Does God Repent?

Biblegems # 293

Question: The book of Numbers (23:19) seems to indicate that God never repents. Yet other passages give examples of God repenting. Does God repent?

Here is Numbers 23:19 in the King James Version:

Num. 23:19  God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

In apparent contrast to the verse above, there are several examples where God is presented as repenting:

         Ex. 32:14  And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

This apparent contradiction is primarily one of proper translation from the Hebrew word nacham into English. Nacham means “comfort,” “console,” or “relent,”[i] depending on the context. Nacham is used in both Numbers 23 and Exodus 32. In Ex. 32:14 the translation should read: “Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.” In fact, of the thirty-eight times nacham is used in the Bible, only twice could it be used to mean “repent,” and those two occasions refer to people repenting, not God.

In Numbers 23:19 nacham should likewise be translated “relent” (meaning, “change”) rather than “repent.” The passage compares God against man: that God does not lie and He is not fickle. When He says He will do something, He does it. 

         1Sam. 15:29  “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.”

Even so, Exodus 32:14 states that God did indeed “relent”—He changed His punishment against the Hebrews for building the golden calf in the Wilderness. Yet He did so without violating His own character, for God Himself has repeatedly stated three conditions where He will change His attitude and actions toward people: (1) when people repent (Jer. 18:3-11); (2) when someone intercedes on behalf of others (Amos 7:1-6); and (3) out of His own compassion (Dt. 32:36).

“Repent,” as it’s used today, carries with it emotional and spiritual overtones. In the 1600’s language of the KJV Bible, the word could be used as a synonym for “relent,” and the average reader would understand without difficulty. Because language changes, modern translations often use “relent” instead of “repent” in these and similar passages.

There is no contradiction. When God “relents,” He chooses a pre-planned alternate route to fulfill His promises, in keeping with His character:

         Ps. 106:45  …for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.

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[i] BDB Abridged. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (abridged) (BDB). Based on A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, by F. Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs.  Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.  Digitized and abridged as a part of the Princeton Theological Seminary Hebrew Lexicon Project under the direction of Dr. J. M. Roberts.  Used by permission. Electronic text corrected, formatted, and hypertexted by OakTree Software, Inc. This electronic adaptation ©2001 OakTree Software, Inc. Version 3.6

  

Contradicting Creation Accounts?

Biblegems #255

Question: Genesis states that all vegetation was created on day three and Adam on day six (Gen. 1:11-12; 1:26-27). Yet Gen. 2:5-7 seems to contradict this by teaching that vegetation was created after man. Why the apparent discrepancy?

The confusion stems largely from difficulties in translating some generalizations from Hebrew to English. Below, my translation aims at reducing the confusion.

Gen. 2:5 [So there was a time] before any shrubs appeared on the earth and before any grass of the fields began to grow (because the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth and there was no man to work the ground, (6) but a mist came up from the earth that irrigated the entire surface). (7) So the Lord God formed the man from the earth and breathed life into his nostrils and the man became a living soul.                                                                

Genesis 2:1-4 provides a conclusion for the order of creation events in chapter one.

Verses 5-7 introduce a shift in focus away from the order of creation in general to the creation of Adam and Eve in particular. They set the scene for Adam and Eve’s role as caretakers of earth, beginning in the Valley of Eden (2:8-17).  The scene is also set for how destructive Adam and Eve’s disobedience will prove to be to God’s creation. The “shrubs” and grain fields (“grass of the fields,” v. 5) God freely provided for their pleasure and their food, irrigated by a perpetual mist, would shrivel up, grow weeds and thorns and require constant effort against hostile elements as a result of their sin:

Gen. 3:17-19  …“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

Even the lack of rain in those early days is noted, because rain was not yet a necessity. Later, rain would become a much-needed blessing:

         Ps. 147:8  He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills.

It would also become a source of devastation:

         Gen. 7:17, 24  For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth.   The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.

Genesis 2:5-7provides a segue from the “why” and “how” of creation (chapter 1) to the tragic impact of Adam and Eve’s sin (chapter 2). Together, they reveal God’s total sovereignty over His created universe as He provides both judgment for sin and salvation from what would otherwise be eternal consequences of that judgment.

         Rom. 6:22-23  But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Centurion’s Words At The Cross

Biblegems #179

Question: According to the Gospel of Matthew the centurion at the cross called Jesus “the son of God,” while Luke reports the centurion calling Jesus “a righteous man.” Why the difference?

Here are the two passages:

Matt. 27:54  When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

Luke 23:47  The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”

There is no reason to doubt that the centurion used both terms of Jesus as he struggled to comprehend “all that had happened.”

Think of it—Jesus’ last words and last breath were accompanied by an earthquake so severe that the multi-layered, four-inch thick[i] “curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people” (Matt. 27:51-53).

When you combine these terrifying natural disasters and supernatural events with all the turmoil and commotion leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion and death—the biting taunts of the other crucified men: “Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:40), and of the Jewish leaders: “Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” (Matt. 27:43)—it’s no wonder the Roman centurion concluded that Jesus was being vindicated by God as both righteous and divine.

Matthew, Mark and Luke all record the events surrounding Jesus’ death that directly and profoundly impacted this centurion who oversaw the crucifixion. Jesus’ last words would have come from eyewitnesses who were close enough to hear. Of the twelve disciples, only John stayed close to Jesus all the way to Golgatha and the crucifixion. The only others with him from Jesus’ core group of followers were four women: Jesus’ own mother, His aunt (Salome?),[ii] Mary of Magdala and another Mary, the wife of Clopas (Jn. 19:25).

