What does it mean that God repented?

Answer

The term “repent” at its root means “to change one’s mind.” To repent of sin means to change your mind about sin. At one time, you thought sin was good, acceptable, and even fun. When you repent, you see sin as evil and harmful. Any change of mind can be described as repentance.

When the Bible says God “changes His mind,” it is speaking of God in human terms. (The technical term is anthropomorphism.) Of course, God knows all along what He will or will not do, and He never changes His mind because he never receives new information that he has to consider. However, as he interacts with people, he interacts in real time. God does not interact with us today based on the sin that we may commit next month. Today, if we are walking in obedience and fellowship with him, God chooses not to act on what he knows is coming. Likewise, if we are living in sinfulness today, but he knows we are going to repent next year, God does not treat us as he will next year. He deals with us now, in the situation we are in.

In the King James Version, Jeremiah 26:13, 1 Chronicles 21:15, and Joel 2:13 say that God repented. Specifically, God repents of the punishment that he was going to send because the people repented. God was sending judgment, but in response to the sinners’ change of mind about sin, God also “changed His mind” about the judgment. Because of the possible confusion such wording may produce, the NIV translates the term “relent,” which accurately conveys the idea: “Now reform your ways and your actions and obey the Lord your God. Then the Lord will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you” «Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. », (Jeremiah 26:13, emphasis added).

On the eternal level, God never “changes His mind.” Numbers 23:19 states that God does not lie or repent—because He never gains access to new information. However, from our perspective, on the level of interaction with humans, He does. Even though He knows what will happen before it occurs, He responds to us in “real time.” As the situation evolves, He adjusts His actions and His responses to us.