We read in Jonah 3:10,“God saw what they did; he saw that they had given up their wicked behavior. So he changed his mind and did not punish them as he had said he would.” (GNB)
God sent the prophet Jonah to preach against the city of Nineveh, with the message that in forty days the city would be destroyed, because of their innumerable sins and wickedness. The King of Nineveh along with all the people repented, prayed, and fasted unto the Lord. Their repentance resulted in a complete change in their lives. The people of Nineveh gave up their wicked ways, and the Lord took note of it, and He relented from punishing them as He had planned.
Prayer and fasting are good disciplines to follow, but if it does not result in change from within, they would be futile. There are some who observe a fast for forty days, making changes in some important areas of their lives, but sadly, once those days are over, they will revert back to their previous way of living. It is vital that we should walk blameless before the Lord every single day of the year with God’s grace and strength. Oftentimes, just to ease their conscience, some observe this discipline, and get back to their own sinful ways. If fasting is done this way, it becomes a meaningless ritual.
Does God change His mind?
Observe how when the people of Nineveh sincerely repented, the Lord actually had a change of mind as mentioned in the verse above.
We read in Numbers 23:19, “God is not like people, who lie; He is not a human who changes his mind. Whatever he promises, he does; He speaks, and it is done.” (GNB)
We also read in Malachi 3:6, "I am the LORD, and I do not change. And so you, the descendants of Jacob, are not yet completely lost.” (GNB)
When we look at these two verses, we understand that God is not like men, and that He does not change His mind. He is faithful to keep His promises, and His word. So, when we read in Jonah 3:10, that God changed His mind, it may cause us to wonder if these are in contradiction to each other. It is important we understand the true nature of God, so that we have a proper understanding of who God really is.
God revealed Himself to Moses
At one point Moses asked God that he should reveal His glory to him, and what happened as God passed by is recorded in the scriptures below.
We read in Deuteronomy 34:6-7, The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (ESV)
These are the characteristics of God that was revealed to Moses that day.
1. God who is merciful
2. God who is gracious
3. God who is slow to anger
4. God whose love is steadfast
5. God of faithfulness
All of the above mentioned are characteristics of God that are unchanging. We further go on to see in Deuteronomy 34:7, that God is also steadfast in His love, forgives our sins and transgressions, but who will also not let the guilty go unpunished. However, we notice that the mercy and grace of God are His foremost attributes.
As children of God we often do not have a clear understanding of who God really is. Whenever we read the bible we should get a proper knowledge of God, so that we can live in a way that is pleasing to Him.
It is only when we look at all of the above verses in tandem, we realize that God changed His mind in the incident of Jonah and the people of Nineveh, is simply because God is primarily a merciful and gracious God. The truth is that God is also a God of justice, and He does punish wrong doing, but His basic nature is that He is most loving and gracious God. No wonder then that when the people of Nineveh fasted, prayed and repented of all their evil ways, the Lord relented from punishing them as He had warned them through the prophet Jonah.
If anyone wants to escape the judgement of God, they must let go of those things that are displeasing to God, and must make a decision to change their ways, to be those that are acceptable to God.
We will look at some other things that we ought to do, in order to be saved from God’s anger, so that we can receive His mercy and grace instead.
The Israelites and the golden calf
The Lord graciously intervened to deliver the people of Israel from the cruel bondage to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. God performed mighty wonders through the hands of Moses, and He also made a miraculous way of escape for them by parting the Red Sea. He destroyed the Egyptian army, and led the people through the wilderness providing them with food and water all through that arduous journey.
When Moses went up to Mount Sinai at God’s command, the people of Israel who were left to themselves made a golden calf, and began to worship it. These people were unwilling to wait for Moses to come down, and went ahead to make their own gods, which they thought would lead them on their journey. It was with this thought that they brought their gold together, and fashioned the golden calf. Not only did they worship the golden calf that they made, they also gave it the honor of being the one that brought them out of the bondage of Egypt. When God observed these atrocities of the people of Israel, He was indignant.
Oftentimes, we miss out on God’s blessings because we are impatient, and not willing to wait for God’s timing. Remember that if we give anything else in our life the priority that is due to God, be it a person, money, things or any of the things that our hands have made, we can be certain that we will become subjects of God’s wrath. This goes against the first commandment that God gave that we are not to worship any image that our hands have made.
God in His anger informed Moses that He planned to destroy the people of Israel for their wicked and idolatrous ways.
Moses pleaded for the people
This was Moses’ response as recorded in Exodus 32:13,“Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’”(NKJV)
Moses reminded God about His promise to the fore fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is an amazing prayer, where Moses reminisced with God about the promise that He would multiply the descendants of Israel, and would also give them the Promised Land that they could inherit forever. Moses literally pleaded with God to have mercy and compassion on the people who had rebelled against God.
The Lord relented
We read in Exodus 32:14,“And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.” (ESV)
Moses stood as a priest before God, and pleaded with Him to not destroy the people who had sinned, and rebelled against Him. We see that God relented, and in His grace and mercy decided to be gracious, and withheld His anger.
