God's Promises are Irrevocable

I was reading this morning in that incredibly difficult to read book known as Jeremiah.  I have always found this book to be a "hard read," probably because there is a lot of pain and suffering experienced by the prophet and forecast of impending exile for the people because of their disobedience.  But I saw something this morning that just jumped off the page and into my heart.  And it was later amplified when I read in the paper that former Prime Minister and former President of Israel Shimon Peres had suffered a severe stroke yesterday.  Prime Minister Peres is 93 years old, but what makes this such powerful news, is that he is really the last surviving leader of Israel's founding as a nation some 68 years ago.  He is the last of what might be called Israel's "Greatest Generation" to borrow a phrase from Tom Brokaw. 


So, you are asking, what does a passage in Jeremiah have to do with a former Prime Minister's stroke?  Before we look at the passage in Jeremiah, I want us to briefly revisit the reason for the establishment of Israel as a nation in those years immediately following World War 2.  First of all, the desire of the Jewish people for their ancient homeland never escaped their imaginations or their dreams no matter where they were driven.  For those of you who have attended a Jewish Passover Seder, you will remember that each Seder closes with these words: "Next year in Jerusalem."  There was always a hope.  Second, in the later part of the 19th century and into the early part of the 20th century, a movement arose under the leadership of Theodore Herzl and known as Zionism.  Its aspirations were to see the creation of a land for the Jewish people in Palestine.  Although Herzl never lived to see that dream become a reality, a reality it did become in 1948.  It would take a war to bring that dream to fruition. 


So, why is an event that happened in 1948 still important for us today?  Why should a believer in Jesus Christ care about what happens in Israel?  The answer to those questions is found in that passage in Jeremiah 31: 35-37 where the prophet writes, "This is what the LORD says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar - the LORD Almighty is his name: 'Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,' declares the LORD, 'will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me.'  This is what the LORD says: 'Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,' declares the LORD."


Please bear with me for a moment or two.  God made a promise or a covenant with Abraham many years ago.  It is recorded for us in Genesis 15:1-21.  There were two parts to God's covenant with Abraham: 1) the promise of innumerable descendants - as the stars of the heavens or the dust of the earth; that is a lot of descendants; and 2) a particularly well-defined land that would be Abraham's descendants forever; this was not to be some spiritual place, but an actual piece of property one could walk upon and build upon and live within.  Furthermore, God reiterated this promise to Isaac, Abraham's son (Genesis 26:2-6) and to Jacob, Abraham's grandson (Genesis 28:13-15).  This covenant promise is foundational to understanding the Old Testament. 


Can God ever break His promise that He made to Abraham?  According to what we have read in Jeremiah 31, the answer is an assured "no!"  There is only one way in which that promise can be voided and that is if what God established at the very beginning of time is voided.  If ever the moon shines during the day and the sun shines during the night - only then will God break His promise to Abraham's descendants.  Now, honestly, what are the chances of that happening?  If ever the tides of the sea would reverse their flowing going from the seashore to someplace in the middle of the ocean - only then will God break His promise to Abraham's descendants.  Now, honestly, what are the chances of that happening?  If ever man can measure to the very ends of the universe - only then will God break His promise to Abraham's descendants. 


My heart was gripped this morning with the magnitude of God's promise that He made to Abraham.  It simply cannot ever be broken!  The Roman Legions tried to destroy God's promise when they expelled the people from the land at the end of the first century and into the second.  The Arab hordes tried to destroy that promise when they persecuted those Jews who remained in the seventh and into the eighth centuries.  The Nazi leadership in Germany tried to destroy the people of the promise in the 20th century.  But all failed.  Why?  Because God's promise cannot be broken - ever. 


Whenever I walk the streets of Jerusalem I get a sense that I am walking into one of God's amazing promises.  And, in fact, I am for that city is part of God's great covenant promise to Abraham.  It is central to that particularly well-defined piece of land God gave to Abraham's descendants (read Ezekiel 5:5).


Shimon Peres may pass away because of his stroke, but that vision and dream that he helped to create in the 1940's will not pass away.  Why is that?  It is because the vision and dream have roots that are deeper than just one or two generations.  Those roots lie deeply embedded in the character of God Himself.  And God made a promise based upon His own character not that of Abraham or his descendants. 


And, friends, if God's promise to Abraham cannot ever be broken, what great solace I find that God's promise concerning my salvation cannot be broken - ever.  When Jesus says that if a person believes in Him that He will receive eternal life - I believe that promise is a forever promise.  It cannot ever be broken.  When the Apostle Paul proclaims that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, I believe that promise is a forever promise.  It cannot ever be broken.  Friends, the promises of God are irrevocable.  God cannot lie nor does He change His mind (Numbers 23:19).     And to that incredible truth I will say a rich "Hallelujah!"