Genesis 6-9 is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible: Noah and the Ark. Did you know that you can go anywhere in the world and discover that almost every people group has some version of the facts in the stories handed down from generation to generation? Secular “scientists” have much maligned and discredited this story, but for those willing to believe the evidence, it is not just a story but a historical fact.

Ten generations from Adam and the world is in a terrible state. Fallen angels are having sexual relations with humans, who give birth to giants. Sin is more than rampant: every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time (Genesis 6:5)—so much so that God’s heart was grieved, and He was sorry He had made these vile creatures who had completely rebelled against Him.

Except for Noah.

Amid all the depravity, God looked down and found one man who sought to please His maker.

Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah was a righteous man.

Noah was a blameless man in his time.

Noah walked with God.

There are two concepts here that we need to address. First, if God is all-knowing, how could he regret or be sorry that He had made man? Didn’t he know how we would turn out? Wouldn’t His omnipotence have knowledge of the end from the beginning? Why would He deliberately create, knowing He would regret it?

The word translated as “repented, sorry, or regretted” is nāḥam, and has the sense of suffering grief. I don’t believe God regretted creating man in the sense that we would—looking back and saying, “Well, that was a bad idea!” Instead, He was grieved in His heart about the outcome. He saw the devastation of our sin and was moved with compassion at the depths to which man had fallen.

We are made in God’s image, and in many places in the Bible, we see that God feels, thinks, and experiences emotions just as we do. This verse shows us how deeply God felt. He hurt because His creation was hurting. In His wisdom, He knew the only solution was to start with a clean slate, with Noah, the one man on earth who possessed any inclination to walk with God. He felt deeply because He knew the results of that decision would mean the loss of many, many lives.

The second question we need to ask is, “Did Noah’s righteousness earn God’s favor?” The word describing Noah as “righteous” is ṣadîq, and is better translated as “just,” meaning correct, lawful. Noah followed God’s law to the best of his ability. He was blameless in that he obeyed what God said and sought to walk with God. This does not mean he was inherently righteous of his own accord, by his own deeds, because that conclusion is contrary to the rest of scripture. There is none righteous, no not one…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:10,23). And we only have to read to the next chapter to see that Noah was truly human and liable to sin just as we are.

God chose Noah and set His favor upon him by His sovereign choice. Noah was no more righteous than any other man; he simply made different choices. Instead of rebelling against God, he desired to submit to and walk with Him. This willingness to surrender placed him in a position that saved his life, the lives of his family, and the lives of the animals of the world, and ultimately made it possible for you and me to be born!

Some would view the story of Noah as a representation of God’s anger and wrath against sin. And yes, that is a fair conclusion. God hates sin, and those who continue to dwell in it are His enemies. But the story also shows us the deep love God has for the people He has created. His heart was grieved that their sin caused their complete destruction.

The ark is a picture of salvation. God rescued Noah, just as Jesus rescued us from our sinful state by His sinless life and sacrificial death on the cross. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39). And on the cross we see a similar picture when Jesus experienced the grievous effects of man’s sin and the high price to be paid to cover it, as He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me” (Matthew 27:46).

Jesus, too, was grieved by the sins of the world.

Like Father, like Son.

What’s our takeaway? Let us strive to be like Noah—righteous in our desire to blamelessly (without exception) obey God’s commands and to walk with the God who loves us so—even to the grieving of His own heart.