In the history of God’s people the Israelites, there were triumphs and failures. Each of these shared a common theme; whether they were triumph or failure depended on where the people’s faith was rooted, in themselves or in the Lord…do you think maybe, it’s still all about faith today? Let me give you some examples…
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In Exodus, when the Israelites, crossed the Red Sea on dry land, at the behest of Moses, while Pharaoh and his Chariots drowned…. the people had faith in God
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In Joshua, When Rahab, welcomed the spies, and was spared in the invasion and when Bethel, Ai, and Jericho were conquered… the people had faith in God.
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Judges is a book of failures, yes, but it also a book of great faith. When Gideon (finally) led his 300 against the Midianites (who outnumbered him) and defeated them… he had faith in God .
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When Barak chased the Canaanites out of the Kishon River… he had faith in God .
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When Samson destroyed the Temple of Dagon… he had faith in God .
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When Shamgar killed six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad (what’s an oxgoad? It’s a stick!)… he had faith in God.
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When Jephthah devastated twenty Ammonite towns… he had faith in God .
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In Samuel, when David slew Goliath… he had faith in God .
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When Samuel stood up to Saul and anointed David… he had faith in God.
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When Ezra, Nehemiah, and Haggai rebuilt the temple, an event so important there’s three books of the Bible devoted to it… he had faith in God .
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Job! When Job refused to forsake the Lord in spite of all his friends telling him to… he had faith in God .
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The Psalms…read the Psalms…they’re about faith in God…
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When Solomon (probably Solomon) wrote Ecclesiastes and said that life was a meaningless vapour without God… he was talking about faith in God.
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Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and all of the Lord’s prophets, were all about faith in God…
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In the book of Daniel, when Daniel stared down a pack of lions… he had faith in God.
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In Hosea, when Hosea the prophet married Gomer the prostitute… he had faith in God.
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And finally, in Samuel again, when two un-driven cows were yoked to a cart with the Ark of the Covenant on it, and it returned to Israel without a driver… the people had faith in God.
The Israelites though, as we know had some problems…some issues if you will…Let me show you…
- In Numbers, when the Israelites listened to the spies that said, “We can’t do it.” and wandered the desert for 40 years as a result…they lacked faith.
- When Uzzah, in 2 Samuel reached to save the ark from falling in the water… he had faith in himself to save God.
- Whenever Israel lost a battle, and they lost many…it was because they had faith in themselves.
- When Israel repeatedly fell away from God and paid for it in Judges… it was because they had faith in themselves.
- When Saul cowered from Goliath…he lacked faith.
- When David sinned with Bathsheba…he lacked faith.
We see this in the New Testament as well, In Matthew, when Peter walks on the water to go see Jesus, his faith is in God, when he realizes what he’s doing and drowns, his faith has gone. His logic kicks in, and he fails. We are shown time and time again in scripture, the folly of doing things on our own power, for our own good. The thrust of scripture is in the opposite direction. We haven’t learned yet, when will we?
