Faith Exemplified - The Faith of the Exodus Generation

Well, if you would take your Bible and turn back to Hebrews 11, Hebrews 11 in the message will be in verses 29 to 31. And just like with all of these examples of faith, we will be touching on and mentioning quite a few Old Testament passages. And from time to time, I remind you that it may be good for you to go back and study the Old Testament accounts of these events. Now, we are still in our study of the book of Hebrews and specifically our study of these great examples of faith found here in chapter 11. We finished up verses 24 to 28 in the decisions of faith that we saw in Moses.

In verse 23, we saw the decisions of faith seen in Moses' parents. And this surprised you because with Moses and his parents, we saw some good parenting lessons and teaching. As a matter of fact, that might be some material we go back to in the future. Now, I know I have said this before, but I call you to keep these unique examples of the life of faith in your minds, in your hearts, and in your understanding. Each of them are unique, one of a kind examples of the life of faith. And to me, they all come together to form this body of imperfect examples that we should learn from and we should even imitate.

And I will revisit this list of saints at the conclusion of our message. But look, Grace Life, our church should be full of believers who live as these saints live because faith is a way to life and faith is a way to live. And remember the key to the life of faith. Faith has substance. It is not a hope so. It's not something out there in the abstract. Faith rests in and on something concrete, and that is our relationship with God. This life of faith rests in and on the fact that God has saved us from our sins, and we walk with our Lord, and we obey his word.

Now, this morning, we will see that the author makes a bit of a shift here in his examples. He moves from specific individuals to a group of people who are commonly called the Exodus generation. Then he concludes with an individual that may surprise us. Verse 29 is all about the people of Israel. This will be the Jews who left Egypt in the Great Exodus. Verse 30 is all about the people of Israel, the Jews, when they fought the Battle of Jericho. And then verse 31 is about an individual, Rahab, who became a part of the people of God and who did hide the spies.

But before we get into our verses and our message, I want to point out something that should be of great, great comfort for us all. If we know our Old Testament, we know that the Exodus generation was not always a great example of faith. Honestly, they were mostly a bad example. They constantly complained against Moses. They constantly complained to Moses. They constantly complained about their circumstances. And at times, they even complained, and they wished that they would have stayed back in Egypt in slavery. They struggled with great disobedience most of the time.

They were so disobedient that almost all of them were not permitted to go into the Promised Land. And they suffered for 40 years in the wilderness and died in the wilderness. Think about it. Would you use the Exodus generation as any kind of an example of the life of faith? Think about that. Would we use the Exodus generation as any kind of an example of the life of faith? I love what Wern Wiersby says here. I'm quoting him. He says, "If you and I have been writing this chapter, the next section would be faith wandering." Isn't that true? I mean, he's spot on.

"If you and I have been writing this chapter, the next section would be faith wandering." And he continues, "But there is no mention of Israel's failure and 40 years of wasted time." Now, notice how this can be that comfort for us. When we look at these great examples of faith, we may feel like we can never measure up and get to where we should be. Now, brother and sister, we should never rest in spiritual defeat. We should never excuse and accept sin. We should never be content with a marriage, a home life, really a life overall that is half of what it should be for our Lord.

But in seeing that God did use some not so great examples of faith, well, that should encourage us. What I'm saying is this more specifically, if God could use men like Noah and Abraham, who blew it horribly at times, there is hope for us. But there is a great warning here as well. If we allow half obedience to linger in our lives, if we allow ourselves to remain half committed and half of what we know we should be for our Lord, if we allow sin to linger in defeat that comes from that sin, then we will be like this Exodus generation, wasting time, wasting opportunity to serve the Lord as we should.

May we never be the half-baked people of faith. May we never be the half-baked people of faith. So before us, we have the example of the Exodus generation. That leads me to the title of the message. It's rather obvious. Faith exemplified the faith of the Exodus generation. Faith exemplified the faith of the Exodus generation. Let's read the verses and then I will explain how we will approach the verses. By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.

