God the Unchangeable

In Tozer’s preface to this book, he wrote that his main purpose for this study of the attributes of God was to drive us to our knees in overwhelming adoration, wonder and worship of this GREAT UNCHANGEABLE GOD.

Today, we will be discussing

• The immutability of God

• The concept of the unchangeableness of God

• Our uncertainty of the unchangeable God

The Immutability of God - A God who does not change.
God is unchanging in his being, perfections, purposes and promises.

Here are some verses which give expression to this attribute:

• In Numbers 23:19, God is speaking to a prophet and God says,
  GOD IS NOT HUMAN, THAT HE SHOULD LIE, NOT A HUMAN BEING THAT HE SHOULD CHANGE HIS MIND.  DOES HE SPEAK AND THEN NOT ACT?  DOES HE PROMISE AND THEN NOT FULFILL?

• In Mal 3:6, I THE LORD DO NOT CHANGE, SO YOU, THE DESCENDANTS OF JACOB, ARE NOT DESTROYED.

Yes, there was punishment, but God has not totally discarded His favored nation. They still have a part to play in the promises he made to their ancestors and His future purposes to provide the promised Messiah. God is still their God and Israel is still His Children.

• In Heb. 13:8, the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, is THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER.

• In James 1:17, EVERY GOOD AND PERFECT GIFT IS FROM ABOVE, COMING DOWN FROM THE FATHER OF THE HEAVENLY LIGHTS, WHO DOES NOT CHANGE LIKE SHIFTING SHADOWS.

Is the concept of the unchangeableness of God really true?

This idea that God does change can be suggested from some verses in the Bible. 

In Gen. 6:5-8, it says that because of the wickedness of mankind, God regretted making mankind and his heart was deeply troubled.

In I Sam. 15-16, we are told that God regretted making Saul king over Israel.  But Saul reigned over 40 years.

In Jonah, God’s message to Jonah for Nineveh, was, 40 more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.  Yet, we know that God granted several more years to Nineveh when the people repented. These verses suggest that God can change His mind or plans if the situation changes.

Christian teachers and scholars have offered several options to explain these seeming contradictions.

First, God responds differently to different situations.  
The example Jonah who preached the coming destruction of Nineveh and the people repented, including the king. God relented and did not destroy the city at that time.  The situation had changed.  People had changed.  The same is true for us today; if we don’t acknowledge and confess our sin and ask for forgiveness, we will come under His judgment of our sin against a holy God.

Another explanation to clarify this kind of language is that the author is using anthropomorphic terms.  These are descriptions of God’s actions and feelings in human terms that we can understand, such as pain and regret.
These examples are of God’s response to man’s sin?  He is not withholding good or blessings in the light of the right behavior.  In some small way it is like a parent who loves his/her child but in some way must deal with disobedience.

Our uncertainty of the unchangeable God

Some people may be thinking that maybe God is more like us rather than unique and perfect. It is hard to imagine a Being who is perfection, absolute completeness, lacking nothing or never weak or unstable.

Besides this difficulty of imagining or relating to moral perfection, I wonder if there isn’t another factor at work in our lives— our experience of unanswered prayers.

Here are some of my attempt to understand biblically what might be going on

• First, maybe I don’t always understand the purpose and role of prayer.

• Second, I try to remind myself what the Bible said God said:  MY WAYS ARE NOT YOUR WAYS AND MY THOUGHTS ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS.

• Third, I to remind myself that God says He is in control, He knows the beginning from the end, He is bringing all things to completion according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).

• Finally, I remind myself what Moses wrote in Deut. 29:29, there are some secrets that God is holding to Himself.  We will never know in this world and perhaps not in the next.

In conclusion, it is important, even essential that we believe and has confidence that God is unchanging because it means:

• His love is unchanging

• His mercy is unchanging

• His compassion is unchanging

• His faithfulness to us and Himself is unchanging

Since God is unchangeable, He never varies in the full intensity of His Love for us:
I HAVE LOVED YOU WITH AN EVERLASTING LOVE.
Nothing I do will change His love for me, His mercy towards me, His Faithfulness to me.