Crossing the Red Sea
"By faith they passed
through the Red Sea as by dry land, which the Egyptians assaying to do were
drowned" (Heb. 11:29).
Shortly after escaping from Egypt the night of the passover, the children of Israel found themselves in a vise—between a rock
and a hard place as we would say today. In front of them was the Red Sea, behind were the pursuing Egyptians. "And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children
of Israel … were sore afraid, and … cried out unto the LORD. And they said
unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to
die in the wilderness? why have you dealt thus with us to carry us forth out of
Egypt?" (Exod. 14:10,11).
Yes, the people murmured, they
grumbled, they complained, they fretted. But when God opened up for them a dry
path across the Red Sea, they took it without a murmur. Many questions and
concerns might have been raised:"What if there is quicksand out
there?" "What if the wind changes direction?" "What if the
walls of water on the right and on the left collapse while we are going
across?" "We have never done anything like this before." But
they had faith that the powerful arm of the LORD their God which had opened the
way for them would keep that way open long enough for all of them to cross over
safely to the other side.
Was this a blind, unreasonable
faith? Not at all. The LORD had already given them many evidences of His
presence with them and for them. Each of the ten times the LORD sent a plague
upon the Egyptians, the Israelites had been spared. And now suddenly,
miraculously, a wide dry path had opened up from one side of the Red Sea to the other. Could this be anything other than the work of the LORD?
How about us? Are we ready and
willing to try new experiences, go places we have never been before, or enter
into new areas of service for the Lord? Or are we fearful of the unknown and
unwilling to venture into new projects or territories, even though we sense the
Lord leading us into new areas of service. The Lord often graciously leads his
people in small steps. Let us be faithful in taking these small steps with the
Lord and let us acknowledge His faithful help and care for us as we do so. With
this background and experience, our faith will increase and we will find that
we are able to take larger and larger steps of faith as the Lord opens up new
pathways to us.
Perhaps a lesson of faith here is
this:Faith is not surprised or fearful at God’s providential and sometimes
miraculous interventions on behalf of His people. Faith is ready to walk with
God in whatever path He may open up for his children.
The Battle of Jericho
"By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were compassed about seven days" (Heb. 11:30).
After wandering in the wilderness
for 40 years, the children of Israel were finally led into the Promised Land,
the land of Canaan. The first obstacle to possessing the land was the walled
and fortified city of Jericho. Notice what the LORD did not say to
Joshua, the leader of the children of Israel. He didn’t say, "Well,
Joshua, I want you to send your troops against the city of Jericho. Do your
best and I will go with you." Rather, the LORD gave Joshua very specific
instructions including marching around the city a total of 13 times, blowing
trumpets, carrying the ark, being quiet, then shouting, and what to do when the
walls fell down (Josh. 6:1-20).
We learn two important lessons
here. The first is that God has a very specific will for His people. (See Gen.
24:14-27; Exod. 25-30; 1 Sam. 23:4,5; 2 Sam. 5:17-25; Matt. 4:1-4; Acts
8:26-28; 16:6-10; and 1 Cor. 14:26-35 for other examples; see also "The
Christian Servant" in the January 1993 issue of Words of Truth for
more details.) The second is that God sometimes tests His people by asking them
to do things that are socially, culturally, or religiously unconventional. He
may test us to see if we are willing to follow His instructions at all costs,
even at the risk of appearing foolish or being laughed at. We do not read what
the inhabitants of Jericho were thinking or saying when the army of Israel—instead of building ramps for battering rams—just kept marching around the city. But
Joshua and his army were faithful in doing exactly what the LORD told them to
do, and the LORD gave them a mighty victory. Just so, whenever we are faithful
in doing exactly what the Lord tells us to do, He will bless us greatly.
In summary, Faith looks to God
to reveal His will in detail and is diligent in carrying out His will to the
letter. Faith is not concerned with appearing foolish or with what other people
may think while we are doing what God wants us to do.
Rahab
"By faith the harlot Rahab
perished not with those who believed not, when she had received the spies with
peace" (Heb. 11:31).
Rahab was a traitor to her
country. She had heard of the wonderful works of the God of Israel, "How
the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea" and how He helped the
Israelites to destroy Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites. She confessed to the
spies, "I know that the LORD has given you the land … for the LORD your
God, he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath" (Josh. 2:9-11). She
hid the spies from her countrymen, at great risk to herself and her family. In
return, she and her family were spared when the Israelites "destroyed all
that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old" (Josh. 6:21-25).
In many fundamentalist Christian
circles today one finds love of country placed almost on the same plane as love
of God. In Nazi Germany, the Christian Church as a whole, no doubt including
many truly born again believers, blindly went along with Hitler’s diabolical
program of conquering neighboring nations and exterminating entire segments of
the population. Are we prepared to put God’s Word and His interests ahead of
those of our country should circumstances call for it?
The lesson here is that Faith
is willing to be a traitor to one’s own nation or people if necessary to be
true to the God of heaven and earth.