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TranscriptDoes God change his mind?

When we think about God, need to be careful not to think of him like a man that's somehow better, like a “super man.” I think that is often what we do, we say, "Well I know what it's like for me to love, so God must do it that way, but better". Or, "I know what it's like when I get mad, but when God does it, it must be somehow different". It is somehow different, but we're reasoning in the wrong direction when we start with us, as man, and then think of how God must be as a result. We also have to consider that the bible is describing a being that is like none other in language that conveys something close to how he is, so that we can understand it.

We're going to have a hard time understanding what God is fully like because he is the only one of his kind. When we've talked about the Trinity before, I've always said that analogies are always going to fall short; you're not going to find anything in the created world that is a good analog, or analogy, for the creator. It's the same when we think of God’s character. That doesn't mean we can't understand some fundamental things about him, but it does mean we have to be careful, and we have to realize that while, for instance, the bible says, "God is light", he's not like any light know, as an example.

Today I want to consider the question, "Can God change his mind? Does God change his mind?" The reason this question is important is because we have passages in the bible that make it seem like he can't. Then we have passages in the bible that make it seem like he does. Then we have just general philosophical/theological thought that would say, "Well if God could actually change that would mean some bad things".

We need to consider this topic with the understanding that scripture is not going to contradict itself. Once again, we ask the question like we've been doing recently in this podcast, "How do we harmonize these different and disparate passages in scripture?" Let's look at a few.

Malachi 3:6 says,

"I the lord do not change, so you Oh descendants of Jacob are not destroyed".

So God doesn't change, that's good.

James 1:17 tells us,

”Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows".

Another verse that says he doesn't change, this one in the New Testament.

Numbers 23:19,

”God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?"

Of course the answer to those rhetorical questions is, no he does not.

Those are three of many passages that present God as unchangeable, as immutable - not changing. Let's look at three or four additional passages that seem to say something different.

Genesis 6:6 says,

”The lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain".

Jonah 3:10 says,

”When God saw what they did, and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened".

Exodus 32:14 says,

”Then the lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened".

This is interesting, these verses seem to present a different view of God. One where God is acting differently then he had said he would. It appears as though he's changed his mind. We have other verses that say God repented, or relented, or was grieved. We have to say, "How do we account for these verses? If God is unchangeable then isn't becoming angry a change? If God is unchangeable then being grieved, or relenting, or appearing to change your mind by acting differently, that would seem to be a change".

This points out the need for a more ca…