Jeremiah 18:8: “If that nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.”

“Prayer does not change God, prayer changes us.”  C.S. Lewis

This verse raises some questions in my mind. Does God repent? Does God do evil?  From the way this verse is translated, this would appear to be true.

This prophecy is given to a nation that God has pronounced. We can only assume that it means He has been pronounced judgment upon a nation. The word rendered as pronounced is devar which means to speak, but specifically it is speaking from the heart, with passion. This is a message from the heart of God. It does not have to be rendered as if God is pronouncing judgment on the nation that is simply the translator adding his own commentary or paraphrasing. It could also be paraphrased as He is warning the nation.

If they turn from their evil they will be spared. The word evil used here is ra’a’ It is spelled Resh, Ayin, Ayin and represents an evil which results from abuse of leadership that causes grief and sorrow to those under that leadership. This is ultimately a warning to the leadership of the nation and a call for the leadership to repent. If they do repent then God will not bring evil upon them. This second time the word evil is used it is associated with God and is a different word for evil in the Hebrew which is ra’ah which is the word for shepherd or friend, or a consuming passion. Odd that if man turns back to God, He will repent of His shepherding, friendship and consuming passion. The ancient sages used to explain it like this. God is like a lover who has a consuming passion for his beloved.  But if His beloved does not want Him, wants a divorce so he can live with a prostitute God will let that person have their desire and let them leave. This is best explained in an old saying, if you love someone or something enough, you will let them go. God repenting of his consuming passion for man really has the idea of not stopping to love man, but of loving man enough to allow them to exercise their free will and go off to seek the other gods if they so desire. God will not force man to love Him.

There is a picture being drawn here. God is a God of love. He loves the world (John 3:16). Does sin change that love? According to John 3:16 it does not change his love, in fact it caused Him to make a sacrifice of His Son to remove that sin. God’s response to sin is not punishment, but doing His utmost to remove that sin, to entice or seduce man back to Him. However, if someone just insist that they will not believe in God, will not seek Him, there is little God can do short of violating man’s free will. He is like that loving wife who is tearfully forced to sign the divorce papers with her husband standing over her demanding his freedom.  The picture is one of a God who lovingly protects his people like a shepherd protecting his sheep. However, they are seduced by the sin of the world and would rather leave the consuming love of God to go about their own way.  You wonder how someone could do such a thing. I guess it is the same way you wonder how a man who has a wife who loves him unconditionally, staying at home, raising his children, putting up with all his imperfections would leave her weeping with a broken break so he could selfishly pursue another, perhaps younger, and seemingly more exciting woman. We have a loving God who has a ra’ah a consuming passion for us, yet we want the pleasures of this world so much we walk out on this loving God, leaving Him heartbroken so we can get our own pleasure. We cold heartedly walk out the door to embrace the pleasures of a god of this world and because of our free will God has to let us go while all the time pleading with us not to leave.

Many English versions translate the word nacham as repent. The English word repent is an unfortunate word as the word repent has taken on new meaning in our English language over the past hundred years.  Many years ago repentance meant to bear such grief over an action that you turn away from that action. That is why the English lexicographers assigned the word repentance to nacham.  In its Semitic root, nacham means to grieve and feel sorrow such that you turn away from that which causes you to grieve. So this passage is saying that God will nacham he will turn away from that grievous action that his consuming passion was leading Him to do to man, he will not tearfully sign those divorce papers that He knew He would have to do and the very thought of which brought grief to His heart. Keep in mind that nacham is in a niphal perfect form, in other words, this compassion never left, it has been there all along, “His mercies or lovingkindness endures forever,”  The compassion and lovingkindness of God never changes because of our sin. He may sign those divorce papers, but everything in His being, all his loving compassion for us tells Him not to, yet if that is our desire and our choice, then sign he must, even if it breaks His heart.

C.S. Lewis once made the comment that prayer does not change God, prayer changes us.   Oh yes, we pray for a lot of things, finances, jobs, healings, relationships etc. Yet God can answer every prayer we pray with giving us just one thing, His lovingkindness.  That would involve the restoration of our ra’ah, our friendship and the loving compassion of God. The restoration of His role as our Shepherd. A shepherd who will attend to all the needs of his sheep.

Scripture teaches us very clearly that God does not change. So why pray, why get millions of people to pray for something. Will the prayers of a million people change God’s plan?  Will repetitive prayers change God’s mind about something?  If that is the case we could do, like C.S. Lewis suggested and teach a prayer to a bunch of parrots and have them recite the prayer over and over until it finally persuades God to act.

Prayer draws us closer to God.  Yet get a million people praying you have a million people who stop looking at themselves and open themselves up to God.  As you draw closer to God, change starts taking place. The more that changes in you, the closer you get to the lovingkindness of God and the closer you get to the manifestation of that lovingkindness which may be a financial victory, a job or a restored relationship. But God has not changed His mind, he does not have an accountant type angel who tallies up the number prayers we pray or are prayed for us. He does not have an angel skilled in linguistics to make sure you used the proper words or syntax in your prayer, or you pronounced a Hebrew word right.  What He does have is a heart that is as open to you as that nation in Jeremiah 18:8. That heart is filled with His lovingkindness that endures forever, but you cannot enter that heart until you have changed your will, made your choice for him and pull that pen from His hand before He signs that divorce paper. The very act of prayer changes your willful self.  It causes you to humble yourself and say: “not my will but thine.”

Prayer is indeed God’s tool, but not a tool to win God’s heart, it is a tool used by God to win our hearts.