Leviticus 26:44,45

"And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD."

This verse is found in a portion of scripture in which the LORD is describing to Israel the benefits of obedience and the price for disobedience. It is found in the latter part of the passage, toward the end of His description of the price for disobedience. Notice Israel’s place. At the time of the eventuality described in this verse, they are in the land of their enemies. Their disobedience has brought them to the ultimate of God’s punishments, banishment from their own land. In the train of events God described, Israel would clearly be under God's wrath, having ignored many warning judgments.

Yet, were the day to come that they found themselves in this place (and they did many years later), God promised that He would not cast them away, He will not abhor them to destroy them utterly, and break His covenant with them. The things God asserted in the passages prior to these two verses were not hypothetical. He told them exactly what would come to pass if they were disobedient to Him. And as was alluded earlier, they saw these things happen even as God had said they would.

But God had promised Israel that they were His people. At the end of these two verses God says, "But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen..." He had made great promises to Moses and the Israelites of His being their God, of His being ever with them, of His never forsaking them. He was their God, and His promises to them stood on His character. As Moses reminded God, when Israel committed great sin in the incident with the golden calf, God’s great name was at stake in the matters of Israel. Were He to judge them in the wilderness the heathen would say that God was not able to fulfill His promise to bring Israel into the Promised Land.

So here God promises that in the day that they are in the land of their enemies, He will not cast them away. Keeping in mind that they would be in the land of their enemies after a chain of judgments against disobedience, God promises that He will never give up. We can imagine that were we to be faced with a series of trying behaviors from an acquaintance or even a friend that we would eventually give up on relationship with that person. Examples are many, but after a while our patience would be tested to the maximum, and we would throw up our hands. God is saying here that He is not like that. He won’t cast Israel aside even if they fall to the lowest of depths in their relationship with Him. He will not substitute them with another nation. Of course, since all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory, another nation would ultimately prove to be no more reliable. But this tells us more about God’s nature. He does not give up on His people. He will not cast away.

Then God promises that He will not abhor them to destroy them utterly. His kindnesses to them would not be turned to hatred, malice, and revenge. He will not, in His great power, remove them from the earth. He will not remove the memory of them from history. Many civilizations have come and gone. Many have been forgotten. But it would not be so with God’s people. He promised here in Leviticus that he would not destroy them. In 2008 Israel celebrated their 60th anniversary as a nation. They have never been destroyed.

Finally, God promises that He will not break His covenant with them. This covenant included, in part, that they would have the land of their fathers forever. Though there were times when they were far from God, and residing in other cities and countries, the promises that God made were as sure as the day they were made. And the day is yet to come when Israel will hold all of the land that God had promised them. But it is a certain thing. To generalize, God’s promises are as sure as anything, because of the One Who has made the promises. God asserts that even in time of judgment, He would not forget His promises; He would not break His promises.

At the end He asserts, "...for I am the LORD their God." It was and is always about Who God is. His great name is always at stake in the lives of His people. And while these promises in Leviticus are specifically to Israel, a crucial principle can be found, and generalized to all of God’s people; God keeps His promises.

The Bible is full of promises for the people of God known as the Church. Eternal life is among them. So is a home in heaven. So is the promise that He will never leave nor forsake us, just as the promises to Israel above assert that He will not forsake them, nor destroy them, neither will He break His promises to them. Since God is never changing, the trust in Him that the verses above should have caused in Israel should be our portion as we consider the certainty of God’s promises to us. He will never break His promises to His people!

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.

Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.

HJK