Ezekiel~ a faithful watchmen on the wall for God

Ezekiel~ a faithful watchmen on the wall for God

Years of service: 606-536

The next picture that we see is that of Ezekiel. Ezekiel is the son of Buzi. Let us look at his faithfulness to God.

Up to this point in time, God had been sending  many watchmen on the wall to warn them of the coming curse that they would endure because of their rebellion, but they choose not to repent and come back to God. Now they were suffering for their lack of faith and obedience. This is when God choose to call Ezekiel to be a watchman and prophet for him during the time of king Jehoiachin's captivity and the Israelites' exile. His message was to the people of Judah. When he was called, he given a very interesting vision asked to eat a scroll of lamentations, mourning and woe. This symbolized what they were going through at the time.

 Then He was instructed to go to a rebellious nation to deliver a message in action. God had Ezekiel do this because they had not listened to the words of the past watchmen. Some of the messages in action went totally against the laws that had been given to the people. Like cooking bread over dung. But Ezekiel was faithful to God's instructions and did them. In doing so he delivered a powerful message that the people clearly understood.

Once these messages were delivered and understood. God has Ezekiel deliver messages of hope to the people. As he tells them of how God will punish those who have hurt them and will restore Jerusalem again.

Ezekiel's faithfulness helped God's people to move from depression to having a hope for the future. That is why he is in this great hall of faith!

John the Baptist~ God's last prophet and herald

The last picture on the wall is that of John the Baptist. Before I start to tell you about John the Baptist and his great faith, I need to explain what a herald is, so that you will understand the title. A herald is a royal or official messenger who goes before a person in power, such as a Lord or King to announce his coming.They often ran ahead of the Lord or King to let those that he was coming to see know that he was on his way. This allowed them to prepare for this honored guest.  In some ways, all the prophets has been announcing the coming of Jesus-the Messiah for many years. But John the Baptist was the one God had anointed to be the one who was to run just ahead of Jesus announcing His coming and the coming of His kingdom. In this way, John the Baptist was Jesus' ambassador. 

A herald also ran ahead of an army announcing that the army was coming to attack and take over a kingdom. John the Baptist's ministry was to run ahead of Jesus' ministry proclaiming that the kingdom of God was coming to earth to fight and take over the Satan's kingdom. 

 Let us now look at this great man of faith. 

John the Baptist was the son of Zachariah the priest and his wife, Elisabeth who were very obedient to God & his laws. Go called and anointed  John the Baptist to be Jesus' Herald when he was in the womb. We see this when an angel goes to Zachariah to tell him that he will have a son and how to raise him.

We know that John the Baptist was a great man of faith, because he always did as God told him to do. Even when it is it was hard things such as call the spiritual leaders  of the day, "snakes", or tell the King  that he was upsetting God by marrying his sister-in-law. But his highest calling was to tell them that Jesus, the Messiah was coming and then pointed him out when Jesus had arrived. In the end, his obedience got him killed, but his death was the gate way to Jesus' ministry. May we be found as faithful as he!

Daniel~ a man who stood faithful in the face of tests and death

The next picture we see here is that of Daniel. Daniel was a great man of faith who stayed faithful even when those around him tried to steer him away from his walk with God. Let us take a closer look at this great man, shall we?

When King Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem during the reign of King Jehoiakim, he was took back to Babylon some of the vessels of the house of God, and had them put into the house of his false god. Then the King had Ashpenaz, the master of the his eunuchs, bring men who were healthy, smart, & knowledgeable in science. Among these men there was taken four faithful men. These men were none other than Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who were given new names of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. With them was a young man named Daniel.

These men was put to test many times in this strange land that didn't worship the one true God and had customs that went against their beliefs. Yet they stood faithful to their God. For example when they were given food that would go against following the diet that God had told his people to follow, they choose to stay true to it (Dan. 1:6-21). In this we see that they had self-control.  When King Nebuchadnezzar had an idol that looked like him made and had everyone bow down to it. Daniels 3 friends did not do so and ended up being put into a fiery furnace, but God spared their lives (Dan. 3).

Like his friends, Daniel stayed faithful to God. What helped him do this is because he talked with God daily. We see him faithfully praying to God three times a day even when a law was made that said not to pray to anyone else but King Darius for 30 days, or be thrown into a lions den. God honored Daniel's faithfulness by keeping the lions from eating him (Dan. 6).He was also a man of courage as he was not afraid to stand on his beliefs Dan. 1:8; 6), as well as speak the truth to the Kings when they asked him (Dan.2; 4; 5).

I believe that God let Daniel know the future and gave him prophecies of the future of God's people, because of his faithfulness to God (Dan. 7-12).   Evenwhen Ezekiel prophecied of the judgement of God's people, he spoke of how God would deliver Daniel because of his righteousness (Ez.14:14).

Zephaniah~The faithful prophet who spoke against Babylon's rule over God's people

Here we see the picture of Zephaniah. Zephaniah was of royal blood, as his blood line goes back to Hezekaih who was king during the ministry of the prophet Isaiah some seventy years before hand (2 Kings 22-23). He was also an ancestor of the Samuel (I Chon. 6:36). Zephaniah's name meant Jehovah is darkness and Jehovah is treasured. Which was very fitting of his ministry since he spoke against the Babylon rule that they were under during that time (2 Kings 25:18; Jer. 21:1, 37:3).

Zephaniah prophesied during the time of King Josiah's reign in Judah, letting the people all know why they were going through hard times & what it would take to please God again. He prophesied before the time of captivity.   It is believed that Zephaniah was a prophet during the time of  the prophet Jeremiah.

