February 15: “God’s Promise Through History” by Johnna Warden
Genesis 12:2-3, “I will make you into a great nation; I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples of Earth will be blessed through you.”
From the Garden of Eden, a single scarlet thread weaves throughout Scripture, one that points us to the coming of our Messiah, Jesus. In the next chapters of Scripture hundreds of years have passed the initial failure that forever created a great chasm between God and mankind.
We are told it was during Noah’s generation God regretted His decision to create man because of his wickedness. But God, in His faithfulness to His Word to Adam and Eve, saves one man of God, Noah and his family. God de-creates what He created in Genesis chapters one and two by covering the entire planet in water. Every living thing that has breath dies, except for Noah, his family, and the animals they have corralled in the ark. After the flood God promises never to curse the ground because of the evil of man. God restarts and repopulates the earth with Noah and his descendants. The descendants of Noah disperse and centuries pass.
In Genesis 12 we are introduced to a man named Abram, from the land of Ur of the Chaldeans. The Lord’s promise to Abram, is to make him into a great nation and through him all nations would be blessed. There was one slight problem, Abram was 75 years old and had no children. God changes his name to Abraham in Genesis 15 and makes a covenant with Abraham who is now older and still child- less. But God abounds in truth, and He did as He said He would do. Abraham became the father of Isaac at the age of 100 years old! Isaac became the father of two sons, Jacob, and Esau; one is favored by God over the other, and it is through the descendants of Jacob the thread moves forward.
Jacob’s name is later changed to Israel, and he will be the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. Of those twelve tribes, one tribe will bring forth the Lion of Judah, Jesus, the Messiah.
Are you trusting in God like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did? They believed in the promises of God that seemed impossible. How would our lives be different today if they chose to look at their circumstanc- es and trust in their own narrative? God is true to what He declares. His promise to provide One that would crush the serpent will come, just not with this generation of men.
Precious Father,Thank You for having had a perfect plan to deliver mankind from sin since the begin- ning of time. You are true to Your word. In You there is no deceit, You can only speak truth. Help me today trust in Your perfect plans for my life. Amen.
