His Word is Good (1 Kings 8:56)

1 Kings 8:56 (ESV)

 

“Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant.”

 

When the building of the temple was complete, Solomon held a great celebration and consecration. The people prayed significant prayers and made massive animal sacrifices before the Lord.

 

What caught my attention here are the words that Solomon proclaimed as he praised the Lord before the people as the celebration wrapped up. Solomon proclaimed that the Lord had faithfully fulfilled his promises to Moses. Israel was at rest. Israel was in her land. Israel had been divvied up and divided into tribal lands. God had been faithful, and the king, as it were, signs the receipt.

 

I will not proclaim that this means that there are no further promises for Israel, either national or spiritual. Such an argument is beyond my purpose this morning. But I will say that the words of the king are significant. Who would have ever believed that what God promised Moses could have ever come to pass? Who would have believed that what God promised Abram could have come to pass? The truth is, for this day to have come in Scripture is an evidence of the miraculous power of the almighty God.

 

God had moved a family of 70 to a foreign land. He grew that family to become a nation of millions. He rescued that nation from slavery in Egypt. He protected the nation from self-destruction as they focused on idols and not on the Lord. He gave them victory over enemies. He gave them land on which to live. God did it all, everything he had promised.

 

The reason we need to think about this is not so much about an eschatological position regarding Israel. What I think is most significant is what it tells us about the faithfulness of God. When God makes a promise, he keeps that promise. If God promised Israel a land, he gave it. If God promises us eternal life in Christ, he gives it. When God lets us know that, no matter how bad things get in the world, he has the victory, well, he has it.