Others at the scene may have become followers of Jesus after His death and resurrection, including the centurion, from whom Matthew, Mark and Luke would have learned certain details. For some standing near the cross it would have been the soldier’s declaration that he had presided over the execution of an innocent man that would have been the most memorable. As Peter would later write:

         1Pet. 3:18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit…

For others near the cross, the soldier’s declaration that Jesus was indeed the Son of God would have been most unforgettable. In fact, Mark tells us the purpose of his Gospel account is to present Jesus as the “Son of God:”

         Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

What greater testimony of Jesus’ divine nature than from a calloused executioner!

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[i] According to rabbinic tradition, the temple veil was as thick as the breadth of a man’s hand.

[ii] See Matt 27:56; Mark 10:35; 15:40

When Was Jesus Crucified?

Biblegems #178

Question: When Was Jesus Crucified? The Gospel of Mark says it was the third hour, but John seems to suggest it was the sixth hour.

Mark 15:25 reads: It was the third hour when they crucified him.

John 19:14-16 reads: It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.

Most likely, John's Gospel best reflects the actual timing of the crucifixion. Here are the three possible answers to this apparent contradiction that have been suggested over the years. Sound principles of biblical interpretation help reveal which, if any, of these solutions is correct.

Possibility #1

Some speculate that Mark used Hebrew reckoning of time, while John used the Roman system. In that case, John’s “sixth hour” would be 6 AM, not twelve noon, and the three hours between 6 AM and Mark’s 9 AM would be taken up with the beating, whipping and preparations for the crucifixion. While this is not unreasonable in itself, there is absolutely no evidence in John’s Gospel to suggest he, as a Jew, was thinking in terms of Roman time.

Possibility #2

Others suggest that verse 25 was not in Mark’s original Gospel but was added later when the document was being copied for circulation throughout the early Christian church. Occurrences of this type of error in copying are known as a “gloss.” This happens when a scribe or copyist makes a side note on the margin of the document being copied, and a later copyist mistakes the side note as part of the original text. This is certainly possible, especially considering the fact that Mark is the earliest of the Gospels, and Matthew and Luke seem to draw on Mark’s time-line for the passion and crucifixion events, yet neither mention the “third hour” of Mark 15:25.

Possibility #3

This solution also looks to copyist error as the likely culprit. In this case, the Greek letter gamma was originally in its lower case form and doubled (gamma gamma), which indicates the number “6.” An early copyist mistakenly replaced the lower case with an upper case gamma, which indicates the number “3.” This would be a very easy mistake to make when copying by hand, and examples of this kind of error can be found in ancient manuscripts.

The last two solutions point to an “error of transmission”—an error that was not part of Mark’s original manuscript. This is human error in copying, not a mistake in the Word of God as Mark first wrote it down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Bible translators today have available to them a vast number of ancient manuscripts, where one can be compared against others with relative ease. This process is of immense help in recognizing copy errors that do occasionally arise. While errors in copying do take place from time to time, such “errors of transmission” never affect doctrine. God’s Word is trustworthy and true!

For more on the origins and authority of the Bible, please check out Bible Gems #172, 165, 149, 110, 105, 83, 64, 60, 59, 53, 31, 6. 

Is Revenge Acceptable To God

Biblegems #145

Question: Psalm 58:10-11 suggests that revenge is acceptable to God, yet Proverbs 24:17-18 suggests the opposite. Is revenge acceptable to God or not?

Here are the two verses in question:

Ps. 58:10-11 The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked. Then men will say, “Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth.”

Prov. 24:17-18 Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him.

 “Revenge” conjures up images of someone filled with rage and hatred getting even with whoever has done that person wrong. But according to the dictionary, the word “revenge” means to punish someone in return for wrongdoing, injury or insult. Technically, it means to deliver justice. Given that definition, “revenge” is not really what is at the heart of Proverbs 24: 17-18. That passage has to do with a mean-spirited attitude, so it cannot be used to argue for or against God’s attitude toward revenge.

Ps. 58:10-11, however, accurately describes vengeance from the biblical viewpoint of God punishing those who do evil. A close look at the passage reveals four key players: the “righteous,” who have been wronged, the “wicked,” who committed the wrongdoing, the “men,” who are witnesses of the event, and God, who acts as judge. In this scenario it is God who judges the actions of the wicked and, as a result, those who witness it all come to the conclusion that God is just and fair for punishing those who abused the righteous.

As for the righteous in this verse, they are “glad” because justice has been served. They have been avenged by God who has seen the injustice done to them. As grotesque as it sounds to our ears that the righteous “bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked,” that is simply a very real description of a battlefield where the victory has gone to those who were wronged. The righteous are not glad because they are ankle deep in blood; they are glad because God saw to it that the good guys won! The blood is evidence of His victory over evil. God has exercised justice.

So even Psalm 58:10-11 does not suggest that revenge is acceptable to God in the common use of that word. What it does teach is that God is just, and He is the avenger of the righteous when they are wronged. This verse should be a source of great comfort for those who have been rescued from the life of wickedness and who have come to faith in Jesus Christ:

         1Pet. 4:3-5 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.