God Is Immutable

People change. They are changing every day. The fact is we age every day. Last night, for some reason I had some back pain trying to get to sleep. I suspect it might be that I am changing every day and not always for the good. I am aging. Recently we saw some dear, lifelong friends and I was reminded that every one of us is changing every day.

At the same time, you meet an old friend and maybe we have both changed somewhat, but you can also see the same eyes, thinking, speech, and character. Although, even that can change. Our character is shaped and molded by the things that we repeat, allow, and think, but there is something to think about that is really transcendent, God. Does God change, age, or forget? Does God’s power diminish? No, God is immutable. That means God is unchanging. This is really hard to comprehend because at the same time, God responds to life. So, God is immutable; His character is unchanging and immutable, but He is responsive to life. How can that happen?

In Numbers 27 we have two separate incidents that remind me of the same truth, that God is unchanging yet responsive. Sometimes I have a hard time holding both these thoughts in my head at one time, but both are true. The first story is about the daughters of a man named Zalophehad. His daughters came to Moses and Eleazar the high priest to ask them about an unusual situation. As Israel was coming into the land, they were to inherit land that was to be kept in the tribe and family and be passed on from one man to his son and so on, so that every family had a portion of land in the land of promise God was giving them. The ladies’ problem was that their father had died and they had no brothers.

In verse 4 they asked, “Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he hath no son? Give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father.” Were these ladies to pass on the inheritance given to their father to another family?

Moses brought their cause before the Lord, and God responded to their appeal. It is amazing. Verse 11 says, “It shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the LORD commanded Moses.” There was an amendment to the law God had given. God had not changed. His character had not changed. In fact, this amendment was made in order to accomplish what God intended to accomplish in the first place, that each family have a portion of what God had given the nation in general.

Here is an immutable God whose character never changes, who responds in character, in kind, in principle, being true to Himself, to situations on the ground. God, His character and purpose, does not change, but here are some ladies who had an obedient appeal and God responded. How amazing that God would ever condescend to respond to humans such as we are, but He does.

Another example is found in the story of Moses when he was going to die. God had told him he wasn’t going into the land. Moses said, “Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation.” In verse 16, instead of complaining, worrying, or crying that he was not going to go into the land, he basically said, “Lord, please set someone over these people to lead them into the land.” The Lord said to Moses in verse 18, “Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him.” What Moses had said was, “Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, I am not going to live, but you are God of the spirits of all flesh. Set someone to lead these people.” God responded, “Here is Joshua, a man in whom is the spirit.” In other words, God’s spirit transcends the lifetime of any one person.

God responded to the obedient appeal of Moses. God used different men, Joshua as opposed to Moses, but God is the God of all spirits and Joshua was a man in whom was the spirit. They had different ways. God spoke to Moses very directly. In verse 21 Joshua would receive direction from God. He would stand before Eleazar the priest who would ask counsel for him after the judgment of the Urim. It wasn’t quite as direct as how God had spoken to Moses. It was a different man and a different way but the same destination.

Verse 23 says that Moses laid his hand upon Joshua and gave him a charge “as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.” It was a different man and a different situation, but the same God, same command, same destination, and same purpose. The purpose was to divide the land among the families. One family had no men, but God’s purpose was the same, so He made an amendment. What would happen when Moses died? God gave another man and a different way of communicating to him, but His purpose remained the same. The God of all flesh is the God who will lead these people into the future.

The upshot of this is that God is unchanging. Aren’t you glad for someone whose character is not changing, whose power does not diminish, and whose judgments do not change. God is in some sense predictable. He is surer in His acting and dealing than any person you know because God is more consistent than any person. His character is consistent with His holiness, His sovereignty, and His being who He is, yet this immutable God responds to obedient appeals by giving guidance that transcends the lifetime of any one man.

Today, make your life a life that responds to the unchanging God, a God who does not change, yet responds to the life in predictable and holy character.