By faith Rahab the prostitute or the harlot did not perish with those who were disobedient because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. Now this is how we will approach the message. First we will look at faith in deliverance in verse 29. Second we will look at faith in conquering in verse 33rd. We will look at a faith in salvation. We could summarize that in three words, deliverance, conquering, and salvation. This is all about deliverance, conquering, and salvation. So number one, faith in deliverance. Faith in deliverance. We can say it like this, the Israelites were delivered by faith.

Now out of the verse I wanna examine the how and the who of what we see here. But before we do that I wanna give us a brief description of what took place that got the Jews up to this place. We see all these events in Exodus chapter one all the way to chapter 14. Now this is a brief description. The Israelites have been enslaved in Egypt under Pharaoh who grew very fearful of their growing population according to Exodus 1, eight to 14. In Exodus 3, seven to 10 we see that God called Moses to lead the Jewish people out of their slavery and oppression. Moses and his brother Aaron went before Pharaoh asking him to release the people.

Well, Pharaoh refused which led God to send 10 plagues upon Egypt in judgment. We see the plagues in Exodus chapter seven to chapter 11. And according to Exodus 12, 29 to 32, after the final judgment, the death of the firstborn, Pharaoh finally relented and allowed the Israelites to leave. And as the Jews made their way out of Egypt in bondage, Exodus 13, 21 to 22 tells us that God guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and a fire by night. But soon after, Pharaoh changed his mind and he went after them with his military to bring them back into slavery.

Well, the result, the Israelites were frightened and they wish they had stayed in Egypt. According to Exodus 14, verse three to 14, God guided them out of Egypt right up to the Red Sea with nowhere else to go. Well, Pharaoh changed his mind and he pursued them with the vengeance to take them back to slavery in Egypt. So we can truly say that the Israelites were between Iraq and a hard place with nowhere else to go. They were between drowning in the Red Sea and Pharaoh taking them back to slavery and great cruelty. They were between the rock of drowning in the sea and the hard place of more slavery and more cruelty.

But I want us to see how they cross the Red Sea by looking at what God did and what they did. First, notice what God did. If we look at the details of these events in chapter 14 of Exodus, we can easily see what God did. In verse 13, when the people were more than fearful and wanted to just go back to Egypt, Moses told them that God would work for them. And in verse 14, he told them that God would fight for them. In verse 19, when the Egyptian army was pressing in, the angel of God who was going before them moved behind them and between them and the Egyptians. And there was a great cloud of darkness that protected the people.

In verse 21, we see that it was God who drove back the sea with a strong east wind all night that made the sea bed dry as land and the sea was divided. Verse 22, when the people were going through the Red Sea, it was God who made the sea a wall of water to the right and to their left. So God worked for them, God fought for them, God protected them, God drove back the sea all night so that the sea bed became dry ground and he made the sea a wall of water to their right and to their left as they passed through. Now think about it, if God had not been God, he would have been very tired from all that he did.

But second, notice what the people did. Exodus 14.22 says, "And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left." Verse 29 of Hebrews 11 says, "The people crossed the Red Sea as on dry ground." But a rhetorical question here. What did God do as compared to what the people did? Think about that. Another question, how were they able to do this? Well, you would say, pastor, the answer's right there in the text, by faith, by faith. But again, how were they able to cross the Red Sea as on dry ground?

Because Exodus 14 tells us they were so fearful, they were mad at Moses in which they had never left Egypt. Exodus 14.12 says they even told Moses it would have been better to have stayed in Egypt than to die in the wilderness. So how were these fearful, complaining, unbelieving people, able to cross the Red Sea as on dry ground? Well, their unbelief had turned into belief. Their unbelief turned into belief, which turned into faith, a faith that believed God, trusted God, and obeyed God. Remember now, faith has substance, and that substance is belief in and trust in God. But notice who we have here. We actually have two peoples.

First, the people who, by faith, crossed the Red Sea as on dry ground. They were delivered by faith. These were the people of God, the Israelites, the Jews. And then second, we have the Egyptians, all of Pharaoh's horses and chariots and horsemen, as explained in Exodus 14.23. And notice, they were all destroyed. And notice what we see in the who. The people of God were delivered through the Red Sea while the Egyptians were destroyed through the Red Sea. By faith in God, the people of God were delivered, but in pride and in self-will and in unbelief, the Egyptians were destroyed.

Notice, the people of God were delivered through the Red Sea while the Egyptians were destroyed through the Red Sea. And church, take note of what we must learn here. Faith is produced by belief, and faith and belief is rooted in and resting on God. A lack of faith is a result of pride and unbelief, and pride and unbelief is a rejection of God and a rebellion against God. Let me restate all that because we've gotta get it. Faith is produced by belief, and faith and belief is rooted in and resting on God. And a lack of faith is a result of pride and unbelief, and pride and unbelief is a rejection of God and rebellion against God.

And listen, saint of God, in the Christian life, God will lead us into circumstances where we are up against a rock and a hard place. At times, He will lead us up against what seems to be the Red Sea, and it seems as if Pharaoh's army is closing in, and we have nowhere to go. And that is right where God wants us to be for several reasons. First, He desires to reveal Himself to us. Second, He desires to work in us so as to change us. And third, He desires to demonstrate His great power before us, and fourth, He desires to lead us into the life of faith that He has for us.

And remember, God almost always never removes the Red Sea in Pharaoh's pursuing army. You need to hear that, saint. Some of you want your circumstances to just go away, and they want. God almost always never removes the Red Sea in Pharaoh's pursuing army in our life, but He calls us to walk through the Red Sea as on dry ground. But two more things here. Listen, brother, listen, sister. That which we feel is going to destroy us is actually what will deliver us. Some of you need to hear that.

Some of you need to write that down and take that to your prayer closet and pray over it and pray over it and pray over it until you can live it no matter how you feel. That which we feel is going to destroy us is actually what will deliver us, but if you were not born again, that which delivers the saint of God will destroy you. Listen, brother, listen, sister. That which you feel like will destroy you will actually deliver you, but if you're not born again, that which delivers the saint of God will actually destroy you. Who am I talking about? Jesus.

You see, as the born again believer, it is the Lord Jesus who leads us and delivers us through our circumstances, but the one who is not born again will stand before that same Jesus and they will be destroyed by that Jesus. You either have Jesus as a deliverer or a destroyer. Which one will it be? So here we have a delivering faith, a delivering faith. Next, faith in conquering, verse 30. Faith in conquering. We can say it like this. The Israelites were able to conquer by faith. Now out of this verse, I want us to see what happened in these events and the significance or the main point of what happened here.

But before we do that, I want to give us a brief description of what took place here as well. It is plain to see that the author gave us the deliverance of God's people from Egyptian slavery and then he moved to the first battle in the conquest of the promised land. This is the Battle of Jericho seen in Joshua chapter six. But notice that the author has a terrible memory. He skipped over a lot of their history. If we know our Old Testament, we know that the author skipped over 40 years in the wilderness. He skipped over 40 years in the wilderness, which was and is an important part of their history. Now, why does the author do that?

It is because God's purpose here is to show their faith, not their failures. God's purpose is to show us their faith in spite of their failures. But before the walls of Jericho fell down, the Israelites experienced a series of significant moments as they entered into the promised land. Under Joshua's leadership, God demonstrated his great power by stopping the Jordan River's flow, which allowed the people to cross the river on dry ground. We see this in Joshua 3, 14 to 17. And according to Joshua 3, 7, this great event reaffirmed God's favor on Joshua and his leadership, just as he had favored Moses and his leadership.

