You Reap What You Sow.

You have plowed iniquity; you have reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your warriors, therefore the tumult of war shall arise among your people, and all your fortresses shall be destroyed, Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle; mothers were dashed in pieces with their children. Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel, because of your great evil. At dawn the king of Israel shall be utterly cut off. – Hosea 10:13-15 ESV

At times, even as believers, we are surprised at the outcomes of some of our decision making. We are somehow amazed that our lies have consequences. We are shocked when our love affair with materialism leaves us struggling with greed, envy, covetousness, worry and anxiety. We wonder why we are so angry, yet never connect the dots to our daily consumption of violence-filled media. We wrestle with lust, but never seem to associate it with the sexually explicit programming that fills our TV screens each and every night.

The Israelites were also oblivious to the cause-and-effect nature of their lives. So God made it clear to them: “you have cultivated wickedness and harvested a thriving crop of sins” (Hosea 10:13 NLT). In other words, they were reaping exactly what they should have expected. No surprises. Just the natural consequences of living their lives apart from God. They had consumed a daily dose of lies about everything. They had been told that God would not punish them for their sins because they were His chosen people. They had been promised that alliances with foreign powers would protect them from destruction. They believed that the gods of pagan nations were anything but false. But while a steady diet of lies may taste good going down and make you feel good for the moment, it will leave you spiritually weak, malnourished, and starving to death. 

Self-reliance and misplaced trust were behind the behavior of the Israelites. “Claiming to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:22 ESV). The prophet, Jeremiah, recorded a similar indictment from God against the people of Judah. “My people are foolish and do not know me. They are stupid children who have no understanding. They are clever enough at doing wrong, but they have no idea how to do right!” (Jeremiah 4:22 NLT). They thought they knew better than God. They rejected His commands and ignored His warnings. They lived life according to their own terms. They stopped trusting God and, instead, placed their hope in false gods. When things got tough and they found themselves threatened by outside forces, they turned to alliances with countries like Egypt. They refused to rely on God. He had become small, insignificant and insufficient to meet their needs. The God who had delivered them from captivity in Egypt and given them the land of Canaan had become too weak to meet their needs. They had long ago forgotten the words of David:

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright. – Psalm 20:6-8 ESV

Not only did they doubt God’s salvation, they denied His judgment. They really did not believe that they could fall. They were so confident in their status as God’s chosen people, that they believed they were invincible. And yet, they never seemed to recognize the fact that their protection by God was based on their obedience and faithfulness to him. He had warned them that disobedience would bring His discipline. Unfaithfulness would have consequences. So God gave them the bad news: “Now the terrors of war will rise among your people” (Hosea 10:14 NLT). Their army would be impotent. Their alliances would prove useless. Their fortresses and defensive measures would be insufficient. And their false gods would be exposed for what they were: non-existent and, therefore, no help in time of need.

The devastation would be horrific. Referring to a past battle, God warned them that their fall would be brutal and merciless: “as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle; mothers were dashed in pieces with their children” (Hosea 10:14b ESV). The Assyrians were going to show no mercy. Their destruction of the nation of Israel would be complete and no one would escape their wrath. From king to commoner, priest to prostitute, the influential to innocent infants – all would feel the wrath of the Assyrians and the judgment of God.

These kinds of passages make us uncomfortable as believers. They paint a picture of God that seems to contradict our view of Him as loving, gracious, forgiving and merciful. But too often, our understanding of God can become one-dimensional. We prefer to emphasize His love while downplaying His holiness and hatred of sin. We find comfort in His grace, but don’t want to think about His righteous wrath and divine obligation to punish sin. In doing so, we diminish the value of the gift of His Son. But it is in understanding the severity of sin’s offensiveness to God and His just and righteous obligation to punish sin that we fully comprehend the magnitude of what Christ has done for us. “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8 NLT). Jesus “was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God” (Romans 4:25 NLT). The inescapable reality was that “even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead” (Ephesians 2:5 NLT).

Our sin was real. God’s judgment against our sin was deserved. And yet He showed us mercy – in spite of our sinfulness. Grace does not diminish the gravity of sin. It actually reveals the amazing love of God as He provides a means of salvation that is capable of satisfying His wrath against sin. He gave His Son. It was the death of Jesus alone that could propitiate or satisfy the just judgment of God against the sinfulness of mankind. Nothing else would do. No other payment could have been made that would have paid the debt that was owed. So when we elevate God’s love while ignoring His wrath, we actually diminish the amazing nature of that love. He loved us in spite of us, not because of us.

And yet, we continue to sow and reap, sin and suffer, because we don’t fully appreciate the gravity of sin and the greatness of His grace. We justify our actions, rationalize our sinful behavior and then wonder why we reap discontentment, dissatisfaction, anger, joylessness, envy, greed, and immorality. It is an accurate understanding of the grace of God that should produce in us the fruit of righteousness. As God told the people of Israel, “Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you” (Hosea 10:12 NLT).

Forgetting God.

For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it shall yield no flour; if it were to yield, strangers would devour it. Israel is swallowed up; already they are among the nations as a useless vessel. For they have gone up to Assyria, a wild donkey wandering alone; Ephraim has hired lovers. Though they hire allies among the nations, I will soon gather them up. And the king and princes shall soon writhe because of the tribute. Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they have become to him altars for sinning. Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands, they would be regarded as a strange thing. As for my sacrificial offerings, they sacrifice meat and eat it, but the Lord does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt. For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces, and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; so I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour her strongholds. – Hosea 8:7-14 ESV

Futility. That is the message in these verses. Sowing to the wind. Headless grain. No flour. Useless vessels. Stubborn wild donkeys. Impotent allies. Cash-strapped kings. An ungrateful, unfaithful nation.

Years of idolatry and rejection of God’s grace, goodness and mercy were going to catch up to the nation of Israel. Their stubborn unwillingness to keep their covenant with God was going to result in their own destruction. While their kings were busy building palaces and erecting idols to their false gods, God was plotting their destruction at the hands of the Assyrians. Thinking they could somehow prevent the inevitable from happening, they made alliances with other nations, like Egypt. And the irony of that should not escape us. They were turning to their former slave masters as their source of deliverance.  Little did they know that they would end up back in slavery just like they had experienced in Egypt, but this time in Assyria. Their sad, sordid history was about to come full circle.

They had had their chance. When they entered the land of Canaan after 40-plus years of wandering in the wilderness, God had commanded them:

When you drive out the nations that live there, you must destroy all the places where they worship their gods—high on the mountains, up on the hills, and under every green tree. Break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars. Burn their Asherah poles and cut down their carved idols. Completely erase the names of their gods! – Deuteronomy 12:2-3 NLT

But rather than follow God’s orders, they did things their way. They failed to rid the land of idols. They intermarried with the pagan nations, accepting their false gods as their own. They compromised their standards and treated God’s commands with contempt. Somehow they thought they knew better than God. They rationalized their behavior and justified their attempts to model their lives after the nations that occupied the land. And now they were going to have to pay for their insolence and insubordination. God’s laws had become superfluous and somehow optional. They felt no obligation to obey God. They saw no compelling reason to believe that God would keep His promise to bring curses on them if they failed to obey His commands. But they would soon discover just how wrong they were.

Sure, they were still offering sacrifices to Yahweh, but not on His terms. In fact, their offerings to God were little more than reasons to enjoy a good meal. They would sacrifice a bull or a lamb, not with a mind to receive forgiveness for their sins, but to satisfy their own sinful appetites. Feasting had taken precedence over forgiveness. Self-gratification was more important to them than God’s grace and mercy. Israel had forgotten its Maker (Hosea 8:14). They had turned their back on God. They had long ago forgotten His miraculous deliverance of them from slavery in Egypt. His provision for and protection of them during their wilderness years was a distant memory. The memories of their God-ordained conquest of the land of Canaan had faded a long time ago. The glory days of King David and the nation’s preeminence as a major power were things of the past. They had long ago become God-less and self-sufficient. They were God-followers in name only. In fact, their sinfulness had become so bad that they were actually worse than the pagan nations around them. God would later say of the southern nation of Judah, “You people have behaved worse than your neighbors and have refused to obey my decrees and regulations. You have not even lived up to the standards of the nations around you” (Ezekiel 5:7 NLT). God was appalled at the obstinate attitude of both Israel and Judah. Their unfaithfulness to Him was unprecedented. The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones, even though they are not gods at all? Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols!” (Jeremiah 2:11 NLT). Even the pagan nations would never have considered turning their backs on their gods. They were more faithful to their false gods than Israel and Judah had been to the one true God.

The Israelites were guilty of forgetting God. It had begun with them taking Him for granted. He was their God and they were His people. They felt a certain sense of security and smug superiority. They somehow believed God was obligated to care for them and to continue to forgive them, no matter what they did. The sacrifical system had become little more than a get-out-of-jail free card, requiring God to forgive them whether they were repentant or not. They thought nothing of offending God by their actions. Worshiping false gods just seemed to make common sense. Putting their trust in foreign governments for protection was just good governmental policy. Intermarrying with the pagan nations around them was profitable and preferable to God’s unrealistic policy of isolation. They had become wiser than God. And in time, God’s goodness, holiness, love, power and mercy faded from their memories. They forgot God. And it’s a lot easier to do than we might think. Because God is invisible, He can easily become indiscernible. Since we can’t see Him, we can easily forget about Him. We forget about His love. His holiness becomes a faded memory. His promises of future blessings become overshadowed by present pleasures and the pressing problems of the day. When we forget our Maker, we lose sight of our purpose in life. We end up seeking fulfillment from the things of this world. We begin to live by sight instead of by faith. The desire for worldliness replaces the pursuit of holiness. But we can rest assured that while we may occasionally forget God, He never forgets us.

A Spirit of Whoredom.

