It seems to me that he does, in several ways.
In Exodus 32, when Moses is up on the mountain with God, the people of Israel are down below, making and worshiping idols of gold and indulging in "pagan revelry." God, jealous and filled with fierce anger, tells Moses to leave him alone so that he can destroy the people. Moses, however, "pacifies the Lord" and essentially persuades God to change his mind.
I don't find an issue with God changing his mind (not that I should ever have issue really with what God decides to do); in fact, I think it highlights our ability to intercede for one another, which is a great gift. However, what I read in Psalms today contradicts this notion of a God who changes his mind. Psalm 33:11 "But the Lord's plans stand firm forever; his intentions can never be shaken." Thanks, David (I think), but I believe Moses might disagree with you on that one. So what is it?
I know I can't have all the answers, and I'm okay with mystery, but sometimes it's nice to nail down some concrete beliefs. I don't know that this one piece is absolutely essential, but currently in my personal search, I just feel like everything I'm grabbing for has this fleeting existence, and I can't take hold of anything. I go from this small question to the bigger question, if God changes his mind, can we also lose salvation? What does that look like? What does salvation really mean? And on and on... so this is my attempt to begin searching for these answers and re-evaluate the foundation of my beliefs.
I tend to think that the "foundation" of beliefs is not ours. Because first exposed, we are taking in others' ideas about beliefs. Personally, that has meant that I've either naively trusted others' ideas or doubted them fiercely.
ReplyDeleteIt is now, when you have gone back to re-evaluate, that you are creating the foundation of your beliefs. What a fantastic thing!