What does the Bible say about promises?

A promise is made by someone to do something without any obligation. It is up to him to decide whether to do it or not. It is the will of God to abundantly bless the world and His followers. God is love, and it is His character to unconditionally and sacrificially love all of creation – that is Agape Love or Divine Love. God’s promises operate in the same way.

I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. -Psalm 37: 25.

He promised to be with them in all circumstances. God promised peace to those who trust Him.

The Bible evidences many instances where God promises to do good to His people and He was always faithful to fulfill His promises. As our God is unchanging Eternal God, He never fails His promises with His people. He is not a man to fail His promises.

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? -Numbers 23: 19.

He won’t change His words. Many times in history, Israelites disobeyed God’s word. But when they repent back to Him and cried for His mercy, God remembered His promises with them and bring them back from their captivity and blessed them.

What does it mean to stand on the promises of God?

God’s promises in the Holy Bible is something similar to a promise given by a father to his children. A father will always fulfill his promise to his child. When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and believe in His death for our sins and live a holy life, we become the children of God.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God -John 1: 12.

God has given us such a great privilege to be His children. He gave us the right to call Him as Abba! Father (Romans 8:15). As the children of God, we are the heirs of God to receive the blessings of His promises. Thus, we can stand strong in faith, holding onto the promises of God for our lives.

How do you rest on God’s promises?

If we know that our God is Almighty God and He has control over everything, we can stay calm in any stormy situations. We can trust God’s sovereignty to do the promises He has given in our lives and have peace. If we know that our life is in the hands of the sovereign God, then we can rest on God’s promises for our lives. In Psalms 31: 15, the psalmist says, “My times are in your hand”. If we could handover the control of our lives to the powerful hands of God and ask Him to mold it according to His wish, we can trust Him that He won’t let us down.

How do I claim a Bible promise?

As we are the children of God, we can enter into His holy presence and ask Him to fulfill His promises for our lives. We have the right to receive all the blessings of the promises given by God in the Bible. Most of the time,  God tells us to do something to have His promises fulfilled in our lives. When we do according to His word, then we can demand Him to fulfill that promise. In Genesis 32:12, Jacob was reminding God about God’s promises for his life when he was in trouble. He struggled with God to get the promises for his life to come true (Genesis 32:26,28). We ought to pray fervently without losing heart and claim the blessings and promises for our lives.

For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. -Matthew 7:8.

God expects us to ask for His promises to be fulfilled in our lives.

What does God promise us if we follow Him?

God has promised a blessed and peaceful life in the earth and a blissful eternal life with the King of kings for those who follow Him without considering any of the treasures of the earth as valuable (Mark 10: 28-30). If we could leave the worldly pleasures and the luxuries for the sake of the Kingdom of God, He has promised not only the Eternal joy, but also He provided all their needs and make their name great among all nations. Abraham obeyed the word of God and left the place of idol worship and went to the place where God told him to go. God did not let him go astray. But he received all the blessings for himself and his descendants.

The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys. -Genesis 24:35.

What is the covenant of God?

A covenant is different from a promise. A covenant is a mutual agreement made between two people, in which there is an obligation to fulfill the terms in it. Both of them are bound by the terms of the covenant to fulfill it without fail. If one fails to do as per the terms, the covenant is said to be broken. In the Holy Bible, God made a covenant with His people.

God gave authority over the earth to mankind and blessed them to be fruitful. But when Adam and Eve disobeyed the word of God, they lost the presence of God and they become slaves to sin. So God wanted to save all of mankind from slavery. So He made a covenant with His people from time to time so that they can be saved from slavery. But they always broke the covenant with God.

What was God’s covenant with Noah?

In the days of Noah, people lived as per their own wish and didn’t have fear for the God who created them. So God decided to destroy them all. But a man called Noah was righteous before the eyes of God. So God wanted to save His family from the danger. God told Noah to make an ark to protect his family and all the living creatures in the world from the flood. When he did according to God’s commandment, the flood came and destroyed the whole earth except those who are inside the ark.

After the flood, when they came out of the ark, Noah gave burnt offerings to God. So God made a covenant with Noah, his descendants and all the living creatures in the earth that He won’t destroy the whole earth by water again.

I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth -Genesis 9: 11.

For that, if a person sheds the blood of someone else, his blood must be shed.

And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. -Genesis 9: 5.

That means, if someone commits a sin, he must get the punishment for that sin.

What does a rainbow mean in the Bible?

A covenant is confirmed by a  symbolic representation or some physical act. The sign reminds the two parties of their mutual agreement and stops them from breaking the covenant. When God made covenant with Noah and all the creatures of the earth, to confirm that covenant, He kept the rainbow at the clouds as a sign for His covenant (Genesis 9:12-17).

When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.-Genesis 9:16.

He kept the rainbow to remind himself of His covenant with all the creatures of the earth not to destroy the earth again with a flood. Will it not remind the other party, the human race not to sin against God, breaking of which will bring punishment for them?

What did God promise Abraham?

God called Abraham and promised him to give the land of Canaan to him and his descendants. God promised him to bless him and his descendants and make them  a blessing to the nations and all the families of the earth.

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. -Genesis 12: 2,3.

Thus God wanted to separate his generation to fulfill His great plan for the salvation of the fallen world. So he made a covenant with Abraham with a seal of circumcision in all the men of his family.

This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. -Genesis 17:10.

What did God promise to Moses?

The covenant that God made with the people of Israel at Mount Sinai is called in the Old Covenant or the covenant of God with Moses. God gave them ten commandments and statutes to follow so that He will bless them among all people and give the land of Canaan.

And the Lord has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised. -Deuteronomy 26:18,19.

And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. -Deuteronomy 28:1.

And also, God told them to offer different sacrifices so that their sins will be forgiven.

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. -Hebrews 9:22.

It demanded shedding the blood of animals to get forgiveness for the people of Israel. Also, it does not include people other than the people of Israel.

What are the promises of the new covenant?

As the people broke all covenants made by God with them, finally, God sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to fulfill the great plan of salvation for mankind. The old covenant was not complete and could not save a man from his sins. So, through the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross, then mankind received salvation.

And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. -Hebrews 10:10.

This new covenant brought forgiveness to the people of the entire world. Now Salvation is not only for the people of Israel, but also to the people of all the nations and tribes. Also, this new covenant created a new path to the Father through Jesus Christ and gave us the privilege to call Him as our Father.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” -Romans 8:15.

God has promised to send the Holy Spirit, the comforter and helper to those who believe in the act of love of Jesus Christ in the Calvary.

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: -John 16:7,8.

Also, He has promised to give the Eternal life with God to those who live according to His words and wait for Him.

And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.1John 2:25.

Jesus has promised His children that He was going to prepare a place for them and will come back to take them to be with Him forever. We are all blessed to have a Father who gave such a great promise for us. He will surely come back to fulfill His promise for us.