YouTube and Podcast teaching for….Are You Living By Faith In Your Trials And Suffering? LIVING BY FAITH IN TRIALS AND SUFFERING study #19 (A Study in Hebrews 11) (Hebrews 11:33-40)

Are You Living By Faith In Your Trials And Suffering? LIVING BY FAITH IN TRIALS AND SUFFERING study #19 (A Study in Hebrews 11) (Hebrews 11:33-40)

We come now to our closing study in this great 11th chapter of Hebrews. We finished up last study with a look at Samuel who is the last person mentioned in verse 32. The writer of Hebrews could have easily went on and on, as we could as well, with many other names as he lists others as the prophets. I was tempted to pick some of the other great prophets in the Old Testament to show how they lived by faith as well in difficult circumstances but I felt that it was best to leave it just like the writer intended. With that we will briefly look at what is said of these others in the following verses but then dive a little deeper into our last two verses that will challenge us to look at how we are doing in this area of living by faith in trials and suffering.

The point is really brought out in the last two verses to show us that not everything works out the way we think it should but rather that God always has a better plan. It was this plan that these great men and women of faith exhibited throughout their life. We have looked in great detail at these and now will look at this in a very practical look for this study. With that let’s get into our first point that really continues from verse 32.

1.God’s PLAN through persecution.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:32-38 that says And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I recount Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, as well as David and Samuel and the prophets, ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms, performed righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong from weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. ³⁵ Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; ³⁶ and others experienced mockings and floggings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, mistreated ³⁸ (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in desolate places and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

We have seen so many in this chapter that faced some very difficult situations but they still trusted in God. Their faith never wavered because they knew that God was going to fulfill the promises given to them. The question for us is would we have this same type of faith? I believe we as a Christian community in the western nations have a very weak kind of faith. We get tripped up in life and doubt God in the smallest matters so often. The truth of God’s Word from the 66 books of the Bible has been attacked even from the pulpits in North America. The fact is that we may in a sense face persecution but we have not seen what some of these great men and woman of faith have seen along with thousands throughout history and even today in other countries.

There are entire countries that have banned Christianity and persecution is rampant in those countries. Here in the United States we have a sense of freedom that has protected us for many years but I do believe that we have seen a shift in that recently. With the Covid pandemic we saw the restriction on many of our freedoms in the name of health. This was attacked in many areas other than our religious activities but it was our stance to be able to practice our religious activities that stood the test. There were many instances of gatherings, riots and protests where those people were allowed to gather but when churches started opening their doors they were fined, threatened and in Canada at least two pastors were placed in high security prisons for their stance to preach, sing and gather for worship.

I have followed many others in the past year that have been protesting at LGBTQ rallies who were abiding by the law to not interfere with the rally who were arrested for preaching on the street. The fact is this type of persecution is here in small portions but with that it will become a bigger issue most likely. My question is, are you ready and willing to have faith even in that difficult time or will you fall prey to the culture?

Look at what some of the men and women of old went through because they would not waver and ask yourself if you have that type of faith as well?

Let’s look at some of these in detail and with these we will associate some of the people that may be from traditional or historical sources outside of the Bible that went through these things. We see first in Hebrews 11:33-34 who through faith conquered kingdoms, performed righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong from weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 

The Benson commentary explains this well and I quote ¹“Who through faith subdued kingdoms — As Joshua, the Judges, David, and others; wrought righteousness — Lived righteous and holy lives, and administered justice impartially, 1 Samuel 12:3-5. Obtained promises — Namely, of particular mercies, as Sarah, Hannah, Manoah, and the prophets in general, both for themselves, and to deliver to others; stopped the mouths of lions — By their faith prevailed with God to do it, as Daniel, Daniel 6:22 : quenched the violence of fire — As Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel 3. He does not say they quenched fire, which may be done by natural means, but they took off, restrained the violence, the power of fire with respect to themselves. The fire continued still, and retained its burning power, for it slew the men that cast them into the furnace. But by faith they disarmed it of its power to hurt themselves, so that not one hair of their heads was singed. To these examples, whence the nature of faith clearly appears, those more ancient ones are subjoined, (by a transposition and in an inverted order,) which receive light from these. Jephthae escaped the edge of the sword; Samson out of weakness was made strong; Barak became valiant in fight; Gideon put to flight the armies of the aliens. Faith animates to the most heroic enterprises, both civil and military. Faith overcomes all impediments, effects the greatest things, attains to the very best, and inverts, by its miraculous power, the very course of nature.” END QUOTE

The next 2 verses in Hebrews 11:35-36 says Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; ³⁶ and others experienced mockings and floggings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. 

Here to start off with, we see the obvious connection of the widow’s son in Zarephath that Elijah raised and the Shunamite woman that was raised by Elisha. We could have easily went into great detail about both of these men and the faith they had during their life. Then the text takes a turn and says and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection.

The reason why any of these men or women had the faith they had was because of the promise of future blessings. They did not seek to be blessed here, even though they were happy to know at times that God blessed them during their life. They looked for something far beyond what they faced. We talked about this back in our 7th study in this series from Hebrews 11:13-16 called ²Faith In The Eternal Promises.

Look with me at Hebrews 11:15-16 that says And indeed if they had been remembering that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But now, they aspire to a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He prepared a city for them.

The fact is none of these people lived in such a way that tied them to live for self and to preserve their life as the priority of their life. They all looked for something better. That is the reason why Hebrews 11:36 says and others experienced mockings and floggings, yes, also chains and imprisonment.

The flow of this thought continues as we move into the next 2 verses which are Hebrews 11:37-38 that says They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, mistreated ³⁸ (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in desolate places and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

Clearly we could speak of Zechariah who was stoned to death, Stephen the Christian martyr was stoned to death and many more. Death by stoning was very common in those days and it is tradition that Jeremiah was stoned to death as well. These men could have easily been mentioned and looked at as men of faith who lived for God in spite of the trials and sufferings.

