Why is God Sorry in Genesis 6:5-6?

By Mark W. Christy, PhD

In Genesis 6:5-6, the writer (Moses) says that God was “sorry” when He “saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”[i] Given that God was sovereignly aware of the fall of humanity and even His divine plan of redemption through the blood of Christ (Acts 2:23; 4:28; Rom 8:29-30; 11:2; 1 Cor 2:7; Eph 1:5, 11; 1 Pet 1:1-2), one wonders how God could be sorry for any events that unfold unless He Himself is making an admission of wrongdoing since all that unfolds is somehow connected to His divine choice before creation and therefore could have been avoided had He altered His course of action.

To understand this passage, one must understand that God, like humanity which bears His image, has both a will and desires. By His will, He chose to create humanity and endow them with the option of choosing to respond lovingly toward Him or not. As the many passages in the aforementioned paragraph will demonstrate, God also knew that people, beginning with Adam and Eve, would choose to reject Him. Whereas He could have just not given them the option or somehow enshrined them with an impenetrable shield to deflect any and all evil (from within or without), he chose to send the ultimate deceiver, with all of his craftiness and demonically empowered abilities to deceive, into a garden where he (the devil) would meet an innocent and naïve woman who would prove an easy target in all of her gullibility. Before this event, God chose, in council with His Son, to have His Son be born into this life of suffering which would certainly arise from humanity, as He knew they would choose evil. Furthermore, He, together with His Son, sovereignly chose that His Son would endure a horrible and excruciating death so as to purchase the salvation of those He had already chosen even before creation existed.

While God through an act of incredible willpower willingly watched the crucifixion of His Son play out, His Son willingly chose to bear the sins of God’s chosen people so that His unjust death would bring eternal salvation to those who repent and believe in the gospel. At the same time, God chose to forsake His Son because His Son, who He loved, had taken upon Himself that sin.

In all of these volitional acts, the sensitive heart of God was disturbed. He does not take pleasure when the sinful acts of humanity are committed (Ps 5:4; 147:10). He took no pleasure when blood sacrifices were offered in the Old Testament, and He took no pleasure when His Son was brutally murdered on the cross (Is 1:11; Heb 10:6, 8).[ii] He receives no enjoyment when sinners die (Ez 33:11). God’s lack of pleasure in regard to sin, suffering, and death, therefore, is directly related to His emotional Being. God is loving and perfectly good, so He cannot abide in or even be pleased with sin. When sin occurs as is mentioned in Genesis 5-6, the only right response for a perfectly righteous God is sorrow. In this same way, the only right response for sinners who refuse to repent and accept His offer of salvation through Christ via faith is eternal damnation in hell. While God in His goodness would never desire this alternative, His perfection demands that He volitionally respond in this manner.

[i]Scripture references are taken from NASB1995.

[ii]God is not pleased with the actual sacrifice itself. However, He is pleased with the one who makes the sacrifice if that deed is done with an upright heart.