God Remembers

Feb 3, 2023 | by Joel Jacobs

There are a lot of ways believers can describe what the Bible is. Probably something along the lines of ‘a collection of historical books and letters’ or ‘God’s recorded word’. Even as you are reading this you may be deciding how you would describe it to someone. There’s probably a lot of ways to accurately describe what the Bible is, but a few years ago I heard a minister refer to the Bible as a “book of covenants.” I really liked that one, and I have been reminded of it recently while reading through the Old Testament along with the “One Year Bible Journey.” (If you aren’t already, go to Anthony Wade Ministries YouTube page and start following along too. It’s been a great tool for intentional daily devotion.) 

As of this writing, we’ve completed Genesis and Exodus and already I have taken notice of many examples of God, whether directly or indirectly, making a promise, remembering it, and keeping it. The first example is an indirect promise to Noah. God told Noah his plans for the flood and gave instructions for building the ark that would keep them safe. In Gen. 7:1 God tells Noah it’s time to enter the ark and says, “for you I have seen righteous before Me.” To me, I see this as an indirect promise from God to protect Noah and his family because of Noah’s righteousness. We read on that the flood came and “the water prevailed upon the earth for 150 days.” Chapter 8 starts with “BUT GOD REMEMBERED NOAH…” That immediately jumped out to me. God – remembered – Noah…why...because God had DECLARED Noah righteous, and therefore God had to keep his word to keep Noah safe. The waters recede, Noah makes burnt offerings to the Lord, and chapter 8 ends with God making a PROMISE to HIMSELF (I never noticed this before now). Verse 21 “…and the Lord said to HIMSELF, ‘I WILL never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth, and I WILL never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease.” God then makes a specific covenant promise with Noah, and “with your descendants after you..” Verse 14 “It shall come about, when I make a cloud appear over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud, 15 and I WILL REMEMBER MY COVENANT.

The second example is the promises God makes with Abram/Abraham. First, God gives him an instruction to get away from his current homeland and his family (see Genesis 12). If Abram obeys then God says “I WILL” make Abram a great nation, a great name, bless, and protect him. We start to see a pattern that whenever God says I WILL we can take that as a promise. Like a legally binding contract that God is obligated to fulfill. Later in chapter 12, Abram makes some bad decisions, goes to Egypt (even though God never told him to) and out of fear, shamefully puts his wife in a terrible situation. BUT GOD keeps his promise to Abram and gets them out of the situation. Skipping ahead to the end of chapter 13 of Genesis, we see God making more “I WILL” promises to Abram. Chapter 15 God then makes promises about Abram’s heir and descendants. Abram believes God and God declares Abram righteous. God then seals all that He has promised (so far) AND his declaration of Abram’s righteousness with a blood covenant. Later (Genesis 17), God takes the covenant a step further and establishes circumcision as a way for others to be in the covenant WITH Abraham (name changed). God makes more promises about a proper heir that will be named Isaac and God says this same covenant will extend through Isaac as well. Furthermore, Abraham’s son Ishmael is circumcised (You’ll want to remember this part when you read more about Ishmael in later chapters. You’ll see that God keeps that promise too). There is so much more I could write about with examples connected to Abraham, but I’ll wrap this part up by simply pointing out God goes on to keep a promise to Abraham to spare “righteous Lot” when Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed, He makes covenants with Isaac, with Isaac’s son, Jacob (and yes even keeps promises with Isaac’s other son Esau too). God also never forgets that Joseph is in the covenant of his father, grandfather, and great grandfather. God protects Joseph and raises Joseph up to the second most powerful position in Egypt. 

The last example I want to point out is after God delivers the nation of Israel from Egypt through Moses, Moses is talking with God and pleading with Him to not take out his wrath on Israel for quickly turning against God. In Exodus 32 Israel makes a golden calf to worship, and God tells Moses he is going to destroy them. Moses asks God to turn from his burning anger and verse 13 “REMEMBER Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself…” 14 So the Lord relented…” Aka- God REMEMBERED.    

I hope that you are connecting the dots I’m intending to show above. There are two main takeaways for you: First, begin to reshape your viewpoint from how you may have previously been reading the Old Testament. When you can see the Bible as a “book of covenants” you’ll start to pick up on all the examples of God making a promise/covenant, remembering it, and keeping it. Secondly, be encouraged that God STILL REMEMBERS! We now have an eternal advocate through Jesus that, just like Moses did for Israel, is continuously interceding with God on our behalf. Through Jesus, God made a binding covenant that we get to take part in and one that he will ALWAYS REMEMBER! Hallelujah!

I hope this ministered to you and blessed you. Love you all.