All in all, Zephaniah was faithful to carry out his duty during a hard time in Judah's history, and that is why his picture hangs in the great hall of faith.

Haggai~ had a passion for the temple of God and the hearts of the people

The next picture you will behold, is that of Haggai. He was one of the first prophet's that is sent to the people after the came out of captivity in Babylon. He was sent to preach to Zebrubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah and the high priest, Joshua the son of Josedech and to the people who had returned to Judah. .

When Haggai saw that the people had started to build the temple of God, but had stopped doing so out of selfishiness, he became angry. For he had a great love of God and the house of God. So he went to the two ruling heads there and spoke to them about this great sin of selfishness, with four messages.  Around this time, the prophet Zechariah was also preaching about finishing the rebuilding of the temple (Ezr. 5:1-2; 6:14). Three weeks later, the work on the temple had started back up. So Haggai had a hand in getting the rebuilding of the temple finished.

But Haggai's passion wasn't just for the temple of God, but that the hearts of the people would also turn back to God . He addressed this on the book that bears his name. Why was this important to him? Because he had faith that when their bodies would return to the work of the Lord, their hearts would return also. He was not disappointed, for he was able to witness that.

Habakkuk~ one of God's watchmen on the wall journey of faith

Before you is the picture of Habakkuk. Habakkuk was one of God's watchmen on the wall  before they were carried into captivity (Hab. 2:1-3).  As he watched over the people of the world,  he saw a great evil that troubled his soul. So he went and spoke to God about it. God let Habakkuk speak of how he was upset that God was not punishing the people doing evil. (Hab. 1:1-5). That is when God tells Habakkuk of His plan to use the Chaldean's to punish Judah (Hab. 5-17).  At first, this answer does not satisfy him. That is when God tell Habakkuk to write down the vision that God had given him (Hab. 2:2). Than God told him that he would have to wait until the appointed time for all that he had been shown to come to pass. (Hab. 2:3). Then he was told of the judgement that would be on the Chaldean's (Hab. 2:4-20).

After Habakkuk is told all the vision, he prays a prayer and song unto the Lord. In it he goes from praying in fear, to prophesying of how God will deliver his people , to praising and worshiping God. In the end, his faith is strong, and that is why his picture hangs here in this hall of faith.

Nahum~ last prophet God sent to Nineveh to pronounce God's revenge upon them & to comfort Judah

The next picture we see in this great hall of faith, is that of Nahum. Nahum was an Elkoshite, who is believed to be from Judah. Nahum's name means full of compassion or comforter. This is interesting as his job was to preach against the city of Nineveh, which was the capital of Assyria.He did this before they were carried off into captivity. He was not sent to encourage them but to tell them of a couple of things that he had against them.

 1. Was that since they had not stayed with the real God that Jonah had preached to them of, but turned to other gods (Nahum 1).

 2. Was that they had attacked Judah ( Nahum 1; 2 Kings 18:13-19; Is. 36-37).

But Nineveh was not who Nahum was comforting. He was comforting those from Judah. He did this when he prophesied of how God would unleash His vengeance upon Nineveh (Nahum 2:11-12) destroying the city (Nahum 3). This was a great comfort to those in Judah since the city of Nineveh was considered an impregnable city. But this prophecy did come true as we see it destroyed in Zephaniah 2:13. Nahum also spoke of  how God would deliver Judah (Nahum 3:1; 1:13-15). This too would bring comfort to Judah and gave them something to hold on to when times where hard.

I believe that it takes great faith to walk into the enemy's city and proclaim such judgement upon them, and that is why I believe that Nahum's picture hangs in this great hall of faith.

Malachi~ God's last prophet in the old testament

The next picture we see in this great hall of faith is that of Malachi. Malachi's name means messenger of God. There is no other mention of him in the Bible, except that he wrote this book. It is believed that he was a prophet during the time of Nehemiah because the situations he speaks about fits his time. Neither the less, God called Malachi to be the last prophet to speak against his people of their sins before Jesus was to come.

By the time that Malachi came along some of the prophecies of the other prophets had already come to pass, such as, the ones that had been spoken against Esau, his mountain and his heritage (Malachi 1:2-3). So he speaks to Israel's descendants letting them know what has to change before the promised Messiah could come.

Malachi's style is different than most of the prophets in that he is showing them a conversation between God people and God himself in the first three chapters. This shows that God knew the thoughts and hearts of the people. In this conversation, God is telling his people what they are doing wrong. Then it gives the peoples resplendence's.

I believe that Malachi was a man of great faith since he was preaching this to the people right after many of the judgements had already happened, such as Esau's family was wiped out, the city of Jerusalem had been attacked, many of the people had been carried away, and the walls of the city was in ruins. No one wants to hear, "I told you so!" But that is exactly what God had Malachi say to them.

But that is not all that God had called Malachi to tell his people. He had Malachi prophecy of the good God would bless them with when they did come back to God. The biggest blessing would be the fulfillment of the Messiah, who would save them from their sins. Malachi's words would be the last time God speaks to his people of this promise until John the Baptist. That is why he is in the great hall of faith!

Micah~ prophet to those in leadership of both kingdoms

The next picture we see in this great hall of faith is Micah.

 Micah the Morasthite, was called by God to go to both kingdoms and preach in the two capital cities which were Samaria & Jerusalem. Micah spoke against how they were following other gods,and making their religion a sham. They also, let their love of money make them become dishonest in business and depressed the helpless. Micah also prophesied that if they did not turn from their sins the judgments that God would allow them to experience. They did not turn from their wicked ways and Jerusalem  was attacked and carried off into Babylon in 701 B.C. Samaria was destroyed in 722 B.C. (2 Kings 18:9-19:37). It is believed that Micah may have lived through both of these.

