Looking for references

[askandanswer]

Can anyone point me to any scriptures or prophetic or apostolic teachings that teach or emphasise that God is a God or order and that He usually follows the same procedures and routines when He does what He does? I’m looking for scriptures or teachings that highlight that God, when unfolding His plan for us, and carrying out His works, usually keeps to the same patterns or methods that He has used previously. The scriptures that best give a sense of what I’m looking for are the ones that teach that the Lords house is a house or order, or that the course of the Lord is one eternal round, or that God is an unchanging God, but if anybody can add to this very short list, or point me to some modern day teachings that add to or clarify the idea that God usually follows the same methodology, that would be very much appreciated. 

 

Many thanks

[PolarVortex]

I thought of two verses in the Hebrew Scriptures:

 

"For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you." (Malachi 3:6)

 

"God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?" (Numbers 23:19)

 

The Malachi verse reminds me of that great line from the movie "Malcolm X," where Malcolm X (or maybe he was still Malcolm Little at the time) was in prison and one of his fellow inmates said, "If you take one step toward Allah, He will take two steps toward you."  It's a nice idea, that God's behavior is regular and consistent, and that He acts graciously and disproportionately to our faithful gestures, even a gesture of a single step. 

 

I seem to recall one LDS scripture passage about the Church being a house of order and not chaos, and I think it was in the context of the revelation to Joseph Smith that God speaks though only one mouth in the Church (the prophet's).  But I can't find it now, so perhaps I am remembering it incorrectly.

[SpiritDragon]

I will give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may not be deceived; for Satan is abroad in the land, and he goeth forth deceiving.” (D&C 52:14.)

 

20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated. (D&C 130:20-21)

 

33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. (1 corinthians 14:33)

 

Mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion” (D&C 132:8). (sounds like it's already on your list)

 

https://www.lds.org/ensign/1994/06/wisdom-and-order?lang=eng

 

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1990/10/a-pattern-in-all-things?lang=eng

 

Alma 42 makes a compelling case for God to need to follow a specific pattern of Justice or He would cease to be God.

 

Best wishes, hope these help a little.

[askandanswer]

Thanks very much polar and dragon, these are both quite useful, particularly the reference in D&C 52.

[spamlds]

1st Corinthians 14:33--

 

"For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints."