The Faithful Promises of God
“The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.” -Psalm 145:13
In our church bible studies, we have wrapped up our study on the book of Joshua. Joshua may seem like the fulfillment of God's promise, but it's really just the beginning and a mirror into his greater plan for salvation. This promise begins back in Genesis Chapter 12:1-2.
"Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”
Joshua is the book where the Israelites finally reach the promise land and through the power and guidance of God, claim it as their own. Though the Israelites are the chosen people of God at this point in time, they do not complete this journey without faults. Along the way, they lack faith. They question God. They seek their own understanding. They function out of fear at times. Yet, he still chose them to be His people, not because of anything they did, but because he made a promise. Toward the end of the chapter when Joshua is old and about to die, he says, “Now I am about to go the way of the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed” (Joshua 23:14). This is so encouraging. The Israelites had to trust his promise and hope he would do what He said and now they know he did do what he said. They know he is faithful to fulfill his promises.
God didn't stop there because his promise was never just for the Israelites. Part of his promise to make Abraham's descendants a great nation was also that they would be a blessing to all the nations. That blessing was always, from the beginning of time, to adopt us (Jews and Gentiles) into the family of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 1:4-6 says, “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons of Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” We see in scripture how this unfolded and Christ did come, die, and was raised to life. By doing so, He allowed us to be a part of His family, if we put our faith in him. We too as followers of Christ, like the Israelites, know in our hearts and our souls, “that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.” So when we falter by default of our humanity and think God isn't with us or isn't for us, it just isn't true. He had us in mind from the beginning of the ages and his promises never fail. Let's take solace in this truth.
-Lydia Rohrer (Covenant Member)