Wilderness Wanderings

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. (Hebrews 11:31)

As pastor Michael pointed out yesterday, we've skipped over 40 years in the wilderness between the Red Sea and Jericho. Or at least—that section of time is skipped over here in chapter 11's litany of faith. But the time of wilderness testing did figure earlier in the book of Hebrews, quite prominently in fact. So why doesn't it show up here? Because the writer considers the wilderness to have been a time not of faith, but of disobedience.

This is what we read in chapter 3: "Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was [the Lord] angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief." (Hebrews 3:16-19)

The author uses the same word—disobedient—in our verse today: Rahab, the woman of faith is contrasted with "those who were disobedient." We presume that the "disobedient" must refer to the other inhabitants of Jericho who died. Maybe. But if we remember back to the book of Joshua—there were also disobedient Israelites killed in the Jericho affair. If Joshua, chapter 6 told the story of Rahab's faith that literally stood out amid the crumbling walls of Jericho, chapter 7 tells us of the disobedience of Achan who grabbed plunder from Jericho's fallen ruins in direct defiance of God's command.

Achan held on to Jericho rather than God and perished. Rahab held onto God rather than Jericho and lived.

We can often presume that the faithful are the ones inside the church and people of God. The Bible rarely sees it that way. Very often the wicked and disobedient are mixed up within the people of God and it's the foreigners and sinners like Rahab the Prostitute who witness to God's people about what it means to be people of faith. This is the story here.

The distinction between outsiders and insiders is obliterated like the walls of Jericho. What matters is not whether you were born to Abraham or within the church—what matters is the faith of Abraham and the faith of the church. All of us are "the disobedient," and whether in the church or out of it, we remain so UNLESS we place our faith in God. This is the distinction that matters. Will you let go of all other forms of wealth and security and hold on to nothing but God, in faith that he alone will save?

Rahab had such a faith, and was saved. It happened right there in the very moment of Jericho's fall: her life was held secure even as all else crumbled around her. God made a way for her where there was no way, just like he did for Israel as they crossed the sea. He still does the same today for all who cling to him in faith.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you.

May he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm.

May he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you.

May he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days (Hebrews 11:30).

Our writer teleports us from the exodus out of Egypt right to the conquest of the promised land, from the roaring waters of the Red Sea destroying the Egyptian army to the shadows of Jericho's walls. But much has happened in between. Over 40 years of much.

And much has changed. Israel's faith has grown. Pharoah and his army had no fear of God, but according to the two spies who stayed at Rahab's house, "The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us" (Joshua 2:24). Fear of God indeed. Now, Israel fears God too, but in a very different form. She eagerly follows Joshua's instruction to march around Jericho, confident that its walls will fall. Not fear, as in afraid, but fear, as in confident faith, our God can do it.

They could not see how it would fall; on the face of it, nothing could seem more foolish than to march round a strong fortress for seven days on end, led by seven priests blowing rams' horns. They could not see faith at work on those solid walls. Those huge ramparts and battlements seemed to stand fast and firm. Yet, when they marched round the city seven times on the seventh day and heard the last blast of the rams' horns, they shouted with a great shout and the walls crumbled (Joshua 6:20). No battering rams beat upon them, but faith can do better work than battering rams or dynamite

In this extraordinary approach, God was pleased to magnify himself, to terrify the Canaanites, to strengthen the faith of the Israelites, and to prevent all boasting. Israel could never claim victory over Jericho. God was victorious.

This is the faith to which we are called. God can and will in his own time and in his own way cause all powerful opposition against his interest and glory to fall down. Later in Israel's history, the Assyrians fell, the Babylonians fell, the Medes and Persians fell, the Greeks fell, the Romans fell. And in our day too, kingdoms arrayed against the Lord have fallen. Those who seek glory for themselves will fall in confusion just like those who built the tower of Babel (Genesis 11).

For six days the Israelites marched. Each day, the folks of Jericho likely got braver. Did they mock Israel? Probably. Faith learns to wait. Faith does not grab hold of but has patience until God gives. We are called to a life of faith that expects and receives. Israel marched and waited and received.