My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore. They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your brides commit adultery. I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes and sacrifice with cult prostitutes, and a people without understanding shall come to ruin. – Hosea 4:12-14 ESV

Idolatry should seem like a not-so-subtle form of idiocy to us. The idea of taking a piece of wood and carving an image out of it and bowing down before it as some kind of god should come across as utterly ridiculous. The prophet, Isaiah, provides us with God’s very comical description of just how silly idol worship should be to us.

“the wood-carver measures a block of wood and draws a pattern on it. He works with chisel and plane and carves it into a human figure. He gives it human beauty and puts it in a little shrine. He cuts down cedars; he selects the cypress and the oak; he plants the pine in the forest to be nourished by the rain. Then he uses part of the wood to make a fire. With it he warms himself and bakes his bread. Then—yes, it’s true—he takes the rest of it and makes himself a god to worship! He makes an idol and bows down in front of it!” – Isaiah 44:13-15 NLT

Regarding idols, God pulls no punches. “How foolish are those who manufacture idols. These prized objects are really worthless. The people who worship idols don’t know this, so they are all put to shame” (Isaiah 44:9 NLT).  And as sophisticated, modern believers, we would probably agree with His assessment. The thought of bowing down before a block of wood or some kind of man-make object sounds ridiculous to us. But for the people of Israel, idol worship was a part of the daily fabric of life. It was a common practice among all the nations surrounding them. Idol worship was socially acceptable. But the real issue behind all idol worship is the rejection of the one true God. God calls it a “spirit of whoredom.” What drives it is a desire for something other than God. It is built on dissatisfaction, distrust, and a belief that God is not enough. Rather than trust God and His promises, the people of Israel hedged their bets and turned to the gods of other nations in a hope that they would have all their bases covered. It God didn’t come through, maybe one of the other gods would. Some of their unfaithfulness to God was also driven by mere peer pressure, the desire to fit in with the nations around them. One of the reasons God had demanded that the people of Israel destroy all the nations living in the land of promise was so that they would not be tempted to worship their gods. But Israel failed to keep God’s command and soon found themselves intermarrying with those nations and worshiping their false gods.

By the time we get to the period in which Hosea prophesied, things had digressed to a dangerous point. Israel had actually manufactured their own idols – two golden calves – to replace the worship of Yahweh. They had set up their own priesthood and sacrificial system to replace that which God had instituted in Jerusalem. Their unfaithfulness had reached epic proportions and God had had enough. The “spirit of whoredom” was rampant. It even led their daughters to become actual prostitutes. The marriages of the people of Israel were marked by adultery and unfaithfulness. God declared, “your men are doing the same thing, sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes” (Hosea 4:14 NLT).

Unfaithfulness to God stems from an ignorance of God. If the Israelites had really known and understood just how great their God was, they would never have considered turning their back on Him. But over time, they had grown foolish in their understanding. They had lost their intimacy with God and had no real personal relationship with Him. God had become little more than a concept to them, an impersonal, distant deity whom they couldn’t see and with whom they had little or no interaction. The spirit of whoredom creeps in when we stray from God. The less time we spend with Him, reading His Word, sharing with Him our wants and needs, listening to His direction and hearing of His love for us, the more we will tend to stray from Him. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, but distance from God is dangerous. It can lead to disinterest and, ultimately, unfaithfulness. Like the people of Israel, we will find ourselves turning to something other than God in order to have our needs met. And while we may not have wooden idols in our homes or shrines located under trees or on top of hills. we will find ourselves worshiping false gods. The spirit of whoredom will creep in, tempting us to seek out something other than God to bring us satisfaction, contentment, joy, pleasure, hope, peace, or fulfillment. Anything we turn to other than God is an idol in our lives. Anything we fear losing has become an idol in our lives. Anything we wake up at night worrying about has become an idol in our lives. If sleeping in means more to us than seeking God, sleep has become an idol. If watching TV brings us more joy than reading God’s Word, then TV has become an idol. If becoming successful is more appealing to us than becoming holy, then our job has become an idol to us. If we place more trust in our money than we do God, then money has become an idol to us. And we are suffering from the spirit of whoredom.

God is not enough for us. His love is insufficient for us. We need more. We demand more. When He doesn’t give us what we think we need, we turn to something else. When we think we deserve more or better, we seek what we’re looking for elsewhere. And when we do, we shouldn’t be surprised when our children end up seeking their hope, help, fulfillment and satisfaction from the things of this world. The spirit of whoredom is contagious. It can spread through a family, a church and a generation. In a very short time, we can find ourselves in the same predicament that Israel was in – unfaithful to God,  spiritually adulterous and facing God’s wrath for their infidelity and insubordination. But God would have us return to Him, placing our faith and trust in Him. He wants to love us, bless us and fulfill His will in us.

When God Is Not Enough.

Say to your brothers, “You are my people,” and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.”

Plead with your mother, plead—for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband—that she put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts; lest I strip her naked and make her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and make her like a parched land, and kill her with thirst.

Upon her children also I will have no mercy, because they are children of whoredom. For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, “I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.”

Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, “I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.”

And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal. Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness. Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand. And I will put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts. And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, “These are my wages, which my lovers have given me.” I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them. And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the Lord. – Hosea 2:1-13 ESV

The narrative suddenly moves from God giving directions to Hosea regarding his wife and children to His real purpose behind the book: His assessment of Israel’s faithfulness. The whole point in Hosea having marry a woman who would prove unfaithful to him was to illustrate the long-standing unfaithfulness of Israel to God. And God’s command for Hosea to give his children such odd and offensive names was to make a painful point to the people of Israel. Even as the prophet of God, Hosea was going to have an up-close and personal experience with what unfaithfulness really looked and felt like. His own wife would leave him for a life of prostitution, and every time he called his children by name, he would be reminded of this painful fact.

But God’s primary purpose was to communicate to Israel just how grieved and angry He was with their sin of apostasy. From the moment their nation had been formed, they had chosen to reject Him as God. Jeroboam had commanded the construction of his own gods – golden calves – so that the people would not be tempted to return to Jerusalem to worship. He even appointed his own priests and set up his own temples. And God was not pleased.

Verse one appears to be tied directly to the closing verses of chapter one, where God had foretold of the coming restoration of the entire nation of Israel. There was a day coming when He would once again bless Israel and restore them to their privileged position as His children. He would even restore the divided nation, making them one once again. “And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head” (Hosea 1:11 ESV). In that day, both Judah and Israel will be able to call each other brothers and claim to be God’s people. The names Hosea gave to his two children would no longer apply. This is a future-oriented prophecy dealing with the millennial kingdom of Christ, but because God is faithful, it is guaranteed to happen.

But until that day arrived, God would deal with Israel according to their sin as a nation. And God made it quite clear to Hosea how He viewed the nation. “But now bring charges against Israel—your mother—for she is no longer my wife, and I am no longer her husband. Tell her to remove the prostitute’s makeup from her face and the clothing that exposes her breasts” (Hosea 2:2 NLT). God was fed up. He had had enough. And the rest of the verses in this passage reflect just what God thought about the nation of Israel. They had been unfaithful to Him. Like a prostitute, they had thrown themselves at any god that had come along, including Baal, the god of the Canaanites. They had sought from false gods what they should have only expected to receive from the hand of God Almighty. In fact, God made it clear that it had been Him who had provided for her all along yet “she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold” (Hosea 2:8 ESV). And what had they done with all that God had given them? They had used it all to worship a false god. They had taken the blessings of God and used them to make offerings to a god who didn’t even exist.

Now God was going to remove His hand of blessing and protection from them, and they would find no relief from those gods to whom it had turned. Their destruction was coming. Spiritual unfaithfulness always has ramifications. We cannot abuse the grace and mercy of God repeatedly and not expect there to be consequences. Israel was taking its status as God’s chosen people for granted. They were treating His goodness with contempt. And we can do the same thing today. We can be guilty of taking the blessings of God – our talents, resources, gifts, etc. – and using them to “worship” and serve the gods of this world. Like Israel, we can end up turning to false gods rather than the one true God for our hope and help. Trusting in men, money, governments and other institutions rather than God will never provide us with that for which we are looking. God wanted Israel to love and trust Him. He wants us to turn to Him for all our needs. We are to be His people, living life according to His terms and in complete dependence upon His strength.

A People of Faith.

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. – Galatians 3:7-9 ESV In his defense of justification by faith alone in Christ alone, Paul appeals to the patriarch of the Jewish people: Abraham. As he did in his letter to the Romans, Paul argues that Abraham was deemed righteous before God because of his faith.

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” – Romans 4:1-3 ESV

Paul contends that it was Abraham’s belief in God and the promises He had made to him that led to God’s declaration of his righteous standing. It had nothing to do with works. In fact, it would be hundreds of years before the law would be given. And God declared Abraham as righteous long before He commanded the rite of circumcision. Paul clarified this point as well in his letter to the Romans.

For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. – Romans 4:9-11 ESV

You can see why Paul was so upset with those who had shown up in Galatia representing the party of the circumcision. They were demanding that all the Gentile converts be circumcised as a non-negotiable requirement for their acceptance into the fellowship. And yet, in his letter to the Romans, Paul clearly revealed the fallacy behind this belief. He made it perfectly clear that God declared Abraham righteous long before the requirement of circumcision had been given.

The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. – Romans 4:11-12 ESV

Abraham was to be the father of many nations, not just that of the Jews. Later on in this same chapter, Paul will divulge how God intended to make Abraham the father of a multitude of nations and become a blessing to the nations. “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ” (Galatians 3:16 ESV). Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, unpacks this familiar Old Testament passage and reveals that God’s plan all along had been to bless the nations through Abraham by making the Messiah one of his descendants. It would be through Jesus and by faith in His finished work on the cross that the nations would be blessed. The Jews (circumcised) and the Gentiles (uncircumcised) would discover the blessings of God through faith in His Son. Paul was adamant in his belief that righteousness was available through faith alone in Christ alone.

