Originally posted: 03/12/2020

When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose and destroyed all the royal offspring. ² But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death, (11:1-2).

This event described in this chapter of Israel’s history, graphically depicts the hatred and intent of the enemy against God’s plan. The Lord had made His Promise to David.

“Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever,” (2 Samuel 7:16).

And His Promise would ultimately be realized through the birth of His anointed One, His Messiah Who would reign forever.

Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever,” (Revelation 11:15).

Scripture exposes the enemy’s history of incessant attempts to prevent God’s plan from coming to fruition.

In nowise an exhaustive list, consider the following depictions of the enemy’s relentless endeavors to halt God’s plan: the temptation and fall in the garden; corruption beyond repair in the days of Noah; a plot of the flesh by Abraham and Sara resulting in Ishmael; the Pharaoh’s command to slaughter every Hebrew baby boy; Saul’s relentless pursuit of David; the line of David threatened by Athaliah; and after the birth of Jesus, Herod decrees that all Hebrew baby boys under the age of two must be destroyed.

Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”… ¹⁶ Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi, (Matthew 2:13, 16)

It was His Promise that One from the line of David would reign forever. And in this time in the nation’s history, the line of David is on the verge of extinction.

Consider the comments on 2 Kings 11:1, “she rose and destroyed all the royal offspring” from NIV Study Bible.

“By this time the royal family in Judah had already been reduced to a mere remnant. Jehoram, the late husband of Athaliah and the father of Ahaziah, had killed all his brothers when he succeeded his father Jehoshaphat on the throne. Jehu had slain another 42 members of the Royal House of Judah, perhaps including many of the sons of Jehoram’s brothers (10:12-14; 2 Ch 22:8-9) and the brothers of Ahaziah had been killed by marauding Arabs (2 Ch 22)… This attempt to completely destroy the house of David was an attack on God’s redemptive plan — a plan that centered in the Messiah, which the Davidic covenant promised.”

But God’s plan of redemption will never be outwitted by the schemes and attacks of the enemy; for He Preserves His Promise.

Consider Him Who Preserves His Promise

As we consider His Promise, we will see Jesus, the absolute embodiment and fulfillment of every Promise.

For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but is yes in Him. ²⁰ For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. ²¹ Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, ²² who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge, (2 Corinthians 1:19-22).

Sealed by His Holy Spirit, He pledges a future that can never be thwarted in Jesus Who Preserves His Promise.

Preserve:
1. to keep alive or in existence; make lasting.
2. to keep safe from harm or injury; protect or spare.
3. to keep up; uphold; maintain.
4. to keep possession of; retain.

• He Preserves (keeps alive or in existence; makes lasting) His Promise
  • Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
    On those who hope for His lovingkindness,
    ¹⁹ To deliver their soul from death
    And to keep them alive in famine, (Psalm 33:18-19).
  • But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (Ephesians 2:4-6).

• He Preserves (keeps safe from harm or injury; protects or spares) His Promise
  • “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
    When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
    Nor will the flame burn you.
    ³ “For I am the Lord your God,
    The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;…” (Isaiah 43:2-3).
  • Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵ who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, (1 Peter 1:3-5).

• He Preserves (keeps up; upholds; maintains) His Promise
  • “Do not fear, for I am with you;
    Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
    I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
    Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand,” (Isaiah 41:10).
  • To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: ² May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you, (Jude 1:1).

• He Preserves (keeps possession of; retains) His Promise
  • The Lord is your keeper;
    The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
    ⁶ The sun will not smite you by day,
    Nor the moon by night.
    ⁷ The Lord will protect you from all evil;
    He will keep your soul.
    ⁸ The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in
    From this time forth and forever, (Psalm 121:5-8).
  • “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; ²⁸ and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one,” (John 10:27-30).

How do we respond to Him Who Preserves His Promise?

He Preserves His Promise because of Who He Is. King David held no misconceptions concerning his part in God’s Promise.

Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord, and he said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far? ¹⁹ And yet this was insignificant in Your eyes, O Lord God, for You have spoken also of the house of Your servant concerning the distant future… ²¹ For the sake of Your word, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness…. ²² For this reason You are great, O Lord God; for there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears, (2 Samuel 7:18-22).

And His Promise was not just to David, His Promise was, and is, to us!

Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” (Acts 2:38-39).

And we too must be fully persuaded; He Preserves His Promise because of Who He is, because of His mercy and grace.

He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life, (Titus 3:5-7).

As God faithfully and miraculously demonstrated to the nation of Judah that He Preserves His Promise, He extended His invitation to experience renewal, repentance, joy and peace in Him.

Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people, that they would be the Lord’s people, also between the king and the people. ¹⁸ All the people of the land went to the house of Baal,and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces thoroughly, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord…  ²⁰ So all the people of the land rejoiced and the city was quiet… (11:17-18, 20).

And He extends the same invitation to us; an invitation to experience renewal, repentance, joy and peace when we place our faith in Him Who Preserves His Promise.

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, ⁷ casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you, (1 Peter 5:6-7).

• Let us live convinced of our future as we fix our eyes on Him Who Preserves His Promise. The day is coming when faith will become sight and we will see Him in His perfect goodness. May we never give in to despair but choose to live in courageous faith.
  • I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
    ¹⁴ Wait for the Lord;
    Be strong and let your heart take courage;
    Yes, wait for the Lord, (Psalm 27:13-14).
  • O love the Lord, all you His godly ones!
    The Lord preserves the faithful
    And fully recompenses the proud doer.
    ²⁴ Be strong and let your heart take courage,
    All you who hope in the Lord, (Psalm 31:23-24).

• And as we await His coming, for He is near, let us courageously pray with full expectation. As we let go of our fears and anxieties, and trust Him Who Preserves His Promise, we will experience His joy and peace here until He comes to take us to Himself forever.
  • Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. ⁶Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, (Philippians 4:6-7).

Let’s Grow Together!