JONAH 3:10, C. H. Cayce “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way, and God repented of the evil, that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not.”
We would say, first, that the Scriptures do not contradict themselves. If we place a construction upon any portion of Scripture which would make that portion contradict another, it is necessarily true that the construction is wrong. This being true, it follows that any construction placed upon this text that would contradict any plain statement in the Scriptures would necessarily be wrong.
In Malachi 3:6 the Lord says, “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Here we are positively told that the Lord changes not. If the Lord ever changes, then this statement of the Lord Himself is not true. But the statement is true, and the Lord does not change. If He did change, then the sons of Jacob would be consumed. The sons of Jacob are all the heirs of promise. “The Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.” — Deut. 32:9. Jacob was a representative character, hence the heirs of promise are called the sons of Jacob. Not one of them will ever be consumed, because the Lord does not change.
Not only is it true that the Lord does not change, but He is without variableness or shadow of turning. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” — James 1:17. The Lord is without even the shadow of a change. He does not vary. Men may, and do, vary, change and turn, but the Lord does neither. He is the same yesterday, today and forever more. The Lord’s dealing in the case of the Ninevites was in perfect harmony with His dealings with His people. Nineveh was in wickedness and rebellion, and were not living as God required under the law. Jonah was sent to preach to them, and his preaching was a proclamation of the result of their wicked rebellion and disobedience. Their disobedience would bring destruction and ruin upon them. This was in perfect harmony with the declaration of the Lord Himself, as recorded in Ezek. 18:25-30, “Yet ye say, the way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; is not my way equal? Are not your ways unequal? When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and cornmitteth iniquity, and dieth in them, for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because be considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Yet saith the house of Israel, the way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? Are not your ways unequal? Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
The Lord’s way is equal, but their ways were not equal. Nineveh had departed from the Lord’s commandments, they were His people in rebellion. A continuation in that wickedness and rebellion would bring death. “For his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.” But Nineveh repented in sackcloth and ashes, and “when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive, he shall not die.” So Nineveh turned from her wickedness, and the Lord did not inflict the punishment of death or destruction of the city, but spared them, which was according to His promise.
The Lord’s people turn away from the right way, and thereby their peace and happiness, in this age, is destroyed. When we all engage in doing what the Lord requires and what He has commanded us as His children to do, we have peace and fellowship abounding. Doing what the Lord requires does not bring strife and confusion among the Lord’s people; that is always brought about by something the Lord has not commanded. Our peace is destroyed by doing things the Lord does not command. Let us all try to engage in doing what He requires and nothing more. Let us thereby “strive to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace.” “Let brotherly love continue.” May the Lord help us to be faithful and true to His service, is our humble prayer. The Primitive Baptist, August 20,1907.
C. H. Cayce Gen. 6:6 reads: “And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart.”
Jon. 3:10 reads: “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not.”
Mal. 3:6 reads: “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”
In this last text we have the plain, positive, unequivocal statement that the Lord does not change. Any construction placed upon the other passages which would involve the idea that the Lord changes must, therefore, necessarily be wrong. [pg 269] The Lord does not change. His government of man has always been a moral government. It is not a physical government. His government of inanimate things is physical. Inanimate matter neither obeys or disobeys God’s law. He governs there by physical law. But His law to man is moral; and to His children, it is parental. Hence they disobey Him.
In Gen. 6:5 we are told that “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” In Gen. 6:7 He says, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth.” Mankind had become extremely wicked in transgressing His laws in moral government; and, according to His law He punishes man— destroys man from the face of the earth.
In Jon. 3:10 the reference is to Nineveh, which was a wicked city. Jonah was sent to preach to them, and they repented at the preaching of Jonah-they turned from their wickedness; so, then, the Lord did not destroy them, or send the calamity upon them. This was according to God’s law— His rule in dealing with His creatures. Hence, God did not change— He only dealt with them according to His rule or law — but Nineveh changed.
In Jer. 18:7-10 we read: “At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.” This shows that God’s government with men is moral and not physical, and harmonizes Gen. 6:6 and Jon. 3:10 with Mal. 3:6. The Primitive Baptist, August 25, 1914.