Question
Does God ever change his mind?
Response
In a world of uncertainty and continual change, in a society where the people around us are often changing their minds and breaking their promises the words of Malachi 3:6 can be a great comfort: “I the Lord do not change”.
Imagine for a moment if God could change…
A change in God would either be for the better or for the worse. This would leave us with a dilemma. If it were possible for God to change for the better it would mean that he was not ‘at His best’ right now. It would mean that currently He wasn’t perfect in everyway because there was room for improvement.
Now consider the possibility of God being able to change for the worse. That is extremely scary. There would be no guarantees that God wasn’t going to gradually, little-by-little become evil.
The fact that God is unchanging is one of his many amazing qualities; it’s a quality that makes him trustworthy. How could we ever trust God if he might change? If God could change, he might change his mind and not send Jesus back to earth, he might change the criteria for who goes to Heaven and who doesn’t.
It needs to be noted that there is disagreement among theologians as to the exact definition of God’s unchangeableness (or immutability). Although there is general agreement that God is unchanging in His Being, there are different views held with regard to whether or not His knowledge and will are subject to change as he responds to the actions of humans.
Wayne Grudem* says “God is unchanging in his being (Psalm 102:27), perfections (Malachi 3:6), purposes (Psalm 33:11), and promises (Numbers 23:19), yet God does act and feel emotions (Isaiah 62:5, Psalm 78:40), and he acts and feels differently in response to different situations (Jonah 3:10).”
If God doesn’t change what are we to make of the times in the Bible where it appears that God changes his mind? The story of Jonah provides us with an example. In Jonah 3:4 we read that God told Jonah to proclaim that in “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.” The following verses tell of how the Ninevites repented. Then in Jonah 3:10 we read, “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.”
It’s important that we realise that it was not God who changed; it was the Ninevites who did. God said he would punish the Ninevites and he would have done if they hadn’t repented. However, God gave them warning of the situation they were in, giving them the opportunity to change their ways. They did change their ways, so God no longer needed to punish them.
That was always what God wanted, if not he wouldn’t have bothered to warn them, he would have just sent the punishment. In a similar way a parent or teacher would normally warn you of pending discipline. They don’t do this so you can wait in suspense for the inevitable pain that is coming your way – they warn you in advance, so you can change, so they don’t have to discipline you.
God didn’t change his mind. He always knew that if the Ninevites turned from their wickedness then He wouldn’t have to punish them and I am sure that God was very pleased about the changed situation.
It might sometimes appear to us that God changes his mind, but he doesn’t, he simply responds differently in different situations. If the situation changes, as it did in Ninevah, God is going to respond differently.
*Wayne Grudem, Bible Doctrine (1999), IVP.
Key Bible Passages
Numbers 23:19
Psalm 33:11
Psalm 102:27
Malachi 3:6
"God is unchanging in his being, perfections, purposes, and promises, yet God does act and feel emotions, and he acts and feels differently in response to different situations"
Wayne Grudem
This response was written by Phil Green. Copyright © October 2006.
The following ideas many help you discuss this issue as a group:
- How does the fact that God is unchanging make you feel? How does it effect how you relate to him? (You may like to consider this question in terms of His being, perfections, purposes and promises.)
- What problems would a ‘changeable God’ cause us?
- Read Jonah 3. Why did God send Jonah to Ninevah? Why did God not carry out what he had threatened? What would it say about God if he had still destroyed Ninevah despite their repentance?
- How should knowing that God does not change his mind DOES act and feel differently in different situations effect how we pray?
FAQ Disclaimer:
FAQ responses are designed to promote clear biblical thinking about subjects that are often difficult and confusing. The responses are all considered to be compatible with the Evangelical Alliance’s basis of faith but beyond that should not be assumed to represent the Evangelical Alliance’s ‘official standpoint’ on any particular doctrine or issue.
