God Always Keeps His Promise

Have you ever made a promise only to break it? You promised to show up at your child’s ball game, but the office meeting went late and you missed it. Your promise to help your spouse around the house or in the yard lasted only a week. Many times, we make promises impulsively. Occasionally our broken promises are the direct result of circumstances beyond our control. Regardless, whenever we break our well-intended promises we reveal the extent to which we can be trusted—or not trusted. The fallout of a broken promise is broken relationships, disillusionment and confusion, and in some instances distrust and betrayal.

The God of the universe had made promises to Israel (Genesis 12:1-3, 2 Samuel 7:11b-16, Jeremiah 33:14-26, Ezekiel 36:26). Jesus eventually came but was rejected by the Jewish nation, leaving them excluded from the blessings of the new covenant. And as long as the nation rejected the gospel, God seemed to have broken the promise he made to Israel. But has God really abandoned Israel?

Paul answers, “I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! . . . God did not reject his chosen people” (11:1a, 2a). God could not forsake his people because he had “chosen” them, the same word he uses in 8:29. God chose them even though he could foresee this disastrous situation. Moreover, God has never broken his promise to Israel because he has always maintained a few who were faithful in every generation (vv 2b-6), that is, Jews like Paul, who believed in Jesus and therefore received God’s promises. The continual existence of Jewish believers proves that God always keeps his promises.

Respond in Prayer

Heavenly Father, Thank you that you always keep your promises. I choose to rest in that eternal, unchanging truth, to the glory of God the Father, Amen.

Wayne Baxter