God-The Repentent?

Repent-Repentance:to feel sorry,self-reproachful,or contrite for past conduct;regret or be conscience-stricken about a past action,attitude,etc./to feel such sorrow for sin or fault as to be disposed to change one's life for the better;be penitent.


Does God repent?

According to Numbers 23:19,no.

God is not a man,that he should lie;neither the son of man,that he should repent.

God is not a man,therefore he cannot sin,therefore he has nothing to repent.


But,and its a big but,the above verse is contradicted by several others that clearly show that God can,and does repent.Here's a few examples.(all quotes KJV)

Genesis 6:5-7

5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

Exodus 32:9-10/14

9 And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation....14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

Jeremiah 15:5-7

5 For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest? 6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people since they return not from their ways.

Jeremiah 18:8-10

8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation,and concerning a kingdom,to build and to plant it;10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice,then I will repent of the good,wherewith I said I would benefit them.

Jonah 3:9-10

9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? 10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

If God can and does repent then God is admitting that his actions were wrong.And if God is wrong he cannot be perfect.Therefore,being imperfect like us,he is also capable of making mistakes and committing sin,just like us.


The enormity of this realization can be found in the modern translations of these verses.The word repent has been removed altogether,instead words such as grieved,relent and sorry are used.The word evil has also been changed.(use link to compare verses)
www.biblegateway.com...:9-10;&version=31;


It would appear mankind was created with more than just God's image.Which means that we were forever destined to make mistakes and to sin,just like the one who made us.This must mean also,that Sin existed long before innocent Eve was tempted by the Serpent.



[edit on 1-12-2008 by jakyll]

i get what you're trying to say but whoa you're making a lot of assumptions don't you think and how could God possibly sin?

God is perfect in grace, in wisdom, in knowledge, in beauty, in holiness, in love, in power, in righteousness, in justice, in all that He is and all that He does. There is no thought or word or deed of God that is less than the ultimate it could be.

It is not that God does things perfectly, it is that He Himself is perfect and, therefore, all that He says or does is perfect. God cannot issue forth from Himself anything that is imperfect, for imperfection does not dwell within Him. Not even the possibility of imperfection can be found within His being. We creatures of God, products of the Adamic fall, should take great joy and hope in the perfection of Him who created us.

God made original man, the man (1), in His image and likeness.

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (Genesis 1:26-27).

Then came the disobedience of the man and woman and their expulsion from the garden of Eden, and the man, Adam, began to reproduce after his image and likeness.

This is the written account of Adam's line. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.
He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them "man."
When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. (Genesis 5:1-2)

Since then, humanity has only been able to struggle toward but never reach the perfection we inherently know we should attain. But always, no matter the amount of education or affluence or technological advancements, perfection remains far out of grasp. A star to dream upon but never reach.

But there shall come a day for us who are in Christ "when that which is perfect has come"(1 Corinthians 13:10), and though "it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is"(1 John 3:2) [italics for emphasis].

On that day, when God's eternal purpose in Christ is fully manifested, when this time/space universe is no more, when the age that is to come has come, when the universe sparkles again in the glory of its creation, when the lion lies down with the lamb, on that day we will put off these imperfect bodies of flesh and put on one like His, perfected no longer only in spirit (Hebrews 10:14) but now in all ways, for we will be eternally part of Him who is perfect.

Source

[edit on 1-12-2008 by baseball101]

[edit on 1-12-2008 by baseball101]

Did you read the OP properly?

If God repents,then he cannot be perfect.
Repentance is a change of thought and action to correct a wrong and gain forgiveness.Perfection is to be entirely without any flaws.Admitting that you're actions were wrong means those actions were flawed and therefore you are flawed.


Sin is a transgression of divine law.
Divine law says that killing and harming others is a sin.God carried out such actions against mankind and repented of it.If his actions were not a sin then there would be no reason for him to repent.

reply to post by jakyll


If you're considering sin breaking the 10 commandments ... those only apply to man, not Him to His creations.

We are made in his image and every emotion that we have, from jelousy to repenting are traits we have inherited from him.

Are you saying you would prefer God to never show raw emotion? How would righteousness prevail then?

baseball101

If you're considering sin breaking the 10 commandments ... those only apply to man, not Him to His creations.

The 10 Commandments just cemented facts that were already in existence.




Myrtales Instinct

Are you saying you would prefer God to never show raw emotion? How would righteousness prevail then?

I believe in the idea of god having emotions,negative and positive.Yet many Christians believe he only has positive emotions.

Originally posted by baseball101
reply to post by jakyll

 

If you're considering sin breaking the 10 commandments ... those only apply to man, not Him to His creations.

Where is the biblical scripture to confirm that? There is none, none whatsoever to show that he is in any way exempt from his own laws. Did not his son, who christians claim is god in the triune nature, have to follow every law to the letter? Did he not say that not one jot or tittle of the law would be broken?


No, you are completely incorrect, and there is no scripture to show that he is exempt from his own laws. Common logic dictates that he MUST be held to his own laws, for his laws are "perfect", as he is "perfect", and the laws are the very essence of God's nature.

To say otherwise breaks the very meaning OF God, biblically, and would be considered a blasphemy.

