Can God,or does God change his mind?

[Brighthouse]

Before I answer this question,I want to show you a few examples if I may. Isaiah 38:1-6 Hezekiah became mortally sick. Isaiah came to him and said to him, " thus says the LORD,Set your house in order,for you shall die and not live.

Notice something here!! Isaiah did not speak the number of days!! WHY?? Because this would not be left unto him,but rather to Hezekiah!! Since we know for a fact the God is all knowing,meaning he has the answer to every question,from every angle, what change can God ever make? BUT!!!

What God can,and sometimes does do,is change the mind of men! verse 2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord,verse 3 and said,remember now O Lord, I beseech YOU,how I have walked before YOU in truth and with a whole heart,and have done what is good in YOUR sight."And Hezekiah wept bitterly. verse 4 Then the Word of the Lord came to Isaiah saying,

verse 5 Go and say to Hezekiah Thus says the Lord,the God of your father David," I have heard your prayer,I have seen your tears; behold I will add fifteen years to your life! NOW!!! The number!!

But mark?? why didn't God just tell him from the start 15years,he knew Hezekiah would pray!! Indeed he did!! But Hezekiah until faced with his own death,went before the Lord,begging him, with great tears for more time.

God causes him to be as we are always to be!! HUMBLE!! I have found when I was not humble, the Lord would make a way for me to become humble!! This my brothers and sisters is what we are to examine from ourselves daily!! (2 cor 13:5) (Matt 18:1-6) It is not God's mind which can change,but our own mind!

And depending on what we DO!! God moves accordingly.why?? because of this( Hebrews 11:6) I had it all planned to show you all God can change his mind!! LOL

Well as usual I was wrong in my own thinking!! LOL If the Lord would change his mind,then he would not any longer be all knowing!! God makes a mistake?? lol No God cannot do this,but what he can do,is change the minds of men,so he can restore them!!

I had such a great list of scripture to!!LOL ( gen 2:16-17,exodus 32:9-14 Exodus 32:7-8 the reason for the threat. and so many others!! I had it all planned out!! I was so proud of myself, I was going to show you all that God can, and sometimes does change his mind. I can't!!! LOL

Because I would be telling you all a falsehood! I never EVER!! wish to EVER do this! When you walked out of your house today,you may have turned left or right to get to your car,God knew which way you would turn,he also knew if you were going to change your mind, and walk right back into the house because you forgot something!!

That is all knowing,and because our Wonderful God is all knowing,he cannot make a mistake. God can feel bad,he can even repent of an act,but he knew what was to follow,even as he knew what would happen from the beginning, they do not call God the Alpha and Omega for nothing!!

One of the great wonders of our LIVING God,is that he loves us so much,that he will change our minds!! He will cause something to happen to get us back on the narrow road,when like myself,i have strayed off of it from time to time. I cannot tell you how many times the Lord has changed my mind!!

Will you let God change your mind as well? You do not have to,that is the freedom we have in his Great name! But in letting the Lord indeed change our minds,we find out something truly amazing! That which we need,we have,and that which we seek,we find,and that which we ask( as long as it is according to his Word) we receive. Some may still think God can change his mind,but if they look REAL CLOSE!!

They will see God has changed our minds!! and renewed our minds as well if we let him!( rom 12:1-2) ( 1 Cor 1:30-31 But BY HIS!!! doing!! you are in Christ Jesus!( 1 Cor 2:16 For WHO?? has known the mind of of the Lord,that he will instruct him???? BUT!!we have the mind of Christ! ( knowing this!!We cannot know the mind of the Lord,but we can let God change ours!!)

I give every praise and thanks to our Jesus!! What i thought would take days,has just taken a few hours in prayer! I hope this has given you all, what the Lord sure gave me on this!! Many of you probably already knew this!! Some of us, are a little slow,but I hope you had a lot of fun,as I did in writing this.Blessing all!

 

[agua]

One of the great wonders of our LIVING God,is that he loves us so much,that he will change our minds!! He will cause something to happen to get us back on the narrow road,when like myself,i have strayed off of it from time to time. I cannot tell you how many times the Lord has changed my mind!!

Amen Mark. I have not heard someone discuss the subject of "God changing His mind" without including the story of Nineveh though.


Jon 3:9-10 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? (10) Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.


What do you think ?

