Then I think of fasting. How Esther and all the Jews fasted just before the King's decision.
Don't know why, but that troubles me as well. There seem to be tensions in the Bible. On the one hand, trust in, rely upon God. Be content in your circumstance. On the other hand, try to force God's hand by pious acts. Doesn't seem to be consistent.
Hmmmm...I don't know that it's as much about God changing His mind, as much as leaving room for humans to have input in the outcome.
Technically, all who have sinned are worthy of death, so does God "change His mind" every time He forgives a sinner and tosses out the death penalty?
I would lean toward an explanation where:
1. God always leaves room for human influence, or
2. When we perceive that He has changed His mind, it really was His plan all along, as a teaching exercise. Surely He knew that Ninevah was going to repent? He certainly was insistent that Jonah arrive and tell them they needed to; it seemed that Jonah was the one being taught the lesson; not Ninevah. God put a lot more pressure on Jonah to carry the message of doom than He did on Ninevah to repent.
__________________
"God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."
--David Livingstone
"To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go thither,
To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoying all without labor or purchase—
abstracting the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;…."
--Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Song of the Open Road
Hmmmm...I don't know that it's as much about God changing His mind, as much as leaving room for humans to have input in the outcome.
Technically, all who have sinned are worthy of death, so does God "change His mind" every time He forgives a sinner and tosses out the death penalty?
I would lean toward an explanation where:
1. God always leaves room for human influence, or
2. When we perceive that He has changed His mind, it really was His plan all along, as a teaching exercise. Surely He knew that Ninevah was going to repent? He certainly was insistent that Jonah arrive and tell them they needed to; it seemed that Jonah was the one being taught the lesson; not Ninevah. God put a lot more pressure on Jonah to carry the message of doom than He did on Ninevah to repent.
??
That's what that bloody cross thing was all about, wasn't it? He didn't change his mind, he took the justice (read: judgment) of all our sins upon Him.
I do agree with MB with the "it was his plan all along" idea. That's hard for hardcore free-willers. But I do believe God's involvement and control is more real than we realize. And that's a comfort.
That's what that bloody cross thing was all about, wasn't it? He didn't change his mind, he took the justice (read: judgment) of all our sins upon Him.
Yes...but if you don't repent of your sins, you still get the death penalty. Right?
__________________
"God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."
--David Livingstone
"To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go thither,
To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoying all without labor or purchase—
abstracting the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;…."
--Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Song of the Open Road
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