Whether god can or cannot change his mind is a rather common speculation and so I thought I might illustrate a particular part of the bible where it appears that god changed his mind.
The story of Cain and Abel is full of holes to begin with. Why Cain would kill Abel over something so minor? Why did god choose Abels offering over Cains? What were Adam and Eve doing during this whole scene? Was Cain homocide really murder since he'd never seen a dead human before, did he know that what he was doing would kill Abel? What, exactly, was the mark god marked Cain with? etc... etc...
And then there is a distinct moment, in the story, where god must have changed his mind.:
Originally, gods punishment for Cains deed was that he would live alone, forever, in the land of Nod. The land of Nod is often misconstrued as an actual place, when, "nod" actually translates to "wander". So, basically, anywhere Cain would be would be the land of Nod. So, god married him to a life of wandering alone.
Though there is speculation that the mark upon him was a dog, that god gave him as a consolation. However, judging by the way the story continues, I don't too much relevancy in that theory.
So, here is this guy who god has condemned to wander alone forever and then all of a sudden he has a wife. Therefore, god must've changed his mind about condemning Cain to lonesomeness forever.
The origin of this wife is unknown, though it's believed that (since Adam and Eve did have many children) that she was a sister of some sort. She is of no description and has no name.
Then Cain settles and builds the first city. How could Cain settle if he's been condemned to a life of wandering unless god had changed his mind again?
Was this example of the earliest stages of gods experiments with humans? He condemned Cain to eternal lonesomeness before realizing humans cannot live completely alone? Did he feel guilty for having a part in the death of Abel because he accepted Abels offering and not Cains? Is that why he took back the punishment of wandering and lonesomeness?
Now, according to the story, even though Cain was granted his family and city, he never reconciled with god and led a "spiritually empty" life.
In Judaism this is used to illustrate the concept that heaven and hell aren't places you go to, that Cain is in hell because he has no god.
It's also speculated that Cains wife symbolized heaven (having no name or description and otherwise being of mysterious origin, but providing complete comfort). And that god watched over Cain through his wife.
Statement ended.
Cheers,
Lost
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