Does God change... His mind?
A few days back, a sophesticated friend reached out with this concern: "If Numbers 23:19 says that God is not a man that He should change His mind, then how do we explain the story of King Hezekiah? Wasn't Hezekiah told he would die, only for God to add fifteen more years to his life after he prayed? Doesn't that mean God changed His mind?" It's a thoughtful question and one that has been asked by many over the years. My response to them was as follows. Inasmuch as your question sounds valid, it isn't. Here are my reasons for saying that. 1. The question is almost always asked out of the context of the passages in question. A text taken out of context becomes a pretext. 2. The question often seeks to justify men while accusing God of inconsistency. Men will always lose in such an undertaking. I'm not here to defend Him though. He can do a better job at that. So let's leave the texts for a moment and first look at the contexts in play. To note: A. Two i...