The book where the promises start coming true
In Book One, God makes big promises to a few people: a land, a nation, a blessing, His own presence. In Book Two, you watch Him keep them. A nation of former slaves walks through a desert, crosses a river and settles in the land sworn to Abraham long before.
That is not the whole story, of course. The same people forget God, chase other gods, beg for a king, split into two kingdoms and end up carried off, first to Assyria and then to Babylon. Yet even in exile the promises do not die. By Ezra and Nehemiah, a remnant has come home, the temple is standing again and the walls of Jerusalem are rebuilt. Esther, the last book in this stretch, shows God watching over His people still scattered across Persia.
Every Promise of God, Book Two, covers Promises 296 through 620. It reads in the King James Version, about 300 to 350 pages, at about a seventh grade reading level.
A timeline of the Bible books in Book Two
Book Two spans more Bible books than any other in the series so far. Here is the ground it walks, in order, with a few landmarks from each.
- Numbers. Israel is counted, sets out from Sinai and reaches the edge of the land. The spies bring back a frightened report, and a generation wanders for forty years. Along the way come the bronze serpent and a hired prophet named Balaam who could only bless.
- Deuteronomy. Moses, near the end of his life, speaks to the new generation on the plains of Moab. He reminds them of everything God has done and sets before them life and death, blessing and cursing.
- Joshua. The Jordan stops flowing so the people can cross on dry ground. The walls of Jericho fall. The land is divided among the tribes, and Joshua tells them that God kept every good word.
- Judges. A hard cycle repeats: the people turn away, trouble comes, they cry out, God raises up a deliverer. Deborah, Gideon and Samson are among them.
- Ruth. A quiet story in a dark time. A widow from Moab stays with her mother-in-law Naomi, gleans in the fields of Boaz and becomes the great-grandmother of King David.
- 1 Samuel. Hannah prays for a son and gives him back to God. Samuel grows up to anoint Saul, the first king, and then a shepherd boy named David, who faces Goliath.
- 2 Samuel. David reigns. Through the prophet Nathan, God promises him a house and a throne that will last for ever.
- 1 Kings. Solomon asks for wisdom and builds the temple. After him the kingdom splits in two. Elijah calls down fire on Mount Carmel.
- 2 Kings. Elisha carries on Elijah's work. The northern kingdom falls to Assyria, and at last Jerusalem falls to Babylon.
- 1 and 2 Chronicles. The same history told again with an eye on David's family and the temple, ending with a Persian king letting the people go home.
- Ezra. Exiles return and rebuild the house of God.
- Nehemiah. The walls of Jerusalem go back up in fifty-two days, and the people gather to hear the law read aloud.
- Esther. In the Persian court, a young Jewish queen risks her life to save her people. God is never named in the book, yet His care is everywhere in it.
Not one good thing failed
After the land was divided, the writer of Joshua stopped to make a simple count. Everything God had said to Israel had come true.
There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.
Joshua 21:45 (KJV)
That line is a quiet hinge between the first two books of this series. The promises of Genesis and Exodus were not empty. When Solomon dedicated the temple years later, he said the same thing in his own words. If you ever wonder whether God keeps His word, Book Two is where the Bible answers with history. Our guide on how God keeps His promises follows this theme further.
Promised earlier, kept here
Here are a few threads where God speaks a promise and the Bible later shows it kept, some reaching all the way back to Book One. The references let you read both ends for yourself.
| What God said | First spoken | Seen kept |
|---|---|---|
| The land would go to Abraham's seed | Genesis 15:18 | Joshua 21:43 |
| He would bring the people out of Egypt into a good land | Exodus 3:8 | Joshua 3 and 4, the crossing of the Jordan |
| Rest from enemies round about | Deuteronomy 12:10 | Joshua 21:44 |
| A house for God's name in the place He would choose | Deuteronomy 12:11 | 1 Kings 8, the temple dedicated |
Courage for the next leader
Moses died on Mount Nebo, looking at a land he would not enter. Joshua now had to lead the whole nation across the Jordan while it ran high in harvest season. When God spoke to him, He did not start with a battle plan. He gave a command and a promise wrapped together, and the heart of it is in the verse picture here.
You will find that pattern again and again in Book Two. Be strong, because I am with you. God says it in different words to Joshua, to Gideon threshing wheat in secret by a winepress, and through Moses to the whole nation. They are good pages to come back to on a hard day. For more like them, see our page of promises of God for strength.
Reading a long stretch of history well
Kings and Chronicles cover the same years
Some events are told twice. Because the series follows Bible order, you meet them in Samuel or Kings and then again in Chronicles. Reading both shows you what each writer wanted to stress.
Not every promise is about blessing
Deuteronomy sets blessings and curses side by side. The series counts the promises and leaves warnings of judgment out of the count, but it never hides the conditions God attached. Where a promise says if, the page tells you plainly.
Watch who God is speaking to
The promise to David's house was spoken to David about his sons, and the New Testament later ties it to Jesus, the Son of David. A promise to Israel about rain on its fields was for a farming people in one land. The six parts on every page help you see that, then show what the promise reveals about God for you today.
- The verseThe promise, quoted in the King James Version.
- Made toThe person or people God was speaking to.
- The conditionWhat God asked for, if anything. If nothing, it says so.
- What it meant thenThe promise in its own time and place.
- What it means for youHow it reaches your life today, and plainly when it does not apply directly.
- Stand on itA short prayer to say out loud.
Buy Book Two or read a sample
Book Two is on Amazon in three formats. The Kindle edition is $6.99 and is part of Kindle Unlimited. The paperback is $16.99, and the hardcover is $29.99.
To see it first, open Book Two on Amazon and use Look Inside to read the opening pages. If you would rather begin at Genesis, Book One comes first. When you reach the end of Esther, Book Three is next, beginning with Job.