God's Unchanging Nature

[ACL]

In Jeremiah 18:7-8 -

from [usccb.org link] -

7 Sometimes I threaten to uproot and tear down and destroy a nation or a kingdom.
8
But if that nation which I have threatened turns from its evil, I also repent of the evil which I threatened to do.

The question I had is this - When God knows what the outcome is, why would God say that He “would repent” of the plan he had intended for them?

The [catholic.org link] uses the word change instead of repent, so the sentence becomes “I then change my mind about the disaster I intend to inflect on it”

I know that God is unchanging, so I’m looking for an explanation of this verse as to why God mentions that he would change his plan?

 

[jdnrite01]

This passage seems at first blush to contradict the doctrine of Immutability. In reality, though, it doesn’t. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, this passage should be viewed as a metaphor. Others have held that the repenting of God isn’t really talking about an actual change of mind; instead, it speaks to the changing of the behavior of His people.

Other OT books speak very clearly about Immutability, such as: “And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind” (1 Samuel 15:29). “For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6,)

 

[Daniel_Marsh]

If you read all the prophets in context, God give conditional prophecies. And, I read this as a conditional prophecy, if you repent, I will not destroy you.

 

[SpiritMeadow]

The prophet is making a claim of what God will do, He is then stating that God will relent if the people change their ways. God is not changing, the prophet is making it appear so as a means of pursuading the people to repent of their sin. It is common throughout the prophetic books.

 

[ACL]

Thank you so much for your response. I now understand. I need to do more reading

 

[Nita]

I was just thinking:
“If you repent, I will not destroy you” has been God’s UNCHANGING message ever since Adam’s fall.

 

[peary]

This passage seems at first blush to contradict the doctrine of Immutability. In reality, though, it doesn’t. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, this passage should be viewed as a metaphor. Others have held that the repenting of God isn’t really talking about an actual change of mind; instead, it speaks to the changing of the behavior of His people.

Other OT books speak very clearly about Immutability, such as: “And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind” (1 Samuel 15:29). “For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6,)

But even in Genesis, God ‘regretted’ what He had done by punishing humanity with the flood. I see no reason not to believe that God has feelings for us, much as we do. If the bible says that God ‘repents’, meaning he is sorry for His action but it had to be done anyway for our good and growth, much as a parent may have to make a consequence for the actions of his or her child, then that is what He does. No complication, as I see it.