For those of you who haven’t noticed on the blog, my team has changed. All the teams on our squad have changed, actually, and these team-changes happened when we were at debrief in Lima. Kayla, Karen, and I are still on a team, but we are now with Lesa from Team Radical, Jaide from Firestarters, and Brie and Katie from Salmo 45:11.
Something that came up recently amidst conversation with my new teammates was this: Does God change His Mind? It’s a simple question with a somewhat extensive answer. I’ve heard it debated, and I, too, have found myself trying to figure it out. By one hand, there are verses that say God doesn’t change His Mind (ref: Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29) – before I go on, let me just say: THIS IS TRUE. The Bible is the inerrant Word of God, and these verses are correct. God isn’t human, and His Will be done ALWAYS and FOREVER. There’s no changing that.
Except, well, the fact that He’s Sovereign and can basically do whatever He wants and can make His Will be whatever He wants it to be. More on that in a moment.
So God’s Will be done, but it’s also important to note that God isn’t a machine. He has a Personality, Character – when the Israelites were having orgies and worshiping the golden calf right after Moses led them out of Egypt, God said He was going to destroy them and create the Nation of Israel from Moses’ lineage only. Moses then interceded on the people’s behalf, praying and begging God to change His Mind. And what did God say in response? It certainly wasn’t, “This does not compute.” No, our God isn’t a machine. He’s a God who hears our prayers. He listens. He loves us in spite of our wickedness. And, most importantly, our God is a god in which Love and Mercy encompass His very Nature.
Jesus said the two most important Commandments are to: 1) Love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, mind, and strength, and 2) Love our neighbor as ourselves. “No other Commandment is greater than these” (Mark 12:31). The passage I’m referring to goes on to explain that these two Commandments are more important than all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the Law of Moses (Mark 12:33). Now, some people might use the argument that the covenant Jesus forged superceded the covenant with Moses and therefore would supercede the Law of Moses – this would normally be true, except Jesus hadn’t gone to the Cross yet when this particular conversation took place. And Jesus Himself abided by the Law of Moses. He had to, because He had to be sinless for the entire duration of His Life in order to a perfect and pure Sacrifice.
So, the Law of Moses and its corresponding covenant was still in place. Does that mean Jesus was encouraging people not to abide by the Law? Of course not! But He was demonstrating one very important aspect of God’s Character: abiding by the letter of the Law is not and never has been what makes us right with God, for even though God Himself gave His people the Law and told them to abide by it, He also (correctly…and compassionately) said, “I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6). Concerning this very verse in Hosea, Jesus said this to the Pharisees: “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices’” (Matthew 9:13). Jesus also pointed out to the Pharisees that David, a man after God’s heart, “broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat” (Mark 2:26). Jesus then pointed out that the Sabbath (which was protected by the Law by punishment of death – ref: Exodus 31:15) was “made to meet the needs of the people, and not the people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).
The point He was making was that David was hungry, and so what was the bigger crime? That a man should be hungry, or that a man is deprived of food because that food has been blessed and is supposed to be sacred, an offering to God? But what is more sacred to God than the well-being of His Creation?
God is not a robot. He has a Heart, a Mind, and Feelings, all of which are so vast and deep we’ll never fully understand them. God wanted David to eat because that was the right thing to do. And it was the right thing to do, because it was the merciful thing to do (ref: “Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor” – 18:21-35). Many people, when they think of God, they think of things like Justice and Truth – He is those things, but (thank God!) our God, who rules with a Scepter of Justice, has a Heart of Kindness and Mercy.
In one of his Psalms, David said this to God: “You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God” (Psalm 51:17). So even though the Law (which God implemented) required sacrifices, what David was saying is that God (more than anything else) wants a relationship with us. It’s like a parent who spends time with his child versus a parent who just wants to get his kid out of his hair. The first wants to be with his child, participating in the same activities and expressing excitement about the child’s interests. The other parent just gives the kid some money to go do whatever.
Which is the better parent? Which child do you think feels more loved?
It’s the same with God. He’s not the second parent. He’s the first, and He wants a relationship with us. He always has. His Character and Personality are unchanging. He is the same today as he was when David wrote that Psalm thousands of years ago. And so, it is not in vain that we lift up prayers to our God, even if it seems like He’s made up His Mind about something. Moses exercised intercessory prayer for the Israelites many times (just to name a few, ref: Exodus 32:9-14; Numbers 12:9-14; Numbers 21:4-9). David knew God’s Character well enough to know that he could pray in hopes that God would change His Mind about his dying child (ref: 2 Samuel 12:18-23).
But God is Sovereign, and it’s up to Him whether or not He wants to change course with a decision. When God, through His prophet, told King Hezekiah of Judah that he (Hezekiah) would die from an illness that had befallen him, Hezekiah prayed and begged God to remember his faithful service to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. God then spoke through the prophet again and said: “I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you, and . . . . I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria” (2 Kings 20:5-6).
It’s important to reemphasize that God does not and cannot lie. It’s also important to restate that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. It’s not a lie when the Bible says God isn’t human and doesn’t change His Mind. But in order to go deeper with our Savior, it’s vital to understand His Character. And to God, the laws of mercy and love are superior to all else, otherwise why send His only begotten Son to die for sinners who hated Him? And the Scepter of Justice with which our God rules, though It may appear to be separate from these things, actually encompasses all that He is, including His Love and His Mercy.
Here’s a somewhat simplified example of what I mean: I don’t eat anchovies. Hate ’em, matter of fact. But if I were in a situation where it would hurt someone’s feelings that I didn’t eat the anchovies they put on a pizza they diligently and lovingly made for me, wouldn’t the godly thing to do be to eat those (bleck) anchovies and smile and say how delicious the pizza is? Of course! It would be wrong to complain, so I would eat them that time, and if at some later time I once again said “I don’t eat anchovies” I would not be a liar, for the previously outlined situation was a special circumstance that I made an allowance for because it was the right thing to do. In God’s Heart, the right thing to do is to be merciful if the person comes to Him with a truly repentant heart and broken spirit; so He exercises Sovereignty in His Rule, and because His Judgment is Perfect and Holy, we can be assured that His decisions are Perfect and Holy, too.
“All this may seem impossible to you now, a small remnant of God’s people. But is it impossible for me?” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. Zechariah 8:6
