Hebrews 11:28-31 From Passover To Promised Land: How Trust Transforms A People

We'd love to hear from you. Message us here.

https://www.facebook.com/ablossombiblechurch

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:10):
All right, Hebrews 1128.
Um, all right, so we are talkingabout faith, the hall of faith,
that faith is not just defined,but it's better demonstrated.
Um faith is important to theChristian life.
We realize there in verse, oh,verse five, I believe it is,

(00:32):
that verse six, without faithit's impossible to please God.
Uh so faith is just it's crucialto our lives as believers.
And the author to the Hebrewshere is writing to demonstrate

(00:52):
that God's people have alwayslived by faith.
That's good to remember thatthese folks this letter is
written to were tempted to goback to a life lived by the law.
And the author here againreminds them it's always been by
faith.
Faith is important that we justsimply trust God.
Now, this is a second study thatwe've done that includes the

(01:14):
life of Moses.
Um, but it's less about Mosesand more about the people of God
in general.
Uh, today we'll go beyond thelife of Moses, but that's where
it starts.
Uh let's uh read verse 28 there,and we'll read a couple to verse

(01:36):
31.
By faith he kept the Passoverand the sprinkling of blood,
lest he who destroyed thefirstborn should touch them.
By faith they passed through theRed Sea as by dry land, whereas
the Egyptians attempting to doso were drowned.

(01:57):
By faith the walls of Jerichofell down after they were
encircled for seven days.
By faith the harlot Rahab didnot perish with those who did
not believe, when she hadreceived the spies with peace.
So here in Hebrews chapter 11,we're seeing the deliverance of

(02:19):
God's people and how God doesthat.
It's their deliverance fromslavery first, and we consider
where they were.
You remember, uh, the peoplewere in Egypt, and there arose a
king that did not know Joseph,and he oppressed God's people,
was afraid that they would gettoo strong.
He oppressed them, he commandedthat all the baby boys be thrown

(02:42):
into the river and and killed.
And and yet Moses' parents, byfaith, they preserved Moses, and
God preserved Moses, and and yetthe people were still uh in
slavery.
Now, Moses had it on his heartto deliver uh his people, but he

(03:03):
did it in the flesh, right?
That's kind of what we get as herises up and he kills that
Egyptian.
Uh, he ends up having to leavebecause Pharaoh doesn't like it,
he doesn't like what he's doing,and so he flees to Midian.
For 40 years, he's in thewilderness taking care of sheep
until God gets his uh attention.

(03:23):
And there at the burning bush,uh God pronounces his planned
deliverance of his people.
This is Exodus 3:7.
You don't have to turn there,but this is what God said.
And the Lord said, I have surelyseen the oppression of my people
who are in Egypt, I have heardtheir cry because of their

(03:44):
taskmasters, for I know theirsorrows.
So I have come down to deliverthem out of the hand of the
Egyptians and to bring them uhfrom that land to a good and
large land.
So God had seen the oppressionof his people, the slavery, the
oppression.
Uh, and we we we we have an ideaof slavery, but it's it's

(04:06):
important that we just rememberuh where they were.
They were in bondage, they hadno rights of their own, right?
Pharaoh said, build, they built.
You know, Pharaoh said, No morestraw, and they built without
straw.
We know there in the book ofExodus.
Every day they did exactly whatPharaoh wanted them to do:
bondage.
Now, there's a huge parallel inthis to the to our lives before

(04:31):
Christ comes to deliver us,right?
It's bondage, it's not doing thethings we want to do, but being
in bondage to sin.
And we can think about thatalong all different ways,
whether it's you know, literalslavery and bondage to a
taskmaster, or our bondage tosin and the power of sin.
Um, that's a dark place, right?

