8.3.25 ~ No Faith
Good morning!
Have you ever considered shy Yeshua to use the phrases "little faith", "great faith" and/or "no faith"? Isn't faith-faith? Doesn't just a little faith move mountains (Matt. 17:20)? I can only imagine what great faith will do?
In our Sabbath zoom call, yesterday, we addressed the 3 reasons why you would display 'faith/emunah', trust, in someone (God, an individual or even an object). They are in chronological order. In order to have a little faith you'll have to have all three. Which begs us to ask the question, why would Yeshua say that there are times when His disciples have "no faith" (Deut. 32:20; Mk. 4:40)? I address that in the second part of the teaching and explain through the Torah portion Devarim/words how to overcome them in order to enter the Land of your inheritance.
We live in a world where people talk about whether you believe in God or don't believe in God. Enquiring minds frequently ask, "Do I believe"? And is there a difference between having faith and being in the faith?
Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? (2 Cor. 13;5)
The opening chapter of Deuteronomy/Devarim/words starts at the history point of the Isralites about to enter the Land of their inheritance, which is the focal point of our patterned spiritual journey (1 Cor. 9:24-10:11; Rom. 4:23,24; 15:4; 2 Tim. 3:16,17; etc).
The LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe/emunah in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? (Numbers 14:11)
Before we gather a fuller understanding of belief, it's important for us to remember, at this point in the story of Israel's journey we have a group of people who have been delivered from Egypt by the blood of the Lamb (Ex. 12). They have been sanctified by the Lord (Ex. 13). They have been given a "comforter" to guide them in the wilderness journey to the Promised Land (Ex. 13). They have seen miracles (Ex. 4-Num. 14). They have been baptized in the sea (Ex. 14). They have fed on the bread from heaven (Ex. 16). They have drank from the Rock that followed them, which is Christ (Ex. 17; 1 Cor. 10:4). They have defeated Amalek with the sword (Ex. 17). They have come into a Covenant relationship with Yahweh (Ex. 19-24). They have built the Tabernacle for Yahweh's presence to dwell with them (Ex. 40). And according to Hebrews 11 they did all of this by faith. Where are you on the journey?
However, all things considered, this particular event in Num. 14 is essential for understanding God’s view of belief/emunah. In fact, the Scriptures in Deuteronomy and all the TaNaKh (aka the OT) refer back to this event time and again as a demonstration of what it means to not believe/lo emunah.
The LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe/lo emunah in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst?
(Numbers 14:11)
Understanding this 'no faith' syndrome is the key to understanding the controversial topic, "once saved, always saved" or "once saved, not always saved". In this passage, God tells Moses to send men into the Promised Land to gather intelligence about its inhabitants before the children of Israel move to occupy it (Num. 13). The men come back, full of stories about the abundance in the land. It truly is a land of milk and honey. Anyone who lives there will be well satisfied. But there is a problem. The spies report that the descendants of Anak live there along with the dreaded Nephilim (Num. 13:26-29) and they saw themselves as grasshoppers.
“There we saw the giants[fn] (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” (Num. 13:33)
Scripture tells us that upon hearing these words “all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.” Why? Because they were afraid. Simple, isn’t it? That’s exactly how we would react to such a devastating report. In fact, that is exactly how we do react when we get overwhelming evidence of a potential disaster. Our mouth gets dry. Our palms get clammy. Our underarms begin to sweat. Our voice shakes. Our body quivers. We panic and run to the store to buy up all the toilet paper :-). “Oh, Lord, help us. The Nephilim/giants are coming! What can we do? What can we do?”
Caleb had the answer.
“If the Lord is pleased with us, He will bring us into the land.” (Num. 13:30)
But the answer fell on deaf ears; ears stopped up with fright, anxiety and no faith.
Do you see yourself in this narrative? God, exasperated, says, "How long will these people not believe/lo emunah in Me? Remember, God is not asking how long these people will be atheists. He is not asking how long they will deny His existence. They aren't "unsaved". Yet, that’s what many think from our modern day understanding of the word “believe.”
Emunah/faith has 3 truths associated with it. Without all three you don't exhibit faith. The root word of emunah is aman. Does that look vaguely familiar; amen? It carries the idea of reliability, faithfulness and trust.
But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady/emunah until the going down of the sun. (Ex. 17:12)
Emunah/faith is not about "beliefs", as in your church creed. It's about actions that result from taking God seriously. In other words, God indicts these people by saying that they refuse to act as they should, as He expects them to act, based on all the evidence of His reliability. God requires that His children respond on the basis of His faithfulness (not theirs). And here’s the clincher. The children of Israel who did not act on the basis of God’s character perished in the wilderness, short of their calling. Their unbelief/lo emunah brought about their demise.
It’s the same today. If you have faith/believe/emunah, you act accordingly. If you don’t act, you die in your unbelief. The creeds won’t save you. Catechism won’t deliver you. God expects obedience. Fear, apathy, anxiety or cowardice insult Him. Who cares about the Nephilim (Josh. 2:11)?
And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.
(Josh. 2:11)
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8:31)
On this 15th day of counting towards the first fruit of the oil, it might be time to look at all the things that make you feel like a grasshopper and say, “Yes, Lord. You will bring me into the land.” He's faithful/aman. He took us out of our bondage to take us in to the Land of our inheritance.
And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. (Deut. 6:23)
That's this week's Torah portion, Va'etchanan.
