Promise Keeper

story of heritage… story of last week at camp took 60 something teenagers to youth camp last week.... brought back 4 that have said “yes” to Jesus and are ready to be baptized!

God is faithful

reason it’s sometimes difficult for us to trust is because no one here on earth, no matter how much they love us, is 100% faithful… we’ve been let down by people

has anyone ever broken their promise to you?

have you ever broken a promise to someone else?

even when you really, really, really meant to keep it?

in 1997 i turned 20 years old… made it through my teenage years which of course made me an expert on promises and broken promises

10,000 Promises by The Backstreet Boys in 1997

Once I could handle the truth When the truth was you and I But time after time all the Promises turned out to be all lies Now I see I'm just somebody who wasted my time and money What a lie You and I

What about your Your 10, 000 promises? That you gave to me Your 10, 000 promises That you promised me

the people of Israel knew a thing or 2 about promises

they had made promises to God and he had made promises to them

and even though they weren’t great at keeping their promises, God was faithful to keep his, even though sometimes it would take years… generations… for those promises to be fulfilled

BODY:

the story of the people of Israel, God’s chosen nation, begins with Abraham... Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph,

slaves in Egypt..

rescued by Moses

wandered in the wilderness

finally led by Joshua into the Promise Land

eventually wanted their own king like the other nations instead of having God as their only king

God gave them Saul

and when Saul’s reign ended with his death, David became the great king, he was known as a man after God’s own heart

God made a promise to David...

Davidic covenant in 2 Samuel 7

2 Samuel 7:12–13 ESV

12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

Good kings (Josiah) and Bad kings (Jehoiachin) king at the time of the babylonian exile

his rule was short-lived as King Nebuchadnezzar laid siege against Jerusalem and the young king surrendered to Babylon

Jehoiachin’s short reign was predicted by the prophet Jeremiah. God said that Jehoiachin would be removed from the throne and be taken to Babylon, where he would die

Jeremiah 22:24–27 (ESV)

24 “As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25 and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27 But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”

signet ring or seal (around neck or on finger.... very valuable, had to be protected) very special item, precious

God says, “you were that special, but I have torn you off”

But the curse upon Jehoiachin went deeper than just his removal and exile. Look at verse 30:

Jeremiah 22:30 ESV

30 Thus says the Lord: “Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah.”

so, the line of kings from David’s family ended with Jehoiachin—a fact that had ramifications for the Messiah, who was to be the Son of David.

the davidic covenant is over....

wait just one minute?!?! I thought God was the ultimate promise keeper! i thought you said when God makes a covenant promise you can take it to the bank!

Haggai 2:20–22 (ESV)

20 The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22 and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother.

here we go again with God talking about shaking everything… turning it upside down...

this time God uses some language to remind his people of past events....

OVERTHROW - God overthrew the cities of Sodom & Gomorrah raining down fire from heaven (Gen. 19)… now he will overthrow the throne of kingdoms

DESTROY - he destroyed the Canaanites for their sin, and cast them out of the land for Joshua and the Israelites just as he promised (Deut. 7:23-24)… now he will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations

these nations that were against God and his anointed would stand no longer

OVERTHROW - he overturned the chariots of Egypt sending the troops and horses with them under the waves of the Red Sea (Ex. 14:23-28)… now he will again overthrow chariots with their horses and riders down to destruction.

BY THE SWORD OF HIS BROTHER - Just as God confused the enemies of the Israelites and Gideon in the past so that they fought against themselves (Judges 7:22), now he promises that horses and riders shall go down, every one of them by the sword of his brother

God uses historical language to remind the people of times when he powerfully stepped in to judge the wicked and save his people

i’m still your God.... you’re still my people… and I will always remain faithful to my covenant promises

but God’s rescuing power is not only historical, not only great stories for us to remember, but his rescuing power is for the present and future as well!

just like the song we sang earlier, “i’ve seen you move the mountains, and I believe I’ll see you do it again”

the fact that God’s been faithful in the past is what gives us the confidence to believe that he will be faithful in the future!

illustration: [watching our wedding video on our anniversary]

reminder of our covenant promise we made when we said our vows

application:

as Christians we have not only the OT but also the NT to look back at… to remember the mighty works of God and his faithfulness. we know that Jesus is the fulfilment of all the promises of the OT.

life, death & resurrection of Jesus

stories of the first church

but we also have 2000 years of history since the pages of scripture were finished of “God stories”, faith moments...

in times of struggle…God has provided

in times of doubt…God has proven Himself

it’s not only about the past but these reminders assure us of God’s faithfulness for the future

and that’s what he did for the Israelites as well in the last verse of the book of Haggai

- a renewing of the vows

a renewing of the covenant promise...

look at verse 23...

