The tears of God. Interesting. But does God cry?
Jesus did. Many will remember the verse from John 11:35 –
Jesus wept.
For the trivia fan – it’s the shortest verse in the Bible.
The background to this was Jesus’ reaction to the people mourning over the death of Lazarus. For a deeper look at that event, please see The Problem Of Healing (Or Not).
What about God – The Father?
Genesis 6:6 says
The LORD was grieved …
And then there’s this prophecy from Ezekiel.
Eze 6:8 “ ‘But I will spare some, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations. 9 Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will remember me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their detestable practices. 10 And they will know that I am the LORD; I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them.
With definitions like “grieve” means “to feel grief”, it’s easy to think that maybe being grieved isn’t such a big deal. Looking a bit further, one can find the word “sorrow” associated with being grieved. I’m even going to use the word sorrow in this article. However – the way it was used in Old Testament times is likely more intense than what we think of today. We can feel sorrow without actually crying. But look what the Hebrew word translated as grieve really meant.
7665 שָׁבוּר, שָׁבַר [shabar /shaw·bar/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 2321; GK 8653 and 8689; 150 occurrences; AV translates as “break” 115 times, “destroy” nine times, “break in pieces” eight times, “break down” four times, “hurt” three times, “torn” twice, “give birth” once, “crush” once, “quench” once, and translated miscellaneously six times. 1 to break, break in pieces. 1A (Qal). 1A1 break, break in or down, rend violently, wreck, crush, quench. 1A2 to break, rupture (fig). 1B (Niphal). 1B1 to be broken, be maimed, be crippled, be wrecked. 1B2 to be broken, be crushed (fig). 1C (Piel) to shatter, break. 1D (Hiphil) to cause to break out, bring to the birth. 1E (Hophal) to be broken, be shattered. 1Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.
That’s more than just sorrow. Imagine God feeling broken. That’s how much we mean to Him – and how badly He feels when follow false gods and do evil things. Probably more than what most people would think when reading this passage in English.
To give some idea of how much the newer English translations have watered down God’s words to Ezekiel, here’s the text from Young’s Literal Translation for the same passage.
(Eze 6:)8 And I have caused some to remain, In their being to you the escaped of the sword among nations, In your being scattered through lands. 9 And remembered Me have your escaped among nations, Whither they have been taken captive, Because I have been broken with their heart that is going a-whoring, That hath turned aside from off Me, And with their eyes they are going a-whoring after their idols, And they have been loathsome in their own faces, For the evils that they have done—all their abominations. 10 And they have known that I am Jehovah, Not for nought have I spoken to do to them this evil. 2Young, R. (1997). Young’s Literal Translation (Eze 6:8–10). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
Ouch. More tears of God.
I could go on, but the point is that God does have feelings – He feels joy, but He also feels incredible sorrow.
I originally wrote this in October, 2011. It’s now more than six years later – March 2018. Time for an update. I’ll put the new stuff in text like this so you can tell what’s new.
The reason I bring this up – I’ve read a few books that include the concept of God ‘s pain and sorrow over our sinning. At least two of them – fictional accounts, to be sure – but Biblically based – talk about some sense of God’s pain.
One writes about the person being saved – and how God, through Jesus, experiences all of our past sins at that moment – absorbing the pain and paying the price for each of them – and the ones to come.
The other has us hearing God crying out and sensing His pain and sorrow after we die – as we are on our way to Heaven.
I was thinking about this the other night – and started to wonder . Both of these put some limits on God’s sorrow over what we’ve done. It’s brief – only when we are saved – or when we die. It seems too short. I mean – Jesus came to suffer a horrible death for us. That’s seems a bit much for something that only causes a little bit of sorrow for a few moments at some point – either in or right after – our lives.
And then there’s this parable.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
Lk 15:1 Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Lk 15:3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
So there’s rejoicing in Heaven when even one of us is saved. Think about this passage while remembering the book that says we will be “hearing God crying out and sensing His pain and sorrow after we die – as we are on our way to Heaven”. I can’t help but wonder what the author of a supposedly Biblically based book was thinking when they wrote about that. It’s always good to take things back to the Bible – check them out – and be sure they’re for real.
That leads me to believe that, while it makes for good literary drama, the pain that God feels isn’t likely to be either when we’re saved or after we die.
Both of those would be a time for rejoicing – not for grieving.
The one who would be grieving would be Satan – not God – and not us.
So, when does God feel that sorrow? and for whom?
Is it really only for those who are saved? Or is it for everyone?
