God does not change His mind
“The Lord also said to Moses: “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people. Now leave Me alone, so that My anger can burn against them and I can destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
But Moses interceded with the Lord his God: “Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a strong hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He brought them out with an evil intent to kill them in the mountains and wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from Your great anger and relent concerning this disaster planned for Your people. Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel — You swore to them by Your very self and declared, ‘I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and will give your offspring all this land that I have promised, and they will inherit it forever.’ ”
So the Lord relented concerning the disaster He said He would bring on His people.”
Exodus 32:9-14 HCSB
As I said I have a problem with this verse, or rather I had a problem.
You see God said to Moses that He wanted to destroy the Hebrews He brought out of Egypt. But Moses was able to get God to change His mind. BUT as Numbers 23:19 says,
“God is not a man who lies, or a son of man who changes His mind. Does He speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?” HCSB
So how can God change His mind but then He is a God who cannot change His mind? The answer lies in that God relented rather than changed his mind. To relent is to abandon or mitigate a harsh intention. So what God decided to do was to lessen His anger for the time being and wipe them out slowly, over 40 years, then in one instant.
So now the story of the 12 spies, 10 foolish and 2 wise, was from God to bring judgment upon the nation of Hebrews who will try God’s patience in their generation and God could raise up a new generation who will follow Joshua into the promise land. For God even knew that Moses would not be allowed in the promise land.
“They reported to Moses: “We went into the land where you sent us. Indeed it is flowing with milk and honey, and here is some of its fruit. However, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We also saw the descendants of Anak there.
So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: “The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size.”
Numbers 13:27-28, 32 HCSB
“But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them.”
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,”
We have to decide whether we believe God’s word or our interpretation of God’s word. For all of scripture is true but our interpretation may be off. God never changed His mind but he did relent and allowed His anger to cool. He did however do what He said He would do.
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