But that is not all that Micah prophesied about. he also prophesied on how God would restore Jerusalem to be the religious center of the world and have Bethlehem be the birthplace of God's savior.

It took a lot of faith for Micah to do this as King Ahab had many prophets killed during his reign. Jeremiah tells how King Hezeskiah had Micah killed (Jeremiah 26:18-19).  So his faith stayed with him until his death.

Jonah~ The reluctant prophet

The next picture we see is that of Jonah, the reluctant prophet. Let us take a closer look at him and see how God can use people who drag their feet and even build their faith.

Jonah was the son of Amitai. Jonah was called by God to go to Nineveh in Assyria, and preach to them. For faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God. but how can you hear without a preacher (Rom. 10:17).  But Jonah didn't want to go,so he ran from God, to keep from having to listen to what God had to say to him (Jonah 1:2-3).  But one cannot hide from God no matter where they run to ( Ps. 139:7-12). Jonah found that our when he took a boat ride thinking that it would take him away from God. While Jonah was on the boat, God caused a real bad storm on the seas. This storm was so bad, that the seamen were that the boat would break up and all the souls on board would did, so they started to cry to their different gods for help. But their gods didn't hear them. When they found Jonah in his bunk sleeping, they woke him up and told him to cry out to his God for help. I don't believe that Jonah did so, because the Bible doesn't say that he did. The seas continued to be bad. So the men cast lots to see who the gods where made at, for they believed that a storm like this had to be the punishment of an angry god. The lot fell on Jonah, so they woke him up and asked him who he was and what he had done to make his God mad. He told them the whole truth including the fact that he had disobeyed and ran from his God. They asked Jonah what they would have to do to appease God. Jonah told them to throw him over board and the storm would cease. At first the men did not throw Jonah over board. Maybe they were afraid that God would be angry at them if they did. Instead they tried to row to land, but it did not work. When they realized that they had no other choice, they threw Jonah over board, while asking God not to be angry at them for doing so. Then they made a sacrifice to God for they feared Jonah's God (Jonah 1:1-16).

God prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah whole. Jonah was in the belly of that great fish for three days and three nights. I believe that God did this to give Jonah time to think about what He had asked him to do. You see, Jonah ran from God without hearing Him out. During that time, Jonah's faith grew. At the end of the three days and three nights, Jonah prayed a prayer of faith. God heard Jonah and had the great fish spit him out at just the right place to go to Nineveh (Jonah 2).

Once Jonah was on land, God again told Jonah to go to Ninevah to preach to the many souls there. This time, Jonah obeyed God and did as God told him to do. He preached a powerful sermon to the city telling them that if they did not repent and turn from their wicked ways that God was going to have the city overthrown in forty days. The people believed in Jonah's God and all of Ninevah held a fast and put on sackcloths. This was to show God that they were sorry and ask for forgiveness. God saw this and forgave them of their sin, saving the city (Jonah 3). So Jonah's obedience saved a very large city full of many souls.

After Jonah had preached to Ninevah, he went out and sat on the east side of the city to watch the destruction of it. But when God changed His mind and didn't destroy it, Jonah became angry. In His anger, he told God how he felt about the whole situation. God answered Jonah and gave him a lesson on taking pity on the souls of Ninevah (Jonah 4).

Sometimes, God's people are asked to do things that they are not comfortable with to help them grow in their faith. That is what God did with Jonah. God also does that with us.

Obadiah~ prophet to Esau's descendants

The next picture we see is Obadiah. Obadiah was a prophet to Edomites who were descendants of Esau. They lived in the land of Edom which was in the mountain region southeast of the Dead Sea. It's capital was Sela was set high on a mountain which could only be gotten to by a narrow gorge. This made those who lived there thinking that they could not be attacked at all, and was proud of the fact . So it was quite unthinkable to them when Obadiah  prophesied that they would indeed be invaded and destroyed.

Obadiah was sent to the Edomites after they had attacked Judah.This made God angry, so he sent Obadiah to preach to them of their sin and God's judgement if they did not change their ways. It was God's last try to get them to come to Him. This took great faith and courage as Obadiah was from the land in which they had attacked. Most people would have not gone to the enemy and delivered God's message to them, But Obadiah did.

Unfortunately, the Edomites did not listen to Obadiah and they were destroyed in the 3rd and 5th century's. King Herod, of Jesus' day, was a descendant. But, you could not find them there at all after 70AD, and the land became part of the Israelites' land. So Obadiah's prophecies came true.

Amos~ a brave prophet

Next on the wall of the great hall of faith, we see the prophet Amos.

Amos was a lowly herdsman and gatherer of figs when God called him to be a prophet of God unto Israel (Amos 7:14-15). Amos must have been pretty close to God for God went and spoke to Amos one one one (Amos 1:3, 6, 13; 2:1, 4, 6). Amos was obedient in delivering the hard messages to the Israelites after they had split from Judah and turned to a false God. These messages spoke of the judgements that Israel would endure because of their lack of faith. We can read these messages all thorough the book that carries his name. Amos had to have a lot of faith to obey God and deliver these message during the time that both King Uzziah & King Jeroboam son of Joash  were kings as both were evil men, and were having prophets killed during that time. Yet Amos remained true to his calling. That is why he is in the great hall of faith!