For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. – Romans 4:13-14 ESV

No one could save themselves, including the Jews. Yes, they had the law of God, but they were incapable of keeping it. All the law could do was expose their sinfulness and condemn them as unrighteous and unworthy of God’s goodness. The law revealed God’s righteous expectations and man’s incapacity to live up to them. The law made the holiness of God tangible, but also unattainable.

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. – Galatians 3:23-24 ESV

Paul wanted the Galatians to realize that their salvation was solely based on faith in Jesus Christ. There was nothing missing. There was nothing that needed to be added and there wasn’t anything more they needed to do. It was the finished work of Christ and their complete dependence upon it that had resulted in their salvation. And Paul reminded them that “those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith” (Galatians 3:9 ESV). Faith is foundational to all that we are as believers. Without faith, we have nothing. Without faith, we are nothing. “In walking with God, a man will go just as far as he believes, and no further. His life will always be proportional to his faith. His peace, his patience, his courage, his zeal, his works – will all be according to his faith” (J. C. Ryle, Holiness). We are saved as a result of faith. We grow spiritually in proportion to our faith. We live our lives according to faith. The author of Hebrews reminds us, “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6 ESV). Our works, devoid of faith, are worthless. And our faith, if not placed in the finished work of Christ and kept there, can easily transform into self-reliance – a kind of faith that seeks to earn favor with God through self-effort. At the heart of biblical faith is a God-dependence that recognizes self as insufficient and Jesus as the only solution to our sin problem.

Naively Ignorant.

This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. – 2 Peter 3:1-7 ESV They say, “What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” But not only is that not the case, it can be deadly wrong. Especially when it comes to the judgment of God. The false teachers who were stirring up trouble among the believers to whom Peter wrote, were evidently mocking the apostles’ teaching regarding the return of Christ. In their estimation, things were going along like they always had. There seemed to be no indication or sign that Jesus was going to return anytime soon. So this gave them the confidence to follow their own sinful desires. They even mocked at the very idea of Jesus coming back, which was a direct contradiction of what the apostles taught. Peter started out this letter saying, “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2 Peter 1:16 ESV). They had seen Jesus in His resurrected state and they had watched as He had returned to heaven, right in front of them. But before He left, He had told them that He would one day return. He also told them that there would be a time of coming judgment.

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” – Matthew 24:36-39 ESV

Peter brings up the flood as well. He says, “For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished” (2 Peter 3:5-6 ESV). These scoffers and doubters were not doing their homework. In their desperate desire to discount the apostles' teaching about coming judgment, they had overlooked the fact that God had destroyed the earth once before. And while they were confidently boasting, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4 ESV), they were wrong to turn the lack of signs into cause for discrediting the reality of God’s pending judgment. Even those in Noah’s day were eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. In other words, they were doing business as usual. Life went on, and they didn’t see it hit them until it was too late. “So will be the coming of the Son of Man,” Jesus said.

God’s judgment is going to come. And it will catch many by complete surprise. They will be going on with life as they always have, ignoring the Word of God and the offer of eternal life through Jesus Christ. They will scoff at the idea of punishment for sin and the need for a Savior. They will mock those who attempt to live righteously in this world, living like Moses, choosing to “be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 12:25 ESV).

That is why Peter wrote this letter. He was attempting to remind his readers to keep on keeping on. He wanted them to remain steadfast and committed, and to “remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles” (2 Peter 3:2 ESV). Peter and the other apostles were teaching the reality of Christ’s return for His church, the inevitability of the tribulation, and the promise of the second coming of Christ when He will judge the world and establish His Kingdom on earth. For Peter, it was essential that his readers stay committed to and dependent upon the Word of God. Let the scoffers scoff and the mockers mock. Let the doubters have their day and the naysayers have their moment in the sun. But as people of faith, we put our trust in the reliability and truthfulness of God. He says of Himself, “I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner. I would not have told the people of Israel to seek me if I could not be found. I, the LORD, speak only what is true and declare only what is right” (Isaiah 45:19 NLT).

Isaiah goes on to record the words of God proclaiming, “Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other. I have sworn by my own name; I have spoken the truth, and I will never go back on my word: Every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to me” (Isaiah 45:22-23 NLT).

In the book of Revelation, the apostle John records the words of Jesus:

“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. – Revelation 22:12-17 ESV

The naively ignorant can live as if the promise of His return is a pipe dream. They can boldly deny the reality of the coming judgment of God. But denying something is true does not make it so. As followers of Christ we are to live with these words ringing in our ears:

“Surely I am coming soon.” And our response to that promise should be “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20 ESV).

Stand Firm in God’s Grace.

Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it! She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, Mark. Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to you all who are in Christ. – 1 Peter 5:12-14 ESV At this point in his letter, Peter begins his closing. It would appear that he has had help in putting his thoughts in writing from Sylvanus, which is probably a reference to Silas. Sylvanus is the Roman form of the Greek name, Silas. So as Paul had done in many of his other letters, he dictated his thoughts to Silas and he wrote them all out. But it seems that Paul took up quill in hand and wrote these final sentences on his own. He states, “I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God” (1 Peter 5:12 ESV). HIs personal, handwritten conclusion to the letter was to act as his seal of approval, affirming its content. And the “true grace of God” to which he refers encompasses all that he has said in the last five chapters.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. – 1 Peter 1:3-7 ESV

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. – 1 Peter 2:9-10 ESV

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. – 1 Peter 2:24-25 ESV

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. – 1 Peter 3:8-9 ESV

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit…who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. – 1 Peter 3:18, 22 ESV

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. – 1 Peter 4:1-2 ESV

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. – 1 Peter 4:12-13 ESV

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. – 1 Peter 5:6-7 ESV

Peter has exhorted and declared that all of what he has written in this letter is the true grace of God. And he tells them one last time, “Stand firm in it!” The grace, mercy, love, power, faithfulness and sovereignty of God are to be the foundation on which we stand. It is God’s unfailing plan of redemption, as made possible through His Son’s death and resurrection, that forms the solid ground on which we are to find the firm footing for our faith. We will suffer for the sake of righteousness in this life. We will discover that living for Christ in a fallen world is difficult and requires confidence in the presence and promises of God. Our motivation and inspiration must come from our belief in the grace and mercy of God. We must believe as Paul did. “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13 ESV). We must listen to the words of Paul when he wrote, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love” (1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV).

It is by or according to God’s grace that we were saved. His grace is the means by which we are being sanctified. His grace, His undeserved, unmerited favor towards us, keeps us safely and permanently as His children. All that we are and all that we have is according to the grace of God. And it is on that grace we are to stand. He is not yet done extending His grace to us. There are more blessings to come, more promises to be fulfilled. We must constantly remember the words of Peter as he closed out this letter.

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. – 1 Peter 5:10-11 ESV

When reading this final paragraph from Peter’s letter, I can’t help but recall the words from the old hymn, My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less.

My Hope is Built on Nothing Less by Edward Mote, 1797-1874

My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus' blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; In every high and stormy gale My anchor holds within the veil. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.

His oath, His covenant, and blood Support me in the whelming flood; When every earthly prop gives way, He then is all my Hope and Stay. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.

When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh, may I then in Him be found, Clothed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne! On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.

For Heaven’s Sake.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. – 1 Peter 5:6-11 ESV

Humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand.

Cast all your anxieties on God.

Be sober-minded.

Be watchful.

Resist the devil, standing firmly in your faith.

Know that you are not alone in your suffering.

Suffer well, knowing that it is temporary, but that God’s plan for you is eternal.

Sometimes we just need words of reminder and encouragement, because this life can be difficult at times. The promises of God can appear to be so distant and even unrealistic in our daily lives. The peace He promises can seem non-existent. The joy He offers can be overwhelmed by the sorrows of life. The satisfaction He said we would find in Him can leave us feeling, well, unsatisfied. And we can sometimes feel as if His love for us is nowhere to be found, even though He promised that nothing could ever keep Him from loving us. When it comes to our relationship with God, perception is not always reality. How we feel is not always a good indicator of how things really are. What we sense to be the case rarely is. So we need to be reminded to keep our eyes focused on God. We need a gentle nudge to realign our thinking and recommit our trust to God and His Word. And that is exactly what Peter seems to be doing as he wraps up his letter.

For two chapters, Peter has addressed the issue of suffering. It was an everyday reality for his audience. The likelihood of them suffering for their faith was not a matter of if, but when. So he took great pains to discuss the topic with them. It was his desire that they suffer well. He wanted them to keep their focus on the promises of God. That is why he wraps up his letter with the simple admonition: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God” (1 Peter 5:6 ESV). They were to willingly submit to God’s faithful plan for their lives, recognizing that suffering was part of that plan. As the sovereign God of the universe, He was in control of all things. He was well aware of all that was happening in their lives. And He had a purpose for it all. James gave similar words of encouragement in his letter.

But he [God] gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. – James 4:6-10 ESV

Humility is a state of mind, not a condition. It is not to be confused with humiliation. Humility is a mindset that communicates our willing reliance upon a God who is bigger, smarter, more powerful, and far more loving than we could ever imagine. It is an attitude that looks past circumstances and zeroes in on the character of God. He is loving, faithful, all-knowing, all-powerful, sovereign over all, and never fails to keep follow through on His commitments. Peter does not deny that we will have anxieties and worries in this life. Those things are natural and normal human reactions to difficulties. But he tells us to cast them on to God. We are to give them over to Him. Why? Because He cares for us. He knows we have doubts. He if fully aware of our fears and apprehensions. He is not blind to our struggles and sorrows. But rather than dealing with them on our own, God wants us to bring them to Him, recognizing that He alone can help and comfort us. Peter is not telling us that God will take away all our problems and pain. He is not promising us that God will eliminate all our difficulties. But he is saying that God is to be our one and only place of refuge and hope.

