Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time. And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, “I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.” – Genesis 6:5-7 BSB

Warrior;

What would you call the saddest verse(s) in the Bible?  Would you consider in the book of Revelation, at the end of the 9^th chapter, between the 6^th and the 7^th trumpet we read: Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk. Furthermore, they did not repent of their murder, sorcery, sexual immorality, and theft. (Revelation 9:20-21) What about when Jesus was in Gethsemane, before his arrest and crucifixion. We experience Jesus’ pain, and it causes us to reflect on our Lord’s selfless faith, His sacrifice, His humanity and devotion to His Ministry of Reconciliation (see 2 Corinthians 5:18-20). Hear the Word of the Lord, “They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”  Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:32-36)

Leader, when we consider the saddest verses in the Bible how can we overlook what we did to the Savior of the world? The verse that always gets me is “Then they spit on him. They took the stick from him and beat him on the head with it.” (Matthew 27:30) And how do we not consider the cries of our Lord Himself; About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud [agonized] voice, “Eli , Eli , lama sabachthani ?” that is, “My God , My God , why have You forsaken Me ?” (Matthew 27:46) As a believer, there are 2 verses that are scary and thus can be very sad. Consider this challenge from the Sermon on the Mount; “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23) Church folk coming to the end of their lives and realizing the God they professed love for, NEVER KNEW THEM- SAD! Secondly it is written: But I tell you, on the day of judgment people will have to give an accounting for every careless or useless word they speak. (Matthew 12:36) When a true believer puts themselves into these contexts, these are very sad verses. However, may I posit that the saddest verses in the Bible are those that show man’s absolute depravity.  The saddest words are those that illuminate the depth of our despair and brokenness- our utter helplessness; now that is sad!

Conduit, The Bible consists of 66 books by 40 different authors.  It has 1189 chapters. 3 Chapters into this 1200-chapter Encyclopedia of the meaning of life, our Heavenly Father kicks us out of his house, his community, His dwelling place.  Hear the Word of the Lord, And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles will yield for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:17-19) You know what is so Sad? WE DIDN’T GET IT; we didn’t heed Abba’s warning and changed our ways.   Three chapters later, Chapter 6 of this 1200-chapter book- God REGRETTED! This is today’s verse- GOD REPENTED, REGRETTED- was disappointed. How Sad- BUT GOD! But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. But God has an Edenic vision, and Yahweh will once again bring us into His dwelling place. In the final book of the Word, in the 1188^th chapter of the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, It is written:  Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. (Revelation 21:1-7) If we have had a true SPIRITUAL change, then IT IS WRITTEN; Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]. God is doing all the work; we just need to DIE TO OURSELVES. No shared Glory!