God Remembers His Covenant

What Is a Covenant?

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The memory verse says God “remembered His covenant.” To understand that, we need to know what a covenant is.

A covenant. A covenant is a binding promise that joins two sides together. When God makes a covenant, He ties Himself to His word.

To Abraham. God said, “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you” (Genesis 17:7). Everlasting means it never ends.

What God promised. God promised Abraham a great nation, a land for his family, and blessing for all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:2-3).

To Isaac. God told Isaac, “I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father” (Genesis 26:3). An oath is a solemn, serious promise.

To Jacob. At Bethel God told Jacob, “I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you” (Genesis 28:15).

Hard times included. God even told Abram about Egypt ahead of time: his family would be strangers and slaves, but “afterward they shall come out with great possessions” (Genesis 15:14).

God cannot lie. Hebrews says God “confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation” (Hebrews 6:17-18). Immutable means it can never change.

God goes first. In Genesis 15 God showed Abram that He Himself would keep the covenant. While Abram slept, a smoking oven and a burning torch, signs of God, passed between the pieces of the sacrifice (Genesis 15:17).

Faithful. “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him” (Deuteronomy 7:9).

Not like people. People sometimes break promises. They forget, or change their minds, or cannot do what they said. God never does any of these things.

In Egypt. When Israel cried out, God's covenant was hundreds of years old. It was still as strong as the day He made it.

Forever. “He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name” (Psalm 111:9).

What we learn. God's covenant promises are as sure as God Himself. Time does not wear them out, and trouble does not cancel them.

What to do. Think of a promise God makes in the Bible. Write it on a card and keep it where you will see it every day.

Exodus 2:24 says God “remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” The rescue from Egypt rests on that covenant, so we need to know what a covenant is.

Berit. The Hebrew berit (say: beh-REET) means a binding agreement that creates a relationship. In the ancient world kings made covenants with the people under their care. God's covenants are His own commitments to His people.

Genesis 15. God told Abram about four hundred years of affliction and a rescue “with great possessions” (15:13-14). While Abram slept, a smoking oven and a burning torch, signs of God's presence, passed between the pieces of the sacrifice (15:12, 17). God bound Himself to the promise.

Genesis 17:7. The heart of the covenant is relationship: “to be God to you and your descendants after you.” The land and the nation served that goal.

Isaac and Jacob. The covenant was renewed with each generation (Genesis 26:3-4; 28:13-15). That is why Exodus 2:24 names all three. The promise had passed from father to son for centuries.

Bethel. God promised Jacob, “I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you” (Genesis 28:15). God holds Himself to every word He speaks.

An oath. Hebrews 6:17-18 says God confirmed His promise “by an oath,” so that by two unchangeable things, His word and His oath, we have “strong consolation.” Consolation means comfort.

Deuteronomy 7:9. God is “the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy.” The Hebrew word for mercy here is chesed (say: KHEH-sed), loyal, faithful love.

Psalm 111:9. “He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever.” Redemption means being bought back and set free. The psalm ties God's rescue to His covenant.

A one-sided faithfulness. Israel did not keep the covenant perfectly. They often forgot God in Egypt and later. Yet God stayed faithful. His covenant rested on His character, not theirs.

Exodus 3:7. God told Moses, “I have surely seen the oppression of My people… and have heard their cry.” The covenant was the reason God acted.

Exodus 6. Later God repeats that He remembered His covenant (Exodus 6:5) and promises to bring Israel out. The exodus is God keeping His word.

2 Corinthians 1:20. “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen.” Every covenant promise finds its yes in Jesus.

Application. You can build your life on God's promises because they rest on who He is. When you doubt, go back to what God has said.

When God Remembers

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The Bible often says that God remembers. That never means God forgot. It means God is about to do what He promised.

Noah. “Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing” (Genesis 8:1). Right away God sent a wind, and the flood waters began to go down.

The rainbow. God said, “I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you” (Genesis 9:15). Every rainbow is a sign of a promise God keeps.

Rachel. “Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb” (Genesis 30:22). Rachel had prayed for a baby, and God gave her Joseph.

Israel in Egypt. “So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant” (Exodus 2:24). Soon God would call Moses at the burning bush.

God knows. “And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them” (Exodus 2:25). God knew all about their pain.

Not like us. We forget birthdays, chores and promises. God never forgets His people for a moment. When He says He remembers, He is telling us He is about to help.

Something God forgets on purpose. There is one thing God chooses not to remember. Through Jesus, God says, “their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” (Hebrews 8:12).

A new covenant. God promised, “I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Jeremiah 31:33).

The cup. On the night before He died, Jesus took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20).

Remember Me. Jesus gave the bread and said, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). God remembers His promises, and we remember Jesus.

Our part. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits” (Psalm 103:2). Benefits are the good gifts God gives.

New every morning. “Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

What we learn. God never forgets you. Because of Jesus, He forgets your sins when you trust Him.

What to do. At bedtime this week, tell God one way He was good to you today. Remembering His goodness helps you trust Him tomorrow.

When the Bible says God remembers, it describes God acting on His commitments. Exodus 2:24 is one of many places where God's remembering turns into rescue.

Zakar. The Hebrew verb zakar (say: zah-KAR) means to remember, and with God it nearly always leads to action. It is not a memory returning. It is God moving toward His people.

Genesis 8:1. “Then God remembered Noah.” The next words are the wind, the waters going down and the ark coming to rest. Remembering and rescuing go together.

Genesis 9:15-16. God says He will look on the rainbow “to remember the everlasting covenant.” God ties His remembering to a visible sign so that people can be sure.

Genesis 30:22. “Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her.” Remembering here is answered prayer. God gives life where there was none.

Exodus 2:23-25. Groaning, crying, hearing, remembering, looking, knowing. The cry went up, and God's covenant faithfulness came down.

Jeremiah 31:33-34. God promises a new covenant: His law written on hearts, and “their sin I will remember no more.” God's chosen forgetting is an act of mercy.

Hebrews 8:12. Hebrews quotes Jeremiah and says the new covenant has come through Jesus: “their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Jesus is the “Mediator of a better covenant” (Hebrews 8:6). A mediator stands between two sides to bring them together.

Luke 22:19-20. At the Passover meal, the meal that remembered the exodus, Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood.” The old rescue from Egypt pointed to the greater rescue of the cross.

“In remembrance of Me.” The Lord's Supper is Christ's people remembering what God has done in Jesus, the way Israel remembered the exodus at Passover.

Psalm 13. David cried, “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1). He ended, “But I have trusted in Your mercy” (Psalm 13:5). Feeling forgotten is not the same as being forgotten.

Psalm 103:2. “Forget not all His benefits.” Forgetting God was Israel's repeated failure. Remembering is a choice to give thanks.

Hebrews 10:23. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Our hope rests on the God who remembers.

Application. When you feel forgotten, remember that God's covenant love is sealed in Jesus' blood. Keep a list of answered prayers so you remember His faithfulness.

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