The mention of people being sawn in two has been referenced to the tradition that Isaiah was put to death by order of Manasseh in this way. There were others that have met this fate as well in the whole of history because of following God’s way of living.

This led many to be tempted the Scripture says. This probably refers to the temptation to give in to these horrific persecutions. The writer of Hebrews includes this in the middle of these violet deaths. He continues by saying they were put to death with the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, mistreated ³⁸ (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in desolate places and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

The conclusion to all of this points to the fact that this world is not their home. They live for God but the world full of sinful people hate God and His people. If you say you are a Christian and you just fit into the world, you just blend into the world like the rest of everyone else then you might want to check and see if you are indeed a child of God. Jesus says in John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.

Then John says in 1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. ¹⁷ And the world is passing away, and also its lusts, but the one who does the will of God abides forever.

We know we will not be perfect but we must be striving to please God and not self. This is the very thing that these men and women we have looked at did in their lifetime. This leads us to look at our last 2 verses for this study series. This leads us to look at whether or not we are living by faith in trials and suffering. Look with me now at this last point for this study.

2.God’s PROVISION in salvation.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:39-40 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰ because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.

*The summation of this entire chapter is seen clearly here. These men and women lived by faith in trials and suffering, these men and women lived by faith not perfectly but in the primary direction of their life. It is this way of living that has given approval that they were indeed living their life for God. This word for approval here is the Greek word martureó (mar-too-reh’-o) which means to bear witness, give evidence or to testify. The proof of the fact that they did not back down even in the face of severe persecution and death shows that they were people of faith in God. The way they lived their life exhibited a way of life that we too should follow.*

But notice again as we have mentioned several times already that the writer of Hebrews points out that these men and women of faith did not receive what was promised. This means that they never saw the complete fulfillment of what they were promised. They may have seen some victories, they may have seen God move in miraculous ways, they may have seen firsthand the work of God to do the most unbelievable things but they did not receive what was promised. The promise was a dwelling place with God. This place could not be earned by their own faith or by their own will but would be received only after the coming of the Messiah who was promised to turn their hearts to God alone.

Hebrews 11:39b- 40 says that they did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰ because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.

It isn’t that they would never receive the promises but that they never were able to see these promises fulfilled in their lifetime. The thing is that even though we live on the other side of the life, death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, we too still await the final fulfillment of these promises. But the coming in of the New Covenant has begun the process of the end times that will consummate in our final glorification to live forever with our Lord and God. This is what we have been promised and it was this that these men and women of faith looked for and will receive with us as we enter into His Kingdom forever.

*So the question to end this study makes us to look away from what we have learned about these great men and women of faith and ask ourselves if we are living in this way? What trials, what suffering, what difficulty is in your path today? Are you living as a man or woman of faith? These men and women we read about had a place in history so that we can read and learn from them but they too were human just like we are with the temptations, the fears, the worries of life and yet they did not let those things hinder the way they lived. So one last time, are you living by faith in your trials and sufferings?*

1. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/hebrews/11-33.htm ↩︎
2. https://disciplesdirection.wordpress.com/2023/10/26/faith-in-the-eternal-promises-living-by-faith-in-trials-and-suffering-study-7-a-study-in-hebrews-11hebrews-1113-16/
   
   https://disciplesdirection.wordpress.com/2023/10/27/youtube-and-podcast-teaching-for-faith-in-the-eternal-promises-living-by-faith-in-trials-and-suffering-study-7-a-study-in-hebrews-11hebrews-1113-16/ ↩︎

YouTube and Podcast teaching for….The Faith Of Samson And Jephthah. LIVING BY FAITH IN TRIALS AND SUFFERING study #16 (A Study in Hebrews 11) (Hebrews 11:32b)

The Faith Of Samson And Jephthah. LIVING BY FAITH IN TRIALS AND SUFFERING study #16 (A Study in Hebrews 11) (Hebrews 11:32b)

We are moving right along in this study as we take 2 more people listed in Hebrews 11:32. Last time we looked at Gideon and Barak along with Deborah. This time we will look at both Samson and Jephthah. Once again we do not see these two listed in chronological order. Jephthah was actually a Judge in Israel before Samson was but to stay true to our text we will look at Samson first. The stories of both of these men will once again show us faith in God in spite of the trials and sufferings that they both faced.

I have really been enjoying this study because it has shown to us that no two trials are exactly the same. There may at times be similarities in the trial we face but each situation in unique. What this shows me though is that we do not need some secret formula or prayer to get through whatever issues we face but that we only need to trust in God as we face the difficulties of this life, whether it be persecution, normal issues of life or even temptation that may come our way.

As I started this study series some months back I was facing some very difficult internal issues. Now some 7 months later those issues have tried to re-surface. This time around I feel like I have been able to fight off the temptation to be discouraged, depressed or frustrated. I by far have done this perfectly but I know that I’m growing in this area. I believe the help has been in diving into this study along with prayer. God has worked in me and I hope He is doing this for you now or even in the future.

Well that’s enough about me, let’s look now at our first point and our next person in this verse.

1.Samson’s faith in God.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:32a-b And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I recount Gideon, Barak, Samson.

