Contradiction: Does God Regret or Not?

Contradictions

14So the Lord relented of the harm which He said He would do to His people.

– Exodus 32:14

19“God is not a man, that He would lie,

Nor a son of man, that He would change His mind;

Has He said, and will He not do it?

Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

– Numbers 23:19
(NASB® © 2020)

These two Bible verses seem to contradict each other: Does God regret – or not?

The verb “(to) repent” (Hebrew nacham) is the same in both cases. It has a whole range of different meanings: “to repent, to be sorry, to pity, to hurt, to avenge,” so that the context in which the word is used is ultimately decisive. In this case, the difference lies in the names of God. Exodus 23:19 says that God (Hebrew El, “the Strong”) does not lie like a man or repent like a son of man. When the name God is mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, His immutability and sovereignty, but also His overarching authority and omnipotence, are placed before our eyes. This is why the creation account at the beginning of the Bible begins with the mighty work of God (Genesis 1:1-2:3). His name El appears for the first time in Genesis 14:18, where Melchizedek is referred to as the “priest of God Most High” (El Elyon in Hebrew). He alone is the Almighty, and all worship is due to Him alone. His sovereign judgment is unchangeable, and from this point of view, He never has anything to regret. “And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent” (1 Samuel 15:29).

Exodus 32:14, however, speaks of the LORD (Yahweh in Hebrew), who was moved by Moses’ fervent intercession to have compassion on His people, Israel, even though they deserved to be punished. This name of God does not appear in the creation story in Genesis 1. But as soon as God’s gaze turns to mankind, whose creation is described in detail in Genesis 2:4-25, He no longer calls Himself just God, but the LORD God (Yahweh Elohim in Hebrew). This is no coincidence. LORD is the name of God that expresses His devotion to human beings, His creatures. This is vehemently denied by many scholars but also simply overlooked by many readers of the Bible. But in the Holy Scriptures, every word has its meaning—this is certainly especially true for the names of God! The story of Noah also begins with the words: “And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart” (Genesis 6:6). When Noah, who found favor in the eyes of the LORD, entered the ark at God’s command, the LORD closed it behind him (Genesis 7:16). In the story of King Saul, it is also said that “the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel” (1 Samuel 15:11, 35), as is the case in 2 Samuel 24:16 (cf. 1 Chronicles 21:15; Psalm 106:45). The “repentance” of the LORD, therefore, does not mean that He changes His counsel or even that He considers a previous intention to be wrong—which is impossible—but that He acts differently in certain situations with inner compassion than He has announced, without this detracting from His holiness and love. Sometimes, this happens in grace and mercy (as in Exodus 32:14; 2 Samuel 24:16; 1 Chronicles 21:15; and Psalm 106:45), but sometimes also in righteous anger (as in Genesis 6:6 and 1 Samuel 15:35).

We find an illustration of this in Jeremiah 18:2-10, where the LORD instructs Jeremiah about His own actions using the example of a potter: “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. The vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter, so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?’ says the LORD. ‘Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.’”

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