Does God Always Keep His Promises?
I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. (Malachi 3:6)
Do you think promises are important to keep? Honestly, how would you feel if someone broke a promise they made to you? Maybe it already happened? It hurts really badly when someone breaks a promise. To be honest, I’m personally not a big fan. I had this happen once in my life in a work environment. It really was a crusher, for many reasons. And that promise was never ultimately kept, adversely affecting my family. The bigger the promise made, the more it hurts when it is broken. The residual effect of this happening – how could you ever fully trust a person going forward if they break their promise to you? What makes them stop from doing it again…and again…and again?
Now, how about a promise made by God? What if He broke a promise made to us? That would be devastating, wouldn’t you say? Can you imagine if the Lord said, “I am going to give you eternal life,” but then reneged on His promise? It is impossible for Him to do this; so you do not have to worry about that possibility…praise Him! The Lord is not slack concerning His promises!
Here is a foundational promise the Lord made to mankind in the past, approximately 2000 BC. It was an unconditional covenant made to those who would have true faith in Him (Gen 15:6). You might be asking though, what is a “covenant?” How does that relate to a promise? Well…
A covenant is an agreement between two parties. There are two basic types of covenants: conditional and unconditional. A conditional or bilateral covenant is an agreement that is binding on both parties for its fulfillment. Both parties agree to fulfill certain conditions. If either party fails to meet their responsibilities, the covenant is broken and neither party has to fulfill the expectations of the covenant. An unconditional or unilateral covenant is an agreement between two parties, but only one of the two parties has to do something. Nothing is required of the other party.
The Abrahamic Covenant is an unconditional covenant. God made promises to Abraham that required nothing of Abraham. Genesis 15:18–21 describes a part of the Abrahamic Covenant, specifically dealing with the dimensions of the land God promised to Abraham and his descendants.
The actual Abrahamic Covenant is found in Genesis 12:1–3. The ceremony recorded in Genesis 15 indicates the unconditional nature of the covenant. The only time that both parties of a covenant would pass between the pieces of animals was when the fulfillment of the covenant was dependent upon both parties keeping commitments. Concerning the significance of God alone moving between the halves of the animals, it is to be noted that it is a smoking furnace and a flaming torch, representing God, not Abraham, which passed between the pieces. Such an act, it would seem, should be shared by both parties, but in this case God’s solitary action is doubtless to be explained by the fact that the covenant is principally a promise by God. He binds Himself to the covenant. God caused a sleep to fall upon Abraham so that he would not be able to pass between the two halves of the animals. Fulfillment of the covenant fell to God alone. [Taken from: http://www.gotquestions.org/Abrahamic-covenant.html]
Truth is, salvation to all mankind comes through this vital covenant. This post will focus on just one facet of the Abrahamic Covenant, however: God’s land promise. It is elaborated upon in Deuteronomy 29:1 – 30:20. Quite simply, if God were to keep His covenant (and He will), His land promise would have to be fulfilled. In Deuteronomy, the Lord gives us a vital piece of information on the timing of when the land promise would ultimately be fulfilled. It is one He stresses we must never forget. (Hmm…I wonder why He said that? But I digress.) It says…
Therefore it shall come about when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies, in the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget. (Deut 25:19)
Based on this verse, when did Israel have rest from ALL her enemies? Answer: NEVER! Also, when we think about this promise in relation to world history, according to the Bible in Esther 3:1, the Amalekites still existed (hence attached to this the memory of Amalek). This gives us definitive information in regard to the Lord’s land promise and timing. Haman was “the son of Hammedatha the Agate,” descended from the Amalekite king Samuel killed. 1 “The downfall of Haman in [Esther] chapters 6–8 completes the task given to Saul of destroying the Agagites.” 2 That year was c. 473 BC. 3 Do you see? The Amalekites had to be vanquished before the Lord’s land promise would be fulfilled, as per Scripture. As such, this question must be answered post-473 BC, “When exactly did Israel possess the physical land promised by God in the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen 15:18-21; Deut 11:24-25), and also the nation have rest from all her surrounding enemies?” The answer is obvious: NOT YET!