God often uses weak and unexpected means to accomplish his purposes. Paul put is succinctly, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). Our task is not to understand, but to believe.

Later he also wrote, "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10:3-4). Our primary weapon is faith. Faith in God. Faith that his purposes will not fail. Faith that we will receive our reward, a place in God's heavenly city.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness: protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing; at the wonders he has shown you. May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. (Hebrews 11:29)

If one reads the book of Exodus, "faith" does not seem the right word to equate with the people. This is how Exodus 13 reports it: "As Pharaoh approached... They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, 'Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die'" (Ex. 13:10-11).

Moses' response comes with a bit more faith. He says: "'Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.'" (Ex. 13:13-14)

These are the two polls between which our lives of faith oscillate. Between utter hopelessness and despair on the one side and an uncanny ability to stand firm despite everything that says you ought to crumble on the other.

It's worth saying that the people's appraisal of the situation was correct. But for God: they were surely dead. Caught between an ocean and an army with livestock, children, and the elderly members of the community—there was no way the whole group was going to escape.

What we need to understand from this is that faith does not make sense. According to the maths: the Israelites die. But Moses in this moment was looking beyond the facts and statistics, strategy and common sense. He not only had an assurance about the God he could not see, but also a confidence in what he hoped for. Namely, salvation. He stood firm in a belief that an invisible God really can step in to save his people from the visible dangers they face in this world.

This is what faith is, but how many of us have it? When we speak of salvation, we're usually speaking of a death for sin in the distant past that gives us a heavenly home in the distant future. Neither this past nor this future seem to have much import for the life we're living today. It's nice—a great future comfort to be sure—but it's not going to pay the bills. Nor is it going to save us from any of the dangers we or our loved ones face. We take that work into our own hands with our own know-how. And so it is that we find ourselves believing quite orthodox things, and yet nevertheless forsaking faith in the living Lord Jesus who in this very moment still sits on the throne and steps into this world to save his people.

Like the Israelites before us, we have a hard time leaving Egypt. To finally and fully leave Egypt, the Israelites had to let go of what they knew and what their 5 senses were telling them. They had to give way to the faith Moses held out before them—that their only hope of salvation was in a God they couldn't see, working against everything they could. They Egyptians stayed in Egypt, of course: the faithless real world logic of "you can't walk through the bottom of the ocean" literally came crashing down on them. But the Israelites made it through an impossible danger in an impossible way. They walked by faith in a God who makes a way where there is no way, and so found themselves walking on dry, solid ground.

Whatever it is that you face right now in your life: stand firm and take hope. Believe, in faith, that the Lord Jesus still fights for his people and saves them, even today.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you.

May he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm.

May he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you.

May he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.

A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text 2 Samuel 5. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection!

To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

1. What qualities should a good leader have?
2. Do you know a leader who has demonstrated the traits of a shepherd? What role was the king supposed to fill in Israel? Some time this week read and reflect on Ezekiel 34.
3. In the middle section of the chapter David fails in several ways. What are they? How can the church follow in the example of Jesus? How can you?
4. How does the story of Jerusalem (the city of David) give us hope?
5. Who are the church's enemies today? Should we be afraid of them? What has happened to them? What does the defeat of God's enemies change us? How do we fight against our enemies today?

Because of his faith, Moses was the first to keep the Passover Feast. He commanded the people of Israel to sprinkle blood on their doorways. He did it so that the destroying angel would not touch their oldest sons (Hebrews 11:28).

God is King. The unseen God is king. My God is King. Moses believed this.

This faith is on display once more in our text. God had been demonstrating his kingship throughout Egypt with a series of plagues. Now it was time for the show down. The last plague was about to take place, the death of the firstborn sons. The death of Pharoah's son was proof that the Egyptian gods were no match for the God of Israel, that he was indeed king.

It was time for Israel to put their faith in this God. They, too, would be subject to the destroying angel, unless they killed the Passover lamb and sprinkled its blood on their doorposts. God himself would stand in the way of the destroying angel, protecting those behind the bloodstained doorposts. Israel, too, needed to trust that God was King, that he was stronger than the enemy.

