The Lord never changes who He is or what He intends to accomplish in this world or with us humans. His intention for creation remains unchanged, even in light of humanity’s fall from grace. He is still this world’s Creator and Keeper. According to Isaiah 46:10, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all My purpose.” James so states in his epistle, “There is no variation or shadow due to change; all good and perfect gifts are from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17).
God is reliable
God is [reliable in His saying] because He is immutable in Who He is. It is necessary for Balaam to predict that God is neither a man, so He cannot lie, nor a son of man, so He cannot change His mind. Has He said this, and He won’t back down? Or has He spoken anything, and He won’t carry it out? (Numbers 23:19). “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind,” according to Psalm 110:4.
The same is true of God’s actions. Samuel told him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you,” according to 1 Samuel 15:28–29. Furthermore, the Glory of Israel is not a man and so will not lie or feel regret. God’s actions are entirely consistent with His desire and essence. He is fully behind it.
God’s regret
Nevertheless, Genesis 6:5–6 states that the Lord observed how widespread human wickedness was on the planet and how consistently bad man’s intentions and thoughts were. And the Lord was much troubled by His regret for creating man on earth.
If He stated it was all very good when He originally created man, how can this be the case? Because of how much sin has affected humanity, that is feasible. The human race has deviated from God’s original design. Thus, God’s intent remained unaltered, but He is quite dissatisfied with the outcome. Like a spouse who would sooner have never married a woman than allow himself to be duped by her and suffer the consequences.
Vulnerable, but good
The Lord created mankind with free will, which made them extremely vulnerable. However, this also contributed to the goodness of creation by opening the door to the potential of genuine love and a meaningful relationship. Because of His love, God completely trusted and gave Himself to man. The worst drama on earth occurred when mankind rejected this love and ended this partnership. The worst is when the great are spoiled. That is precisely what God thought to be very horrible and what He did not want.
God is personal and concerned
This demonstrates that God’s immutability is [personal and caring], not inflexible and callous. “And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in His heart, I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth,” is what we read after Noah gave a sacrifice following the deluge. According to Genesis 8:21, “Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.”
God’s warning
Because God is like this, prayer and repentance can cause Him to lessen or cancel prophecies. “It may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, that I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them because of their evil deeds,” Jeremiah should warn His people in this way (Jeremiah 26:3). Jonah 3:10, 2 Samuel 24:25, and Exodus 32:11–14 all provide examples of this.
Unchangeability including change
Therefore, part of God’s unchangeability is the ability for Him to change—not His essence, intentions, or promises, but rather some of His ideas and decisions. God will alter His mind, but He will still basically be the same if it is necessary for the carrying out of His purposes, accomplishing His objectives, or keeping His promises. That’s how He can be trusted.
Learn everything there is to know about the Bible at What is the Bible?
