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In part two of “Don’t Blame God! Why God isn’t responsible for evil,” Pastor Joe McIntyre addresses the remaining two of five questions we must ask when considering evil: 

4) Can God change his mind? 

5) Can God Suffer? 

This episode is pulled from Pastor Joe’s introductory sermon in the series, “Don’t Blame God.”  Each sermon in the series covers one of these five questions at length.

Listen to the episode here.

Listen to Part 1 here.

Additional Resources

Don’t Blame God – Full MP3 series

Full Transcript

Now, question number four, Can God change his mind? Well, over 19 times in the Scriptures He does. But theologians tell us that that is just an accommodation to our humanity, that he really didn’t change his mind. He knew what he was going to do all along. Now, here’s the question we’re going to have to answer, How do these theologians that say that, get the authority to say that, when it doesn’t say that in the Bible? You remember the verse that says, “Oh, by the way, some of the stuff it says about God really doesn’t mean what it says. It’s actually just an accommodation to augment it.” Remember that verse? If you’re trying too hard to remember it, don’t try any harder, because it’s not there. So if I judge the Scriptures to find out which ones are accurately talking about God, I’ve got to find a standard to judge them by outside of the word. Whoops. I’m now judging whether a scripture that tells me about God changing his mind is true by some assumption I have about God, that makes me reject what the scripture plainly says about God. This is the problem theologians have. They know more than God.

Now, I don’t want to get too, if any of this is overwhelming you at this point, we’ll go through it little by little. And we’ll break it down into little bites. Chewable swallowable. That’s a good word. Swallowable. Bites you can swallow. But we’re just, I’m just wanting to stir up a lot of questions in your thinking tonight. And then we’re going to look at each one of these things in more detail in each of the sessions.

What in the world is immutability? Let me just say that I’m going to throw some theological terms at you. And I will explain them. And most of them are pretty simple when you explain them. But big technical terms are useful when you don’t want to use a whole sentence. But once you know what the term means, immutability just means God doesn’t change. What in the world is an anthropomorphism? Well, we’ll look at that. Anthropos is the Greek word for man. How many know what anthropology is? Okay? Study of man. Right? Okay. Morph means form. An anthropomorphism is the theological term that’s used to take the scriptures that describe God in human terms, the face of God, the hand of God, God’s mouth spoke. You know. All of those terms. Does God have hands and feet and a face? Do the eyes of the Lord roam to and fro out throughout the earth? Now, those are terms describing human functions and ascribing them to God. The theological term is anthropomorphism.

All right? Now the question is, how much do they accurately describe something about God? Well, we know God doesn’t have a physical body. But is it possible that there’s something in God in His spiritual nature and form that directly corresponds to his image in us? In other words, where our eyes and their physical sight are actually expression of something that’s in God. So when the Bible says the eyes of the Lord, we understand something about God, that’s right. It’s elevated to a divine level, but it’s still expressing and teaching us something valid about God. So when the Bible says the Lord extended his hand, well, we know that means that in some way his power was put forth in such a way that it made contact with a situation or a person or something. It describes a reality, even if it’s at a higher level than the physical. You follow? How many get this? Is this all right? You got this? Okay.

So that’s what that’s about. Now, why is that important? Well, because the Bible is full of descriptions of God, that use human language to describe him. Now, there’s a couple of possibilities here. One is that these are accommodations by God to help us understand which in part has to be true. Yet another thought that we might think about is that man is truly created in the image and likeness of God. And man is capable of expressing far more about the realities of who and what God is, than some would allow. Okay? We’ll look more in that.

Alright, so if all of God’s purposes are firmly established from before time, can God change his mind? Well, like I said, there’s a number of passages in the Bible, where God relented, because the people repented. That rhymes, you know. Just remember, if you want God to relent, it’s time to repent. But when God said to Jonah, to go to Nineveh, and tell them they were going to be destroyed, was he being insincere knowing that they would repent? And when they did repent, it says he changed his mind. Is that an accommodation to us, or Did something really happen? Did God really intend to destroy them? If he didn’t really intend to destroy them, because he already knew they were going to repent, was he telling the truth, then, when he said he was going to destroy them? If he actually had no intention of destroying them? Is it alright for God to lie to get the response he wants? I’m going to destroy you because of your wickedness. They repent. God changes His mind. Did he really change his mind, or is that just an accommodation?

Well, I’m going to suggest he really changed his mind, because he’s really walking in relationship with us. And what we do can either please God and bring one response or displease God and bring another response. Now, certain theologians have an awful lot of trouble with that, because they say you’re able to, you think you can control God? Yes. Not in any ultimate sense. But I think my prayers make a difference. I think when I stand in my covenant with God, God responds to me in a way that would not happen unless I did it. See? You’d have to throw away your prayer verses not to believe that. And most Christians who have a real walk with God and a prayer life, know intuitively that their prayers are making a difference. Or, why in the world would we pray? Why not just leave it up to the sovereignty of God? And some of us actually think we hear God talk back to us about what he’s going to do.