David writes in Psalm 80 –
Ps 80:3 Restore us, O God;
make your face shine upon us,
that we may be saved.
In that case – he’s talking about God’s people – the Israelites.
But – by the time we get to the New Testament – here’s what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians.
The Believer’s Freedom
1Co 10:23 “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. 24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
1Co 10:25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, 26 for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
1Co 10:27 If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. 28 But if anyone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience’ sake— 29 the other man’s conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?
1Co 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— 33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. 1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
Not just the Jewish people – everyone.
You may ask, how can I come to that conclusion from this passage? After all, Paul wrote For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Not all. Many. But honestly, do we really think Paul could have had in impact on literally everyone back then? Whether he was eating or doing something else, he was with a group of people. There was no internet back then. He wouldn’t have had 2 million followers watching or reading about what he ate for dinner. Even today, people have millions of followers – not every single person on the planet.
We need to look at something else in the passage to see Paul’s real audience. If he was seeking the good of many, and then we do what he wrote in the next verse – namely follow his example – then the target audience gets bigger. And the more of us follow His example, the bigger the audience that we can try to influence. Eventually, we get to what Jesus told us in the Great Commission – all nations – everyone.
Context
What about Jesus – what did He say?
Well – in Matthew 20 we read –
A Mother’s Request
Mt 20:20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
Mt 20:21 “What is it you want?” he asked.
She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”
Mt 20:22 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”
“We can,” they answered.
Mt 20:23 Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”
Mt 20:24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
There’s a lot in that passage. However, the key for this discussion is the last verse. Jesus says He came to give his life as a ransom for many. Not for all, but for many.
So – what about those who won’t be saved.
Does God care about them?
Does God cry for them?
Let’s start with this, from Luke.
The Shepherds and the Angels
Lk 2:8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Lk 2:13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
Lk 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
Lk 2:15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
Lk 2:16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
In verse 10, we read good news of great joy that will be for all the people. That’s everyone.
However, in verse 14 of the very same passage, we read on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests. That’s not everyone.
So what’s going on? Is it everyone or not?
How did we go from good news for all – to ransom for many?
We see in Luke:
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
Lk 9:1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony against them.” 6 So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.
It’s that free will thing. For more on free will, please see Protected from the Bible – The Problem of Free Will and The problem of Either/Or: Free Will vs Predestiny.
God gives us the right – the free will – to accept Him or not.
He wants us to love Him –
to accept the salvation offered through Jesus –
but He won’t force us to take it.
And so –
we go from love for all –
from an offer to all –
to acceptance by some –
and salvation for some.
Let’s go back to what Paul wrote in 1Co 11:1 — Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
There’s also an unfortunate, but all too true, reality in that. Just like Jesus, Paul said so that many may be saved.
In Isaiah, this prophesy is given.
Isa 42:16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them.
Isa 42:17 But those who trust in idols,
who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’
will be turned back in utter shame.
Yes, God will be our guide, if we want Him to be. But the journey is voluntary. It’s not forced. We can stay in the darkness if we want to.
The Hebrew word that we see as “darkness” is interesting.
4285 מַחְשָׁךְ [machshak /makh·shawk/] n m. From 2821; TWOT 769d; GK 4743; Seven occurrences; AV translates as “darkness” four times, “dark places” twice, and “dark” once. 1 dark place, darkness, secrecy. 1A hiding-place. 1B dark region. 1C grave. 3Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.
We see what appears to be a concept of both the absence of visible light and a hiding place (as in trying to hide from God).
Let’s go to the root for that word to see if there’s more on that.
4743 מַחְשָׁךְ (mǎḥ·šāḵ): n.masc.; ≡ Str 4285; TWOT 769d—1. LN 85.85 hiding place, lair, i.e., a secret place for thieves and violent gangs (Ps 74:20+), see also domain LN 1.51–1.59; 2. LN 14.53–14.62 darkness, the dark, i.e., the absence of light as a figurative extension of gloom, secrecy, or the place of the dead (Ps 88:19[EB 18]; 143:3; Isa 29:15; 42:16; La 3:6+); 3. LN 1.17–1.25 unit: מַחְשָׁךְ בְּ־ מְצוֹלָה (mǎḥ·šāḵ b- meṣô·lā(h)) Sheol, formally, utterly dark places of the depths, (Ps 88:7[EB 6]+) 4Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
Now we see that even the absence of light is really a figurative statement, not a physical one. It even extends to Sheol, the Jewish place of the dead.
And that is the unfortunate reality. While many will be saved, many more will not.
