Jon 3:10 | KingComments | STEP | Just as the wickedness has risen from Nineveh to God before ( ), so now repentance rises. God does not only hear their calls, He also sees their change. They produce fruit worthy of the repentance ( ). That fruit is that they turn form their wicked way. No animal sacrifices are brought, but they bring the sacrifice of a broken spirit and contrite heart ( ). Their change leads God to change His mind. He relents concerning His earlier plan and does not execute it. God’s relenting never has to do with acknowledging a wrong deed. God never does anything wrong. The element of regret about wrongdoing is not present here. If God relents, it means that in His government He comes back from something He had in mind, but changes it when He sees people behaving differently. God can therefore relent in the sense that He comes back to an intention to bless or punish man if the ways of man give cause to so (cf. ). This shows that man is not a puppet and God is not an adamant God.

‏ Jonah 3:10

And He Did Not Do It

Just as the wickedness has risen from Nineveh to God before (Jona 1:2), so now repentance rises. God does not only hear their calls, He also sees their change. They produce fruit worthy of the repentance (Mt 3:8). That fruit is that they turn form their wicked way. No animal sacrifices are brought, but they bring the sacrifice of a broken spirit and contrite heart (Psa 51:17).

Their change leads God to change His mind. He relents concerning His earlier plan and does not execute it. God’s relenting never has to do with acknowledging a wrong deed. God never does anything wrong. The element of regret about wrongdoing is not present here. If God relents, it means that in His government He comes back from something He had in mind, but changes it when He sees people behaving differently.

God can therefore relent in the sense that He comes back to an intention to bless or punish man if the ways of man give cause to so (cf. Jer 18:7-8 ; Jer 26:2-3). This shows that man is not a puppet and God is not an adamant God.