The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Joshua 1:5b,
"I will never leave you nor forsake you."
As the Lord commands Joshua and the Israelites to do what they refused to forty years earlier, to conquer the land the Lord gave them, he reassures them with this promise: He will never abandon his people.
Paul considers this question in light of Israel's rejection of the Messiah fourteen hundred years later. He asks, "I ask then: Did God reject his people?" Romans 11:1. In answering the question he tells his readers, "God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew." Verse 2. Later, in verse 11 he asks and then answers the following question regarding Israel, "Again I ask: Did they [the Israelites] stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!" Romans 11:11-12.
All who belong to the Lord have this wonderful assurance from him. He will never forsake us. He is certain in fulfilling his promises and will see that we get safely home to him for all eternity. As Jude's wonderful doxology states, "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen."
No matter how badly we screw up and make a mess of things, no matter how poor our performance has been, no matter how much we have disappointed God, others and ourselves in this life, he will never leave us or forsake us. We are his and will remain so forever!
I love the way Jesus put it, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one.'" John 10:27-30.
The nation of Israel has been through a lot with the Lord over the ages, through their disobedience to him and his resulting judgment of them. Yet, here they are today, as current as today's newspaper, as we await the time Paul refers to, "their fullness". Just as God promised a nation he would never forsake them, so too, as individuals, we have the same promise from him: he will never leave us or forsake us!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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