Does God keep His promises and commitments even when humans fail to abide by theirs? God's character and values never change. Therefore He could never have abandoned His promises to ancient Israel. Through the mouth of one of His prophets He exclaimed to Israel: "For I am the LORD, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. Yet from the days of your fathers you have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you..." (Malachi 3:6-7).

Through the prophet Jeremiah, God promised that Israel as a nation would continue to exist as long as the sun, moon and stars continued to shine (Jeremiah 31:35-36). He promises to protect and guide the destiny of all the descendants of ancient Israel until they—including those known as Jews and those among the lost 10 tribes—are restored as one nation at Christ's return.

God has made wonderful promises—some to individuals, some to nations and some to all of mankind. If He ever abandoned any promise and commitment to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants, the Israelites, how could we ever believe He would keep His promises to us?

Our faith rests on the premise that God means what He says. It is because He is faithful to all of His commitments that we have a solid basis for trusting Him to keep His promises.

We see, then, that God's promises to ancient Israel are vitally important to us personally. The truthfulness of the Bible itself would collapse if God failed to fulfill His commitments to those exiled people. This is another reason for studying this subject. Either these so-called lost tribes still exist or God was not faithful to His promises.

By confirming God's continual involvement in the past, present and future of the children of Israel, we validate His unwavering commitment to keep His word. Such confirmation gives us a solid basis for our faith that God will keep His promises to us.

By fulfilling His promises to all of the tribes of Israel, God will also, at the return of Christ, prove to scoffers and doubters that He is trustworthy. He will demonstrate to all nations that He stands behind every word He has ever spoken through His prophets. He will confirm that He has the power to direct history as He desires.

As Jesus said of God, "Your word is truth" (John 17:17).