Think about this: it was only in 1948 AD that Israel became a fully sovereign nation again. It had not been one since 586 BC. Remember, 473 BC and the destruction of the Amalekites was 113 years AFTER the time that Israel was already annihilated. After Israel’s destruction by the Babylonian’s, the prophet Jeremiah said the land which Israel occupied looked “formless and void” (Jer 4:23), just like it did before Creation (Gen 1:2). That is the definition of being completely “leveled.” Not even an iota remained of the land of Israel. And the Amalekites still existed at this time. Hence, no time before 473 BC was the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant even possible. Based on this, any person who even wants to propose God’s land promise was fulfilled, he or she must do so post-May 14, 1948, when Israel became a nation once again. Also, consider the real estate Israel will be given when they get their Promised Land, as per the inerrant Word of God:
Tell me when Israel possessed this real estate, including being free from ALL her enemies, after May 14, 1948? Today, Israel has only a sliver of this Promised Land, surrounded by many, many enemies. Take a look at the modern day map of the Middle East below, specifically the nation of Israel, and compare it to the Abrahamic Covenant borders above…
The Word of the Lord says…
Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments. (Deuteronomy 7:9)
God will completely fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant at the inception of the Millennial Kingdom (see Rev 20 for more details), which includes the fulfillment of the literal land promise He made to Abraham and his descendants way back in Genesis. It is also when the New Covenant will be fulfilled, which is built perfectly upon the Abrahamic Covenant, and when God’s Kingdom will finally come (Matt 6:10). The apostle Paul specifically reconfirms the literal nature of this promise being fulfilled in accordance with the New Testament (Rom 11:25-27), when he states, “and so all Israel will be saved.” Paul affirms the legitimacy of Israel as rightful heir to the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant most emphatically and eloquently in the book of Romans. Study it for yourself.
Seriously, we better hang on to the fact that the Lord literally keeps His promises. Otherwise, how do we know He will not revoke the literal promise of Yeshua (Jesus) being our Savior and Lord, which is another essential component of the same Abrahamic Covenant? [For more details on the details of the Abrahamic Covenant, click on the following link: http://reachinghigherwithmeyer.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-abrahamic-covenant-its-lens-in.html?q=abrahamic.] How would we know that God might not reveal another way in the future, unbeknownst to us, that morphs the literal Christ as Savior and Lord? Listen, if the unconditional land promise is not literally fulfilled which was made to Abraham, how could we say any promise the Lord makes is absolutely going to be literally fulfilled? Heaven forbid the Lord does not keep His promises! He will keep all of them, as per His Word, including the literal land promise with succinctly defined borders. If not, we are all in BIG, BIG trouble. What promise of God could we literally depend upon if He doesn’t keep every single one? Again, God will not break this land promise, or any other promise He ever made to mankind. And we can rest well knowing that with 100% certainty…praise Him!!!
The LORD is trustworthy in all He promises and faithful in all He does. (Psalm 145:13b)
P.S. And for those who try to stand in the way of this literal fulfillment from occurring – let’s just say it doesn’t end well for them. “Don’t rebel against the LORD or be afraid of the people who live in the land, because we’ll gobble them right up. Their defenses will collapse, because the LORD is with us. You are not to be afraid of them” (Num 14:9). This happened in the past, though the land promise was NOT fulfilled at that point. And it will again happen in the future. Support the Lord and the literal keeping of His promises, including Israel possessing her Promised Land. Any opposition is futile! Read the Scripture below to see what will ultimately happen in order for Israel to get her Promised Land, which will occur on the Day of the Lord (for more details on the Day of the Lord, please click on the following link: http://reachinghigherwithmeyer.blogspot.com/2015/03/how-did-book-of-twelve-relate-day-of.html?q=day+of+the+lord). Don’t stand in the way. Stay on the side that makes it happen!
Revelation 19
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.”
19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.
20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
1 Robert Henry Charles, Commentary on the Apocrypha of the Old Testament, (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, 2004), sec Esther A:17; Mervin Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther: Volume 10; Electronic Ed. (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 2001), 326.
2 Roger L. Omanson and Philip A. Noss, A Handbook on the Book of Esther: The Hebrew and Greek Texts, UBS Handbook Series; Helps for Translator (New York, NY: United Bible Societies, 1997), 89.
3 Walvoord, Zuck, and Dallas Theological Seminary, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, Esther 9.