A fire consumes everything. A tornado destroys everything. A hurricane or flood ruins everything. Theft is a violation. We often, when experiencing a tragedy such as these, attempt to comfort ourselves that what was lost were only material things so long as lives were not lost. And despite things are not as important as people, there are things that would devastate and truly break our hearts if they were gone. Perhaps a family recipe that began generations ago. Irreplaceable photos or heirlooms. Land held on for generations, perhaps foundation stones of the pioneer’s home still remain, treated as “just land” sold or lost by poor stewards or by those who no longer value what was there.
But there remains something more binding, more valuable, more irreplaceable than even these sacred things: a promise. Whether in a marital commitment that last for the lifetime of the couple or a promise given and lived up to decades or centuries later. Toward the conclusion of Friday’s morning prayer time at the church, I continued my daily Bible reading to discover a verse that literally stopped me in my tracks. There are those verses throughout the Bible those contain a wealth of promise, love, hope, forgiveness, and truth. But this singular verse completely stunned me.
Why? I am a man of the Word (not saying I know all or even a lot of the Word of God, far be it for me to ever claim that prideful title; I will always be learning from the Bible for the rest of my life and still only scratch the surface) but this verse caused me to really pause and weigh those words. And I found those words to transcend time. Beginning in Genesis 12, the Lord God declared a promise to Abraham. The promise is reiterated chapters later and then promised to Isaac and Jacob and on down through time.
But…Allow me to paint this picture for a moment. In our minds and through selfish desire, the worst thing that happens—even when we know that the person is/was a Christian—is for the person to pass away, and much more so when for a good portion of our lives or perhaps most of our lives, that person was present. Despite years have passed, I very much miss specific relatives. And it partly isn’t who they were that I miss—not necessarily that they were my grandparent, uncle, or whomever—but the memories, events, and/or love shared is what makes those people special. Events that happen that we cherish; ones that come flooding back to us just with a word, a smell, a sound, an event, something that triggers that person and what happened. All the emotion rushes back and we can easily be swept away like a raft going down a fast-flowing mountain river. But the tragedy is the murderer of all that is the killer called time. Life continues. Time marches on. And with that person’s absence, life begins to become out of sight out of mind. The memories and moments we valued and recall especially at the time of their death, the questions which haunted us and remained, the feelings not conveyed before they were gone, begin to slip away. As time goes on, even their name begins to become harder to recall. Things said become harder to remember. Moments that can never be replaced by AI or even by someone else are stuffed away to the back of our minds like those things we stuff into the back of the closet with a failed note of remembrance to recall it again soon.
For several centuries and despite times of slavery, prosperity, and the events of life…well, there is a telling verse found in Exodus 1:8 that says, “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.”…and life continues forward. What is remembered by the older people may had been a former king, the temple in its splendor, a war/battle that was won. But as the older die off and the younger get older and them having children, the potency, meaning, and importance of those memories fade. A promise made, yes, to recall the records concerning the Old Testament genealogies and events of the Bible, remember the meaning of the Passover, the crossing of the Jordan, etc. But other things faded. So much so that a once testified relationship concerning Israel was that they were known as God’s (chosen) people become just another group of people fighting and clawing their way through time and to survive it. And because of sin, rebellion, and spiritual harlotry played by Israel, God allowed foreign and neighboring peoples to conquer and subjugate Israel. We have events recorded such as in the books of Judges, first and second Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the like that reveal a people who have forgotten God. And when recalled, redeemed, and restored, it only became a matter of time or events and the hallowed God began to drift again from Israel.
I have often associated the intimacy of a marriage to be in similitude of our relationship with God. That we have a desire to know not just of God, but to involve Him into every part of our lives. That He is involved in our decisions. He is involved in our celebrations. And He is involved in our failures, heartaches, and devastations. He is the God who hears and sees (El Roi, Genesis 16). And because of how important our relationship with God (and God with us), it is important when a promise is fulfilled. Vows are exchanged at weddings—for better or for worse, forsaking all others, in sickness and in health, to honor and obey, etc.—but if they are not actively practiced, marriage just becomes two people living together experiencing moments of life. What holds that marriage together (yes, obviously is God) is the promise or covenant.
So with everything I have said, the verse of scripture that was not just a pumping of the brakes but a true hard brake, pull off the road, put the vehicle in park, and turn off the car are the words found—powerful, loving, committed words…more committed than ANY marriage—in 2 Kings 13:23, “But the LORD was gracious to them, had compassion on [Israel as a whole], and regarded them, because of His covenant with Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, and would not yet destroy them or cast them from His presence.” Literally a whole study, if we were to break down every part of that verse, would fill pages. Israel (and Judah, every time I will refer to Israel I am referring to all the twelve tribes and not just a specific northern or southern kingdom) were wicked. It is one thing if we failed to attend a morning of prayer time, neglected to follow God’s financial advice for that day, etc. But Israel, through a string of wicked kings, failed to tear down idols, failed to honor and hallow God, and failed to live to God. For many decades, Israel’s rebellion and wickedness toward God, that once made enemy nations to fear Israel, now made Israel a mocking proverb. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans continues a couple of verses later to say, “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Still sinners, and enemies of God. And this was the testimony for Israel (indeed all of mankind).
So with that, why would God care? Why not just abandon His “chosen people” or people in general since it is very obviously clear that Israel forsook God and we, while sinners, forsook God. The answers come from a host of Bible verses (John 3:16, etc. etc. etc. etc.) but another verse of scripture came to me while considering 2 Kings 13:23 and that is Isaiah 42:3, “A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.” Isaiah continues (verses 6-9) with God speaking, “I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I am the LORD, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
So why would God do this? Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” So when we read God’s promise-fulfilling words in 2 Kings 13:23, He won’t recant.
And for us (all of mankind), God promised someone who will crush the head—the authority, the lies—of Satan. And that was fulfilled in Jesus. Man was in darkness but were brought to a marvelous light fulfilled in Jesus. Before there ever was a need in our lives, God promised to make a way and was fulfilled in Jesus. Sickness, disease, brokenness, loss, hurt, possession of the enemy, loneliness, etc. were all brought down low and overthrown by Jesus. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him,” 2 Corinthians 5:21. All that was not just accomplished by Jesus on the cross. It was accomplished through His resurrection three days later and His eventual ascension to the right hand of God. Proving not just power over sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:55), but through the living hope (1 Peter 1:3) we know that Jesus rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:12-58) in victory and power through Him for us.
As we celebrate Resurrection Sunday, let us not just only contemplate His death and resurrection and the surface focus of the act that Jesus did and fulfilled (death, resurrection, and eventually ascension) but WHY He did what He did: His covenant that began with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and continues down through millennia to us and will continue throughout life on earth until He calls His people to glory. Amen.