God will do His part of belief in me, will I do my part and believe in Him? Amen.
Shalom,
Alan
Enjoy the zoom call. It will help your faith/emunah!
In our Sabbath zoom call, yesterday, we addressed the 3 reasons why you would display 'faith/emunah', trust, in someone (God, an individual or even an object). They are in chronological order. In order to have a little faith you'll have to have all three. Which begs us to ask the question, why would Yeshua say that there are times when His disciples have "no faith" (Deut. 32:20; Mk. 4:40)? I address that in the second part of the teaching and explain through the Torah portion Devarim/words how to overcome them in order to enter the Land of your inheritance.
We live in a world where people talk about whether you believe in God or don't believe in God. Enquiring minds frequently ask, "Do I believe"? And is there a difference between having faith and being in the faith?
Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? (2 Cor. 13;5)
The opening chapter of Deuteronomy/Devarim/words starts at the history point of the Isralites about to enter the Land of their inheritance, which is the focal point of our patterned spiritual journey (1 Cor. 9:24-10:11; Rom. 4:23,24; 15:4; 2 Tim. 3:16,17; etc).
The LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe/emunah in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? (Numbers 14:11)
Before we gather a fuller understanding of belief, it's important for us to remember, at this point in the story of Israel's journey we have a group of people who have been delivered from Egypt by the blood of the Lamb (Ex. 12). They have been sanctified by the Lord (Ex. 13). They have been given a "comforter" to guide them in the wilderness journey to the Promised Land (Ex. 13). They have seen miracles (Ex. 4-Num. 14). They have been baptized in the sea (Ex. 14). They have fed on the bread from heaven (Ex. 16). They have drank from the Rock that followed them, which is Christ (Ex. 17; 1 Cor. 10:4). They have defeated Amalek with the sword (Ex. 17). They have come into a Covenant relationship with Yahweh (Ex. 19-24). They have built the Tabernacle for Yahweh's presence to dwell with them (Ex. 40). And according to Hebrews 11 they did all of this by faith. Where are you on the journey?
However, all things considered, this particular event in Num. 14 is essential for understanding God’s view of belief/emunah. In fact, the Scriptures in Deuteronomy and all the TaNaKh (aka the OT) refer back to this event time and again as a demonstration of what it means to not believe/lo emunah.
The LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe/lo emunah in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst?
(Numbers 14:11)
Understanding this 'no faith' syndrome is the key to understanding the controversial topic, "once saved, always saved" or "once saved, not always saved". In this passage, God tells Moses to send men into the Promised Land to gather intelligence about its inhabitants before the children of Israel move to occupy it (Num. 13). The men come back, full of stories about the abundance in the land. It truly is a land of milk and honey. Anyone who lives there will be well satisfied. But there is a problem. The spies report that the descendants of Anak live there along with the dreaded Nephilim (Num. 13:26-29) and they saw themselves as grasshoppers.
“There we saw the giants[fn] (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” (Num. 13:33)
Scripture tells us that upon hearing these words “all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.” Why? Because they were afraid. Simple, isn’t it? That’s exactly how we would react to such a devastating report. In fact, that is exactly how we do react when we get overwhelming evidence of a potential disaster. Our mouth gets dry. Our palms get clammy. Our underarms begin to sweat. Our voice shakes. Our body quivers. We panic and run to the store to buy up all the toilet paper :-). “Oh, Lord, help us. The Nephilim/giants are coming! What can we do? What can we do?”
Caleb had the answer.
“If the Lord is pleased with us, He will bring us into the land.” (Num. 13:30)
But the answer fell on deaf ears; ears stopped up with fright, anxiety and no faith.
Do you see yourself in this narrative? God, exasperated, says, "How long will these people not believe/lo emunah in Me? Remember, God is not asking how long these people will be atheists. He is not asking how long they will deny His existence. They aren't "unsaved". Yet, that’s what many think from our modern day understanding of the word “believe.”
Emunah/faith has 3 truths associated with it. Without all three you don't exhibit faith. The root word of emunah is aman. Does that look vaguely familiar; amen? It carries the idea of reliability, faithfulness and trust.
But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady/emunah until the going down of the sun. (Ex. 17:12)
Emunah/faith is not about "beliefs", as in your church creed. It's about actions that result from taking God seriously. In other words, God indicts these people by saying that they refuse to act as they should, as He expects them to act, based on all the evidence of His reliability. God requires that His children respond on the basis of His faithfulness (not theirs). And here’s the clincher. The children of Israel who did not act on the basis of God’s character perished in the wilderness, short of their calling. Their unbelief/lo emunah brought about their demise.
It’s the same today. If you have faith/believe/emunah, you act accordingly. If you don’t act, you die in your unbelief. The creeds won’t save you. Catechism won’t deliver you. God expects obedience. Fear, apathy, anxiety or cowardice insult Him. Who cares about the Nephilim (Josh. 2:11)?
And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.
(Josh. 2:11)
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8:31)
On this 15th day of counting towards the first fruit of the oil, it might be time to look at all the things that make you feel like a grasshopper and say, “Yes, Lord. You will bring me into the land.” He's faithful/aman. He took us out of our bondage to take us in to the Land of our inheritance.
And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. (Deut. 6:23)
That's this week's Torah portion, Va'etchanan.
God will do His part of belief in me, will I do my part and believe in Him? Amen.
Shalom,
Alan
Enjoy the zoom call. It will help your faith/emunah!
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