PROMISES --- PART 1

A promise is a declaration by one person to another that something will or will not be done. This declaration means that the person to whom it is given has the right to expect that it will be completed.

TYPES OF PROMISES
In the Scriptures there are scattered examples of promises that people give either to another person -- Numbers 22:17; Esther 4:7; or to YHVH -- Nehemiah 5:12, but the promises that Elohim gives to man are far more significant. These divine promises are absolutely trustworthy because Elohim is completely able to keep His promises -- Romans 4:21. Divine promises in Scripture assure their recipients of many benefits, including sonship -- 2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1; forgiveness of sin -- 1 John 1:9; answer to prayer -- Luke 11:9; deliverance from temptations -- 1 Corinthians 10:13; sustaining grace for difficult times -- 2 Corinthians 12:9; provision for all needs -- Philippians 4:19; reward for obedience -- James 1:12; and eternal life -- John 3:16. YHVH’s promises are certain and sure, but participation in their blessing often requires certain conditions. Divine promises also are not always guarantees of blessing. There are promises announcing the certainty of judgment -- 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9. In addition to the promises of YHVH, there are a great many promises that pertain to the unfolding of Elohim’s plan of redemption in the procession of historical events. Promises of this type become synonymous with prophecy. Along with their subsequent fulfillment, they are intricately woven into the history of redemption.

PROMISES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
The highlights of the promise theme in the Old Testament can be seen in the first promise of the Gospel -- the protevangelium -- given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden immediately after the fall into sin -- Genesis 3:15. Subsequent promises are the Covenants Elohim made with Abraham -- Genesis 12, 15 and 17 and with David -- 2 Samuel 7:1, followed by the promise of a New Covenant -- Jeremiah 31.

THE PROTEVANGELIUM
Genesis 3:15 says: Your [satan’s] offspring and her [Eve’s] offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel. -- This statement is a promise that in the future the offspring of the woman will crush satan. The offspring of the woman is individualized in the --he-- of the last phrase. He shall strike you satan on the head, although satan will inflict a wound on the offspring of the woman. Here then, is the promise that gives Adam and Eve as well as their descendants, the basis to expect the eventual destruction of their adversary satan through their offspring.

THE PROMISE TO ABRAHAM
In Genesis 12:1-7 Abraham is told to leave his people and country and to go to a land that Elohim would show to him. YHVH in turn, promises him that:

1. his offspring would become a great nation;
2. he would be blessed and his name made great;
3. through him other nations would be blessed; and
4. the land of Canaan would be given to his descendants.

Of particular significance among these promises given to Abraham is that through his offspring he will bless many nations. This promise is repeated five times in the book of Genesis --- Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14 and points back to the promise of 3:15 as well as forward to Moshiach.

THE PROMISE TO DAVID
In 2 Samuel 7, YHVH gave a promise to King David that his dynasty would endure forever -- 2 Samuel 7:16; Psalm 89:34-37. It is with this Davidic Covenant that the promised line, which had previously run from Adam through Seth, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Yehuda, is now narrowed to the royal line of the house of David. David is to be the ancestor of the Moshiach-King to come -- Psalm 89:3, 27-37.

THE PROMISE OF A NEW COVENANT
In Jeremiah 31:31-37, it is promised that in future days Elohim would make a New Covenant with the house of Yisrael and the house of Yehuda. The content of this New Covenant re-emphasizes and extends the basic promises of the former covenant: -- I will be their Elohim and they will be My people.... I will forgive their wickedness and will never again remember their sins -- Jeremiah 31:33-34. It would appear that the New Covenant of Jeremiah is to be viewed as a restatement of the same basic promises included in the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants. The New Covenant was inaugurated with the first advent of Moshiach and believers in Moshiach are now recipients by Ruach HaKodesh of the blessings of that New Covenant -- Hebrews 8:6-13. The complete and final realization of these blessings in all their fullness awaits the return of Moshiach, the complete establishment of His Kingdom in its outward and final form and the blessedness of life in the New Heavens and New Earth. In the intervening time, Elohim’s people live in a day in which some of the benefits of the age to come are a present reality but the fullness of the new age is yet future.

THE PROMISE THEME IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
New Testament writers refer to the Old Testament promises in a way that indicates that they did not view these promises as separate and isolated assertions but rather as portions of a unitary promise that is ultimately fulfilled in Moshiach -- Luke 1:54-55, 69-73; 2 Corinthians 1:20. Yeshua is the Fulfilment of the promises made to the patriarchs and David and these promises are accordingly to be viewed as having a single focal point in Him. In the books of Galatians and Ephesians, Paul develops this idea in more detail, saying to the Gentile believers that they are made -- heirs together with Yisrael, members together of one body and sharers together in the promise in Yeshua Moshiach -- Ephesians 3:6. In fact, Paul says that Gentiles who trust in Moshiach are incorporated into the seed of Abraham and are thus heirs according to the promise -- Galatians 3:29 and he even goes so far as to equate the Gospel with the promise given to Abraham when he states; -- The Scripture foresaw that YHVH would justify the Gentiles by faith and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: All nations will be blessed through you -- Galatians 3:8. These and other New Testament texts establish the close connection between the coming of Moshiach and the Fulfilment of the promise. The promises of YHVH find their point of convergence in Moshiach and all that He accomplished and will yet accomplish, for His people. One further aspect of the promise particularly emphasized in the New Testament concerns the coming of Ruach HaKodesh. Paul refers to believers as sealed with the promised Ruach Kodesh -- Ephesians 1:13 and as receiving the promise of Ruach -- Galatians 3:14. The gift of Ruach HaKodesh is not only the Fulfilment of an Old Testament promise -- Isaiah 32:15 and that of Moshiach Himself -- Luke 24:49 but it is also itself a promise of something yet future. Paul speaks of Ruach HaKodesh’s presence within the believer as a guarantee of our inheritance -- Ephesians 1:14. Ruach HaKodesh is the -- First-Fruit -- of future glory -- Romans 8:23. One final aspect of the promise theme in the New Testament concerns the assurance of Moshiach’s Second Advent and the establishment of the New Heavens and New Earth -- 2 Peter 3:4, 9, 13.