Empty Promises

Empty Promises

Tamar

Read: Genesis 38:1-11

“I promise I’ll send you a check by the end of the month.” Colin’s words echoed in Bonnie’s mind as she surveyed the pile of bills on her desk. It certainly wasn’t the first time she had heard them—her ex-husband had a ready supply of excuses for why he couldn’t make his child support payments. Bonnie had sympathized with Colin’s problems at first, but now she was fed up with his rationalizations. After all, empty promises wouldn’t pay the bills.

Tamar knew how it felt to wait for a promise to be fulfilled. When her husband died, the law required that the next son in the family marry her and raise up offspring to preserve his brother’s name. The levirate law (see Deuteronomy 25:5-10) sounds strange to us, but it protected childless widows by providing sons to receive their late husband’s inheritance and continue the family line. After Tamar’s second husband died, her father-in-law promised to marry his youngest son, Shelah, to her when he reached the appropriate age. Tamar lived in her father’s house in a state of limbo, watching the years pass by without any sign that Judah would keep his promise.

We live in a world where promises are easily made but frequently broken. Many people give their word about something and then don’t follow through. The effect on our lives can range from inconvenience to deep hurt and disappointment. Thankfully, we never have to wonder whether God will keep his promises. It’s not in his character to go back on his Word. To those who believe in his Son, God promises forgiveness of sin, strength and comfort in hard times, guidance in confusing times, and glorious eternal life with him after death. God’s Word is full of his promises, and they are never empty.

All the LORD’s promises prove true.

2 Samuel 22:31