Numbers 23:19; Exodus 32:14

From: Collected Writings By: Frederick George Patterson

Numbers 23:19; Exodus 32:14 • 1 min. read • grade level: 9

Q. How do you explain the apparent contradiction in Num. 23:19¹⁹God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? (Numbers 23:19) and Exodus 32:14¹⁴And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. (Exodus 32:14)?

A. The context decides the use of the word, and meaning of the sentence. In the latter “Jehovah,” moved at the touching intercession of Moses, “felt compassion for” the people who had merited His judgments.

In the former, “God” is not man that He should lie, or the Son of Man that He should repent. Here the meaning is simply as it stands. His unalterable counsels are as unchangeable as His own nature.

The word is similar in both cases, but bears the meanings given to it, and the context decides that which is most applicable. In the one case it is Jehovah in government, whose thought of cutting off part of the nation and making of Moses (the faithful remnant) a great nation (Ex. 32:10¹⁰Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. (Exodus 32:10)), is turned at the intercession of Moses. In the other it is God in purpose, which is unchangeable.

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