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Themes: God's Unfailing Promises A.J.H. Robert O'Hara Burke from Galway, came to Melbourne Australia, as did so many, to begin a new life. He was sturdy, blackbearded and unkept. He worked in Melbourne as a police sergeant.
An ad was placed in a newspaper looking for men willing to explore the unreached areas to the north. No one had been through that area of Australia before. From 14 applicants, Burke was chosen to head the expedition.
In August of 1860, Burke led a small caravan of men out of Melbourne. They were followed by the cheers of all. One of the men who went will him was William Wills, a 26 year old man who had come to Australia to become rich.
Burke sent a small party ahead to establish a supply camp at Cooper's Creek. This would be the first camp on the 1500 mile journey. They reached Cooper's Creek on November 11th. He again split the party with four of them heading north and the remainder staying with the supplies. They left on December 16th. Burke gave orders to William Brahe to man the supply camp and await their return. He expected to be gone another three months.
Through great hardship, the four men made their way north through the new territory. When they were thirty miles from the northern coast, Burke and Wills went on alone. They had made it the 1500 hundred miles from Melbourne to the coast. No one had ever done it before.
But now began the journey back. Their way was dogged by rain, mud, sickness, and a lack of food. Hungry, tired and sick, they struggled to make it back to camp. Three months had passed. It was now almost four months since they had left. Valiantly they tried to make it back to the camp where help was available.
It was April 21, 1861. Back at Cooper's Creek, the men had been wondering how long to wait. The three months were up. Would Burke keep his word and return. The leader had chosen April 21st as the last day to wait. At 10:30 A.M. they packed up and left Cooper's Creek. Unknown to them, only thirty miles away, the small party was struggling to reach them. In one last final desperate effort, they made their way to Cooper's Creek by 7:30 P.M. It was nine hours after the men had left.
Burke and Wills both died there at Cooper's Creek, nine hours too late. The men who could have saved them thought that they were not going to keep their word and return.
Men do sometimes change their mind, fail to keep promises or lie. But God has given us His Word and has given us His promise with it (Hebrews 6:13-20). We are assured that even though the heavens and the earth pass away, not one word of God's will fail to come true (Matthew 24:35). God's Word is as eternal as He is. All that God has promised will come to pass. You can depend upon the Word of God for your salvation.
God's promise of Salvation through Christ is "a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation" (1 Timothy 1:15).
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Shelly McKenna
