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Am curious as to how and why God went all "I'm going to get rid of ALL creation." in Genesis 6:7 to "Noah take animals with you aboard the Ark." in Genesis 6:19-20 concerning the beasts of the earth.

I know it seems like a contradiction, but I'd very much like to hear your thoughts on the subject matter.

For reference, here are the verses juxtaposed against each other:

"7 So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

"19 And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive."

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  • It's obvious from the context that whatever is on the boat is there specifically to preserve them from the destroying of all life that is not on said boat. But there is also an element of "all flesh" meaning the majority of, or all kinds of, people and not literally all flesh. For example, rocks weren't destroyed. Earth wasn't destroyed. Stars weren't destroyed. Etc.
    – Sola Gratia
    Jan 21, 2019 at 14:05
  • I get your point, but it doesn't really answer my question. God says in Genesis 6:7 that He is going to destroy all creation on earth, but then a few verses later in Genesis 6:19-20 He seems to go back on His Word and does something completely different by ordering the most righteous man on earth to create a giant boat to save a select portion of humanity and animals. My question is "Why does God seemingly change His mind or go back on His Word."
    – Philip
    Jan 22, 2019 at 0:55
  • This requires that by 'all animals/humans' He didn't mean to make exceptions.. which the context says He did. Making exceptions to an otherwise universal wish is not a contradiction.
    – Sola Gratia
    Jan 22, 2019 at 12:49
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    I’ve answered this question in two other questions. Here is the link and a subsequent link is found there too hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/38459/… you want me to rewrite an answer here I can.
    – Nihil Sine Deo
    Jan 22, 2019 at 23:38
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    As best I can determine, "all creation" is NOT specified in either verse. Therefore, I see no problem. Can you define the problem a little better? What version are your quoting?
    – user25930
    Feb 28, 2019 at 8:28

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This answer lies with God's grace.

First, verse 7 does not say God will get rid of "all creation". Here is Genesis 6:7 (YLT):

7 And Jehovah saith, `I wipe away man whom I have prepared from off the face of the ground, from man unto beast, unto creeping thing, and unto fowl of the heavens, for I have repented that I have made them.'

The verse says that God will wipe away man (and beast) from the "face of the ground" (note the words "from man to beast"). So, we see that God never pronounced a judgment against the animals in the sea. (See also Genesis 7:22)

Now, even if you view verse 7 as including "all" men, verse 8 tells you that Adam was excluded. Here's verse 8 (YLT):

8 And Noah found grace in the eyes of Jehovah.

So we see that because of God's grace, Noah is spared. This would be in perfect keeping with the principals of the New Testament. All men are guilty before God worthy of death. However, because of God's love for the world, He provides a way of escape through the sacrifice of Christ. Hence all men should be destroyed because of sin but because of the grace of God, all man have found favor in His sight through Christ.

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