God is not Erratic

I am uneasy about prophecies that say God is doing something new, this month or this year, that he has not done before. This makes him seem impulsive and erratic, which is not true.

God is not erratic. He knows what he is doing, and he has a plan.

If God is able to do something new that he has not done before, there are two possible reasons.

• Something has changed in the spiritual realms. For example, God was able to pour out his spirit at Pentecost because Jesus had dealt with sin and ascended and sat down at the right hand of God. Before that, he could only send the spirit sporadically. Likewise, God was able to restore Israel in the time of Nehemiah, because the seventy sevens under judgement/curse were complete. Changes in the covenant conditions opened the way for God to do new things.

• Humans have changed their attitudes/behaviour. God was able to send Moses to rescue the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, because they humbled themselves and cried out to him for deliverance. The Holy Spirit fell on the household of Cornelius, because they turned to Jesus and sought his blessing (Acts 10:44). When humans turn to Jesus and change their behaviour, then the Holy Spirit is free to move.

We are not living in a time when Jesus had done something new (he continues to be seated at the right hand of God). We are not in a time when a season of curse/judgment on the earth is coming to an end. So if God is able to do something new in our time that he has not been able to do before, it will be due to the second reason. It will be due to changes in human attitudes or behaviour.

The implication of many prophecies is that the Holy Spirit will not move, until God has changed his mind. The reality is that he can only move in a fuller way, if we have changed our attitudes or behaviour. It depends on us, not on him.

If the Holy Spirit is not moving in the way that we would like, the problem is not with him, it is with us. He is not erratic, but we often are.