The verse that destroys the Bible (Exodus 32:14)?

"So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people," (Exodus 32:14, NASB)

The context for the verse is given below. Why do I think that may be the verse that destroys the Bible? In my opinion, anyone that believes that the Bible is absolute truth must believe that the decisions of the 'God' of the Bible are final. All the 'promises' that are supposedly made by 'God' could potentially be rescinded if at some point in the future 'God' changes his mind. It would make all Bible-based religions potentially pointless and meaningless.

I already know that some Bible believers will claim that the NASB translation of Exodus 32:14 is wrong. Here's an article that covers that:

Different Bible's translate this verse differently. The NASB says, "the Lord changed His mind." The NIV and NKJV say "The Lord relented." The KJV, RSV, and the 1901 ASV say, "The Lord repented." The Hebrew word at issue here is relent/repent is נָחַם (nacham). There are 108 occurrences in the Old Testament. The KJV translates it as "comfort" 57 times, "repent" 41 times, "comforter" nine times, and "ease" once. 1
carm.org...

I don't think any translation arguments will work here because the fact is that 'God' did change his mind according to the text. The specific translation of "nacham" doesn't change that fact.

Chapter 32
The Golden Calf
1 Now when the people saw that Moses adelayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, bmake us 1a god who will go before us; as for cthis Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
2 Aaron said to them, “aTear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
3 Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.
4 He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a amolten calf; and they said, “1This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
5 Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.”
6 So the next day they rose early and aoffered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and bthe people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up cto play.
7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go 1down at once, for your people, whom ayou brought up from the land of Egypt, have bcorrupted themselves.
8 “They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. aThey have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and bhave sacrificed to it and said, ‘1cThis is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’ ”
9 aThe Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are 1ban obstinate people.
10 “Now then alet Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and bI will make of you a great nation.”
Moses’ Entreaty
11 Then aMoses entreated the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
12 “Why should athe Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people.
13 “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You aswore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will bmultiply your 1descendants as the stars of the heavens, and call this land of which I have spoken I will give to your 1descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”
14 aSo the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.
15 aThen Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, btablets which were written on both 1sides; they were written on one side and the other.
16 The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing engraved on the tablets.
17 Now when Joshua heard the sound of the people 1as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.”
18 But he said,
“It is not the sound of the cry of triumph,
Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat;
But the sound of singing I hear.”
biblia.com...

a reply to: Profusion

Moses pled their case.

It's not like God said, "I'm going to destroy them." And then changed his mind 30 seconds later. Moses stepped in a begged Him to forgive, and God heard Moses' plea.

This also happened in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah. Someone begged for Him to spare the cities after he declared He would destroy them for their sinful natures, and He relented and said he if enough righteous people could be found in them. In that case, not enough such people could be found, so aside from Lot and his family, those cities were razed by His wrath.

It demonstrates that God can and does hear the prayers of His people.

So God is not allowed to change his mind? That doesn't make much sense. Anyway, it was because of Moses that He changed His mind. I would have destroyed those people to. After everything God had just showed them they still didn't respect Him, just kept complaining and reverting back to their old ways.

This is why God doesn't give very many signs anymore, because it doesn't matter, people still won't believe, it's sad.

a reply to: Profusion
The original plan in God's mind says "In circumstances A, I will do X. In circumstances B, I will do Y".
When the story describes God as deciding to do Y instead of X, that is because circumstances have changed from A to B.
Even if the wording calls that a "change of mind" (which is what it looks like in human terms), it doesn't constitute a change from the original overall plan.


Verbal quibbles like the one you have set up are never going to convince anyone except those who are convinced already

a reply to: Profusion

It is also relevant for the end times.

There are three ways to understand the battle of Armageddon. Armageddon could be a physical battle, a spiritual battle or possibly both.

What if God has it in mind to allow us to destroy ourselves, but we choose to repent instead? Then clearly he would hear our prayers, accept our repentance and protect us from Physical destruction.

