Page 17 - Teach us how to Pray - Book Layout - PDF

God’s decree does not change.

God’s decree stands forever. “The counsel of the LORD stands
forever, the plans of his heart to all generations” (Psalm 33:11). We
also read in Ephesians 1:11, “… In him we have obtained an
inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him
who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” That means
that God does not exercise sovereignty haphazardly (randomly,
disorganized, without order) but according to His eternal wisdom.
He acts according to His plan for creation, which is also known as
His decree.

God cannot change His mind.

He is unchangeable, unchanging, and all-wise. Also, look at Numbers
23:19: “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He
should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He
promise and not fulfill?”

So, what then about the passages in Genesis 6:6, Exodus 32:14,
and Jonah 3:4?

Genesis 6:6, “The LORD was grieved that He had made man on the
earth, and His heart was filled with pain.”

Exodus 32:14 proclaims, “Then the LORD relented and did not bring
on His people the disaster He had threatened.”

Jonah 3:4,10: “Then Jonah began to go through the city one days’
walk and he cried out and said, ‘Yet forty days and Nineveh will be
overthrown.’10 When God saw their deeds, that they turned from
their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He
had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.”

To better understand this matter, remember 2 things:

1. Expressions are used as examples of anthropomorphisms. That
is a figure of speech in which the feelings or thoughts of man
are ascribed to God to help us understand His work better from
a human’s perspective. Genesis 6:6 explains God’s sorrow, but
He did not reverse His decision to create man.