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The Changeless One
Ray Kurzweil is an inventor and author, and a few years ago he wrote a book called The Singularity Is Near. And in that book, he predicts that in the 21st century we will see technological advancement at a rate greater than all of human history combined. And I think that seems like not such a far-fetched prediction when you consider just how far we've come technologically in the last few decades. So, what we see then, technologically, is change. Some of us can barely keep up with it with our phones, like me. But it's not just technological change that we are witnessing is it? We are witnessing, in connection with technological change, economic change. We are also seeing political change and social change and the change in perception of morality. We are experiencing all this, and we're experiencing, ironically enough, all this because of technological advancement. We know things are changing all over the world instantaneously if we want that.
And that can be troubling. Change at this rate is troubling. But it's all around us.
Contrast that idea with the conclusion that we can get by reading Exodus 3. In Exodus 3, we have that monumental discussion between Yahweh and Moses where God commissions Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let His people go. But he's also supposed to go to the Israelites and kind of tell them what's going on. And so Moses says, “Well if I do that, suppose they say what is the name of this being who sent me? What am I supposed to tell them?” Now at first glance that may seem like a really stupid question, right? I mean we might think, “Moses, you tell them God sent you.” But in the polytheistic environment of ancient Egypt, it makes a lot of sense. Because if Moses comes to them and he says, “God’s told me to come to you”, they may say, “Which one?”
So, what he says next is God's identity, but also God's name. The translations usually say something like “I Am who I Am. That's who you tell them sent you.” (Exodus 3.14) In Hebrew: Eh’yeh-Asher-Eh’yeh. I don't know if you can tell from that word “Eh’yeh”, but it sounds kind of like Yahweh. And that's for good reason. That's because they're based on the same root word.
What is the meaning of that root word?
To be. To exist.
So what then does this name Yahweh mean in all probability? (And I think scripture confirms this.) And that is “the one who exists.” The Existent One. The one who has always existed and will always exist. Now what does that mean, practically speaking? Because to think about that from an intellectual perspective is interesting, it's enjoyable maybe, but what does it imply practically speaking?
Well, it implies that He doesn't change. You see sometimes I've explained this as God exists outside of time. That's what it means when we say he's the Existent One. I've heard other people say that. I don't think that's very helpful. I think it's much more helpful to say that God is the Changeless One. So again, think about that contrast between the ever-changing world and, by the way, we're all changing too. We may not realize it, but every single one of us is not the same person we were last year or yesterday.
But God's not like that.
So, I think there are two practical implications of this. First of all, God doesn't make a decision and then decide later: “You know what? That was a bad decision.” Have you ever made a decision and then not very long after you say, “You know what? That was kind of dumb. I shouldn’t have done that.” It's like every day with me. But God doesn't do that. God doesn't do something and then say, “You know what? I'm sorry I did that.” Now some of you may be thinking, wait a minute. There are passages in the Bible where it says God was sorry that He made this particular decision. But I would say that's accommodative language to help us understand generally what's going on. But that's not how God operates. You see because if we change that means we are something less than perfect and that's not what God is. If you're perfect, there's no need to change. So, He does not change. He's not like us in the decisions He makes.
You know what that means? That means that as we think about this concept of God as the Existent One and we interact with this past historical event of Jesus’ death on the cross at the time of Pontius Pilate, we're also interacting with the future. And it's a future that's not going to change. It's not like when everything is said and done God's going to be like, “You know what? Forget it. Deals off. I changed my mind.” That's not going to happen. And that kind of existence, compared to our existence now, I think, couldn't be stronger of a contrast.
God doesn't change. Regardless of what changes in our own individual lives.
Now we get to the second application. You see we think about our culture changing. As I've already said, we change and our circumstances change. Some of us might really enjoy where we are in life right now. I hope I hope a lot of us are in that category. But it's not going to stay that way. Things are going to change. People are going to pass away. Our life situation is going to change. Our job may change. Etc. Etc. But in spite of all that change, this isn't going to change. The fact that God has made us precious promises.
And it's all based upon the death of His Son. A decision that God made before the foundation of the earth. And in connection with that, we get an opportunity to enjoy the benefits. All that took place before the foundation of the world. That won’t change. Because of Him.
Eh’yeh-Asher-Eh’yeh.
The Existent One.
The Changeless One.
And for that, we all should be thankful and grateful.
