Where In The Bible Will I Find:

At What Point Is A Promise Fulfilled?

Promises are made and they remain a promise until fulfilled. God made a land promise to Abraham that was not fulfilled during the life of that great patriarch but was fulfilled during the reign of Joshua as the first judge of Israel: "And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein…There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; and came to pass" (John 21:43-45).

This promise was conditional, they had to fight for it, they had to overcome the inhabitants of the land and possess it before they could dwell therein. After rendering obedience to the Lord's command, the promise was fulfilled, and each tribe of the children of Israel was given a portion of the land. God promised the city of Jericho to Joshua - but conditionally, Joshua's army had to compass the city once each day for six days and then on the seventh day they were to compass the city seven times.

On Joshua's obedience to God's command, "…the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city" (Josh. 6:1-20). When was this promise fulfilled? Not when the army compassed the city the first day, nor was it when they compassed the city for six days, not even after they had compassed the city six times on the seventh day, but as specified by the Lord "seven times on the seventh day," the wall fell and Joshua took the city. When the condition was met the promise was fulfilled.

Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria was a leper. He heard about a prophet in Samaria that would recover him of his leprosy. When he arrived in Samaria, the prophet, "…Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean" (II Kings 5:10). Here too, this promise was conditional - Naaman was not cleansed when he met the prophet, nor when he dipped one time, not even after he dipped six times, but on dipping the seventh time, meeting the condition, his leprosy was cleansed, thus the fulfillment of this promise.

God, through His Son Jesus, has made a promise to all the world, “…Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved…" (Mark 16:15-16). Here again, the promise is conditional - when man meets the conditions of this promise he will be saved. Not just when he believes, but on hearing the Gospel which produces faith (Rom. 10:17), and then when this faith is put into action it will meet the command to repent (Luke 13:3), confess (Acts 8:37), and then be immersed in water for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 8:38; 10:48; 22:16). The promise is then fulfilled.