Genesis 6

“When the Lord saw that man’s wickedness was widespread on the earth and every scheme that he thought of was nothing but evil all the time, the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth and He was grieved in His heart. Then the Lord said, “I will wipe off the face of the earth: man, whom I created together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky – for I regret that I made them.” Noah, however, found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” Genesis 6: 5-8

When mankind was created, God said, “Let US make man in OUR image, according to OUR likeness. (Genesis 1:26) The text describes God in the plural form instead of a singular “I will make man in MY image, according to MY likeness.”

This usage of God in the Plural is similar to the Bible’s opening statement, “In the Beginning, God…” (Elohim: Gods). Genesis 1:1

Because of the Bible’s statement that God is ONE (Echad) (Deuteronomy 6:4), the non-Messianic rabbis have traditionally rejected the notion that God exists as a Plurality. That is, they do not believe in the “Trinity” or tri-unity of God.

Two main arguments these Rabbis use to explain away the notion of God as a “singular plurality” are:

1) The traditional Hebrew use of plurality to a single person illustrates power, i.e., “one” possesses the strength of “many.” This is certainly true of omnipotent God.

2) Plurality denotes internal debate. That is, they believe that God debated as to whether to create man. That is, the terms “us” and “our” are simply representative of the different opinions God held (within Himself) while debating whether to create mankind at all.

If you agree with the rabbis’ argument over God’s internal debate, it is easy to understand His statement, “I regret that I made them.” God is represented as being “singular,” “One.” But that argument has a problem: It is impossible for God to be double-minded. (1 Samuel 15:29, Malachi 3:6) Remember God pronounced creation “Very Good” at the end of the 6th day. So, how can creation be “very good” and “regrettable”?

Perhaps, the answer lies in the primary roles of the individual members of the Trinity. God: Justice/Mercy Jesus: Redemption/Grace, Spirit: Revelation of Truth. In the creation of man, we are allowed a glimpse of the Trinity conversing with each other as a single unit: “God said, ‘Let Us…’”. In the pronouncement of judgment in the days of Noah, we see the persons of the Trinity represented individually with respect to their ministries: The Spirit: reveals widespread wickedness. The Father: weighs the Spirit’s testimony and pronounces regret over mankind’s sin. The Messiah: provides grace for Noah and the rest of his family. (Remember: only Noah was “pronounced” righteous, not the others in his ark) Therefore, we conclude that, while still in communion with the Spirit & Son, it is altogether possible for God’s pronouncement to be as an individual.