Hebrews 11:30 – Enduring faith in the face of the insurmountable  

Hebrews 11:30 – Enduring faith in the face of the insurmountable  

The faith

Faith will still be the subject of our meditations for several Sundays.

Why dwell on this subject?

God

First of all, and most important, because God, through the Bible, in the book of Hebrews, invites us to think about it.

#The faith#

####is a human specificity that characterizes Him#

Human specificity

And on the other hand, because faith is an integral part of life and it is a human specificity.

If instinct drives animals, for humans, it is often faith that leads them on a daily basis and in the trajectory of their lives.

Daily faith

Faith compels us to go to a doctor’s appointment at the appointed time. We don’t yet know the doctor and the location. And who tells us that he will be there at the appointed time? But we act with the certainty that it will go as agreed.

As children, we believed the teachings of our teachers.

We believe we actually have the money in our account as shown on the bank statement.

Faith in projects or big ideas

But faith carries the life of humans in projects or ideas.

Eiffel believed until the end in the creation of the Tower which now sits in Paris. And it was not a foregone conclusion!

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs believed in their IT projects, even if they started modestly.

Their lives were driven by these projects

Millions of people changed the course of their lives, their way of seeing society, their family relationships in the name of communism.

Their lives were driven by this idea. They had faith in this ideal or utopia…

Disappointed

It can be noted that these examples of faith can be disappointed and also have a limited scope in time.

Our doctor can do us wrong.

Perhaps what we were taught in school was the truth of the moment.

Our bank may go bankrupt.

The computers and software of our two famous inventors will quickly be supplanted.

And the communist momentum showed its limits in less than a century.

Faith doesn’t stop

However, we never stop behaving, living with faith.

The good idea is to come to the source of faith

This is why it is precious to focus on the one who is at the origin of faith, the Creator, God. And to see how this relationship of faith had an impact with ordinary people but who are remembered because they believed in God and were not disappointed.

Sometimes, it was for concrete aspects, challenges, everyday life.

Example: manna.

At other times, it was for something beyond their lives, which they considered certain.

Example: Joseph, return to Canaan (Hebrews 11. 22 “  It was by faith that Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave orders concerning his bones .” (Delivered more than 400 years later.)

Today the example of faith will be described in one verse.

Hebrews 11.30

By faith the walls of Jericho fell after the people had marched around them for seven days.

He will illustrate to us

Faith in the face of the insurmountable

#Jericho illustrates#

####Enduring faith in the face of the insurmountable####

Book of Joshua. Conquest of Canaan

This example of faith will propel us into the memories of the book of Joshua, at the very beginning of the conquest of the land of Canaan that God had intended for the Hebrew people.

Conquer rather than all-inclusive gift

It’s interesting. God didn’t give it “raw” in a gift package! But the Hebrews had to conquer it. With the support of God. By counting on Him, that is to say by having faith in Him.

God does the same with us

In life, we would also like many things to be given to us in a miraculous way. It can happen, but it’s rare. Most often, God involves us so that we learn something about Him and to live with Him, relying confidently on Him: faith.

A new generation of warriors

Another fact to note is that it is a new generation of warriors who are now in charge of ensuring this conquest.

The old one dies in the desert

Indeed, the warriors who came out of Egypt discredited themselves through lack of faith in God. In their eyes, conquest was impossible because the country was populated by giants, invincible warriors and too well fortified.

Number 13

25 They returned from exploring the land after 40 days. 26 When they arrived, they went to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the Israelites to Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to them and to all the assembly, and showed them the fruits of the land. 27 This is what they told Moses: “We have gone to the land where you sent us. It is truly a land flowing with milk and honey, and these are the fruits of it. 28 But the people who dwell in this land are mighty, the cities are fortified, very large. We saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the southern region, the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan.”

30 Caleb silenced the people who murmured against Moses. He said: “Let us go up and capture the country, we will be victorious there!” 31 But the men who accompanied him there said, “We cannot go up against this people, for they are stronger than us,” 32 and they denigrated before the Israelites the land which they had explored. They said: “The country that we have traveled to explore is a country that devours its inhabitants. All those we saw there were tall men. 33 There we saw the giants, the descendants of Anak who came from the giants. In our eyes and in theirs, we were like locusts.”

The sanction of the Lord

This is why the Hebrews will stay 40 years in the desert, the time for the generation of protesting warriors to die; only Caleb and Joshua will survive this judgment.

Moving from information to experimentation

So, this new generation heard about the mighty deeds of the Lord but did not experience them all at the exit from Egypt. After hearing, they will have to know, now experience with God. And there, they find themselves facing a challenge that is insurmountable from a human perspective.

Number 13

28 But the people who dwell in this land are mighty, the cities are fortified, very large.

Joshua Chapter 5

13 As Joshua was near Jericho,

he raised his eyes and looked.

Behold, a man stood before him,

his sword drawn in his hand.

Joshua went to him and said to him:

“Are you for us or for our enemies?”

14 He answered:

“No. I am the captain of the army of the Lord, I am coming now.”

Joshua fell on his face and worshiped and said:

“What does my lord say to his servant?”

15 The captain of the army of the LORD said to Joshua,

“Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy.”

Joshua complied with this order.

Joshua – Chapter 6

1 Jericho was closed, barricaded before the Israelites.

No one came out and no one entered.

2 The LORD said to Joshua:

“See, I have delivered Jericho and its king and its valiant soldiers into your hands.

3 Go around the city, all you men of war.

Take a tour of the city once.

You will do this for six days.

4 Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets before the ark.

On the seventh day you will go around the city seven times, and the priests will sound the trumpet.

5 When they sound their horn,

when you hear the sound of the trumpet,

all the people will shout loudly.