The writer of Hebrews did not recount each of these people but I thought it would be good to look deeper at each these people to learn their stories of how they had faith in God in the trials and sufferings that they faced. Here we find a familiar name, Samson. His story is pretty well known among most Christians. There is a lot we could talk about concerning all that Samson did. His story starts in Judges 13 when his parents conversate with the Angel of God. Here Samson’s mother, who is unnamed but only referred to as Manoah’s wife, is barren. It is then that the Angel of God appears to her and tells her that she will have a son. Then we see in Judges 13:5, God’s plan for this son to be born, it says there: For behold, you shall be with child and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

Samson was set apart before he was ever born to be a deliverer or judge for Israel. This would be seen several times in Scripture in the life of Samson. It was during this time that Israel had once again turned away from following God which sent them again to be oppressed by the Philistines for 40 years. Samson was promised to be the deliverer for Israel in this time and for sure this is what he did. I want to point out that Samson was not only set apart for some personal agenda but was moved by the Holy Spirit to do what he was set apart to do. Judges 13:24-25 says Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the child grew up, and Yahweh blessed him. ²⁵ And the Spirit of Yahweh began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

We have no indication of when this exactly was but we can only see that at some point the Holy Spirit started working in Samson to fulfill the goal of saving Israel from the oppression of the Philistines. God uses Samson first in marrying a Philistine in order to find a way to destroy the Philistines. Here we see the strength that God gives to Samson as he destroys a lion that set out to attack him. This strength would also show up when he challenges thirty Philistines to answer a riddle that he spoke. In this time his own wife deceives him and tells the riddle to those thirty men. When he realizes their deception Judges 14:19 says Then the Spirit of Yahweh came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty of them and took their spoil and gave the changes of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house.

Some people may look at this as an extreme act of revenge but we must keep in mind that he is working by the power of the Holy Spirit to save the people of Israel. Next Samson sets fire to the Philistine’s grain and vineyards because of their act of giving his wife to his companion. This again seems like an extreme act of self revenge but God is using Samson for this purpose. In fact Samson says in Judges 15:3 “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines when I do them harm.”

This led the Philistines to kill both his father-in-law and wife. This led him to what verse 8 says which there was a great slaughter. After this Samson goes away to live in a more desolate place. But the Philistines seek after him there. The people of Judah are scared of the Philistines and decide to take Samson as a prisoner to them. Here they bind him with two new ropes thinking this will keep him from escaping. Once again God has a plan in this as well. Judges 15:14-15 says When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of Yahweh came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds dropped from his hands. ¹⁵ And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he sent forth his hand and took it and struck down 1,000 men with it.

In this story we come to a time of weakness for Samson. He finds himself in love with a prostitute named Delilah. Here the Philistines get her to find out what his strength is. After many attempts to find this out Delilah finally succeeds. Judges 16:16-17 gives to us the account of his fall which says Now it happened when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death. ¹⁷ So he told her all that was in his heart and said to her, “A razor has never come on my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like every other man.”

The story goes that she does call for someone to shave off his hair which leads to his strength from God leaving him. The Philistines capture him, gouge out his eyes and sets him up as a laughing stock. When the Philistines assembled to sacrifice to their god Dagon they brought Samson in to laugh at him and praise their god for their capture of Samson. Samson tells the boy that is guiding him to set him between the two pillars of the house. About 3000 people were gathered for this event and this is where God uses Samson in the most powerful way. *Judges 16:28-30 says Then Samson called to Yahweh and said, “O Lord Yahweh, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” ²⁹ Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house was established and supported himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. ³⁰ And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he bent with his strength so that the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he put to death by his death were more than those whom he put to death in his life.

To some people they use Samson’s story to share how he had a death wish and committed suicide but that is not the case. In fact he was just using logic that if he was to save Israel at this moment then he too would be killed in this unbelievable act. His faith shows up in the fact that he did not look at his life as something that had to be held on too but only to trust that this was the plan of God.* He could have saved his life by not doing what he did. He may have been in captivity to the Philistines but he would at least still be alive. Here Samson’s faith was mighty in God because he knew that it was this moment that would free Israel from the oppression of the Philistines. All of what he did spanned 20 years of judging Israel but it was this moment that ended the oppression with such a great slaughter of the mighty men of the Philistines.

This moves us now to look at our second person for this study in our next point.

2.Jephthah’s faith in God.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:32a-b And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I recount Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah.

Jephthah, a Judge of Israel not as well known as Gideon, Samson and even Barak(Deborah), serves as a person that faced many adversities in his short 6 year span of being a judge of Israel. He was born from a prostitute which led his own people of the tribe of Gilead to drive him away from their land in spite of his mighty works in war. He was told that he would have no part of his father’s inheritance and his own family drove him away to the land of Tob.

Over time the sons of Ammon came up against Israel in war. At this time Israel had no established leader so they sought out Jephthah to be their chief. They knew he was capable of not only leading but helping in defeating the Ammonites. They promised to follow him as leader if he would come to their aid. He accepts this offer and leads his people who once drove him from their land to victory. Here again we will see a man of war filled with the Holy Spirit to defeat their enemies and claim victory. Judges 11:29-33 says Now the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead and Manasseh; then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on to the sons of Ammon. ³⁰ Then Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, ³¹ then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be Yahweh’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” ³² So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and Yahweh gave them into his hand. ³³ And he struck them with a very great slaughter from Aroer to the entrance of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.

This vow became a horrible situation as his daughter is the first to come out of his house upon his return. In keeping with his vow, he sacrifices his own daughter. This seems to be very outside of a reality that this would happen but remember, God did not require this of him but this was a poor judgement in vowing this to God. His faithfulness shows up in doing what he vowed, but this should not be something that we should ever do in order to get God to help us. God was going to work through Jephthah regardless of this vow.

As we move along in his story, we see the Ephraimites come against Jephthah and Gilead because of feeling like they did not include them in the battle with Ammon. In the conversation with Ammon before battle they accused Israel of taking their own land, here we see Ephraim accuse Jephthah and Gilead of not including them in this victory. Both of these claims were false in which Jephthah addressed to each of them. They conquered Ammon and then in Judges 12:6b it says Thus there fell at that time 42,000 of Ephraim.

What we learn through the faith of Jephthah is that in spite of the difficulties that may come from family, enemies or fellow national brethren we must keep our focus on what God has set for us to do. Jephthah knew how God had worked in him to bring him to be the chief of Gilead, then to defeat Ammon and eventually to defeat the Ephraimites that set out to destroy him and his people. His faith was unwavering no matter what situation he faced as should ours.

YouTube and Podcast teaching for….The Faith Of Gideon And Barak. LIVING BY FAITH IN TRIALS AND SUFFERING study #15 (A Study in Hebrews 11) (Hebrews 11:32a)

The Faith Of Gideon And Barak. LIVING BY FAITH IN TRIALS AND SUFFERING study #15 (A Study in Hebrews 11) (Hebrews 11:32a)

Now as we move along we find ourselves at a place in this great chapter where the writer of Hebrews names some people without given many details concerning these people and the faith they had. Well I am going to go against the grain and expound on some of these people that are named and may even hit on a few that are not named. We will not take an entire study for each of these but some may require us to look at them in a study of their own.

To begin with the writer of Hebrews moves into this section by saying in Hebrews 11:32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I recount Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, as well as David and Samuel and the prophets.

I simply could not move on to finish this study without looking at the faith of some of these as well. It’s not that the writer wrote an incomplete section here but that he was done with making the point that he set out to in this section. For me these men of faith have great stories that go along in our study pertaining to having faith in trials and suffering. So with that we will look at these men and others before we finish this study.

First I want to read this entire section that speaks of some of the things that these men and others dealt with and went through as they lived for God in their own time. Let’s read Hebrews 11:32-38 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I recount Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, as well as David and Samuel and the prophets, ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms, performed righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong from weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. ³⁵ Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; ³⁶ and others experienced mockings and floggings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, mistreated ³⁸ (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in desolate places and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

We will not necessarily exposit word for word throughout this section but will relate the things that are listed with the individual as we move along. So this section will guide us into a deeper understanding as we look at the faith they had in these difficult situations. With that we will look at our first person in our first point.

1.The faith of Gideon.
Read along again Hebrews 11:32a that says And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I recount Gideon.

The writer of Hebrews was bringing his point to a closure in this chapter of this great letter but we will dig a little deeper back to the Old Testament stories of these great men of faith. We come to Gideon in this section first even though in chronology he would fall behind Barak. This may indicate his greatness and his status as one of the and maybe the most renowned judge that we read about in this list of 4 we see here. The first four listed here were judges of Israel or in Barak’s case second in command with a judge. We will talk about that a little more in our next point.

For now we will look at Gideon. I look into this section of Scripture from Hebrews 11:32-38 to see which of these seem to go along with Gideon. I focus on Hebrews 11:34b that says (who) were made strong from weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Now this could relate to more than just Gideon but for sure this seems to explain the work of God in Gideon and through Gideon. You can read about Gideon in Judges chapters 6-8. There you will see the fact that Gideon was not a mighty man physically nor was he some bold and strong man. Look at this account of Gideon’s call in Judges 6:12-13 And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, O mighty man of valor.” ¹³ Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His wondrous deeds which our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

God calls Gideon a mighty man of valor but Gideon does not see himself in that way. God looked beyond the words that Gideon spoke to what He knew Gideon would do. God then says to Gideon in Judges 6:14-16 “Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” ¹⁵ But he said to Him, “O Lord, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” ¹⁶ But Yahweh said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike down Midian as one man.”

As the story goes Gideon continues to display nothing but test after test for God to prove Himself to Gideon. This seems far from a mighty man of valor. Gideon is weak in his own ability but also seems to have very little faith in God’s strength as well. So we ask how is it that Gideon is seen as a man of faith?

As you follow the story of Gideon you see that these test or proof positives that he places before God was what he needed to know that God was indeed commanding him to do what God was saying. First there was the meal or offering that Gideon made for the Angel of the Lord. Gideon brought the meal and the Angel of the Lord consumed the meat and unleavened bread by just touching the meat with the tip of His staff.

This positive event moved Gideon to look away from his own weakness to the Lord’s strength. In fact Judges 6:22 says And Gideon saw that he was the angel of Yahweh, so he said, “Alas, O Lord Yahweh! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face.”

In the flow of the story we see that God tells Gideon in Judges 6:25-26 “Take your father’s bull and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it, ²⁶ and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and take the second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.”

The next verse explains that Gideon did this very thing. The big key to understanding Gideon’s status as a man of valor comes along in Judges 6:34. The people of the city were furious at the disaster of their altar of Baal. They set out to kill Gideon for doing this but was unsuccessful at their plan. Verse 34a says But the Spirit of Yahweh clothed Gideon.

Gideon would again test God in making sure that the command was God’s through the test of the fleece found in Judges 6:36-40. Gideon at that point realized that God was where he gathered his strength. He would take 300 men to a war with Midian and defeat them all because of his stance to have faith in God even when he knew his own strength was not enough. This shows to us that yes he is a mighty warrior but only because of the faith in God that he had to be mighty in war and to put foreign armies to flight.

This moves us now to look at our next person in our list and our next point.

2.The faith of Barak.
Look again with me at Hebrews 11:32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I recount Gideon, Barak.

We simply can’t go on in this story without mentioning Deborah who was the judge of Israel during this time. Even though we will not focus on her specifically we do know that she played a huge part in this story. In fact when Deborah summoned Barak to gather 10,000 men to go to war against the men of Sisera, Barak said this in Judges 4:8 “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”

Barak knew that her leadership would help him along the way. The plan was set in motion and then they executed the plan. Deborah planned and Barak executed the plan. He finds himself following this plan that gives him a victory over this commander of the Canaanite army. In Hebrews 11:33a we see that some who through faith conquered kingdoms.

I believe this applies to the story of Barak. *He had to have faith in God because they were being oppressed by this king of Canaan called Jabin. There seemed to be no way to conquer this army on their own. They were oppressed and mistreated by this powerful king. Then Deborah steps in to speak to Barak. As she is explaining that she will go with Barak to this battle she says to Barak in Judges 4:9b for Yahweh will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.

It was these words that must have rung in his mind. He was not worried that he wouldn’t get the credit for this victory but only that God would be glorified and the people released from their oppression. His faith is displayed in following God even at a time when the most unlikely person would be the one to help and guide in defeating this powerful foe.*

The story ends with Sisera being killed by Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite as Barak was continually pursuing him when he fled from the battle. This defeat of Sisera’s army weakened Canaan to the point of falling into the hand of the people of Israel. Jabin’s rule was coming to an end all because of the faith of Barak and how God used him and Deborah in this time of Israel’s history.

I hope that we see that no matter if we are facing small situations or big situations in our own life that God will be with us no matter what. The thing is most of the time we just do what we want without worrying about what God wants. I hope you will become a man or woman of God that will follow as Gideon, Barak and Deborah has.

YouTube and Podcast teaching for….The Faith Of The Israelites And Rahab Through Obedience. LIVING BY FAITH IN TRIALS AND SUFFERING study #14 (A Study in Hebrews 11)(Hebrews 11:30-31)

The Faith Of The Israelites And Rahab Through Obedience. LIVING BY FAITH IN TRIALS AND SUFFERING study #14 (A Study in Hebrews 11)(Hebrews 11:30-31) – Disciple's Direction

The Faith Of The Israelites And Rahab Through Obedience. LIVING BY FAITH IN TRIALS AND SUFFERING study #14 (A Study in Hebrews 11)(Hebrews 11:30-31)

In our continual study in Hebrews 11 we come now to yet another familiar story which is about the destruction of Jericho. This story alone is probably one of the most famous stories about the victories of Israel in the Bible. The Exodus of Israel is famous but it is the walls of Jericho coming down that brings about an amazing look at how God brought victory in the most unlikely fashion. We will look at this very thing as we look at our text from Hebrews 11.

As we look at this I do want to point out that this story could easily have been attributed to Joshua’s faith but that is not what we will see as a direct teaching from the Scripture. Instead what we see is that this faith is directed towards the children of Israel as a whole. They are not mentioned by name just like Joshua is not either but we will see their faith in God clearly as we look at the original text in Joshua 6.

We will also see in this story about the faith of Rahab. Her faith will be obvious by her obedience to do as God had commanded her to do and by the fear that she had in God. Both of these tie into this story concerning the destruction of Jericho. These both will give to us a clear picture that faith is not something to just think on but there must be obedience and action.

Let’s look now at our first point for this study.

1.The faith of Israel gives to them salvation.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.

To get us in the context and setting let’s look at what is happening at this point in history. Moses the great leader of the Exodus and the wandering in the wilderness, has died. Joshua has taken over the place of leader among the people of Israel. This was something that Moses spoke of in Exodus 31:3-6 that says It is Yahweh your God who will cross ahead of you; He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, just as Yahweh has spoken. ⁴ And Yahweh will do to them just as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when He destroyed them. ⁵ And Yahweh will give them over before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or be in dread of them, for Yahweh your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.

The leadership of Israel had been handed over to Joshua even though he would not be an exact replica of Moses. In fact Exodus 34:9-12 says Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ¹⁰ And there has not yet arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom Yahweh knew face to face, ¹¹ in regard to all the signs and wonders which Yahweh sent him to do in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land, ¹² and in regard to all the mighty power and in regard to all the great terror which Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

This shows us that what Moses did was not the norm for all prophets and people of God. Joshua would be used by God but in a more militant way. He would lead the people through times of war. They would face adversity with nations and people all around them. But as we have already seen they were told that they would be victorious not because of their own power but because of God’s power and sovereign will.

After the death of Moses, Joshua was instructed by God to cross over the Jordan to possess the land promised to them. In fact this promise takes us back to Genesis 12:7a where God promises this to Abram. It says there: Then Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “To your seed I will give this land.”

This promise had been so long ago but here they are at the very place that was promised. They had been enslaved in Egypt for over 400 years and now they have seen God move in a mighty way to bring them away from that slavery to where they are now. But what stands in the way is the city of Jericho. This was a great city that was very difficult to get into. Joshua knew that Jericho would be a city that needed to be conquered in order to possess the land as God had promised. Therefore Joshua sends spies to the land before them. Look at what he says in Joshua 2:1a Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim, saying, “Go, see the land, especially Jericho.”

Jericho was a city that was not going to be easy to defeat at least not from a human standpoint. Jericho was tightly secured filled with a great army and powerful presence. But the presence of their strength was only that. The spies reported to Joshua in Joshua 2:24 “Surely Yahweh has given all the land into our hands; moreover, all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before us.”

Clearly these spies had came back with news that would bring confidence and a sense of victory but they still had the problem of getting through this great wall around the city. They knew that God was going to bring victory but they did not know how until they hear the instruction given to them from what God told Joshua in Joshua 6:2-5 that says And Yahweh said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors. ³ And you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. ⁴ Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. ⁵ And it will be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down beneath itself, and the people will go up every man straight ahead.”

*As the story goes, the children of Israel did exactly what God told them to do and the walls fell. Joshua 6:20-21 says So the people shouted, and the priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down beneath itself, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city. ²¹ And they devoted to destruction everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

This was an amazing victory because the impossible was made possible. In no way could we face such difficulties in our own strength and win this type of battle. In fact disobedience to God’s commands brought on defeat at Ai in the very next chapter.*

I want to turn our attention back before this victory to help lead us to our next point. The spies entered into the city of Jericho and found themselves at the house of a harlot named Rahab. It is there that they find out the information of the status of the city, Rahab tells them in Joshua 2:9 I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you.

This statement is amazing to see coming from a harlot from the land of Jericho. We will now move to look at this woman of faith in God’s salvation. Let’s look at our next point. We have seen the faith of Israel that gave to them salvation or victory and now we look at Rahab.

2.The faith of Rahab gives her salvation.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:31 By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after welcoming the spies in peace.

The fact that we see a pagan woman that was called a harlot listed here as a person of faith is amazing. This title harlot strictly means a prostitute. It is the Greek word porné (por’-nay) and it means exactly what we think it means. The Hebrew word is zanah (zaw-naw’) and means to commit fornication. This woman was not the type of person that most people would think to be accepted into the place to receive the blessing of Israel and to be saved eternally.

In fact what we find out is that she ends up in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 1:5a says And Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab. This once pagan prostitute becomes the distant relative to the Lord Jesus but we will ask how can this be?

We have already seen how she hid the spies and told them of the attitude of those that lived there. It is the act of hiding the spies that shows her faithfulness to God. I do want to point out that she is never commended for lying about the spies being there when questioned but only for hiding the spies. We see that here and also in James. James 2:25 says And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

James had been speaking of Abraham and how he was seen as a man of faith because of his actions when he was obedient to God concerning sacrificing Isaac. That act did not save Abraham or give him eternal life but it showed his faith was real. In the same way Rahab showed her faith was real by hiding the spies so they could escape to get back to the camp and tell of all they had seen and heard.

Through that act she was saved from the destruction that came upon Jericho and also she was saved from an eternity in Hell. How do we know that? Well she is listed among the ones in this chapter that speaks of those that as Hebrews 11:13-16 says died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. ¹⁴ For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. ¹⁵ And indeed if they had been remembering that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But now, they aspire to a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He prepared a city for them.

Briefly let’s look at her protection on that day of destruction. Joshua 6:22-25 says Now to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the harlot’s house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, as you have sworn to her.” ²³ So the young men who were spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and all she had; they also brought out all her relatives and placed them outside the camp of Israel. ²⁴ But they burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only the silver and gold, and articles of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of Yahweh. ²⁵ However, Rahab the harlot and her father’s household and all she had, Joshua preserved alive; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, for she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Her faith stands out because she lived in a city that was fearful of God but not in a good way. They were fearful to the point of weakness that brought upon them anxiety and destruction. She lived among these people yet she displayed her faith in God to save her as she trusted the men that came from the people of Israel to keep her safe. Ultimately she had faith in the same God we do and for that she is forever commended as one that had a faith in the face of difficulty and destruction.

The Faith of Moses In The Exodus. LIVING BY FAITH IN TRIALS AND SUFFERING study #13 (A Study in Hebrews 11)(Hebrews 11:27-29)

We continue our look into these great people of faith with a second look at Moses. Of course in our last study we looked at Moses’ faith while he was still in Egypt but that moves us away from his early years to now look at his faith as he leads the children of Israel out of Egypt. We know the story of how the Israelites became slaves to the Egyptians. God sent them there under the rule of Joseph who was second in command to Pharaoh. But as that Pharaoh dies off another came along some years later that did not like how the people of Israel was prospering. It was then that they were placed as slaves in Egypt.

We learned how God sovereignly kept Moses alive and in fact had him to be in the family of Pharaoh as an adopted child. Moses during that time grew up in the house of Pharaoh but never left his connection with his own people. He killed a man, buried him in the sand and this led to his first departure from Egypt. It was in that 40 year timespan that God called Moses to lead the people of Israel out of slavery. Even though there was some reluctancy from Moses, he eventually did as God commanded.

As we approach our text for this study we must remember that Moses could never have led the children of Israel on his own but only through the power of our sovereign Lord and God. Moses was only special because God made Him this way and not by his own doing or a work of his own. This leads us to look now at our first point in this section that shows Moses’ faith to lead the children of Israel out of slavery.

1.Moses has faith in God’s protection.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the rage of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.

We are looking at the fact that Moses has faith in God’s protection here but this was not always the case for Moses. Even though he killed an Egyptian because of how bad he was abusing one of his fellow Hebrew kinsman this was not an act of valor. Moses knew even before he did it that he was wrong for doing what he eventually did in killing this man. Exodus 2:12 says So he turned this way and that, and he saw that there was no one around. So he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

He did not do what he did to become an instant hero for Israel but was more from a personal vengeance against the oppression. Even though we do see in Acts 7:25 speaking of this matter that And he supposed that his brothers understood that God was granting them salvation through him, but they did not understand. I do not believe that he went about this from the right perspective but only from his own personal choices that led him into Midian for 40 years.

All of this led to Moses leaving Egypt out of a fear of Pharaoh and not God. Exodus 2:15 says And Pharaoh heard of this matter, so he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

So the first time Moses left Egypt he feared man but what we are going to see is that he now in this departure from Egypt fears God. Look with me again at Hebrews 11:27 that says By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the rage of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.

The first time he left, he left out of fear of Pharaoh but here he leaves by faith. This faith was not there the first time he left. His fear of man was what drove him away then but this time he comes back to Egypt to leave with his kinsmen who we know is the children of Israel. It is clear that this time around he had no fear of the rage of the king as our text says. This time we see he endured not because of his trust in himself to set the people free but because as seeing Him who is unseen.

Even though we can look at the story of God talking with Moses and it seems like a very reluctant person that did not want to do this, ultimately we see Moses’ faith as he goes to do what God had commanded him to do. He goes back to Egypt to meet with his kinsman and to tell them all of what God will do. It is in this time that we see God move through the hand and mouth of Moses and his brother Aaron as they meet with Pharaoh on 10 different occasions to come to some agreement for the children of Israel to leave Egypt. We know Pharaoh was hardened against the people of Israel even though there were 9 extremely tough plagues God sent during that time.

After the 9th plague God tells Moses that the next plague will in fact give them the freedom that had been promised. Exodus 11:1 says Then Yahweh said to Moses, “One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out from here completely.

The plague is told in Exodus 11:4-6 that says So Moses said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, ⁵ and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the servant-girl who is behind the millstones; and all the firstborn of the cattle. ⁶ Moreover, there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again.

This sets us up to look at our next point in our Hebrews text. We looked at Moses’ faith in God’s protection and now we look at our second point.

2.Moses has faith in God’s promise.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.

We just read the plague in our last point that showed that every first born in the land of Egypt will die. That is animals and humans alike. This would be what brings Pharaoh to the point of sending the children of Israel away. This of course took faith to believe that the instructions given to them would in fact keep their firstborn safe. The Passover is a shadow of Christ’s work on the cross. It symbolizes a sacrifice of an animal, the sprinkling of blood and the protection from death. The Passover lamb is a type of Christ that is not Christ but a picture of Christ in the Old Testament. The instructions that were given to the children of Israel for their protection is found in Exodus 12:5-13 but I want to just point out what is said concerning what will happen.

We see this in Exodus 12:5-7 Your lamb shall be a male, without blemish, a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ⁶ And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. ⁷ Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.

Then also I want to point out Exodus 12:12-13 that says And I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am Yahweh. ¹³ And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and I will see the blood, and I will pass over you, and there shall be no plague among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

It is this promise that God gives that Moses and the children of Israel would have to be protected from the wrath of God. I want to point out that we do not see God giving this opportunity to those in Egypt. This again is another example of God’s sovereign choosing in protecting and saving Israel from His wrath. This is a continual theme throughout the Bible and here again this can’t be refuted. Israel had not been some special people or even done anything to receive this mercy but because of God’s covenant and purpose that is beyond our understanding.

The fulfillment of these promises in seen in Exodus 12:29-32 that says Now it happened at midnight that Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. ³⁰ Then Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead. ³¹ Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, serve Yahweh, as you have spoken. ³² Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have spoken, and go, and bless me also.”

With this we now have seen Moses have faith in God’s protection and promise which lead us to look at our last point.

3.Moses has faith in God’s providence.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land, and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drowned.

God’s providence is seen all throughout the Bible and even today. I know for myself I could tell story after story of how God providentially guided me even before I was saved. One of the best places to see God’s providence is seen in the crossing of the Red Sea. Here God moved the people of Israel out of Egypt just to be chased by the Egyptian army just a little bit after being set free. This brought fear and anxiety from the people but Moses continued to trust God in spite of their slander towards him and God.

They were so fearful that they started questioning why they ever left Egypt. Then we see how Moses responds to this in Exodus 14:13-14 that says But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of Yahweh which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. ¹⁴ Yahweh will fight for you, and you will keep silent.”

This was amazing faith in God in spite of the situation that they were in and the fact that he was being mocked and questioned by the people. I love that God tells Moses in Exodus 14:15-16 “Why are you crying out to Me? Speak to the sons of Israel so that they go forward. ¹⁶ As for you, raise up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and split it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.

Notice Moses did not tell the people what was going to happen but only to move forward. This must have seemed to be an ignorant command with the Sea roaring in front of them. We know how this story goes, they move along on dry land through the Red Sea, the Egyptians are confused and unable to keep up because of the Lord working in Israel’s favor and then eventually after the children of Israel are safe on the other side, God closes the Sea on the Egyptians and all that went in after them died.

Even though we are looking at the faith of Moses in this study we see the faith of Israel here. They were afraid and then went into the parted Sea to escape the Egyptians. Here is God’s providence to keep His covenant that He made with Abraham is in full effect. All of this was not a response by God to what was happening concerning Israel but all of this was in the plan of God from before time as we know it began.

No doubt that even though at times we see Moses’ fear, reluctance and disobedience to God’s commands that we still see his faith in God through the most difficult situation in his life. There is so much more that we could talk about concerning Moses but for this study we will leave it right here where the writer of Hebrews left it as well. In our next study we will look at the story of the walls of Jericho coming down and the faith of those that led that great victory. Along with that we will look at Rahab that God providentially saved through that victory.

The Faith of Moses Before The Exodus. LIVING BY FAITH IN TRIALS AND SUFFERING study #12 (A Study in Hebrews 11) (Hebrews 11:23-26)

In this study we will just begin to look at one of the most well known people from the Old Testament, Moses. Yes people know Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, they are familiar with the stories of Joseph, David, Samson and other prophets but it is Moses that seems to take the spotlight. There have been many movies, plays and sermons on the great Exodus from Egypt. This even was and is one of the major stories of the Old Testament with the flood story being a close second. The fascination with Moses comes to us because we see a man that should not have even been alive, rise to the ranks within the most powerful authority of that time to just walk away from it all. Then in that time it is that we see Moses interact with God in a way like no other person on Earth has done. This would continue in many different ways throughout his life.

It will be what happens before the burning bush and before the Exodus that we will look at in this study. We will continue in the next study to look at the faith of Moses through all that God worked in his life. Let’s look now at our first point for this study.

1.The faith of the parents of Moses.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

Moses’ life started out in a time of turmoil and evil when there was a mandate to have all the boy Israelite babies murdered. This new king of Egypt did not know Joseph and had no regard for the people of Israel. In fact this new king brought hard labor on the Israelites and looked to destroy them at least from the standpoint of being any threat to them. We read in Exodus 1:15-16 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah; ¹⁶ and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”

These midwives refused to follow these orders and through this God blessed Israel by multiplying the people and making them mighty. The king was not happy and went further into his madness to set out to destroy the sons of those born. This we read in Exodus 1:22 And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”

It is with this background that we come to the birth of Moses in Exodus 2:1-4 that says And a man from the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as a wife. ² And the woman conceived and bore a son; and she saw that he was beautiful, so she hid him for three months. ³ But she could not hide him any longer. So she took for him an ark of papyrus reeds and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and put it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. ⁴ And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him.

We do not see the names of Moses’ parents here but we do see in Exodus 6:20a And Amram took his father’s sister Jochebed as a wife, and she bore him Aaron and Moses.

This is also recorded in Numbers 26:59 where we know that they had a sister as well. It says there: And the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to Amram: Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam.

So we know that it is Amram and Jochebed that was the biological parents of Moses, it is these that did not believe in putting to death their newborn son. It is their faith that is referenced in Hebrews 11:23 even though we know that this is the story of Moses. It is his parents though that are commended for the faith they had. They regarded God’s morals over the laws of the land and therefore did what they knew to be right in the sight of God.

The story goes that Moses was placed in the basket to cover him and placed near the Nile. Pharaoh’s daughter saw the child and decided to take him as her own son. Because of needing the child to be nursed, Miriam stood by and suggested that the mother of the child be the one to do so in which this was granted to be done. So Moses grew up in the palace of Pharaoh as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. This would place him in high ranking positions and could elevate him to status in Egypt just like Joseph. But Moses refused to follow along in the abuse that he saw his kinsmen being treated with. This sets us up to look now at the faith Moses had even before his initial call from God. Let’s look now at our next point.

2.The faith of Moses while in Egypt.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:24-26 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ regarding the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.

Most people will look at Moses at how God used him to bring the Israelites from the heavy bondage and slavery of the Egyptians but in reality his faith began much earlier than that. Just like his biological parents, he would not stand for the wrong doing against his people. We must remember that he would have been educated in Egyptian culture, he would have been placed in the most prominent positions in Egyptian society but as we see here that would not drive him away from the God that he knew. In fact Acts 7:21-22 give us some detail on this, it says there: And after he had been set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son. ²² And Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in words and deeds.

In God’s providence, even though Moses would grow up to be be placed in the hand and care of Pharaoh’s daughter as her son, we must know that Moses would have been around his biological mother until he was weaned which would have been around 2 to 8 years of age. I know that does not give him a lot to remember concerning his true family but for sure we know that he knew he was not an Egyptian by birth. The reference to what is in our Hebrews 11 text is from Exodus 2:11 that says Now it happened in those days, that Moses had grown up. And he went out to his brothers and looked on their hard labors. And he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers. ¹² So he turned this way and that, and he saw that there was no one around. So he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

Here we see Moses take into his own hands his vengeance against one that was mistreating one of his own Hebrew brothers. He knew he was a Hebrew and he would not just stand by to watch his people get treated with such hard labors and abuse. They were treated worse than we can imagine therefore he could not take it anymore, acted on this and killed the Egyptian. Now understand that I am not saying that he had a right to kill but am only pointing out that we see that he would not just take his place in the palace and be content. Rather what we see is yes he sinned by killing a man but behind his wrong we see a right motive to not follow in this type of behavior towards his own people. These people would be his own family, friends of his family and fellow heirs to the promises of what God had spoken to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

So he commits this sin but in that act he showed as Hebrews 11:24b-25 refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.

The life he chose was a life that was not for Egypt but was for his own people, Israel. The act of killing that man brought along fear because the word got out and for fear of Pharaoh he leaves Egypt to escape the consequences of his actions. It seems to me that Moses did a lot of wrong up to this point, he had defied Pharaoh by siding with the Hebrew people, he had killed an Egyptian and tried to conceal it then we see him flee the area to avoid the consequences of what he had done. If someone had done this in our time we would have our government on his or her track.

Here we must not confuse ourselves by thinking that Moses was commended for any of these wrong actions. He was not commended for killing a man, nor was he commended for running away from these consequences. As I studied this I looked to see what others thought concerning the fact that God never reprimanded Moses nor punished him for these actions but instead used him. Many people offered things that pointed toward the fact that the law was not established or that his punishment was that he would not be a free man living in Egypt.

I would say to both of those that even when Cain killed Abel there was consequences for that sin. So that does not seem to be the case. The only explanation that makes any sense to me is that God had mercy on Moses just like He would with David when having an adulterous relationship and killing Bathsheba’s husband. He would have mercy on Moses just like He does on us. Psalm 103:6-12 says Yahweh performs righteous deeds, And judgments for all who are oppressed. ⁷ He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. ⁸ Yahweh is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. ⁹ He will not always contend with us, And He will not keep His anger forever. ¹⁰ He has not dealt with us according to our sins, And He has not rewarded us according to our iniquities. ¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. ¹² As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

So I do believe because of God’s mercy Moses was never brought under the consequences of his actions and no, this does not mean that if we do something against the law in our country that we may not suffer the consequences but I’m only showing how God was merciful towards Moses. In fact if we jump ahead to Exodus 3 where Moses was talking with God about going back to Egypt look at what is said in Exodus 3:11-12 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹² And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God at this mountain.”

God confirms to Moses that He will be with him as he goes before Pharaoh. God knew what Moses had done, God knew that Moses would look for excuses to not be used in this way and God knew that Moses did not want to go back to Egypt so He lets him know that He would be with him, this was an act of mercy from God.

So what was Moses commended for in all of this? Look again at Hebrews 11:26 regarding the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.

The best explanation I could find to bring all of this together is from the Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers that says this concerning what this verse says and I quote: Throughout the whole of their history the people of Israel were the people of the Christ. Their national existence originated in the promise to Abraham, which was a promise of the Christ; and till the fulness of time should come their mission was to prepare the way for Him. The reproach which Moses accepted by joining the people of the promise was, therefore, “the reproach of the Christ,” the type of that “reproach” which in later days His people will share with Him (Hebrews 13:13). He who was to appear in the last days as the Messiah was already in the midst of Israel (John 1:10). END QUOTE.

The commendation is in the fact of knowing that God would provide a Savior, the Messiah who we know as the Lord Jesus Christ. He did not have the full revelation of what was to come but it was his faith in God that led him to lead the people of Israel and be known as the one that God used in delivering Israel from Egyptian slavery. We will see more about Moses as we move along in our next study.