“For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6)
The prophet Malachi speaking for the LORD, says “I am.” God declares Himself the LORD. In the Old Testament, LORD, all letters capitalized means the self-Existent or eternal One, Jehovah the Lord. As we know, Jesus didn’t just show up at His birth on earth as man. He existed at creation. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: ... (Genesis 1:26) We see that God was accompanied by Jesus. The Holy Spirit also was present. “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2) By these Scriptures we see that the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit were all involved in creation and existed eternally. We know that, but in our limited human understanding, we tend to put God in earthly terms and forget that Jesus is eternal and existed before Matthew. Jesus was active in the Old Testament.
The word LORD in all capital letters refers to God’s name, YHWH without vowels. It has been translated Yahweh or Jehovah. The word Lord, with only the first letter capitalized means Adonai (my Lords) and is plural as are other names for God such as Elohiym (translated God) and Shaddai. There is cause for confusion when one is trying to translate from one language to another. To get a real sense of what the Word is saying it’s best to read it in the original language. But since learning an ancient language and its nuances is beyond some of us, the next best thing is to use a Concordance and dictionary of Bible words to get a real sense of the meaning originally intended by the ancient writers.
For our purposes, we will understand in Malachi 3:6 that God declares Himself the “I am” the self-Existent eternal One Who was and is and always will be, unchanging through the eons of ages past, present and future. Here on earth, all things change. We change our minds. Our emotions are in constant change. Situations and circumstances are ever changing. Nature changes. Our bodies change. And things wear down even when untouched, rotting or rusting. But God is unchanging. His Word changes not. His Will and Purposes never change. “Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed: But Thou art the same, and Thy years shall have no end.” (Psalms 102:25-27)
As written in the Old Testament, the Jews always returned to their sin. God would have exterminated them completely, but His Word never changes. His promises are never retracted. God made promises to Abraham, to Isaac and Jacob. He will never go back on His Word or His promise to them. And the LORD says, “...therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Before we judge them, we need to remember, that there was no redemption from the bondage of sin for them. Thus, were we, unable to escape sin before the rebirth of our spirits by the redemptive work of Jesus. But God is holy and yet required holiness then and requires holiness now. “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.” (Leviticus 19:1-2) And in the New Testament, Peter writes: “But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” (1Peter 1:15-16)
God will fulfill every promise He made to Israel. We see that over and over in the Bible. This is good news for all mankind. God doesn’t change and doesn’t take back His Word and His promises. There are promises throughout the Bible, both the Old Testament and New Testament for the penitent sinner. And in the New Testament there are promises for all mankind, Jew or Gentile in the new covenant of Jesus. There is the promise of life in Jesus. No longer do we have to stay in bondage to sin and death. We are free to be good. We can make that choice to give our lives to Jesus, to live and God will do the work in us. “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” (Philippians 1:6)
The goodness and greatness of the LORD God is unfathomable. His wisdom has outwitted His enemy. There is a way, and the way is Jesus out of the grasp of the enemy. In the death of our sinful man, we are reborn of God, His children, indwelled with His Spirit for His glory.
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