We can always depend on the fact that the Lord keeps His word, even if we fail or falter. Have you ever let someone down when you did not keep your promise? If we are honest, we have all failed at one time or another to keep our promises. It is easy to blame others for not keeping their promises and quickly forget when we don’t keep ours. We can be thankful that the Lord is not like us sinful people. When the Lord makes a promise or a prophet receives a prophecy from the Lord, it will be fulfilled. God always keeps his word.
The Lord Fulfilled Prophecies Given to Isaiah and Jeremiah
The Israelites would go into captivity in Babylon, but the prophet Isaiah said they would return to their homeland one day. Isaiah even named the king who would enable their return 150 years before it happened.
Isaiah 44: 26 But I carry out the predictions of my prophets! By them I say to Jerusalem, ‘People will live here again,’ and to the towns of Judah, ‘You will be rebuilt; I will restore all your ruins!’… 28 When I say of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,’ he will certainly do as I say. He will command, ‘Rebuild Jerusalem’; he will say, ‘Restore the Temple.’[1]
Jeremiah also prophesied the length of time for the exile. Jeremiah 29: 10 This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again.[2]
Can you imagine how encouraging this prophecy was for the people of Israel when they were in captivity? Seventy years later, the Israelites would return to Israel, led by Ezra. And they were sent by a king named Cyrus. God kept both promises He had given His prophets. As the Israelites returned to build the Temple, they were living out God’s promise to return.
Ezra 1:1In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the Lord fulfilled the prophecy he had given through Jeremiah. He stirred the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation in writing and to send it throughout his kingdom: 2 “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Any of you who are his people may go to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild this Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives in Jerusalem. And may your God be with you! [3]
God Will Keep His Promises to You
The Lord has made many promises to those who believe today, and He still keeps His word. The Lord promises that each person who trusts Him will have eternal life. John 3:16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.[4] In John 14:2, the Lord tells us that He has prepared a home for all who go to heaven. One day all faithful believers will experience the fulfillment of all the promises the Lord has given us. We can be so thankful that the Lord keeps His promises!
To learn how the Lord keeps His word, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/journey-return
[1-4] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Tyndale House Publishers.