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Can God Change His Mind?

 

God can and does change His mind.  However, that only seems to occur when people repent and change theirs.  God would have done the same action anyway (i.e., extend mercy), if He knew what actions people would undertake (i.e., repent).  So God will choose at times to not actually punish someone after having told a prophet that He would.  Since God is merciful, He responds readily when people really repent.  

 

For example, consider the case of Nineveh, the capital of the ruthless Assyrian Empire, while Jonah visited the city.  Jonah said repeatedly, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4).  Unlike the hard-hearted inhabitants of Jerusalem on so many occasions, the pagan idolaters of Nineveh started to repent, put on sackcloth in order to humble themselves.  They proclaimed a fast, which even the king endorsed with a royal decree.  According to verses 9, the king said:  “‘Who knows, God may turn and relent, and withdraw His burning anger so that we shall not perish?”  Then God decided not to punish the Ninevites:  “When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them.  And He did not do it.”

 

Another interesting case of God changing His mind concerned when King Hezekiah asked to live after the Prophet Isaiah told him that he would soon die.  (See II Kings 20:1-11).  Isaiah told Hezekiah, “Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.”  But then Hezekiah prayed to God, mentioning that he had served the Lord well and cried.  Then God told Isaiah to return to visit the king, and tell him, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. . . . And I will add fifteen years to your life.”  In another case, the evil King Ahab of the northern kingdom of Israel repented some after being told all his descendants would be killed.  He wore sackcloth as an act of humility, fasted, and went around despondently.  As a result, Jehovah said, “Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me?  Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but I will bring the evil upon his house in his son’s days” (I Kings 21:29).  These cases show that we should pray to God even when our situations seems hopeless since God could still choose to help us.

 

So it’s clear that God will change His mind sometimes.  God knows everything, but He will choose to change His mind about His planned actions when people decide to think and act differently in response to a warning that He gives them.  If we change our minds, God can change His.

 

Eric V. Snow

www.lionofjudah1.org

 

 

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May Christians work on Saturdays? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Protestant Rhetoric vs Sabbath Refuted.htm

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Is the United States the Beast? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Are We the Beast vs Collins.htm

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