“For no word from God will ever fail.” (Luke 1;37) These are the last words of the angel Gabriel to Mary, who would become the mother of Jesus. They are words that had proven true throughout the Old Testament, and now for God’s fulfillment of His promise of a Savior.

These are the words behind all the events of the Exodus, as Moses visited Pharaoh with messages from God, everyone of which was proven true. From the plagues of blood, frogs. gnats, flies, the deaths of livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and the death of the firstborn, God demonstrated to His people the very words that Gabriel would one day say to Mary. It was the beginning of a faith building journey from the Patriarchs to the Son of God. The words of Gabriel were the message that God dramatically delivered to His people before they set out from Egypt to the Promised Land. The Exodus was the end of silence for the Hebrew people. In Moses and Aaron and Miriam they had voices which brought God’s words to them: “I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam.” (Micah 4) These three led the praise singing at the successful crossing of the Red Sea, celebrating another confirmation that God’s word would never fail.

“The prophet Jonah was familiar with the power of God’s Word which Jonah had been told to carry to Nineveh. Jonah recognized God’s hand in the storm at sea, and also on the beach when the whale finally delivered him there. More than either of these, Jonah knew that Gabriel’s words to Mary, “No word from God will ever fail,” were true, but instead of having such knowledge give him reassurance, Jonah rebelled at giving a warning to Nineveh that he felt sure would in fact convict the population to repent. More than love for his God was Jonah’s concern for his own reputation.

God’s Word has always been an extension of Himself, the One who cannot lie. When the time had come that God knew to be the perfect time, He turned His Word into His son, and sent Jesus, the one who would be God’s mouthpiece and His very self on earth.(John1:14) That the Word of God should have such absolute weight in human lives is demonstrated best by Mary’s son. Gabriel also told Mary, “His kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:33) More than two thousand years later, the resurrection of God’s son continues to remind us that God’s word will never fail.

Love in Him,

Prue