ESOCS Devotional 16 March 2025 – God Fulfills His Promises
MEMORY VERSE: “Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; everyone was fulfilled.” Joshua 21:45 NIV
TEXT: JOSHUA 21:27-45
Also to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, from the other half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave Golan in Bashan with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), and Be Eshterah with its common-land: two cities; 28 and from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its common-land, Daberath with its common-land, 29 Jarmuth with its common-land, and En Gannim with its common-land: four cities; 30 and from the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its common-land, Abdon with its common-land, 31 Helkath with its common-land, and Rehob with its common-land: four cities; 32 and from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), Hammoth Dor with its common-land, and Kartan with its common-land: three cities. 33 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their common-lands.
34 And to the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its common-land, Kartah with its common-land, 35 Dimnah with its common-land, and Nahalal with its common-land: four cities; 36 [a]and from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its common-land, Jahaz with its common-land, 37 Kedemoth with its common-land, and Mephaath with its common-land: four cities; 38 and from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), Mahanaim with its common-land, 39 Heshbon with its common-land, and Jazer with its common-land: four cities in all. 40 So all the cities for the children of Merari according to their families, the rest of the families of the Levites, were by their lot twelve cities.
41 All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their common-lands. 42 Every one of these cities had its common-land surrounding it; thus were all these cities.
43 So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. 44 The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. 45 Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.
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What comes to mind when you hear the word “promise”? Do you remember an unmet expectation? Maybe distrust rises within you at the mention of the word. For many of us, the connotation isn’t positive. Life has thrown curveballs. People have let us down. No matter our experiences in the past, God invites us to think differently about His promises.
Think back with me to the time when the people of God were slaves in Egypt. They were oppressed, weak, and helpless but God promised that He would rescue them and give them land of their own. So, He raised up leaders like Moses and Aaron and in miraculous and surprising ways led their escape from Pharaoh’s reign.
In our text (vv. 43–45), we see God’s grace abound toward Israel despite their rebellion, disobedience, and unbelief. He keeps His promises and eventually leads them into the land He promised them from the very beginning.
What does this mean for us, living thousands of years later? God has made promises to us, and He keeps them. What are God’s promises? There are too many to list here; but when you hold your Bible you are holding God’s promises to you. Though there are various kinds of promises, I’d like to focus on His spiritual promises.
Some of the spiritual promises are the continued forgiveness of sins, our sanctification, supplying us with strength and peace in trials, and preserving us to the end. When God made these they were then and forever unbreakable. His character doesn’t allow Him to break or go back on His word. He must keep the promises He makes.
But there are a couple things that we need. First, we must have faith. We must believe in God and believe God. We must trust that what He says is true and what He promises will come to pass. Think about Abraham. Hebrews 6:15 tells us, “And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.” We must have patience when waiting for God to fulfil His promises to us.
God shows us through Jesus’ life and His Word that He fulfils every promise He makes. We don’t have to wonder how the story ends because it’s already written. When we question whether God will fulfil His promises, we can look to Jesus and remember God’s love, faithfulness, and grace.
CHALLENGES
- Is there a promise you feel God has left unfulfilled in your life? Have faith and be patient.
PRAYER POINT
- Lord, grant me grace to wait patiently on your promises upon my life, in Jesus name. Amen
FURTHER READING: 2 Peter 1:1–12; Joshua 22:1–19; 2 Peter 1:13–21
ESOCS Devotional 16 March 2025
