What does it mean when Father repents?..

2 yrs

What does it mean when "Father repents"?

One example is in 1 Sam 16:35 "And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death, though Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord repented that He had made Saul king over Israel."

I have so many thoughts on this verse:

1. Did Father select Saul knowing what he would do? If so, then why repent if it was in His perfect plan?
2. Did Father not foresee Saul's change of heart?
3. Whom did Father repent towards? Maybe Samuel.
4. How would the rest of the Bible story have read differently if Saul did not transgress and Father not reject him?

What are your thoughts and findings on this subject?

Comment

I think when Scripture says Yah repented of something, it means He wholeheartedly regreted it at possibly told His prophets about that regret. Perhaps He repented to one of the other six Spirits of Yah, or alll of them. It doesnt mean He was blind to what would happen, but perhaps the consequences to the world were more severe than He had realized or that the human suffering made Him suffer more than He thought He would.

· Reply · 1689864373

Most of us have a misunderstanding of the word repent. When man repents we turn wholeheartedly to God. One of the effects of repenting is sin dissipating. When God repents He is simply turning towards another thing, in your example, Rhy, He is repenting from Saul being King and towards using His resources to make David King. Now Saul, everytime he chose to hold onto being King even though God had clearly told him that he was no longer King, Saul was choosing to take another step away from God. This eventually led to his untimely death.

· Reply · 1690074810

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Yahuah regretted making Saul sovereign.

· Reply · 1690437811

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I think it means that Yah regrets. He knew that Saul wasn't suitable, but He chose him anyway because he was the people's choice. He wanted to show that the people's choice isn't always the right choice. People look at the outside, but Yah looks at the heart of a person.

· Reply · 1690565510

Perhaps because people have become lacking in understanding of sacrifice, it is hard for us today to understand grief caused by one's actions except because of sin - it does not occur that someone would do something knowing it will cause him grief later, and do it for the greater good.
Incidentally the word translated 'repent' means grief, sighing in particular; 'repent' probably meant grief in general in the past, not grief for sin specifically, or else people wouldn't have used that word for God.

· Reply · 1694002935

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