Reply To: Theology Discussion Board

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The Bible teaches that God’s nature is immutable, meaning He cannot change (Hebrews 6:17-18, Malachi 3:6, James 1:17). God cannot change, neither can He lie; He says what He means and means what He says. We have to understand the nature of God. He is the good God. There is no evil in God, and there is no situation or circumstances where God will respond to you in evil. So it is an established truth that the nature of God cannot change.

Rather, His responses of goodness and mercy, which are characteristics of His good nature, are what men often confuse as God-changing. God may say something or predict a future that is going to happen, but because of His merciful and good nature, He may respond to a cry of repentance from a man, and that event or situation may not happen as foreseen. This is not because He changed, as it were, but because He responded by His unchanging nature, which is merciful and good to a changing man.

By that, I mean that man is ever-changing. As a result of this, a man may have done something, and there is a consequence of his sin or actions, but if he turns around and asks for mercy genuinely, he is going to get mercy instead of what he deserves.

This alludes to what Henry Thiessen said in his book Lectures in Systematic Theology: “The immutability of God is not to be confused with immobility. God is active and enters into relationships with changing men. In these relationships, it is necessary for an unchanging God to change in His dealings with changing men in order to remain unchanging in His character and purposes.”

The following scriptures are places and events where God changed His mind:

For instance, in Exodus 32:1-15, God had just given the Israelites the Ten Commandments, and while Moses was receiving further instructions from God, the people persuaded Aaron to create a golden calf for them to worship (Exodus 32:1-6). God saw this and told Moses that He would destroy the Israelites for their idolatry (Exodus 32:7-10). However, Moses interceded for the people, reminding God of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and asking Him to spare the Israelites (Exodus 32:11-13). The Bible then states that “the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened” (Exodus 32:14).

Again, in 2 Kings 20:1-11 and Isaiah 38:1-8, when King Hezekiah was sick and near death, God sent the prophet Isaiah to tell him that he would not recover. However, Hezekiah prayed and wept, and God extended his life by 15 years.

Also, in the book of Jonah Chapter 3, Prophet Jonah was instructed by God to go to Nineveh, and proclaim a message of judgment. Jonah was to warn the people of Nineveh that God had seen their wickedness and would destroy the city in 40 days if they did not repent (Jonah 3:4). However, the people of Nineveh, from the king to the lowest citizen, took Jonah’s message seriously. They declared a fast, put on sackcloth, and turned from their evil ways. Even the animals were included in the fast, and the king issued a decree calling for the people to turn from their violence and injustice (Jonah 3:5-9). When God saw the people’s repentance, He relented and did not destroy the city as He had said.

Furthermore, in Genesis 18:16-21, God informed Abraham of His plan to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah due to their wickedness. However, Abraham was concerned about the fate of his nephew, Lot, who lived in Sodom. Abraham turned to God and asked if He would destroy the righteous along with the wicked. He asked God if He would spare the city if there were 50 righteous people in it (Genesis 18:23-25). God agreed to spare the city for the sake of the 50 righteous people. Abraham, however, continued to negotiate with God. He asked if God would spare the city if there were only 45 righteous people, then 40, 30, 20, and finally 10 (Genesis 18:26-32). Each time, God agreed to spare the city for the sake of the righteous people.

Reconciling all the scriptures to the unchanging nature of God, one thing appears to be constant in all of them – repentance and intercession. This shows that in God’s dealings with men, His immutability should not be confused with immobility. Because He is dealing with a constantly changing man who has free will. God’s mobility enables Him to interact with men without changing His nature and attributes.

When a man cries out to God, God’s merciful and good character enables Him to respond with forgiveness, withholding what the man deserves and giving him what he doesn’t by His grace. This beautiful attribute of God may appear to mean God changing His mind. Whereas in the real sense of it, He is only remaining true to who He is. In addition, God’s forgiveness should not be mistaken as Him changing but rather a demonstration of His consistency in nature.

In conclusion, God’s actions and decisions can appear to change in response to human actions and intercession. However, this does not necessarily contradict God’s unchanging nature, which refers to His character and attributes.