Day 317

Ezekiel 27:1–28:26; Hebrews 11:17-31; Psalm 111:1-10; Proverbs 27:15-16

IN THE HALL of Faith, the writer of Hebrews began in Genesis and pointed out instances in the Hebrew Scriptures where faith was an inextricable part of the story. Today, we spent all of our time walking through further examples of faith from the Old Testament, and as we skim them now, we’ll see this theme being repeated again and again. This is because the writer wanted to point out what had always been obvious but unseen:

• “It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him.” (Hebrews 11:17)
• “It was by faith that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau.” (Hebrews 11:20)
• “It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.” (Hebrews 11:21)
• “It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt.” (Hebrews 11:22)
• “It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born.” (Hebrews 11:23)
• “It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.” (Hebrews 11:24)
• “It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger.” (Hebrews 11:27)
• “It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.” (Hebrews 11:28)
• “It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground.” (Hebrews 11:29)
• “It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days, and the walls came crashing down.” (Hebrews 11:30)
• “It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God.” (Hebrews 11:31)

The intention of the writer of Hebrews, in creating this list chronicling the faith of their ancestors, was clearly not random. “It was by faith” is repeated over and over for a reason —to lock in the understanding that faith was always the essential component in any of these stories. And the author was right. We’ve worked our way from Genesis to Joshua in the Hall of Faith today, and we’ve seen that without faith, the narrative couldn’t have moved forward.

Imagine for a moment what the Bible might look like had all of these people not had faith. We would be reading a dramatically different Bible. Had faith not been exercised in each of these people’s lives, the story of Scripture would have had a radically different outcome. This was the writer’s point. Faith has always been and will always be the essential component of life with God. Without it, we cannot please Him (Hebrews 11:6). And in each of the biblical examples in the Hall of Faith, God responded to faith. But God’s response didn’t always mean the removal of hardship, as we will see when we conclude the list of examples tomorrow.

You can place your faith in whatever you choose. Whatever your faith is in is your god. Consider again —as was the intention of the writer of Hebrews —in whom, or in what, you have put your faith. When your faith is in God, He will respond.

WORSHIP:

He has paid a full ransom for his people. He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever. What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has! Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever!