07-01-2006, 03:20 AM
Quote:Bismillah:
am holding in my hand right now <b>"The Jerusalem Bible"</b> in <b>Hebrew and English </b> translation.
the word used there is relented. (i.e God relented)
according to the Oxford Dictionary the word relented means:
1- abandon or moderate a <b>harsh intention or cruel treatment</b>
. 2-become <b>less intense</b>.
again CC, the choice is yours, whether you will accept God who <b>repented or relented
.</b>
Salam
Wael.
Thanks for looking that up. I don't have that version of the bible and tend to not trust online sources.
This isn't the only case where God relented. There are bigger examples such as when Jonah, God's chosen prophet to Ninevah, went a warned Ninevah. Then, we know, that God spared Ninevah.
In regards to regretting that Saul was made king I ponder the following.
God may also be capable of looking back on the very act of bringing something about and lamenting that act in one regard, while affirming it as best in another regard. For example, if I spank my child for blatant disobedience and he runs away from home because I spanked him, I may feel some remorse over the spanking - not in the sense that I disapprove of what I did, but in the sense that I feel some sorrow that spanking was a necessary part of a wise way of dealing with this situation, and that it led to his running away. If I had it to do over again, I would still spank him. It was the right thing to do. Even knowing that one consequence would be alienation for a season, I approve the spanking, and at the same time regret the spanking. If such a combination of emotions can accompany my own decisions, it is not hard to imagine that God's infinite mind may be capable of something similar.
There is a difference between repenting and relenting...a big difference. God cannot repent because he can do no wrong. But, God has demonstrated that he does relent.
He is most merciful.
God knows best.