So, do men and women walking in covenant with God ever actually influence God’s decision? So I’ll just bring up one thing that most of you are aware of, but Moses, I love this passage in Exodus, chapters 32 through 34. God said, “I’m not going among this people. There are stiff neck people, I’ll destroy them.” Moses argues with God and he says, “Now God, if you don’t go among us, we won’t be any different from any people on the earth and your name will be tarnished by the fact that you couldn’t dwell among us.” God says, “Okay, I’ll go with you.” Sounds to me like he changed God’s mind.

I know there’s other ways people can explain this, but when you start stacking up the biblical evidence for the fact that we are in a dynamic relationship with God, where we really do make a difference in what happens in the earth, it’s overwhelming. It’s overwhelming. In fact, we’re robbed by any other view of biblical truth, from our place in prayer, our place in covenant with God, and our ability to change things in the earth by partnering with God in the unfolding of his purpose in the earth. God wants you and I, in intimacy of covenant with him, knowing that we’re loved and accepted, knowing and believing in the power of the gospel to change us and the world, and knowing that what we do, what we say, where we go, what we’re involved in, will be different because we were there, because we’re walking with a covenant God.

Alright, so could God want us to participate in the outworking of his purposes, and want our input? You remember when God came down to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? He said, “Shall we not tell Abraham.” And what did Abraham do? Abraham entered into a dialogue with God, and went from fifty, righteous, down to ten. And every time God agreed, that if there were fifty, yes, if there were forty-five, yes, if there were forty, if there were thirty, if there were twenty, if there were ten. Now before that, God was just going to destroy, but a covenant man in partnership with God, because God said, “Should we not bring our covenant partner into this,” negotiated in prayer and dialogue with God. And had there been ten righteous, Sodom and Gomorrah would not have been destroyed?

Is that just anthropomorphism, or is that covenant reality? All right. Does prayer change God? Now see, some people tell us that you only pray what God already ordained you to pray, which he already wanted to have happen. Therefore, your prayer is just an expression of God’s iron sovereignty. The biblical evidence does not support that idea, in my opinion. Alright?

Number five, Can God suffer? What is impassibility? Another technical term. It means can God respond in an emotional sense? Is God responding to humanity? Or, as many theologians say, God dwells in eternal bliss, it is unmoved by anything that goes on in the created realm. That’s the concept of God that’s in much theology. I’m going to tell you or attempt to show you as we proceed, that that concept of God didn’t come from the Bible. It came from Greek philosophy. And many of the concepts that we accept about God’s sovereignty and God’s nature, were actually brought into the church through Greek philosophy in the early days of the church, and they have created an understanding of God and his sovereignty that’s not biblical. At least that’s what I’m going to attempt to show you, and believe the evidence for it biblically and intuitively.

You see, there are certain things you know about God because you pray, and because he’s manifest Himself to you, and he’s helped you, he’s answered prayer, he’s done things in your life. How many could say that you’ve had God do something in your life, that showed you that not only did he love everybody in general, but he loved you enough to manifest his answer to prayer in a way that uniquely addressed some desire in your personality in life. Do you know what I mean by that? It’s like, when I used to work at a music store, there was a particular kind of rare, professional guitar amp that I wanted to get. Only problem was you had to pay cash for it, send the cash down to California, they would specially make it for you, and then send it to you. It usually took about three months.

Well, I didn’t believe God would would want to, or care that much about me to get me what I really wanted. And I was praying and asking the Lord for the money to buy what I could get at the music store that I worked at. And I’m saying, “Lord, I want to ask you for the money to get such and such an amp.” The Spirit of the Lord said to me, “Is that what you really want?” And so I explained to the Lord, which I’m sure he didn’t understand, that I couldn’t get the other one, I had to get this one. And he said, “Why don’t you ask me for what you really want?” “Well, Lord, I don’t know. Unbelief maybe?” And so I said, “Okay, Lord, what I really want is this particular kind, that you can only get, you know this, Lord, you probably didn’t realize this, you have to special order those.” And so, you know, I said, “Okay, Lord, you’re right. I mean, what I really want is…”

A few days later, in the music store I was working in, a guy walked in carrying one of those amps. He walked up to the front, and I thought, Oh, my God, he’s gonna trade that in. And the other salesman who also happened to be a guitar player, saw him at the same time and said, he’s gonna trade that in. He got to him first. Well, when he was finished talking to the guy, he’d cut a deal with the guy, and he got his amp. I didn’t have any money anyway. So, but the funny thing was.. You have to understand this in the right way. The Lord said to me, “That’s your amp.” Now, I said, “Lord, you know, the Bible says, you probably don’t know this Lord, but the Bible says, You shall not covet. Oh, you wrote that? Oh, I see.” But the Lord said that’s my amp, but I didn’t feel any covetousness I felt this faith.

