HEROES
OF
FAITH
HEBREW SLAVES
This story of faithing isn't about just one special person. Our story this time has over 2,000,000 faithers. Faithers are people will act in trust on God's word. God had promised these faithers that he would send a deliverer to set them free from Egypt. But that comes at the end of the story.
The story begins some 3500 years ago in the land of Egypt. A man named Jacob brought his family to live in Egypt for two reasons. One, there was a bad shortage of food in Jacob's own land of Canaan. Two, Jacob's favorite son Joseph happened to be ruling Egypt for the Pharaoh at the time. Those Hebrew people lived in Egypt for 400 years.
For a while they ruled Egypt like at the beginning, but gradually the Egyptians Got tired of being ruled by foreigners. They got an army and took back rulership. After they took control of the land, they started to treat the family of Jacob very badly. The people were by this time known as Israelites and had grown much in population. By the time the 400 years were past, the Israelites were slaves to Egypt.
The Israelites had to work long and hard at making building bricks for the Egyptians. At one point, the Pharaoh ruled that if a man didn't meet his quota of bricks for the day, that his baby was to be put into the buildings instead of bricks. This kind of persecution got worse. The king pharaoh was afraid of a prophecy that foretold of a deliverer for the Hebrew people. So the pharaoh ordered that all of the baby boys be thrown in the river from then on.
That deliverer was Moses. You remember how Moses was taken out of the river and raised by Pharaoh's daughter. Moses had grown up in Pharaoh's Court, but was not in Egypt the whole time up to the plagues. He had spent 59 years in other lands before he returned to Egypt to help the Israelites escape. Forty of those years Moses spent as a King in the land of Cush. He was at least 76 years old when he came back to Egypt.
Now we can take a closer look at our two to three million faithers, and see the actions they did trusting in God's word . I'm sure you have heard of the ten plagues that God sent upon the Egyptians. The last of these is the one we want to look at. With the other plagues, the Hebrews didn't have to worry. They were automatically protected from the hail, and lice, and the other stuff. They didn't have to do anything. But this time the people were asked to do some pretty strange things. Just on Moses' say-so. Moses sent messengers around with instructions for the people to follow. So it isn't like God came and told each person what was going to happen. I bet many of them didn't know any more than that they would escape some terrible thing if they acted in faith on Moses' word.
You must always keep in mind that there were over 2,000,000 people there in the land of Goshen, Egypt. That's bigger than some cities I can name. That's over 20 big football stadiums of people. And they all had to faithe at the same time. Talk about faith moving mountains. What happened when the Hebrews faithed was more terrible and miraculous.
Here's how the people were told to faithe. They were to select a perfect lamb from their flock on the tenth day of the month. When the fourteen day came, they were too wait till about sunset then kill the lamb. But they couldn't break any of its bones. Next they were to take the blood and wipe it on what sides and top of the door frame and go inside. The lamb was to be roasted whole, not boiled. Also they couldn't have any leftovers, so burned the extra meat at morning.
That was unusual enough, but there was more. They were told not to get ready for bed, but to strap on their shoes, ware their cloaks, get a staff and hold it, and eat like they were in a hurry to take a trip -- probably standing up. Seems silly to eat a roasted lamb standing up, doesn't it? God has a way of testing our trust in Him by asking us to do things that don't look like they'll help. I mean, who would know if some of the people inside the houses were eating the lamb in a hurry or taking their time to enjoy the flavor? Wish it wasn't so easy to forget that God sees everywhere.
Anyway, God sent an angel to kill all the first born of each family; even the families of animals. Everywhere in Egypt people died; even statues of the first born were destroyed. Except over in Goshen where the people had put blood on the door. And you know, I bet there were a few smart Egyptians, maybe friends with the Israelites, who found out what was going on and saved their houses by putting blood on the door like the Hebrews.
In the book of Exodus, where we find this story, it doesn't say anything about some of the people not putting up blood on the door and the other stuff, but, you know, there's always someone who won't believe anything; even when there's clear proof. I bet when the Angel of Death came over the land of Egypt that night, and killed all the first born, there were also some Israelites who lost a son or daughter, or a sheep or goat. Some people don't learn even after nine plagues go by. They probably think in their hearts that they're not brave enough to take the risks that go with faithing. I can imagine some slightly poor Hebrew man saying that he couldn't afford to kill his lamb. That doesn't show much trust bin God.
Faithing takes courage. It means acting like something you can't see for feel is really true. And mostly it means doing something that people will laugh at, or get mad about.We should remember the Israelites at times when people get after us for doing something that's right, and ask God for his help to give us the courage we need.
Be sure to check out the other Heroes of faithing listed in Hebrews, chapter eleven.
See if you can tell what each did that showed he trusted things that God had said.
I also invite you see how the whole book of
Hebrews talks about faithing.
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