It is written in 1 Samuel
15:29 that God does not repent, "for God is not human that he should repent." Yet in 1Chronicles 21:15 (and
in several verses in scripture: Gen. 6:6; Jonah 3:10; 2 Kings 20:1, to cite a few) that God "saw and repented of the
evil." (I chose the Chronicles verse because Chronicles is part of the Writings.) So is the Bible contradicting
itself here, or making God a hypocrite?
This is a fairly uncomplicated question to answer. God does not repent as humans,
because God does not sin. The other area of scripture where it may make reference to God repenting does not use this
word in the English translation. The Hebrew here is different than places where the English word repent is used in reference
to humans.
God can and does
change God's mind, for which we should be thankful. However, God does not "repent." The Hebrew for
repent is "shuv" which means "turn." That word is not used to refer to God. Where one reads of God
repenting, it is a different word to mean that God changes God's mind.
Some take issue with God changing God's mind. Again, as in another
place I have written on the site, why can we as humans change our minds, and God is not allowed to do so. "But
God is perfect," you say. There should be no need for God to change God's mind. Yet, God does.
If you cannot believe that
God can change God's own thinking on something, then why pray?
