So, does God ever change God's mind? So much of our theological tradition would say that, no, God doesn't ever change God's mind...we simply understand God's plans/mind/intentions differently, because we're human, and original sin, and created vs. creator, blah, blah blah. God has been the same forever and will always be the same, and God never changes God's mind, thank you very much.
But then we come across Numbers 14:1-24. The Israelites are grumbling in the wilderness again, wondering if they shouldn't have just stayed in Egypt. They aren't exactly showing much gratitude to Moses for standing before Pharoah, or to Yahweh for, you know. LIBERATING THEM FROM SLAVERY!! God decides maybe they need to be wiped out, and God will find a people who can be more polite and get their thank you card in the mail in a more timely fashion.
And then, Moses speaks. Moses appeals to the promises God has made to be steadfast in mercy, and asks if maybe God will reconsider destroying the people of Israel. Moses even appeals to God's "vanity," if you will. "Oh, you don't wanna do that," Moses says. "What would people say?"
This is not the only instance in scripture of someone entering into a conversation with God and asking for God to change God's mind about a particular course of action. Abraham gets into it with God about destroying Sodom and Gomorrah.
To be sure, God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and God's ways are not our ways, but I wonder if maybe the invitation to dialogue with God is more open than our reformed theological tradition has revealed. Maybe we've emphasized the sovereignty of God so much that we've forgotten about God the mother hen, or God the redeemer, or God the transformer, or God the Christ child, or God the Holy Spirit who is all about creativity and new life. I wonder what our prayer life might look like if we really and truly believed God was listening and might be willing to be convinced of a course of action that we offer up in humble suggestion.
Do we pray expecting to change God's mind?
Do we pray about things as big as Moses did?
Do we even listen long enough to hear what God's original plans are, anyway?
See you in worship!
1 comments:
This comment about prayer is a great one, Alan! I know I certainly find myself every once in a while feeling as though I'm praying because I should, not because I truly believe it makes a difference. My prayer life would probably be much stronger if I always remembered God the mother hen, God the Holy Spirit, etc.
In terms of God changing his mind, I often think about this when I consider the story of Noah. I've never quite understood why, if God never changes his mind and knows what will ultimately happen in every scenario, he would create a people that he would later destroy. How does that story fit into the idea of a God who doesn't change his mind (i.e. deciding to create people he deemed good and then deciding later that they were not good enough)? I apologize if this is something that you covered in your sermon. I haven't had a chance to listen to it just yet, but I will certainly do so soon!
Post a Comment