Men of BoldnessSample

Promises Made, Promises Kept

I’m a Marvel fan. I’ve seen all the movies and most of the derivative series through our Disney Plus subscription.

In Avengers: Endgame, right near the end, the villain Thanos delivers a dramatic and powerful line. As he believes he is about to bring balance to the universe by destroying half of all life, he says:

“I…am…inevitable.”

Turns out he wasn’t, and I apologize if that is a spoiler for the movie–but it’s a 2019 film, so I feel pretty safe.

There’s only one thing that is really inevitable, and it’s actually a Person. Yes, the Sunday School answer is correct: it is God. God is inevitable.

That means that everything God promises is also inevitable.

So, when we come to the defeat of Israel, the deportation and captivity of God’s chosen people, we can say that it was inevitable because God keeps His promises.

Today’s verses highlight the reasons that God allowed Israel to lose their promised inheritance. They were unfaithful to the covenant they had made with God. Rather than live by His ways, they adopted the ways of the people around them. Throughout the reigns of different kings, they continued to fall away from God.

And God gave them what He promised them.

Back in Deuteronomy 28, God warned the Israelites what would happen if they did not live in the covenant relationship He was forging with them. God even warned them of being taken out of their own land: “The Lord will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone” (Deuteronomy 28:38).

It's not a pretty picture, except for the fact that it does reveal a God who keeps His promises. He is inevitable. There is no escaping God.

Men, it may seem that God is distant, silent, or indifferent. Rest assured, this is not the case. There is a day when God will call the tab and snap His fingers on all His promises; reward and punishment alike will come because the One who made the promise is faithful.

Prayer: God of judgment and reward, thank You that all Your promises will one day be realized. Please help me be a man who lives faithfully for You and Your ways until that day. Amen.

Reflection: Is there a place in your life where God feels distant? How can you remind yourself that though it may take time, God and His promises are inevitable?