Mt 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
As I’ve said before – the narrow path isn’t narrow because God is mean and wants to make us wait in line. It’s narrow because it doesn’t need to be wide. It’s a path that most will not follow – or even want to try to find.
Sad. But true.
Let’s go back to the sorrow / tears of God question.
There’s rejoicing in Heaven when someone is saved – when someone accepts salvation through Jesus.
So what about the sorrow – the times we make God cry.
It would seem this would be while we’re still alive –
before we are saved –
before we have accepted God’s gift.
No wonder God was grieved back in Genesis 6:6.
The LORD was grieved …
Just in case you haven’t gone to look it up yet – here’s the context for that statement of grief.
The Flood
Ge 6:1 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
Ge 6:4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
Ge 6:5 The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
That’s a whole lot of grief and sorrow. Tears of God.
The meaning of verses 1-4 is still debated. Let’s look at two of the terms to see what we can learn.
SONS OF GOD (בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים, beney ha’elohim; υἱοὶ θεοῦ, huioi theou). Angels or members of a heavenly host of beings (Gen 6; Job 1:6; 2:1; Deut 32:8; see also Job 38:7; Pss 29:1; 89:6; Dan 3:25). The “sons of God” may be members of the divine council (Pss 82:1; 89:5–7) and may be related to the Nephilim and the Rephaim. 5Hamilton, M. J. (2016). Sons of God. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
The Hebrew root of “Nephilim” in Gen 6:4a and Num 13:33 could be:
1. נָפַל (naphal), meaning “to fall”; “Nephilim” could be a “passive adjectival formation” of the Hebrew verb נָפַל (naphal) meaning the “fallen ones” (compare Hendel, “Of Demigods and the Deluge,” 22; Owens, Analytical Key to the Old Testament, 23; Kraeling, “The Significance and Origin of Genesis 6:1–4,” 203). The term “Nephilim” places emphasis not on the state of “what these individuals had been in their lives, but on the state in which they now were” (i.e., warriors fallen at the hand of Yahweh; Kraeling, “The Significance and Origin of Genesis 6:1–4,” 203; compare Ezek 32). “Fallen ones” can refer to:
• the angels who fell from heaven;
• humanity’s moral fall in Eden and prior to the flood;
• hostile warriors who “fall upon” the unsuspecting;
• those who have “fallen” in battle (compare also Ezek 32:20–27 see Koehler and Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 709);
• the response of those who beheld these fearsome beings—that is, people who fell before them in fear while exhibiting a fallen countenance (Calvin, Commentaries on the First Book of Moses, 244). 6Peterson, B. N. (2016). Nephilim. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Regardless of what the sons of God and Nephilim actually were, it’s clear that the relationship between them and humans was one of great displeasure to God.
You may wonder, since it was the human women and not the men who were in the actual marriages, why was God grieved by all humans and not just the women? For that, it seems that the first definition of the root word for Nephilim bears consideration as likely being correct. Verse 4 says They were the heroes of old, men of renown and the root definition says warriors fallen at the hand of Yahweh. Both scenarios would be grievous to God – the marriages and the people looking at those killed by Yahweh as heroes.
Good thing Noah was around.
Good thing God has sorrow as well as anger.
Otherwise He would have wiped us out before any of us were even born.
So I would tend to think that God’s sorrow comes pretty much all the time.
I can’t imagine there’s even one second when someone on this earth isn’t doing something to make God cry. Maybe someone who hasn’t been saved – dies – and is forever lost. Could be someone who hasn’t been saved yet – but will be. Or someone who has been saved – but even then we still continue to sin and hurt God.
You may be wondering – Which of these is “worse”?
I wouldn’t even want to go there. We’re all making God cry.
The amazing part –
where I do want to go –
is that in spite of all this, not only did God not wipe out His creation – us – but He still loves us enough to send His Son. Enough to absorb all of our sins. Enough to forgive all the sorrow and grief we give Him. Enough to still want to have a relationship with us while we’re alive and maybe most amazing of all, He wants us to spend eternity with Him.
Jesus Comforts His Disciples
Jn 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
The tears of God
All that crying we cause –
and He still wants us.
You know the way to the place where I am going.
If you need one – the map is here.
Footnotes
- 1Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.
- 2Young, R. (1997). Young’s Literal Translation (Eze 6:8–10). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
- 3Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.
- 4Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
- 5Hamilton, M. J. (2016). Sons of God. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
- 6Peterson, B. N. (2016). Nephilim. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.