Week 14 1 Samuel 15
Samuel said: the Eternal One of Israel does not lie or change his mind, for he is not man who changes his mind.
It’s a reassuring reminder that the Lord is not like humans. He’s not changeable. Not unstable. Not unreliable.
At the same time the Lord’s character isn’t locked-down into a kind of conscious state of emotional rigor mortis.
Here’s a hypothetical example of the Lord showing some common sense elasticity. Let’s say there’s two guys:
If Guy #1 lives a life of good actions from beginning-to-end the Lord will affirm him.
If Guy #2 lives a life of evil actions from beginning-to-end the Lord won’t affirm him.
But what if Guy #1 lives a life of good actions for a while but then turns around and lives an evil life? Things have changed. So the Lord doesn’t affirm him any more.
And what if Guy #2 lives an evil life for a while but then turns around and lives a life of good? Things have changed. And he goes from not being affirmed to being affirmed.
If the Lord was Totally Inflexible & Rigidly Mechanical then he wouldn’t be responsive to changeable things happening all around. But one thing the bible confirms is that the Lord is responsive to new developments.
The Lord responds intelligently and fittingly to mutating inputs. He changes.
Note: quote from 1 Samuel 15:29 (CSB)