The anger of the Lord will certainly come upon those who sin against God, for the word of God remind us that the wages of sin is death. Just like a person receives a salary for their work, so also the recompense for sin is death. Even in those situations when the children of God plead on behalf of others, the Lord is merciful to relent. This kind of prayer of intercession should be the practice of every child of God. Remember that those of us who are part of this new covenant that Jesus established, are chosen to be kings and priests of God. A priest as we all know is one who stands in God’s presence on behalf of others, and is also someone who teaches the commandments of God to others. When each one of us as God’s children, plead with God on behalf of those who are not saved, the Lord will certainly give heed, and answer our prayers. This is the only way that we can save others from destruction.
The Lord calls us to be the salt of the earth. There are two important characteristics of salt. Firstly it prevents decay, and secondly it gives taste to anything that is tasteless. We as God’s children must therefore help those whose lives are distasteful and dissatisfied to understand that God can help them lead a meaningful and worthy life. It is also our responsibility to plead with God in prayer that their lives should not be eternally destroyed.
The Israelites murmured with unbelief
We see another incident in Numbers 14:11-12, “And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” (ESV)
In this incident, there are twelve men who went to spy on the Promised Land. Of these twelve, ten return to inform the leaders of Israel that the land was good, but that the men in the land were huge, and could not be overcome by them. These ten men caused fear in the hearts of the people, and gave the impression that the land was unconquerable. The people who heard this wailed, and some even wanted to get back to the slavery in Egypt. When God heard all of these murmurings and grumblings of the people, God was so furious that He questioned Moses as to how long He had to put up with such disbelief and dishonor from the people. Only two of the men had faith to believe that God would give them that land just as He promised. Anyway the people went by what the ten men reported, and this displeased God who wanted to disinherit them, and strike them with a pestilence. God wanted to take Moses, and establish through him a mighty nation.
Whenever you go through hard and difficult paths, let us never get into the mode of grumbling and complaining, but rather ask God to increase our faith in Him. Let us remember that without faith it is impossible to please God. Every time we forget to thank God for all His goodness in our lives, and fail to recollect the ways in which He led us, we will become discouraged.
Moses interceded on behalf of the people
Every festival that was observed in the Old Testament had a background. The reason God encouraged them to observe these feasts was so the people of Israel could recall the wonderful things God had accomplished for them in the past. Sadly when the Israelites failed to remember the wonders that God’s mighty hand performed to bring them out of Egypt, the Lord wanted to destroy the people, and raise up a new generation through Moses. Read the words of Moses as he pleaded with God on behalf of the people.
We read in Numbers 14:16-19,“‘It is because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.” (ESV)
When Moses pleaded with God to have mercy, and forgive the people of all their sins, this was God’s reply to him as we read in Numbers 14:20,Then the LORD said, “I have pardoned, according to your word. (ESV)
If Moses had not interceded, there would have been no forgiveness for the people.
There is a need today too for those who will pray and intercede to God on behalf of others. If there are no such people, there will surely be possibility of untold dangers. When a man repents and let’s go of his evil ways, he is released from being punished. So also, when children of God plead with God to deliver them from impending judgement, they are freed from the retribution that is due them.
The judgement pronounced on King Ahab
Here’s a third thing to note as found in the incident mentioned below.
We read in 1 Kings 21:20, Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD. (ESV)
King Ahab had coveted the vineyard of Naboth, and had acquired it illegally. God sent His prophet Elijah to Ahab to admonish him, and warn him that he would be punished for this evil deed.
King Ahab humbled himself
This was the response of King Ahab to the rebuke of the prophet Elijah as recorded in 1 Kings 21:27,“And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.”(ERV)
Though Ahab was the king, he humbled himself, took of his royal clothes, and put on sackcloth instead. He also fasted, and lay in sackcloth as a sign of penitence before God.
God’s gracious response
We read in 1 Kings 21:28-29, “And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.” (ESV)
When Ahab repented, the Lord relented of what He had purposed to do, and instead passed on the judgement to the descendants of Ahab.
Let me recap the lessons that we learn from the incidents that we studied in this message.
Firstly, God is angered by sin, but in order to escape from the judgement of God or the only way for God to relent is for us to turn away from our evil ways. The people of Nineveh are a great example to this fact.
Secondly, when there is a group of people who will rise up to pray and intercede on behalf of those who are walking in wickedness, the Lord will be gracious, and will withhold His punishment. We saw two incidents where Moses stood in the gap, and pleaded for the people of Israel, the first when they made the golden calf, and the other time when they did not have faith to inherit the Promised Land, and murmured against God. Both times God refrained from raining down His furious anger and judgement on the people.
Thirdly, we saw the Lord was gracious to King Ahab, though he and his wife Jezebel had done grievously wicked things against God. The heights of that wickedness was in the way they treated Naboth, and acquired his vineyard. When the prophet Elijah pronounced the impending judgement of God on them, Ahab humbled himself before the Lord. God eased off the punishment due to Ahab, and passed it on to his descendants. So, when we humble ourselves before God, He will have mercy on us, and withhold his punishment from us.
It is true that God is unchanging, and this is particularly true of His attributes of mercy, grace and kindness. Wherever, the church has forgotten the purposes of God as was evident in the early church, and is willing to turn back, pleading with God for the lost, and adorning themselves with humility, definitely the church will receive God’s mercy, grace and favor. We have failed in many areas, but let us approach the throne of mercy in sincere humility, and receive God’s grace and favor in our lives.
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by: Sis. Esther Collins
