Does God Change His Mind
September 7th 2015
This mornings watch is turning out to be really good. I started reading in Exodus 28 and immediately started underlining. There is wonderful Knowledge and Wisdom to be gained from these chapters. To many I suppose the reading is difficult, as it is for me, but what else are you going to do?
First I found that when God instructed Moses about making the Priests Garments He had already given Wisdom and Understanding and Knowledge to “The Wisehearted”… Wow! Then it goes on and speaks about the sacrifices required to consecrate the priests (Aaron and his sons), it speaks about the alter of incense in Chapter 30 and instructions for the making the incense. Can you believe that God specifically told Moses, if anyone puts the incense on themselves, or even makes something like it, they would be cut off from the people??? That’s some intense incense… 🙂
Then we have mention of the Sabbath in Chapter 31. I am reminded again how important the Sabbath is to God and how this command lives on for ever. The sabbath is not some old testament thing that was done away with when Jesus came, but to the contrary, it is probably even more important today because we have the Holy Spirit in abundance and we can enjoy Our Father individually today. It was so important that if someone did not keep the sabbath they would be put to death and this remains true today. If we don’t keep the Sabbath we will experience Spiritual Death!
The main point of todays reading where I actually had to stop reading and start praying and researching came in Chapter 32 verse 14 – And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. Hmmm, The LORD repented? Of Evil? What he heck? It’s too early for this! LOL I’m going to grab some more coffee!!!
Ok, so I’ve had some coffee and breakfast and I can’t stop thinking about this. I’ve read a few commentaries and there appears to be 2 different views on this, one is that God repented and the other is that it was just a joke and when it said repented it didn’t really mean it. Seriously? Yep…
So basically the majority are saying that God does not repent because He knows everything and is always happy… 1Samuel 15 29 And also the Strenth of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent. Ok, now we have a delema. One verse says God repented of evil He thought and another says God does not repent. Most people I’ve read this morning say that God only said he repented because He wanted us to know that if He didn’t know everything then He would have repented if He were really angry in the first place, but Because He is God, then He doesn’t get Angry and doesn’t repent because He doesn’t do evil… This just doesn’t make sense to me. Why would God do something that He can’t do, but because He can’t do it, He does it for the sake of showing us that He can do what he says He Can’t do???? Ok, yes, I am just as confused as you.
Here’s my thought on the subject, after thinking about this and praying for some time this morning. I think God is capable of Changing His mind. I think the Bible shows up numerous places where God changes His mind and I am Glad He changes His Mind! If He didn’t change His Mind then I would not be allowed to go to heaven. I think God created us in His image and that we are a lot like Him. I think this earth is a testing ground for us to learn to make up our minds and follow him, to repent of evil that we have done in the past. I think He is our example. He changed His Mind, and we are to change our minds. It seems to me that God can do anything He wants.
Now in reference to the scriptures which say God will not lie nor repent, here are my thoughts. In the two places I’ve studied where the scripture says God will not repent (1Samuel 15:29 & Numbers 23:19) Someone is speaking about something specific. All this really boils down to how you perceive God and His Mind. He does not operate on the same level as we do, but on a higher level. His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts Higher than our thoughts. Gods Mind is different than our mind and yet in a way it is the same. Gods purpose (one part of His Mind) never changes! He loves and does not hate. His ways are righteous and that part of His mind never changes. But there is another part of His Mind, the direct part which deals with us. It is this part of His Mind that changes based on individual circumstance. Like when He wanted to destroy the people in Exodus for making the golden Calf, but Moses talked Him out of it. God wanted to destroy the people and changed His Mind after hearing Moses speak. So, God still loved the people, even when He was angry with them and wanted to destroy them, and Love prevailed when Moses reminded Him of that Love.
We are very similar in this aspect. I’m sure you’ve had times when you wanted to hurt someone you loved because you were angry with them. We’ve all felt this way at some point in time. We have two parts of Mind as well. WE have a deeper mind, we as Christians have accepted Jesus and we will never give that up. No matter what! that part of us will never Change! We are forever saved and will stand on that faith until our dying day, but we do get confused in our walks. WE make mistakes! We change every day and I believe God is the same way. Even though He knows the future, and the past, He is growing with us. He created us to be His children, His family. He was lonely, He has emotions and feels things. He makes decisions. He changes his mind sometimes and so do we.
But for now I can’t think about this any more. I don’t know about you, but studying the word of God really takes a toll on me. I can’t explain it, but I get worn out when I study the bible. I guess that probably means my spiritual muscles are weak… Maybe I should be working them out more??? Yes I know.. That’s what this is all about. God bless you all who read this! Good DAY!!!