Haggai 2:23 (ESV)

23 On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”

“that day” - short phrase used over 100 times in scripture, points to a specific day when everything will change… when God will shake the world and turn everything upside down in order to restore all things to his original plan

the message from God to his people, through the prophet Haggai, purposely uses the term “signet ring” (just like in Jeremiah) and reverses the previous rejection of the royal line of David at the time of Jehoiachin, and declares the restoring of the Lord’s covenant promise to David

that special status that had been lost because of Jehoiachin’s sin,

Zerubbabel had regained it for himself and his descendants because of his faithfulness.

remember chapter 1? haggai’s first message to Zerubbabel and the people? God said, it’s been long enough, go finish my house… finish the rebuilding of the temple

the people feared the Lord and obeyed Him

obey = blessing

disobey = curse

look at the language here in vs. 23:

“I will take you” & “I have chosen you”

God initiated this! This renewing of the Davidic covenant was God’s doing

why? because he is faithful. even when we are not

because he is the covenant promise keeper. even when we don’t live up to our end of the bargain

God did not choose Zerubbabel because he was one of the all-time great kings of Judah… they were still under Persian control.... that’s why it calls him the Governor of Judah…

but Zerubbabel was obedient to God when He spoke… and Zerubbabel was from the right family...

Zerubbabel was the (14 greats) grandson of King David

but we do not look to Zerubbabel to find our hope… we look to the greater Zerubbabel

Geneaology of Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah:

Matthew 1:12 ESV

12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

Matthew 1:16 ESV

16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

CONCLUSION:

here’s the crazy thing, on the cross… Jesus looked more like Jehoiachin than he did Zerubbabel, God’s chosen servant...

what do you mean?

God allowed Jesus to surrender to his enemies

on the cross Jesus was rejected by God,

on the cross Jesus was forsaken by God when our sin fell on his shoulders

on the cross Jesus was under God’s curse...

that’s why he cried out, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

but just like God’s temporary rejection of David’s line in Jehoiachin had a promise behind it… to use David’s family in his plan to save the world through a king

this temporary rejection on the cross had a promise behind it… that God had chosen Jesus, THIS son of David, to be the ONE to bring salvation to the world

at the cross, God shook the heavens and the earth and established his new world order

Christian brother or sister, you are chosen in Christ, adopted by God the father, and as precious as a royal seal or signet ring on the King’s hand. The apostle Paul asks you the question, “What can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord?”

the answer is nothing! but then..

why do we fear the rejection of people when we have acceptance with God?

why do we focus on material possessions that will rust and fall apart when we have an eternal inheritance that is invaluable?

if we are more than conquerors in all of these things, why are we so slow to believe the promises that the ultimate Promise Keeper has given us?

trust your God, He is always faithful… and while you wait the final shaking of heaven and earth when God will come to judge, to separate, and to restore, in the meantime… like Zerubbabel, live a life of obedient service to the Lord and experience the Father’s full blessing

Main Idea: Because God never breaks his promises, we can look forward with hope to the day when He will make everything right again.

not yet Christian in the room, the danger of not putting your trust in God is that when that final shaking comes, you will end up on the wrong side of history.

yes it’s true that God is faithful even when we are not… but there is one requirement to joining His family and receive the benefit of eternal life … and that is that you must know God and his son Jesus who he sent into the world to save the world

you must have faith that when Jesus took your place on the cross

and died for your sin,

and rose from the dead to show that death and sin no longer had their power

that that act was enough to rescue you from your sin and take you from darkness to light, from death to life

you don’t have to have the whole thing figured out

and you don’t have to clean up your life before you come

but you do have to believe… the Bible says that you have to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord

just like those teenagers did this week at camp, you can do that today

i’m going to pray and as soon as we’re done, if that’s you and you’re ready to make that decision today, I want you to come to me, or Sidney or allison, or someone close to you and say this,

“I want to know Jesus, show me how to do that”

PRAY

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