Reply To: Theology Discussion Board 1

[Pchris]

EXAMPLE 1
Exodus 32 vs 10 ‘Now therefore ,let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them and i may consume them, and i will make you a great nation. nkjv

After the isrealites responded to God’s faithfulness in delivering them from egypt by making a golden statue to worship and having a party around it.
God confronted Moses on mount sinai and revealed His plans to burn hot and consume the children of isreal. And Moses responded with a plea in verse 11-13
verse 11 ‘ Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God , and said ‘Lord ,why does your wrath burn hot against your people whom you have brought out of the land of egypt with great power and with a mighty hand .’ nkjv
After Moses’ plea ; God relented from the disaster He had spoken of bringing on His people. Looking at the above scriptures , it may seem as though Moses’ plea convinced God to change His mind by reminding Him of something He had said .
This action of God seems to contradict His word in Numbers 23 vs 19 ‘God is not a man that He should lie , nor is He a son of man that He should repent.
Reconciling this with the unchanging nature of God we must understand that God’s plans are unfolding. God is too big to contain in neat ,tidy formulas.
The above scripture indicates that God changed His course of action based on Moses’ plea, but the irony of the story is that in Exodus 32 vs 7 , God is the one who tells Moses to go down and see the situation . Moses didn’t know the people had corrupted themselves, God showed this to him.
Furthermore , the very thing that Moses uses to ‘change God’s mind ‘ is God’s own promise and God of course hadn’t forgotten His promise because He is omniscient.
God had put Moses into a situation so that he would see the problem God already knew about ,remember God’s promises and petition God to change His course of action. Moses’ prayer itself is a result of God’s plan.

EXAMPLE 2
GOD PROLONGING KING HEZEKIAH’S LIFE 2KINGS 20 VS 1-6

It happened that at the time King Hezekiah fell terminally ill and God sent His word through His prophet Isaiah that he was going to die, but King Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to God for mercy. God heared his prayers and added 15 more years to his life .
It may seem as though God acted contrary to His word in ‘ Isaiah 55 vs 11 – So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth, it shall not return to me void but it shall accomplish what I please , and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.’ nkjv
But reconciling this with the unchanging nature of God , we must understand that we have a God who is relatable and make sense to us . God is not rigid or static, our God is a merciful and compassionate God .
God doesn’t need permission or consultation from anyone to be the God that He is. His word in Romans 9vs15 ‘ for He says to Moses, I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion’ . This scripture further affirms the unchanging nature of God.