Can God Change His Mind?
Can God change his mind? The reason why this question can be so confusing is because the Bible has scriptures that seem to imply both sides.
Conflicting Evidence
God DOESN’T change his mind
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. —1 Sam 15:29 (NIV)
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? —Numbers 23:19 (ESV)
God DOES change his mind
So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people. —Ex 32: 14 (NASB)
The Lord changed His mind about this. “It shall not be,” said the Lord. —Amos 7:3 (NASB)
Now therefore amend your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will change His mind about the misfortune which He has pronounced against you. —Jeremiah 26:13 (NASB)
“I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night… And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel. —1 Sam 15:11 & 35 (ESV)
And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw, and he relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. —1 Chr 21:15 (ESV)
When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. —Jonah 3:10 (ESV)
God’s nature never changes
God’s nature never changes. His attitude towards sin never changes: he will always be against lying, murder, adultery, etc. In that way, he is dependable. We can always count on God to take the same position against sin. I think that’s what scripture is getting at when it says that God doesn’t lie or change his mind like humankind does.
God’s mind only appears to change
Even though God’s nature never changes, PEOPLE change, and not only do we change, but our hearts are changing CONSTANTLY. Because each individual’s heart is constantly moving in and out of sin, God’s attitude TOWARDS that person will appear to be in constant fluctuation. I think that’s what scripture is getting at when it says that God “changes his mind” or “regrets” making Saul king, or “relents” (feels sorry) about certain things.
I picture it like God is the sun and I am the earth. The sun stays still and is dependable—it never changes. Meanwhile, the earth is CONSTANTLY rotating. From the earth’s perspective, it looks like the sun is constantly moving across the sky, but in reality, the EARTH is the one whose position is constantly changing. The reason why night comes isn’t because the sun “changed it’s mind” about sending its rays to particular location, but rather because the earth turned its back on the sun.
When scripture says that God “regretted” making Saul king, that wasn’t a change that took place because of something on God’s end. The change was because of something that took place on Saul’s end. God was the sun who never moved, constantly offering its rays to Saul, but Saul was the earth who turned his back on God.
From man’s perspective, it can be said that the sun “changed” towards Saul, when in reality Saul was the one that changed towards God.
Conclusion
God’s nature is unchanging. Human hearts, on the other hand are constantly changing. Because God always takes the same stance against sin, his mind will appear to change towards people as their own hearts change toward God.