Did God Change His Mind in Exodus 32? (by Thom Powell)
Did God change his mind in Exodus 32?
The short answer is yes.
The long answer is also yes… but with more words.
If you read the story through, you will observe the following progression:
- The Israelites rebel against God.
- God says that He will destroy them.
- Moses prays and asks God not to destroy them.
- God repents and does not destroy them.
The simplest reading of the text indicates that God changed his mind. Though it is the most straightforward interpretation of the narrative, classical theologians disagree with this conclusion. They assert that God cannot change his mind, because He already knows every event that will ever take place. If He cannot gain any new information, He cannot change his mind. I suppose that may be true, but if so, I find it rather odd that God has never mentioned seeing the future. Though God has told us of things before they came to pass, he has never stated that He knows the future exhaustively. It seems altogether reasonable that a God capable of creating the universe, would also be capable of making whatever He wanted to see happen tomorrow happen. Prophecy does not necessitate the need for divine foreknowledge. I have heard some arguments citing other sections of the Bible which may suggest God does know a settled future. That topic does deserve to be addressed, but that’s not the purpose of this specific post. Today, I just want to see what really happened in Exodus 32.
As God has never claimed to know future events exhaustively, I find it completely inappropriate to read Exodus 32 through that prejudicial lens. I am now going to make what you might consider a preposterous claim, and then I’m going to show you that I am right.
There are only two possible explanations for Exodus 32. Either, God said something that He knew wasn’t true, OR God changed his mind.
In other words, God lied about the future OR He changed his mind about the future.
Some readers may already be turned off by this statement having not even heard the evidence. If you’re a Calvinist, Arminian, or Molinist, neither of these two options fit within your theology. Can I be lovingly honest with you as a brother in Christ? That doesn’t matter. If something can be soundly proven from the Bible, your opinion on the issue becomes irrelevant. Your theological position is irrelevant. Your tradition is irrelevant. My words and your words, along with the teachings of Calvin, Arminius, Molina, Augustine, the Pope, Martin Luther, etc. are nothing but the doctrines of men. That doesn’t mean they are wrong. They could be right! It simply means they have no authority. Cast aside the flag of your favorite dead guy when you approach the living Word of God!
I am going to show you from the very words written in Exodus 32 that there is no other possible interpretation apart from the two that I’ve offered. Let’s begin in verse 1.
Exodus 32:1 “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.”
I give you verse one simply to build context. The selection we will examine actually begins in verse seven. In short, the Israelites reject Moses and God. Aaron builds them the molten calf as their new god. Here is God’s understandable reaction considering all that He has done for them:
Exodus 32:7–10 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: 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.”
Even though we have not arrived at the meat of the content, the verses we’ve already read present a dilemma. If you haven’t already, I would challenge you to consider this question…
Why did God tell Moses to leave Him alone?
Stop and think about the implication of those words. He says, “Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them…” Does this not seem to imply that Moses has the ability to sway God’s intent? God said, “Moses, you leave me alone, so that I can destroy them in my anger.” If Moses cannot affect God, why would God ask him to back off? Chew on that question while we continue.
Exodus 32:11–14 “And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.”
Look at the order of events:
Vs 7–10: God declares His intentions and asks Moses not to interfere.
Vs 11–14: Moses prays.
Vs 15: God repents.
In verses 7–10 God declares what He will do. He does not say that He is considering punishing them. He says that He will. He did not say, unless… ‘this’ or ‘that.’ He said this was what was going down.
He is certainly going to destroy them if not for Moses’ interference. Some might say that God did not really intend on destroying them, but was putting on this whole show for Moses’ benefit somehow… That doesn’t work. The text itself says that He ‘thought’ to do this to them: “And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.” He was not manipulating Moses toward some intended behavior. He was telling Moses the truth. Killing them was his actual intent. God himself says again in Psalms that He would have destroyed them were it not for Moses:
Psalms 106:23 “Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.”
Psalms 106 confirms that it absolutely was God’s intent to destroy Israel in this story. Moreover, He turned from that intent only due to Moses’ prayer.
Whether you are a Calvinist, Molinist, or Arminian, you’ve got a serious cause-and-effect issue here. The Bible says that Moses is the reason that God did not kill them. So, did God not foresee Moses’ prayer before it happened? If He heard Moses’ prayer before it was prayed, then how can his intentions change afterward? If he had already predetermined to repent based on an already foreseen prayer, then why did He falsely claim that He intended to destroy them? Was his wrath all for show, or was it real? If you would like to argue that this whole setup was for Moses’ benefit, I would challenge you to read these verses again. Ask yourself, ‘Does the Bible say that Moses prayed, because God wanted him to, OR does the Bible say that God changed his plan, because Moses asked Him to?’
If God already knew that He would not destroy them, why did He say that He would? “Therefore he said that he would destroy them…” –Psalm 106:23. Did God lie, or did He change his mind? I don’t want to create a false dichotomy, but I really don’t see any other options here. He said He would do something. Moses asked Him not to. He changed his mind. The end.
God said in both Exodus 32, and Psalms 106 that He intended to kill them. He said he was going to do it, and then He did not.
Some contest that God did not really change His mind in this story. They claim that He always knew He wasn’t going to destroy Israel. If He always knew that He wasn’t going to destroy Israel, then He was not speaking the truth in verse 7–10.
“Therefore he said that he would destroy them…” –Psalm 106:23
If someone says they’re going to do something, all the while knowing that they will not, they’re lying.
So which is it? I say, God changed his mind. But, what say you? Comment below!
Maybe I’ve got this all wrong. It’s certainly possible. I’ve probably been wrong more times than I’ve been right in my life. But I’ll tell you this much: I’m not afraid. I’m not afraid to learn, in fact, I want to! I am more interested in knowing Jesus than being welcome in the traditionalist club.
So, come on in, the heresy feels great! God does change his mind folks. Try this one little truth out for a bit. Who knows what other crazy goodies you might find? You might even come to believe that God hopes all people will be saved — 2nd Peter 3:9, Ephesians 3:9, Titus 2:11, 1st Timothy 2:4, Romans 5:18. Can a God that sees a settled future hope? That’s another thought for another day though…
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If you found today’s author to be a heretic, let me know how I’ve lost my salvation in the comment section! ;)
Bbbyyyyeeee…..
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Ok. Bye for real now….
