Inquiry:
Does God ever get tired? Isaiah 40:28 says He does not, but Exodus 31:16; Isaiah 1:14; 43:24; and Jeremiah 15:6 say that He does. Is there a contradiction?
Response:
Isaiah identifies God as the Creator who “neither faints nor is weary.” He is portrayed as the source of strength for His people (Isaiah 40:31). They are renewed with strength and do not become weary because the Lord does not become weary.
What about the verses given by the questioner saying that God does get tired? Let us look at them here.
Exodus 31:16-17
The Law of Moses identified the Sabbath as a perpetual covenant between God and Israel. The people were to rest on the seventh day, for God, after created the heavens and earth in six days rested and was refreshed. Creation was done, thus God rested from His work. The verse does not say that God was worn out or tired from His work. In resting, God established the Sabbath as a day of memorial for His people.
I might take a day off and be refreshed by it. That does not mean I was tired or exhausted. It simply means that I have benefited from the day off. God took a day off, not for His own benefit, but for the people of Israel.
Isaiah 1:14; 43:24
The new moons & feasts did not make God tired; He was not happy with their misuse of them, thus He says they wearied Him. It is not used in the sense of tiring. The same is true of their sins in Isaiah 43:24.
Jeremiah 15:6
What was God wearied of? Relenting! He had delayed and delayed punishing His people for their sin; He would not do so any longer. The remedy for this weariness was not inactivity, but activity, judging the people.
There is no contradiction.
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