"Does God `Repent' or Change His Mind? A Study of Genesis 6:6 and Exodus 32:14"
ETS Convention, Colorado Springs, Nov. 14, 2001
Copyright © 2001, by Walter A. Maier III
Does God repent or change His mind? This question arises because of passages in Scripture,
describing God's thinking, which have been translated with the words "repented," "regretted," or "changed
His mind."
The matter of whether or not God changes His mind is part of the discussion concerning the
knowledge of God. Does God know all things, including everything that will take place in the future, or
not? If God "regrets," that seems to imply that God at an earlier point in time engaged in an activity with
one result in mind. However, another result, which God did not anticipate and does not like, is the reality,
and thus God is sorry that He carried out that earlier activity. If God "changes His mind," the average
reader likely will understand this to mean that God's final decision on an issue was unknown even to God
Himself; that God initially had one plan in mind, but then adopted another. Both the translations "repent"
or "regret," and "change the mind," can lead to the same conclusion: God does not know everything that
will take place in the future.
With regard to the knowledge of God, Scripture teaches that God does know all things, whether in
the past, present, or future. A few representative passages are: 1 John 3:20, "For God is greater than our
hearts, and He knows everything [NIV]"; 1 Samuel 15:29, "He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or
change His mind; for He is not a man, that He should change His mind [NIV]"; and Isaiah 46:9-10, "I am
God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come [NIV]." In Isaiah 41:22-23, Yahweh, by revealing what idols
cannot do, indicates what He can do: "Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place; as
for the former events, declare what they were, that we may consider them, and know their outcome; or
announce to us what is coming. Declare the things that are going to come afterward, that we may know
that you are gods . . . Behold, you are of no account, and your work amounts to nothing . . . [NASB]." One