Will God ever abandon the promises He made to the nation of Israel? From the Bible we can easily answer the question. NO, God will never abandon the promises He made to His people Israel. In Isaiah 40-66 God makes one promise after another that the day is coming when He will restore the people of Israel from their willful apostasy and consequent exile.
When we come to 49:14 we see that there were some within the nation who had begun to question the goodness and faithfulness of God. Some had begun to reason that God had turned His back on the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant (e.g., Gen. 12:1-3; 15:1-21; 35:9-12) and now Israel had no hope for the future. God exposes the false thinking by summarizing their words: “But Zion said, ‘The LORD has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me” (Isa. 49:14). Is it true that the Lord has forsaken and forgotten His people Israel? God immediately answers that accusation in the next two verses: “Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me” (Isa. 49:15). God’s answer: He will never abandon the promises He has made to His people Israel (Rom. 11:1-2). He will restore them and bring them into the messianic kingdom.
There is a lesson here for application to every one of us: God has sworn precious promises to all who trust in His Son, and He will never break those promises. For example, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die?” (John 11:25-26). Also, we read, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 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” (John 10:27-29). God’s promise is eternal life to the one who believes, a relationship with God that can never be severed. Furthermore, we have the promise that even though a fallen world brings much suffering, God tells us that He uses it all for our good: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
What amazing promises. Men may fail us (Isa. 49:15), but God never will. For this reason you and I need to be steadfast in our dedication to loving and following Jesus Christ no matter what this world may bring.
Love, Pastor Tim