Turning the page…
Turning the page…
Glory · Suffering & God's Will
Scripture says both, without contradiction: God is unchanging in His character and purposes, 'I, Yahweh, don't 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.
https://glorystudy.com/questions/does-god-change-his-mind · Scripture quoted from the World English Bible
Malachi 3:6
As you read: God's own declaration of His unchanging nature, and the mercy it implies.
6“For I, Yahweh, don’t change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
Numbers 23:19
As you read: Balaam's word of God's faithfulness: He is not fickle like a man; has He said, and will He not do it?
19God 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?
Exodus 32:11-14
As you read: Moses intercedes after the golden calf, and the text says the LORD repented of the evil He said He would do.
11Moses 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?
12Why 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.
13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.’”
14Yahweh repented of the evil which he said he would do to his people.
Jonah 3:1-10
As you read: The threatened judgment was real, and when the people turned, God relented of the disaster He had said He would do.
1Yahweh’s word came to Jonah the second time, saying,
2“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I give you.”
3So Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh, according to Yahweh’s word. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey across.
4Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried out, and said, “In forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown!”
5The people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even to their least.
6The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7He made a proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, “Let neither man nor animal, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water;
8but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and animal, and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands.
9Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?”
10God 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.
James 1:17
As you read: Every good gift comes from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or turning shadow.
17Every 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.
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.”Malachi 3:6
“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.”James 1:17
“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?”Numbers 23:19
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.”Exodus 32:14
“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.”Jonah 3:10
““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.”1 Samuel 15:11
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.”Jonah 4:2
“Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?””Jonah 3:9
“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.”Jonah 3:10
“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.”Exodus 32:12
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.””1 Samuel 15:29
“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?”Numbers 23:19
“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?”Exodus 32:11
“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.”Exodus 32:12
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.”Exodus 32:14
“The counsel of Yahweh stands fast forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.”Psalm 33:11
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”Hebrews 13:8
“being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”Philippians 1:6
“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.”James 1:17