Our author is inviting us into this story, to this kind of faith. He has already mentioned the sprinkling of blood. In 9:11-22, he compared Christ's sacrifice to the sacrificial rituals of the old covenant. The blood of animals protected Israel from God's judgement, yet it was insufficient. Christ's blood is far superior and cleanses us permanently.

Our text specifically mentions the smearing of blood on the Israelites' door posts to avoid the death angel's work. This act was an act of faith in an as-yet-unseen event. This first Passover was an act of faith that God would save Israel. She was yet in Pharoah's clutches. All subsequent Passovers looked back to the event of the angel of death passing over the homes sprinkled with blood; that God himself stood guard protecting his covenant people. But this first Passover was an act of faith, that redemption was at hand.

Our celebration of the Lord's Supper looks both backward and forward. We look back at the Christ on the cross, believing that his blood covers our sin. Our author recognizes that the reality of cleansing and the experience of it do not always come together. Thus, he often writes about the cleansing of the conscience. Even if we don't feel cleansed, we are. We believe it in faith. We look back at the cross, we see God's love for us there. His firstborn, his only son, dying for us. He died; we live. As God passed over the Israelites who lived behind the blood, so we live shielded by the blood of Christ. Christ is that Lamb, he is our Passover, he was sacrificed for us.

The Lord's Supper is also an act of faith looking forward. Salvation is much more than just forgiveness. It is full restoration of the entire cosmos. Life in this world can often be discouraging. We see the evidence of poverty all around, we are diagnosed with disease, loved ones die, disagreements sever relationships, even marriages, wars bring destruction. Its difficult to imagine a world without all this pain. But in faith, we participate in the Lord's Supper in anticipation of the day when Christ will return and set everything right. Our tears will be dried. Our sorrows will be no more. Shalom will fill the cosmos and our hearts. Our Christ, though unseen to our physical eyes, is King. He is stronger than the enemy. He has overcome. He will see this done.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness: protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing; at the wonders he has shown you. May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. (Hebrews 11:27)

If we said it once, it's worth saying again: God is King, not Pharaoh or any other ruler past, present, or future. Recall the words from my devotion two days ago. There the author of Hebrews stated that Moses' parents were not afraid of the king. Now Moses is the one "not fearing the king's anger."

In that devotion, I wrote: "For someone to be unafraid of a king—whether that be the edict of an ancient emperor or a modern day elected President or Prime Minister—it means they have a view of reality that extends beyond what can be seen. They understand that there is a yet higher power behind the thin veneer of this present moment—a God who still rules and reigns as Sovereign Lord King over this earth. … Faith sees God. Right here, right now—on the move."

This is precisely what the author of Hebrews means. Why was Moses not afraid? Because "he saw him who is invisible," that is, God the true King.

You cannot read the Bible without this kind of vision. Think of our current series in Sunday worship. When we read the texts of Samuel & Kings, we are tempted to think that Saul, David, and Solomon are the king of Israel. They aren't. They never were. God is still the King. And to the extent that Saul, David, and Solomon acknowledge that fact and point their people to the High King, the LORD—Israel is her true self. But when they forget and start acting as if they were the only king by taking too many wives, say, or naming a city after themselves like the "City of David," that is when Israel becomes a nation "like all the other nations," which is far less than Israel was called to be.

When one's eyes are peeled to see God as King and we ourselves as citizens of HIS country who merely reside as foreign aliens in this one (Canada)—then we see things rightly. That is when Christians begin to do those strange, counter-cultural things that Christians do when they are willing to give up their own standing, wealth, even life for the sake of others or for our love of God.

Very often we see this go sideways when Christians make "strong" stands and draw hard lines, but seek to enact those stands through unrighteous means: violence, factional fighting, subverting the rules. This is not the way of the King. Not that Christians can't make strong stands, but in his Kingdom the way something gets done is just as important as what gets done. Ends do not justify means: both ends and means must be righteous in his kingdom. And if that means we cannot get done what we think we ought to or need to get done, well then, it just doesn't get done. We wait in trust for the Lord to do what we cannot, for we are always constrained by his law and his ways.

But even so: in our waiting we do not fear. No matter how bad things get or look, we do not fear. Even if our life is made hard and persecution comes our way: we do not fear. Why? Because we see "him who is invisible," our God, still seated on the throne.

