Psalm 105:12-13

Psalm 105:12-13

Nomads living on a promise

God’s initial Covenant was with just one man – Abraham. It was extended to Isaac and updated through Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons but that was it, the full extent of God’s promises to make these people a great nation must have seemed impossible. Debbie and I currently have 5 children and 4 grandchildren, we could hardly consider that one day our descendants will become like the dust of the earth and will bring blessing upon all nations! The Covenant promises must have seemed like a pipe dream, even to Jacob with his many sons, but these ancient patriarchs believed what the Lord God had told them, and they claimed the future by faith. 

It wasn’t just the numerical value of the family that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had to grasp by faith, but also the promise of the land, a country all of their own, and it was not an obscure location, they knew exactly where this land was! It was Canaan, an area occupied by pagan tribes that had previously been the Eden of Genesis 2. In the years that followed the Covenant, the descendants of Abraham moved around from place to place eventually to settle for 430 years in Egypt. Exodus 12:40-41. The people had no permanent residence, no place to call home, no national identity, no status, no leadership, and no prospects, for they became the slaves of the Pharaohs and yet, many of them still believed that the Lord God would fulfil His promises. Even after they were delivered from Egypt they had to endure 40 years of isolation, condemned to a nomadic life wandering aimlessly in the wilderness south of Canaan. But God never gave up on them, even when He had reason to. He would keep His promises, He would never break His Covenant! 

 

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