Jonah chapter four, verse one, it displeased Jonah exceedingly. What did? Well, the fact that number one, people of Nineveh repented, verse nine, and number 10, that God repented. You know, they repented and it says that God relented. You may have a translation that like the old King James says, God repented of the evil that he thought to do. The new King James says God relented. There might even be a translation out there that says that God regretted what he was going to do. Does anyone have regret in their translation? Does anyone have repent in their translation? I suspect that just about everyone else has relent. Is that true? Does anyone have something that's not one of those three? All right, so then we're in chapter four, verse one, that displeased Jonah. The fact that these people repented and the fact that God relented from the disaster that he said he would bring upon them. We go to chapter four, verse one, that displeased Jonah exceedingly and he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord and said, ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore, I fled previously to Tarshish for I knew, I know that you're a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness. one who relents from doing harm. So two observations. That's where we connected Jonah to Exodus on Sunday night. God says in Exodus 34, six, that he's merciful and gracious. Remember I was right over here on this board that God says that he's merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in goodness. And then here, Jonah says, I knew that about, how did Jonah know? Well, because he had the book of Exodus. He had the book of Moses. And don't forget, Moses wrote his scripture around mid 1400s. maybe 1406 at the latest. And Jonah was in ministry about the mid 700s. So for about 650 years, the book of Moses has been around. And so Jonah knew the book of Moses. He knew the book of Exodus and he believed what God said about himself. And so Jonah said, I knew that you were going to let them off. I knew it. So here's a good example of a man, I wasn't going to say this tonight, but I think it's needed and then I'll probably repeat it next Wednesday when we close the Book of Jonah. But here's a man who has great theology and he's really upset about it. He knows truth about God and frankly it ticks him off. He's correct, isn't he? He believes what God says about himself and it infuriates him. I knew that if I came here and preached, you were looking for an opportunity to be merciful to these people. Otherwise, why would you send me? Wow, that's tremendous, isn't it? So here's a man that has right doctrine. He has a right teaching about God. We call that theology. And he's really upset that it's panning out the way that God said it would pan out. He's looking for an opportunity. I said, I think, Sunday night, that anytime the dice rolls, it seems like it lands on mercy in the mind of Jonah. So what do we do about the idea that in verse two, he describes God as one who relents. Where did he get that? Exodus 32, the very same book, just a couple chapters earlier, when Moses is up on Mount Sinai and down in the valley, the children of Israel are playing Parcheesi. No, they're not. They're doing really bad stuff. And God wants to wipe them off the map and Moses says but wait a minute God think about what people are gonna say about you You went through all this work to get people out of Egypt and then you flatten them in the wilderness What's going on here? So it says that God relented I think it's Exodus 32 verse 14 and we put that up on the board Sunday night. So I Relent, repent, regret. We even talked about Sunday night when it says in Genesis 6 that God repented himself that he made man. Then you might remember that some of you, some really astute people in our congregation said, but wait a minute, I know of some scriptures where it says that God doesn't do this. Well, the reality is that means then in a sense that God does do it. because it says so. And in another way, God doesn't do it because it says so. So let's take a look at those two verses together. Let's look at Numbers chapter 23. Numbers 23. And again, if you're newer to the scripture, I'm thrilled. As you go to the book of Numbers, it's the fourth book of the Bible, chapter number 23. And I have the notes to prove what I'm about to say. So let me just get it out of the way. It's introductory. This takes place about 39 years into the 40 year wandering. If you'd like to know how I know that, see me after the service. I do have an appointment after the service, but I can answer that question and we can text or talk or whatever. And I can help you understand the chronology of the book of numbers, or you can just wait till we get to it in 2023. All right, just kidding. So Numbers 23 is right in the middle of a fourfold oracle. Not like an oracle like this hairy old man up on the mountain that we're just waiting for him to tell us what God says. No, different. An oracle can be a declaration of things that a God, or God, depending on where we're at in history here, where God speaks. Now, Balaam, Balaam, as you might suspect, is a prophet of a false god. And he is hired by a Moabite king named Barak. So, wait a minute, Balak, there you are, verse 11, chapter 23, Barak is the name of a judge, Balak. And he's also one of our presidents. All right, so anyways, back to our story. In Numbers 22, 23, and 24, we have this strange thing where a pagan prophet is hired by a pagan king to pronounce a curse onto the people of God. Okay, right off the bat, what is wrong with what I just said? Putting a curse on the people of God. He's supposed to be a prophet of God, cursing his own people. Well, he doesn't claim to be a prophet of God. He's a prophet of a God, Baal. And so his name is built off of that, Balaam. So what is wrong with the concept of cursing God's people, anyone cursing God's people, particularly the Hebrew people, particularly the 12 tribes of Israel? I couldn't hear you. They're blessed. Paul, is that what you said? They're blessed. How do we know they're blessed, brother? Can someone help me with that? The Abrahamic covenant. God said, I will bless them who bless you. You'll be, all the nations of the earth will be blessed through you. So we already have a problem. God has blessed the people and Balaam has been hired to curse them. Who do you think's going to win? Right? You see what's going on here? That's helpful for our context. And so we go to Numbers 23 and we read that there is now a second oracle. You might call it that, a second oracle. This is the second of four prophecies and it begins in verse number 13 of chapter 23. Balak said to Balaam, please come with me to another place from which you may see them. You'll see only the outer part of them and shall not see them all. Curse them for me from there. Then he brought him. So he brought him to the field of Zophim to the top of Pisgah. Two notes for you. Zophim is only used once in the entire Old Testament and it means the watchers. Strange so we're not I mean that could be playing around with some Genesis 6 stuff But probably it means that you could go there for a good lookout So he took him to the field of Zofim or a place of overwatch to the top of Pisgah Can anyone tell me something about Pisgah besides it's the name of a Lutheran Church in Bethlehem anything else Or wherever it is, I think I hear someone whispering a correction to me whatever town it's in I Anyone remember anything about Pisgah? You are correct. Deuteronomy 34 one says it's the place where Moses died and was buried. It's another name for Mount Nebo. And so this is the place where Moses eventually returns to and dies. He sees Canaan from this place, probably, or one of the places like it. So in verse number 14 now, what I haven't told you is that in the first part of this chapter, Balaam is brought up to a place, this bad prophet from Balak, the Moabite king, if this is on the east part of the Jordan River and He looks at the children of Israel and they're immense and he blesses them on the basis of how many there are He blesses them God overtakes him puts him in a trance like state and he blesses them because they're huge They're an amazing group of people Huge numbers. So what's the cure? Balak thinks the cure is to show him only part of the people So that he's not overcome with their immensity and maybe he won't bless them because of their size So he does this in verse 14. They built seven altars offered a bull and a ram on each altar I mean dead animals everywhere. I mean 14 dead animals, right? And he said the Balak staying here by your burnt offerings while I meet the Lord over there and So Balaam says, I got to go over here, you stay here. Verse 16, the Lord met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, go back to Balak and thus you shall speak. All right, so the Lord says to Balaam, you go back and tell that king what I'm about to tell you, okay. So he came to him and there he was, Balak was, standing by his burnt offering, the seven altars, and the princes of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, what's the Lord spoken? So Balaam took up this oracle and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear. Listen to me, son of Zippor. God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good? Behold, I have to receive a command to bless. He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has he seen wickedness in Israel. So that's parallelism in the Old Testament that's used a lot. He hasn't observed, he hasn't seen. First two phrases of verse 21, iniquity in Jacob, wickedness in Israel. That's two ways of saying the same thing. It's often used, especially in prophecy, as a way of emphasizing a point. God looks at Israel and sees no fault. Now, there's a lot to talk about there. The point is, it's hard to curse someone if God doesn't see anything wrong with them. And so here it is. In verse number, end of verse 21, the Lord his God is with him. With who? Jacob. And Jacob is shorthand for the nation or the ethnicity, the sons of Jacob. All right, here we go. And the shout of the king is among them. God brings them out of Egypt. He has strength like a wild ox. Who does? Jacob. Jacob has strength like a wild ox. And there is no sorcery against Jacob. Okay, I can't do anything. You can kill all the animals you want to, set up all the altars you want to. I can't do anything against Jacob, nor any divination against Israel. It must be said of Jacob and of Israel, oh, what God has done. Look, a people arises like a lioness and lifts itself up like a lion. It shall not lie down until it devours the prey and drinks the blood of the slain. And Balak said to Balaam, neither curse them at all or bless them at all. And Balaam said to him, basically, verse 26, I can't help it. I have to bless them, I can't help it. So when we get to verse 19, this is really the argument with Jonah 4 too, isn't it? It looks like the scripture is saying, no, God doesn't repent, God doesn't repent. but nor the son of man that he should repent. Why is God being compared to a man or a son of man? Because even if Balaam was fickle enough to change his mind and bless those whom God has cursed, God isn't like Balaam and God isn't like Balak. So God doesn't change his mind about cursing someone that he's already blessed. Do you see this? So this is very contextual. Now let's just put this in context with everyday occurrences, all right? After church tonight, one of you walks outside and you say to your spouse, should we go to Dairy Queen? Very contextual understanding that if you're standing next to each other, you're not talking about, should we go to Dairy Queen sometime in 2040? Contextually, you understand you're talking about tonight. But then your spouse looks at you and says, I'm not going to Dairy Queen. I'm not going to Dairy Queen. Does the person then have the ability to say, well, that must mean she or he never wants to go to Dairy Queen. Yes, you could come away with that interpretation, but probably what you're going to think your spouse means is you're not going to Dairy Queen tonight. Context takes something that seems very general and helps you narrow it down to the thing that you find that statement nested in. Or let's just say my lovely 17-year-old daughter says, Dad, tomorrow's Saturday. Are you going to make breakfast? I could say, I'm not going to make breakfast tomorrow. But I could also say, I'm not going to make you breakfast. That doesn't mean not when you're 50, not when you're 55, not when you're 90, not when I'm 175, I ain't making you breakfast. Or it could mean something as simple as, I'm not making you any tomorrow. Context has a way of taking things that seem very general and narrowing them down to a specific purpose. How is it possible that both Jonah is correct and Balaam is correct? The context of Balaam's statement. Jonah says that God repents. That's true. Balaam says God does not repent. That's true, given a particular context. What's the context? God has already blessed the people of Israel through the Abrahamic covenant. and he ain't changing his mind. He ain't relenting, he ain't repenting, he ain't regretting. See how that works? All right, let's take a look at another one. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 15. 1 Samuel chapter number 15. That is on page 390 in my copy of the scripture. If you go to page 390, you may not find 1 Samuel 15. Oh, it's a surprise. First Samuel chapter 15. And we're going to begin reading in verse number 10. All right. Cat's out of the bag, isn't it? All right. So here we are in first Samuel 15. And first Samuel 15 is the story basically of how Saul got impatient and went on and performed a sacrifice of the Amalekites rather at, forgive me, spared Agag, king of the Amalekites. That's very interesting because Samuel does not let that deter him from cutting the dude in pieces. Um, but anyways, Agag is the king of the Amalekites and Saul was told to kill them all. And verse number eight of first Samuel 15, he took Agag king of Amalekites alive and utterly destroyed all the people at the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people he spared Agag, the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was, now this is not a discussion about genocide or farm animalicide, okay? This is not a, we're not gonna go into discussion of, you know, why does God allow genocide in this situation or ethnic cleansing, if you'd prefer. That's a different topic. and we won't open all of the cans of worms tonight, although I might have just done so. Verse 10, the word of the Lord came to Samuel saying, I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel and he cried out to the Lord all night. So I want you to see two things here, very important. God regretted, repented, relented, same Hebrew word, that he made Saul king. You might notice at the end of the verse, it grieved Samuel. Same word. They're both regretting, relenting, repenting. What is the Lord regretting, repenting, relenting of? That he made Saul king. What is Samuel repenting, relenting, regretting? That the Lord is upset about this thing and that Samuel also is, I guess you could say that Samuel is upset about the whole situation, particularly that now he has to take care of a king named Agag. And by the way, he does this. So we see what's going on here and then Saul tries to justify it. He says later on in verse number 20, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I mean, I brought back Agag, that doesn't really count, does it? I generally obeyed. And verse 21, the people generally obeyed too. I mean, they took the plunder, the sheep, the oxen. I mean, the things which should have been utterly destroyed to sacrifice. But anyway, verse 22, Samuel said, has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? In other words, the Lord would prefer to have you obey him than for you to have more to give him. Okay, that's really good life lesson, but we're moving on. In verse 24, Saul said to Samuel, I've sinned. I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord in your words because I feared the people and obeyed their voice." Can you imagine the tallest man in the land who was chosen to be king because of how he looked? Can you imagine him actually saying, I feared the people, so I did something very wrong. But he's not let off by that. And you might notice in verse number 35, at the end of verse 35, rather verse 35 of the same chapter, we've got to move quick. Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless, Samuel mourned for Saul, here it is again, and the Lord regretted that he made Saul king over Israel. So there it is again. In verse 11, the Lord regretted, repented, and relented. Whatever English verb you want to use, it's the same one as in Jonah 4 too. God regretted, repented, and relented. We even said Sunday night God changed his mind. He had a sort of twisting of the change of mind. It must mean something like that because he was going to destroy Nineveh unless you think he was lying. And then he relented of that. That's what it says. And then, so that's first Satan 15 verse 11. And over here is first Satan 15 verse 35. He says the same exact thing. Underline it if you'd like to. But right here in the middle is really strange because you have to look at verse number 28 and 29. So Samuel said to him, the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to a neighbor of yours who's better than you. Here's what Samuel said. God has decided you're no longer king. All right, verse 29, verse 29. And also the strength of Israel will