We have to live in this world with a sober-minded outlook, recognizing that we have a real enemy who is out to destroy us. Jesus warned us about the intentions of our enemy. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10 ESV). We can’t go through this life with a cavalier or complacent mindset, thinking that everything is meant to be easy and care-free. As believers, we walk around with target on our chest and a real-life enemy who is gunning for us. Which is why Peter warns, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8 ESV). So we need to resist him. Paul warned the believers in Ephesus:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. – Ephesians 6:10-12 ESV

We are in the middle of a spiritual conflict. It is a real battle with real casualties. And our only hope is our faith in God, trusting in His power and leaning on His promises. The church is under attack all over the world. And where we stand the most vulnerable as individual believers is when we allow the enemy to cause us to doubt, deny, and disobey what God has said. That was the point of attack of Satan in the garden. He said to Even, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1 ESV). His attack was subtle and sly. He wanted to get her to doubt God’s word. Because he knew that doubt leads to disbelief and disbelief ultimately results in disobedience.

The key to making it through this life is to keep our focus on the life to come. God has called us to “eternal glory in Christ” (1 Peter 5:10 ESV). That is the ultimate outcome of our faith in Christ. And the day is coming when God will “himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:11 ESV). Yes, we can experience that in some measure on this earth, but the real fulfillment of our hope is the future redemption of our bodies and our final glorification. We have to constantly remind ourselves that our team wins. God is in control. His plan is perfect and unstoppable. We may suffer now, but the day is coming when we will never suffer again. He rules. He reigns. He finishes what He starts. He fulfills what He promises. “To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

An Unshakeable Kingdom.

See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. – Hebrews 12:25-29 ESV It pays to listen to God. That should go without saying. Yet when God had spoken to the Israelites from Mount Sinai, they trembled in fear, but refused to obey what He had to say. They had been scared out of their wits by all the booming thunder, lightning and smoke, but that fear didn’t turn into faithful obedience to His commands. The author tells us “the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them” (Hebrews 12:19 ESV). They heard, but they felt like they had heard enough. Even Moses trembled in fear at the sight of God descending upon the top of Mount Sinai. And it was from the top of that mountain that God would give him the Ten Commandments. From that point forward, the righteous expectations of God would be clearly articulated and scrupulously regulated. Sin went from being a somewhat subjective, arbitrary thing to a highly objective, non-debatable trespass against a holy God.

The author of Hebrews warns his readers not to repeat the mistake of their ancestors. “See that you do not refuse him who is speaking” (Hebrews 12:25a ESV). God had come down to earth. He had descended upon Mount Sinai. And there He gave to Moses His list of commands. His voice had shaken the heavens and His physical glory could be seen in the thunder, lightning, smoke and fire. But they had refused to listen to God. “And they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth” (Hebrews 12:25b ESV). Even while Moses was up on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments from God, the people were down in the valley worshiping and dancing before a false god they had made. As a result of their disobedience, Moses commanded the Levites, “‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’ ²And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell” (Exodus 32:27-28 ESV). The rest of the history of the people of Israel would be marked by disobedience and disloyalty to God. In spite of them hearing His voice, they had refused to listen and had to suffer the consequences.

And so, the author of Hebrews warns his readers not to repeat the same mistake. This time, God is speaking from heaven, where He is accompanied by His Son. And quoting from the Old Testament book of Haggai, the author of Hebrews credits God with the words, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens” (Hebrews 12:26 ESV). The actual quote from the prophecies of Haggai is “For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land” (Haggai 2:6 ESV). At this point in Jewish history, the people of God had returned from exile in the land of Babylon and had rebuilt the temple. It was just a shadow of its former glory. The city of Jerusalem was still being reconstructed and the nation was in a highly weakened state, with no king and no army to protect them. Haggai went on to prophecy, “And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts” (Haggai 2:7-9 ESV). That prophecy has yet to be fulfilled. But the author of Hebrews is telling his readers that it one day will be.

God is going to one day shake the earth again. This time, it will involve “the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain” (Hebrews 12:27 ESV). God is going to redeem what He has made. He will destroy the old created order, marred by sin, and replace it with something new and free from the effects of sin.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”  – Revelation 21:1-4 ESV

Isaiah speaks of the same incredible event:

For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. – Isaiah 65:17-19 ESV

Peter gives us another glimpse of that coming day.

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. – 2 Peter 3:8-13 ESV

So what should our response be to all of this? The author of Hebrews tells us, “let us be grateful for receiving an kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28-29 ESV). We have much for which to be grateful. Our God is in control. He has a perfect plan. He will one day complete that plan and restore things back to the way He made them before the fall. Let us listen to His words of promise and rest in His holy character, fully believing that we will receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

The Many Faces of Faith.

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets — who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated — of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. – Hebrews 11:32-38 ESV The list goes on. The author of Hebrews draws this chapter to a close, but can’t help but add a few more names to his growing list of the faithful. He mentions Gideon, who lived in Israel during a time of spiritual apathy and moral depravity. God had given the Israelites over the the hands of the Midians as punishment. “For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey” (Judges 6:3-4 ESV). But when the people cried out to God, He sent them Gideon as a judge to deliver them. But Gideon was a reluctant deliverer. When God called him, his response was less than enthusiastic. “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house” (Judges 6:15 ESV). And God’s response to him was simple and direct: “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man” (Judges 6:16 ESV). Gideon would go on to accomplish great things for God, delivering His people from the oppression of the Midianites – by faith. Each step of the way, Gideon had to believe God’s promise that He would be with him.

This is true of each of the individuals listed in the verses above. Barak had to face the overwhelmingly superior armies of Sisera on the words of Deborah, a prophetess. The odds were against him, but He obeyed the word of the Lord and God gave Israel a great victory.

Then there was Samson, a somewhat surprising addition to the list. His story is a sad one and does not end well. He was driven by his desires and eventually defeated by them. But on the final day of his life, having been blinded by the Philistines and chained between two pillars, he called out to God in faith. “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes” (Judges 16:28 ESV). That prayer of faith, lifted up in his most vulnerable, weak condition, was answered by God. “Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life” (Judges 16:30 ESV). He died in faith, trusting in His God and giving his last minutes of life to destroy the enemies of God.

What about Jephthah? He had been born as a result of his father’s immoral affair with a prostitute, and when he became an adult, Jephthah was thrown out of the family by his brothers. He ended up living in a form of exile from his family and found himself in the companionship of “worthless men.” But when the Ammonites began to oppress the Israelites, they sought out Jephthah to deliver them because he was a mighty warrior. In his newfound position as the judge of Israel, Jephthah turned to the Lord, and he made a vow to God. “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering” (Judges 11:30-31 ESV). Jephthah believed that God could and would deliver His people. But he wrongly assumed that God would want something in return, so he bargained with God. I suggest that Jephthah fully believed that God would come through and that he would be required to follow through on his vow. But little did he know that after God had given him the victory over the Ammonites, it would be his own daughter who came out of the house to greet him. He would go on to sacrifice his daughter. This is a bizarre and disturbing story. It seems a bit strange to include this man in the Hall of Faith. But while Jephthah’s understanding of God was somewhat flawed, he did believe in the power and deliverance of God. He trusted that God would and would come through. His problem was that his faith in God was marred by a faulty understanding of God.

In the case of David, the stories that exemplify his faith in God are many. The psalms he wrote echo his belief in God and his unwavering faith that God was his savior and sustainer. From the moment David was anointed the next king of Israel, he had to live a life of faith in God, spending years trusting in the promise of God while running for his life from the wrath of King Saul. He had been anointed king by God, but Saul was still on the throne. David learned to wait on God, believe in God, trust in God, and rely on God. And his life reflects that faith.

From his earliest days as a young boy serving in the house of the Lord under the watchful eye of Eli the priest, Samuel developed a growing faith in God. He would become a prophet for God, speaking on his behalf and leading the people of Israel to obey the will and word of God. Samuel would eventually be called on by God to anoint Israel’s first king. And while he was reluctant to do so, he obeyed. Throughout his life, Samuel would learn to trust God. He had to believe that God knew what He was going, even when it seemed to make no sense. His faith is best seen in his faithful obedience to the will of God. What God said, he would do. What God declared, he would believe. Trusting that God knows what He is doing even when you can’t comprehend it or completely appreciate it is a hallmark of faith.

The author of Hebrews goes on to illustrate that faith is oftentimes accompanied by rousing success, including military victories, strength in the midst of weakness, deliverance by the hand of God, and mind-blowing miracles. But just as often faith can be accompanied by less-than-ideal circumstances. He mentions torture, mocking, flogging, chains, imprisonment, stoning, destitution and even death. Faith doesn’t always result in a happy ending. Samson died under the very rubble that destroyed the Philistines. David died never getting to build the temple he dreamed of constructing for God. Jephthah would see the accolades for the victory over the Ammonites go to a woman. The focus of our faith should always be God. Faith is trusting Him regardless of what we see happening or not happening around us. The presence of difficult does not mean the absence of God. The lack of answer is not proof of God’s lack of power or interest. Faith that is God-focused is willing to wait and comfortable accepting seemingly unacceptable outcomes knowing that God is not done yet.

Unwavering Faith From An Unlikely Source.

By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. – Hebrews 11:31 ESV Now things get really interesting. Up to this point in the chapter, the author of Hebrews has been dealing with some fairly significant and well-known individuals in the family tree of Israel – Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Joseph, and by extension, Joshua. But it should catch us a bit by surprise to read the name of a prostitute in this great “Hall of Faith.” To understand her presence in the list of the faithful provided in Hebrews 11, we have to go back to the original story found in the book of Joshua. When it came time for the people of Israel to begin their God-ordained occupation of the land of Canaan, Joshua sent out spies to determine the situation in Jericho. “And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, ‘Go, view the land, especially Jericho.’ And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there” (Joshua 2:1 ESV). There is a lot we don’t know in this story. We don’t know why they chose Rahab’s house. Had they been given her name by someone else? Where they aware that she was a follower of Yahweh? Did they choose a prostitute's house because they believed no one would think to look for them there? The passage doesn’t provide us with answers to these questions. But we do know that someone ratted on the two spies, and the king of Jericho sent soldiers to Rahab’s house to find them. “Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, ‘Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land’” (Joshua 2:3 ESV). But rather than turn the two spies over to the king's soldiers, she hid them, and she covered for them. “But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, ‘True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them’” (Joshua 2:4-5 ESV).

