What does it mean that God repented?
Scripture uses the word "repent" of God in several striking passages — "It repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth" (Gen. 6:6), and "I repent that I have set up Saul to be king" (1 Sam. 15:11). Yet in the very same chapter concerning Saul, Samuel declares, "The Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for He is not a man, that He should repent" (1 Sam. 15:29). How can both be true?
The key lies in distinguishing two spheres in which God acts — His governmental dealings with man, and His unconditional purpose.
Two Senses of Divine Repentance
Morrish's Bible Dictionary draws this distinction carefully:
Morrish's Bible DictionaryThe idea conveyed in this term is of great importance from the fact of its application not only to man but to God, showing how God, in His government of the earth, is pleased to express His own sense of events taking place upon it. This does not clash with His omniscience. There are two senses in which repentance on the part of God is spoken of.
1. As to His own creation or appointment of objects that fail to answer to His glory. He repented that He had made man on the earth, and that He had set up Saul as king of Israel. Gen. 6:6-7; 1 Sam. 15:11, 35
2. As to punishment which He has threatened, or blessing He has promised. When Israel turned from their evil ways and sought God, He often repented of the punishment He had meditated. 2 Sam. 24:16, etc. On the other hand, the promises to bless Israel when in the land were made conditionally on their obedience, so that God would, if they did evil, turn from or repent of the good that He had said He would do, either to Israel or in fact to any nation. Jer. 18:8-10.
God's Work vs. God's Purpose
W. Kelly makes a vital distinction in his exposition of Genesis 6. God's repenting concerns His work — what He has made — not His eternal purpose:
W. KellyHere however we need to distinguish: else we shall surely and seriously stray. Jehovah is here said to repent of mankind that He had made on the earth. His work is a thing quite different from His purpose. And when corruption pervaded it, He was in no way bound to perpetuate what existed only to His dishonour.
Far from suggesting cold indifference, this language reveals the depth of God's feeling:
Yet the language employed is affectingly suggestive of the grief it cost Him Whom the unbelieving mind of man is pleased to treat as impassive... Jehovah felt deeply what man ought to have felt but did not. "Jehovah repented that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart."
The Object Changes, Not God
J. N. Darby puts it with characteristic precision:
J. N. DarbyGod changes His mind, but only as to creation or the like — never when there is a purpose. It is, if the thing totally changes, that God judges differently about it. So it was now, and therefore God would destroy man. It is not as if some change took place in God, but the aspect of His mind is changed towards an object that has itself changed.
The Depth of God's Sorrow
L. M. Grant draws out the emotional reality behind the expression:
L. M. GrantCertainly God knew from eternity past that man would so greatly corrupt himself, yet we are told in verse 6 that He repented that He had made man on the earth. This surely indicates the depth of sorrow that God feels in contemplating the sin of mankind. On the one hand God's great wisdom and power is seen in His creation and also in His marvelous work of recovery after man's ruin; but on the other hand we see the reality of the feelings of His heart in reference to His creatures willingly choosing to rebel against Him.
The Case of Saul: Both Statements True
The rejection of Saul is the passage where both sides appear most starkly — God "repented" that He had made Saul king (v. 11), yet "the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent" (v. 29). W. J. Fereday shows how these are perfectly consistent:
W. J. FeredayIt is deeply solemn to notice that Samuel uses language concerning the rejection of Saul similar to that which Balaam used concerning the blessing of Israel. Balaam said, "God is not a man that He should lie, neither the son of man that He should repent" (Num. 23:19). The blessing of Israel was therefore assured, whatever the enemy might do or say, or whatever unfaithfulness might manifest itself in the people themselves. Samuel said, "The Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent, for He is not a man, that He should repent" (1 Sam. 15:29). The divine rejection of Saul was thus as irrevocable as the blessing of the nation; for when once God has pledged His word, He never goes back upon it.
God's Unconditional Promises Never Change
C. H. Mackintosh, expounding Balaam's prophecy in Numbers 23, shows that where God's promise rests on His own sovereign purpose, there is no repentance:
C. H. Mackintosh"God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent." This places Israel upon safe ground. God must be true to Himself. Is there any power that can possibly prevent Him from fulfilling His word and oath? Surely not. "He has blessed; and I cannot reverse it."
In Israel's case, we shall see, in the very next chapter, what terrible evil they fell into. Did this alter Jehovah's judgement? Surely not. "He is not the son of men that he should repent." He judged and chastened them for their evil, because He is holy, and can never sanction, in His people, anything that is contrary to His nature. But He could never reverse His judgement respecting them.
The Potter and the Clay
W. E. Vine, on the sign of the potter in Jeremiah 18, shows how this governmental principle plays out among the nations:
W. E. VineThe circle of civilization is to Him just what the workshop is to the potter. As the latter holds the clay and moulds it into variously formed vessels, so the Lord holds in His hands the nations, fashioning and forming as He thinks good... unlike art Thou to the potter in this that Thou hast said; If that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, then will I repent of the evil that I had thought to do unto them.
Synthesis
When Scripture says God "repented," it does not attribute fickleness or ignorance to Him. It expresses — in language adapted to our understanding — the reality of God's moral response to what takes place on earth. Two principles run side by side:
In His government, God acts responsively. When man corrupts what God has made, God is not bound to perpetuate it — He may "repent" of His work. When a nation turns from evil, He may turn from threatened judgment; when one turns from good, He may turn from promised blessing. The change is not in God's character but in His dealings, because the object before Him has changed.
In His purpose, God never repents. His unconditional promises — to Abraham, to Israel, to the Church — rest on His own faithfulness and are beyond reversal. "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Rom. 11:29).
The apparent contradiction dissolves entirely when we see that God's "repentance" belongs to the sphere of His governmental dealings with responsible man, while His unchangeableness belongs to the sphere of His sovereign, unconditional counsels. As Kelly put it: His work is a thing quite different from His purpose.