Joel~ the prophet who was called to deliver a fatherly message from God to the people of Judah

The next man we see here on the wall is Joel. Joel was the son of Pethuel. Joel was a prophet during the reign of Uzziah over Judah ( Joel 1:1; 2 Chron. 26). Joel was called to deliver a message form God.. As "I" read the book that Joel wrote,"I" think that" I" am seeing God in a Fatherly role trying to lovingly warn his children of the punishment that they will endure if they don't turn from their wicked ways and obey Him. This message was before they were carried off into exile."I" believe that this took a lot of faith as he was called to do so during a time when the kingdom seemed to be doing fine, because Uzziah had started out being a king that did right in God's eyes (2 Chron. 26:4). But Joel was not called to minister to the king, but the people of the land, and that is exactly what he did.

Because God didn't want His people to be without hope, He had Joel tell of how He would deliver them when the time of punishment was over (Joel 3). So Joel left them with the promise of being restored back to a relationship to God. What a wonderful way to end your ministry!

Note from Author

Hi!

If you are enjoying this blog, you might want to check out my other blog. You can find it at

tonisbiblehour@blogspot.com


Blessings!

Toni Whitacre-Kratochvil

Hosea~ A prophet's whose marriage was an example of Israel's unfaithfulness.

Another prophet we see the picture of on  the wall of our long hallway is Hosea. Hosea was the son of Beeri. Hosea was called & served as a prophet during the time that Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah reigned in Judah & Jeroboam son of Joash reigned in Israel. His calling was to not only sound the alarm to the people about their spiritual adultery to other gods, but to show them a real live example of what they were doing. So God told Hosea to go and marry a prostitute. So he went and married one named Gomer. Gomer did not stay true to her marriage vows, but went back to being a prostitution time and time again. But Hosea kept taking her back. This was the perfect example of how God's people had repeatedly sold themselves to other gods, yet God kept bringing them back to himself. Then Hosea would tell the people how they were just like his unfaithful wife.

It is fitting that Hosea means deliverance, since that is the message that he was preaching to them about. he spoke of the judgement & take over that they would experience, yet he also comforts them with the promise that God would "deliver them and bring them back to their home some day. Though Hosea spoke of Judah in this sermons, he mostly referred to the kingdom of Israel and the northern kingdom. God has Hosea call the land where the capital Jerusalem was by it's old name, Ephraim. I believe that this was to remind them of his covenant to them and their respectability's to hold up their side of it. You see, Where Jerusalem is was the land gave to the tribe of Ephraim when the land was divided up between the 12 tribes after God gave them the land, fulling his promise to their Fathers generations before hand. 

The nice thing about the book that bears Hosea's name is that it ends on a note of encouragement   and promises that God promises to bring them back after He has punished them. 

Prophets~ God's watchmen on the wall

" I have made you a watchman" (Ez. 3:17 NCV).

As I read the Bible preparing to write about the prophets. I have found that many of the prophets were told this. This made me wonder what the watchmen job involved, so I looked it up. this is what I found out.

A watchman for a town or village would be put in a tower near the crops to watch over them near time of the harvest to watch over them day and night to make sure that no animal or thieves would steal the harvest. This was a VERY important job as they would starve without the food.

A watchman on the wall of a city, would daily stand guard watching all that was going on in his part of the city. Much like a policeman  would these days.As he watches over the people, he gets to know how business and daily life flows. This knowledge helps him to know when something isn't right, like when bad weather is coming or when an enemy is approaching on a road, in a gate, or among the people. When he saw these dangers it was his job to sound the alarm warning the people of it.

With that in mind, I looked closer at the prophets. What I found was that most of the prophets played the role as spiritual watchmen for God's people. god gave them a clear view of the trouble that was coming, so that they could sound the alarm warning them of the it, and how to keep it from coming. Their job also was to encourage the people during the time they were in bad situations like, exile. I found it interesting that man of the prophets were ministering to God's people just before, during, and after the exile. No wonder God called them, watchmen!

Let us keep that in mind as we look at the prophets.

Jeremiah~ A prophet during the dark days of God's chosen people

Next we see the picture of Jeremiah. Let us look at why he is in the great hall of faith.

Jeremiah was the son of Hilkiah of the priest that served in the land of Benjamin, during the days of the divided kingdom. He was called at a young age to be God's prophet to both the kingdoms (Jer. 1:10). He served God during the reign of five Kings. He was called to speak against everyone in both kingdoms including Kings, Princes, Priest, and all the people who lived in the land. In other words, it was him against 2 nations.That took great faith!

 He preached to them pointing out their sins, the curses that their sins would bring upon them & pleaded for them to turn from their sins and go back to the one true God.The book of Jeremiah is full of these sermons.  He bounced back and forth between being angry with those he was preaching at, to crying over them. This is why he was called the weeping prophet.

He stayed true to his calling even though he was was put in stocks (Jer. 20:2), and put in a dungeon (Jer. 38:6). How did he stay strong? He held onto the promised of God to be with him & the Word of God (Jer.1:9-19, 15:16).

When the people were carried a way to Egypt, Jeremiah went with them, and continued to minister to God's people. I believe that he wrote the book of Lamentations. This book shows how much he cried over the peoples sins and situations.

But through it all, Jeremiah stayed true to his calling, even though he was put in stocks (Jer. 20:2), and put in a dungeon (Jer. 38:6). How did Jeremiah stay strong? He held onto the promises of God to be with him, and & Word of God (Jer. 1:9-19; 15:16). He was truly a man of faith!

If you wish to read more about this great man of faith, you can also read about him in 2 Kings 22-25 and 2 Chronicles 34-36.

Isaiah~ A prophet during hard times

We see the picture of Isaiah on the wall before you. Let us look at his life to see why he is in the great hall of faith.