Rahab protected the two Israelite spies. Why? Because she was a God-fearer. She had somehow heard about the God of Israel and believed in Him. Word of God’s powerful and miraculous deliverance of Israel from captivity in Egypt had gotten out, and Rahab  determined that He was the one true God. She knew that Jericho was no match for God, so she protected the spies and asked them to return the favor when the time came.

Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” – Joshua 2:9-13 ESV

I tend to believe that the two men inadvertently ended up at Rahab’s house and that they had no idea she was a believer in Yahweh. That would have been the last thing they expected from a woman who made her living as a prostitute in a pagan city. But God, in His divine plan, arranged for them to go to the very house where they would find a woman who had become a believer in the God of Israel. She was so convinced of God’s power that she knew Jericho was going to fall. She only asked that she and her family be spared. She believed with all her heart that the God of Israel was the “God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.” The spies made an agreement with Rahab, instructing her to tie a scarlet thread in her window. That would act as a sign, much like the blood on the door post and lintels during the Passover. That threat would tell the Israelite troops to spare all the individuals found in that house. And when the walls of Jericho fell, we are told,  “But Rahab the prostitute and her father's household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho” (Joshua 6:25 ESV).

You might be tempted to say that Rahab’s faith was in the two spies. She believed they would keep their word and spare her life. But while there is some truth to that, the thing that drove her actions from the outset was her belief that God was the one true God and that He would give their city into the hands of the Israelite troops. Their God was greater. And in her action of providing protection for the two spies, she was acknowledging that she believed in God. Hebrews 11:6 tells us “without faith it is impossible to please him [God], for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” Rahab definitely believed God existed. And she was seeking His protection and the reward of her life being spared. Rahab had no track record with God. She had simply heard the stories of His deliverance of the people of Israel from their captivity in Egypt. She had heard about His redemptive power illustrated in the parting of the Red Sea. She had heard the stories about His defeat of the Amorites. For her, the rumors and hearsay became cause for belief. And her faith that God was real and that He had the power to save as well as destroy would lead to life, rather than death. Everyone in the city was doomed to destruction, but her faith in God resulted in her salvation.

Rahab would go on to spend the rest of her life living among the God’s people. She would marry and have children. In fact, you read her name in the gospel of Matthew. She is listed in the lineage of David.

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. – Matthew 1:2-6 ESV

And from David would come the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Not only did Rahab’s faith result in the sparing of her own life, it paved the way for the coming of Jesus, the Savior of the world. Her faith had long-lasting repercussions. Out of faith in God, she gave a friendly welcome to the spies, and that faith would result in her redemption and allow for the coming of the Redeemer of the world.

Walking In Circles In Faith.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. – Hebrews 11:30 ESV Moses was gone. An entire generation of Israelites had died during their forty years of wandering in the wilderness, all because they had refused to believe God and enter the land He had promised them. Their disobedience had brought God’s judgment and that generation would never enter the rest that God had promised to provide for them. Now, Joshua led a new generation of Israelites into the promised land. They would not just waltz into the land and take over without a fight. The occupants of the land of Canaan were going to have a real problem with the descendants of Abraham showing up and making claims that the land belonged to them because Yahweh, their God, had given it to them. The land and all its provisions was not going to come without a fight. But God would give Joshua, the new leader, a piece of important news.

When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. – Joshua 5:13-15 ESV

This occasion recalls that of Moses at the burning bush. Joshua, like Moses, had a personal and up-close encounter with God Himself in the form of a theophany. Joshua saw what he believed to be a man and this stranger announced himself as the commander of the army of the Lord. That word “commander” can be translated “prince” or “captain.” It is believed that this “man” was actually the pre-incarnate Christ. Joshua’s immediate reaction reveals his awareness that he was speaking with more than just a man. He fell on his face and worshiped. The very next chapter records the words that the Commander of the army of the Lord shared with Joshua.

Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.” – Joshua 6:1-5 ESV

This would have been strange counsel to Joshua. The very first city they encountered was fortified and well-armed, and the Lord was telling Joshua that He would give the city into their hands. But the conditions for achieving this victory were a bit odd. The Lord was explicit in His details. He left nothing to chance or to Joshua’s imagination. For six days, they would make a single circuit around the walls of the city. No arrows would be fired. No spears would be thrown. Imagine the reactions they would have gotten from the people behind the walls and the soldiers looking down on this spectacle from the tops of the walls. There would have endured ridicule and countless words of derision. The men of Israel would have struggled with feelings of shame and embarrassment as they marched in a silent column around the city, listening to their enemies question their sanity and manhood. Their swords hung at their side, unused. Their strength was being used up walking instead of fighting. According to the instructions of the Commander of the army of the Lord, “The armed men were walking before the priests who were blowing the trumpets, and the rear guard was walking after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually” (Joshua 6:9 ESV). No one said a word. No one fired a shot. In keeping with the command of Joshua, no one could respond to the jeers and insults coming from behind the well-fortified walls of Jericho. But the people of Israel continued to walk – day after day for six days. But then the seventh day came.

On the seventh day they rose early, at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city. And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction.” – Joshua 6:15-17 ESV

This day was going to be different. Six days of seemingly pointless activity were going to be followed by an incredible miracle from God. Just as they had the previous six days, the people marched in silence, this time circling the city seven times. And after their final trip around the city “the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city. Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword” (Joshua 6:20-21 ESV).

For seven days they had walked and waited. For a solid week they had done as they had been told. They had been faithful and obedient to the Lord’s command. That doesn’t mean they didn’t have doubts. It doesn’t mean they didn’t question the Lord’s plan. There was most likely a fair share of grumbling and grousing around the campfires at night. The people probably wondered if Joshua had really heard from God at all. But they walked. For seven days they did as they had been told. Their walking was evidence that they were trusting God. They didn’t know exactly how the walls were going to fall. God had not explained how He would do it. But they knew the part they were called to play. They were to march. They were to obey. And they were to wait on the Lord. Their pride had to take a back seat. Their physical abilities had to be used walking and not fighting. But as the author of Hebrews tells us, “by faith the walls of Jericho fell down.” It wasn’t their faith that caused the walls to fall. It was God. But their faith was instrumental in God’s power being unleashed and put on display. Had they stopped walking, the walls would not have fallen. Had they decided to take up their swords and attack the city in their own strength, the outcome would have been radically different. Their faith was in God. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV). They hoped for victory, and they were convinced it would happen – not because they marched, but because their God had promised it. Their marching was simply an expression of their faith in God. Sometimes trusting God requires us to step out – in faith – and walking in seemingly meaningless circles. But if we truly trust God, walking and waiting is well worth it. He always comes through – in His way and according to His will.

The First Step Is The Hardest.

By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. – Hebrews 11:29 ESV After God had destroyed the firstborn of Egypt, including the son of Pharaoh, the Egyptians were ready to see the Hebrews leave. “All the Egyptians urged the people of Israel to get out of the land as quickly as possible, for they thought, ‘We will all die!’” (Exodus 12:33 NLT). Not only did they urge them to leave, they loaded them down with wealth just as God had said they would. “And the people of Israel did as Moses had instructed; they asked the Egyptians for clothing and articles of silver and gold. The Lord caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth!” (Exodus 12:25-26 NLT). And they marched out, more than a million strong, under the leadership of Moses and the direction of God.

This is where the story gets interesting. “When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land” (Exodus 13:17 NLT). Instead, “God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea” (Exodus 13:18 NLT). God took them the long way. But not only that, He eventually had them do a U-turn. “Then the Lord gave these instructions to Moses: ‘Order the Israelites to turn back and camp by Pi-hahiroth between Migdol and the sea. Camp there along the shore, across from Baal-zephon’” (Exodus 14:1-2 NLT). They were going backwards. God had them head back toward Egypt and He told Moses why. “‘Pharaoh will think, “The Israelites are confused. They are trapped in the wilderness!” And once again I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after you. I have planned this in order to display my glory through Pharaoh and his whole army. After this the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord!’ So the Israelites camped there as they were told” (Exodus 14:3-4 NLT). God had one last trick up His sleeve for Pharaoh. He knew that once Pharaoh heard that the Hebrews were camped nearby, he would change his mind and go on the attack. This whole encounter was part of God’s plan.

So Pharaoh didn’t disappoint. He showed up with a huge army complete with 600 chariots and he found the Israelites camped before the Red Sea. “As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, and they said to Moses, ‘Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt?  Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, “Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!”’” (Exodus 14:10-12 NLT). They were not happy. They were in a full-blown panic. And yet, the author of Hebrews says, “By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land.” They don’t appear to be very faithful in the Exodus account. They don’t seem to have much faith in God. They were scared, disillusioned, and confused. This was not what they had been expecting. Everything had looked so promising and now there were facing the entire army of Pharaoh. They were in a bad spot. They were in a jam. Their circumstances could not have been any worse. But remember, God had led them there. This was all part of His plan. What looked like the beginnings of an unmitigated disaster was actually going to be a divine deliverance.

Even Moses told the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent” (Exodus 14:13-14 ESV). They had front row seats to what was going to be the greatest show on earth. They just didn’t realize it yet. You know the story. God miraculously parted the Red Sea. “Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left” (Exodus 14:21-22 ESV).

