Malachi 3:6, “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”

        1 Samuel 15:29, “And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.” The prophet Samuel assures King Saul that God’s displeasure with him this second time assures the kingdom to be definitely “rent” from him and given to another (i.e., David, “a man after God’s own heart”, 1 Samuel 13:14).

WHAT ABOUT INSTANCES WHERE THE BIBLE SAYS GOD DID RELENT OR REPENT?

e.g., Exodus 32:14, “And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.” See picture with outline above.

Exodus 32:14, Scene: This incident occurs after the Israelites made the golden calf while Moses was on Mount Sinai. God expressed His anger and intended to destroy them all, but Moses interceded on their behalf.

• The term “relented” (or “repented” in some translations) is used to describe God’s response to Moses’ plea.

• Strong's Dictionary of the Hebrew word “relented” (or “repented”) is #H5162:

na^cham naw-kham' A primitive root; properly to sigh, that is, breathe strongly; by implication to be sorry, that is, (in a favorable sense) to pity, console or (reflexively) rue; or (unfavorably) to avenge (oneself): - comfort (self), ease [one’s self], repent (-er, -ing, self).

When God says He’s going to destroy, it is relative to man's response. Genesis 6:7, “And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.” But God saved righteous Noah and his family along with representatives of animals.

1 Samuel 15:11, 35. “It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments.” "And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.”

2 Samuel 24:16a, “And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough:”

A quote from the Cambridge Commentary on Exodus 32: 'God is thus said to ‘repent,’ not because He really changes His purpose, but because He does so "apparently", (anthropopathically) when, in consequence of a change in the character and conduct of men, He is obliged to make a corresponding change ... towards them which He had previously announced, and adopt towards them "a new attitude."’

If a man repents of his evil, a threat may be withdrawn by God. This is made possible by holy God dying in the stead of the repentent sinner. “The soul that sins must die.” Jeremiah 18:7-10, “At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; 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, wherewith I said I would benefit them.”

Compare with Jeremiah 26:3, 13, 19, “If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.” “Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.”

The Gentile city of Nineveh, Assyria, was condemned by God. God sympathetically sends His prophet Jonah to them. Jonah preached that God was going to destroy them because of their wickedness. Jonah 3:8-10, the king was sorrowful and commanded the city, “But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.”

1. Understanding God’s Nature:

   • Immutability: The Bible teaches that God is immutable, meaning He does not change in His nature, character, or promises (e.g., Malachi 3:6, James 1:17, Hebrews 13:8).

   Merriam-Webster.com. Immutability. “not capable of or susceptible to change.”

   • "Relational Dynamics": When the Bible speaks of God “relenting” or “repenting,” it often describes a change in God’s actions or decisions in response to human behavior, not a change in His character or ultimate will.

   • God’s Sovereignty and Mercy: God’s decision to relent from destroying the Israelites and Nineveh demonstrates His mercy and willingness to respond to intercession and repentance. It shows that while God’s character remains constant, His actions can adapt to fulfill His purposes and respond to human actions.

This dynamic relationship highlights both His justice and His love (esp., mercy).

This is really in my thinking the fundamental characteristic of the gospel. Man sins. Man must die as a result. But God still cares. Jesus had to come to Earth in order to save us from our dying. Man was incapable of saving anyone. He along with Satan stood condemned for any and all sins. God suffering and dying in our stead was necessary. Only God is holy and thereby able to rescue the sinner by dying in our stead. But God is not man. So He had to become man and live perfectly and subsequently shed His holy blood. By the shedding of His blood there can be remission.

God is holy and righteous and thereby must destroy the sinner, but by substituting Himself in our stead He can redeem and save us from condemnation. The power of the Devil is removed and the Devil can now be judged and condemned but not the believer or one that God justifies.

Simply speaking, it is like Peter’s writing in 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Every soul is condemned by his sin/s. Romans 3:23, 24, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: "

God's “relenting in destroying Israel” IS NOT CONTRADICTORY of His nature but is the very characteristic of God's reactions throughout the history of mankind as recorded in the Bible.

ISRAEL SINNED (deserving judgment and destruction). Just like the Gentiles. ALL (including us today) sin and deserve the wages of sin: destruction (Romans 3:23). God would have been justified then (in my conclusion) to have destroyed all the sinners. But His love plan through Jesus allowed His relenting (John 3:16).

GOD loves all of His creation. He loved and was delivering the Jewish people under Moses. Upon the intercession of Moses and the holy redemptive plan through Jesus (Hebrews 9:15) for both those under the Old and the New, He was justified in His saving those with Moses that repented.

IN THE CASE OF GOLDEN CALF INCIDENT (Exodus 32:14). Moses along with the repentant ones still destroyed those rebels. But God was justified in saving the repentant ones who returned to "the Lord's side." This does not mean that today a person can be on the "Lord's side" by killing the enemies of God. That was the answer to the rebellion under Moses and was under the Old Covenant justice system and was related to the state of that current rebellion.

Notice that God still had to carry out the original condemnation of the sinners who did not repent. Those on the Lord's side would be those repentants who would be rescued by Jesus' sacrifice. Those “on the Lord’s side” initially included just the Levites but later in the passage included those who became consecrated and were accepted therefore by God. The New Testament allows God to be “repentent” to each faithful Christian who accepts the invitation to be “on the Lord’s side.”

GAYLON WEST fundamental conclusion suggested by Trevor West
proof readers: Janie W. Ward; Mary L. West



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