Then the city wall will collapse and the people will attack, each in front of him.”

6 Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them,

“Carry the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests carry seven trumpets with sound before the ark of the LORD.”

7 Then he said to the people:

“Walk and go around the city, and let the equipped men pass before the ark of the LORD.”

8 When Joshua had spoken to the people,

the seven priests who carried the seven trumpets sounding before the LORD moved and blew the trumpets.

The ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them.

9 The equipped men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark.

During the march, trumpets were sounded.

10 Joshua commanded the people:

“You shall not cry, nor utter your voice, nor shall a word come out of your mouth, until that day I say to you,

‘Scream!’

Then you will cry out.”

11 The ark of the LORD went around the city. She went around once, then we returned to the camp and spent the night there.

12 Joshua rose up early in the morning, and the priests carried the ark of the LORD.

13 The seven priests who carried the seven trumpets before the ark of the LORD moved and blew the trumpets.

The equipped men marched in front of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the Lord.

During the march, trumpets were sounded.

14 They went around the city once on the second day, and then they returned to the camp.

They did the same for six days.

15 On the seventh day they rose early in the morning,

from dawn,

and they went around the city seven times in the same way.

It was the only day that they circled the city seven times.

16 The seventh time, as the priests blew the trumpet, Joshua said to the people,

“Shout, for the LORD has delivered the city to you! 17

The city will be dedicated to the LORD, it and everything that is in it.

But Rahab the harlot will live, and all who are with her in her house, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. 1

8 Only be careful not to touch what will be doomed to destruction.

Indeed, if you took from what you had dedicated to destruction, you would put the camp of Israel under threat of destruction and you would cause its misfortune.

19 All the silver and all the gold and all the objects of bronze and iron shall be holy to the LORD and shall enter into the treasury of the LORD.”

20 The people shouted, and the priests blew the trumpets.

When the people heard the sound of the trumpet,

he cried out loudly and the wall collapsed.

Insurmountable!

The challenge is undoubtedly huge!!!

• The Hebrew warriors are inexperienced.
• The city is a fortress (we even think that it was a double wall (stone base, then bricks and earth) which was prepared to defend itself.
• The warriors on the ramparts scared the generation before!

Overcome by faith? In who ?

A major challenge overcome by faith… …in God!

Here in this text we have a meeting between Joshua and the Lord (theophany, 2nd ^person of God who takes human form for a particular moment in history).

On what ?

This armed warrior, a sign of judgment, makes a promise:

Joshua 6. 2-3

“See, I have delivered Jericho and its king and its valiant soldiers into your hands. 3 Go around the city, all you men of war.

How ?

The Lord answers:

– I’ll give you the instructions.

– It’s up to you (Joshua) to do now, counting on Me.

Answer: obedient and trusting faith

The only thing Joshua and the people have to do is obey God’s procedure.

The divine procedure

Not very manly to walk in step 6 days in a row, going around the city in silence, and on the 7th ^day 7 times, then to shout!

Obeyed

But Joshua and the people believed God and did what He said.

Persevered

Especially since 7 days are a long time, when you want to fight it out, to get it over with and in silence… you walk…

Observation

The wall has indeed collapsed!

Testimony and example

Which carried back to the time when the epistle to the Hebrews was written.

Who brought it to us, so that we can be inspired by it.

And that we too have,

an enduring faith in God in the face of the insurmountable. 

What I learn from God

Master of Timing

It is He who decides times and moments

(it was at a specific time that He delivered Jericho to the Hebrews)

He is a master of timing!

Joshua Chapter 5

14 He replied, “No. I am the captain of the army of the Lord, I am coming now.”

Knowledge of all things

He knows all things. He knew the Achilles heel of this fortress, of its wall.

His advice is appropriate

His indications are ideal for the insurmountable situation in our eyes.

What I learn

Trust His guidance

It is to trust Him in what He gives us in the way of indications, advice and orders.

(Just as the Lord gave Joshua a specific plan of action for this situation.)

Trust even in the face of questions

Even if it seems insurmountable to me, even if His method may seem offbeat.

(The walls were humanly very very difficult to conquer and God’s method seemed childish.)

Trust over time

It is to trust Him, even if it is long, staggered and we see no results day after day (walking several days in a row, then shouting in the face of a fortress and terrifying soldiers!).

Example value

And that the obedience of faith has an example value (we still talk about what happened in Jericho) which shows God and what He does in a life that trusts him.

How does this reach me now?

Not the same decor

We are not faced with conquering a castle or a fortified bastion.

But helpless in the face of situations

But we all have life situations where we have to act and we don’t know how to take it.

Lots of information in the Gospels and the Epistles

For many of them, God gives us the way to follow in the Bible, especially for us who live after the work of the cross, in the Gospels and the Epistles.

The ball is in my court

The question is whether I am ready to trust Him, to apply His method, with confidence and in the long term…

What guidance does God give us?

Sometimes God may give us a specific conviction, but most of the time He asks us to act wisely, that is, relying on Him and His obvious guidance given in the Bible; His obvious guidance sets a framework for us within which we can make decisions that are consistent with Him.

Do I believe He is in control?

For this, I must have the conviction that God controls and sees what I cannot discern.

That His advice is the best

That His clear, appropriate, and well-understood counsel and commands are the foundation upon which I must rely.

With endurance

That even if I don’t see the immediate effect, it is the best option, that I need His strength and support to stand firm.

Enduring faith in the face of the insurmountable

Faced with a big decision. Is there any doubt?

• On the all knowledge of God.
• On the relevance of His Word to frame my decisions.

Do I need to be renewed?

• To see God greater than what faces me.
• To hold firm, even if I don’t see the outcome yet.