Submitted as a comment by BU family member Geogie Porgie
I was once challenged to expand on an outline given by Kaiser in Toward An Old Testament Theology, and read the Bible to discover that the Old Testament Theology is best unified under the theme “The Promises of God” and that the entire Bible could really be seen inter alia, as a catalogue of a large number of promises which God has made, and a record of how he has kept several of these promises.
As I made a deeper search to see where I could find promises that were not immediately as obvious as the major fulfilled promises or of the covenants, and as I extracted and attempted. to co- ordinate the promises that I found, I discovered that it is not unreasonable to conclude that nearly everything of major significance in the Bible depends on a promise of God.
In any argument or discussion with respect to the promises of God in any part of the Old Testament or the Bible as a whole, it is imperative that we ask and answer honestly the following important and relevant questions as the Bible text is carefully perused.
Has God indeed truly made any significant promises?
- If so, what are these promises? To whom were they made? Of what general or lasting significance are they? Do they have any relevance at all for contemporary men? If so what is the relevance?
- If God has indeed made any promises, has He been faithful in keeping any or all of these promises to date? If not, why not?
- If He has indeed fulfilled any, what does this say about His character? What is the further significance of His fulfilling these promises? Were the fulfilled promises completely or only partially fulfilled?
- If he has fulfilled even a single promise, what is the significance or implication for mankind?
- If He has only fulfilled some of His promises why is this? Is this because He was unable? Incapable? Untrue? Dishonest? Will He ever get around to fulfilling the unfulfilled portions? If so, When? Does He care that some men are seriously depending on Him to fulfill His promises?
- Are the as yet unfulfilled promises of serious import? Should we be concerned about whether God will get around to fulfilling these or not?
If so, How? Why?
The Bible was read, and reread in sections according to 16 basic divisions, and the promises therein listed and discussed to indicate whether the stated promise is as yet fulfilled or unfulfilled.
Where the promise has been fulfilled, the location in the Bible where its fulfillment is recorded was pointed out, and any New Testament correlation explained. For example, the several New Testament scriptures which comment and prove that God kept the promise of Genesis 3:15, are grouped in the chapter on Genesis 1-3.
The important significance of the flood as taught by Jesus in Matthew 24:38-39; Luke 17:27 and Peter in 2 Peter 2 5; 2 Peter 3:5-12, as it relates to the certainty of a future universal judgment at the second coming is explained.
In discussing the Abrahamic covenant in the section on the Patriarchal period, the relevant Scriptures in Romans 9-11 and Galatians are reviewed. In the case of promises that are not as yet fulfilled, the point at which these promises will be fulfilled as identified in the New Testament were found.
This study proceeded period by period and book by book, using the basic division of the Bible in the quest and adventure of seeking the promises of God. I found adequate evidence to answer the questions listed above most conclusively.
The answers on Genesis constituted my 400 page dissertation for my DMin.
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