Does God change His mind?

[Greg]

I don't believe that He does:

"God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind." -Numbers 23:19

How do the verses in Scripture that appear to support the belief held by many that God can and does change His mind, such as Exodus 32:9-14, Isaiah 38:1-5, and other such verses, comport with the truth of Numbers 23:19?

 

[larryjf]

The instances in Scripture where we are told that God changed His mind, or something similar, is a manner of revealing to us how His decree is worked out in history.
With God there is no time, but He does work within time...so these kinds of things put His decree into a time frame for our understanding of the unfolding of them.

 

[JM]

[video=youtube;02sRNi0kOQI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02sRNi0kOQI[/video]

 

[Don Kistler]

In order for God to change His mind, it would mean that one of the following would have to happen:

1. He would have to get new and better information, which would mean that He is not omniscient.

2. He would have to come up with a better plan, which would mean that He is not perfectly wise.

3. He would be reacting to circumstances rather than decreeing and ordaining circumstances, which would mean that He is not sovereign and has not ordained whatsoever comes to pass.

In other words, He would not be God.

Jonathan Edwards has a sermon entitled "God Never Changes His Mind" in the book "The Puritan Pulpit: Jonathan Edwards."

 

[Greg]

I don't believe that He does:

"God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind." -Numbers 23:19

How do the verses in Scripture that appear to support the belief held by many that God can and does change His mind, such as Exodus 32:9-14, Isaiah 38:1-5, and other such verses, comport with the truth of Numbers 23:19?

The truth of Numbers 23:19 is an explicit statement of God's immutability, but the whole of Scripture is an implicit testimony to God's unchanging nature. The aforementioned passages that seem to point otherwise are simply orders of His decree. In other words, in His eternal decree, he determined that these words and actions would happen. This, in no way, violates Numbers 23:19 or the fact that God does whatsoever He pleases.

The instances in Scripture where we are told that God changed His mind, or something similar, is a manner of revealing to us how His decree is worked out in history.
With God there is no time, but He does work within time...so these kinds of things put His decree into a time frame for our understanding of the unfolding of them.

Thank you, gentlemen. Your responses are very helpful. I was involved in a discussion of this topic recently and the question was asked, "If God will not or cannot change His mind, then why pray?" I had told him that in our prayers of supplication, it is our will that is being conformed to the perfect will of God, not that by our prayers do we try and persuade God to enact our judgment of the matter.

Would you say that's a fair answer as well?

 

[larryjf]

Thank you, gentlemen. Your responses are very helpful. I was involved in a discussion of this topic recently and the question was asked, "If God will not or cannot change His mind, then why pray?" I had told him that in our prayers of supplication, it is our will that is being conformed to the perfect will of God, not that by our prayers do we try and persuade God to enact our judgment of the matter.

Would you say that's a fair answer as well?

You're very welcome.

In terms of prayer, I would also suggest that God not only determines the ends, but also the means.
So God not only decrees that thus and so would happen, but also that it would happen through the instrumentality of our prayers.