Once in the land, according to Joshua 4, 1 to 7, the Israelites set up memorial stones to remember God's faithfulness. The men were then circumcised as a sign of covenant renewal, and the people observed the Passover according to Joshua 5, 2 to 12. And right after, Joshua encountered the commander of the Lord's army, and we know who that was, it was Jesus. And he emphasized that the coming victory would be led by God. We see this in Joshua 5, 13 to 15. And in Joshua 6, 1 to 5, God gave specific instructions for the Battle of Jericho.

These instructions and events were meant to build a foundation of faith and obedience to God that led to the destruction of the walls of the city. And as we can see, this battle plan that God gave them was not normal from man's perspective. Listen to the specifics of the battle plan. According to Joshua 6, 3 and verses 6 to 14, they were to march around the city for six days. And on the seventh day, they were instructed to march around the city seven times. And while doing so, the priests were to blow on trumpets. According to Joshua 6, 4, 15 and 16.

And at the end of that march, they were to give a loud shout at the prolonged blast of the trumpet. Now, what were the results? The walls around the city collapsed and the Israelites took the entire city. But look at the significance of these events. I don't want us to see two. First, the physical significance. Physically, this was an impossible situation. By that day's standards, the city was totally invincible. The walls were massive structures and scholars tell us that the walls were so solid and so wide that two chariots side by side were able to drive on top of the walls.

And the city was not only unconquerable, it was strategically located. The city was located near the mouth of the Jordan River and it was on the edge of the land of Canaan. This meant that any invading army or people had to pass by Jericho. But then second, the spiritual significance. For the Israelites, this was their first battle on their way into the promised land of Canaan. But God's plan for this battle was for the people to do nothing militarily. They simply marched around the city, blew trumpets and shouted, which was totally absurd. But the significance was not in what the people did, but in what God did.

God was demonstrating his great power. First to the people of Israel and second to the people of the land in Canaan. But a question, how were they able to conquer Jericho? Well, by faith. Pastor, it says it right there. By faith and in faith. And look at how this all unfolded. God told them how to conquer the city, which humanly speaking was completely foolish and powerless. But did the people complain? When they heard the plan, did they reject Joshua and his leadership? When they heard this plan, did they say they would have been better off in the wilderness? No.

The Jews going into Canaan reacted much different than the Jews who crossed the Red Sea. Without fear and complaint, they believed God and they obeyed God by faith and in faith. By faith and God, they conquered the unconquerable, the city of Jericho. And notice what we have here in this battle for Jericho. The Jews fought a foolish battle with a foolish faith. By man's standards, this was a totally foolish way to fight, but God said otherwise. And look, church, at times, when God's people live the life of faith, it seems foolish even to the people of God.

But in faith, what seems to be foolish faith is not foolish at all because obeying God by faith is never foolish. It is simply obedience to him. Also notice they fought a risky battle with a risky faith. By man's standards, they took awful risks. These were life and death risks, but God said otherwise. And look, saints, at times, when God's people live the life of faith, it feels and seems risky even to the people of God. But in faith, what seems to be risky faith is not risky at all because obeying God by faith is never risky. It is simple obedience to him. And they fought a spiritual battle with a spiritual faith.

From man's perspective, this was a physical battle that demanded physical plans and physical weapons, but this was not a physical battle at all, but a spiritual battle. And look, church, at times, when God's people live the life of faith, it feels and seems like they are fighting physical battles. But that is not the case. But in faith, what seems like physical battles can be seen and understood as what they are, spiritual in nature. And they, we can fight those battles spiritually in him. And church, look at how this applies to us. These Jews were on their way to the Promised Land, right? And they had a battle to fight.

And since God has saved us, we are on the way to the Promised Land of heaven. And we fight battle after battle, battle after battle along the way, but we are fighting spiritual battles, church. You may say, "Pastor, what kind of spiritual battles am I fighting?" Some of you are wrestling with sinful family. Some of you are wrestling with parents, grandparents, siblings. Some of you came out of a sinful, ungodly family and family circumstance. And look, you are fighting a battle within that family. But that's not a physical battle at all. That's spiritual. Let me ask you a question.

When you're fighting that battle, do you go to believer after believer, book after book, sermon after sermon, just looking for advice, looking for advice? That might not be bad, but that's not what's best. When you're fighting these kind of battles, the best place you can be is on your knees. Some of you are wrestling with job and career and money woes. You want a better job. You would like a different career. You really wanna be able to provide better for your family. You're fighting a battle, but that's not a physical battle. Are you complaining? Are you getting advice from people? Or are you on your knees before God in the Word?

You see, you're fighting all kinds of battles. You're fighting battles with sin. You're fighting battles in a difficult marriage. You're fighting battles with struggling with children. You're fighting battles with health. None of these are physical. They are spiritual. And look, the best place you can be is on your knees in the Word of God before God. So here we have a conquering faith. Last, number three, faith in salvation. Faith in salvation in verse 31. We can say it like this, Rahab was able to be saved by faith and she proved it.

Now, I want us to look at what Rahab experienced and what she did in the verse, but before we do that, we need to see who this woman was. Now from Joshua 2.1 and here in Hebrews 11.31, we see that Rahab was a prostitute living in Jericho at the time of these events. The King James, the legacy standard, they call her a harlot. But if we go back some, we see that when Joshua sent spies into Jericho to spy out the land, Rahab courageously hid those spies. And in Joshua 2.9-11, she declared her belief in the God of Israel, recognizing God's power and God's sovereignty, which revealed genuine faith.

Of course, the scriptures do not say exactly when she came to have genuine faith in God, but these statements of hers and her actions tell us that she certainly had become a true worshipper of God. But in her risky, life-threatening actions, Rahab wisely sought protection for herself and her family from the spies. Joshua 6.22-25 tell us that when Jericho was destroyed, Rahab and all of her household were spared, which demonstrated God's faithfulness and mercy towards those who truly believe and trust in him. Now, take a step back and look at what we have here with this woman.

It is amazing that she is listed in the Hall of Fame of the Saints of God. For one, she was a prostitute, she was a harlot. Second, she was a Gentile, and on top of that, she was a Canaanite. And to be more specific and worse, she was an Amorite. And the Amorites were a race that God had marked out to be destroyed according to Genesis 15.16. And her story keeps going. Not only was Rahab and her household spared in the destruction of Jericho, she became a part of the people of God Israel. So much so, she married a man named Solomon and gave birth to a son named Boaz, who was an ancestor of King David as seen in Matthew 1.46.

And if she was a grandmother to King David, well, she was a grandmother to Jesus as well. In the New Testament, James mentions her favorably in James 2.25. So we see what can happen in a great sinner's life when they come to saving faith and live the life of faith. Rahab knew that faith is a way to life and faith is a way to live, and she lived it. But look at the trajectory of her life. Look at the trajectory of her heritage. She went an entirely different direction. Really and truly, it is unbelievable that this woman's life and trajectory and great heritage could change the way it did.

And what a great testimony of the grace of God and the power of God. And look, some of you have come to true saving faith and you came from nothing but ungodliness your entire life. The trajectory of your life and your family heritage has been changed for generations completely and totally. Like Rahab, like Rahab, I call you to trust in God's grace, trust in God's power to do this same kind of work in you, in your family and in your heritage. Look to your future. Look to your future leaning on Rahab. And the example here, by faith. But I want us to look at what she experienced and what she did. First, she did not perish.

She was saved from destruction. Here we see that when judgment and destruction came upon Jericho, she was saved. When all the people of Jericho were killed in judgment all around her, she was spared. I like what John MacArthur points out here, contrasting Rahab against the others in Jericho. He points out that Rahab had no more light than the others of Jericho. Let that sink in. Rahab had no more light than the others of Jericho, but she believed while the others did not believe. Well, what was the result? Rahab believed and she was saved. She did not perish while all of the others were destroyed. Now, what's the main point here?

