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Does God always keep his promises?

Michael A. Dingwall (michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com)

From time to time, we are told that god (at least the Christian god) can do anything. At least, we are told that he can do anything that is logically possible. We are also told that when he makes a promise, he always keeps them. Since we are told that he cannot lie - he cannot therefore make promises that he cannot (or has no plan to) keep. However, has god made any promise that he has never kept? Christians say no. But what does the bible say?

"They say that a promise is a comfort to a fool"

Perhaps the most famous promise ever made by god is the about his expected return. Christians have it that Jesus is god or very close to god. Jesus, therefore for the sake of argument, is god. According to the bible, Jesus, while down here on Earth, made the promise that he will make another return to the planet to “make things right”. Specifically, according to Matthew 16:28, Jesus made it very clear that he would return in all his glory while those around him, 2,000 years ago, were still alive.

Now, defenders of the faith have been trying to invent all sorts of explanations for this obviously unfulfilled promise. According to some, Jesus was not talking to his generation 2,000 years ago, but to ours - today! Of course, this is utter nonsense. Every defender of the Christian faith has used this argument - Jesus is talking to the present generation. How many “present” generations have passed since Jesus made that promise that he obviously has not kept? About twenty to thirty of them? Clearly, according to these Christian defenders, he will always be talking to the “present” generation - forever!

According to Matthew 16:28, Jesus was very clear and explicit - no “special interpretation” or “devine inspiration” is needed to understand what he said in 16:28. This is clearly a promise that he has not kept - or failed to keep. Or, maybe he has kept his promise. Maybe he has already returned. According to Luke 24:50 - 51, he ascended to heaven from Bethany. However, Acts 1:9 - 12 says he ascended to heaven from Mount Olivet. Maybe Jesus was in the habit of traversing between Earth and Heaven and his expected second coming will in fact be his third, or even fourth?

Leaving Jesus and his laughable promises, lets look at a couple other false promises. God made a solemn promise to Moses that the promised land will be large, very fertile and rich in mineral resources - Exodus 3:8. Also, according to second Samuel 7:10, they will live in peace. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Israel is a comparatively very small country and mostly barren. In addition to this, she is (and has always been) constantly under attack and threatened. Viewed today, such a promise is actually an insult.

God made a solemn promise to David, the ancient king of Israel that his dynasty will last forever. However, this promise, like the others, was not kept. The last Davidic king was Zedekiah. Long before Jesus himself came to Earth, the Davidic dynasty was extinct and it has remained so ever since. Maybe god has a problem of keeping the promises he makes to a large number of persons - to nations. Maybe he was able to keep the promises that he makes to individuals. Keeping a promise to a person should be easier than to many persons - even for an omnipotent god like Jehovah/Jesus.

Remember after Cain committed the world’s first murder, god promised that he would always be a fugitive and a vagabond? Well, that promise was not kept (how could it, seeing that no one was really looking for him any way), for, according to Genesis 4:16-17, he settled down, had a wife and kids and even built a city! God promised Zedekiah, in Jeremiah 34:5 that he doesn’t have to worry - he will die in peace. However, according to Second Kings 25:7 and Jeremiah 52:10 - 11, he was blinded, chained and died in prison.

They say that a promise is a comfort to a fool. Seeing that it is clear that god does not always keeps his promises, we would be fools for believing that he will. God is like today’s politician: make all sorts of promises to the fools for support and a following - promises that will never be kept.

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