There are those who say that they people had no faith. They reason that the faith of which the author of Hebrews speaks is that of Moses. It was his faith that got them across the sea. But the Exodus passage makes it clear that “the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea.” Each and every one of them had to place his or her sandals on ground between those two walls of standing water. They had to take that initial step of faith and walk the path that God had provided. It would have been scary. It would have been intimidating. They would have had doubts along the way, wondering if the walls of water would suddenly crash down, drowning them all. It would have taken a while for more than a million people to make the crossing. The ones in the back of the line must have been wondering if they would ever make it across before Pharaoh’s army arrived. And yet, by faith, the people crossed – each and every one of them. Their salvation, the work of God, required that they step out in obedience. They had to walk if they wanted to live. They had to take the path God had provided, in spite of their fears, doubts and apprehensions.

As we walk on this earth as followers of Christ, we will find ourselves facing difficult and sometimes disillusioning circumstances. God’s path for us will not always be easy or make sense. We will have doubts and fears, second thoughts and last-minute temptations to stop in our tracks and refuse to walk the path God has placed before us. But in those moments, we must remember the words of Moses, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord” (Exodus 14:13 ESV). That doesn’t mean our fear is sin. It simply means that, at some point, we have to stop fearing and start trusting. We have to remember that God is in control and He has a plan for our lives. The path He lays out before us may seem illogical and even dangerous at times. His solution may appear worse than the problem we are facing. But we must learn to trust Him and step out in faith. The people of Israel doubted, but they walked. They feared, but they took the first step. When there had been no way of escape, God had provided one. And they took it – in faith – weak and wavering as it may have been. And they got to the other side.

Faith: Belief In Action.

By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. – Hebrews 11:28 ESV The author of Hebrews skips over a large section of the biography of Moses, going straight from his departure from Egypt after killing another Egyptian to the days just prior to his second departure, this time leading the entire nation of Israel into the wilderness. The account in Hebrews leaves out large, seemingly significant sections of Moses’ life, including his call at the burning bush, his somewhat reluctant return to Egypt, his encounters with Pharaoh, and the first nine plagues. From the moment God called Moses in Midian and told him he would be the deliverer of God’s people, Moses had to have faith in the word of God. When God had appeared to him at the burning bush in Midian, He had told Moses:

Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.” – Exodus 3:7-9 ESV

This would have been good news to Moses. But then he heard the rest of God’s plan. “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:10 ESV). Moses was reluctant, even resistant, to God’s plan. But God told him, “I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain” (Exodus 3:12 ESV). God had given Moses a promise, an assurance that he was the one to do the job. God would be with him and God would bring he and the people of Israel back to this very same spot – Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai. God went on to tell Moses the rest of His plan.

“But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.  So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.” – Exodus 23:19-22 ESV

So Moses went. And everything went just as God had said. All the way up to the point to which the author of Hebrews refers in verse 28 of chapter 11. There was going to be one last plague that God would bring on the land of Egypt. And while the first nine had been troubling and even devastating at times, the last plague would be deadly. God warned Pharaoh through His servant Moses, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle’” (Exodus 11:4-5 ESV). While God had protected the people of Israel from most of the other plagues, this one was going to be nation-wide and non-discriminate. All the first-born males throughout the land would die, of both man and animal, including the firstborn of the Jews. Unless they followed God’s directions. On the tenth day of the month, every household was to select a lamb – a one-year old, unblemished male lamb. They were to “keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight” (Exodus 12:6 ESV).

“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.” – Exodus 12:7-13 ESV

The people of Israel were instructed to take the blood of their lambs and sprinkle it on the doorposts and lentils of their homes. This final step was essential for their salvation. God had told them, “For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you” (Exodus 12:23 ESV). The blood of the innocent lamb would protect them. But it required faith and obedience. Of all the plagues, this one hit the closest to him – literally. If the people of Israel failed to follow God’s commands, they would suffer the same fate as the Egyptians. Their protection and preservation required faith and action. And Moses led the way. He placed his faith in God and did what God had told him to do. The whole scenario had to have sounded bizarre to Moses. There was no precedent for killing a lamb and sprinkling its blood as a form of protection from death. The sacrificial system had not yet been given. This would have been a costly command, because as shepherds, the people of Israel put a high value on their livestock, especially one that was one-year old and without blemish. A male lamb would have been prime breeding stock. God’s plan probably sounded far-fetched and fairly sketchy to most of the Jews. They most likely had doubts as to whether it would work. You can imagine their fear and dismay as the “destroyer” passed over the city that night and they heard the cries coming from the homes of all those who had lost a firstborn. They would have wondered if the blood would work. But as the dawn came, the thing that saved them was not the quantity or quality of their faith, but the presence of the blood. The Lord looked for the blood. It was the blood that saved them, not their faith. It was God who protected them, not their faith. Their faith was simply an instrument through which they expressed their trust in God. Moses and the people had to put their faith in God’s plan of salvation. And when they did, it worked. 

It was Moses’ faith in the word of God that ultimately convinced the people of God to sprinkle the blood on their doorposts and lentils. He believed God. His faith was influential and infectious. By faith he obeyed the command of God. By faith he instructed the people of God. His faith in God was instrumental in saving tens of thousands of firstborn Israelites. By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood. His faith showed up in action. He took God at His word and took steps to obey God’s word.

When Getting Back Means Letting Go.

By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. – Hebrews 11:23 ESV We read it Exodus 1, “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:8 ESV). Joseph was gone. Time had passed and the preferential treatment received by his family was about to be a thing of the past. The descendants of Jacob had been fruitful during their peaceful stay in Egypt and their dramatic increase in number got the attention of Pharaoh and raised alarm bells in his mind. What if we go to war and they decide to turn against us and side with our enemies, he reasoned in his mind. Paranoia set in and he determined to turn them into slaves in order to control them. The book of Exodus tells us exactly what happened:

…the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves. – Exodus 1:13-15 ESV

But that wasn’t enough for Pharaoh. It was their sheer numbers that worried him, not their military might. After all, they were predominantly shepherds. So he came up with a plan. He commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill all male children as soon as they came out of the womb. He was going to take care of his perceived problem by infanticide. But fearing God, the Hebrew midwives refused to obey the command of Pharaoh and when he confronted them about their blatant lack of follow through, they said, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them” (Exodus 1:19 ESV). They practiced an early form of civil disobedience and God blessed them for it. So when Pharaoh’s initial plan failed, he came up with another one.

Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.” – Exodus 1:22 ESV

This is where our passage for today comes in.

Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews' children.” Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.” – Exodus 2:1-10 ESV

The couple involved in this story were Amram and Jochebed. They were just an obscure couple who, like all the other couples living at that time, were struggling with fear and apprehension due to the edict of the Pharaoh that their male children should be sacrificed to the Nile. And I believe it was Pharaoh’s intent that each and every Hebrew male child thrown into the Nile was to have been a sacrifice to Hapi, their water and fertility god. The symbols for Hapi were the lotus and papyrus plants. Papyrus was a reed that grew along the banks of the Nile and it was used for everything from paper, rope, furniture and boats. Hapi was believed to be the greatest of the Egyptian gods and was thought to be the make of the universe and the creator all all things. Each year, at the time of the flooding of the Nile, the people would throw amulets, sacrifices and other offerings into the river to appease Hapi and to ensure a fruitful season of planting and harvest.

In the story, Jochebed makes a small boat made of reeds and places her newborn son in the river in order to protect him from Pharaoh. But rather than seeing her act as a sacrifice to Hapi, she was placing him in the hands of Yahweh, the God of the people of Israel. The author of Hebrews seems to indicate she and her husband somehow knew that there was something special about this child. The New International Version translates the phrase as “they saw he was no ordinary child.” Luke records in the book of Acts, “At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house” (Acts 7:20 ESV). The word, beautiful is the same Greek word used in the Hebrews passage. Somehow God communicated the uniqueness of this child to his parents and they determined to save his life. Jochebed made a reed boat and placed him in the river, trusting in the sovereign will of God to protect him. And God did just that. Luke goes on to record, “and when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds” (Acts 7:21-22 ESV). When Jochebed set the basket in the river she had no idea what was going to happen. But she had an assurance of things hoped for and a conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). She placed her faith in God and He came through. Somewhat ironically, but not coincidentally, Moses was rescued into Pharaoh’s daughter and adopted into the family of the very man who was out to destroy him. God was at work.

Amram and Jochebed did not know what God had planned. They simply knew that their son was somehow unique and special. They placed him in river fully trusting in God to do with him as He saw fit. What they did, they did by faith. And like Abraham with Isaac, when these two parents entrusted their son to God, they received him back. Jochebed would be given the unbelievable opportunity to nurse the very son she had placed in the basket, not knowing what would happen to him. She had been willing to give up that which she loved to Him in whom she believed. And she would live to see her son become more than she could have ever dreamed or imagined. God would use her child to set His people free from their captivity and fulfill the promise He had made to Abraham all those years ago. The very act of placing their son in that reed basket and setting him afloat on the Nile was an act of faith in God. They were trusting in the One whom they could not see to do what they could only hope for – the preservation of the life of their son.

Faith Down To His Bones.

By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones. – Hebrews 11:22 ESV Ever since Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers, he had spent the majority of his life living in the land of Egypt. He had spent the early portion of his time there going through periods of blessing followed by times of adversity. He would experience both feast and famine, success and failure, but God was always with him. Eventually he would become the second most powerful figure in Egypt, a remarkable turn of events that was not lost on Joseph. He told his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20 ESV). Joseph saw the sovereign hand of God directing his life and accomplishing a far greater and grander purpose than his brothers could have ever imagined when they sold him into slavery all those years ago. Joseph’s incredible and meteoric ascension to the upper echelons of Egyptian power was the work of God. It had all been part of God’s divine plan for fulfilling His promise to Abraham

You have to go all the way back to Genesis 15 to see how all of this fits into God’s grand scheme. Abraham had just finished explaining to God that His promise to make of Abraham a great nation had some serious flaws. “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue^a childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir” (Genesis 15:2-3 ESV). But God attempted to calm Abraham’s fears by taking him outside and telling him, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them. So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5 ESV). God reaffirmed His promise to give Abraham the land and He confirmed it by a covenant in blood. Then God told Abraham, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions” (Genesis 15:13-14 ESV).

