You are Doubly Guaranteed

“Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. (Joshua 1:6 NLT)

Imagine a honest wealthy businessman, who is known to always keep his word making a promise to an individual seeking his aid that he would give them a million dollars in a few days. And then in order to ensure that they knew the promise was guaranteed, he calls in his lawyer, signs an affidavit, and swears in writing to fulfill his promise or face dire consequences. You know what would happen to the confidence of the beneficiary. It would become rock solid. Why? Because he now has double guarantee. He has a honest and faithful man's promise plus an oath as second guarantee. The wealthy man could have only given his promise and that was enough but he went further for the sake of the confidence of his beneficiary to swear an oath. This is an illustration of what God did as mentioned in our text. He promised The ancestors of the Israelite the possession of the land and doubly guaranteed his promise by swearing an oath in blood.

In several places in scriptures, over forty, we see God making use of oaths for the benefit of mankind. Because an oath is only powerful when it is made using a higher authority as the enforcer, God having no one higher than him uses his own throne and existence as collaterals for his promises making statements like, " As I live" or " I have sworn by myself." As the writer of Hebrews says:

"For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying: “I will certainly bless you, and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.” Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. " (Hebrews 6:13, 14, 16-19 NLT)

This is powerful when understood. God has given us promises which in themselves are enough but in order to ensure that we who receive the promises can be perfectly sure that he would keep them, he confirms them by an oath. God wanted us to have absolute confidence in his words to us and he went to the fullest extent, he made them blood-soaked words of covenant. If any of them fail, God would cease to exist but since he can never cease to exist, his promises can never fail. You can trust them absolutely. You can wrap your life around them and be secure. They can never fail. So, today, hold on to whatever word God has given to you. They are speeding toward fulfillment. They are backed by an oath- doubly guaranteed.


Decision of the Day

I understand that God's promises are doubly guaranteed by an oath. I am confident that his word to me will never fail.