God’s Fulfilled Promises are Greater than We Can Imagine

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Any promise that God makes to us is true and we can count on it coming true. Yet, how we may envision it coming true and how God makes it come true may not align. If we aren’t careful, we can miss him fulfilling his promises because we are looking for something different from what he is delivering.

God makes a promise to Abraham and stated this promise would be passed down to his descendants. What was this promise? We see it in Genesis chapter 15, verses 13-15. I’m sure this is not really a promise Abraham relished because it meant pain before something good would come of it. God stated the following about Abraham and his descendants:

·       They will become strangers in a country not their own

·       They will become enslaved and mistreated

·       This enslavement will last for 400 years – 4 generations

·       That nation who enslaved them will be punished

·       Abraham’s descendants will come out of that nation with great possessions

·       Abraham’s descendants will return to the land of Canaan.

I’m sure what went through Abraham’s mind is what would go through ours: But, Lord, we are already here, why do we need to go through all this hardship just to arrive back where I am already?

Either Abraham was a better man than I, or his dismay is not recorded in Scripture. Or, maybe he understood what God said about the Amorites. God said he was doing this because the sin of the Amorites had not yet reached its full measure (Gn 15:16). God had brought Abraham from his birthplace in Ur, over 700 miles away, to be a light to the Amorites and those who lived around Abraham and his family. Yet not many in that land responded to what God was doing through Abraham. God was going to give the Amorites more time.

Plus, God had reasons for Abraham’s descendants to be in Egypt for 430 years before he brought them back to Canaan. It was not pleasant for the generations that had to endure such hardship, but they would come out of Egypt with numbers that could inhabit a land and be a united people without outside influence except that of God himself. God’s plans are always perfect. Yet, it is man who seems to add the fly into the ointment.

So, how did this come about? Well, it was fulfilled through Joseph who brought his father Jacob and his brothers and their families to Egypt. Later, the descendants of Israel (i.e., Jacob) became enslaved. They endured hardship for 430 years (Ex 12:40). It is hard to imagine that length of time with the only hope being what God told Abraham that one day he would deliver them and bring them back to Canaan. For us, that would be like God making us a promise when early colonists were just beginning to make treaties with the native Americans here on the North American continent and we are expected to remember and trust in that promise today. So, for these Israelites, 430 years later, it was just a tiny sliver of hope that only a few even remembered, hearing it being passed down from their forefathers. It had become almost like a folktale to many, and most had all but abandoned its possibility of coming true. I’m sure there were some that kept track of the timeline. Others, I’m sure, tried to take matters into their own hands to deliver themselves or tried to escape. Many likely resigned themselves to their current fate.

Let’s summarize: Joseph was mistreated by his brothers and sold into slavery where he was made a servant to a prominent man in Egypt (Gn 37:36). Because of false accusations, he was put into prison. Yet, God remained faithful and gave him the ability to interpret dreams. A man in Pharaoh’s employ, placed in prison by Pharaoh, was released from prison just as Joseph predicted based upon the man’s dream. This man later remembered Joseph and mentioned Joseph’s ability to Pharaoh who stated he had a disturbing dream but did not understand it (Gn 41:9-14). When brought to Pharaoh, Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream warning of an impending seven-year famine. Pharaoh took Joseph out of prison and made him second in command (Gn 41:39-40). Only Pharaoh had more power than Joseph at that point. Joseph saved many, including his own family, from starvation due to that severe famine. Joseph then revealed himself to his family, brought them to Egypt and they were given the land of Goshen to live in (Gn 47:5-6).

I’m sure Joseph could never have imagined or conceived such a thing could happen to him so quickly. Basically, overnight, he went from being a prisoner to a ruler of Egypt with vast authority. Only God could coordinate something so mind blowing and make it become a reality.

Yet, true to his word, God did keep his promise. At some point after Joseph’s death, all Israelites found themselves slaves (Ex 1:8-14) and they remained slaves for a long and brutal 430 years. It’s hard to imagine how little hope remained after such a long time. Yet, some did hope and did not forget God’s promise and continually cried out to God to remember his promise. And God kept his promise to Abraham through Moses. Was this how they envisioned God keeping his promise? Probably not, especially when Moses arrived and their hopes surged only to have them dashed because their hardship got worse rather than better (Ex 5:6-9). Some, I’m sure, hated Moses at that time and wished he had never come (Ex 5:20-21). Yet, many realized they lived in unprecedented times because of the strangeness of the plagues. Others were just mad because of their increased labor (Ex 6:9). Then they were told to keep a Passover (Ex 12:21-23). This was the first time they had ever done this and I’m sure many thought this was just strange and probably a big waste of time. Yet, whether through belief, fear, or intimidation, most put the blood on their doorposts as Moses instructed. The angel of death came that night killing all the firstborn except those who had applied the blood. The next morning, Egyptians were begging them all to leave and giving them all sorts of jewelry, tapestry, and clothing to bribe them to leave (Ex 12:31-36), and they later beheld one of the greatest miracles of all time as they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground (Ex 14:22). What was so astonishing about their deliverance was that it came quickly—basically overnight. One day they were slaves making bricks. The next, they were in the Exodus leaving Egypt.

I’m sure this was not the vision most had about how God was going to keep his promise. This was so above and beyond what any of them could have imagined would happen. They certainly didn’t envision their problem getting worse and more severe before their deliverance occurred. Yet, it not only got worse, but then abruptly ended with total freedom occurring overnight. Could those who had been beaten just that very morning by their taskmasters have imagined that these very same Egyptians would now be begging them to leave and giving them great wealth as they were departing to ensure they would leave their land? No, that was not in their minds at all. God not only fulfills his promises but does so in a way and to such a greater degree than our human minds can fathom.

Next time, we’ll look at another promise God made to Abraham which would be passed to his descendants for generations to come. Please join me.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

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