“Promise Unfulfilled?" – FBC Morning Light (1/16/2024)

What a good Tuesday morning. Hope your day, your week, got off to a good start yesterday. And on this

Tuesday morning, we're reading in our chronological reading through the Bible the last chapters of the book of Genesis, chapters 48 to 50.

As we come to the end of the book of Genesis, usually one section or a couple of verses that are really focused on are the verses that have to do with Joseph's response to his brothers when they are afraid he's going to retaliate against them, and he says, look, what you meant for evil,

God meant for good, and so forth. And I could talk about that, but I want to focus on something different and get us to stop and think a little bit about the patience of God bringing about and fulfilling his promises.

Jacob's life ends, and it says in verses 13 and 14 of Genesis 50, that his sons,

Jacob's sons, carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre, which

Abraham bought with the field from Ephraim the Hittite as property for a burial place.

And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.

What I want to do for a minute is go all the way back to Genesis chapter 17, to a promise that was made to Jacob's grandfather,

Abraham, many, many, many years ago. And in Genesis 17, the

Lord said to Abraham, in verse 8, I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession.

So God said, all right, now get the story here, get the picture. Decades ago,

God said to Abraham, I'm giving to your descendants all the land of Canaan.

And here it is, decades later, Abraham has died, he's passed off the scene.

Abraham's son Isaac has died, and he's passed off the scene. And now Jacob dies, and what do they do?

Jacob dies in Egypt. What do they do with the body of this deceased loved one,

Jacob? They carry his body all the way back to Canaan, to the only real plot of land that Abraham's descendants have any claim to, this cemetery in the field of Machpelah before Mamre that Abraham bought when he was burying

Sarah. And then all of Jacob's sons go back to Egypt, and they're going to be there for a few hundred years.

So the book of Genesis ends, this story of Joseph, an amazing story, but even stepping back and getting the bigger picture, the story of the promise to Abraham, and even if you want, we could step back further, the promise made to Eve that there would come from her seed, one that would crush the head of the serpent.

And here we are at the end of Genesis, the serpent's head isn't crushed, Abraham's descendants don't have the land of Canaan, they don't possess it.

The only thing that is possessed is this little cemetery for the burial of some of his descendants.

So the book of Genesis ends leaving us with the question, will the land ever belong to Israel?

All that's possessed is a cemetery, will the land ever belong to Israel?

As now the descendants of Israel are all in Egypt. Will God ever fulfill his promise?

So I point that out, because about 2 ,000 years ago now,

Jesus ascended into heaven, and when his disciples stood there on that hillside watching him disappear into the heavens, their mouths agape, you could imagine, the angel said to them, why are you standing gazing up into heaven?

This same Jesus who's gone up into heaven shall so come in like manners you've seen him go into heaven. And here it is 2 ,000 years later, and he still hasn't returned.

And so we could question, will that promise ever come to pass?

We'll finish the story of Israel, and then you get encouragement to believe that yes,

God, in fulfilling his promises, may take a long time in bringing them to pass.

But fulfill them, he shall. And when the angel said to the disciples, this same

Jesus shall so come in like manner as you've seen him go into heaven, so he shall.

All God's promises in Christ are yes and amen. They shall come to pass.

So let's take encouragement from God's word in that, that his promises may be slow in coming, but they come.

They will be fulfilled, and we can be grateful for that. So our Father and our God, we are grateful that you are a promise -keeping

God, and you show us a little bit at a time how you will fulfill the promise eventually, as you did with giving a cemetery to Abraham and his descendants.

Lord, help us to find encouragement in this today, and we pray this in Jesus' name and for his sake.

Amen. All right, well listen, have a good rest of your Tuesday. I trust the Lord will bless you in it.