Compelling Love

God is the ultimate promise keeper; He keeps all of His promises.  When Abraham and Sarah were very advanced in age, He promised they would have a son in a year.  Sarah laughed, but God kept His promise, and they named their son, Isaac, which means “laughter”.  God also promised Abraham that his descendants would possess the land that He was giving him.  Joshua 21 records the fulfillment of this promise:

Joshua 21 (NKJV)
The Promise Fulfilled
⁴³ So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. ⁴⁴ The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. ⁴⁵ Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

Centuries later, when King Solomon was dedicating the temple, he blessed God for keeping all that He promised through Moses:

1 Kings 8 (NKJV)
⁵⁶ “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses.

The first promise of God recorded in the Bible was actually spoken in the Garden of Eden to the serpent who had persuaded Eve to disobey God.  Scholars throughout the centuries interpreted this prophecy to mean that a Savior born of a virgin would remove the false authority of the devil (“He shall bruise your head”), though He would suffer physically to do so (“you shall bruise His heal”).

Genesis 3 (NKJV)
¹⁴ So the Lord God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.
¹⁵ And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”

The wording of Isaiah 7:14 and Isaiah 9:6 appears to point back to this prophecy:

Isaiah 7 (NKJV)
¹⁴ Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

Isaiah 9 (NKJV)
⁶ For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Matthew 1 records the birth of Jesus to a virgin named Mary (or Miriam), in fulfillment of this prophecy:

Matthew 1 (NKJV)
¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. ²⁰ But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

²² So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ²³ “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

 ²⁴ Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, ²⁵ and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.

In Luke 4, Jesus stood and read in the synagogue at Nazareth the beginning words of a Messianic prophecy in Isaiah 61, and then announced He had come to fulfill those words of promise.

Luke 4 (NKJV)
¹⁶ So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
¹⁹ To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

²⁰ Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Through Jesus (Yeshua), God is fulfilling His promises in Ezekiel 36 and Jeremiah 31 to give His people a new heart, a new spirit, and a new covenant.

Ezekiel 36 (NKJV)
²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

Jeremiah 31 (NKJV)
³ The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:
“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

³³ … this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2:5, “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”.  As the Mediator of the new covenant, He invites all who are weary and heavy laden to come to Him and find rest for our souls:

Matthew 11 (NKJV)
²⁸ Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 3/3/2019, https://compellinglove.net/

Photo credits:
(1)  https://www.thoughtco.com/gods-word-never-fails-joshua-2145-701680
(2) https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/genesis-3-15
(3) https://slideplayer.com/slide/4269906/
(4) https://twitter.com/dgfcfamily/status/932527382459797504
(5) https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/jeremiah-31-3