Tuesday, March 28, 2006
I had a long talk with a close friend tonight. Makes me thank God for the people He has put in my life. God has this habit of pouring blessings on us, particularly through people. I wonder if God is particularly grieved when relationships between people are not as he intended them to be? (Thanks for the chat Stevie!)
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Good friends rock! I'd be lost without them.
Feeling's mutual, except that it made me sad (again) that our chats are so infrequent and normally long-distance...
An interesting question about if God is grieved - I don't know. An image of God sobbing? Doesn't quite sit right with me...hmm, will have to think about this!
Hey - I just relaised you could have been saying (and probably were)that, after enduring a long, tedious phone call with me, you hung up, sighed, and thanked the Lord for those who are actually in your life - you know, the ones up the road who cook meals for you etc. "God, I am so glad you have extracted steve from my life! Thanks for those who are in my life!!"
*presses "Login and Publish" dejected, sobbing profusely*
Why wouldn't God grieve?
The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. Genesis 6:6
of course you're right revhead - that's why you're the...well, rev.
I immediately thought of God grieving the appointment of Saul. 1 Samuel
Yet, just because I know that God is loving, compassionate etc doesn't mean that I find the picture of him sobbing (sure, grieving may not = sobbing) easy to maintain. Yet, this is the uniqueness of God -- All powerful and all-loving...in fact he islove.
So, while in a sense I think I "get it", I do wonder: what would it look like for God to grieve? With all the injustice and broken relationships in the world, what does God's grieivng look like? Is it like our grieving? How does he grieve the recent divorce and celebrate the simultaneous union in marriage?
So is 'grieve' the same as regret?
according to blueletter bible, the verse quoted by revhead could have the word "grieve" (nacham) also translated as "regret"
nacham is also used in 1 Sam 15:11
again in 1 chronicles 21:15
haven't been able to find any references to God in OT being grieved in a sense that can not be interpreted as "regret" or "repent".
Only verse I could find in NT in relation to God and grieve was Mark 3:5
Jesus was grieved - again, the type of grief is ambiguous - did the grief happen to Jesus or by Jesus?
Sorry for hijacking this thing...I'm outta here!
in the light of Steves little word study, if the conotation is 'regret' or 'repent' the age old question remains, "Did God make a mistake?"
I don't think God ever regrets. That's more a personal thing. You regret something you have done, but I think God is grived because of what we do. That is no reflection on him, except for how it reflects his love and care for us. We are the ones who grive Him, he is grived because of us, but he does not regret because that implies something he has done wrong.
I think part of the problem of understanding whether or not God grievesetc, relates to the anthropomorphism issue...
...had to go to class before, so didn't really explain my previous comment.
We talk of God - an eternal divine being - as though he were a human.
So while God is not human, we speak of him (him - case in point!) as though he is.
But thre are aspects of humanity in him, or rather that aspects of him are in humanity, therefore, the best of us (emotions included I think) is a dim reflection of God's character.
maybe ludicrousity, but what about grief? do you think there is scriptural basis for God grieving?
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