Does God change His mind?

Perhaps we should make a remark on what Jonah says of God: "Thou … repentest Thee of the evil." We have already pointed out that repentance in man means to "think again," or a change of thought or a change of mind. In another place in Scripture (1 Samuel 15:29), we read: "The Hope of Israel will not lie nor repent; for He is not a man, that He should repent." What then does Jonah mean when he says "Thou … repentest Thee of the evil"? It does not mean a change of mind on God's part, but a change of action caused by a change of mind on man's part. God sends warnings to man, in order that man may change his mind, may repent, so that God may change His action from judgment to mercy. God has not changed His mind. God's mind has ever been toward mercy: "Thou art a gracious God, and merciful;" but man's sin must bring down the righteous judgment of God, even though He is slow to anger. There is only one way of escape, and that is by repentance on the part of sinful man. With this object in view God sends warnings to individuals and to nations. If they hear and repent, then God may act according to the desires of His heart, and show mercy. If man will not repent, there is no other way, and judgment must fall.

"And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not." In cases of repentance, God deals with nations as He does with individuals. Where He sees real repentance in departing from evil, He also repents of the evil,* that is, of His threatened judgment upon the evil, and punishment being no longer necessary, He does not carry it out.

[* God is not a man, that He should repent as to His eternal and unchangeable counsels and unconditional promises, which "are without repentance." But in His grace He may repent of, i.e., not carry out, a threatened judgment, as in the case of Nineveh. We must remember, that the Spirit of God condescends to express Himself after the human way of speaking, on account of our infirmities.]

In verse 13 we have a third thing of great significance. Moses, the servant of God through whom the law was given, falls back, not on the law covenant — all was lost on that basis — but on the unconditional covenant made much earlier with Abraham, Isaac, and Israel — using that name, and not Jacob, the name after the flesh. By an instinct divinely given, Moses in his plea forsook law for grace. On that ground his plea prevailed, in keeping with what is stated in Galatians 3:17, "the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect."

So the Lord "repented" of the proposed evil, and this statement does not in any way clash with Romans 11:29, but rather confirms it. When it is a question of God's gifts and calling, which are according to His purpose, no change of mind is possible. When it is a question of His ways with sinful men, they vary in detail, though ultimately all achieve His purpose. God tested Abraham, telling him to offer up Isaac, but when he had fully responded, God cancelled the order, having reached His purpose. Similarly here, He tested Moses by this proposal, so attractive to a self-seeking mind, and the test completed, He turned from the proposal and reverted to the ancient covenant which was the expression of His purpose.

Thus the emphasis on "Ye" is exceedingly cheering and establishing: to be told that they distinctively were "of God" in the sense of His being the source of all their blessing. Also, if God is the giver of the blessing, He does not change. The gifts of God are without change of mind on His part. When it is not a gift or a calling of God, He may repent. So He repented of creation (Gen. 6:6), as we are told; and He destroyed it. That was not a gift; but simply an act however immense. But when in sovereign love He calls to Himself poor guilty men to make them His own, when He makes a gift of eternal life, for instance, or forgiveness of our sins, or the place of a child, such boons are the gifts and calling of God; and they are without repentance. Here His mind never changes. The children may be too often foolish and sadly wrong, but He does not change.

But even in that day it will be made clearer than ever that without repentance are the gifts and the calling of God (Rom. 11:29). He may repent of making man, and He may on man's self-judgment repent of His threats; but His gifts and His calling are subject to no such change of mind. So at an early day He compelled the wicked prophet to testify on behalf of Israel (Num. 23:19); and so He confirmed by His holy apostle looking to the latter day. He leaves room for the action of sovereign grace at the close of the age. As we Gentiles were once disobedient to God, but now became objects of mercy by their disobedience, so also the Jews were now disobedient to the mercy that has reached the Gentiles in the gospel, that they too, instead of their old pride of law, may be objects of mercy. For God shut up them all (whether Gentile or Jew) into disobedience that He might show mercy to them all.

On another occasion Jeremiah must visit the potter’s house (Jer. 18) and observe his work. “And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.” From this, Jeremiah draws a lesson: If the people turn away from their evil ways and doings, God may repent of His sentence against them. On the other hand, if finally they turn away from him, the announced blessing can be lost. This change of mind on the part of God (the Greek word “metanoia” means repentance or change of mind) does not imply any regret as to His initial decision. Rather it manifests His grace and righteousness in suspending the sentence when he discerns the least sign of repentance in the guilty one. On many occasions, this patience of God is mentioned in Scripture. For example, at the time of the flood, “the long-suffering of God waited” (1 Peter 3:20); and again: for such an ungodly man as Ahab king of Israel, the Lord exhibited His patience (1 Kings 21:27-29). Even in the case of “Jezebel” who introduced corruption into the church, God’s patience is displayed: “I gave her time that she should repent.” (Rev. 2:21).

Dr. Waldenström's first proposition is "that no change has been effected in the heart of God by the fall." Now as to God's nature, this is surely true. If He is love, He is always love; if righteous, always righteous; if holy, always holy. But because He changes not, His relationship towards others changes, and His conduct and dealings, because they are changed.

Thus the remnant are not only charged with their low condition, but warned as to the judgment it entails. God, however, is not only a God of judgment, He is also a God of mercy, and hence it is ever His way to grant grace for repentance before the judgment falls. Again, all God's dealings, whether in judgment or mercy, are founded upon the immutability of His nature. For this reason we have the formal declaration of the unchanging character of God before the call to repentance. "I am the Lord," we read, "I change not … therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed" (verse 6). God does not change in holiness, and therefore He must chasten His people when they sin. Neither does God change in His purposes of grace and blessing, and therefore His people are not consumed.

The chapter concludes with the action of God consequent upon Nineveh's repentance — "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not." We see again what is in the heart of God towards men — that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked; and hence, that if He proclaim judgment it is with the object of turning them from their evil way. The people of Nineveh did not know what He would do. They only said, "Who can tell if God will turn and repent?" And God responded to this feeble faith, as He ever does, and spared them from destruction. It is but a human mode of speech, it need scarcely be added, when it says that He repented. His aim was to produce repentance on the part of Nineveh; and this having been done, He could, consistently with His ways in government, show His compassion and forgiveness. What abundant encouragement for the sinner is found in this record.

Although God’s sovereignty would, in one sense, permit Him to act as He pleases, God has never changed His mind or, in particular, the way of salvation. As stated earlier in the magazine, dispensations have to do with the different ways in which God has chosen to regulate His dealings with mankind at different periods of time. None of them has been, or will be, undertaken as an experiment to see if human beings can and will do what pleases Him, nor does a change from one dispensation to another suggest that God is trying something new. The idea that dispensational teaching involves God changing His mind may stem from an approach to the Bible which places mankind at the centre, or from an incorrect thought that in each dispensation God is testing mankind in a fresh way to see if the outcome changes. God has always known the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10), including that there would be no one who did good in any dispensation (Rom. 3:9–19). In His mercy, God foreordained the Lord Jesus Christ to be our Passover, who would take away our sins (1 Pet. 1:18–20; 1 Cor. 5:7).