DOES GOD CHANGE HIS MIND?
Exodus 32:14, in speaking of how God did not bring about disaster to the people of Israel says that He “changed His mind” (NAS). The King James Version says He “repented,” while the NIV says He “relented.”
A similar situation is found in Isaiah 38 (parallel passage found in 2 Kings 20) where God announced through Isaiah that Hezekiah’s illness was fatal, but after the king prayed and wept God had Isaiah announce that he would live 15 years longer.
What happened? Did God lie? Did He change His mind?
I Samuel 15:29 says, “He who is the glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind” (NIV.) This passage states that lying and changing one’s mind are two human characteristics that God does not have.
The Theological Word Book of the Old Testament (Harris, Archer, Waltke) says that the word found in Exodus 32:14 and I Samuel 15:29 that is variously translated as repent, change mind, or relent is the Hebrew word naham. It is translated in the KJV most of its 38 times of occurrence as “repent.” Most of these refer to God, not to man (shub is used of man’s repentance, defined as turning from sin to God.)
“Unlike man, who under the conviction of sin feels genuine
remorse and sorrow, God is free from sin. Yet the Scriptures
inform us that God repents (Genesis 6:6-7; Exodus 32:14; Judges
2:18; 1 Samuel 15:11, et. al.); ie, He relents or changes His
dealings with men according to His sovereign purposes. On the
surface, such language seems inconsistent, if not contradictory
with such passages which confirm God’s immutability …. : “The
Lord has sworn and will not change His mind (Psalm 110:4). When
naham is used of God, however, the expression is anthropopathic
and there is not ultimate tension. From man's limited, earthly,
finite perspective it only appears that God’s purposes have
changed … Certainly Jeremiah 13:7-10 is a striking reminder that
from God’s perspective, most prophecy (excluding messianic
predictions) is conditional upon the response of men. In this
regard, A. J. Heschel (The Prophets, p. 194) has said, ‘No word
is God’s final word. Judgement, far from being absolute, is
conditional. A change in man’s conduct brings about a change in
God’s judgment.”’ (p. 571-572.)
Another pertinent scripture is found in Jeremiah 18:7-11:
“If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good that I had intended to do for it.”
Here are some observations and conclusions:
- The NAS translation of naham as “change of mind” and the KJV translation as “repent” might not be as accurate in context as the NIV’s “relent”. (The Hebrew word literally means to breathe out deeply or emotionally.)
2) We might add that not only a change in man’s conduct can get God to relent, but also intercessory prayer (see Exodus 32, also 2 Chronicles 30– Hezekiah prayed for those who were unclean and yet ate the Passover.)
- We understand from 2 Peter 3:9 that God does not want anyone to perish. Therefore He has set His mind for good for us. But since we are free agents, we can do anything we want with our lives, including opposing His will. He may in this case allow disaster to fall on us (including the loss of our souls in hell) but He never wanted it that way because hell was not made for us, but for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41.)
- Therefore it is inaccurate to say that God changes His mind since He has from the very beginning wanted only the best for us. He may announce an intention (Isaiah’s telling Hezekiah he would die, Jonah telling Ninevah it would be destroyed, etc.) and then change His announced course of action when men change their actions (or pray); but this is a sign of His mercy, not His untruthfulness nor His unreliability.
—-Prepared by Latayne C. Scott