Personally I pray for repentance and a Spiritual battle without a few billion casualties. The ball is in our hands, what will we do? Repent and avoid destruction or continue down a path that can only lead to destruction?

He has told us if we repent he will forgive us and keep us from destruction, and unlike man God is not a liar.

You could argue that Moses was saying that the Egyptians would make comment on the Lord bumping off the Hebrews, (the Lord's people) and that wouldn't look too good for a God. So thereby, a secular God who would destroy his followers, while the Egyptians remain in the continuum with whomever they worshipped.
I could never understand that story other than a biblical lesson for kinder, a bit Adam and Evey, and a bit dodgy for later in life, just as Adam and Eve, and as is, the story of Abraham to kill his son Isaac...there is no way in my life I would ever go for the latter demand. If anything, that is the biggest mistake in the Bible, because the Lord is asking too much in faith, without the need to do so.

a reply to: Profusion

The verse that destroys the Bible

This is the verse that destroys the Bible, in my opinion.

Genesis 2:18
The LORD God said, "It is not good......... for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

originally posted by: windword
a reply to: Profusion

The verse that destroys the Bible

This is the verse that destroys the Bible, in my opinion.

Genesis 2:18
The LORD God said, "It is not good......... for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

Lol, you might say that on many levels.
But taken as given, how do you figure out who God is/was?

a reply to: smurfy

Lol, you might say that on many levels.

The guy just couldn't leave well enough alone! He had to keep tweaking things!

But taken as given, how do you figure out who God is/was?

I think that biblical stories are allegory and myth.

originally posted by: windword
a reply to: smurfy

Lol, you might say that on many levels.

The guy just couldn't leave well enough alone! He had to keep tweaking things!

But taken as given, how do you figure out who God is/was?

I think that biblical stories are allegory and myth.

Allegory, as in hidden purpose alone would do well enough in the way this stuff is written. After all, myth is just myth isn't it?

originally posted by: Isurrender73
a reply to: Profusion

It is also relevant for the end times.

There are three ways to understand the battle of Armageddon. Armageddon could be a physical battle, a spiritual battle or possibly both.

What if God has it in mind to allow us to destroy ourselves, but we choose to repent instead? Then clearly he would hear our prayers, accept our repentance and protect us from Physical destruction.

Personally I pray for repentance and a Spiritual battle without a few billion casualties. The ball is in our hands, what will we do? Repent and avoid destruction or continue down a path that can only lead to destruction?

He has told us if we repent he will forgive us and keep us from destruction, and unlike man God is not a liar.

We are living in the last days.

Check out the video......... according to this prophet; Obama will be the last president of the United States. Though this video speaks only about the US be aware this will happen globally. If we have elections and someone new is sworn in as president then this person is not a prophet but a liar. Personally.... I think her timing could be off by a few years but lets wait and see we have less than five months before God's wrath is poured out on the globe.





or this one:

a reply to: Profusion

Except His mind never changed because he was leading His people all along towards that outcome.

Just like a parent who says they will spank their child, having no intention of doing it, because you know how the story will play out.

a reply to: Profusion

I think its quite clear that God cannot Change his mind lets look at numbers 23:19:

God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

This does not however mean that the actions God will take toward someone will not change. The actions God takes is based on the choices of the people he is judging.

Now lets look at Genesis 6:

4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

God was in a state of disappointment over the course his creations chose to take, but he didn't change his mind about humans existing instead he allows us to continue to exist through Noah and still loved mankind.

As I believe you said, the phrase, "Changed his mind", is translated from nacham which means to be sorry for. The Lord loves Moses and Moses is pleading for his people and the passage tells us that God was sorry for the harm which he would do to the people Moses loved.

Now notice the context. God is angry at those who made the calf, and says his anger will burn against them. Now if God changed his mind how come these mine still have wrath unleashed upon them in the form of Moses. Do you think Moses anger over the calf was not righteous anger? These men still received punishment but God was sorry for the pain Moses would feel. I was in a hurry so this is not as well typed as I like, but hopefully it gets my gist across