Does God change His mind?
Scripture says both, without contradiction: God is unchanging in His character and purposes, 'I, the LORD, do not change,' and yet He responds to people, relenting from threatened judgment when they repent and turning in mercy. The Bible uses the language of God 'repenting' to describe His faithful, gracious response to human change, while insisting that His nature, His faithfulness, and His eternal purposes stand firm. God may be trusted never to change.
This question arose from studying Is God really in control? and How do I know God's will?.
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What the Scripture says
God's character and purposes never change
Scripture is emphatic that God is not fickle. He declares, 'For I, Yahweh, don't change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.' James says that with the Father of lights 'can be no variation, nor turning shadow.' And through Balaam comes the ancient word: 'God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should repent.' God's word stands; His purposes do not shift with the wind like ours.
“For I, Yahweh, don’t change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow.
God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?
Yet Scripture plainly speaks of God relenting
The Bible is also honest that God responds. At the golden calf, after Moses pleaded, 'Yahweh repented of the evil which he said he would do to his people.' When Nineveh repented in sackcloth and ashes, 'God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn't do it.' And God said of Saul, 'It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king.' The same Scriptures that say God does not change also show Him turning in response to people.
Yahweh repented of the evil which he said he would do to his people.
God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn’t do it.
“It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments.” Samuel was angry; and he cried to Yahweh all night.
They hold together in God's faithful consistency
There is no contradiction, because the God who does not change is the God who has always been merciful to the repentant. Jonah knew this about Him: 'you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm.' The threatened judgment was real; the mercy toward those who turn is equally real and never changes. Because God is unchangingly merciful, He responds to genuine repentance in exactly the way He always has.
He prayed to Yahweh, and said, “Please, Yahweh, wasn’t this what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore I hurried to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm.
Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?”
God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn’t do it.
Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘He brought them out for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth?’ Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people.
God's 'repenting' is not a change as a man changes
The Bible uses the language of God repenting to speak of His real grief and His real turning, but it guards the meaning: 'the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.' When God relents, He is not being persuaded against His nature; He is being consistent with His nature, responding to our change in the way His unchanging character has always promised. We can plead with God, as Moses did, and He hears, because He is a person, not a machine.
Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.”
God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?
Moses begged Yahweh his God, and said, “Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘He brought them out for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth?’ Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people.
What this means for us: pray boldly, trust forever
Because God responds, our prayers matter: Moses interceded and the Lord relented, and we are invited to bring our requests to a God who hears. Because God does not change, our hope is secure: 'the counsel of Yahweh stands fast forever,' and 'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.' He who began a good work in you will complete it. We can pray with boldness to a God who is responsive, and trust without fear a God who is unchanging in His faithfulness and love.
Yahweh repented of the evil which he said he would do to his people.
The counsel of Yahweh stands fast forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow.
As you read, you may wonder…
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Verses to meditate on
“For I, Yahweh, don’t change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow.
God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn’t do it.
Yahweh repented of the evil which he said he would do to his people.
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