Does God repent or not?

[so-jesus-e-deus]

Here it says yes:

• "And Jehovah repented that he had made Man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart." (Genesis 6.6).
  
• "Thou hast cast me off, saith Jehovah, thou art gone backward; and I have stretched out my hand against thee, and will destroy thee: I am become weary of repenting." (Jeremiah 15.6).
• "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil that he had said he would do unto them, and he did it not." (Jonah 3.10).

Here it says no:

• "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither a son of man, that he should repent. Shall he say and not do? and shall he speak and not make it good?" (Numbers 23.19).

How to resolve this conflict?

 

[BeyondET]

Investigate translations

 

[Willie-T]

Yes. I think it was something like 28 times the Bible says He repented.

It is US who have totally screwed-up the true and actual Biblical meaning of the word, REPENT.

 

[PrynceNY]

What conflict are you referring to? As stated in Jonah 3:10 God changed his mind & did not bring judgement on those who turned from evil. However as far as the promises he makes to his people he keeps.

 

[Utah]

Here it says yes:

• "And Jehovah repented that he had made Man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart." (Genesis 6.6).
  
• "Thou hast cast me off, saith Jehovah, thou art gone backward; and I have stretched out my hand against thee, and will destroy thee: I am become weary of repenting." (Jeremiah 15.6).
• "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil that he had said he would do unto them, and he did it not." (Jonah 3.10).

Here it says no:

• "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither a son of man, that he should repent. Shall he say and not do? and shall he speak and not make it good?" (Numbers 23.19).

How to resolve this conflict?

God's repentance is one of reflection, not sorrow for a sin He never committed.

 

[Johnjo]

God is holy and stainless. He can't sin.

 

[trofimus]

Here it says yes:

• "And Jehovah repented that he had made Man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart." (Genesis 6.6).
  
• "Thou hast cast me off, saith Jehovah, thou art gone backward; and I have stretched out my hand against thee, and will destroy thee: I am become weary of repenting." (Jeremiah 15.6).
• "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil that he had said he would do unto them, and he did it not." (Jonah 3.10).

Here it says no:

• "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither a son of man, that he should repent. Shall he say and not do? and shall he speak and not make it good?" (Numbers 23.19).

How to resolve this conflict?

"God is not as man to waver, nor as the son of man to be threatened; shall he say and not perform? shall he speak and not keep [to his word]?"
Numeri 23:19

I recommend to use better translations.

 

[Magenta]

God is perfectly good and thus incapable of doing evil (Psalm 5:4–5; James 1:13; 3 John 1:11). As such, God’s repentance must not be understood as entailing moral guilt, for the moral perfection of the Creator sets him apart from his sin–tainted creation (Leviticus 11:44–45; 19:2; 20:7; 1 Peter 1:15–16).

Furthermore, although God does not change, the meaning of the word “repent” has changed over time. Thus in place of the word “repent” most modern English translations substitute the word “regret” or “grieve.” Indeed, as a human father grieves over rebellion on the part of his children, so our heavenly Father grieves over rebellion on the part of his creation.

Finally, God’s repentance must be understood as an anthropomorphism communicating the full measure of God’s grief over the horror of sin rather than a change of heart or a change of mind. With respect to the faithlessness of Saul, God says, “It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king” (1 Samuel 15:11). Yet, the very same context says that “the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.” Apart from an anthropomorphic understanding, such passages would be self–refuting. Does God repent? - Christian Research Institute

 

[imfinallyfree]

Im sorta studying some Bible stuff now and some stuff like these examples are contradictory so somewhere someone is lying be it at the writing of the Bible or now ,contradiction is not perfect isn't God perfect?

In fact contradiction lends itself to chaos wouldn't you say?

Contradiction leads to confusion leads to chaos.

Chaos=satan

Pretty soon you all will start doubting yourselves,doesn't that sound like something that satan would want?....maybe just a little bit?

 

[garee]

Here it says yes:

• "And Jehovah repented that he had made Man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart." (Genesis 6.6).
  
• "Thou hast cast me off, saith Jehovah, thou art gone backward; and I have stretched out my hand against thee, and will destroy thee: I am become weary of repenting." (Jeremiah 15.6).
• "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil that he had said he would do unto them, and he did it not." (Jonah 3.10).

Here it says no:

• "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither a son of man, that he should repent. Shall he say and not do? and shall he speak and not make it good?" (Numbers 23.19).

How to resolve this conflict?

Repentance is a work of God turning us toward Him who has no form so in turn after hearing His voice, then we can repent.

To repent is to turn from one way to another. The scripture defines the word repent and how it is used as a work of God..