(04:54):
Meat.
That's a dark place, and andthat's where God's people were
at.
And God says there, um, I've gota plan to deliver them.
I've seen their sorrows, I'veseen their bondage, and I'm
gonna bring them out.
Um, now you remember how thestory goes.
Moses comes to Pharaoh uh with alot of fear and trepidation, of

(05:19):
course, but he comes with God'smessage, that proclamation, let
my people go.
And the Pharaoh is stubborn.
I don't know who this God is.
Why should I let you go?
God sends plagues, you'llremember, various plagues of
flies and frogs and boils andand darkness, and and and
finally, there is ultimatejudgment coming on all the

(05:44):
firstborn males throughout allof Egypt.
Turn to Exodus chapter 12.
Let's get a little bit of senseof this where it comes from.
Exodus chapter 12.
And I think we will be in verseone.

(06:11):
Well, we'll start around there.
You can turn there.
Exodus 12.
Uh, God is saying it's all gonnachange.
This is gonna be your firstmonth of the year to you.
We're starting the calendar overas I am gonna deliver uh my
people.
Look at verse 12.
For it will pass, for I willpass through the land of Egypt

(06:37):
on that night, and I will strikeall the firstborn in the land of
Egypt, both man and beast, andagainst all the gods of Egypt I
will execute judgment.
I am the Lord.
So here's how God's gonnaultimately do it.
He says, judgment on all thefirstborn uh in all the land of

(06:58):
Egypt.
Now that notice he says they'reman and beast.
So firstborn of animals is gonnaperish as well.
And God says this is how it'sgonna come down.
Not only will Pharaoh let yougo, he'll make you go.
Um look at verse three here,though.

(07:25):
God has a plan, because thatwould of course include the
children of Israel, thefirstborn in all of Israel.
He has a plan to deliver themfrom this coming death and
judgment.
Speak to the congregation ofIsrael, saying, On the tenth of
this month, every man shall takefor himself a lamb, according to

(07:46):
the house of his father, a lambfor a household.
And if a household is too smallfor a lamb, let him and his
neighbor next to his house takeaccording to the number of that
persons, according to each man'sneed, you shall take your count
for the lamb.
Your lamb shall be noticedwithout blemish, a male of the
first year.
You may take it from the sheepor from the goats.

(08:08):
Now you shall keep it until thefourteenth day of the same
month.
Then the whole assembly of thecongregation of Israel shall
kill it at twilight, and shalltake some of the blood, and put
it on the two doorposts in thelentil of the houses where they
eat.
And they shall eat the flesh onthat night, roasted in fire with

(08:28):
unleavened bread, and withbitter herbs, they shall eat it.
Do not eat it raw nor boiled atall with water, but roasted in
fire, its head with its legs andits entrails.
You shall let none of it remainuntil morning, and it shall, if
it remains uh of it untilmorning, you shall burn with
fire.
Thus you shall eat it with abelt on your waist, sandals on

(08:50):
your feet, staff in your hand,and you shall eat it in haste,
for it is the Lord's Passover.
So here's here's theprescription.
Um, every household needs totake a lamb, perfect, notice
that, without blemish.
And you're going to, at certainpoint, uh, after you keep it in

(09:11):
the house for four days, noticethat's interesting, keep it in
your house for four days, get toknow that lamb.
Um, then at sunset on a certainday, you're to take that lamb
and kill it.
Vivid, right?
That lamb is gonna take yourplace in a sense.
That's what he's saying.
Um, but you need to put theblood on the door of your house.

(09:34):
We know this part, right?
They took the blood and they putit on the sides of the door, on
the lintel, on the top of thedoor, right?
And and anywhere, God says,anywhere where I see this blood,
verse 13.
Now the blood shall be assignedto you on the house where you
are, and when I see the blood, Iwill pass over you.

(09:55):
The plague shall not be on youto destroy you when I strike the
land of Egypt.
So this is the plan.
It's a sacrifice and it's afeast, right?
But but it's also preservationas death is gonna go through the
land.
Wherever I see the blood on thedoor of the house, I'll pass
over.

(10:16):
Um, and this is the key to God'sdeliverance, this sacrifice.
Um now the people couldn't breakPharaoh, Moses couldn't break
Pharaoh, but God in this one actwould break Pharaoh's power over

(10:37):
the people.
And you know the story, that'sexactly what happened.
The people did it, and atmidnight it happened.
Death to the firstborn in all ofEgypt.
Wherever the blood was, though,there was no death.
And Pharaoh, just like God said,not only said they could leave,
he said, Get out, and I don'tever want to see you again.

(10:59):
Now, imagine that change as Godtook a people that was in
bondage and delivered them allin one night.
Now, the people would see thatand realize that it's God who
delivered us.
Um, stay here, and and I'll readwhat we come to next in Hebrews

(11:24):
verse 29, unless you want toturn over to it.
By faith they passed through theRed Sea as by dry land, whereas
the Egyptians attempting to doso were drowned.
So God leads them out.
You know the story.
They're loaded with stuff,right?
The Egyptians uh send them awaywith gifts, um, and they they go

(11:46):
out of there and they begin totravel to a new land, a promised
land that God had promisedAbraham so many hundreds of
years before.
Um, now let's read about thisjust a few chapters over in
Exodus chapter 14.
Exodus chapter 14, verse 1.

(12:10):
Now the Lord spoke to Moses,saying, Speak to the children of
Israel uh that they turn andcamp before Pia Hieroth, between
Migdal and the sea, oppositeBaal Zephon.
Uh, you shall camp before it bythe sea, by the Red Sea there.
For Pharaoh will say of thechildren of Israel, they are

(12:30):
bewildered by the land, thewilderness has closed them in.
Then I will harden Pharaoh'sheart's heart, so that he will
pursue them, and I will gainhonor over Pharaoh and over all
his army, that the Egyptians mayknow that I am the Lord.
And they did so.
Now it was told the king thatthe people had uh fled, and the

(12:52):
heart of Pharaoh and hisservants was turned against the
people, and they said, Why havewe done this?
Why have we let Israel go fromserving us?
So he made ready his chariot andtook his people with him.
He took six hundred choicechariots and all the chariots of
Egypt, with captains over eachone of them.
And the Lord hardened the heartof Pharaoh, the king of Egypt,
and he pursued the children ofIsrael, and the children of

(13:15):
Israel went out with boldness.
So uh Pharaoh does regret this,and he says, Why'd I let him go?
All my help is gone.
And he begins to pursue them.
God hardens Pharaoh's heart.
And notice, if you read on, thepeople are afraid, right?

(13:35):
In verse 10 through 12, thepeople are afraid, and they say
to Moses, Why did you bring usout here?
As they see Pharaoh coming upbehind him, why did you bring us
out here to die?
Weren't there enough graves inEgypt?
We could have just died there.
Why did you bring us out?
The people are afraid, andthey're really faithless.
But notice in verse 13, andMoses said to the people, Do not

(13:59):
be afraid, stand still and seethe salvation of the Lord, uh,
which he will accomplish uh foryou today, for the Egyptians
whom you see today, you shallsee again no more forever.
The Lord will fight for you, andyou shall hold your peace.
And the Lord said to Moses, Whydo you cry to me?

(14:21):
Tell them the children of Israelto move forward.
Uh, but lift up your rod andstretch out your hand over the
sea and divide it, and thechildren of Israel shall go on
dry ground through the midst ofthe sea, and I indeed will
harden the hearts of theEgyptians, and they shall follow
them.
So I will gain honor overPharaoh, over all his army, his
chariots, and his horsemen.

(14:43):
And the Egyptian Egyptians shallknow that I am the Lord, when I
have gained honor for myselfover Pharaoh, his chariots, and
his horsemen.
Look at verse 21.
Then Moses stretched out hishand over the sea.
You know the story, and the Lordcaused the sea to go back by a
strong east wind all that night,and made the sea into dry land,

(15:06):
and the waters were divided.
So the children of Israel wentinto the midst of the sea on dry
ground, and the waters were awall to them on their right hand
and on their left.
And the Egyptians pursued andwent after them into the midst
of the sea, all Pharaoh'shorses, his chariots, and his
horsemen.
So you've seen it, right?

(15:28):
The sea divided in front ofthem.
Now that's real easy for us inour CGI world to imagine, right?
We can we can take the TenCommandments, not even CGI, and
it's it's decent, right?
They cross through on dry groundand we go, wow, that happened.
But imagine God's peoplestanding there as there's walls
of water on each side of them.

(15:50):
Well, they're going through.
God has actually blocked Pharaohoff for a time with a cloud, a
pillar of cloud, and a pillar offire at night.
And all at once the Egyptiansare let go.
And here we see what hard heartmeans.
And this is interesting, right?
Because we read all the waythrough Exodus that Pharaoh's
heart was hard.
Pharaoh hardened his heart.

(16:11):
God hardened Pharaoh's heart.
What is a hard heart?
A hard heart is when the Red Seais split in front of you and you
decide to go in, right?
I mean, reason would say, well,they're gone.
Let them go.
But Pharaoh, his heart is sohard that regardless of the

(16:31):
consequence, this is where wesee a hard heart in our own
life.
Regardless of the consequenceand the warnings from God, don't
do it.
We say, you know what?
I'm gonna do it.
Regardless of what it means forme, I'm gonna do it.
And that's Pharaoh's heart inall of this, stubborn and hard.
We don't want to be that way.

(16:52):
Now, verse 26, as the Egyptiansflee in there, there's
confusion, their wheels falloff.
And the Lord said to Moses,Stretch out your hand over the
sea, and the waters may comeback over the Egyptians on their
chariots and their horsemen.
And Moses stretched out his handover the sea.
And when the morning uhappeared, the sea turned to its

(17:13):
full depth, while the Egyptianswere fleeing into it.
So the Lord overthrew theEgyptians in the midst of the
sea, and the waters returned andcovered the chariots, the
horsemen and all the army ofPharaoh that came into the sea
after them.
Not so much of one of them uhremained.
And the children of Israelwalked through on dry ground.
So there it is, the story ofGod's deliverance, right?

(17:37):
The account of God's uhdeliverance, the entire Egyptian
army is just shattered, donefor, and God did it.
Now, things to notice here, whatyou know, there's a huge
parallel.
Uh, God's deliverance on thatPassover night.
Take a lamb, a spotless lamb,and offer it for a sacrifice.

(18:00):
That blood on the door wouldmean that death would pass over.
And of course, we hear John theBaptist uh yelling out as he
sees Jesus coming to him to bebaptized.
Behold, the Lamb of God whotakes away the sin of the world.
And you don't have to look far,you realize Jesus, our Passover

(18:21):
Lamb, right?
Not only that, he was crucifiedon Passover.
So God lines it up and says,This is your deliverance, what I
do for you on the cross.
Uh, an amazing picture.
There's also a picture in theRed Sea.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians10, verse 2, that the Red Sea is

(18:41):
a picture of baptism, uh,forsaking the old life, who we
were, slave to the flesh and tosin, and embracing the new life.
Um, and they're crossing overinto uh a new and a fresh
chapter.
Let's look back to Hebrewschapter 11 and we'll move on.

(19:04):
Verse 30.
By faith the walls of Jerichofell down after they were
encircled for seven days.
So here's another opportunityfor faith and trust in God.
It happens in the book ofJoshua, Joshua chapter six.

(19:25):
Now, you can read about this inyour own time, Joshua chapter
six, but you know the story.
Joshua now leads the people intothe promised land.
They cross the Jordan River, andthat in itself is a miracle,
right?
As the waters are kind of stoodup way down upstream, and the
people cross over on dry groundagain.

(19:47):
But in chapter six, verse onethrough five, we see the plan
that God has for taking the cityof Jericho, and you know it,
right?
You know this because you'veacted it out when you were in
Sunday school as a kid, right?
Um, you are to march around thecity, God says, for six days.
One time a day, six days.

(20:09):
Now, the plan is nobody talks.
I think that would be a miraclein itself, right?
To get a whole nation of peopleand nobody talks for six days.
Uh walking around that city onetime during that time, you know.
On the seventh day, they're tomarch around the city seven
times and then shout and blowthe horns, you know.

(20:31):
And the walls of Jericho willfall down.
Now, we have to point out that'sa ridiculous plan, right?
That is not how you win a war.
Marching around a city quietly,and then on the seventh day,
shout and blow the horns, right?
That is just not how it works.
That takes a huge amount offaith, right?

(20:51):
To believe.
Now, sort of, right?
Because they're trusting God whocan do anything, but that takes
faith.
So by faith, they heard it andbelieved, they obeyed, and it
worked.
And there's victory in a newland.
Now it matters because of whatcomes in verse 31.

(21:19):
By faith, the harlot Rahab didnot perish with those who did
not believe when she hadreceived the spies in peace.
So there's another person inthis time period, Hall of Faith.
It's Rahab.
And you can read the story therein Genesis chapter 2.

(21:39):
Uh, Joshua sends in two spies toscout out the city.
You'll remember.
They come into the city ofJericho, and providentially they
stay in the house of aprostitute here named Rahab.
Now, we're told in Hebrews 11:31here that by faith she received

(22:01):
the spies and she hid them, andGod preserved her and her family
through that miraculous attackon Jericho.
Now, why is faith important inall this?
Well, I want to point tosomething we don't read.
We don't read verse 29b.

(22:22):
We'll just call it that, right?
Look in in your Bibles, Hebrewschapter 11, verse 29.
Look at the space between verse29 and verse 30.
You know a lot went down inbetween the space of verse 29
and verse 30.
In between the people goingthrough the Red Sea on dry

(22:45):
ground and the people going into claim the land, there's 40
years in that in that space inour Bibles.
40 years.
Well, why are there 40 years?
You'll remember Numbers chapter14.
God brought them to the promisedland.
And God said to the people, Goin, I'm giving you this land.

(23:06):
They sent in 12 spies and theycame back with a great report.
It's a wonderful land.
But 10 spies came back and said,But we'll never be able to take
it.
They're giants, we're nothingcompared to them.
And their faith disappeared,right?
You remember they took up stonesand wanted to kill Caleb and

(23:31):
Joshua, the only two that gave agood report that God was going
to do it.
They wanted to kill Moses andthey refused to go in.
Now you remember the story therein Numbers chapter 14.
God said, Fine, you won't go in.
No matter what.
You won't go into the promisedland, but your kids will.
And everyone under the age of 20would wander around in the

(23:55):
wilderness for 40 years untilthat entire generation was dead.
A 40-year death march.
Why?
Because they didn't have faith.
No faith.
So that's like the hall of thefaith list, right?
Is these people.
Now notice how much they hadgoing for them.

(24:15):
They had seen God's deliverancethe night of Passover.
They had seen the Red Sea.
They were there.
They walked through on dryground.
They saw Pharaoh shattered bythe waves, and they didn't
believe.
They saw it, they didn't believeit, and they didn't obey.
And we see that it's soimportant that we have faith

(24:39):
because faithlessness, it justleads to death, right?
That's the what we really seehere.
And the author addresses thisearlier in chapter 3, verse 17,
Hebrews 3, 17.
Now with whom was God angry for40 years?
Was it not those who sinnedwhose corpses fell in the

(25:02):
wilderness?
Wow.
And whom did he swear that theywould not enter his rest, but
those who did not obey.
So we see that they could notenter in because of unbelief.
If you caught that.
Unbelief kept them out, and theydid not enter into God's rest.

