A Promised Land (God's Unbreakable Promises)

Introduction

Illustration:

“I suspect that God’s plan, whatever it is, works on a scale too large to admit our mortal tribulations; that in a single lifetime, accidents and happenstance determine more than we care to admit, and that the best we can do is to try to align ourselves with what we feel is right and construct some meaning out of our confusion, and with grace and nerve play at each moment the hand that we’re dealt.”

A Promised Land is a memoir by Barack Obama. Published on November 17, 2020

the title of the book by the 44th U.S. president invokes biblical imagery — a land promised by God to his people — and Obama includes the role of religious institutions, faith leaders and personal traditions throughout the 750-page book. On the page after his dedication of the tome to his wife and daughters, Obama features the words from an African American spiritual: “Fly and never tire/There’s a great camp-meeting in the Promised Land.”

In the spring of 2004, a young state legislator was driving home from a campaign event in rural Illinois when he got a phone call from Washington. A voice asked if he would be interested in giving the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention that summer in Boston.

"That I felt neither giddy nor nervous said something about the sheer improbability of the year I'd just had," that legislator now recalls in his new memoir, A Promised Land.

Back in 2004, Barack Obama took that opportunity to speak to the convention. "Let's face it," he began. "My presence on this stage tonight is pretty unlikely."

Transition To Body

The People Of Israel

The text of Genesis etymologizes the name with the root śarah "to rule, contend, have power, prevail over" Meaning:

'God Contended','

Wrestles with God',

'Triumphant with God'

Rebels Against God- Lack of Faith, unable to receive the blessing in their lifetimes

Numbers 14:1–2 ESV

1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!

Numbers 14:8–10 ESV

8 If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” 10 Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.

Arrogantly Disregarding Their Unholy Behavior (Korah)

Numbers 16:2–4 ESV

2 And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. 3 They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” 4 When Moses heard it, he fell on his face,

Quarreling Calling The Work of the LORD Evil

Numbers 20:2–5 ESV

2 Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3 And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! 4 Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? 5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.”

Numbers 20:10–12 ESV

10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. 12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

Quarreling With a God Who, Through Them, Shows Himself Holy

Numbers 20:13 ESV

13 These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy.

Impatient People of God

Numbers 21:4–5 ESV

4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.”

People Whom God Keeps Blessings

Numbers 22:2–3 ESV

2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel.

Body

Numbers 23:19 ESV

19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Numbers 23:19 NIV

19 God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Numbers 23:19 The Message

19 God is not man, one given to lies, and not a son of man changing his mind. Does he speak and not do what he says? Does he promise and not come through?

The Integrity Of God’s Promises

Basic Meaning. The basic meaning of kzb I is often given as “speak lies,” “say what is untrue.” The use of the root with things rather than persons must then be understood as secondary and metaphorical. The use of kzb I to describe persons must similarly represent a metonymy that shifts the meaning from the act of lying to the person who speaks the lies.

Numbers 23:14 (IVPBBCOT): Zophim/Pisgah. Zophim means “watchmen” or “lookout.” Used in relation to Pisgah, the generic term for the promontories of the Moabite plateau looking west toward Canaan (see Num 21:20)

Numbers 23:14 (IVPBBCOT): Zophim simply means that Balaam went to a known observation point to watch for a sign from God. It is possible that he intended to observe the flight of birds in order to receive an omen.

Blessed People of God Whom Man Cannot Curse=

Numbers 22:9–12 ESV

9 And God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, 11 ‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Now come, curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.’ ” 12 God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”

Numbers 23:8 ESV

8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?

The LORD God Cannot Be Bought

Numbers 22:37–40 ESV

37 And Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?” 38 Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you! Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak.” 39 Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. 40 And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent for Balaam and for the princes who were with him.

God Gives Good Blessings

God’s Character Is Unchangeable- Impossible For God to Lie

Hebrews 6:17–20 ESV

17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Matthew 7:11 ESV

11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Godliness Hope of Eternal Life Through Promises of God who never lies

Titus 1:1–3 ESV

1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;

The Stability of God’s Promises

God does not actually regret blessing His children

1 Samuel 15:27–29 ESV

27 As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.”

God Is Patient With Us

2 Peter 3:8–11 ESV

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,

Gifts & calling of God are irrevocable

Romans 11:28–32 ESV

28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

There is No Variation in God

James 1:17 ESV

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

The Dependability of God’s Promises

Illustration: Dependability

Dependability-

the quality of being trustworthy and reliable.

In systems engineering, dependability is a measure of a system's availability, reliability, and its maintainability, and maintenance support performance, and, in some cases, other characteristics such as durability, safety and security.[1] In software engineering, dependability is the ability to provide services that can defensibly be trusted within a time-period.[citation needed] This may also encompass mechanisms designed to increase and maintain the dependability of a system or software.

Illustration: Reliability

reliability is the quality of being trustworthy or of performing consistently well.

"the car's background gives me every confidence in its reliability"

the degree to which the result of a measurement, calculation, or specification can be depended on to be accurate.

In statistics and psychometrics, reliability is the overall consistency of a measure.[1] A measure is said to have a high reliability if it produces similar results under consistent conditions.

Even when we sin, the LORD’s mercy is available

Malachi 3:5–10 ESV

5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. 6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

Transition To Close

A PREACHER got on a bus one day, and he gave the bus driver the fare. The bus driver gave him too much change. The preacher went and sat down, counted the money, and noted that the bus driver gave him too much change, and so he went back to the bus driver and said, “You gave me too much change. You gave me fifty cents too much.” He said, “Pastor, I really appreciate this, because I was in your church service yesterday, and I heard your sermon on honesty. So I intentionally gave you too much change to see whether you abide by what you preach.”

Evans, Tony. Tony Evans' Book of Illustrations (pp. 164-165). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.

God Cannot Deny Himself

2 Timothy 2:11–13 ESV

11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

There was one time when God had to show the depth of his faithfulness

John 3:16–17 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Who Came To His Own

John 1:10–13 ESV

10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Full of Grace & Truth

John 1:14 ESV

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Close

Mark 1:14–15 ESV

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Surely God is Faithful

2 Corinthians 1:18–22 ESV

18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. 20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. 21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

Matthew 5:48 ESV

48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.