Yesterday we read: “For I the Lord do not change.” Praise His name.
The rest of the verse says, “Therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.”
This seems a strange thing to say. What is the connection with “I the Lord do not change”?
If you read the whole of the book of Malachi, you will see that the children of Israel were messing up again and again. They were not worshipping right, they were not trusting the word of God, they were not giving their tithes, their marriages were breaking down. But even though they were making such a mess, God was still their God, the covenant-keeping unchanging God.
They deserved to be consumed, but God does not change. He had committed Himself to them in covenant love and so would not consume them. In Malachi 3:1-5, He promises that someone is coming who would purify them – the Messiah, the Saviour, Jesus.
We do not deserve God’s love. We make a mess of things and sin. But, because He does not change and is 100% committed to us in covenant love in Christ, we are not consumed. We are forgiven. He pours His love into us and covers us with His mercy and grace.
This is not saying that it is good to sin. It’s not. But, when we do sin, the Lord does not consume us in His wrath, but He turns to us in mercy. We don’t need to hide from Him. We don’t need to pretend that we haven’t sinned, we can turn to Him and confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Amazing grace!