Now fast-forward to a scene taking place in the land of Egypt. The descendants of Abraham, through his grandson, Jacob, are living in the land of Egypt. They had sought refuge there when a devastating famine had made the land of Canaan virtually uninhabitable. Because of Joseph’s influence with the Pharaoh, he was able to have land allocated to his brothers and their families and provide them with jobs caring for the herds that belonged to Pharaoh. But eventually, Joseph grew old and realized that he was going to die in the land of Egypt.

So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s house. Joseph lived 110 years. And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph’s own. And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. – Genesis 50:22-26 ESV

Notice what Joseph said. He told his brothers that they were going to return to the land. He was confident that God was going to accomplish exactly what He had promised to do. They would live in the land of Egypt for 400 years, but then God would redeem them from slavery and return them to their land, “with great possessions.” At this point in the story, the people of Israel are not enslaved. They are living in Egypt as the guests of Pharaoh. Their relative, Joseph, is the second-most powerful person in the land. They have land, jobs, house in which to live and no reason to complain about their circumstances. But Joseph knew that things would not always be that way. He knew that God had said they would be afflicted for 400 years. And He believed that they would one day return to the land that God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was so confident that he made his brothers swear that they would dig up his bones and take them back to the land with them when they left.

The book of Exodus picks up the story from there. “All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them” (Exodus 1:5-7 ESV). Their number had increased from the original 70 to something that was probably in the millions. And their fruitfulness was going to expose a spirit of ruthlessness in the heart of the new Pharaoh.

Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. ¹Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves. – Exodus 1:8-14 ESV

God was setting up the perfect scenario to fulfill His plan. He was going to return them to the land. He was going to accomplish His will for them. And Joseph had believed all along that this was going to happen just as God had predicted and promised it would. As the author of Hebrews said, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV). Joseph had hoped for the day when his people would return to their land, and he was assured that it would happen. He had a strong conviction in the inevitability of it taking place. So much so that he gave instructions to have his bones returned to the land when it happened. And they were. After all the plagues and the killing of the first-borns, when the Egyptians finally released the Israelites, we are told, “Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here” (Exodus 13:19 ESV).

Joseph had placed his hope in God, and God had come through. Joseph had believed the promises of God, and God had not disappointed. Joseph had a future-focused faith that refused to give up on God just because his current circumstances seemed to contradict what God had promised. Faith is an assurance in things hoped for and a conviction regarding things yet unseen. God is not done yet. His plan is not yet complete. Give Him time. Give Him the trust he deserves. He has never failed to come through.

By Faith, Not By Sight.

By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. – Hebrews 11:21 ESV Jacob, the son of Isaac, had lived a full and far-from-boring life. He and his mother had conspired to deceive Isaac in order to receive the blessing reserved for the first-born son. Even though he and his brother, Esau, were twins, Jacob had been born second, coming out of his mother’s womb hanging on to his brother’s heel. Which is how he got his name, Ya`aqob, which meant, “he takes by the heel or he cheats.” Jacob would live up to his name, living a life in self-imposed exile after having cheated his brother out of his blessing. Upon leaving, Isaac reiterated his blessing to Jacob, saying, “God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!” (Genesis 28:3-4 ESV). Even while traveling to the land of Haran where his uncle Laban lived, Jacob had a dream and received a vision and a word from God.

“I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” – Genesis 28:13-15 ESV

God reaffirmed the blessing Jacob had received from Isaac. In spite of the deceit and trickery Jacob and Rebehak utilized to get the blessing, God clearly affirmed it. It had been His plan all along, as He had told Rebekah before the boys were even born. “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23 ESV). So Jacob would spend years living his life in exile, living in a foreign land far away from his father and mother. Yet in time, Jacob decided to return home. During his time in Haran, he had deceived and been deceived. He had married multiple wives, who had born him children. He had grown rich and prosperous. But he was ready to go home and face the anger of his brother Esau. On his way, he had a divine encounter with God. He actually wrestled with God, demanding that He bless him. And God did, saying, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed” (Genesis 32:28 ESV). Jacob had spent his entire life wrestling with God, trying to do things his way. And when God said that he had prevailed, he wasn’t saying that Jacob had bested Him, He was simply saying that Jacob had managed to survive. The Hebrew word is yakol and it means “to be able, be able to gain or accomplish, be able to endure, be able to reach.” Jacob had endured his exile. He had survived his own life of deceit. He was going to gain all that God had promised. And he was going to learn that it was all God’s doing, not his own. Jacob would make it safely back to the land of Canaan, receive a surprisingly warm welcome from his brother, Esau, and have yet another visit from God.

God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” – Genesis 35:9-12 ESV

Jacob would father twelve sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son and his favoritism would eventually cause his other sons to sell Joseph into slavery. Joseph would end up in Egypt where, through an amazing chain of God-ordained events, he would become the second most powerful ruler in the land. In the meantime, Jacob and his remaining sons would find themselves dealing with a terrible famine in the land of Canaan, which would eventually force them to seek out aid in the land of Egypt. This would lead to a surprising reunion with Joseph, who would end up not only forgiving his brothers, but providing them with protection and land. “Thus Israel [Jacob] settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly. And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years” (Genesis 47:27-28 ESV). When the time came for Jacob to die, he asked Joseph to bring in his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh so that he might bless them. In an interesting turn of events, Joseph presented his two sons to Jacob in order for him to bless them. He held Manasseh, the eldest, in his left hand, so that Jacob could easily bless him with his right hand. He held Ephraim in his right hand, so that he would receive the blessing of the second-born from Jacob's left hand. The Scriptures tell us “Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth” (Genesis 48:12 ESV). With his head bowed, he did not see his father, Jacob, switch his hands and place his right hand on the head of Ephraim, the younger of the two. The passage makes it clear that Jacob’s eyesight was dim from old age and he could not see. With his hands switched, Jacob pronounced his blessing:

“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” – Genesis 48:15-16 ESV

When Joseph saw what had been done, he tried to get his father to correct his apparent mistake. But Jacob refused, saying, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations” (Genesis 48:19 ESV). You might think that Jacob, because of his poor eyesight, inadvertently and mistakenly gave the blessing of the first-born to the wrong son. But the mention of Jacob’s poor eyesight is there to indicate that he was having to trust God for what he was doing. He had received a divine directive from God to give Ephraim the blessing reserved for the firstborn. It was God’s will and what Jacob did, he did by faith. He had to trust God with the outcome. He did not fully understand it or know how it would all turn out, but he knew that God was in control. He didn’t need strong eyesight, he simply needed strong faith. Jacob would die in the land of Egypt, never returning to the land of Canaan, but he trusted that God would bring his people back to the land and fulfill His promise to make them prosperous and to bless them. Jacob blessed his two grandsons, “bowing in worship over the head of his staff” (Hebrews 11:21 ESV). His hope was in God. His assurance was in the promises of God. He had a strong conviction that God knew what He was doing and he willingly obeyed God’s wishes. Jacob might not have always lived his life by faith, but he ended it that way – trusting God for the fate of his family and the future fulfillment of His promises.

God Prevailed.

By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. – Hebrews 11:20 ESV Isaac, the son of Abraham, would live a long life and father two twin sons, Jacob and Esau. He would also inherit the same promise from God given to his father, Abraham.

Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed… – Genesis 26:3-4 ESV

When Isaac realized that his days on earth were coming to a close, he determined to bless his sons, beginning with Esau, the first-born of the two.

When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.” – Genesis 27:1-4 ESV

Of course, little did Isaac know that his wife, Rebekah, had overheard his instructions to Esau. She immediately conspired with Jacob, her favorite of the two sons, to trick Isaac into giving him the blessing reserved for the first-born son. In her defense, Rebekah thought she was doing the right thing. Like her mother-in-law, Sarah, Rebekah was barren and unable to have children. But God came to her and promised to give her twin boys. He told her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23 ESV). She believed that the blessing of Isaac was the key to God’s promise being fulfilled, so she concocted a plan to make sure Jacob received the blessing of the first-born. And Jacob went along with it because, technically, the birthright was his. Esau had unwisely and impulsively sold it to him for a pot of stew (Genesis 25:29-34). Driven by his hunger, Esau had flippantly forfeited his right to the blessing

So when Rebekah approached Jacob with her plan, he was reluctant, but eventually complicit in carrying it out. And their deception worked. Unknowingly, Isaac gave the blessing to Jacob that had been intended for Esau.

“May God give you of the dew of heaven     and of the fatness of the earth     and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you,     and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers,     and may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you,     and blessed be everyone who blesses you!” – Genesis 27:28-29 ESV

But what is interesting about this story is what the author of Hebrews says about Isaac. He writes, “By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.” But wait a minute! He was deceived. He did not knowingly bless Jacob. He did so because he was tricked. How is that an example of faith? Well, first of all, we have to realize that the blessing he gave, fully believing he was giving it to Esau, was an example of faith. It was based on things hoped for and a conviction of things not seen. He was having to trust God to bring it all about. But even when Isaac realized what had happened and that he had been deceived by his wife, though angry, he remained faithful. “Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, ‘Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed’” (Genesis 27:33 ESV). Isaac had faith that God would fulfill the promise He had made to Abraham and had passed on to him – in spite of Rebekah’s deception. Things had not turned out quite like he had planned, but he was willing to trust God with the future outcome. Even to the point of blessing Jacob a second time before he moved to Paran in order to escape the wrath of this disgruntled brother.

“God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!” – Genesis 28:3-4 ESV

Notice what Isaac did. He went back to the promise of God. In spite of all that had happened, he kept his focus on what God had said. He did not know the full ramifications of all that had transpired. He didn’t even like it. But he was willing to trust God with it. He had no idea what was going to happen in the years ahead. He was blind to all that God was going to do with and to Jacob. But he believed that God had meant it when He had said, “I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”

And years later, when Jacob had returned from his self-imposed exile and his father Isaac was near death, God visited him.

