Harry Whittaker (1908-1992) was a leading Christadelphian preacher and apologist. In his booklet, The Prophecy of Jonah, he offered the following commentary concerning Jonah 3 (cf. Jer 18:7-10) and God "changing" His Mind:
This problem of God’s “change in
mind” meets the reader of Holy Scripture not only here but in a variety of
other situations. It is a matter for no little surprise that such a question as
this should have been the subject of so much sloppy thinking and even of
downright neglect.
Clearly there is a paradox
involved here. If God is omniscient and knows the end from the beginning—a timeless
God—how is it possible for Him “to repent” or “change His mind”?
There are more examples of this
than is commonly realized. Here are a few, to be going on with:
1.
The classic instance: Num. 14:30-34: Because of
the faithless Israelite acceptance of the report of the ten faithless spies,
the people were condemned to wander in the wilderness for forty years longer
than they need have done. If, instead, they had followed the good counsel of Joshua
and Caleb, they would have been in the Land of Promise in a matter of weeks. “Ye
shall know my breach of promise (mg: the altering of my purpose)”.
2.
A proper reading of Acts 7:25 (see RV) and Dt.
9:24 requires the interpretation that when Moses made his first intervention on
behalf of his people, “God was giving them deliverance”, but they rejected him
and it (“the reproach of Christ”; Heb. 11:26—anticipating a like situation to
A.D. 30-70).
3.
Two examples associated with the reign of Ahab:
1 Kgs. 20:42 and 21:19.21RV.
4.
King Hezekiah: “Set thine house in order, for
thou shalt die, and not live” (Isaiah 38:1). But because of his prayer, for
fifteen years he lived and did not die.
5.
After the numbering of the people, David opted
for three days of plague; yet, according to 2 Sam. 24:15,16 (Heb. text), the
plague was stayed on the first day.
6.
“In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt
surely die” (Gen. 2:17) was stretched to cover nearly a thousand years because
of faith expressed and sacrifice offered.
“Explanations” of the phenomena
indicated here tend to specialize in woolly verbiage and vague ideas. Something
better is called for.
It is agreed that the concept of
a God who “repents” or “changes His purpose” is one not readily acceded to by a
mere human mind. But then, “My ways are not your ways, neither are your
thoughts My thoughts, saith the Lord” (Is. 55:8). Then ought we not to stop
trying to reconcile seeming contradictions in the ways of God? If Holy
Scripture repeatedly talks about a God at work in this strange fashion, is not because
He wants HIs creatures to think of Him in this way. ‘You small beings can no
more understand those things than you can understand or even guess at the
processes behind Creation in Genesis 1. What you are being told in the Word of
Truth is that is best for you, to believe, whether you can understand or
reconcile or not.”
The sheet anchor is Jeremiah
18:6-10. It is a Scripture to be believed, not explained away. (Harry
Whittaker, The Prophecy of Jonah [Sale, U.K.: North West Print Ltd.,
n.d.], 18-19)
