Does God change?
That is a good question, isn’t it?
A question that some answer without hesitation with a resounding no while others say with all confidence,
Yes…Yes he does. The ones who argue that he does not
change will use passages like Malachi 3:6 to support their claim. In this verse, God says very clearly and
plainly that he does not change.
Those on the other end will turn to verses like
Jonah 3:10, where it says that God relents
or repents and will argue that he
does change on occasion. So which one is
it? Does God change, or not—which verse
is right? Well, both are
right. We have to affirm both and interpret
Scripture with Scripture.
First, the Bible teaches that God does not change in
terms of who he is—in terms of his essence and his attributes, yet it does teach
that he changes in the way he relates to his creation. For example, he does not become more holy, more
righteous, and more loving over time. This,
of course is a good thing because if he could change in one way he might be
able to change in another and become less holy, less righteous, and less
loving.
With that being said, Scripture is also clear that
God does change in terms of the way he relates to His creation. At times, he blesses other times he
curses—sometimes he rewards, other times he punishes. For example, in the book of Jonah, before
Jonah went to Nineveh God was against the Ninevites, but after they
repented He then turned his wrath away from them. In this book, we learn that repentance
changes the way God responds, and we see this truth all throughout the
Scriptures. Jesus says in Luke 13:3,
Unless
you repent, you will all likewise perish.
Now, of course, when we say that God changes
in the way he relates to us, he changes in a way that is different from
us. We are not all knowing, so we do not
know for sure what is going to happen from one moment to the next—he does. God is all knowing.
He knows how we are going to respond beforehand, so he then knows
how he is going to respond.
God knows when he first calls Jonah to go to Nineveh that Jonah is going. He also knows that the Ninevites are going to repent and that he is going to relent. With that being said, repentance is still key. It is a key part of God relenting. Though God is sovereign and knows how it is all going to play out, Scripture is clear that we are responsible and that unless we repent, we will perish.
God knows when he first calls Jonah to go to Nineveh that Jonah is going. He also knows that the Ninevites are going to repent and that he is going to relent. With that being said, repentance is still key. It is a key part of God relenting. Though God is sovereign and knows how it is all going to play out, Scripture is clear that we are responsible and that unless we repent, we will perish.
