In this blog post, I want to talk about faith. The best definition of faith is found in Hebrews 11:1 (AMP), “Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].”. In this particular chapter of Hebrews, we see the great men of God and how they worked with faith in the Old Testament.
I want to focus on one great example of faith and that is the faith of Moses. In the book of Exodus, we see the deliverance of the Israelites from Pharaoh’s hand. God and Moses both knew Pharaoh was oppressing the people of Israel. In Exodus chapter 3 Moses has a miraculous encounter with God at the sight of the burning bush. God told Moses in Exodus 3:9-10 (NKJV), “Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”. Right here Moses was commissioned to submit to God’s plan to be used to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt.
Moses responds in Exodus 3:11 (NKJV), “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”. Right here Moses begins by expressing his doubt to God. How often do we know God has commissioned us to do something or called us to something, and yet let our minds get filled with doubt? It happens all the time, even to the best of us.
God responds to Moses in the next verse, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”. We see throughout the deliverance of Israel that Moses keeps going back and forth with God. As each sign is performed Pharaoh’s heart is hardened more. Moses saw what was going on in front of him, each sign that he performed through Gods anointing Pharaoh’s heart got hardened. It was not after the first plague that the children of Israel were delivered, it took ten plagues.
Moses could have given up after the first two plagues. But both he and his prophet Aaron kept their focus on God’s promise for deliverance. God promised deliverance for the children of Israel. Too often we focus on what is going on before our eyes, rather than what God is doing. We won’t know how it will always play out, but we do know what God’s promises are according to His Word.
Hebrews 11:23-29 (NKJV) tells us, “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command. By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. By faith, he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith, they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.”.
We see here how Moses put his faith in God alone. Moses trusted God to be with him, to strengthen him, and to empower him to be used to carry out the deliverance of the children of Israel. It was not because of Moses’ own strength that the children of Israel were delivered, it is because he put his faith in God alone, they were delivered. Aaron and Moses were completely dependent on God during the 10 plagues with Pharaoh.
If we are going to stand on the promises in God’s Word, we must not get focused on what we see before us, but what God’s Word says. Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV) tells us, “But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”. We need to realize what the Word of God promises us rather than depending on the things of this world to fix our problems.
It is time that we as believers learn to stand up and proclaim the promises in God’s Word. We must fully put our trust in God’s sovereign Will, and we can know His Will for our lives if we read His Word. We need to be spending time day and night in God’s Word, in prayer, and in worship. The more we have meditated on the Word of God and feed upon it the greater our faith in His promises will be. You can be a master in the academics associated with God’s Word, however, it is not just head knowledge that matters it is let the Word of God get into your spirit-man and letting your spirit-man dominate the soul and flesh.