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| Sperm whale (Physeter microcephalus) illustration by Uko Gorter |
(Jon
3:10) Then God saw their works, that they turned from their
evil way [change of behavior]; and God relented from the disaster that He had
said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it [change of action in relation to the change in behavior].
Interpretation
outcomes are generally derived from these factors:
(1)
The Holy Spirit (spiritual regeneration versus 1 Cor 2:14)
(2)
View of Scripture (God’s special self-revelation of Himself, 2 Pet 1:20-21; 2
Tim 3:16)
(3)
View of God (predicated on Scripture, high-view vs low-view, i.e., our view of
God cannot be any higher than our view of Scripture)
(4)
Theological considerations on the attributes of Yahweh (eternality [no
beginning/no end], omniscience [all-knowing], omnisapience [all-wise], immutability
(absolute incapability of change], et cetera.
(5)
Sound hermeneutics (the art and science of the interpretation of Scripture)
that is context-driven
(6)
Limitation of translations (the weakness of language)
(7)
Anthropomorphism – a depiction of the Creator God in human terms: anthropos
(man) and morphe (form), literally man-form. God is incorporeal or immaterial,
without material form or substance (Jn 4:24), invisible (Jn 1:18; Col 1:15; 1
Tim 1:17; Heb 11:27; 1 Jn 4:12). For the infinite and eternal God to be
relatable to His human creation made in His image (Gn 1:27), He must condescend
to be human-like without our imperfections, of course, and think, speak, and
act in a human manner while retaining all of His perfections. It is quite
remarkable actually. With that said, we must ever keep in mind the words of
Isaiah under inspiration concerning Yahweh,
For
my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the LORD (55:8).
This
does not stop the low-viewers in their arrogance, however, in attempting to
drag God down to the level of sinful man having no fear of the Holy One and
insulting the glory of His majesty. Upon reading of actions of God, for
example, Gn 6:6, sorry; Ex 32:14, relented; 1 Sam 15:11, greatly regret; 1 Sam 15:35, regretted; Jer 18:8, 10, will relent; Jer 26:3, that I may relent; Jer 26:13, will relent; Jer 26:19; 2 Sa
24:16; Jonah 3:10, relented; Gn 9:6, remember; Gn 2:2, rested; Gn 6:6, grieved; Ex 20:5, jealous; Jdg 2:18, moved to pity, we should never conclude that “God is
like us!” for He does not anthropomorphize our imperfections; He is holy and
incapable of sin.
Some
will accuse Him of misleading us through anthropomorphism, leading us to
believe He is something that He is not. It’s a ridiculous charge, and I take
exception to it. He is so totally “other than,” we understand what He is doing.
For the low-viewers, it makes no difference; they do not know Him.
Yahweh
is nothing like us, except that we are made in the image of God (Gn 1:27) though that
image has been defaced by man’s sin to the point of being unrecognizable. There
is no so-called “spark of divinity” to be found in any of the sons and daughters
of Adam. That is a pipedream concocted by those who have no understanding of
the doctrine of hamartiology (the study of sin).
Since
Yahweh is a Spirit, He has no head, brain, face, eyes, ears, mouth, tongue,
heart, lungs, stomach, arms, hands, legs, feet, and so forth. He doesn’t eat or
drink. He is never weary. He never sleeps. I know; the Almighty had to chill
out on Saturday after creation week…
So,
we see through inspiration God ascribing human features and characteristics to
Himself so that we are able to relate to Him; otherwise, try as we will,
without anthropomorphisms, it is impossible to relate to a formless, invisible Creator God. Here are a few examples of this.
Hair (Dan 7:9)
Head (Dan 7:9)
Face
(Ex 33:23; Num 6:24)
Eyes
(Psa 34:15)
Ears
(Psa 34:15)
Nostrils
(2 Sam 22:16)
Mouth
(Psa 33:6)
Heart
(Gn 6:6; Psa 33:11)
Hand
(Ex 7:5; 33:23)
Finger
(Ex 31:18)
Back
(Ex 33:23)
Arm
(Psa 89:10; Isa 53:1)
Legs
& feet (Gn 3:8)
These
various factors all come into play in interacting with any text of Scripture, but
in controversial verses like Jon 3:10 when it speaks of God relenting or other human-like
verbs, you begin to see these factors more visibly, exposing on what side of
the ledger the interpreter is on. Many will use the stealth of academic pursuit
to disguise their shadowy agenda. Divisive verses like Jn 14:6, however, really
bring out the love.
These
are generally the drivers of the various interpretations of passages like Jonah
3:10 when it speaks of God saying or doing human-like things. I will refer to
these factors above as we talk about whether God is “guilty” of contradiction,
modification, or miscalculation.
Why
this is so important for believers because there has always been an attack
upon the reliability of the Scriptures. If the integrity of the Scriptures
cannot pass muster, then it is linked back to the “fault” of its Author to
create doubt, disbelief, and disregard for the believer. The monumentally foolish
action of attacking the Word of God or the character of God is reflected in this
synoptic verse,
Heaven
and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away (Mt 24:35; Mk 13:31; Lk
21:33).
We
should stand up and take notice because our salvation is riding on the solidarity
of God and His Word. An attack on the Word is tantamount to an assault on God
Himself. We tend to forget that it is His self-revelation to man, not man’s ideas
about God. If the word of God is flawed, we might as well close up shop and sin
ourselves stupid. But by faith, we believe God’s Word to be the supreme and
final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
Before
talking more about this, I want to say that God’s reaction to the response of
the Assyrians to Jonah’s message had everything to do with God’s eternal and
immutable character. The attack on God “changing His mind” and insinuating from
that He was a liar based on those absolute statements in Num 23:19 and 1
Sam 15:29 is egregious.
(Num
23:19) God
is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should
repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make
it good?
(1Sa
15:29) And also the
Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He
should relent.
The
reason for Nineveh’s impending disaster was because of their wickedness (Jon
1:2; 3:4). They listened to Jonah; they believed in Jonah's God. This was the very reason Yahweh called off the destruction of this capital city of Assyria. They were
still breathing on day 41 because God showed mercy and grace to His enemies
while His critics desired to make Him out to be a liar, “You said You were
going to destroy them! Liar! Liar!” Jonah, God’s mouthpiece, was livid that the
outcome did not fit his narrative that the Assyrians deserved to die.
They
assert that God did change His mind and contradicted His word in Num 23:19 and
1 Sam 15:29. The attack on the integrity of Yahweh finds its source in the evil
one that can be traced all the way back to the Garden (cf. Gn 3:4, judgment was
the first doctrine denied by Satan). The adversary has been like a parrot on
steroids ever since, “Did God say; did God say; did God say, squawk,” ad
nauseam.
Consider
these words,
(Joh
3:18) He
who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God.
The verse teaches that one is condemned because he has not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. Once he, who is condemned, has believed in the name of the
only begotten Son of God, he is no longer condemned!
Did
God change His mind? From our viewpoint, yes, but from God, He purposely, not
randomly or flippantly, changed the status of that individual because someone
believed. Is God a liar because He supposedly contradicted His position on Num
23:19 or 1 Sam 15:29? The obvious answer is no. God is exercising His divine
prerogative. If He didn’t, nobody would be going to heaven!
Theologically
speaking, it is easy to overlook the attributes of God in a matter. Since He is
all-knowing and immutable, if human logic is an accurate reflection of God
here, God is not bound by human logic. Given Yahweh's eternal attributes, it is an absurdity to employ the
argument that Yahweh changed His mind or miscalculated, suggested by words
elsewhere like “relent,” “sorry,” or “regret.” He knew of the response of the
inhabitants of Nineveh in advance before Jonah ever stepped foot on Assyrian
soil. There can be no changing of the mind or miscalculation when Yahweh the
all-knowing knows the end from the beginning. It would not make any sense. <><
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| To Part 2 |
