First I would have to know what God was thinking then I could know if He changed His mind.
The Ninvitees changed direction but who was in control? If you say the Ninevites then you have them in charge. If you say God then you have God in charge. What one makes more sense?
Then little sis.... Let me show you... How God not only changes HIS mind... but does as he very well pleases!
The Vast Differences between the Patriarchal and Mosaic Legal Systems Under the Abrahamic covenant, God allowed his people to offer sacrifices anywhere they pleased (Genesis 12:7, 35:1; Job 1:5).
Moses changed this law by commanding only the family of Aaron to attend to the sacred rites (Exodus 40:1–16)
and those sacrifices could only be offered on the altar in the Sanctuary (Deuteronomy 12:13–14).
Abraham planted a grove (or sacred tree) in Beersheba (Genesis 21:33),
but under Moses the use of groves became prohibited (Exodus 34:14; 2 Chronicles 14:3; Isaiah 17:8).
Jacob set up a pillar (Genesis 28:18),
but this was later forbidden by Moses (Deuteronomy 16:22, margin).
God said in the time of Noah: “Every moving thing [i.e., all animals] that lives shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things” (Genesis 9:3),
but with Moses only the beasts mentioned in Leviticus chapter 11 were allowed or disallowed.
There were no official feast days commanded in the time of Abraham, but with Moses, ordained festivals became required periods for attendance by all Israelite males (Leviticus 23).
There was no commanded Tithing at first. Tithing was not a law in the patriarchal period. None of the patriarchs wore phylacteries (
at least we have no record of such),
but with Moses their use was commanded (Numbers 15:37–41).
The land did not have to rest every 7th year under the patriarchs (Genesis 41:34–35),
but with Moses, the land rest was commanded (Leviticus 25:1–7).
Abraham married his half-sister with God’s full approval (Genesis 20:12),
but this became illegal in the time of Moses (Leviticus 20:17).
Abraham was confederate with his Canaanite neighbors (Genesis 14:13),
but no leagues with the Canaanites were allowed in the dispensation of Moses. Indeed, the Canaanites were to be exterminated (Deuteronomy 20:17–18).
There was also no commanded Sabbath law in the patriarchal period. However, in the time of Moses the Sabbath was first introduced as a law for Israelites to obey (Exodus 20:8; Nehemiah 9:14; Ezekiel 20:12)
with stringent requirements that changed the very character of the 7th day of the week. Moses had now emerged on the scene and a profound change in religious essentials had come into existence for Israel.
The differences between the religious system of the patriarchs and that of Moses were dramatic.
If a religious Israelite after the time of Moses could have been transported back to Abraham’s time and witnessed Abraham (not knowing who he was)
performing his religious duties, he would have called him an unconverted heathen. And though it is made clear in the Scriptures that God knew Abraham “obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws” (Genesis 26:5),
those laws (
the Law of God in Abraham’s time)
were very different from those later laws commanded to Moses and to the Israelites at Mount Sinai.
Indeed, for Abraham’s first 99 years of life he was not circumcised, later
• he built altars anywhere he pleased,
• he raised up groves,
• he offered no lamb at Passover,
• he kept no weekly Sabbath,
• he attended no holy feasts,
• he wore no phylacteries,
• he married his half-sister,
• kept no land sabbath [that is, no Sabbatical Years], and of all things
• he was allied with the Canaanites.
What God did in the time of Moses was to rescind the religious requirements of the Patriarchal period in favor of stricter laws ordained in the time of Moses. The two religious systems were so completely different that if one were to mix the teachings together, utter contradiction and confusion would result. There is no compatibility at all between the two systems.
However, some people today (like YOU) are so conservative in their views that they will not allow God to establish new religious systems different from previous ones. They cannot believe God would ever change ritualistic or ceremonial teachings that He once gave to His people. In no way is this true biblical teaching. Certainly God does not change His mind in overall philosophical matters that dominate His character and personality (Malachi 3:6), but He most decidedly changed His own religious systems in the past when He saw fit.
God uses the principle of Progressive Revelation throughout the Bible. God has introduced new and progressively more mature systems of worship adding and deleting them as He pleases. This is seen when we distinguish the essential differences between the Patriarchal System of religious requirements and the Mosaic System, two patterns of conduct dissimilar and utterly distinct.
The other prime example of such vast changes in God’s laws, commandments, and teachings is God’s change from the Mosaic System to the advanced Christian System which depends not on Mosaic Law, but on the merits of grace. Diversities between the Mosaic and the Christian Systems are so pronounced that the two cannot be compared in a systematic sense. There is as much difference between the teachings of Christianity and Moses as there is between the Mosaic and the Patriarchal Systems.
People should recognize this biblical teaching of Progressive Revelation and apply the newer teachings if they ever hope to understand what God now requires of them.
Your welcome Sis...
oly::sherlock:
Paul