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Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” But as we have seen in the Bible, faith for some, at least, can begin with something tangible. For others, it begins with people not believing, but they may catch a thread of what a person is trying to persuade them of, that they might relate to. With added persuasion, built on that thread that people recognize, the unbelievers can be made into believers.
Look at Moses, whom Jesus mentions many times in the Gospels. At a time when the Hebrews in Egypt were suffering at the hands of the Pharaoh, Moses was living high off the...shall we say sheep, since ‘hog’ would be pushing it!... He wasn’t suffering like his fellow Hebrews were. So here he was, tending his father in-laws sheep without a worry in the world at that point, and God appears to him in the form of a burning bush which in fact does no harm to the bush.
Moses, who believes in God since Exodus 3:6 says “...And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God,” must have though the sight of a burning bush that’s not consumed must have thought it pretty strange. Also, Moses hears a voice coming from the area of the burning bush that says in Exodus 3:4, “Moses, Moses!” Mind you, he is the only person out in the field, with his father in-law’s flock, so he knew it wasn’t some person calling to him. He probably looked around to see if there was a person addressing him whom he did not see. What would YOU think if, say, you were a farmer sitting on a tractor all alone in a wheat field, and you hear someone calling your name, but you don’t see anyone?
Moses, who at that point in time isn’t pressed for time, indulges in the voice he hears by answering in Verse 4, to no one he sees, “Here I am.” At about that point, God identifies himself saying in Verse 6, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Some may say that between the burning bush and a voice which talks to him seemingly out of nowhere, telling him he’s the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses was convinced it was God talking to him. And as God says to him to go to Egypt and tell the Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go, Moses, BELIEVING the God was talking to him, effectively asks God in Verse 4:1, ‘Who am I that they would believe me?’ At that point, Moses has faith in the fact that he is speaking to God. In line with Hebrews 11:1, he was ASSURED he was talking with God, between the burning bush and hearing a voice from seemingly out of nowhere.
To a certain degree, faith in God that this point is rooted in something tangible, something we can detect with at least one of our five senses, and perhaps two in Moses’ case. Now it was Moses job at this point to go to the Pharaoh.
Now God’s ultimate purpose is to relocate the Hebrews to the Promised Land, and it would be up to Moses and his Brother Aaron to lead them there. But how would the Hebrews know that Moses and Aaron were acting with the help of God? Perhaps first of all it helped that to some extent the Hebrews, in their despair, were receptive to anything if it meant them being freed from slavery. And perhaps, after they saw the things that were happening in Egypt, from the water turning into blood to just before the firstborn in Egypt dying for no apparent reason, they were convinced at least that something supernatural was happening, so it may not have taken much at that point to convince them that perhaps God IS involved in all this. So, when Moses tells them to put the blood of sheep on their doors so the Angel of Death would pass over them on its way to killing the firstborn of Egypt, the Hebrews became convinced enough by Moses to do what Moses told them to do.
Imagine that you live in an apartment in Manhattan with a wife and son. You hear a knock on your door, say, and a man is standing there telling you to, saying, get a steak, thaw it out and smear blood on the outside of your door so the Angel of Death that was sent by God will pass over your apartment and not kill your son. You would probably think the person mad, would you not? You would probably call the cops. But say you notice that person has a cane in his hand, he touches the floor with it and the cane turns into a snake that slithers on the floor. You might then think to yourself, ‘Maybe I should listen to this guy.’
In the case of the Hebrews, it took something tangible to ASSURE them that God was at work for them.
Fast-forward to Jesus, who conveys God’s Word. What did it take for him to convince the first people to hear his words that he is the first Son of God among them and that God has a magnificent place in Heaven for those who have faith in Him? Well, he performed miracles that the people could SEE, such as healing those who ailed and turning water into wine and bringing back the dead like Lazarus among other things. True, not everyone went along with him. The Pharisees, for one, weren’t convinced of his stature regardless of how many miracles he performed. But there were enough people who believed what they saw, and in so doing believe what Jesus conveyed to him, a movement toward faith in God through Lord Jesus was created.
And what about the people who came along after Christ rose to Heaven? Now, faith becomes what Hebrews 11:1 define it is as being. For at this point, there are no witnesses to Jesus performing miracles. At this point, faith is a function of trust, of believing what people have witnessed and of people believing what others said they have heard told to them what was told to them of what was witnessed. Now there is nothing seen, and nothing to go by except an assurance of things that happened before and of Jesus words spoken to the first followers. Now, faith is in the form of the reassurance that’s heeded because of the credibility and stature of people who do the things that God sees as being good, including their faith in Him through Lord Jesus.
And yes, God performs miracles, which are things that cannot be performed by anyone else except Him. Since Jesus ascension, nobody has witnessed firsthand the miracles that He performed...it doesn’t hit them until afterwards that a miracle was performed. Most of the time anyway, they don’t actually see, for instance, a person in a coma waking up, they usually find out when a nurse, who an hour ago perhaps, saw the patient in a coma but who comes into the room an hour later and sees the person awake. But those who have gained faith in God know it was His doing.