Isaiah was the son of Amoz. Was called in a time when Judah had fallen away from God and were living spiritually evil lives. We see this in Isaiah 6, when he says, "Woe is me! I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips and dwell in the mist of a people with unclean lips." He was called to try to help God's people to see sin as God saw it & to repent & turn away from it. Then live lives that would be pleasing to God. It was not an easy task since the people had grown use to a sinful life. So Isaiah had a rough task to fulfill.

Isaiah also was called at a time when God's people were living through the curses that Moses had warn them that they would endure if they did not obey God's commandments (Ex. 20:1-17; Duet. 11:26-28).  Isaiah's job was to remind them of God's promise of the curses if they disobeyed, while reassuring them of God love & blessings that they would receive if they were to repent & turn back to God. This is not an easy task to do when people who run on emotion are hurting so badly. In fact, these people had been known to kill prophets for saying such things and was still doing so in Isaiah's time. Especially during the reign of Ahab when his wife, Jezebel was having many of God's prophets killed so that they would worship her god, Baal. . So Isaiah had to have had a lot of faith in God to stand his ground and proclaim such harsh things to these people. Because of Isaiah's faithfulness and obedience, God had him serve as a prophet for forty years under Kings Jotham, Ahab, and Hezekiah.

Because of Isaiah's close relationship with God, God shared many thing with him such as, a look at their sad spiritual state at that point, God's great love for His people, & the wonderful future that God had planned for them. We see this in the many times God spoke to him & showed him visions.

Isaiah was such a great prophet that he is in many places in the Bible. If you wish to further study this man you can read more about him in the following places...2 Kings 19:2; 20:1; 2 Chron. 26:22; Mat.3:3; 4:14; book of Isaiah.

Elijah` the prophet whose trials helped him grow into a faithful man that God took to heaven with him

In the next picture you see the picture of Elijah who is one of our greatest heroes of faith. Let us look at his life to see why, shall we?

Elijah means my God is Jehovah. Elijah's family is not told to us in the Bible, so it is a mystery where he came from, which may be why he has been viewed with awe.But we do know that he was a Tis'bite who lived in Gilead.  He was also a man who was dressed very much like John the baptist was (2 Kings 1:8; Mark 1:6). he was also a great man of faith. Let us look at his life.

After King Ahab did not follow Jehovah, but worshiped the god Baal instead. God called Elijah to deliver a message from Jehovah to King Ahab that there would be a drought in the land (I Kings 17:1). That takes courage to do, & I believe that a man would not have this courage if he did not have great faith in God.

After delivering this message to King Ahab, God took care of Elijah. But it took great faith to obey all that God told him to do since none of it would make sense to more people. Let us look at all the ways God did that.

 First, God told him to hide next to a brook and have ravens bring him food (I Kings 17:2-6).Here we see Elijah living next to a small body of water right after prophesying that a drought was coming out of obedience to God. That takes faith. Second, we see that God told him that birds that were considered "unclean" to his people was going to bring him food to eat. This goes against so many things that they had been taught in the temple, like do not eat or touch unclean things. Yet God told him that he was to eat food that these "unclean" birds would bring to him.That means that he would be putting food in his mouth that they had touched. That goes against the temple law. But because of his faith in God he went against temple law and obeyed God in this.

In time, the brook did dry up. That is when God told Elijah to go to Zarephath to a widow's house to be taken care of (I Kings 17:9). Zarephath was on a small plain near the shore, so water would have been available to him. But times were hard and the widow that God sent him to was very poor. In fact, she only had enough left to make her son one more meal. This should not be surprising, as women in her time depended on a man to support them. Women of that time & place was not allowed to own land & there were not many jobs that they could work at. Yet, Elijah had faith that God would keep his word and supply for them all. So he instructed her to take a leap of faith and make him something to eat with what was the last of her food, and then trust that God would supply the rest (I Kings 17:10-14). Now Elijah's faith has gone from being inside of him to speaking it to someone else who needed to have faith in God. She took that leap of faith and made a meal for Elijah first and then for her & her son. God honored that faith each time she made a meal until the end of the drought (I Kings 17:14-16).

But then there was another great test of faith for both Elijah & the widow when he son died. The Widow cried to the man of God, and Elijah cried out to God asking why & pleaded for his life. God heard Elijah's plead of faith & brought him back to life (I Kings 17:17-24). I believe that this only strengthened their faith in God.

Sometime later, God told Elijah to go back to King Ahab to send rain on the earth again. But this was not going to be as easy as it sounds for he was going to confront King Ahab & his prophets of the false god Baal (I Kings 18). Now let us remember that after Elijah declared that there would be a drought King Ahab's wife Jezebel had as many prophets of the Lord as she could find killed. So it took faith in God to go back to King Ahab's kingdom and do as God asked him. But he had faith in God and went and did as God told him to do. God showed that he was pleased by performing many great miracles that gave Elijah victory over the prophets of Baal. Then Elijah told God's people to kill the prophets of Baal (I Kings 18:1-40). After the prophets were killed, God sent the rain (I Kings 18:1-45).


When Jezebel heard that her prophets were kills, she was very mad, and ordered to have Elijah killed. This shock Elijah's faith in God's protection. So he ran for his life & hid under a juniper tree.God sent an angel to Elijah to feed him food two times. The last meal gave him strength for forty days & nights. During those forty days and nights, Elijah hid in a cave at Mt. Horeb. God personally sent and talked with Elijah. This helped restore Elijah's faith( I Kings 19).