(25:22):
And the goodness that he had forhim, the result was death.
Now, those people, thatgeneration, missed out because
of unbelief.
Who else, though, might havemissed out?
Rahab, right?
I mean, we see Rahab in here,but it's because she's already
heard.
She's heard about the Red Sea,she's heard about their

(25:44):
deliverance from Egypt, and shebelieved.
She knew that what God said wasgoing to happen, that He was
going to give them the land wastrue.
And she had faith.
Now we could go through thedetails of Rahab's life.
She was a Gentile.
That means she was an absoluteoutsider, known there as the

(26:05):
nations.
Everyone else.
God's wrath was on the Gentiles.
She was a Gentile.
Um, she was seen as really justfire for, I mean, fuel for the
fire of hell.
Um, but yet here she heard.
She didn't see, she heard, andshe tells the spies, as soon as

(26:33):
we heard you were coming,they're in Joshua 2, verse 11.
Uh, our hearts melted, neitherdid there remain any more
courage in anyone because ofyou.
For the Lord your God, he is Godof heaven above and earth
beneath.
And she heard and she believed.
Um, this is an important part ofeverything that goes down.

(26:58):
Uh turn, just to see howimportant it is, turn to Matthew
chapter one.
And that's where we'll we'll endtoday is Matthew chapter one.
And you'll think, Matthewchapter one, is that a is that a
genealogy?
Yeah, it's a genealogy.
It's the kind of stuff wesometimes skip, you know.

(27:21):
Uh Malachi.
Sorry, my bad.
Matthew chapter one.
Verse four we can start.
Some names, some great names.
Ram begot Aminadab.
Aminadab begot Nashon.
Nashan begot Sammon.

(27:44):
Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab.
Boaz begot Obed by Ruth.
Obed begot Jesse, and Jessebegot David the king.
So how important is it thatRahab saw faith and had faith?

(28:04):
Hugely important to us.
Because time goes on and Rahabassimilates things to the people
of Israel, and she settles downwith a man named uh Salmon.
Salmon.

(28:25):
And sounds fishy.
Anyways, I didn't even plan onthat one.
It was just right there.
Um, but but notice you see ithere.
This is Jesus' family tree.
This is David's family tree.
This is ultimately Jesus' familytree, and and it goes through
the book of Ruth, which is agreat read for some faith too.

(28:47):
See the book of Ruth.
But she's there for a verydistinct purpose to be some of
the DNA of Jesus.
And it's important that we seewhat faith does, right?
The faithlessness of some justkept them out of the promised

(29:09):
land 40 years wandering aroundin the wilderness.
But the faith of Rahab is how wegot the DNA of Jesus, right?
She's in the family tree.
And God uses a life of simplefaith beyond our own lives to
create some of the best things.
And I think that's where we comefor our week again today is

(29:33):
faith is experienced in hugeways for sure, right?
Those forks in the road whereyou decide, you know, what are
you going to do?
Where are you going to go?
How are you going to act in yourlife?
Salvation, that's huge, right?
Saving faith is huge.
But there's little acts offaith.
And we look and go, well, whatdifference does it make if I
live by faith or I live by thefacts?
You know, I want to figure thisout.

(29:55):
Or do you do what God tells youto do?
Do you just walk and trust Him?
Maybe do something that's alittle beyond reason, you know,
with your money.
Uh, maybe a little beyond reasonwith your occupation and what
you end up doing.
Um, whatever it is, uh, you walkby faith and it can change so
much.

(30:16):
Our faith isn't just for us,it's for the crowd that comes
after us, for our kids, ourgrandkids, our neighbors, people
we work with and haveopportunity to be in their life.
It's a simple message.
Faith really does matter.
And in Hebrews chapter 11 showsus again and again, it's

(30:36):
altogether possible as a normalhuman being to live by faith.
And it's altogether worth it tolive by faith in all the
different aspects of our life,to trust God and seek Him with
everything.
So, God, we don't want to justhear Bible stories and get them

(30:59):
down, but God, we want to trustyou like these folks trusted
you.
God, we want to be warned thatunbelief can lead to hurt.
But trusting you is the bestthing we could ever do for us
and for those that go after us.
We affect their life as we livethe life that you've given us.

(31:21):
God help us to trust you.
I know it's easier said thandone so many times.
It's it's easy to say we trustyou, but then when it's the
finances or our kids, ourfuture, God, we we want to take
matters into our own hands, butGod help us to seek you first,
and all these other things willbe added unto us.
God help us to be the reality ofour life.

(31:41):
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.