy word.”

Psa 119:160  The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever.

I have given you 12 verses which state that God repented of the evil He had already created or was about to do. But in every case it is still always “after the counsel of His own will.” I can be no other way for a sovereign God who is all knowing and all powerful and has already written mankind’s history “in a book, before any of [ mankind’s] days were.”

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

I hope this helps you to see how God can repent of making mankind and do so only according to the counsel of His own will.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike