3/14

Numbers 23:19

19God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?


Balaam tells the heathen king that is trying to curse Israel, "Look, I told you before, and God doesn't change His mind. Israel is blessed! If God blesses them, I can't curse them!" Sometimes we wish God would change His mind. If we knew all His reasons, we would probably change our mind. Too often we think of God as we do man, and that is where we run into trouble. As Jacob said of Rueben, man is "unstable as water". Like a liquid we fit the container of our circumstances. But God never changes!

He has no need to lie. Since He is all knowing, He was never misinformed about any given situation. Being all-powerful, He never lacked the power to carry through on His purposes. Being everywhere present, nothing has ever escaped His attention or sneaked up on Him. He will not change His mind. The wonderful thing about that is we know He will forever accept what Christ has done in our place. He will never one day decide it wasn't enough. He will never demand more than what Jesus already did for you. He has spoken and He will act. Satan can never surprise attack Him. God has promised, and He will fulfill.

Balaam forgot his own words and later tried to get financial gain by tempting Israel into compromise. He may have reasoned that if they compromised they would then lose God's favor. Our minds can reason their way around what we know is true. God never changes! What He has said is the way it is. Don't try and figure a way around it.

Consider: Why would I want God to change what He has said?