Sometimes the Old Testament seems irrelevant.  I yawned my way through the dividing of the Promised Land among the tribes of Israel (Joshua 13-21).  And when I was just about to nod off, one gem of a verse caught my heart and made all that boring reading worth it.

When the land was completely allotted, the Israelites finally got rest from their enemies.  The years of fighting off the natives came to a close, and Israel rested in full victory, just as the Lord had “predicted” in Genesis 12:6-7 (Joshua 21:44).

Reflecting on the Lord’s faithfulness, Joshua writes, “Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled,” (Joshua 21:45).

You mean God’s trustworthiness wasn’t affected by Israel’s disobedience?

You mean God didn’t change His mind and not deliver on His promises because Israel rejected Him for a golden calf?

You mean Israel’s constant grumbling about the Lord’s choice of leaders and disbelief in the Lord’s power didn’t cause God to abandon them all together?

He could have walked away from Israel completely.  From a human perspective, He would have been totally justified in doing so.  But He didn’t.

And that is relevant news for us today.

The God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament and beyond.  God’s promises are reliable.  There is nothing you or I – believers in Jesus – can do to make God go back on His Word.  If He said He will do something, He will do it, regardless of the many persuasive reasons we give Him not to.

Not one of the Lord’s good promises to me will fail; every one will be fulfilled.

Know those promises.  Trust those promises.