Does God Change His Mind?

As humans, who we were made in the image of God, we have the free-will to decide what to do in our lives (as long as those decisions are within the boundaries of what God allows). Since we were made in the image of God, shouldn't that mean that God can change His mind, too? You might be tempted to quote Malachi 3:6 (NIV) which says, "I the Lord do not change[...]" However, how do we explain Exodus 32:14 (NIV) which says, "Then the Lord relented [or changed His mind] and did not bring on His people the disaster He had threatened." So what is the true answer? Does God change His mind or not? Continue reading and you will discover the answer below.

God does not change His mind in the way that humans do, but most mistakenly think that He does. Malachi 3:6 (NIV); Hebrews 13:8 (NIV); Numbers 23:19 (NIV); and 1 Samuel 15:29 (NIV) all tell us that God does not change His mind and that He remains the same in character – which is true. Furthermore, we know that, because of God's holy nature, He always hates sin and answers it with punishment and discipline. Also because of God's holy nature, He will forgive and show mercy to those that repent or change their ways and refrain from sin.

So if God does not change His mind, then how do we explain Him "relenting" (Exodus 32:14, NIV), "repenting" (Exodus 32:14, KJV), or "changing His mind" (Exodus 32:14, NLT)? First of all, the Bible tells us in Jeremiah 18:7-10 (NIV) that God's general policy is for Him to forgive people that repent of their sin and to punish people that do not repent or are not truly sorry of their sin:

"If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will 'relent' and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it." (Jeremiah 18:7-10, NIV)

So as you can see from the above Bible verses (Jeremiah 18:7-10, NIV), God "relenting" or "forgiving" is part of His ultimate and unchanging plan. This means that He will not go back on His word like humans sometimes do.

The city of Nineveh was spared when God “changed His mind” because the Ninevites repented of their sins. In the book of Jonah we find that Nineveh was a sinful city, so God was going to destroy it unless the Ninevites repented of their many sins. In order for this to happen, God sent a prophet named Jonah to preach to them so that they could repent and then be forgiven. In Jonah chapter 3, Jonah finally preaches at Nineveh. Fortunately, everyone repents of their sin, even the king! Therefore, the Bible says in Jonah 3:10 (NIV) that God had “compassion” (or "changed His mind") and decided not to destroy Nineveh because the Ninevites had repented of their many sins.

God changed His mind about destroying the Israelites because Moses interceded for them. In Exodus chapter 32, we read the story of how the Israelites committed the sin of idolatry by making a golden calf and worshiping it while Moses was with God on top of a mountain. Because they had sinned, this angered God. So in Exodus 32:9-10 (NIV) God said that He was going to destroy them. However, because Moses interceded for the Israelites by pleading with God in Exodus 32:11-14 (NIV), He “relented” (or “changed His mind”) about destroying them.

God will not "relent" (or "change His mind") to a false or non-genuine repentance. In Deuteronomy 1:41–46 (NIV), Moses retells us of how the Israelites lost faith in God to deliver them into the Promised Land (read the book of Numbers chapters 13 and 14 for the full story). Although the Israelites confessed "we have sinned against the Lord" (Deuteronomy 1:41, NIV), we find out that their repentance was fake or non-genuine because they acted out of arrogance and tried to enter the Promised Land without God (Deuteronomy 1:43, NIV).

We must remember that we can only describe God’s actions using limited human terms. God’s actions, as described in our very limited human terms, are what Theologians call anthropomorphic language. As humans, we change our mind all the time (frequently without giving careful thought to our decisions). However, God tells us in Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV) that His thoughts and ways are not the same as our thoughts and ways. In other words, although it is true that God forgives and will relent (or change His mind) because of a true repentance, we can really never understand His entire, complex thought process.