My pastor gets asked a lot of religious questions. These are called meforshim in Hebrew. He is a Hebrew scholar and tries to get us interested. The answers to these questions are called shayla.
Here is his answer to this question:
Shayla: Does God change His mind?
In short, no. His unchangeability is critical to our ongoing survival.
Malachi 3:6 HCSB "Because I, Yahweh, have not changed, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.
Hebrews 13:8 HCSB Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
His fundamental nature, the way that He presents Himself does not change from generation to generation. This was tested and found to be true over a span of thousands of years.
Exodus 3:15 HCSB God also said to Moses, "Say this to the Israelites: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.
John 8:58 HCSB Jesus said to them, "I assure you: Before Abraham was, I am."
There is no one else like Him. He is the only God and thus the only one to possess this characteristic. We and angels may be eternal in the sense of from now on but God is eternal even into the past. Having never been born, and never experiencing death, He is truly the ONLY unchangeable thing about the universe.
Isaiah 43:10 HCSB "You are My witnesses"--the LORD's declaration--"and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. No god was formed before Me, and there will be none after Me.
His omnipresence, His eternality and His transcendence imply that He lives in block time and is without separate, moving parts. In His transcendent aspect there is no variation or shadow cast by turning.
James 1:17 HCSB Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning.
His sheltering arms are described as everlasting. If He were to, as some would say, be modal, or as others would say, evolve, then He would no longer be the same. His fundamental essence would remain but He would change. He would no longer be the same and His protective arms might at some point no longer be available.
Deuteronomy 33:27 HCSB The God of old is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He drives out the enemy before you, and commands, "Destroy!"
Psalms 90:1-6 HCSB A prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, You have been our refuge in every generation. (2) Before the mountains were born, before You gave birth to the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity, You are God. (3) You return mankind to the dust, saying, "Return, descendants of Adam." (4) For in Your sight a thousand years are like yesterday that passes by, like a few hours of the night. (5) You end their life; they sleep. They are like grass that grows in the morning-- (6) in the morning it sprouts and grows; by evening it withers and dries up.
Psalms 102:24-27 HCSB I say: "My God, do not take me in the middle of my life! Your years continue through all generations. (25) Long ago You established the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. (26) They will perish, but You will endure; all of them will wear out like clothing. You will change them like a garment, and they will pass away. (27) But You are the same, and Your years will never end.
Cp Hebrews 1:10-12 HCSB And: In the beginning, Lord, You established the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands; (11) they will perish, but You remain. They will all wear out like clothing; (12) You will roll them up like a cloak, and they will be changed like a robe. But You are the same, and Your years will never end.
The Spirit is also describe in similar, eternal terms.
Hebrews 9:14 HCSB how much more will the blood of the Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to serve the living God?
Since God is perfect and immutable, His commands do not change. Those who believe that the all of the Old Covenant commands were invalidated by the coming of the Messiah should remember that He did not destroy them, or set them aside but instead fulfilled them.
Matthew 5:17-19 HCSB "Don't assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. (18) For I assure you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all things are accomplished. (19) Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches these commandments will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Luke 24:44 HCSB Then He told them, "These are My words that I spoke to you while I was still with you--that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled."
Since God is the author of the Scriptures, they too are eternal, immutable and unbreakable.
Matthew 24:35 HCSB Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
1 Peter 1:23 HCSB since you have been born again--not of perishable seed but of imperishable--through the living and enduring word of God.
John 10:35 HCSB If He called those whom the word of God came to 'gods'--and the Scripture cannot be broken--
The Scriptures do not contain truth. They ARE truth. There are not errors here and there. His commands do not contradict themselves. If at first glance they seem to we must humbly understand that we are simply not smart enough yet to see how they work together. Humble, consistent scholarship will soon illuminate the way forward for us.
Psalms 119:160 HCSB The entirety of Your word is truth, and all Your righteous judgments endure forever.
John 17:17 HCSB Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.
Gods essence, nature, presentation, or purposes do not change. However, being a Person, He will respond to the changing will of man. He reacts when we exercise our free wills.
Jonah 3:5-10 HCSB The men of Nineveh believed in God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth--from the greatest of them to the least. (6) When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes. (7) Then he issued a decree in Nineveh: By order of the king and his nobles: No man or beast, herd or flock, is to taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink water. (8) Furthermore, both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth, and everyone must call out earnestly to God. Each must turn from his evil ways and from the violence he is doing. (9) Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His burning anger so that we will not perish. (10) Then God saw their actions--that they had turned from their evil ways--so God relented from the disaster He had threatened to do to them. And He did not do it.
Nevertheless, His ultimate purpose did not change.
2 Peter 3:3-9 HCSB First, be aware of this: scoffers will come in the last days to scoff, following their own lusts, (4) saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation." (5) They willfully ignore this: long ago the heavens and the earth existed out of water and through water by the word of God. (6) Through these the world of that time perished when it was flooded by water. (7) But by the same word the present heavens and earth are held in store for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. (8) Dear friends, don't let this one thing escape you: with the Lord one day is like 1,000 years, and 1,000 years like one day. (9) The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.
Hope this helps.
