Lord’s Day, Vol. 7 No. 17
Standing On the Promises
Joshua 21:45 There failed not aught of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.
Joshua 21:45 gave the concluding thought after the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which He sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein (Joshua 21:43). Israel was restfully settled in the Promised Land according to God’s promise.
However, it was recorded later in the Book of Judges Israel’s incomplete obedience to the good instructions of the LORD costing them dearly from generation to generation. They failed to separate from the idolatrous people of Canaan both in worship and marriage till today.
Judges 2:20-23 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; 21 I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: 22 That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. 23 Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.
The chronological framework of the faithfulness of God in fulfilling His promises recorded the first Hebrew – Abraham whom God called to go to Canaan at the age of 75 (Gen. 12:1-3). Only at 100 years of age when his wife was past the age of woman that Isaac, the son promised by God, was miraculously given (Gen. 15:3-6). Abraham believed the promises of God. His son Isaac, likewise, had to trust God to fulfil His promise. It seemed impossible in the beginning because Rebekah was barren.
Genesis 25:21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
God gave Isaac two sons – Esau and Jacob. It was Jacob that was to be the chosen seed by which God’s promise will be fulfilled. Out of the loins of Jacob will come the tribes of Israel.
Israel was a nation under God. The only nation whom God raised to be a witness to the nations of the world.
The Tabernacle in the wilderness, the Temple in Jerusalem were visible tokens of God’s presence with His people.
At the dedication of the Tabernacle, the glory of God filled it. God mightily led Israel through the barren wilderness into the Promised Land.
Exodus 40:33-38 And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. 34 Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 36 And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys: 37 But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up.38 For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.
The rearing up of the completed Tabernacle received the approval of God by the visible presence of His glory. The cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day and fire was on it by night. It was a magnificent sight. It was to be the visible sign of the LORD leading the nation. God’s guidance for His people were written in His Word. By following the instruction of God’s Word, Israel is guided by God to be His witness.
It was on the 480thyear of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt that the first Temple began construction. It took 7 years to build as was recorded (1 Kings 6:1, 37-38) and so on the 487thyear was the first Temple completed and dedicated.
1 Kings 6:1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which isthe second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.
King Solomon recounted the faithfulness of God in leading His people Israel at the dedication of the first temple in Jerusalem when he said in 1 Kings 8:56 Blessed bethe LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all hisgood promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.
God proved Himself trustworthy by fulfilling what He promised many centuries later despite Israel’s failings from time to time. God’s people who followed the LORD wholly find stability in their lives guided by His step by step, moment by moment presence from one generation to another.
Out of this nation will come, in the fullness of time, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. Jesus Christ was God’s final revelation to the world. The Tabernacle and the Temple pointed to Christ, who came dwell with men as the God-Man two thousand years ago during the pivotal time of history, B.C. Before Christ, and A.D. The Year of the Lord.
Galatians 4:4-5 4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,5To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Jesus is the only Mediator between God and men. He came to bridge the divide between God and men as a result of sin bringing true peace and joy.
1 Timothy 2:5-6 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
When Israel rejected their Christ, a group of Jewish remnants – Christ’s disciples, those who saw the resurrected Christ, God called to proclaim the message of salvation as His witness, namely, the church, to faithfully fulfil the Great Commission Christ commanded till He returns:
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Yours lovingly,
Pastor Lek Aik Wee