Man Repents and God Relents

We are blessed beyond words God graciously chooses to make Himself known.  He is unapproachable in glory yet revealed Himself to us that we fear Him and walk in His steps.  There remains a lot of misconceptions and erroneous caricatures of God which persist to this day, that He is ruthless or bloodthirsty, that He takes pleasure in punishing evildoers.  We humans have a tendency to project our own faults on others, and God is not excluded.

See what the LORD said in Jeremiah 26:2-3  "Thus says the LORD: 'Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house, all the words that I command you to speak to them. Do not diminish a word. ³ Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings.'"  Being a righteous and just God, the sins of His people demanded judgment.  God sought an opportunity to relent from doing them harm by exhorting them to turn from their evil ways:  if they would repent of their sin, God would relent.  They were heading towards certain destruction, and God illuminated the way of life so they would choose His way instead.

God is not cruel or mean to urge the prophet Jeremiah not to "diminish a word" of His severe warning, for that would provide the strongest impetus for them to change.  Sometimes it takes a life-threatening illness to prompt a person to make changes to their lifestyle because it did not previously seem necessary.  God gave everyone an opportunity to heed His word in the Law and Prophets, for He supplied a way of escape through faith and obedience to Him.  When the destruction of Jerusalem was assured because of the people's refusal to obey God, only a fool would blame Him for their plight because He provided sure hope they dismissed.

The diminishment of the warnings of God's impending justice for sinners, whether they know and trust God or not, is a potential reason people do not recognise a pressing need for repentance of sin.  The dire warnings did not mean people would necessarily believe and repent, but this was the responsibility of the hearers.  Jeremiah's responsibility was to speak all the words God commanded him to those who would come to worship in the LORD's house without diminishing a word.  God tells us like it is whether we approve or not, and praise God His purpose is to relent from doing harm our sins demand.