I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God. Surely after that I was turned, "I repented"; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.Jer 31:18

Just as blasphemy will be forgiven unto the son of man in respect to that seen the temporal. The same applies to the Son of man , Christ Jesus , who of His own volition put on the flesh for a demonstration of His Spirit not seen .

We continue to walk by faith as that not seen.

Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost(not seen) hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.Mar 3:28

As a son of man Christ Jesus in the flesh resisted all worship. God is not a man as us.He that blasphemes against the Spirit not seen is in danger of eternal damnation. I think that is the difference.

2Corinthians 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

 

[Locutus]

I repent that I posted in this thread...


"I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to, I guess"

 

[kaylagrl]

I repent that I posted in this thread...


"I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to, I guess"

"Just remember,we're all in this together.Im pullin for ya"

 

[Desertsrose]

Here it says yes:

• "And Jehovah repented that he had made Man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart." (Genesis 6.6).
  
• "Thou hast cast me off, saith Jehovah, thou art gone backward; and I have stretched out my hand against thee, and will destroy thee: I am become weary of repenting." (Jeremiah 15.6).
• "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil that he had said he would do unto them, and he did it not." (Jonah 3.10).

Here it says no:

• "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither a son of man, that he should repent. Shall he say and not do? and shall he speak and not make it good?" (Numbers 23.19).

How to resolve this conflict?

It helps to know the heart of the author of scripture because if you know His character, you understand scriptures that seem to contradict, but don't.

Within God's character, He sometimes will put a condition on His decisions/judgements.

Jeremiah 18 says....At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it.

The evil God had planned for Nineveh was prevented because of their repentance. So although God changed His mind, it's based on His character we already know. If a man or a nation repents of their way, God will repent of the judgment He had concerning them. It's good to watch for those ifs.

Another thing to remember is that context is always vital to understanding what God is telling us through the pages of scripture. The one in Numbers is a declarative statement about Israel.

If we read in context, we'll find that God had already decided to bless Israel. Balak, the king of Moab, in dreaded fear of the Israelites, had decided to find a prophet who would curse Israel. So here comes Balaam to do Balak's bidding (for money). There was no way that Balaam, Balak or anyone else would cause God to change His mind. His already declarative will was to bless Israel.

 

[imfinallyfree]

Is man a son of man? Does that mean that I should resist worship? Because that's what I do.

Seriously I'm not being sarcastic this time.

 

[imfinallyfree]

Wow!that sounds really scary!

God can tell people to destroy a entire nation or kingdom then change His mind.

What if the destroyers miss the memo?

 

[Pemican]

God does not change His mind. I view passages like this as what is called "language of accommodation". God communicates in a way that we can understand but He actually never changes, nothing takes Him by surprise, He knew what would happen before it occurred. So in this case it is an anthropopathism in which God expresses His policy and teaches us in human terms because of our limited ability to understand Him. There are also lots of anthropomorphisms in the Bible as well where God is said to have hands, eyes, arms etc., again to communicate in terms we can understand. But actually God is a spirit and does not have or need these physical attributes.

 

[PrynceNY]

Wow!that sounds really scary! God can tell people to destroy a entire nation or kingdom then change His mind. What if the destroyers miss the memo?

Throughout the scriptures God forewarns people of his righteous judgement to come before he takes serious action.

 

[John146]

Here it says yes:

• "And Jehovah repented that he had made Man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart." (Genesis 6.6).
  
• "Thou hast cast me off, saith Jehovah, thou art gone backward; and I have stretched out my hand against thee, and will destroy thee: I am become weary of repenting." (Jeremiah 15.6).
• "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil that he had said he would do unto them, and he did it not." (Jonah 3.10).

Here it says no:

• "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither a son of man, that he should repent. Shall he say and not do? and shall he speak and not make it good?" (Numbers 23.19).

How to resolve this conflict?

It's not a translation issue, rather a context issue. In every case that Scripture says that God will not repent deals with God's long term plans for the nation of Israel.

 

[John146]

Yes. I think it was something like 28 times the Bible says He repented.

It is US who have totally screwed-up the true and actual Biblical meaning of the word, REPENT.

Correct, repent simply means to have a change of mind.

 

[Spokenpassage]

Position Paper on Divine Impassibility:

Section 1, Introduction and Importance: Divine Impassibility: Section 1

Section 2, Biblical and Exegetical Foundation: Divine Impassibility: Section 2

Section 3, Systematic Theology: Divine Impassibility: Section 3

Section 4, Confessional Theology: Divine Impassibility: Section 4

Section 5, Affirmations and Denials: Divine Impassibility: Section 5

I hope this helps!