So often we are convinced that God is immovable. That when He decides something, it is final. There is no room for us to petition, negotiate, and ask Him to reconsider. The LORD then becomes a autocrat in our minds, who is to be obeyed, and honored. Ironically, this is not Biblical. There are many cases in which men of God actually negotiated with God. The most famous example was when Abraham after eating with the Holy Trinity (Genesis 18:1-8), decides to ask the LORD to paradon Sodom and Ghemorrah:
"22 The other men turned and headed toward Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham. 23 Abraham approached him and said, “Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked? 24 Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city—will you still sweep it away and not spare it for their sakes? 25 Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”
26 And the Lord replied, “If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake.”
27 Then Abraham spoke again. “Since I have begun, let me speak further to my Lord, even though I am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose there are only forty-five righteous people rather than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?”
And the Lord said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five righteous people there.”
29 Then Abraham pressed his request further. “Suppose there are only forty?”
And the Lord replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the forty.”
30 “Please don’t be angry, my Lord,” Abraham pleaded. “Let me speak—suppose only thirty righteous people are found?”
And the Lord replied, “I will not destroy it if I find thirty.”
31 Then Abraham said, “Since I have dared to speak to the Lord, let me continue—suppose there are only twenty?”
And the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”
32 Finally, Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me if I speak one more time. Suppose only ten are found there?”
And the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
33 When the Lord had finished his conversation with Abraham, he went on his way, and Abraham returned to his tent." (Genesis 18:22-33). Abraham gets down to, "if there are ten righteous people, will you spare Sodom?" and the LORD consents, but alas there were not. Abraham then rolls up his tent and leaves, not even bothering to beseech the Almighty once more to show clemency to Sodom.
Another example of negotiating with God was when the I AM was determined to slay Aaron for his participation in making a god of gold, the golden calf, Moses asked the LORD for mercy, "Then, as before, I threw myself down before the Lord for forty days and nights. I ate no bread and drank no water because of the great sin you had committed by doing what the Lord hated, provoking him to anger. 19 I feared that the furious anger of the Lord, which turned him against you, would drive him to destroy you. But again he listened to me. 20 The Lord was so angry with Aaron that he wanted to destroy him, too. But I prayed for Aaron, and the Lord spared him. 21 I took your sin—the calf you had made—and I melted it down in the fire and ground it into fine dust. Then I threw the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain." (Deuteronomy 9:18-21).. Moses again acted as an intercessor, when God fet up with grumbling Israelites in the Wilderness, said, "I lay prostrate before the Lord for these forty days and forty nights, because the Lord had said he would destroy you. 26 And I prayed to the Lord, ‘O Lord God, do not destroy your people and your heritage, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not regard the stubbornness of this people, or their wickedness or their sin, 28 lest the land from which you brought us say, “Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.” 29 For they are your people and your heritage, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm." (Deuteronomy 9:25-29).
Then there is perhaps the most famous negotaiton, between God Man Jesus Christ and the Father in Gethsename, "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." (Mark 14:36). Because Jesus is God He knew that His negotiation was in vain, because He is God and One with Father (John 10:30, John 17:20-23) and the purpose of Him becoming flesh (incarnate) and coming into world was to die for the sins of Mankind. This raising another point about negotiating with God. There are matters in which we can change God's mind, that is ask Him to change the plan, to Plan B and etc. However, in other cases the LORD God's mind is made up, and He will do it no matter how much we petition, as in examples of Judah's fall to Babylon, and promised End of Days calamities. A key is to see if LORD Trinity says it once or thrice, if God says something three times, there is no changing His mind or pleading with Him to reconsider. This is evident in prophecies that Jesus must die on cross for sins of the world (Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, Jeremiah 3:31-34, Luke 22:20, Luke 24:7, there are hundreds more, these are sampling). God who is One and yet Three Persons of Father, Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit, had to die on cross for our sins, and so in Gethsename, Jesus is merely crying out the agony, of overcoming the primal instinct programmed in our brains by God, to "stay alive." Make no mistake, Jesus did not sin when He was tested in Gethsname, for He said "If it is possible take this cup from me, but not my will, your will be done." (Mark 14:36). This harkens to the epistle to Phillipi, "Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6 Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges[b];
he took the humble position of a slave[c]
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges[b];
he took the humble position of a slave[c]
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:4-11).
and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:4-11).
There are matters where we can negotiate, plead, and speak with LORD to reconsider. In other matters, such as ones I have mentioned, Christ is absolutely ardent and will not change His mind. What is comforting is to know that The Lord Trinity does not consider our bargaining, negotiation, and pleading to be insolence, disobedience, and disloyalty. On the contrary, Our Lord is tender and gentle (Matthew 11:29), and He understands our need to plead, and bargain, He himself did so in Gethsename, though without sin (1 Peter 2:22, Hebrews 4:15). Had it not been Jesus the God Man in Gethsname, we can be sure that any prophet or messianic mere mortal would have failed, this proved that Jesus was God Incarnate, that He was able to submit to the Father's Will and die (Phillippians 2:4-11 NLT).
So what do you plead for? What are you secretly in your heart hiding from LORD, fearful that if you uttered it, and asked God to redirect your life, He would be displeased? Why not take the example of Abraham, Moses, Jacob, and even Jesus Christ Himself! Speak with LORD about it, and He can either say, as He did to Abraham and Moses, "Alright," or as He said to Himself in Gethsename, "No, this is way to save mankind." For did not our Lord and God Jesus say, "You have not, because you ask not." (Matthew 7:7, Matthew 21:22). And you may think you can hide hidden desires in your heart, but God sees your heart (Romans 8:27, John 2:23-25, Jeremiah 17:10) and so knows what lies therein. Be honest with the LORD Trinity. He is a loving God (1 John 4:8), and He wants to hear from you. Better to ask God then let it fester within and develop into resentment. You may be mad at God inside when you never asked Him.
Finally, Moses who pleaded with LORD to have mercy on sinful Israelites and Aaron was a Christ-type, a foreshadowing. For Jesus Christ came and has become our intercessor, "My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world." (1 John 2:1-4), "Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us," (Romans 8:34), "Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them," (Hebrews 7:25), and, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the Son of Man Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy 2:5). Christ now pleads on our behalf, and He has covered our sins with His own blood while we were still sinners and enemies of God, "When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God." (Romans 5:5-11). God has changed His mind towards all who confess, believe, and know Jesus (John 6:40, John 3:16, Romans 10:9-10, John 17:3). The Father wrath is satisfied by the blood of the Son, and now both the Father and Son with Holy Spirit live in a Christian (1 John 4:15). God changed His own mind, He could have piled all of humanity into the fierce winpress of His wrath, but instead He has offered mercy through himself, Jesus Christ, and by beliving in Him a person is acquitted and cleansed of all guilt and able to come close to Godhead (Trinity). Jesus Christ negotiated the biggest deal on our behalf, on the cross torn to pieces and suffocating, He made New Covenant in His blood, and we are now saved, have eternal life, and are spared the fires of hell and damnation! Christ who is God (Colossians 2:9) negotiated with God the Father and God The Holy Spirit, One God in Three Persons, they all decided and all three wanted to save man from his terrible fate. Make no mistake, the greatest negotiator with God is God Incarnate himself, Jesus Christ. So why not go to Christ who lives in you (Colossians 1:27, 1 John 4:15) and ask Him to plead? Long as your desire is not contrary to the Scriptures and God's Spirit. Amen.
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