So, you know, I couldn’t figure out how it was going to be my amp. But a couple weeks later, the other salesman came to me and said, “Hey, are you interested in this amp?” “Well, maybe.” He said, “I like it so well, I’m going to custom order one for myself with a few other features. I will sell this to you for what he sold it to me for. If you need it during the next three months, while I’m waiting for mine to come you can use it anytime you want. And you can pay me for it over time over the next few months.” Not only did God give me the amp I wanted, he arranged time payments, without going in debt and gave me the use of the amp.

Now does God care about the things you care about? Is God a personal God? In the eternal scheme of things, how valuable was that amp to God? In my life, at that season, it represented the desire of one of God’s kids who was trying to walk uprightly with God, and look to God in all areas of his life. And so God honored that. And I could tell you more stories like that, on believing God for stuff. I was believing God for a certain cassette machine that was real nice in a store I worked at, and I was bleeding for it, because I could get it wholesale at that company. This will blow your mind, but I’m just trying to express something to you about the heart of God. I left the company that I was working for. And so I stopped, I was going to stop thanking God. See, after I believed I had it by faith and that God was going to get it for me, I didn’t ask him for any more. I just thanked him for it.

So I was about to pray, and I was gonna thank God for that cassette deck. Only problem was I could no longer get it. And the Spirit said to me, “Isn’t that the one you said you wanted?” I said, “Well, yeah, Lord, but I don’t work for the company. And that’s not that common.” And I knew my lesson though, so I said, “Okay, Lord, thank You for the such and such a brand cassette deck.” Now, I’ve left the job to go into full time ministry. I’m serving God. And I’m living in North Seattle. I’ve got to move over to Kirkland, because that’s where we’re meeting. So I gotta rent a house. So I find out about this house, downtown Kirkland, and I show up there and there’s like ten people clamoring to get this place. Well, I think, I look at the place and I think this is the place I want. Well, I go in, and the guy renting the house is the rep for the company that sold those cassette decks.

So he says, “Well, what’re you doing? And I said, “Well, I’m in the ministry and I’m, you know, teaching the Bible.” and his wife goes “Really?” And so she sits down at the table, and for probably 45 minutes, I talked to her about the Lord. Her husband nervously kind of not yet ready to get saved. But he’s kind of watching all this. So it comes time to leave. And he says, “Well, Joe, the place is yours if you want it. And if you want anything from the company, at wholesale price, let me know.” Whoa, yes!

What I’m saying, is God cares about who you are at a very personal level. See, the worth of those answered prayers wasn’t the cassette deck and the amplifier. It was what it taught me about God’s heart toward me. You understand? Now people get, you know, caught up in claiming this and claiming that and I’m claiming this car and this, that and the other thing. The Bible forbids covetousness. But there are things we want for life that are okay to have, if they don’t rule us. And if you’re going to have a car, wouldn’t it be good if it ran? I mean, does God understand that well made new stuff runs better than old broken down… You know, they once polled a bunch of kids and asked them if they thought God understood radar, and they said, “No.” The guy who invented the bat, you know. God invented the bat. Anyway.

But you see, when we’re seeking first the will of God, the Bible doesn’t say all these things will be taken away from you that the Gentile seek. It says, all these things will be added to you. And as our confidence and trust in God grows, we start to realize that God will supply your needs, according to his riches in glory, not according to your unbelief. My unbelief would have limited me to what I could see myself getting. But you see, here’s a part of the story on the amp that I didn’t tell you. I was given some material, a guitar and some other equipment in part of a deal. And I could sell it to get some money for the amp I wanted. But I was praying about it, because you see, if you have material needs, pray about what to do with your stuff.

I had this guitar that I had no use for. It was a twelve string. I don’t like twelve strings, didn’t want it. So I said, “Lord, what should I do with this?” And the Lord reminded me of a young guy at the church that I went to, who had this incredible beater guitar, who just really wanted to learn to play guitar and really had a heart after God. But he was left handed. And this was a right handed guitar, you know, if you don’t know about the strings have to be reversed. And it’s so there’s a lot big process to it. Well, we had a guitar craftsmen at our store. So I went back and had him convert this twelve string to be a left handed twelve string. And then I brought it to this young guy and gave it to him. And I said, I have a present from the Lord for you. And he opened this thing and just said, “You’re kidding.” “No.” And I got to sow my seed. You see? Because I’d gone into business with God on my stuff. So God started supplying me stuff of the highest quality, because I let him be Lord of my stuff. And then he wouldn’t let me settle for mediocre stuff.

