Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Repentance and God
This story of Noah is so controversial in the biblical record that I cannot believe it. First we have the controversy over the historical existence of such a flood debated in modern society. Second we have the huge controversy over the identity of the "sons of God." Now, we have a multi-leveled debate over the idea of repentance.
The first level comes in verses six and seven of chapter six: "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" (MKJV). Now, I have ranted and raved about the transcendence of God and His eternally unchanging (immutable) character. God and repentance do not seem to go together. I really have to apologize here, because I have very little knowledge of the Hebrew language or the text. I have a copy of it, but I cannot read it. Faced with this dilemma, I offer the meager work of Dr. Strong:
H5162
נחם
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 [oneÂs self], repent (-er, -ing, self).
The implications of this word's usage here are controversial to say the least. Was God sad with man's choices, with the fact that He had made man? Did God choose to change or avenge Himself for His mistake? In the English the word "repent" invokes a certain idea of a street preacher shouting passionately at alcoholics and prostitutes to change their lives. The Greek term most often translated "repent" in the New Testament metanoeō means a change of mind or direction. Obviously, this Hebrew word is a bit of a different word, but one nonetheless of reconsideration and change in the status quo.
In the larger sense of the story, God did not change. He upheld His righteousness and kept His integrity. He judged sin, provided salvation, and did it all in a gracious and merciful manner. In the smaller sense of the history, God's use of a flood, though different from the past and future, produces a bit of a puzzle. One very important note on this is that it is a pattern for Scripture. God uses different individuals at different times, in different circumstances to accomplish different tasks. This does not mean that God changed. It means that man changed, and God dealt with man appropriately.
In the locale of the text, we are still faced with the problem: did God have second thoughts, change His mind, or become something that He was not before? In the end, we all decide the interpretation based on our presuppositions. Many different viewpoints exist on this passage, often trying to attack the integrity of biblical thought and theology. They also have their agendas that color their viewpoint and taint their interpretation. I am inclined to believe that God did not change, because it is a characteristic fundamental to my ability to know Him. In this sense, I interpret this word to indicate the tremendous sorrow that personal and societal sin brings to the heart of God. This is one of the possible interpretations, and is (I believe) validated by the larger context of Scripture. You may still add, "Why did God then 'have tremendous sorrow' that He had made man (verse 7)?" This may seem a bit of a puzzle, but remember that Moses did not write this book to have stories for children. In fact, many have a rating to high to allow children to see them on film. These books are arguments for the interpretation of history and in particular the validity of Hebrew theology. Moses is clearly and without question showing God to be apart from the sin of society and and justly outraged by it. He is clearly showing God to be the One, True God of gods. He is pointing out the this God of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Enoch and Noah is the same God. He is just and right and over all, He is over all.
God created man to have the freedom to choose to sin. This freedom resulted in sin. God was not happy that the man He created had chosen to sin. Does this mean God wished He had never created? No, and a thousand times no. God could have destroyed the universe and started over if He wanted to, but He did not. Instead through history, He has been saving certain sinners according to His plan. This shows that He, while saddened by the sin, was resolute in the outworking of His plan. The very next verse actually explains it all. Noah was the recipient of God's grace. That is a completely different topic, but it shows that God was not wishing He could do it all over again, but that He was executing a plan of salvation through the judgment of the sin and the saving of mankind, most impotantly because He still had that promise of a Seed to defeat the Serpent.
The first level comes in verses six and seven of chapter six: "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" (MKJV). Now, I have ranted and raved about the transcendence of God and His eternally unchanging (immutable) character. God and repentance do not seem to go together. I really have to apologize here, because I have very little knowledge of the Hebrew language or the text. I have a copy of it, but I cannot read it. Faced with this dilemma, I offer the meager work of Dr. Strong:
H5162
נחם
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 [oneÂs self], repent (-er, -ing, self).
The implications of this word's usage here are controversial to say the least. Was God sad with man's choices, with the fact that He had made man? Did God choose to change or avenge Himself for His mistake? In the English the word "repent" invokes a certain idea of a street preacher shouting passionately at alcoholics and prostitutes to change their lives. The Greek term most often translated "repent" in the New Testament metanoeō means a change of mind or direction. Obviously, this Hebrew word is a bit of a different word, but one nonetheless of reconsideration and change in the status quo.
In the larger sense of the story, God did not change. He upheld His righteousness and kept His integrity. He judged sin, provided salvation, and did it all in a gracious and merciful manner. In the smaller sense of the history, God's use of a flood, though different from the past and future, produces a bit of a puzzle. One very important note on this is that it is a pattern for Scripture. God uses different individuals at different times, in different circumstances to accomplish different tasks. This does not mean that God changed. It means that man changed, and God dealt with man appropriately.
In the locale of the text, we are still faced with the problem: did God have second thoughts, change His mind, or become something that He was not before? In the end, we all decide the interpretation based on our presuppositions. Many different viewpoints exist on this passage, often trying to attack the integrity of biblical thought and theology. They also have their agendas that color their viewpoint and taint their interpretation. I am inclined to believe that God did not change, because it is a characteristic fundamental to my ability to know Him. In this sense, I interpret this word to indicate the tremendous sorrow that personal and societal sin brings to the heart of God. This is one of the possible interpretations, and is (I believe) validated by the larger context of Scripture. You may still add, "Why did God then 'have tremendous sorrow' that He had made man (verse 7)?" This may seem a bit of a puzzle, but remember that Moses did not write this book to have stories for children. In fact, many have a rating to high to allow children to see them on film. These books are arguments for the interpretation of history and in particular the validity of Hebrew theology. Moses is clearly and without question showing God to be apart from the sin of society and and justly outraged by it. He is clearly showing God to be the One, True God of gods. He is pointing out the this God of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Enoch and Noah is the same God. He is just and right and over all, He is over all.
God created man to have the freedom to choose to sin. This freedom resulted in sin. God was not happy that the man He created had chosen to sin. Does this mean God wished He had never created? No, and a thousand times no. God could have destroyed the universe and started over if He wanted to, but He did not. Instead through history, He has been saving certain sinners according to His plan. This shows that He, while saddened by the sin, was resolute in the outworking of His plan. The very next verse actually explains it all. Noah was the recipient of God's grace. That is a completely different topic, but it shows that God was not wishing He could do it all over again, but that He was executing a plan of salvation through the judgment of the sin and the saving of mankind, most impotantly because He still had that promise of a Seed to defeat the Serpent.
Monday, May 08, 2006
A Week of Noise
One thing I learned this last week about Coimbra was that it has the second largest drunken social for students in the world, second only to Munich. This social has been going on for about a week now, and should end tomorrow. Needless to say, it is not too advisable to be out at night. The other downfall, is that there are concerts about a half-mile away and they make sleep at night a little hard. However, I am getting through it. The students take their ribbons that they earn throughout their course and burn them and then celebrate the nights away. The saddest part is that as I went to church services yesterday morning, there were people passed out drunk on the street and lots of garbage. It is yet another reminder that we live in a world of people with mixed up values and foolish moments that bear rotten fruit on the future. All is not bad, I had a great time of fellowship and spent more time with good Christian friends this week.
Please pray for my studies as the course is drawing to a close this month.
Please pray for my upcoming summer as it comes with more travel and meetings.
Please pray for the team in Mozambique as it continues to work at preparing the gospel in the tribal languages.
Please pray for my studies as the course is drawing to a close this month.
Please pray for my upcoming summer as it comes with more travel and meetings.
Please pray for the team in Mozambique as it continues to work at preparing the gospel in the tribal languages.
