Truth you can trace · God’s promises
God’s promises
People say God keeps his word. This page does not ask you to take that on trust: it sets out the promises one at a time and shows you where to check. For each one you get who it was made to, what condition it carries, and where Scripture records it kept. Every line is a verse you can open and read for yourself.
Two things we are careful about. Most of these promises were spoken to a named person or to Israel, so each card says who, and we never quietly re-address a promise to you. And where a promise is not yet fulfilled, we say so plainly rather than counting it as kept.
Going through something?
Start here. Whatever you are carrying, these are the promises God actually makes for it, in his own words, with the verse there to read. Lean on them.
Facing something hard
from the presence promises
He is with you in it.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
Isaiah 43:2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched; the flames will not set you ablaze.
Deuteronomy 31:6Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
And he knows it from the inside. On the cross Jesus prayed the loneliest words in the Bible.
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Anxious or afraid
from the presence promises
You can hand it over, and he does not leave.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Hebrews 13:6So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
Matthew 11:28Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
He is near to the brokenhearted. You do not have to be composed first.
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
Worried about money
from the provision promises
Your needs are known, and met.
For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
Philippians 4:19And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Paul learned contentment in plenty and in little, and called it a secret worth having.
I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. In any and every situation I have learned the secret of being filled and being hungry, of having plenty and having need.
Grieving
from the eternal life promises
Your grief is not the end of the story.
Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope.
John 11:25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
And he grieves with you. Jesus wept at his friend's grave before he called him out of it.
Jesus wept.
Lonely
from the presence promises
You are not left on your own.
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Matthew 12:49Pointing to His disciples, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers.
And there is already a prayer written for this. A psalmist says the words out loud.
Turn to me and be gracious, for I am lonely and afflicted.
Facing a decision
from the what a covenant is promises
Wisdom, if you ask for it.
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
Proverbs 3:6in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
And you do not need the whole route first. Abraham set out without knowing where he was going, and Scripture calls that faith.
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.
Waiting a long time
from the the abrahamic covenant promises
The promise stands, however long it takes.
And so Abraham, after waiting patiently, obtained the promise.
Isaiah 40:31But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
And his mercies are new every morning, however long the wait has been.
Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.
Lamentations 3:23They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!
Facing death
from the eternal life promises
Company through it, and life beyond it.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
John 11:25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
Death is called the last enemy, and it is the one already beaten.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Treated unjustly
from the vindication and justice promises
It is heard, and a day is set.
You have heard, O LORD, the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their hearts. You will incline Your ear,
Acts 17:31For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
And you are not the first to ask how long. Scripture puts that question in the mouths of the faithful.
And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge those who dwell upon the earth and avenge our blood?”
The promises behind those answers
Each situation above draws on one of these. Start with what a covenant is and how to read a promise.
What a covenant is
Before the promises: a covenant is a binding agreement, and the Bible's are God-initiated.
Read the full answerHow to read a promise
Some promises depend on obedience; others God binds himself to alone. Telling them apart is the whole skill.
Read the full answerThe covenants, in the order they were given
Scripture’s major covenants run Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, New. The four below are the ones with promises attached to a named party, a stated condition, and a recorded outcome.
The Abrahamic covenant
A childless man is promised land, descendants, and blessing for every nation on earth.
- Made to
- Abraham, and his offspring after him
- Condition
- None on the grant itself. At the ratification God alone passes between the pieces while Abraham sleeps, taking the obligation on himself.
The promise, in the text
Genesis 12:3I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
Where Scripture records it kept
Isaac is born, the promised son, to parents long past childbearing
Genesis 21:2So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised.
Israel holds the land, and Joshua records that not one promise failed
Joshua 21:45Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel had failed; everything was fulfilled.
the blessing reaches the nations, as promised from the start
Galatians 3:29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.
Christians read this differently. Whether the land promise is fulfilled, spiritualized, or still awaits a literal future fulfilment divides covenantal, progressive-covenantal and dispensational readers. We give all three and pick none.
The Mosaic covenant
At Sinai, a national covenant with terms, and blessings and curses attached to both outcomes.
- Made to
- Israel as a nation, at Sinai
- Condition
- Strongly conditional. Obedience brings the blessings, disobedience the curses, both set out in advance.
The promise, in the text
Exodus 19:5Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations — for the whole earth is Mine.
Where Scripture records it kept
the blessings arrive: rest and land, exactly as promised
Joshua 21:45Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel had failed; everything was fulfilled.
and so do the curses, the exile comes for the reasons the covenant named
2 Kings 17:7All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods
Christians read this differently. That the curses were kept as faithfully as the blessings is the point of a conditional covenant, not a failure of it.
The Davidic covenant
A house, a throne, and a kingdom that outlasts the king who was promised them.
