Insight from 1 Kings<\/p>\n
Some Old Testament promises Christ has already completed or uniquely realized. Such fulfillments prove that God will certainly keep the rest of his promises. For example, the prophet Micah predicted that a long-prophesied ruler in Israel would rise from Bethlehem, and Christ exclusively fulfilled that promise at his birth. There is only one Christ, and he was born only once. Nevertheless, his birth was to spark a global return of \u201chis brothers,\u201d and as King he would \u201cshepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,\u201d thus establishing lasting security and peace and enjoying a great name (Mic. 5:3\u20135). All these added promises continue to give Christians comfort and hope, and Christ\u2019s birth in Bethlehem validates for us the certainty of his permanent and global exaltation.<\/p>\n
Another example is Yahweh\u2019s promise to Solomon that, because he asked for wisdom rather than long life, riches, or punishment on his enemies, God would give him wisdom, as well as riches and honor (1 Kings 3:11\u201313). This promise was \u201cyes\u201d in Christ in that on the cross Jesus purchased every divine bestowal of kindness, forbearance, and patience experienced in the realm of common grace. Nevertheless, because the promise was contingent on one man\u2019s request and included blessing related to one man\u2019s specific reign, the promise\u2019s specificity indicates that this is not a promise that every believer always enjoys. Unlike Yahweh\u2019s promise to never leave nor forsake Joshua, which was true for all who followed him, this promise was unique to Solomon himself, with others benefiting only from the wisdom, riches, and honor he himself enjoyed.<\/p>\n
Adapted from Delighting in the OT, 185.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_crdt_document":""},"class_list":["post-4537","reading-plan","type-reading-plan","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-plan\/4537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-plan"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/reading-plan"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}