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†. Gen 6:5-8 . .Then Yhvh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And Yhvh regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
. . . So He 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 regret making them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of Yhvh.
This is the very first instance of grace in the Bible. The Hebrew word is chen (khane) and means: graciousness. The important thing in Gen 6:8 is that Yhvh didn't find chen in Noah's eyes; no, just the opposite-- Noah found chen in Yhvh's eyes; but what does that mean?
You know, the human face is very expressive. You can tell in an instant whether somebody is going to treat you nicely, and you can also tell if they are going to be difficult. Sometimes people look at you through eyes narrowed and squinted so tightly that you can't even see their pupils; and even if you do, they look like little chips of black flint.
Other times, when people are in a rage, they glare at you with a look that can only be described as a passionate desire to rip your head off with their bare hands and cook it on the stove.
And then there's the look of indifference; a blank, disconnected expression that tells you a person wishes you would just go away and stop bothering them. Those expressions (and more we could describe) are definitely not eyes of grace.
But when Noah looked at Yhvh's face; he could tell instantly that Yhvh was disposed to be helpful.
When the Dead stand before Christ at the Great White Throne (Rev 20:11-15) each in their turn; and look into his eyes, they are not going to see the face of a friend nor of someone disposed to be helpful; no, they are going to see a look on Christ's face that will chill them to the bone as they instantly realize that the sweet little sugar-coated momma's boy they were led to believe wouldn't swat a fly is now on the very brink of casting them alive and head-long into a reservoir of flaming liquid; and not with an attitude of judicial indifference, but with an attitude of extreme prejudice.
†. Luke 4:18-19 . .The Spirit of The Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the broken-hearted; to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of The Lord.
When Jesus quoted that passage from Isa 61:1-2, he left out the portion that didn't pertain to his first visit. Here's the part that pertains to his return.
"To proclaim . . the day of vengeance of our God."
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