September 19, 1993 C. 2024 Joseph Shulam
We are in the days of awe between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
The heart of every Jew is thinking about REPENTANCE. There is a deep calculation in each honest, faithful soul of our lives' deeds and direction. In Hebrew, this is called חשבון נפש, meaning the arithmetic of the soul.
One does not have to look very far or very hard to find dozens of things that he would like to change in his own life and thousands of things that he would like to change in the lives of his family and best friends. It is easy to put a guilt trip on ourselves by frustrating ourselves with New Year resolutions and other condemnations, which we all need because we are all sinners, ללא חקנה
However, I would like to talk about God's repentance. This subject is not well known and is not talked about very much. The classic case of God's repentance is the Gold Calf that Israel built in the wilderness.
EXODUS 32:9:
" And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it forever. And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. Moses turned and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. 16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables."
Moses used two arguments to persuade God to repent of his intent against Israel: an internal argument that said, "Lord, you have invested too much into these people to give up on them now." The second argument is external: " What will your reputation as God be if you break the promises that you have given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?"
Abraham attempted to reason with God concerning Sodom with no success. God's reputation would be at stake if He would have allowed the Sodomites to continue in their immorality. If we note Abraham's arguments with God, we would see a remarkable similarity with Moses in this place: "Far be it from you to destroy the righteous with the wicked...". (Gen. 18:22ff)
Moses's prayer and confrontation with God had the force of "reason," which convinced God to change his mind.
Let us look at a few more examples of God repenting from actions that He has committed to doing.
2 SAMUEL 24:16
"And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing place of Araunah the Jebusite."
1 CHR 21:15
"And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the Lord beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, it is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite."
In this case, God repented because of David's candid repentance. In verse 14, David is willing to submit to God and prefers to submit to God rather than the hands of Man. David's repentance brought about a change in God's intentions. Like Moses, David was willing to take the blame upon himself and carry the punishment alone (See verse 17; note David's confession and willingness to pay the price of his sin).
PS 106:45
"And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies."
Hezekiah, the King of Judah, was so sick that he was dying. He prayed to the Lord and reminded the Lord of his past faithfulness, and God repented of the punishment he had decreed against him (2 Kings 20:1ff).
JER 26:19
"Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? did he not fear the Lord, and besought the Lord and the Lord repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls?"
AMOS 7:3 The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord.
AMOS 7:6 The Lord repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord God.
Of course, the classic case of God's repentance from doing evil is that of the city of Nineveh.
JOHN 3:10
"And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did not."
The repentance of the people of Nineveh is the force that caused God to repent of the evil that he wanted to do to that city. This is the case in many places in the Bible where the term נהם is used. We will continue to catalog the things that cause God to change his mind and repent of his intentions to punish people.
The Apostle Paul states the process in an obvious way:
2 COR 7:10
"For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death."
2 COR 12:21
"And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that / shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed."
The book of Revelation gives us a very sad picture of Hell. Hell is a place of people who did not repent. Heaven is not a place of people who did not sin, but it is a place of people who have repented.
REV 16:9
"And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds."
Here are the things that have brought God to repentance:
1. Reasonable doubt of the righteousness of the punishment. - Abraham and Sodom.
2. Honest and contrite hearts filled with confession and repentance.
3. A good intermediary who pleads the case and carries out a hope for a better future. The intermediary often puts himself in place of the guilty party and is willing to pay the price.
4. A good record of the past that reminds God of his own commitments in the covenant.
5. The prevention of the enemies of God from rejoicing in the failure of God's own people. At times, God spares his people to keep the enemy from rejoicing.
6. A change in God's priorities concerning an individual or a nation might stay the execution to give more time for a more significant punishment or a chance to change.
These are open options to all of us.
We can change God's mind by using his mercy and long-suffering. The options are in our hands.
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