James 1:17 (God Does Not Change)

James 1:17

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Things change. The seasons progress, as the sun's angle towards the earth slowly adjusts. The shadows shift, the leaves turn colors, the clouds roll, the skies whirl and the world spins. For us, as humans, our inconsistent planet has made us used to change. If we don't like the weather, we can wait 24 hours. If our friends become different overnight, what else is new. If our circumstances never settle, that's just life. We expect change, so when we encounter something that is constant it impacts us. We question it, because how could there be anything unchanging in this world?

God is unchanging. Scripture states this fact over and over again. He Himself says, "I the Lord do not change," (Malachi 3:6). Yes, even "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever," (Hebrews 13:8). As God is constant and eternal, so too is His Word. It is written, "Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens," (Psalm 119:89). It is true, "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever," (Isaiah 40:8). God further states, He "is not human, that He should lie, not a human being, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?" (Numbers 23:19).

God even keeps His promise to make the seasons change,
for the Lord says, "As long as the earth endures, seedtime
and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter,
day and night will never cease," (Genesis 8:22). 

Yes, the God of heaven and earth is constant in all His ways, but many people (even Christians) say He is not. 

Some say, "The God in the Old Testament is different from the God in the New Testament," but there is only one God from whom all things exist (1 Corinthians 8:6). He says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End," (Revelation 22:13). The same God who said He would come to earth as a king in the Old Testament (Isaiah 9:6) was born of a mother in a manger in the New Testament (Luke 2:7). All the promises God makes He intends to keep. The eternal Lord says, "My word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it," (Isaiah 55:11). The author of Hebrews describes the goodness of God's consistency this way in chapter 6 from verses 17 to 19:

Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

In addition to this, some say, "God can change His mind," but God says through His prophets, "He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a human being, that He should change His mind," (1 Samuel 15:29). God can relent from doing something, but this does not mean that He changed. When God relented from destroying Nineveh, because they repented of their sin, God did not change but the people of Nineveh did (Jonah 3:9-10). 

Another time when it seemed God changed His mind was when He told king Hezekiah he would die (2 Kings 20:1). After this, Hezekiah prayed and cried out to God, saying, "Please, Lord, just remember how I have walked before You wholeheartedly and in truth, and have done what is good in Your sight!" (2 Kings 20:3). Because of Hezekiah's prayer, God then said to him, "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I am going to heal you," (2 Kings 20:5). God confirmed His promise to Hezekiah by making the sun roll back ten minutes (2 kings 20:9-10). If this event is about God changing His mind, then God's promise sealed by adjusting the sun's shadows (2 kings 20:11) would be meaningless, because God could then change His mind about keeping His promise. In this event God did not change His mind, but stayed consistent to Himself. He is faithful to bring down rulers and raise up the humble (Luke 1:52), and because Hezekiah humbled himself, God said to him, "I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city," (2 Kings 20:6). For all of eternity God will love the righteous (Psalm 11:7) and reward those who turn to Him (Hebrews 11:6). It is written, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows," (James 1:17). In the account of Hezekiah God made the shadows shift to prove He does not.

In the Bible the Greek word meaning to change one's mind
is μετάνοια (metanoia), which is the same word for "repent"
(referring to changing one's mind on sin), so since the righteous
do not need to repent of sin (Luke 15:7), and God is righteous
(2 Timothy 4:8), then God does not need to change His mind.

God does not change, nor does anything about Him; not His ways, His words or His love. It is written, "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever," (Psalm 136:1). The seasons, people and circumstances change, "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail," (Lamentations 3:21-22).

You stay the same through the ages

Your love never changes

There may be pain in the night

But joy comes in the morning

And when the oceans rage

I don't have to be afraid

Because I know that You love me

Your love never fails

- Newsboys

Sources

• The Bible (New International Version)
• OpenBibleInfo: God Never Changes 
• GotQuestions: Does God Change His Mind?
• BibleHub: Repentance (metanoia)
• Newsboys: Your Love Never Fails