Ponder This!

Isaiah 14:24

“The LORD of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand,” (Isaiah 14:24 ESV)

My friend Buddy often asks me to ponder on a statement he has written, and as I allow my mind to do so, it is amazing how much in life we miss by hurrying.  So today will you ponder on Isaiah 14:24 with me.  To ponder: to consider, contemplate, to think about, is what I am asking of you today.  Our first assignment, when “The LORD of hosts has sworn” makes a statement, or a promise, is He going to change it later?  “No, God does not change his mind – not in an eternal sense. However, we do see verses in the Bible that imply he does – in a temporal sense. We have to understand that God has revealed himself to us in what we call anthropomorphic revelation.  This means that he has lowered himself to our level and speaks to us in a manner that is consistent with our understanding.”  (Quote from Matt Slick)  A great example of God lowering Himself to our level is found in the gospel of John, chapter 1.  Read that chapter and give thought to what the apostle is saying.

If you are looking for an example of God changing His mind in a temporal sense, go to 

Exodus 32:14, or to Jeremiah 26:19, but from an eternal sense, look at Ephesians 1:3-14, 

 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ 

with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the 

foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he

 predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of 

his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according 

to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known 

to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan 

for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.  In him 

we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him 

who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope

 in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, 

the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 

who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of 

his glory.” 

As I’ve pondered on the above, I’ve come to understand an all-knowing God who is all powerful, ever present, Sovereign, the Creator who is Infinite, Self-Existent, Self-Sufficient, Eternal, and has never changed His mind.  One more quote from Matt Slick of CARM, “So, what we’re seeing is God changing his mind from our perspective, but from the eternal perspective he never did. He’s not surprised by our choices, and he does not have to adapt to our mistakes or our plans. He works all things after the counsel of his will, and he does so eternally.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice