| “By faith THEY passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.” – Hebrews 11:29 |
|---|
| By Faith THEY!!!! Hebrews 11 is the HALL OF FAITH and obviously, it has the best of the best of men and women who BELIEVED GOD to do what HE SAID! It tells of ABEL and of NOAH! It tells of ABRAHAM, who is regarded as the father of faith. It tells of SARAH and of ISSAC and of JACOB and of JOSEPH and of MOSES. If the writer had the time he would have told of DAVID, DANIEL, ISAIAH, and GIDEON as the OT is filled with individuals who lived and acted BY FAITH. However, as we look at Hebrews 11:29 we see a most unusual word in that the writer does not give a NAME but rather says, “THEY.” I don’t know about you but seeing “they” caught me a little off guard. When I think of a Hall of Fame I think of individuals. I think of an individual doing something spectacular, even to the level we might say they did something that seemed impossible. Yet here we have “THEY” and we don’t know who THEY are. What we do know is WHAT THEY DID as they PASSED through the RED SEA on DRY land which was SPECTACULAR and yes IMPOSSIBLE. To get the significance of “THEY” faith recall the story of Exodus 14. “THEY” were the ones coming out of EGYPT, having been freed from brutal Egyptian slavery, and were now headed to the PROMISED Land. As “THEY” followed Moses following God they were brought to what can only be called a DEAD END as they faced the Red Sea with high mountains on both sides and the Egyptian army coming after them in the rear. At this DEAD END, God tells Moses to tell them (THEY) to MOVE FORWARD! (Ex. 14:15). Exodus 14:21 now tells us “Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; And the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 So the children of Israel (THEY) went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.” Wouldn’t you have loved to have a drone flying above with that birdseye view of “THEY” taking the first steps onto God’s solid and dry road through the sea? Wouldn’t you have loved to see THEY’S faces as THEY walked with the WALLS of water on both sides? Wouldn’t you have loved to see them taking one step after another? THEY were putting spectacular faith on display! Martin Luther King, Jr said, ‘“Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” THEY took the first step and they kept walking even with walls of water on both sides! Are you a “THEY” with a ministry? Churches need more than a pastor with FAITH. It needs God’s people, the “THEY,” to have FAITH! Churches need THEY who take that first step and MOVE FORWARD even when THEY can’t see the WHOLE staircase! Maybe it is time for some of you to get off the bank and STEP OUT with the THEY of a church or a ministry and make something happen for the Lord. Verse to DATE the Word on November 29 (11/29) is Hebrews 11:29. It says, “By faith THEY passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.” Continue Strong being a THEY by faith in a church or ministry! And remember to DATE THE WORD |