Look at Moses, whom Jesus mentions many times in the Gospels. At a time when the Hebrews in Egypt were suffering at the hands of the Pharaoh, Moses was living high off the...shall we say sheep, since ‘hog’ would be pushing it!... He wasn’t suffering like his fellow Hebrews were. So here he was, tending his father in-laws sheep without a worry in the world at that point, and God appears to him in the form of a burning bush which in fact does no harm to the bush.
Moses, who believes in God since Exodus 3:6 says “...And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God,” must have though the sight of a burning bush that’s not consumed must have thought it pretty strange. Also, Moses hears a voice coming from the area of the burning bush that says in Exodus 3:4, “Moses, Moses!” Mind you, he is the only person out in the field, with his father in-law’s flock, so he knew it wasn’t some person calling to him. He probably looked around to see if there was a person addressing him whom he did not see. What would YOU think if, say, you were a farmer sitting on a tractor all alone in a wheat field, and you hear someone calling your name, but you don’t see anyone?
Moses, who at that point in time isn’t pressed for time, indulges in the voice he hears by answering in Verse 4, to no one he sees, “Here I am.” At about that point, God identifies himself saying in Verse 6, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Some may say that between the burning bush and a voice which talks to him seemingly out of nowhere, telling him he’s the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses was convinced it was God talking to him. And as God says to him to go to Egypt and tell the Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go, Moses, BELIEVING the God was talking to him, effectively asks God in Verse 4:1, ‘Who am I that they would believe me?’ At that point, Moses has faith in the fact that he is speaking to God. In line with Hebrews 11:1, he was ASSURED he was talking with God, between the burning bush and hearing a voice from seemingly out of nowhere.
To a certain degree, faith in God that this point is rooted in something tangible, something we can detect with at least one of our five senses, and perhaps two in Moses’ case. Now it was Moses job at this point to go to the Pharaoh.
Now God’s ultimate purpose is to relocate the Hebrews to the Promised Land, and it would be up to Moses and his Brother Aaron to lead them there. But how would the Hebrews know that Moses and Aaron were acting with the help of God? Perhaps first of all it helped that to some extent the Hebrews, in their despair, were receptive to anything if it meant them being freed from slavery. And perhaps, after they saw the things that were happening in Egypt, from the water turning into blood to just before the firstborn in Egypt dying for no apparent reason, they were convinced at least that something supernatural was happening, so it may not have taken much at that point to convince them that perhaps God IS involved in all this. So, when Moses tells them to put the blood of sheep on their doors so the Angel of Death would pass over them on its way to killing the firstborn of Egypt, the Hebrews became convinced enough by Moses to do what Moses told them to do.
Imagine that you live in an apartment in Manhattan with a wife and son. You hear a knock on your door, say, and a man is standing there telling you to, saying, get a steak, thaw it out and smear blood on the outside of your door so the Angel of Death that was sent by God will pass over your apartment and not kill your son. You would probably think the person mad, would you not? You would probably call the cops. But say you notice that person has a cane in his hand, he touches the floor with it and the cane turns into a snake that slithers on the floor. You might then think to yourself, ‘Maybe I should listen to this guy.’
In the case of the Hebrews, it took something tangible to ASSURE them that God was at work for them.
Fast-forward to Jesus, who conveys God’s Word. What did it take for him to convince the first people to hear his words that he is the first Son of God among them and that God has a magnificent place in Heaven for those who have faith in Him? Well, he performed miracles that the people could SEE, such as healing those who ailed and turning water into wine and bringing back the dead like Lazarus among other things. True, not everyone went along with him. The Pharisees, for one, weren’t convinced of his stature regardless of how many miracles he performed. But there were enough people who believed what they saw, and in so doing believe what Jesus conveyed to him, a movement toward faith in God through Lord Jesus was created.
And what about the people who came along after Christ rose to Heaven? Now, faith becomes what Hebrews 11:1 define it is as being. For at this point, there are no witnesses to Jesus performing miracles. At this point, faith is a function of trust, of believing what people have witnessed and of people believing what others said they have heard told to them what was told to them of what was witnessed. Now there is nothing seen, and nothing to go by except an assurance of things that happened before and of Jesus words spoken to the first followers. Now, faith is in the form of the reassurance that’s heeded because of the credibility and stature of people who do the things that God sees as being good, including their faith in Him through Lord Jesus.
And yes, God performs miracles, which are things that cannot be performed by anyone else except Him. Since Jesus ascension, nobody has witnessed firsthand the miracles that He performed...it doesn’t hit them until afterwards that a miracle was performed. Most of the time anyway, they don’t actually see, for instance, a person in a coma waking up, they usually find out when a nurse, who an hour ago perhaps, saw the patient in a coma but who comes into the room an hour later and sees the person awake. But those who have gained faith in God know it was His doing.