She was a true worshiper of God. She possessed saving faith. Therefore, she did not perish in destruction. I love how Warren Wiersby describes her faith saying, she knew that Jehovah had delivered Israel from Egypt and that he had opened the Red Sea. But that was 40 years before. She also knew God had defeated the other nations during Israel's wilderness wanderings, for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. She's quoting Joshua 2.11, and I'm continuing with a quote. That was her testimony of faith and God honored it. But then second, notice she hid the spies. Notice she produced works.

Notice her faith produced works. But get this, she was not saved because she hid the spies. She hid the spies because she was saved. Therefore, she was saved. Do you see it? She was not saved because she hid the spies. She hid the spies because she was saved. Therefore, she was saved. Her act of faith in hiding the spies proved that she had genuine faith in God. Her act of faith in hiding the spies were the good works that came out of her genuine faith in God. She lived out what we see in James 2, 20 to 26. And like Abraham, Rahab was justified by her works. And notice what we have here in Rahab.

She can be seen as the climactic example of the life of faith from this list in chapter 11. After Rahab, it all changes. Let me restate that. Rahab can be seen as the climactic example of the life of faith seen in this list in chapter 11. As one writer said it, she represents someone who willingly left her own people, her own society, and her own culture. She truly left it all to attach herself to God, God's people, and a completely new life, a life for the purposes of God. And look at the great love, grace, and power of God.

He made a redeemed Canaanite prostitute the climactic example of the life of faith, but King David only gets an honorable mention right here in verse 32. Do you think God may be trying to tell us something here? Listen, people, you may be sitting here and you may be just as sinful and wicked as Rahab was. If we all got honest and you shared how you've lived your life, you may have to get honest and share you've lived just like Rahab. If God can save Rahab, God can save you. If God can radically change her life, God can do the same for you. Do you see the power and the grace there? Come to Christ, He will save you.

He will save you and forgive you. Are there ramifications for sin? Sure, but oh, when we come to faith in Christ, our whole life has changed and the whole trajectory of our life has changed and has changed for our families as well. Now, what does this mean to us? If Rahab, the Canaanite prostitute, can be the climactic example of the examples of the life of faith, well, there is hope for us all. And if we are first generation Christians working to establish a first generation Christian family, look at Rahab as an example to energize you in your Christian journey and walk.

Let her example motivate you to keep you keeping on the same God that persevered in Rahab is the same God that can persevere in you. So we have saving faith, a faith that produced saving works. Now, I wanna close out our message by revisiting something I mentioned at the beginning of the message and I have called us to this work several times. I know I'm a broken record here. But we must keep these unique examples of the life of faith in our minds and our hearts and our understanding.

Each of them are unique, one of a kind, examples of the life of faith and they all come together to form this body of imperfect but great examples that we should learn from and even imitate. Think about it, Abel taught us how to worship God by faith. Enoch shows us how to walk with God by faith. Noah, he teaches us how to obey God by faith. Well, then there's Abraham along with his wife, Sarah, they teach us how to live the life of faith the entire journey in life. Abraham, he teaches us how to sacrifice for God by faith. Moses and his parents, they teach us how to parent and make parental decisions by faith.

Moses teaches us how to make costly, risky decisions by faith. The Jews that we studied here, they were delivered by faith. The Jews were conquered, they conquered by faith and Rahab will save by faith. See, it all comes together. In Luke, Grace, Life, like I said earlier, our church should be full of believers who live as these saints live. Why? How? Because faith is a way to life and faith is a way to live. Now, there's one thing we must get the key to it all, the key to the life of faith. Our faith has substance. Our faith is not a hope so. Our faith is not in the abstract. Our faith rests in and on our relationship with God.

This life of faith that we live rests in and on the fact that God has saved us from our sins and we walk with our Lord because we love him. We obey his word all of the days of our life for the years of our life, all because we love our Lord. That's the key to it all. So, the faith of the Exodus generation and I believe that just like Moses' parents, this one may have snuck up on us all.