But you see, a God who answers prayer that personally and that specifically, is the kind of God you can trust with your stuff. So if he says, Give money, give stuff, you don’t cramp up in fear. You say, “Well, Lord, if this is part of our covenant, I know you’ll take care of me. So I will do whatever you ask.” Why? Because you’re coming to know the heart of the Father. And you’re no longer afraid that he’s going to take from you more than he gives, because you have a skewered view of what God’s really like. But you begin to embrace the father heart of God. And then when it gets tough, you don’t fall and say, “Why are you being so mean to me, God?”

Now I know we all do that, to a certain degree. Alright. Can God suffer? Impassibility means God has no feelings, no responses. Can God grieve? Well, the Bible talks about God grieving. In fact, the Bible says, “Grieve not the Holy Spirit.” Isn’t he God? Well, if I can grieve God then He must feel. By the time we finish up this weekend, I think you’re going to see that the being in the universe who has suffered more than any other being is our God. The price he’s had to pay, to walk with and redeem humanity involves more suffering than anything we’ve ever seen in this in this planet.

And when we start to realize that, suffering takes on a new perspective, because God suffers not only the pain of broken relationship, he suffers your pain. Because he loves you. Any of you who are parents, and see your children suffer, jow do you feel? Do you suffer with them? Does it grieve you to see them suffer? Does it break your heart? Where’d you get that? God experiences all the pain of wayward children. Children whom he would gladly forgiven and bring to himself, but reject Him. Those who are His children who can’t get past some of their stuff to actually trust him and love him.

I’ll close this tonight with another personal story. I know a man in the ministry, who had a mother who was an alcoholic. And all his life, he had wanted a good relationship with her and had hoped that she would come into a real knowledge of God, and there would be the possibility of a healthy and godly relationship with his mother. But as time went on, she grew older and finally was kind of losing her sensibilities and was put in a rest home. And he went to see her in the rest home, which he didn’t have opportunity to do that often, because she lived in another town. And he happened to have a preaching engagement in a nearby city, and he made the point of going over to visit his mother. And he sat with his mother and his mother talked to him. And it was clear that she really wasn’t all there and wasn’t sure quite who he was. And, you know, she asked him if he had a cigarette. He didn’t smoke. And I mean, it was clear that she wasn’t real clear on who he was.

And he left there brokenhearted realizing his mother wasn’t going to live much longer. And he was never going to have a relationship with her. And he was feeling the sorrow of that, the grief of that when he arrived at the church where he was to preach. He got there early enough that he could go into the pre-service prayer room and he went in there and just got on his face before God and sort of poured his heart out. He said, “Lord, I just so much wished I could have had a relationship with my mother.” And the Lord spoke to him and said, “Son, you don’t know how many of my children I long to have a relationship with, but they’re so broken. And so their image of me is so distorted, they run from my love.”

And as that insight dawned on the heart of this minister, all the pain just fled, because God knew the pain, and was one with Him in that suffering. Because God suffered with him, God lifted his suffering. This is the kind of God we serve. But you see, if you look at God, and you think, well, he doesn’t feel anything, He’s God. He has no pain. He’s God. He doesn’t understand what it’s like to suffer rejection and woundedness and brokenness and divorce and disease and all of these things, he doesn’t know what it’s like to suffer. No, he knows more what it’s like to suffer than any other created being, more than any created being. And because of that, our sufferings take a higher place, in our own understanding, and we’re able to enter in, we’re able to invite Him into our suffering, and let him take it away.

He can heal us because he knows all about suffering. You see, a transcendent, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God who’s high above, far above all of creation? Yes. But he’s also an imminent, close, personal, involved, relational God. He’s able to do it all at once. He’s awesome. So the practical value of these things, I believe, you already can start to get a real good grasp of. If we’re cloudy on who he is, our relationship will be clouded. Or clouded on what he’s like, our relationship with him will be clouded. We don’t think he understands and knows what it’s like to suffer, we’ll feel alone in our suffering.

But if we see him as the Bible portrays him, we will see he suffers. There are poignant passages in the prophets, where God says things like, I thought, if I did these things, nurtured them, provided for them, did all these things for them, that they would return to me. But they didn’t. Is that the expression of an unmoved heart that never is touched by humanity, or the love or rebellion of his people? Or is that the cry of a God who so desires relationship, He’s willing to undergo whatever pain it takes to bring a people to Himself? I think you know the answer I’m going to go for. So does that do away with judgment, wrath and dealing with sin? Not at all. But I’ll tell you, it makes even those things have a different understanding about them. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Amen? Hallelujah.