http://steve-finnell.blogspot.com/2017/03/does-god-ever-change-his-mind-by-david.html
Does God Ever Change His Mind?
by David Vaughn Elliott
Does
God ever change His mind? Listen to the words that the Lord put into
the mouth of Balaam: "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the
son of man, that he should repent: has he said, and shall he not do it?"
(Num. 23:19). Does this mean that whatever God predicts is sure to
happen; that all of God's warnings and promises will be fulfilled --
unconditionally?
That's
not how Jonah understood God's nature. When God told Jonah to prophesy
doom upon Nineveh, Jonah fled. Why? "I fled before unto Tarshish: for I
knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of
great kindness, and you repent of the evil" (4:2). And thus it happened.
When Jonah did prophesy Nineveh's destruction, Nineveh repented and God
relented.
How
did Jonah know that God might "repent of the evil"? I don't know; but
the book of Jonah itself is a testimony to this truth. So is the word of
Jeremiah: "If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from
their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a
kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it
obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good" (Jer. 18:8-10).
"Repent of the evil... repent of the good." "Repent" means to change
one's mind. Other versions render it "relent," "think better,"
"reconsider."
God
is not obligated to state these conditions every time He predicts a
blessing or a disaster. Like Jonah, we should always keep in mind that
God's mercy and justice can call for a change of plans. In Balaam's
case, there was no reason to change. God had promised to bless Israel,
and he surely would not "repent of the good" simply because the Moabites
didn't like it.
In
the case of Nineveh, no "if" is recorded. It may not always be easy to
distinguish between a promise/warning with conditions and a prophetic
prediction that has no conditions. It is essential to consider all the
Scriptures that have a bearing on each prediction.
Deut.
30 foretold that if Israel returned to God, God would "turn your
captivity" (v 3). He promised to bless them abundantly, "if you shall...
keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book
of the law" (v 10). This "if" was predicated on their keeping the Law of
Moses. However, there was another condition that was not stated at that
time.
The
promise in Deut. 30 is like a coupon you have in 2008 that expired in
2006. The coupon is no longer valid. So it is with the promise in Deut.
30. Israelis today cannot fulfill the "if" even if they want to. They
have no temple in which to offer the prescribed sacrifices. Worse yet,
if they were to demolish the Dome of the Rock and build a temple in its
place, God would not recognize it. Jesus blotted "out the handwriting of
ordinances that was against us... and took it out of the way, nailing
it to his cross" (Col. 2:14). At that moment, God tore the veil of the
temple from top to bottom. From that moment, the Law of Moses was no
longer valid. "For the priesthood being changed [from Levi to Christ],
there is made of necessity a change also of the law" (Heb. 7:12).
The
promise of return with blessings based on keeping the laws in "this
book of the law," is no longer valid. The promise has expired. As Paul
told the Galatians, "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever
of you are justified by the law; you are fallen from grace" (5:4). Any
promise based on keeping the Law of Moses is out-dated, expired, of no
value today. The way for Jews to be blessed of God today is the same as
for all of us. "There is neither Jew nor Greek... for you are all one in
Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and
heirs according to the promise" (Gal. 3:28-29). Because of Jesus' death,
God's requirements and conditions have changed.