This is silly.
The words translated "repent" are not all the same original word in every case.
Yahuah's "repentance" in the examples you used is different from the form of repentance that we usually think of, that which man does.

This thread is making a mountain out of a...well nothing at all really.

I did a study on this once and was fascinated that this kind of stuff was skipped over during the many years I was forced to go to church, learn scripture, and say prayers.

Also, interesting to note that some may have not noted prior, do a study on G-d's forgetfulness. Yes, it is there... all throughout the Bible it says "And G-d remembered them" (in different variations of course).

All this talk about him watching us at all times doesn't line up with what the bible says.

G-d seems prone to quite a few of our human traits.

Originally posted by Myrtales Instinct
We are made in his image and every emotion that we have, from jelousy to repenting are traits we have inherited from him.

Are you saying you would prefer God to never show raw emotion? How would righteousness prevail then?

One of the best and most honest answers I have seen from a believer in G-d (am assuming you are by the way you speak) and I quite agree with you on this. Wasn't until this realization hit me, quite recently in fact, that I have started settling down a bit on the concept of their being a god and actually in fact, quite comforted for the most part. While I don't subscribe to the new testament, the old testament has had a bit more meaning since I have quit listening to others perceptions, being angry over them, and let the words speak for themselves.

reply to post by Jomina


Enjoy!

Why is murder wrong? According to Genesis 9 the reason that murder is wrong is you are destroying something of God's, something that bears His nameplate - His image. You destroy another human being and you will be punished for destroying God's property.

Can God destroy God's property? The answer seems to be yes. You see, God is the King of the universe. He is King of the universe not because He is the most powerful, and not by some arbitrary rule, but because He created it and it belongs to Him from the beginning. God can do what He wants with His universe. If He chooses to give life, He can give it. If He chooses to take life, He can take it. It's not immoral for God to take the life of His own property.

While I was reading the Scriptures this morning, in the Gospels Jesus is giving the parable of the landowner who had hired different people at different times of the day, but paid them all the same thing. The landowner paid the guy who came in last at 4 o'clock the same as the guy who came in early in the morning. The guy who came in first was upset. Here is what Jesus said, speaking as the landowner, Can't I do what I want with that which is mine? We had an agreement and I paid you what we agreed. Now, if I want to give my money away to somebody else for less work, it's my money. Can't I do what I want with my own money?

The simple answer is, no, God does not have to keep all the Ten Commandments. In fact, it is hard to imagine how many of them even apply to Him. Does God have to keep the Sabbath? Does God have to dedicate a portion of His week to the Lord? No, that's for His subjects, not for the King. Should God not have any other Gods before Him? That's kind of ludicrous. It doesn't apply. He doesn't have to honor His parents. He doesn't have parents. What about coveting? Thou shall not covet. What is coveting? Isn't it desiring something that is not your own? Is it possible for God to covet? What is there that is not properly His? Nothing, therefore God can't covet. The Ten Commandments are an expression of God's desire and in many ways an expression of His character, but they are expressions of His character that have a certain application to human beings who are His subjects and the rules do not apply to Him in the same way.

The question that is raised here is the question of absolutes. Then those rules aren't absolutes. If what you mean by the word absolute is that there is a rule that is somehow fixed in heaven and applies to everything under heaven by its own force and there are no exemptions or exceptions to the rule, and everything and everyone and everybody must bow to the rule, including God for it to be an absolute, well, then there aren't any absolutes like that. I think that is an abuse of the word. No, I think an absolute isn't the kind of thing that never is exempted, but is an objective moral rule that has to do with a circumstance and is always applicable in those circumstances applied in the same way. But when the morally relevant circumstance is changed, like you go from man to God as the players, then it may not be that that objective principle applies in these other circumstances.

If you want to call moral rules absolutes in the sense that they can never be trumped, then that is probably too strong a definition and not a Biblical definition. And if you are not careful, it makes God subject to His own rules in a way that puts the rules above God instead of God above the rules.

Source

The universe and all of it's inhabitants are the property of Him.

[edit on 1-12-2008 by baseball101]

torahwarrior

This is silly.
The words translated "repent" are not all the same original word in every case.

Really?
I know the answer to that,do you?
If so,please give evidence,not just a statement.




baseball101

Thats i kinda bizarre translation of Genesis 9.I know it talks of an eye for an eye.(verse 6) And God makes a new covenant,but nowhere does it suggest that God is above his own laws,nowhere does it say that we are his property.

Originally posted by justamomma

Originally posted by Myrtales Instinct
We are made in his image and every emotion that we have, from jelousy to repenting are traits we have inherited from him.

Are you saying you would prefer God to never show raw emotion? How would righteousness prevail then?

One of the best and most honest answers I have seen from a believer in G-d (am assuming you are by the way you speak) and I quite agree with you on this.

Wasn't until this realization hit me, quite recently in fact, that I have started settling down a bit on the concept of their being a god and actually in fact, quite comforted for the most part. While I don't subscribe to the new testament, the old testament has had a bit more meaning since I have quit listening to others perceptions, being angry over them, and let the words speak for themselves.

I agree ...and have posted this a few times on other posts ..
It comforts me too knowing that God does understand us since we were created in his image ...those traits had to have come from him ...and he would have had the same passions and emotions etc that we have .......and knows what we are capable of or not capable of ......