r the latter, while he hates the former and plans
his destruction.

B. THE GRIEF OF GOD.

1. This is not to be understood of the divine nature, but of the
hearts of the patriarchs 178-179.

2. Abraham, Samuel and Christ grieved in like manner 180.

3. By whom such grief is awakened in the heart 181.

4. The cause of this grief 182.

* The character of the children of God and of the world in the
face of the approaching calamity 183-184.

* How the patriarchs and the Church were walls of defense 185.

5. What made the grief of the holy patriarchs greater 185.

6. Moses describes this grief very carefully 186.

* How we see the grief of God in his saints 187.

* How all is ruined on account of sin 187.

* Why Noah did not dare to reveal the great wrath of God to the
world 188.

* What prevents the world from believing God's threatenings
188-189.

* To whom God's promises do and do not apply 190.

* Why the old world did not believe the threat of the deluge 191.

* The fate of true doctrine in our day is the same as it was in
Noah's 192.

B. THE GRIEF OF GOD.

V. 6b. _And it grieved him at his heart._

178. Such was the regret of God that he was pained in his heart. The
word here is _azab_, which was used before when he said (Gen 3, 16),
"In pain shalt thou bring forth children"; also in Psalm 127, 2, "the
bread of toil." This expression must be understood according to the
usage of Scripture. We must not think that God has a heart or that he
can suffer pain, but when the spirit of Noah, Lamech or Methuselah is
grieved, God himself is said to be grieved. We may understand such
grief not of his divine nature, but of his conduct. Noah, with his
father and grandfather, feels in his heart, through a revelation of
the Holy Spirit, that God hates the world because of sin and desires
its destruction; therefore they are grieved by this impenitence.

179. This is the simple and true meaning. If you refer these words to
the will of the divine essence and hold that God has resolved this
from eternity, a perilous argument is employed to which are equal only
men who are spiritual and tested by trial, like Paul, for instance,
who has ventured to argue concerning predestination. Let us take our
stand on an humbler plane, one less open to danger, and hold that Noah
and the other fathers were most grievously pained when the Spirit