Intentions

by: Michael Wilcock

Can God change his mind? One kind of Bible text says yes, another says no. Jeremiah shows us how both can be true.

In the days of good King Josiah, Jeremiah was a prophet of warning. Despite the king’s reforms there was much sin among his people, and they needed to repent. But if they did, God would forgive them.

In the days of bad King Jehoiakim, Jeremiah became a prophet of doom. They had not heeded the warning, and God would punish them. So if you don’t repent, there is invariably judgment; if you do, there is invariably mercy. That is how God both does, and does not, change!

But next comes the best change of all. In the days of weak King Zedekiah, when the doom is about to fall on Judah, Jeremiah becomes (surprisingly) a prophet of hope. For God has a deeper intention, besides his intention to punish the wicked and bless the penitent. To those whose faith shows that they are truly his people, he has throughout history had unchangeable long-term plans for “welfare and not for harm.”

Below the waves on the surface of daily life, stronger even than the tides of the rise and fall of nations, runs the great ocean current of God’s intentions for the church of Jesus Christ. For those who know and love the Lord, temporary harm is always only part of his plan for permanent good.