El Hanne'eman - Faithful To The End

Deuteronomy 7:9 “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the Faithful God (El Hanne’eman) who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments”

God is faithful! This ties to the eternity and unchangeableness that we saw with the name El Olam. However, this particular name - “the Faithful God” - has more to do with our response to His unchanging nature. Because He will never be different, we can put our faith in Him. He is faithful!

Faithful When No One Else Is

Psalm 12:1 Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.

This is a sentiment that runs through the Scripture, that people simply aren’t faithful. They’re not faithful to each other. They’re not faithful to their word. They’re not faithful to do what’s right. They’re not faithful to the One who made them. They simply cannot be trusted.

Sure, they’re quick to tell you all the good that they would do. They’re quick to say that they’ll help, that they’ll show up, that they’ll keep their promises, that they’ll serve God all their days...but as the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding. Proverbs 20:6 echoes the sentiment of too many employers, pastors, and people in general: “Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?”

But I’ve got good news for you; Your God is faithful! He can be trusted with what He has said! Because He is consistently the same, you can trust Him and draw from His faithfulness. This is exactly what Psalm 37:3 says, “Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness.”

Generation after generation have put their trust in Him - and everyone who did found Him to be faithful. Psalm 119:90 makes it clear, there will never be a time when someone can’t trust in God anymore. “Your faithfulness endures to all generations.” Lamentations 3:23 describes His faithfulness this way; “Great is your faithfulness.” When you think about how reliable and trustworthy He is - more than the sunrise or the ocean tides - how else would you describe it?

Surrounded By His Faithfulness

God’s faithfulness is always seen in heaven. Psalm 36:5 says, “Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.” God’s faithfulness is all around Him, clearly seen by those that are around His throne.

In Psalm 89:8, we see this interesting statement, “Your faithfulness also surrounds You.” At first glance, it’s easy to see this passage as nothing more than a figure of speech spoken poetically. However, look at what Revelation 4:3 says and compare it: “...and there was a rainbow around the throne…” Another figurative illustration? Maybe not!

I believe that both of these passages are referring to the same thing - God’s faithfulness, revealed in a rainbow. Why a rainbow? Because that was the first symbol of God’s covenant; the rainbow after the flood. Genesis 9:13-15 describe the event: “I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you…”

Whenever God sees the rainbow in the sky, He remembers His promise to never flood the earth. So what about the rainbow around His throne? It reminds Him of the covenant He has with us!

Hebrews 8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Glory to God!

Now we see, that God is always looking through the sign of His covenant with us - the rainbow around His throne. This is why Psalm 111:5 tells us that “He will be ever mindful of His covenant.” He will always be faithful to the promises He made to us!

Faithful To…

There are certain things that God will always do because He’s faithful. No matter what it looks like, you can always trust Him to come through.

Hebrews 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
No matter how strong the temptation, you can rely on this; God will always provide you with a way out! No Christian can ever be bound up in sin unless they’re rejecting the way of escape that God provided. Rest assured in this, He’s faithful to lead you safely out of that thing!

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.”
God is faithful to preserve your blamelessness. According to Ephesians 1:4, we were chosen by God to be “without blame before Him in love.” This blamelessness was freely given to us when Jesus bore our sin and shame. And now that we’re in Christ, we are being preserved in that blamelessness. You can put your faith in this; in God’s eyes, you and I are blameless!

2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from evil.
God can be trusted to guard you from evil and the evil one. This isn’t just speaking of protecting you from Satan. God is faithful to guard you against evil...period. This word “evil” in the Greek carries the following meanings: wicked, full of labors, perilous, something bad in nature, ethically corrupt, and physically diseased. All of this is what you can believe that God will guard you against!

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
God is faithful to fulfill each and every promise He’s made. There are many promises in scripture; peace in the midst of turmoil, prosperity, salvation of loved ones, and healing of diseases are just a few. He promises to empower you to live a holy life. He promises to never leave you abandoned. He promises to set the solitary in families. All of these precious promises are being guarded by God’s faithfulness! We need to be like Sarah who, we read in Hebrews 11:11, “judged Him faithful who had promised.” In the same way, do you consider God faithful to His promise?

This is where we see a condition; let’s read the entire verse; “By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.” The promise was always there for Sarah, but she only received it by faith. She finally decided that God was faithful, and He promised her a son. She believed it, and then she received it. When it comes to God’s promises, He always faithful - but they are only received when we put our faith in Him. This is why Romans 9:33 says “..and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

As if all of this wasn’t enough, there is one more thing that God is faithful to do for us - forgive. 1 John 1:9 tells us this, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Let’s face it, believers commit sin. They shouldn’t. They try not to. But inevitably, we act by the flesh instead of by grace and blow it. When we do sin, the Bible assures us that God is faithfully waiting with forgiveness in His hands. All we need to do is confess our sin, and He will instantly forgive us and completely cleanse us from it! You can be sure of this; God will always forgive sin that’s repented of!

The Object Of Our Faith

In the New Testament Greek, the word for faithfulness is “pistis”. This is a little confusing at first, because that’s the exact same word for faith itself. This one word describes two things: your faith and the object you’re putting your faith in. When someone is faithful, other people can safely put their faith in them. This is how it works with God.

1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

God is faithful; and because of that, He deserves our faith. He is the faithful God - the one Who will always keep His word. Even when others fail - even when we fail - God remains faithful. I don’t know about you, but I’m grateful that God’s faithfulness doesn’t depend on any person, myself included!

Romans 3:3 For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? (Paul is using sarcasm as a tool in this verse - the obvious answer to this question is “Of course not!”)

2 Timothy 2:13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

God is faithful. He’s always been faithful and He always will be. So you only have one reasonable option here; Put your faith in Him!

Hebrews 13:5 “For He Himself has said,“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”