Themes Depend on God's Word

"I SWEAR!"

"I won't tell; I swear!". You have probably heard that statement before. Maybe you have said it yourself. What do people mean when they say, "I swear?" It does not mean they use bad language - although that is another meaning of the word. It means they are making a serious promise.

If you were called to be a witness in a court case you would be asked to take an oath, or swear. You would be promising that you would tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." It is another way of saying, "You can be absolutely sure that what I am saying is true."

Even God has taken oaths. You may think that this would be unnecessary because God never lies.

When God made His promise to Abraham about the future of his family, He backed it up with an oath.

God's word would have been enough, but God wanted to impress on Abraham how committed He was to keeping His word. He wanted to guarantee it would happen. The guarantee that His promises would come true was that He made them. God "swore by Himself." The best and surest guarantee is one that comes from God for "it is impossible for God to lie."

Sometimes it has looked as if God might not keep His promise to Abraham. One time a man named Haman got King Ahasuerus of the Persian Empire to make a law that allowed people to kill Jews. He hated Jews and wanted to get rid of the entire Jewish race. Did he succeed? No.

Just over 50 years ago, a man named Adolph Hitler made a plan to kill every Jew on the face of the earth. Before this madman was stopped, six million Jews were killed. Almost one third of all the Jews died then because of Hitler and his army.

A few years after Hitler, the Arab countries living close to the nation of Israel created another evil plan. They wanted to push the nation of Israel into the Mediterranean sea. Did the plan work? No.

Do you know why every attempt to destroy the Jewish race has failed? Four thousand years ago, God took an oath to preserve Abraham's descendants. All the armies in the world combined, with all their Nuclear bombs, fighter planes, and tanks could not destroy the Jewish race. Why? God keeps his promises. God has a wonderful future for these people. In His time He will fulfill his promise completely, and they will be the greatest nation on earth, with the greatest King, the Lord Jesus.

God has made other promises in his word that are as sure as his promise to Abraham. God promised that He would send His Son to die on the cross. The Lord Jesus did just what God promised. Today, God promises eternal life to those who trust His Son. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). You can trust God today!

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