- Made to
- David, and his house after him
- Condition
- Predominantly unconditional. Individual kings are disciplined for wrongdoing, but the dynasty itself is not withdrawn.
The promise, in the text
2 Samuel 7:16Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever.”
Where Scripture records it kept
Solomon takes the throne, and the dynasty begins as promised
1 Kings 8:20Now the LORD has fulfilled the word that He spoke. I have succeeded my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
the angel names the same throne in announcing Jesus' birth
Luke 1:32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,
Christians read this differently. The throne “forever” is read by most traditions as fulfilled in Christ, with its final consummation still ahead.
The new covenant
Promised through a prophet in a collapsing kingdom: a law written on hearts, and sins remembered no more.
- Made to
- the house of Israel and the house of Judah
- Condition
- None stated. The promise is a series of unilateral commitments, “I will”, repeated.
The promise, in the text
Jeremiah 31:33“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.
Where Scripture records it kept
Jesus names this covenant at the Last Supper, inaugurating it
Luke 22:20In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.
Hebrews reads it as enacted, and quotes Jeremiah's promise back in full
Hebrews 8:6Now, however, Jesus has received a much more excellent ministry, just as the covenant He mediates is better and is founded on better promises.
Christians read this differently. Whether the church now receives what was promised to Israel, or whether Israel's own share still stands, is the live covenantal-vs-dispensational divide.
The promises themselves
The same four checks, applied to the promises people most often go looking for.
Presence
“I will be with you.” Said to one person at a time, across the whole Bible.
- Made to
- Moses, then Joshua, then Israel, then the disciples, each by name or as a group
- Condition
- None stated in the promise itself.
The promise, in the text
Exodus 3:12“I will surely be with you,” God said, “and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, all of you will worship God on this mountain.”
Where Scripture records it kept
the glory fills the tabernacle, the presence takes up residence
Exodus 40:34Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
the child is called Immanuel, “God with us”
Matthew 1:23“Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” ( which means, “God with us”).
at Pentecost the Spirit fills them, as Jesus had said he would
Acts 2:4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Provision
Daily bread is promised. Wealth is not.
- Made to
- Israel in the wilderness, and those Jesus taught on the hillside
- Condition
- Mixed. Some are stated with a condition (seek the kingdom first); others are unconditional commitments of care.
The promise, in the text
Matthew 6:33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
Where Scripture records it kept
the manna comes daily for forty years, until the land does the feeding
Exodus 16:35The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.
Paul, in prison, writes that he has been amply supplied
Philippians 4:18I have all I need and more, now that I have received your gifts from Epaphroditus. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.
Christians read this differently. The prosperity reading, that these texts guarantee wealth or health, is rejected by most traditions, and the corpus itself notes these promises do not exempt anyone from want or suffering. We give the readings and pick none.
The Spirit
Promised by two prophets centuries early, and claimed as fulfilled on a specific morning.
- Made to
- Israel through Joel and Ezekiel, then the disciples directly
- Condition
- None stated, “I will pour out my Spirit.”
The promise, in the text
Joel 2:28And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
Where Scripture records it kept
Peter names Joel's promise and says plainly: this is that
Acts 2:16No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
Paul calls the Spirit the guarantee of what is still to come
Ephesians 1:13And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth — the gospel of your salvation — you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
Eternal life
Promised to whoever believes, begun now, and openly not yet finished.
- Made to
- whoever believes
- Condition
- Conditional on faith in Christ; the texts state the condition plainly.
The promise, in the text
John 3:16For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Where Scripture records it kept
Christ raised is called the firstfruits, the guarantee, not yet the harvest
1 Corinthians 15:20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
the life is spoken of as already begun for the one who believes
John 5:24Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life.
Christians read this differently. Whether that life can be forfeited, eternal security versus conditional perseverance, is a genuine divide, and we give both.
Vindication and justice
The promise most often quoted for comfort is the one Scripture most clearly leaves unfinished.
- Made to
- the oppressed, and the righteous who are wronged
- Condition
- None stated.
The promise, in the text
Psalms 96:13before the LORD, for He is coming— He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.
What Scripture does record
a day is fixed and a judge appointed, announced as future, not as done
Acts 17:31For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
Christians read this differently. Presenting this as already fulfilled would misrepresent the text. Scripture records the promise and a date set, not the settlement.
Every reference here opens in the reader, in a translation we host, so you can check each claim against the text rather than against us. Where Christians read a promise differently, whether the promises to Israel pass to the church, whether the provision promises guarantee prosperity, whether eternal life can be forfeited, we give each view in its own terms and pick no winner. The synthesis behind each card is our own, drawn from Bubble Bible’s curated covenant and promise studies.