 

[happyharold4]

God is not the author of confusion---And also in Him is no shadow of turning---And in Him it is Yea and Amen.

happy

 

[Brighthouse]

LOL Amen I did see this Agua!! Jonah 4:10-11God uses the plant as an object lesson to teach jonah this important truth:If Jonah was justified in being so upset about the loss of a plant to whose existence he had contributed nothing, was God not justified in showing love and concern for the people, of Nineveh,whom he had created? The population must have been around 600,000 if there were 120,000 children. many animals. A final touch of irony,as if to say,Jonah,even if you approve of the destruction of hundreds of thousands of people,think of the waste of livestock that would be involved!! That is so true Happy! That is why an answer to me has been given. I myself do believe, that any question should have an answer to it. Now whether we can give an answer that the person will receive?? That is not up to me!! LOL. But thanks for pointing that out Agua!! I sure did look hard at it. blessing bro!

 

[agua]

We do see the eventual destruction of Nineveh though in Nahum.

 

[jiggyfly]

Here's a couple of scriptures to throw into the discussion.

7 The Lord told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.8 How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
9 Then the Lord said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are.10 Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.”
11 But Moses tried to pacify the Lord his God. “O Lord!” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand?12 Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth’? Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people!13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.’”
14 So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.
Ex 32:7-14 (NLT)


14 So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel, and 70,000 people died as a result.15 And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But just as the angel was preparing to destroy it, the Lord relented and said to the death angel, “Stop! That is enough!” At that moment the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
1 Chron 21:14-15 (NLT)


and the one Agua posted
10 When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
Jonah 3:10 (NLT)

Seems to me that God has indeed changed His mind according to the scriptures, there are several other examples if more is needed.

 

[jari]

But we must remember that we have free will and I believe this is the reason God can change the judgement He has spoken.

Think it this way all men are sinners and need to be saved. So does God change His mind when He saves us? First He says were sinners then we are forgiven and our eternal fate is changed.

So God knows but He also allows us free will and even Im sure he knows our decisions he also tells us the truth according to our current status and not according to our future.

Like it says in ezekiel the king was given "added" years... After he prayed.

So thats just the way i see it.... (God knowis our decisions that come of free will and each day He deals us according to our "status")

 

[Brighthouse]

Brother Jiggyfly,as you so well pointed out!! But please look close at verse 7-8 If the Lord would have done nothing to the people, he would have lied unto Moses. Don't you think the reason the Lord stopped this,was that he knew he got his point across to the people?

What is so true is this,not everyone will agree!! LoL and that is cool!! I can see both sides here as well,as to why many would think God did change his mind in many places.

But consider this as well please. If we change our mind on something,does that mean we changed because of someone else?? Or because we ourselves were not sure? Can God not be sure of what he ever does? or does every deed, as well as every word have a purpose to him,as ought to be with us? Just a thought.

Thanks so much all,for all of your wise words here! I told you I only know in part!! LOl But I am so glad we can talk about this,and hear from all sides!! I have found your words to be most helpful!

 

[jari]

I think commonly people think God knows every single detail that's going to happen, but what if God allows free will (and knows our decisions of course and our paths) and makes it so that all those details that are important for His will to happen, do happen?

Another thing about the ezekiel is that when God said that He was going to die wouldnt that mean God lied to ezekiel if it werent true? And if it didnt mean that he would die to the disease? But God gave ezekiel mercy and let him live and the disease got healed.

 

[agua]

But consider this as well please. If we change our mind on something,does that mean we changed because of someone else?? Or because we ourselves were not sure? Can God not be sure of what he ever does? or does every deed, as well as every word have a purpose to him,as ought to be with us? Just a thought.

Well said Mark.

I look at God changing His mind simply as His mercy.

Thankfully our Lord is merciful.

 

[Thiscrosshurts]

I think both points of view have merit.God not only knows what happened but what did not happen(or what would have happened).In other words both paths are legitimate futures but only one comes to pass in time.
Gods plan for the world would be accomplished no matter which line was chosen by individuals.

Another good example is the discussion Abraham has with the Lord

Gen 18:24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?

The Lord bargains with Abraham and is willing to spare the city if 50 righteous are found.

Gen 18:28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.

Gen 18:29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake.

Gen 18:30 And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.

Gen 18:31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake.

Gen 18:32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.

Thats 6 different paths and possibilities,one could argue that the Lord knew there where not ten righteous in that city so there would be no change in the outcome but I think the Lord can easily handle six possible futures and still have his will for all mankind be fulfilled.