Origins: The Beginning (Genesis 1–11)Sample

By Danny Saavedra

“The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. And the Lord said, ‘I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing: all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.’” Genesis 6:5–7 (NLT)

Have you ever done something that you regretted? When I think about this type of situation, Genesis 6 immediately come to mind. How bad must it have been 4,500 years ago? How depraved, perverted, evil, terrible, debase, and hopeless that the Bible would record these words; “The Lord was sorry he had ever made them.” 

The word used in Genesis 6 to describe mankind is "wicked." But what exactly does that mean? Well, according to the dictionary, it means, “evil or morally wrong.” Some related words are "sinful, immoral, bad, corrupt, villainous, foul, monstrous, horrible, criminal, and lawless.”

Basically, man was a villain. The Lord looked at His creation, the ones who were created in His image and saw nothing of Himself. Think about that; only 2,000 years after creation, God had had enough of us. All He saw was vile wickedness and a desire to satisfy the sinful nature. 

Was the Lord taken by surprise? No. Did He not know this would happen? Of course He did. He knows all; He sees all. So why does it say He regretted making mankind? I believe that even though He obviously knew that men would become what they did, it still grieved Him to endure it, just like it grieves the Lord’s heart when we, His children, sin and rebel against Him.

So, what did He do? Well, it says He decided to wipe out the human race, in the same way dirt is wiped off from a place which should be clean or plants with weeds are ripped from the soil entirely. 

My friends, even though we know how the story ends—with the promise God made to Noah—and we know that God is patient with the world, desiring none to perish; I can’t help but feel that the world has to be just as bad today as it was then, if not worse. This makes me believe that we are definitely living in the last days, and the Lord is coming soon. I pray we would use this as a reminder to boldly declare the gospel to others: to repent and be redeemed, to turn away from wickedness and follow after Jesus. 

DIG: How does the passage about God regretting making mankind make you feel? Why do you think it was worded this way?

DISCOVER: How does this passage impact the way you live as a believer in an increasingly secular, wicked world?

DO: Commit to sharing the message of salvation in order to win many souls for Christ and to see people turn from their wickedness.