Malachi 3:6 - God is Immutable.
Mal.3:6: God is Immutable.
CONTENT; What's in the verse; Translations; Paraphrase; Word
Study:
Mal 3:6 (KJV) For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye
sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Malachi 3:6 (NLT) "I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is
why you descendants of Jacob are not already completely destroyed.
Mal 3:6 (TLB) "For I am the Lord--I do not change. That is why
you are not already utterly destroyed (for my mercy endures
forever).
CONTEXT; What's around the verse; Overview; Topic:
Overview
Malachi predicted a day of purifying judgment (3:1-5). The LORD
urged His people to show repentance by their tithes (vv. 6-12) and
talk (vv. 13-15), and promised to bless individuals who fear Him (vv.
16-18). Malachi closed with a vivid image of the Day of the LORD
(4:1-4), and a promise of Elijah's return (vv. 5-6). [The 365-Day
Devotional Commentary]
SECTION HEADINGS
The Purifier
A Call to Repentance
Temple tithes (3:6-12)
Robbing God (3:6-15)
CROSS REFERENCES; What's in verses elsewhere.
Numbers 23:19 (KJV) God is not a man, that he should lie;
neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall
he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Psalm 103:17 (KJV) But the mercy of the Lord is from
everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness
unto children's children;
Isaiah 40:28 (KJV) Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard,
that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the
earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his
understanding.
Isaiah 42:5 (KJV) Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the
heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that
which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it,
and spirit to them that walk therein:
Isaiah 43:11 (KJV) I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there
is no saviour.
Isaiah 44:6 (KJV) Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and
his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last;
and beside me there is no God.
Jeremiah 32:27 (KJV) Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all
flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
Lament. 3:22-23 (KJV) It is of the Lord's mercies that we are
not consumed, because his compassions fail not. [23] They are new
every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Romans 5:10 (KJV) For if, when we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we
shall be saved by his life.
Romans 8:28 (KJV) And we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to
his purpose.
Romans 11:29 (KJV) For the gifts and calling of God are without
repentance.
Philip. 1:6 (KJV) Being confident of this very thing, that he
which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of
Jesus Christ:
Hebrews 6:18 (KJV) That by two immutable things, in which it
was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation,
who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the
uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession for them.
Hebrews 13:8 (KJV) Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day,
and for ever.
James 1:17 (KJV) Every good gift and every perfect gift is from
above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no
variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Rev. 1:8 (KJV) I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come,
the Almighty.
Rev. 22:13 (KJV) I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
end, the first and the last.
COMMENTARY / APPLICATION: Moving From The Head To The Heart
What is God teaching here? What does it teach about Jesus?
God does not change; He is constant to fulfill His threats and
promises. People cannot excuse themselves by blaming God for unfulfilled
expectations or for bad times. Such times may reflect God's wrath on a sinful
people. God will do what He says. We must ask if we have fulfilled our
promises to Him faithfully. [Disciple SB]
Oh, the immutability of God! We have only to think of the many
friendships which were once so precious and wonder what happened; of the
trust we placed in another, only to be betrayed. Malachi 3:6 says, "I
the Lord do not change." Who He is in the Old Testament, He also is
in the New. What He did for Moses, He will do for you! While it is
true that our ways are not His ways, it is very comforting to know
that His ways remain firm. So few things in our lives are firm,
stable, or solid. Relationships come and go; jobs evolve or disappear;
wealth remains elusive or fleeting. Families fall apart or die
one-by-one. God, however, remains as He has always been - from eternity
past to eternity future. As believers, we should find great comfort
in this precious truth! When you find yourself in the next crisis
of transition, stabilize yourself with the great truth of God's
immutability! [In His Time; Walk With Wisdom re Jam.1:17]
It is well for us that, amidst all the variableness of life,
there is One whom change cannot affect; One whose heart can never
alter, and on whose brow mutability can make no furrows. All things
else have changed--all things are changing. The sun itself grows dim
with age; the world is waxing old; the folding up of the worn-out
vesture has commenced; the heavens and earth must soon pass away; they
shall perish, they shall wax old as doth a garment; but there is One
who only hath immortality, of whose years there is no end, and in
whose person there is no change. The delight which the mariner feels,
when, after having been tossed about for many a day, he steps again
upon the solid shore, is the satisfaction of a Christian when, amidst
all the changes of this troublous life, he rests the foot of his
faith upon this truth--"I am the Lord, I change not."
The stability which the anchor gives the ship when it has at
last obtained a hold-fast, is like that which the Christian's hope
affords him when it fixes itself upon this glorious truth. With God "is
no variableness, neither shadow of turning." What ever his
attributes were of old, they are now; his power, his wisdom, his justice,
his truth, are alike unchanged. He has ever been the refuge of his
people, their stronghold in the day of trouble, and he is their sure
Helper still. He is unchanged in his love. He has loved his people with
"an everlasting love"; he loves them now as much as ever he did, and
when all earthly things shall have melted in the last conflagration,
his love will still wear the dew of its youth. Precious is the
assurance that he changes not! The wheel of providence revolves, but its
axle is eternal love.
"Death and change are busy ever,
Man decays, and ages move;
But his mercy waneth never;
God is wisdom, God is love." [Morning and Evening by Charles H.
Spurgeon]
God is omniscient, all-knowing, knowing the end from the
beginning. He knows exactly how things should be and will be. He never
makes a mistake or has to change His mind. Anything God has said in
the past is ever bit as true today as it was then and will be
throughout eternity. No wonder He is immutable and Wow what a God!
[Gibbs]
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