His name was Jack and he was angry.  His fiancée lay dead in a hospital bed, victim of a drunken driver.  "She was so careful," he said, fighting back the tears, "and that creep just ran her over!  Where is God in all this?  How could He let this happen?"  And then he said something I've never forgotten, "Can't God bring her back again?  Can't He turn the clock back so I can have her again?"

          It's a question that has been in the hearts of mankind since we first realized God's greatness and our sinfulness.  Can God change His mind?  Can He turn back the clock?  Or has He made Himself so unchangeable, so limited, that He can't even change His own mind?

          The only way you and I can figure this one out is to search the scriptures.  Opinions don't count for much here, so we have to go to the Word.  From the outset, the Bible seems clear: "Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday and today and forever," says Hebrews 13:8.  Malachi 3:6 says, "I, the LORD, do not change."  And James, brother of Jesus, says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." (James 1:17)

          Most every Bible student has heard of the attributes of God: He is holy, loving, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present, spirit, eternal, just, merciful, perfect, and changeless.  God has to be changeless, we reason.  How else can He be perfect, knowing all the right things, making all the right decisions, unless He is changeless?  It all depends on what you mean by "changeless."

          To understand the Bible, we need to look at all it says about a topic, not just a verse or two.  And though some passages on this seem obvious, we need to remember something about the incidents with God His people recorded.  For example: God told Abraham that He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and everyone inside their walls.  They were corrupt - case settled!  But Abraham bargained with God - persuaded Him - and God finally agreed that if just 10 people in Sodom and Gomorroh were righteous, then He would spare those cities.  But there weren't even ten.  But it showed God was willing to change His plan.

          Another example: Jonah preached to the sinful people of Nineveh and they repented, so Jonah 3:10 says, "God had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had planned."  And in today's Old Testament Lesson, the people of Israel were in the desert, just weeks away from slavery in Egypt, and they ended up worshipping the golden calf.  God was so angry He wanted to rub them out and start over with Moses who was faithful.

          But Moses reasoned with God: Are you sure you want to do this?  Remember all those people who have been faithful - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, many in this multitude here in the desert.  Do you want people criticizing You for bringing them out of Egypt, then killing them in the desert?  Moses reasoned with God and the Bible says, "The LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster He had threatened."

          Back to Jack's question - can God turn back the clock?  Based on what the Bible says, it is quite possible, but I'm not sure He ever will.  God is a God of endless possibilities.  He can do pretty much anything He wants.  His plans may change but His essence will not.  God will not turn bad.  He won't do evil, for then He would not be God.  Nowhere in the Bible does He ever backtrack on His inherent goodness.

          God is God, and Who He is will never change - praise Him for that!  What He chooses to do, however, has changed and may yet still change.  His power and mercy will not tie His hands.  He is committed to loving His creation, so long as He is sure His creation has some usefulness.  But when His people turn their backs on Him and become slaves to sinful ways of life, then He well may run out of patience.

          Why did God let Moses talk Him out of killing the people, of starting all over with Moses' family?  That's quite an honor to be so righteous!  Why didn't God just say what He was going to do in the first place?

          We are such practical people to ask that question.  God has our good at heart.  He is always teaching us.  Because He is love, He loves His people enough to help them learn.  I wonder what we Americans are learning now that terrorists want to hurt us?  I wonder what Floridians are learning about living in the path of hurricanes?  I wonder what criminals are learning in prison?

          No matter what we're doing, God is teaching us.  He taught us His heart through His Son's death and resurrection.  He taught us His justice in Sodom and Gomorrah.  He taught us His mercy in sparing the people of Israel in the desert.  They didn't deserve it, but they got it.  That's grace - not getting it when we deserve it.

          Years ago a teacher in Minnesota heard a student sass him back and turned and slapped the boy, and hard.  The boy was shaken and said, "But it wasn't me."  The boy next to him said with a slight sneer, "Yeah, it was me."  The teacher said to the first, "Okay, the next time you have it coming, you won't get it!"  And he just looked at the second boy without saying a word.  That was quite a look on his face!

          That teacher would probably be fired today, but back then he taught the boys a lesson they never forgot.  We all have it coming, but because of Jesus, we won't get it.  That's God's grace.  He took our punishment.  He knows our hearts, but loves us anyway.  He sees through us and still calls us His children.  May all of us never get what we have coming.

          The obituary in my local newspaper said Sylvia Smart had died, and that she was survived by her two sons and eight grandchildren.  It suddenly struck me this was the wife of a former teacher of mine, a man we made fun of, because his name was Mr. Smart.  To us he looked so dumb.  I used to make fun of him in class, and I wasn't the only one.  I remember hearing in my senior year how his wife had her sixth miscarriage, and we kids thought he wasn't so smart.  I remember he died shortly after we graduated.  But he'd had two sons, and four grandchildren.  That meant his wife raised those boys, mostly alone, and she had grandchildren.  He was smarter than I thought.  He taught school nearly 30 years, and he had two boys, just like I do.  And if he'd have lived, he'd have enjoyed eight grand kids.  I still remember the day he slapped the kid next to me by accident.  Not very smart, I thought.

          God may change His mind, but never His heart.  He forgives us and loves us and teaches us no matter what.  Thanks be to God!  Amen

Copyright © 2004 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.