Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 13:8 NASB
God says He doesn’t change
Our text today is quite possibly the most quoted Bible verse related to the immutability of God, His unchangeableness. Malachi 3:6 is another: “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” Similarly, James 1:17 also talks of God’s immutability.
Does God change?
There are places in the Bible that seem to indicate God changes. “So the Lord was sorry that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” (Genesis 6:6 NASB) Jonah 3 talks about how God told Jonah to tell the residents of Nineveh that He was going to judge them. However, in response, they repented and God, being righteous, did not wipe them out. Exodus 32 is another classic example.
How to understand this?
Gotquestions.org provides these guidelines. 1) God uses anthropopathism to help us, with limited understanding of an infinite God, to get a better, but not full, understanding of His ways. (See Romans 11:33). 2) There is a distinction between conditional declarations of God and unconditional decisions of God. God states a promise (for blessing or curse) with a condition. If man upholds, God executes. If man changes, God will relent – according to His character. I would add a third: that we must remember that God is God, He knows the end from the beginning. From that perspective, when He appears to change, in actuality He is not – for what He will do has already been decided.
What if God changed?
Imagine for a moment what it would be like if God did change. What would that mean? For starters, as we’ve indicated above, it would mean He is not God. But looking at it from a “living out life” perspective, if God changed:
- Could we have assurance of salvation? Today He may accept us but tomorrow reject us.
- Would we have comfort in our trials? Yesterday He was with me by His Spirit comforting me in my deepest of life’s trials. Can I count on Him today?
- What other turmoil would this cause in your life?
God doesn’t change
Praise the Lord! He does not change! He is trustworthy. We’ve seen in Hebrews that He keeps His promises; we can trust Him. Look at all the saints in chapter 11 who believed and trusted. Follow their example.