This is when he handed his mantle to Elisha & they ministered together for a time. We see that a man of God went to see King Ahab to deliver messages to him from time to time. This could have been one of them (I Kings 20). We also see him going to the King after his wife  had a man killed and stole his family's land and prophesying to him of his & his wife & of  King Ahaziah death (I Kings 2:1-17).

Elijah's faith grew as he was going through all of this and he obeyed God. Because of his obedience, God allowed him to do some miracles before he left this earth (2 Kings 1 & 2).

Elijah's last act of ministry was to throw his mantle down to Elisha as the God he so faithfully took him up to heaven on a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:13). In doing this he was handing his ministry over to Elisha.

Next week, we will look at the man who picked up his mantle and carried on the ministry, Elisha.

Nathan ~the fearless prophet

Here is the picture of Nathan. let us examine his life to see why he is in this great hall of faith.

Nathan was a man who had no fear of mankind. I believe that this is because he had such a strong faith in God that he was willing to do whatever God asked him to do. Let us look at Nathan's ministry life to get a better handle on this shall we?

Nathan was the spiritual adviser to King David. This had to be done by a Prophet who was not afraid of David, since David was a man with the power to kill him if he wished. We see three times when God called upon Nathan to go and deliver harsh news to David. Let us look at these.

The first time is when David wanted to build a temple for the Ark of the Covenant, because of his love for God. At first, Nathan said, "Sure, why not!" But had to go back and change that when God told Nathan that he didn't want David to build a temple, but was allowed to get things together for one of his sons to build later(2 Sam. 17:1-15).  This would take great faith in God to go back and tell King David that what he personally had given permission to do was NOT in God's plan. King David could have gotten upset and had Nathan killed. Yet due to his GREAT faith, Nathan did not compromise and followed through with what God asked him to tell David.

The second time we see Nathan taking a hard truth to David is after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba, & then had her husband Uriah killed  to cover his sin up (2 Sam. 12:1-9; 1 Kings 1:13). Other prophets had been killed when they told kings of their sins, but even with that possible threat, Nathan obeyed God and went and told David of his sin (2 Sam. 12:1-9; I Kings 1:13).

Third, we see Nathan helping reveal to David that his son, Adonijah's plan to steal King David's throne when he died & helped King David make his son, Solomon king ( I Kings 1). This took double faith to do, because both King David & self appointed king, Adonijah could have had him killed if they did not like what he did. Yet he stood on his faith in God to do what he believed was the right thing to do.

It is said that Nathan wrote books keeping records of King David & King Solomon (I Chron. 29:29;
 2 Chron. 9:29). Books with his name is not found today, but some believe that some of what you read in the books of Kings could be from his books.

Nathan is a good example of someone whose great faith in God allowed him to minister to a couple great kings without fear. may we be as faithful to God in our service to Him.

Elisha~ The man who went from plow to prophet because of his faith in God

In front of you is a picture of Elisha. let us look at him to see why he is here.

Elisha was son of Shaphat. son of Hori of the tribe of Simeon (I Kings 19:10; Num. 13:5). God called Elisha to be his prophet while he was plowing a field. It happened when Elijah walked by and cast his mantle on him (I Kings 19:15-21). A mantle is a sleeveless outer garment that was worn over the tunic. The Jewish tradition said that the mantle was to have blue fringes on the edges of it.It could have been a lot like the robe of the ephod that the priest wore, that is described in Exodus 28:31-35. It was also worn by prophets, kings & the very rich of that time. On a prophet,  it was a symbol of  a calling to service, sanctification or a special relationship to God. The one that was thrown on Elisha had God's power in it, for it was used to part the water two times (2 Kings 2:8, 14).

Elisha followed Elijah after the mantle was thrown on him. Elijah taught him as they walked together. They did this until the day that God came and took Elijah up in a chariot of fire  I Kings 19:19-21;(2 Kings 2:1-17). That is when Elisha's ministry started. But before God took Elijah, he had asked Elisha what he wanted from him. Elisha asked for a double portion of the Spirit to be upon him (2 Kings 2: 9-10). And God granted that to him. Why? I  believe it was because of the great faith that he had in God.  Let us look at his life.

When Elisha was called, he gave his life totally to God (I Kings 19:20-21; 2 Kings 4:34-35).

Elisha was a man of godly integrity ( 2 Kings 5:16).

Elisha lived in a victorious life (2 Kings 5:15-16).

Elisha was a man with great spiritual vision ( 2 Kings 6:17).

Because of all of these above he spoke with Godly authority (2 Kings 3:16-17), and performed almost 2 times as many miracles as Elijah. They are found in 2 Kings 2:14, 21, 24; 2 Kings 4:5, 35, 41. 43; 2 Kings 5:10, 27; 2 Kings 6:5, 18; 2 Kings 13:21).

Because of his faith in God and faithfulness to God, he died a victorious death (2 Kings 13:14-19), and left behind a great legacy (2 Kings 13:20-21).

note from Author

I am so sorry. I am very ill right now & not sure when I will be able to post again. Please keep me in your prayers.

 Thanks.

Toni

Part 2 of this study: The Prophets~ great men of faith

Hebrews chapter eleven finishes the list by speaking of the prophets "who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, not accepting deliverance...had the trials of cruel mockings & sourgings, bonds, imprisonments, stoned, sawn asunder, tempted, slain with the sword..."(Heb. 11:32b-40).  Why did thay do it? Faith, all because they had faith in a God that was more important than comforts and life itself.

These verses  go on to say that they will receive a great reward for staying strong in their faith in God though they did not see the fulfillment of that which was promised (Heb. 11:39). This world truly was not worthy of these men. Yet, God choose to put them here to fulfill a mission. Each Prophet had his own personality, skills & calling, such like each of us.  We could learn a lot from these prophets in how to lived by faith. It is with that in mind, that we look into the lives of each one to see what lessons they have on faith to teach us.

Jephthah` from outcast to a man of valour who kept his promises and was raised high by God

Here we see the picture of Jephthah. Let us take a closer look at him to see why he is in this great hall of faith.
Jephthah was the son of a man named Gilead and a harlot or prostitute. Because of this, he wasn't much liked by his half brothers who made him leave the family's home land when they all became adults. They did this, because they did not want to share their inheritance with him. Jephthah went to live in the land of Tob with some people who went with him.

 No one thought again of Jephthah for many years. Then the children of Ammon made war with the Israelites. Because Jephthah was a great man of valour, the elders of Gilead came to ask him to be their Captain and lead the armies of Israel. At first he wasn't going to go, but they promised to let him go home and be part of the family. so he went.

Before they went out to war, Jephthah prayer to God asking God to give them victory, for he had faith that God would give them the victory. In the prayer, he made a deal with God that if God would give them victory over their enemy that he would give the first thing that came out of his door to God as an offering of thanksgiving. This showed that he truly believed that God would give him the victory. They won the war, of course. So Jephthah went home happy.

Jephthah went home rejoicing and made plans to give a gift to God when we got home. I believe that he thought that an animal would run out to meet him, when he made the promise to God. But this was not to be true, for his daughter was first to run out and meet him. She sang songs of celebration for his victory. But Jephthah's heart was no in the mood to celebrate, for he knew that he had to keep his promise to God and sacrifice his daughter who was his only child to the Lord. He was so unhappy about it he tore his clothes when he saw her. He told her of his promise to God.

Jephthah's daughter told him that it was alright,  that she would allow him to do so, Then she asked if she could have time to grieve first. He gave her two months to do so. Upon her return, he kept his promise. This too took a lot of faith. God rewarded his faithfulness by making him a judge over Israel for 6 years before he died.


You can read all about Jephthah in Judges 11:1-12:7).

Samson- the judge who died saving his people

Samson was the son of Manoah who was from the tribe of Dan. Jacob had prophesied of Dan, "Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backwards" (Gen. 49:16-17). So it should be no surprise that God would choose to raise up a leader from this tribe to save the Israelites from the Philistines. God chose to do this at a time in Israel's history when they had been under the heavy hand of the Philistines' for 40 years. Let us look closer at this man.

As with Samuel, God choose a barren woman to give birth to Samson. You see, at times God choose to bring men or women into the world for special purposes. Jesus speaks of this in John, chapter fifteen, verse sixteen which says, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you." In the Old Testament times these men or women were called Nazarites. You can read the guidelines for a Nazarite in Numbers, chapter 6, verses 2 through 21. An angel went to Samson's Mother before she became pregnant with him to tell her that God had chosen to give her a son that would be a Nazarite. He then gave her instructions on her diet while she was pregnant and how to feed & care for him after he was born. Some of the instructions were to not eat anything that was made from grapes and not to ever cut his hair. These instructions were given for Samson was chosen to be a Nazarite from birth (Judges 13). Samson also judged Israel for 20 years during the times that the Philistines was over them (Jud. 15:20).

Samson's hair was the source of his strength. How strong was he? He was strong enough to kill a lion with his bear hands, carry the town's gates, posts, as well as killing many men with the jaw bone of a donkey (Jud. 14:1-16:3).

But Samson fell in love with a harlot named Deliah. After that he let his feelings override reason. This became his weakness for he didn't realize that a trap was being set for him to take away his strength. When the Philistines realized that Samson was in love with Deliah, they bribed her to find out what the secret to his strength was. At first, he didn't tell her, but she kept as him each time he was with her. In time, he weakened a little and he gave her false information to appease her. three different times. Deliah each time she tried to trap him by doing whatever he had said would take his strength away. But each time he got away when the Philistines came to get him. By this time, Samson was so emotionally involved with Deliah that he didn't think about the three times she had tricked him when she turned on the waterworks of tears telling him that he must not love her, because if he did he would tell her his secret. Because of this, Samson gave in and told Deliah the truth that his strength lied in his hair. This was his undoing. For when he fell asleep, Deliah cut his hair and called the Philistines to take Samson away (Jud. 16:16:1-20) .

When they took Samson away, they pocked out his eyes & made him grind in the prison house. He did this long enough until his hair grew out again. Though no one seemed to notice. One day, the Philistines came to celebrate the fact that they had Samson & thank their god Dagon, for helping them do so. They had Samson brought to the temple of Dagon for the celebration. While Samson was there, he asked the boy who was watching over him to take him to the pillars so that he may lean against them. The boy not being aware of the fact that Samson's strength had returned, did so. When Samson felt the pillars, he asked God to give him his strength one more time so he that he could kill the Philistines. God answered that prayer by giving his strength back. Samson took hold of the two load bearing pillars in the middle of the place and pulled them in, causing the building to collapse, killing everyone including himself that was in the temple. In doing so, he struck like a serpent and make them three thousand Philistines fall down dead that day. Just like Jacob had prophesied long ago (Jud. 16:21-31). Samson played judge & executor in his death and freed his people from the Philistines rule over Israel. In doing so, he fulfilled his calling on his life.

It is often hardest to be willing to die for what you believe. It takes great faith to do so. Samson had that kind of faith.