And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” – Genesis 35:10-12 ESV

It is interesting to note that God changed Jacob’s name. In Hebrew, his name meant “he takes by the heel or he cheats.” This was a result of what happened at the time of Jacob and Esau’s births. Esau came out first, but the text tells us, “Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau's heel, so his name was called Jacob” (Genesis 25:26 ESV). But God would change Jacob’s name. And the name change, while subtle in Hebrew, Ya`aqob to Yisra'el, was incredibly significant. Israel means, “ God prevails.” In spite of all the trickery, deceit, human flaws, misplaced blessings, and convoluted circumstances surrounding Jacob's life, God was in charge. His will was being done. His promise was being fulfilled. And it was in this fact that Isaac had placed his hope and conviction. He had faith that God would do what He said He would do. So by faith he invoked future blessings on his two sons, trusting God to do what only He could do.

What Are You Hoping For?

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. – Hebrews 11:13-16 ESV “These all died in faith.” That statement sounds so odd. It seems to make no sense. These people (the patriarchs), had faith, but they died, “no having received the things promised.” Then what is the point of faith, we might ask. Why bother having faith if it isn’t going to do you any good? But that is not the author’s point. He is juxtaposing our temporal, earthly perspective with one that is eternal and future-oriented. Faith is not a point-in-time experience that takes place once in a lifetime. It is a way of life for a lifetime. We often hear people express their faith story in terms like, “I came to faith in Christ when I was 14-years old” 0r “I placed my faith in Christ when I was in my thirties.” Those statements are not incorrect or inaccurate, but they display an insufficient understanding of what faith really is. Faith is a journey, a pilgrimage. It involves this life, but it goes beyond it. As the familiar verse says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV). Our faith or belief in Christ is to have an eternal focus, not a temporal one. Jesus told Mary and Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25 ESV). Physical death is still inevitable, but our faith is based on the promise that it is not the end of life, but rather, just the beginning.

When the author opened up this section of his letter with the words, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” we tend to read them with a temporal slant. We hope for a lot of things in this life. We hope for success. We hope for good health. We hope our marriage will survive. We hope for a better-paying job. We hope our children will one day accept Christ and live for Him. And then we try and muster up enough faith so that these things will come about. But that is a misunderstanding of faith. Faith is not just another version of the power of positive thinking. In our lifetimes we have seen faith turned into some distorted name-it-claim-it theology that attempts to turn God into some kind of a cosmic genie in a bottle. We come up with our list of hopes and wishes, and then He is obligated to make them happen. But that is not the essence of biblical faith. The apostle Paul would have us understand faith differently. He wrote, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4 ESV). Seek the things that are above. Set your minds on things that are above. Have an eternal-focus and a heavenly perspective. Paul told the believers in Ephesus that he longed for their spiritual enlightenment, “that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18 ESV). Ultimately, as believers, our hope is to be on our future redemption and glorification. Paul said, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18 ESV). We live far too often with temporal hopes rather than eternal ones. We place all our hopes in this world instead of the next. We expect and sometimes demand heaven on earth, but God has something else in store. Something far better.

The patriarchs had to acknowledge that “they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” Abraham and Sarah had to live as nomads, moving from one place to another, never having a real home and never getting to live in the land promised to them by God. They never had the pleasure of seeing their descendants multiply into a great nation. By the time that happened, they were both long gone. But they had faith that it would happen. They also had faith that they would live in a better country. Abraham left his hometown and headed out for a new land. He had no idea where he was going, but was simply trusting God’s word. He believed that what God was offering him was better than what he already had. He left behind his old way of life for a new one. The author says that God “has prepared for them a city” (Hebrews 11:16b ESV), a heavenly city. The ultimate reward received by Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, David, Enoch, Abel and all the other Old Testament saints listed in this passage, was heaven. Their lives spent on this planet were temporary and their days were filled with trials, troubles, set-backs and disappointments. But they maintained their faith in God and His goodness.

As Christians, we must live with a constant awareness that this world is not our home. We are simply passing through on our way to some place better. Like Abraham, we are to recognize our role as aliens and strangers in this “land.” We are not to get comfortable here. We are not to demand of God our best life now. We are not to put our hopes in things that rust, decay, break down, fall apart, get stolen, go out of style, and always fail to bring us the joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment we hoped they would. Remember the author’s description of faith: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV). We are to be assured of our future place in God’s eternal kingdom, and it is to be what we hope for. We are to have a strong conviction regarding our future glorification and the redemption of our bodies. It is that for which we eagerly wait. Paul put it this way:

And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. – Romans 8:23 NLT

We will all one day die in our faith. But because we have faith, our death will not be the end. It will be the beginning of our eternal life with God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son. The city in which Abraham and Sarah live at this very moment is far better than any city they could have inhabited on this earth. The descendants they can claim are far greater and more in number than they could ever have imagined, and they include people from every tongue and nation. When we place our faith in God, He does great things. His will is far better than our most ambitious wishes. His promises are far better than anything we could ever dream up or hope for.

Flood Assurance.

By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. – Hebrews 11:7 ESV The state of affairs on planet earth have not always been as bright and cheerful as they are today. Believe it or not, there was a time when things got so bad that God decided He had had enough and decided to take a mulligan. He was going to wipe everything out and take a do-over. We read about it in the book of Genesis.

The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” But Noah found favor with the Lord. – Genesis 6:5-8 NLT

Now before we get smug and pat ourselves on the back for not being near as bad as our antediluvian ancestors, the only reason we haven’t experienced the same fate is because of the covenant God made with Noah promising to never destroy the world by water again. But there’s another reason we should refrain from thinking that we are somehow better than our pre-flood relatives. Paul tells us in Romans, “even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory” (Romans 9:22-23 NLT). It is simply because of God’s desire to shower His mercy through the gift of His Son that He has not chosen to destroy each and every one of us. But back to Noah. Notice what it says at the end of the passage in Genesis. “But Noah found favor with the Lord”. In the midst of all the human wickedness on the earth, Noah had managed to remain in a right standing with God. We might ask our selves why. Why had Noah kept faithful to God when everyone else was headed in the opposite direction morally and spiritually? What kept him from giving up and giving in to the peer pressure around him? The author of Hebrews tells us. As he did in speaking about Enoch, he opens his short essay on Noah with the words, “By faith…”

Noah was a man of faith. He believed God existed and was a rewarder of those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). Moses, under the inspiration of the Spirit, wrote, “Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.” (Genesis 6:9 NLT). Noah wasn’t perfect or sinless. The word “blameless” simply means that he was whole or complete in his devotion to God. He lives his entire life before God with no hidden areas or compartmentalization. He had managed to remain faithful to God because he believed God was faithful. And we’re told that Noah was “warned by God concerning events as yet unseen”. God shared with Noah some bad news concerning His decision to destroy mankind. We read about it in the Genesis account.

Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth! – Genesis 6:11-13 NLT

In one sense, God was not telling Noah anything he did not already know. He knew the world around him was corrupt and filled with violence. He knew his neighbors well. He had been living his life surrounded by an ever-growing climate of sin. But he had to have been blown away at the news of God’s plan to wipe out everything and everyone. But the good news was that God was going to spare Noah and his family. Now here comes the part where Noah’s faith was going to come into play. God gave Noah one more detail concerning His plan that was going to have a dramatic, life-altering impact on Noah.

“Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. Leave an 18-inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build three decks inside the boat—lower, middle, and upper. “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive. And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.” – Genesis 6:14-21 NLT

There are a number of things we have to keep in mind when we read this all-too-familiar account. First of all, Noah had never seen a boat before. In fact, there is no indication that Noah had even seen a body of water large enough to float a boat before. And there are those who believe that Noah had never seen rain before. They arrive at this conclusion from a passage earlier in Genesis that describes conditions on the earth before God had made man. “When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground” (Genesis 2:5-6 ESV). On top of all this, we know that Noah was nearly 600 years old when he received this devastating news from God. He was being asked by God to build a massive boat and collect two of every kind of animal, all under a looming deadline that was bringing the destruction of the entire planet. Oh, and as if there wasn’t enough pressure on Noah, this boat was going to be his only means of salvation. So how did Noah respond to this unbelievable and seemingly impossible assignment from God. Moses tells us, rather matter-of-factly: “So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him” (Genesis 6:22 NLT).

What was the description of faith given to us in verse one of Hebrews 11? “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” There is no indication that Noah questioned God or tried to talk God out of His plan. He didn’t complain about the scope of the project or the impossibility of the assignment. He simply did what God told him to do. Why? Because he believed God. In “reverent fear” he went about construction the ark that would prove to be the means of his salvation. It all sounded implausible and impossible. The task before him had to feel overwhelming and insurmountable. This was not a typical do-it-yourself project. He wasn’t adding a deck onto the back of his house. He was building a massive boat. And all on blind faith. Yet he had an assurance of what he was hoping for – that he and his family would survive the flood. He had a conviction of things unseen – that this boat would float and that this entire project would not end in disaster. Because he had faith in God.

When all is said and done, Noah was saved by faith, not a boat. Actually, Noah was saved by God. But it took belief in the plan of God for Noah to experience that salvation. Had he never built the boat, he would have died, along with his entire family. But he listened, believed, and obeyed. And he was saved. Noah had to believe in the wrath of God as well as the mercy of God. He had to believe that God, in His justice, would destroy mankind because of their sin. But he also had to believe that God was offering him a way of escape, a means of salvation – by faith. And we read the sobering words in Genesis: “All were destroyed. The only people who survived were Noah and those with him in the boat” (Genesis 7:23 NLT). Noah’s actions, based on his faith in God, resulted not only in his salvation, but in him becoming “an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith” (Hebrews 11:7b).