This is the root: faith. A "confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." As John will write later in his letter: it is faith in this God and his perfect love that "drives out fear."

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you.

May he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm.

May he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you.

May he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward (Hebrews 11:24-26).

Yesterday, Pastor Anthony ended his devotion on Moses' parents with these lines, "Faith is not lived in the future, but in the present. By time heaven comes round—it'll be too late to try."

That sentence there, "Faith is not lived in the future, but in the present." This is the kind of faith that the author of Hebrews ascribes to Moses, which he learned from his parents – their words, sure, but certainly also from their actions.

Our author wants us to understand something about Moses -- because of that faith, he made a choice. He grew up in Pharaoh's household as the adopted son of the royal princess. He had access to the best luxuries and wisdom and powers of the Egyptian regal court. It was all there at his fingertips: all the papyri of the magicians who could turn staffs into snakes (Exodus 7:12), all the best food and drink, all the pleasures a young man desired, all the training of an Egyptian soldier.

But he made a choice. He turned away from it all. Moses chose to identify with God's people rather than with the godless. He chose at great personal cost: loss of wealth, relinquishment of status, and intense mistreatment. He "regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt."

This phrase squishes time together: present, future and further still. Certainly, Moses experienced reproach by identifying himself with the people of God but in doing so he also experienced the reproach of the coming Messiah (that is the present and the future). Our author does this to encourage his readers, in the 1st century and in the 21st century, to make the same choice that Moses made: to accept the reproach that comes from identifying with Christ and with his church (that's the further still, us). He is encouraging us to join Paul in declaring, "I want to join [Christ] in his sufferings. I want to become like him by sharing in his death" (Philippians 3:10 NIRV).

Are you willing to make that kind of choice? Are you willing to be identified with a group that declares Jesus is Lord above all the rulers of the world, even when people say, 'where's the proof'? Are you willing to put some of your hard-earned income towards the mission of God as worked out through his church, even if it costs you that vacation or new vehicle that you are dreaming of? Are you wiling to name among your friends, people whom the world deems undesirable, people who can offer you nothing but friendship? Are you willing to be identified with a group of deeply flawed people who regularly mess up their God given mission?

Does your faith enable you to trust Jesus when he said, "Truly I tell you, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life" (Mark 10:29-30). Does your faith live in the present, in the here and now?

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness: protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing; at the wonders he has shown you. May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. (Hebrews 11:23)

The character of any person, government, or culture is displayed in highest relief by the way they treat their weak and vulnerable ones. Under Herod in Matthew 2—the baby boys and toddlers were killed as a means of stamping out any claims of God's Messiah coming to the kingship. In Pharaoh's Egypt, a similar policy is taken to stamp out the threat of the God's people of promise—they were multiplying too fast. God very often entrusts himself and his people to weakness, rather than strength, because as Paul put it in speaking about his thorn in the flesh—it is when we are weak that we remember God's strength is sufficient for us.

For someone to be unafraid of a king's edict—whether that be the edict of an ancient emperor or a modern day elected President or Prime Minister—it means they have a view of reality that extends beyond what can be seen. They understand that there is a yet higher power behind the thin veneer of this present moment—a God who still rules and reigns as Sovereign Lord King over this earth.

Faith is not just a hope in heaven after death or at the end of time. Faith sees God. Right here, right now—on the move. Our hope does not lie in heaven—our hope is in God. And God is not only in heaven at the end of time, but also right here with us, among us on earth in our time. That is what gives terrified parents the capacity to defy an earthly king's order—what gives weak people strength. They believe that God saves—not just later at the end of time—but in the here and now of life as it is lived.

Christians too live by the rules and assumptions of a different culture and kingdom: the kingdom of God. In this kingdom, we are able to extend mercy in a world of hard lines; offer hospitality in a world of mistrust, and speak forgiveness in a world of grievance. We can produce these counter-cultural acts because we draw on a source outside the reality brought to us through our screens. Faith sees the God of mercy, forgiveness, and hospitality offering these graces to us—setting a table for us in the presence of our enemies. Faith hears the call to go and do likewise. Faith trusts that this same God is with us as we go.

