The Calvinism Debate - Way of Life Literature

Prayer can even change God’s mind. Consider the followingamazing scene that occurred on Mt. Sinai:“And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people,and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: NOW THEREFORELET ME ALONE, THAT MY WRATH MAY WAX HOTAGAINST THEM, AND THAT I MAY CONSUMETHEM: AND I WILL MAKE OF THEE A GREATNATION. And Moses besought the LORD his God, andsaid, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thypeople, which thou hast brought forth out of the land ofEgypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, Formischief did he bring them out, to slay them in themountains, and to consume them from the face of theearth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evilagainst thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, andsaidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars ofheaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I giveunto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. ANDTHE LORD REPENTED OF THE EVIL WHICH HETHOUGHT TO DO UNTO HIS PEOPLE” (Ex. 32:9-14).God told Moses that He would consume Israel and make agreat nation of Moses, but Moses pleaded with Him and theBible says that God repented. Where does this fit intoCalvinism’s emphasis upon God’s absolute sovereignty? Herewe see God interacting with man, and His mind literallybeing changed by man’s pleas.Someone will ask at this point about Numbers 23:19, whichsays, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son ofman, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not doit? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”ere is no contradiction between Num. 23:19 and Ex.32:14. In Numbers 23 Balaam is speaking about God’s eternalplan for Israel, and in that He will not repent. “For the gisand calling of God are without repentance” (Rom. 11:29). Butwithin the context of God’s overall plan for the ages, He does40