When God Repents
It is admittedly strange to think of using the word repent when relating to God. For us, repenting has to do with changing one's mind regarding sin - forsaking it and running to the Lord. Obviously, God does not repent in the same way we must repent; that is from sin. We only hear of God repenting in the Old Testament, not the New. The word repent in Hebrew is the word naham which means to comfort, to relent.
The word repent appears 40 times and the word comfort appears 65 times. In Genesis 6:6 we read that God repented (as it says in the KJV) that He made man on the earth and that it grieved the Lord at His heart. Now, that seems like an odd thing for the Lord to say right? Why would God regret that he made man when He knew what man would do before He created him? Scholars say that the writer is describing God in what is called the anthropopathic mode. What that means is that human emotions and characteristics are being attached to God. It helps us as finite human beings understand God better if we describe Him with emotions.
What God actually regretted was man's evil, not the fact that He created man. God said everything He created was very good (Gen 1:31). So, there were no mistakes on God's part. The mistakes are all on us.
We also hear of God repenting when Moses intercedes on behalf of rebellious Israel. When Moses when up to Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, the Israelites have Aaron build them a golden calf - an Egyptian deity so they can worship it and have an orgy. This is what the scripture says, and the Lord said to Moses, "Go down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way I have commanded them, They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it...Now, therefore, let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them in order that I may make a great nation out of you. But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, "O Lord why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought up out of the Land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent did He bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit forever.' "And the Lord repented (or relented) from the disaster that He had spoken of bringing on His people (Exodus 32:7-8, 10-14).
The reason God did not destroy His people is because Moses interceded for them to spare their lives. God was within His rights to wipe them out because they had violated the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods besides me (Exodus 20:3). Repentance in the form of mercy was extended to Israel due to the prayer of Moses.
Another account of God repenting is in the book of Jonah. We read that the city of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah. Jonah preached only eight words, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (Jonah 3:4). The entire city sits in sackcloth and ashes, fasts and repents. Starting with the king to the least of them - even the animals. As a result of their humility and confession of sin, God spared the city (Jonah 3:5-10).
As a reminder, God does not repent because He is cable of wrong. He repents when we repent from our evil ways. When God is satisfied with our reaction toward His judgment upon us, He will relent from the harm that He would bring upon had we refused to obey His commands. Even after judgment, God is willing to end his punishment if a person or nation is willing to repent as in the case when God through the Babylonians destroyed Judah, Jerusalem and the temple (Jeremiah 42:10).
What God actually regretted was man's evil, not the fact that He created man. God said everything He created was very good (Gen 1:31). So, there were no mistakes on God's part. The mistakes are all on us.
We also hear of God repenting when Moses intercedes on behalf of rebellious Israel. When Moses when up to Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, the Israelites have Aaron build them a golden calf - an Egyptian deity so they can worship it and have an orgy. This is what the scripture says, and the Lord said to Moses, "Go down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way I have commanded them, They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it...Now, therefore, let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them in order that I may make a great nation out of you. But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, "O Lord why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought up out of the Land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent did He bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit forever.' "And the Lord repented (or relented) from the disaster that He had spoken of bringing on His people (Exodus 32:7-8, 10-14).
The reason God did not destroy His people is because Moses interceded for them to spare their lives. God was within His rights to wipe them out because they had violated the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods besides me (Exodus 20:3). Repentance in the form of mercy was extended to Israel due to the prayer of Moses.
Another account of God repenting is in the book of Jonah. We read that the city of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah. Jonah preached only eight words, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (Jonah 3:4). The entire city sits in sackcloth and ashes, fasts and repents. Starting with the king to the least of them - even the animals. As a result of their humility and confession of sin, God spared the city (Jonah 3:5-10).
As a reminder, God does not repent because He is cable of wrong. He repents when we repent from our evil ways. When God is satisfied with our reaction toward His judgment upon us, He will relent from the harm that He would bring upon had we refused to obey His commands. Even after judgment, God is willing to end his punishment if a person or nation is willing to repent as in the case when God through the Babylonians destroyed Judah, Jerusalem and the temple (Jeremiah 42:10).
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