Hebrews Chapter 11:30-40
vs. 30: JERICHO
- “It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days, and the walls came crashing down.”
- We've been going through the book of Joshua in Sunday School lately. So just a quick thought on Jericho...
- The Israelites have seen God work. They just watched the Jordan River dry up so they could walk across on dry ground in the middle of flood season. They just walked into enemy territory... at the very time that the enemy least expected them to be able to come across...
- Then God says “okay so here's what you do... you're going get the priests together... they're going to lead you to Jericho. But you're not going to do anything... you're just going to march around the city once... staying absolutely silent... and then you're going to come back to camp.
- WHAT!? But God! We can take these guys! Just open the gate for us! If God is for us, then who can be against us right?
- I mean seriously... can you imagine being Israel? Or even Joshua? I mean this man was a leader. A warrior. And God says... nah... I don't want you to lead into battle... I just want you to go march around the city once.
- Somebody in Sunday School asked the question, “Did Joshua tell the people the whole plan? Or did he get up every morning and go... okay people... we're marching around the city one more time...”
- If I were an Israelite... and Joshua didn't tell us the plan... and every morning we got up and he said, okay let's go march some more... I think by the time the 7th day came... I'd have been ready to throw in the towel...
- But even if he had told them the whole plan... can you imagine? They're still marching around for 6 days not saying a word... and going home without REALLY accomplishing much... Other than maybe playing some major mind games with the enemy...
- I Corinthians 1:18-31
- But think of the kind of faith it must have taken, for a group of people, who were told they were going to go in and conquer the enemy... to have to sit tight... not even SAY anything to the enemy. Didn't get to hurl insults or anything... and to march... without battle action... for 6 solid days with no change in routine.
- When that 7th day came... I wonder what kind of energy there was among the people. Knowing it was going to be a little different. Knowing that TODAY... God said He would act on the faithfulness of His people.
- Side note... I didn't realize this... in all the times that I read the story of Joshua, it just never clicked... They marched around for 7 days. And on the 7th day... instead of resting on the sabbath... they marched around 7 times and then went up to do battle with the enemy.
- So not only did the people have to have faith that God would do a work... they also had to have faith that God was really telling them to do this... because otherwise... they were breaking one of the 10 commandments... however... the thing brought up in Sunday School, was that it was a God commandment. God knew what it would take to defeat the enemy. Maybe 6 days wouldn't have done it. And if the people were still following the voice of God... would they have not been in disobedience had they NOT gone up? Which would have been worse...
- I don't believe that God contradicts Himself... In Matthew 12, Jesus was preaching to the Pharisees about their Sabbath practices... He said “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn't you work to pull it out? Of course you would. And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath.”
- So if God considered the task at Jericho to be a good thing... and it was an act of cleansing the land... a purification necessity before the people could enter fully into their inherited land...
- but anyway... that's my random thought.
- Joshua 3:1-6:27
- James 1:2-8
vs. 31: RAHAB
- “It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.”
- Rahab took in the spies... apparently knowing who they were... cause apparently the authorities knew who they were... and she lied to the authorities to protect them...
- She then tells the spies... “I know the Lord has given you this land. We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror. For we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed. No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.” (Joshua 2)
- In a polytheistic society... Rahab just confessed that the God of the Israelites was the supreme God of all things... not just “oh your God is a pretty powerful God and we're a little scared of Him...” Nope... “THE SUPREME GOD.”
- Rahab... even in her ignorance and not being part of the Israelites... confessed God as THE God and her faith in His ability to do what He said He would.
- Not because she was afraid... but because of her faith... she and her household were saved... And Rahab went from prostitute... to being included in the greatest lineage of all time... Christ's. The great-grandmother of David. The ancestor of Christ. All because of one act of faith. (granted it was a big one...)
- Rahab's story is much like our own... no matter who you are...
- We all live in a pagan land. We live in a world that exploits its people and its possessions. People give homage to anything and everything. It's hard to find worship of the true God...
- And yet we... have to have faith to step out against our culture, possibly our families, our cities... to join the other side. To leave the side of the world and join the heavenly one...
- Gosh... the rewards are great... but so is the cost...
- Can you imagine Rahab and her family during the final attack of Jericho? The Israelites were supposed to kill everybody... men, women, and children. Nothing was to be left alive... and here sit Rahab and her family... not only afraid for their own lives... I mean what if the spies forgot their promise? But also... these are their neighbors, other family members, people they know and love... dying on their doorstep... Wouldn't it have been natural for them to want to rush out the door and go save them? Or fight back someway?
- We sit in much the same situation... God gave the people of Canaan many years to repent... and they never did...
- When it comes down to the end of our world... nothing will save you but the blood of Christ... the question is... have you accepted that Christ is the Supreme God... or are you still hoping that the walls of the world will fend off the enemy?
- Now is the time to go cry through the streets that salvation is come... that it's time to call upon the name of God...
- Because it will soon be too late... if you walk out and try to save the lost when God's armies are coming... you'll be lost as well... There comes a time when time runs out...
- Remember when the death angel came to Egypt? The Israelites were told to stay in their houses and not go out... So was Rahab and her family... all around them was death... but they were to stay under the blood. Or in Rahab's case... the red cord...
- I Peter 1:13-2:10
- John 5:39-47; 17:1-3
- Colossians 1:15-23
- Romans 3:9-8:39
vs. 32-38: OTHER MEN OF FAITH
- Here the author decides to stop with individualized stories... so I will too. The author mentions other men of faith... Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets. All these men had great things that they were known for... and some of them... are also remembered for great failings... or... imperfections...
- but here... their great acts of faith are recorded...
- “By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. Women received their loved ones back again from death.”
- These were some of the amazingly great things that God did through these men. They were willing tools in the mighty hand of God... and use them He did... because they were willing... and faithful.
- However... not everything in this faith is always peachy... Not always do we come out of daily encounters feeling good...
- “But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.”
- Doesn't sound so glamorous... I mean when you're king... and a great warrior... or a great leader. Or you just killed the giant everybody's been so afraid of... faith is easy... but some of those same great leaders... lived part of their life in prisons... or running from an enemy... David... killed Goliath, was anointed king... and then had to flee for his life away from Saul... had to act like he was crazy... had to hide in the temple...
- Some of the early Christians endured horrible tortures... John was boiled in oil. Many were stoned. When it talks about being sawed in half... they basically stuffed them in a hallow log so they couldn't go anywhere... and then they sawed and the log in half... slowly...
- Not such an easy faith...
- Have you ever read like... “Fox's book of Martyrs”? or... the “Jesus Freaks” books? Those are hard stories... of real lived-out faith... in bad places and circumstances...
- Sometimes I wonder... if it had been me... would I have been able to do it? Would my faith have held up? And then I think... eh... God knows what's coming down the line... He probably prepared them for that... they were ready... and then I think... maybe so... but still... I don't think anybody REALLY knows what they'll do in situations like that until they're actually faced with them...
- I mean... if somebody's in your face threatening your family if you don't recant your faith... it would be hard not to doubt... especially if it's kids...of course... that's my opinion...
- Sometimes being a Christian... means we face hard trials... harder than we ever expected or wanted... Holding to this faith doesn't always bring you fame and accolades... it sometimes brings the harshest of heartaches...
- I Peter 1:3-12; 4:1-19
- John15:18-16:16; 16:31-33
- Daniel 12
vs. 39-40: PERFECTION
- “All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.”
- footnote- “Hebrews 11 has been called faith's hall of fame. No doubt the author surprised his readers by this conclusion: These mighty Jewish heroes did not receive all that God had promised because they died before Christ came. In God's plan, they and the Christian believers (who were also enduring much testing) would be rewarded together. Once again Hebrews shows that Christianity offers a better way than Judaism.”
- Romans 9:1-11:36
- Perfection comes through Christ... so no one before Christ... received perfection... until after Christ came. We all got it at the same time... lol it was a freely offered gift TO ALL from the start...
- I Timothy 3:14-16; 4:6-16
- Luke 2:25-35
- Ephesians 2:1-3:12
- Isaiah 49
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