This is how daring acts of saving and preserving life against the grain of the politics and culture of the day are done. Moses' parents didn't do this simply because Moses was a cute baby or because they were abnormally unafraid—no, they did it because they had faith in God. The God who they trusted would see their plight and hear their cries. A God who would set things right. A God who creates and sustains life against any whims of ruthless rulers.

Do you see this God? Will you act out in this kind of faith? By time heaven comes round—it'll be too late to try. Faith is not lived in the future, but in the present.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you.

May he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm.

May he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you.

May he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.

By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones (Hebrews 11:22).

Perhaps the greatest test of faith is not sacrifice but success. If so, Joseph's faith was of the best vintage. We know from his story that he pondered deeply the things of God. His faith could see that the suffering he endured God was using for good. Even though his brothers' intentions were evil of the worst sort, Joseph, in faith, saw that "God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives" (Genesis 50:20).

One can imagine that Joseph spent many hours wrestling with God in prayer, like his father Jacob at the Jabbok (Genesis 32:24). But it was not Joseph's piety that the Holy Spirit calls our attention to. Rather, through his long and successful carrier as Egypt's second in command, he maintained his faith that God had a prophetic and salvific plan for Israel. It was not powerful Egypt but little Israel that God would use to redeem the world. Not Egypt, but Israel, would display the glory, holiness, mercy and love of God.

Such faith must have seemed eccentric and bizarre to all who knew about it. In his day, Egypt was the dominant world power. Israel must have felt a little like Canada does today, with the USA as a neighbour. Abraham's descendants were only a tiny tribe, scarcely more than an extended family. That Joseph rose to become Vice-President in this superpower was not that unusual. But for such a leader, while still in office, to believe and announce that hope for the world's future lies not with superpowers, but with tiny Israel and with her God-given role in history – that is quite another thing.

It was not Israel's holiness, nor her understanding of her identity that mattered. Israel's history reveals she was neither very holy nor very able to embrace her God given identity. What mattered is what God had promised, and that God was a keeper of his word. The Holy Spirit gave us this chapter of faithful people to shore up our own faith. Not faith in our faith, that is silliness, but faith in God. Despite Israel's weak position in the world God did use her.

Today, many people are concerned about the church. She is shrinking in North America. In some places she is coddling up to power; in other places she is losing her holiness. Her light seems to be dimming and her saltiness diminishing. These things are important. However, they are not ultimate. The church is not dependent on her size or even her holiness, she is dependent on God. Fear not, says Jesus, I am with you to the very end of the age.

Israel was no longer living in the land of promise. But Joseph believed that God's people would return there. God's plans would be fulfilled, and he wanted to be identified with them. Even in death he wanted to be remembered not as a famous prime minister of Egypt, but as a member of a fledgeling nation through whom God would redeem the world. Egypt was not her home – the promised land awaited.

Material success often dims our longing for the new creation. We become so comfortable and secure with our worldly possessions we neglect laying up treasures in heaven. Joseph's eyes of faith did not waver from the future. He fixed his eyes on God as we fix are eyes on Jesus, longing for the joy that awaits us, not depending on the momentary joys of life today. He worked faithfully for Pharoah, all the while, keeping his eyes fixed on the Important prize, God's affirmation, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness: protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing; at the wonders he has shown you. May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

An extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text comes from 2 Samuel 4 from the New International Version of the Bible. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

DIVE IN QUESTIONS

1. What stands out to you from hearing these verses? Is God offering an invitation or a challenge to you through those words? Take time to pray about it.

2. What do you learn of Saul's world ways from this passage?

3. Where do you see these ways in your own life or in the world around you? i.e.: the ways of fear, mistrust, and taking life into our own hands in a way that neglects God.

4. What is story of shame in this chapter (and book—read 1 Samuel 20 and 2 Samuel 9, noting that this chapter falls directly in the middle of the two!)?

5. How do the ways of the Lord overcome Saul's ways of shame in this book?

6. How will you trust in God's work in Jesus this week, rather than the fears and mistrust that might swirl about?