God's Faithfulness

Of all books in the Bible, my small group study this week led me to a chapter in 2 Kings. Now, I am intrigued by the Old Testament and have read all of it at one point or another, but I tend to forget just how much it tells of God’s character. On the other hand, it also very plainly denotes the character of men and women, and it is sometimes comforting to me to realize that kings and powerful advocates of the Lord were just as likely to screw up as I am. They were human too, so obviously they battled sin just like we do. Anyway, our reading for Bible study was in 2 Kings 1, but I am continuing to read through the book and couldn’t help but notice a few trends. Almost every event that happens in the lives of the great kings of Israel and Judah was prophesied before it happened. In other words, someone somewhere already predicted so-and-so would kill whats-his-name or that this particular guy would serve God faithfully. But despite each king’s prophesied fate, one fact remains: God’s promises for each of them were never revoked or removed. For instance:

“In the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat began his reign as king of Judah. …
He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.” -2 Kings 8:16,18-19

“Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz. But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence.” -2 Kings 13:22-23

So, if that doesn’t get you excited about who God is, which it should, try this one from the New Testament (which, providentially, I have seen twice this week in separate places):

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
-Romans 8:39-39