“Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophet and you will be successful.” These were the words of King Jehoshaphat during his pronouncement in 2 Chronicles 20:20. I want to take the messages from this quote and use them to divide this post into two parts. The first part will give examples of those God upheld in the Bible because they believed in him. The second part will discuss those who had faith in the prophets and were successful in their endeavors.
Some examples of the people who had faith in God from the beginning of the Bible were Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Noah. Abraham showed his faith in God when God asked him to go sacrifice his son, (Genesis 22:1-9) he did not hold back and moved according to the instruction. Instead of his son being sacrificed though, a ram was used, as provided by God and the Lord declared: “Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed because you have obeyed me.”
Later, Isaac faced a challenge as well in Genesis 26:1-12. In verses 2-6, the Lord appears in front of Isaac and says, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and I will bless you. For to you and your descendants, I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees, and my instructions.” So Isaac stayed in Gerar and was granted the blessings promised to him.
Subsequent men of faith will be discussed on December 9th.
