Unshakable Promises

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers." (Genesis 17:1-2 NIV)

Moses is attributed with the writing of the first five books of the Bible.  Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are all attributed to him.  Up until his day, the stories were passed down from generation to generation verbally.  This means that from the time of Abraham to the time of Moses (about 500 years), the stories in Genesis were shared by mouth.

Imagine a life where there were no cell phones, no video game systems, no computers of any kind, no television, and no radio.  In fact, electricity had not been discovered yet.  Families lived together.  Families worked together.  Families ate together.  Families shared stories together.  The stories of Genesis were shared from generation to generation. 

Now imagine being an Israelite in the days of Moses.  You have just been set free from Egypt.  You walked through the Red Sea on dry land with water like walls on either side of you.  You’ve encountered God at Mt. Sinai.  Now you are wandering the desert for awhile because you were afraid to go into the land God had promised you.  You don’t have much to do except gather manna in the morning, quail in the evening, prepare your meals, tend the flocks and…tell the stories.  When you tell this story, however, you look around the camp.  There are literally millions of people travelling with you.  There’s no way you can count them all.  There are people everywhere.  As you listen to the story, you are reminded that all these people descended from the same person: Abraham.  He truly is the father of many nations.  God keeps His promises…always…everywhere…no matter what.  God’s promises are unshakable.

Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God." (Genesis 17:3-8 NIV)

So, how about you?  What do you need to look at to remind yourself that God is always faithful to His promises?  Do you see that His Promises are Unshakable?