Critics say God changes his mind and therefore we cannot trust him. These critics often speak of Bible books like Jonah where God promised punishment but then God did not destroy Nineveh and many other cities like it where people repented. Critics say God does not follow through on his threats. But God spoke through his prophets and declared in Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man that he should lie. God is not a human that he should change his mind. Has he ever spoken and not acted? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?” If God does not change, then what is happening when it appears he did? Please join me as I look at God’s faithfulness despite the seeming contradiction of change.
Numerous Bible verses confirm the faithfulness of God’s word (Matt.24:35, Luke 1:37, Jer. 40:8, etc.) God says we can trust his promises. Actually, God’s mercy and faithfulness offended Jonah. We read in Jonah 4:2, “So he complained to the Lord about it: ‘Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.” Bible critics say God deceived the Ninevites by pretending to threaten punishment for their sin. The critics say God never intended to punish the Ninevites, because God relented from punishing them after they repented. Some critics also say this story of Jonah and the Ninevites shows that people can manipulate God to do what they want. By repenting, the Ninevites manipulated God to not punish them.
Both sets of critics miss the truth. Not knowing God’s heart, these critics accuse God of things he does not do. God does not change. He is always honest, pure, loyal, merciful, compassionate, just, and true (to name only a few of this qualities.) God wants us to follow him in his will. When we fight God, we are like a bicyclist barely making progress against a fierce wind. She inches along, struggling. She may be sweating, and her muscles ache. Every move her foot makes on the pedals hurts. Yet if she turns her bike around and heads in the opposite direction, she no longer struggles. Now every push on the pedal feels nearly effortless and the wind is actually helping her unlike before when it hindered her. Did the wind change? The wind remained constant, but now she moves with the wind. The repentant Ninevite sinners are like that bicyclist. They were moving against God’s will. But when they repented, they began to live in harmony with God’s will. God and his will did not change, just like the wind did not change with the bicyclist. God did not change his mind with the Ninevites. They changed to go along with his Will.
All of our lives are like the bicyclist and the Ninevites. We can fight God’s will and then experience his discipline. Or we can change and do what God has called us to do. God and his will have not changed. The decision remains ours. When people obey God, he does not need to discipline or punish them.
And in answer to the critics who say either the Ninevites manipulated God by repenting, or God was deceiving the Ninevites by not intending to punish unrepentant sin, please read the Old Testament book of Nahum. About 150 years later, the prophet said in Nahum 3:1 “Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims.” This time Nineveh did not repent, and God did punish the violent murders, by destroying their prideful city. God had threatened the Ninevites once, and that time they repented. The second time they did not repent, and God did destroy them. God is faithful to his word. People cannot manipulate Him. Unless they offer sincere repentance, God sees their sin and it remains upon their own souls, and he will punish them. God does not change his mind. We must change our minds and go along with his will. God’s will is more solid than steel, and we must decide whether we will honor God or not.
God is faithful, and we can trust him. While critics will always find fault with God and the Bible, their criticism can be proven false. We can trust God. He loved us enough to send his son to die to save us from our sins. God did not change his mind about punishment for sin either. He simply allowed Jesus to willingly take our place, so please surrender your soul if you have not done so already. And if you have, join me in celebrating our safety in the God who never changes.
Thanks so much for joining us in this week’s post. May the Lord bless you with his unchanging faithful love!