Good afternoon Major,
Can you be so kind as to give us all some scripture to back this thought of your up?
Thanks so very much!
Numbers 23:19
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?
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
James 1:17
Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.
I will try and answer your question. I t may turn out to be a long answer so please forgive me.
As for Hebrews 13:8.........Jesus is the same, but it would help us all to understand how He is the same. He is the same in His "character, and in His person and in His attributes".
But He is not the same in "place" or in "performance".
About 1900 years ago He was in Bethlehem in a manger. He is not there today. About 30 years after that He was a boy playing in the land of Nazareth, but He is not there today. Then after that He was in Jerusalem, on a cross on Golgotha, but He is not there today.
Hebrews 8:1.........
"We have such a high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens"
Hebrews 12:2.......
"and we are to look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith".
He accomplished our redemption 1900 years ago and then He sat down at the right hand of the Father. Right now He is up u=yonder in heaven and is not walking on the streets of Jerusalem. or Bethlehem or Nazareth. So I think that it is clear that He is not the same in
"place".
When He walked on the earth He touched and taught and healed during His earthly ministry. Since He is in heaven today He is not touching and healing those in Jerusalem today. So again, I think we can see that He is not the same in His
performance today.
When He was here 1900 years ago, He brought God down to man, to our level. He identified with our humanity so that as a man He could pay the penalty for mans sin.
We know that when Jesus comes again, He will not be beaten, spat upon, poked at, and killed. Again that speaks of His
performance and His performance in the future will not be the same as it was in the past.
Revelation 19:11-16............
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords."
That is the picture of the Judge not anything like the one who died on the cross.
Now for James 1:17. the ESV says.........
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."
The King James does not say....."He never changes".
"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."
To me that means God does not vary. He is not a yo yo. The laws of Creation do not change.
Numbers 23:19 is of course about the immutability of God. Whenever one verse of Scripture seems to contradict other Scriptures it is always wise to look at that particular verse in its context. The three most important rules of hermeneutics are as follows: 1. Context 2. Context 3. Context!!! The context of this passage is Balak's hiring of Balaam to curse the children of Israel. Although Balaam attempted to curse the Israelites God forbid him, and commanded him to bless them instead. After doing so, Balak was upset at his actions.
As a result Balaam went back to God to try to get God to allow him to curse the Israelites. God still refused. Numbers 23:19 is part of Balaam's speech to Balak concerning the Lord's answer. He said that God is not a man that He should lie, or the Son of Man that He should change His mind. God had spoken what He had spoken, and that was the end of the story. Balaam was told to bless the Israelites, and He did. Now that He had blessed them, and subsequently God had blessed them, there was no reversing the blessing.
I for one belie the lesson to be learned from Numbers 23:19 is the we can now say that God is a man, and the son of man; however, He is not like all other men in that He has no sin, but is holy like God. What Balaam was referring to is men's sinfulness, and their resultant fickleness. God is not like fallen men. This does not preclude God from ever becoming a man, but only forbids that God should ever become like fallen men, being untrustworthy, lying, or failing to keep His word.
