“None of the good promises the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed. Everything was fulfilled.” (Joshua 21:45)
One of the greatest truths that we learn from the Bible is that God is always faithful. Throughout Scripture, we see the Lord making covenants with his people and the following are just a few of them:
- Abraham’s descendants will inherit the land of Canaan (Gen. 17:8)
- Through Abraham’s offspring the entire world will be blessed (Gen. 22:18)
- David’s throne will be established forever (2 Sm. 7:16).
Although Abraham and David trusted and were blessed by God, they were not perfect people and the Bible does not whitewash their sins and faults. For example, Abraham lied about his wife in order to save his own skin, and David committed adultery and murder. Regardless of their faults, God did not stray away from his promises with them and fulfilled them. How did God fulfill these promises?
It is through Abraham that the house of Israel was established. It took hundreds of years but Israel, Abraham’s descendants ultimately inherited the land of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua as shown in Joshua 21:45. God’s promise to David was ultimately fulfilled by Jesus Christ. If we read the genealogy in Matthew 1, we can see that Jesus is a descendant of David through Joseph. Jesus is declared as the King of kings (1 Tm. 6:15) and has a name that is above all names (Phil. 2:9). It is only through Christ alone that we can have forgiveness of our sins and be reconciled with God. This is the blessing that God mentioned to Abraham that the entire world will receive.
Just like Abraham and David, we are not perfect by any means. The apostle Paul writes that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Regardless of our sinful nature, God showed his love for us by sending his one and only Son, Jesus Christ to the world (Jn. 3:16). Although we will continue to struggle with sin in our lifetime here on earth, God will continue to remain faithful with us (2 Tm. 2:13). Let us remember that we have a God who will not go against his promises or change what he has said (Ps. 89:34).