Jeremiah 26:1-19
Read Jeremiah 26:1-19
Helpful Background Information:
In Jonah 3:10, we’re told that after God sees the repentance of the Ninevites, He “relents” from the disaster He had threatened them with. In Jonah 4:2, again, Jonah describes the LORD as a God who “relents” from sending disaster. While the CSB consistently uses the word “relents” there are other common translations that say God “repents” or “changes His mind” upon seeing the response of the Ninevites. In what sense can we possibly say that God “changes His mind” in the Bible? Does that mean He was caught off guard? Or perhaps that He didn’t know what would happen next and made a mistake?
The short answer is certainly not. When a word like this is used in the Bible, we call it anthropomorphic language. That’s just a fancy way of saying that we often use human terms to describe how God interacts with us in real-time based on our current choices.
A passage that can really help us better understand what exactly is and isn’t meant by God “relenting” is in Jeremiah 26. It's there that we find the same word used three times to describe God’s willingness to withhold the disastrous exile His people deserved if only they would be willing to repent (vv.3, 13, 19). Since God Himself is speaking in verse 3, it’s clear that God “relenting” is not a reaction that comes as a result of Him learning something He didn’t already know beforehand. God is clearly the One who sets the terms, and He does so in a way that establishes clear expectations for what the people can expect to happen given any course of action they take. In other words, the principle we learn from Jeremiah is that after God announces His disastrous judgment on a sinful nation, He will still be willing to “relent” if they are willing to “repent” of their sin.
Reflection Questions:
God’s willingness to “relent” reveals both His justice and His mercy. How do you personally hold those two truths together?
Anthropomorphic language helps us understand God’s interactions in human terms. How does recognizing this deepen your confidence in both God’s unchanging character and His real relationship with humanity?
God’s warnings are not empty threats but invitations to turn back to Him. How does this reshape the way you think about difficult passages concerning judgment in Scripture?