Broken promises by broken people

If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

Numbers 30:2

 

God expects and appreciates complete honesty in keeping the commitments we make to Him and to other people. That is why pledging an oath is very serious business. God is truth. And He expects human beings to be truthful. It is the clearest sign of our fallen depravity that we find the keeping of an oath so very hard to do and so easy to shirk off as unimportant.

 

But today oaths are pointless and broken without much thought. We casually promise. Vows are cheap and easy as well, which is why divorce is rampant and marriage is disdained. The culture of “hook-up, shack-up, and break-up” (Mark Driscoll) exists because no one will commit the moral backbone to enter into a real commitment in a relationship. Often it is the guy who is spineless and the woman who is frustrated but enables it anyway because in her mind it is better than nothing.

 

People will not commit to God at all and they will not commit to each other without a string of lawyers in tow. What chance do we have at remedying this? There was one person who fulfilled God’s promises to save us: Jesus. He can redeem all our sins and broken promises. He can salvage souls and make us people of our word. He can mend marriages. He can fix families. He is a real and living hope in a world of broken promises made by broken people. 

 

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In sorrow, a promise.

After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.
Genesis 23:19-20

I make just a really brief observation from this text. Sarah has lived a long life and has died. Abraham now must find a burial plot in the land of his sojourn, Canaan. With her death comes the first physical purchase of land that Abraham has made: The burial plot near Hebron. There his beloved wife's body is laid to rest. There, he too will be buried. The first bit of the promised land to come to Abraham was a cemetery and cave. But it is a tangible bit of the promise of God.

And so it is that even in sorrows, God can visit us with His promise. I doubt that Abraham was greatly comforted with the knowledge that he now possessed a deed to land in the place God promised to give him. At least not while he was mourning Sarah. But it was true. God moved, even in great loss, to secure His covenant and keep His Word.