Results 1 - 5 of 5
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Ninevah did. | Rom 1:18 | Morant61 | 20948 | ||
P.S......................................... Greetings Lionstrong! I forgot something in my previous post. Do you think God's immutablity refers to His actions? Or, does it refer to His essential nature only? The reason I ask is because throughout Scripture God has acted in different ways toward people at different times. Therefore, immutablity doesn't seem to imply that He can't act differently, only that He can't be different. Just a thought! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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2 | Ninevah did. | Rom 1:18 | Lionstrong | 20967 | ||
What God meant, Brother Tim, Is for Nivevah to repent. Again, Jonah 3:4 is the content of what God told Jonah to SAY. God did not tell Jonah what he was going to DO. Jon 3:2 "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you." Do you see? The proclamation was not a lie, it was a warning stated in the form of a coming event. Although it’s not recorded in the first chapter, apparently God had told Jonah what to say at that time also. The message was the same: Ninevah will be destroyed. But why do you think he ran? Jon 4:2 He prayed to the LORD and said, "Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. 4:3 "Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life." Jonah suspected that the plan of God was not of judgement but of mercy, that his proclamation was not a message of prophecy but of warning. So he ran. Yes, something did indeed change. But it wasn’t God’s mind. It was the hearts of the Ninevites, changed by the merciful almighty power of God at the preaching of Jonah! Now, I’m surprised that you asked my about the immutability of God’s actions. It’s a no brainer. If God doesn’t change his mind, then he doesn’t change his mind about what he’s going to do. Like Jonah, the Reformed preacher of the Gospel (to bring the discussion back to the topic of this thread) has confidence in the mercy of God. He knows that God has ordained a means to his ends, and the means to faith (of which Christ alone is the author) is the proclamation of the Good News. This Good News starts off with the bad news, “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,” not, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” Peace, Lionstrong |
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3 | Ninevah did. | Rom 1:18 | Morant61 | 20973 | ||
Greetings Lionstrong! So, are you saying that God told Jonah to say that He was going to overthrow Ninevah in 40 days, but that He never intended to actually do it? Jonah 3:4 is a statement. As such, it can either be true or not! Of course God told Jonah what to say. He was a prophet proclaiming God's word. But, the statement is still God's and it is a statement of intent. Also, consider Jonah 3:10: "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." 'When' is a temporal word. The calamity is said to be something which God had declared that He would bring upon them. Then, the verse says that He did not do it. So, how can a declaration of something that God said He would do, not be a declaration of His intention? Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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4 | Ninevah did. | Rom 1:18 | Lionstrong | 21101 | ||
Gen 22:2 He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you." Dear Tim, Did God intend for Abraham to sacrifice his son? Or did he really intend for him to sacrifice his son, but changed his mind when he saw that Abraham was really going to do it? And I think I've already answered your questions, but you are reading Jonah out of context. The context of Jonah is the rest of the Bible, which teaches that God does not change his mind. So, Jonah's proclamation read in context is a warning, not God's intention. Peace, Lionstrong |
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5 | Ninevah did. | Rom 1:18 | Morant61 | 21125 | ||
Greetings Lionstrong! I assume that when you say God does not change His mind, you are referring to Num. 23:19. The word "change" in that verse is Strong's # 5162. Here is my question: If God doesn't change His mind, how come many verses say that He did? The same word is used in the following verses to indicate times when God did change His mind: Gen. 6:6,7; Ex. 32:14; Jdg. 2:18; 1 Sam. 15:11, 35; 2 Sam. 24:16; 1 Chr. 21:15; Ps. 106:45; Jer. 18:8,10; Jer. 26:3; Jer. 26:13, 19; Jer. 42:10; Joel 2:13; Amos 7:3, 6; Jonah 3:10, 4:2. Now, we both would agree that God's word doesn't contradict itself! So there must be a way of understanding this apparent contradition that doesn't simply ignore all of these verses. I think the key is Ps. 106:45 and Jer. 18:5-10. Ps. 106:45 says, "And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies." (KJV) Jer. 18:5-10 says, " Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6 ‘‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. ‘‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it." Both of these passages make it clear that out of His mercy, God will change His plans for individuals and nations depending upon their response to Him. The passages that speak of God not changing His mind all seem to occur in passages where God's veracity is being discussed. He doesn't lie and He keeps His promises seems to the be emphasis. I would be curious to hear your take on Jer. 18:5-10! It seems very clear to me in this passage that God does change His intentions based upon our repentance or lack of it. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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