The “I Will” Promises of God
We find so many “I will” promises of God in the Bible; promises to the nation of Israel and promises to the Church. These promises assure us that in the face of trials and difficulties, God has something wonderful in store for us. Even at times when we turn our backs on Him, God remains faithful and will always be looking out for us.
This is exactly what God did when the nation of Israel committed the sin of idolatry (spiritual adultery), ingratitude and hypocrisy against Him. Despite their unfaithfulness and rebellion, God, through the prophet Hosea, gave the Jewish people assurance that He has a wonderful future planned for them.
Let us note the six promises of God in Hosea 2:14-23 and see how they can be applied to the church and to the individual Christian.
“I will win her back once again.”
Hosea 2:14
The word used here is “allure.” It means that God is not going to force the nation of Israel (His people) to love Him back. Instead, He woos her or speaks tenderly to her, as a lover woos his beloved, seeking her hand in marriage.
God did not say He would “drive her,” or “drag her;” not even “draw her.” While the devil tempts and ruins us with sweet words and baits of pleasure, God in His mercy seeks to outbid the devil and win us to Himself with His unconditional love which shall be much stronger than any force of resistance we may offer.
Throughout the Old Testament, we read how the Lord had spoken tenderly to His people through His Word and through the manifold blessings He bestowed on them in their land.
In spite of their rebellion and unfaithfulness, God was always there for them whenever they called upon Him.
Just as He had led the nation of Israel out of Egyptian bondage into the wilderness through the Red Sea and made a covenant with them at Sinai, so God would meet them again in the wilderness in the last days and lead them into their land and His glorious kingdom.
“I will return her vineyards.”
Hosea 2:15
God promises to bring His people back into their land and will make them prosperous again.
We find numerous passages in the Bible where God says He will scatter the nation of Israel among all the nations as a result of their rebellion. (See Deuteronomy 4:27; 28:64; Leviticus 26:33; Jeremiah 9:16; Ezekiel 12:15; 20:23; 22:15; Jeremiah 13:24; 18:17 and Zechariah 10:9 just to name a few.)
And true to His word, God scattered the Jewish people to all corners of the earth at the destruction of the second Temple by the Romans in 70 AD during the siege of Jerusalem. For many years, the Jews wandered in all corners of the earth and had no place to call home.
After nearly 19 hundred years of Jewish dispersion outside their land, the British government granted a national home for them in Palestine through the Balfour Declaration in 1917. On May 14, 1948, the state of Israel became a sovereign nation and Jews from all around the world started to return to their land.
Despite being attacked many times by their neighboring countries, the Jewish people are now residing in their own land and have become prosperous over the years. This is in fulfillment of God’s promise to bring them back into their own land and for the desert land of Israel to prosper and bloom again (Isaiah 43:5-6; Jeremiah 6:14-15; Ezekiel 37:11-13; 36:33-36).
The Bible says, “There is no one is righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). We were all born sinners and were alienated from God as a result of Adam’s sin. But God in His grace and mercy desires for us to be reconciled back to Him through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18-21); He wants us to have an intimate relationship with Him as it was in the beginning before sin entered into the Garden of Eden.
“I will wipe the many names of Baal from your lips.”
Hosea 2:16-17
In Hebrew, Baal means “master” and Ishi means “husband.” Both terms were used by Jewish wives to address their husbands. In this verse, God declares an end to idolatry among His people. They would have a new vocabulary and the “baals” would never be named again.
God looks forward to the day when His relationship with His people, an intimate love relationship where they will think of Him as a husband, will be genuinely restored. At that time Israel would no longer prostitute herself before idols and would love and serve the true living God.
The Lord desires the same relationship with the Church, His Bride. He wants us to love Him above all else and to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30).
“I will make a covenant.”
Hosea 2:18-20
God’s wooing of Israel would result in her yielding to Him and entering into a covenant relationship that would never end. It will be a restored relationship founded on God’s righteousness, justice, loving-kindness, faithfulness, mercy, and compassion, resulting in a much deeper, intimate relationship. Basically, everything that Israel had lacked during her years of separation from her husband (Jehovah God), she will enjoy.
This new covenant would also include a restored creation: a transformed earth (Genesis 9:1-10; Romans 8:18-22) and peace among the nations.
The Church is included in the new covenant that God made with His people. The Bible tells us that because the Jews rejected God’s offer of salvation, it was brought to the Gentiles, which they gladly received. The Gentiles are spoken of as the wild olive tree branches that are grafted and have become partakers of the root and fatness of the olive tree (Romans 11:11-24).
At the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, the Church (Bride of Christ) will receive her rewards from her groom, Jesus Christ, and will spend 7 years in heaven while the Tribulation is happening on earth.
“I will answer.”
Hosea 2:21-22
In a tremendous cosmic conversation, God would speak to the heavens and the earth, and they would respond and bring blessings to God’s people.
The heavens would send the rain, the earth would bring forth the produce, and the Lord would send His rich blessings. This pictures a restored universe where sin and death no longer reign (Romans 5:12-21).
What a great blessing as a result of having a real, vibrant relationship with our God. Our thoughts and desires will become aligned with God’s and so when we ask Him to do things, we are actually asking Him to do what He wants to do.
This is the same exact principle we find in John 15:7. If we abide in Him, He will abide in us and we can ask anything we desire and it shall be done for us.
“I will plant.”
Hosea 2:23
The word Jezreel means “God sows,” and God would sow His people in their land the way a farmer sows seed. The Lord would say to them, “You are My people.” And they would respond, “You are our God.” This relates back to the names of the children that God in His grace had changed.
Before coming into a redemptive covenant with God through faith in the Lord Jesus, we belonged to the devil (John 8:44). Praise God for His amazing grace; He loves us so much that He didn’t want us to spend eternity in hell along with the devil and his demons.
So He sent His only begotten Son to suffer and die at Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life (John 3:16). God also gave those who believed in the name of Jesus and received Him as Lord and Savior the right to become His children (John 1:12).
The moment we placed our faith in the Lord Jesus, we have become God’s children; we’ve become His peculiar people and He has become our God. We have been granted direct access to God and we can call Him “Abba Father” (Romans 8:15).
Closing Words
What wonderful promises God has given to His people, the nation of Israel. Although a large population of the Jews still does not believe Jesus to be the Messiah, there are already quite a number of Jews who have come into the saving knowledge of God through Christ.
And God is faithful; He will surely keep His promise to save the nation of Israel (Romans 11:25-27).
In the same way, God will surely keep His promise to never leave nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5-6), to be with us to the ends of the earth as we fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), and to keep us from the hour of trial that will come upon the whole world (Revelation 3:10).
These are just some of the “I will” promises of God to us that He revealed in His written word. What do we do about them? We have to claim them and believe with all our heart that we already received them.
*Recommended Resource: Unshakable Hope: Building Our Lives on the Promises of God
By Max Lucado
Nothing lifts us out of fear and weariness like hope. An anchor through life’s storms, hope buoys our spirits and seeks to make a way when we face tough times.
After 40 years of ministry and speaking to hurt hearts, Max Lucado has learned that the promises of God will give you the strength you need. Each chapter in Unshakable Hope explores one Biblical promise that will help equip you to face every day with courage.
Includes reflection questions for individual or group study.