This passage raises the reasonable question, How can God, who is unchangeable, seemingly change His mind? To begin, I believe it's appropriate to fist understand the ways in which God is unchangeable. In other words, God is not some eternal static brick in heaven. He speaks. He moves. He saves. So, there are obviously ways in which He does change; but these ways do not compromise the Scriptural teaching of immutability.
John Frame
suggests that, according to Scripture, God never changes in four categories. They are as follows:1. God is unchanging in His essential attributes. Hebrews 1:10-12 tells us that, as the Creator, God does not change like His creation. The Westminster Shorter Catechism also states that God is unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth."
2. God is unchanging in His decretive will. Psalm 33:11 states that the plans of the Lord stand firm forever. This "decretive" will, however, must not be confused with, what theologians call, His preceptive will. Frame writes, "God's decretive will cannot be successfully opposed...It is possible, however, for creatures to disobey God's preceptive will - and they often do."
3. God is unchanging in His covenant faithfulness. The Lord states in Mal 3:6, "I the Lord do not change. So you, O decedents of Jacob, are not destroyed." Here He is telling them that He will fulfill His covenant promises, despite Israel's disobedience. He doesn't change, though his people do.
4. God is unchanging in the truth of His revelation. What God Himself declares to be true, will always be true. His ancient Word, therefore, will always remain (without change) our infallible guide.
Understanding God's decretive and preceptive wills gives us some insight to solve our present dilemma. Conditional proclamations are related to God's preceptive will, while straightforward predictions directly correlate to His decretive will. The visions that Amos saw fall under the category of conditional proclaimations, for there were tacit conditions built within them. The events would come to pass given certain conditions were or were not met. In this instance, the condition is obviously intercession.
It should be noted, however, that the decretive will always "wins the day" and provides a theological umbrella under which His preceptive will is played out according to human interaction.
Frame comments, "It is God's eternal intention to forgive Israel in the situation of Amos 7:1-6. But He does this through the power of Amos's intercession, and not without it...God has eternally decreed that He will forgive Israel, by means of Amos's intercession. This decree never changes."
In summary, we must understand immutability in a qualified way. We cannot just say that God never changes at all in any way; rather, we should be more inclined to say that He is immutable in certain ways. These ways are so ultimate and essential to His nature that it is right to say that God is unchangeable. However, we must not let our definition remove other essential attributes, like His covenant presence (or immanence) with us in the progress of redemptive history. Progress implies change.
With regard to Amos, the prophet well understood the unchangeable nature of God's revealed truth and covenant promise. He would always be with His people, in a very real way, throughout changing history. Amos was appealing to such sovereignty in his prayer. And the Lord, while changing in time, did so according to His unchanging promise and plan.
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