not lie nor, here's the word, relent. It could also be translated repent or regret. He will not lie or change his mind for he is not a man that he should relent or repent or regret. Now, probably it's safe to say that Samuel knows this based on his reading of the book of Moses, particularly Balaam, because it's almost verbatim. So, and Saul reigned about 1,000 BC, more like 1,050 BC. So this is closer to 250, 350 years after the book of Moses was written. The point is, over here, God repented, he made Saul king. Over here, God repented that he made Saul king. Over here in the middle, verse 29, God doesn't repent. Okay, remember the first law of Bible interpretation. The authors are not idiots. Samuel didn't just forget what he said over here Any more than he forgot what he said here when he was over here He didn't forget about now. I know the verses weren't numbered, but let's just say they were when he wrote verse 29 He didn't forget what he wrote in verse 11 Any more than when he wrote verse 35 he had forgotten what he read it wrote in verse 29 He knows that he said God repented God doesn't repent God repented So this is very key, how close in proximity these three verses are. It must be that in a way God repents and in a way he doesn't. Well, what's the way that he doesn't? Verse 28 is the closest verse to verse 29. He doesn't repent concerning what he's decided to do with Saul's kingdom. And he's not a man Verse 29, well, why does it say that? Well, because even if Samuel was begging all night like it says he did in verse number 11, Samuel's all night grieved about what is going to happen. And if Samuel could change it, he would change it. But God is not like Samuel. So he's not changing what he's decided to do with Saul's kingdom. He's taking it from him. So contextually, God doesn't repent of his decision to take the kingdom from Saul. So instead of taking a verse that says God doesn't repent and making it apply to everything in life, we have been graced with great, great clarity here. God repented he made Saul king, God doesn't repent. God repented that he made Saul king. Well, there must be a way in which he doesn't repent in the context. That means that once he's decided to do something, once he's promised to do something, he is going to do it. And in the context, he says, I'm not changing my mind about Saul. Okay, I want to take you to one more verse that will be of great comfort to you as a Christian, and then I'll take a question or two. Please go to the book of Romans and take a look at chapter number 11. The book of Romans chapter number 11. There's a lot of wisdom in this room, a lot of hours of scripture reading, potentially tens of thousands of hours of scripture reading represented in this room. So I do not want anyone to feel like I'm talking down to them at all, but I am doing my very best to cut it the best way that I see that we're supposed to rightly divide the word of truth. And so when we see some things that appear to contradict, ours is the problem. And so when we see something that it seems like it's very, very, God doesn't repent, but yet God clearly did. Amos chapter seven, we didn't even look at it tonight. God has his hand on beating Israel down with locusts. And Amos says, aren't you going to leave them a little bit and says, God repented of it. Amos chapter 7 verses 3 through 6, God is in the wildfires in Israel and Amos says, won't you leave them a remnant? And it says, God relented of what he was doing. The idea is that God is in the middle of judging and he's always judging righteously. And when he relents or repents or regrets, again, it's a different translation. He pulls his hand from the act and leaves a remnant. So here we are in Romans chapter number 11. This will take some preaching and I can't do it tonight. But I want you to see is that in chapters 9, 10, and 11, Paul is arguing not only for the divine sovereignty of God to save whoever he wants to, to be merciful to whoever he wants to, but he's also arguing for the eventual restoration of ethnic Israel. I preached an entire sermon on that in late April, and I don't expect that you have that memorized, but if you'd like that, I can send you the link. But God has made it clear that at some point in Romans 11 language, he's gonna graft that natural branch back into the commonwealth of God. At some point, ethnic Israel will have a national awakening and trust Christ as Savior. I'm looking forward to that. And why is that? Chapter 11, verse 29. The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable, is what the new King James says. I wish that they would have stayed with the old King James on this. Can someone tell me what the old King James says? Read it good and loud. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. So when God attaches something to gifts and calling, or if I could say it this way, to predestination, when he purposes to do something, he does not repent. That's a good verse. If you want to see what it means to be under the calling of God, take a look at chapter number eight, look at Romans eight, and take a look at verse number 28. We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the call according to his purpose. Aren't you thankful that when it comes to those who are called, God doesn't change his mind? That should be a celebrated thing to you as a believer. He repents of punishing Israel in Amos 7, repents of punishing Nineveh in Jonah 4, repents of slaughtering the Jews in Exodus 32, repents of, I mean, again and again, he's repenting that he made Saul king, repenting that he made man in Genesis 6. What does he not repent of? Those that he has called and given gifts to. So that doesn't hold any weight at all if God doesn't repent at all. But we're given a qualification that there are some things God does not repent of. That was nice and light for a Wednesday night, wasn't it?