Zechariah declares that God keeps His promises as he prophesies over his son, John. Luke 1: 72 He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering his sacred covenant—73 the covenant he swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham. [1] What is the covenant that Zechariah is speaking of? It is the promise or oath that God made to Abraham. Genesis 12: 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.[2] The Messiah would be an ancestor of Abraham who would bless the world.
Does God Forget His Promises?
Our human brains forget, so we need to remember. But God isn’t like that, and it is His nature to remember. When the Bible says that God remembers something, it stresses God’s faithfulness. God remembers and is faithful even when we are not.
Each time God remembers something, He begins to act on behalf of His people. God remembered Noah and dried up the flood, Genesis 8:1. He remembered His people who were enslaved by Pharaoh and began to act to free them, Exodus 2:24. Even though God had been silent for 400 years, now He remembers His people and begins to act. First, God sent John, the forerunner of the Messiah, by a miraculous birth. Then, through another miraculous act, Jesus would be born.
God Continues to Keep His Promises to Us
- God is good. 2 Samuel 7: 28 For you are God, O Sovereign Lord. Your words are truth, and you have promised these good things to your servant.[3]
- God is always with us. Matthew 28: 20b And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.[4]
- We have the promise of forgiveness. 1 John 1: 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
- God is our provider. Romans 8: 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?
- There is a promise of eternal life. John 11: 25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.
Be assured that God keeps His promises, remembers you, and is faithful even when we are not. To learn how God keeps His promises, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/even-in-silence-god-is-at-work
[1-4] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Tyndale House Publishers.