Samuel- God's last priest and judge

Samuel was from the tribe of Ephraim who was one of the sons that Joseph had while he was ruling in Egypt. Samuel's Father was Elkanah.  Now Elkanah had two wives whose names were Peninah and Hannah. Now Peninah had children, but Hannah did not. Peninah threw this into her face a lot. Hannah finally was so upset by this that the next time they went to worship God, she prayed and asked God to give her a son. But she didn't stop there. She went on and promised God that she would give her son back to God all the days of his life. God Answered her prayer and she gave birth to a boy in whom she called Samuel. She kept that promise and when he was weaned, she took him to the temple to serve God there. So Samuel was trained to serve God from a very young age by Eli the priest (I Sam. 1:1-11). He grew up faithfully serving God in the temple (I Sam. 2:18).

When Samuel was yet a boy, God came to him  at night and called him, three different times. Each time, Samuel thought that it was Eli calling him. So Samuel would run to Eli and ask him what he wanted. After the third time, Eli realized that God was calling Samuel. So Eli told Samuel to go back to bed & when he heard the voice again, to tell God that he was listening. Samuel obeyed and that is when God started talking straight Samuel.

That night, God told Samuel of how Eli's sons were not serving in the temple as they should. They were disobeying God's rules on how to preform  their duties & sinning in ways that was bringing dishonor to God's temple. This angered God. So he was going to take his family out of the priesthood. You see, starting with Aaron, Moses brother, every boy born into Arron's family had become a priest. But because of their sin against God & his temple, God killed Eli's sons. When Eli heard that his sons were dead , he died too          (I Sam. 3:1-4:18). But Samuel had faithfully served God and found favor with God and man. So God made him priest and Judge over the land. Samuel faithfully served God obeying everything God told him to say and do all the days of his life, including anointing the first two kings of Israel (I Sam. 3:19-28:3).

David~ from a small shepherd boy to a great man of Valor because of his faith

Here is a picture of David.  Let us see why he was God's chosen king.

David was 14 generations from Abraham, through the tribe of Judas. He was the youngest of all the sons of Jesse who lived in Bethlehem(I Sam. 16:10-11). In the culture there at that time, the oldest son had the highest honor & all born afterward honor grew less.Because of this, David is the last one an man would have choicen to become king of Israel. But God looked onto the heart and saw a heart full of faith in him (I Sam. 16:12 &13). Let us look at that now.

As we said, David  worked as a shepherd caring & protecting his Father's flock when he was a young man (I Sam. 17:34-36). Then the Prophet, Samuel came and anointed him to become king at a later date (I Sam. 16:12 & 13). Soon afterward, Saul was toremented often by a demon. It was discovered that music helped calm King Saul down, So Saul sought for someone to come to play & sing for him. Then he would go home to tend the flock (I Sam. 16:14-23).

One day, his Father, Jesse sent David to take food to his three oldest sons who were fighting with King Saul. While there, David heard the words that a Phillistine named Goliath as he spoke a challenge. Goliath said that if just one man would come and fight him & win, that they would let all the Israelites go their way unharmed. Sounds easy enough, huh? But there was one problem. That problem was that Goliath was a very big & tall man. Just looking at him made all the men in the Israelite army ran & hid from him for fear of being killed by him.

Well, David was there to hear & see all of this. He asked the men of Israel's army why no man would go and fight Goliah. When  the army gave excuses. This upset David for he had faith that God would make sure that victory would be won here. In his anger, he told them, "Well, if you will not fight him, I will!" When word of this got to King Saul, he sent for David. King Saul questioned him to see if what the others said was true. Hearing & seeing David's faith, he tried to put his own armor on David. But it was much too big for young David. So he took it off, and took up the weapon that he was use to, his sling When King Saul spoke of his doubt that David could win. David spoke of all the times that God had  helped him kill the many dangerous animals in the past while protecting his sheep. Hearing and seeing David's faith, King Saul tried to put his own armor on  David. But it was much too big for young David. So David took it off had took up the weapons he knew how to use, his staff, a sling and five smooth stones. He approached Goliath and spoke again of his great faith in the God of Israel, then he shot a single stone into the forehead of Goliath. With the help of God, that stone killed Goliath(I Sam. 17). After that, David became a man of war who fought and won many battles for the God of Israel. Why?  Because of his faith in God.

When the time was right, God made David King over Judah  for 7 1/2 years(II Sam. 2:11) and King over Israel 40 years & he reined over both for 33 years(II Sam. 5:1-50. As king he did a lot of good things for the kingdom. To this day, he is seen as one of Israel's greatest kings.

David's love of God made him to want to build a house for God. But God would not let him do so, because he was a man of war. But God did allow David to get things together & prepared for his son, Solomon to build when he became king.

 But let us not turn a blind eye away from the fact that he did not always act as God would have had him act. As great as he was in building the city of Jerusalem & protecting Israel he had his faults. He loved the ladies and had very many wives. His love for a certain lady named Bath-sheba burned inside of him to the point that he thought that he just had to have her. So he sent for her and committed adultery with her. When she was found to be expecting his child, David tried to cover the sin up by having her husband, Joab brought home from off of the battlefield. When Joab refused to lie with his wife, David set up a plot & had Joab killed in the line of duty. So you see, he had his faults.

But when God sent a prophet to reveal his sin to him. David repented & God forgave him. We know this because God allows a son that David had with Bath-sheba after they are married to become King of Israel & God allowed that son, named Solomon to built the temple of God. Another way we know that God forgave him is that God choose to have him be in Jesus' linage & listed  in the great hall of faith (Heb. 11:32).

Barak~ the man whose faith grew through a battle

This is a picture of Barak, one of God's most unlikely heroes. Let look at how his faith grew through battles.

Barak was son of Abinoam who was from the tribe of Naptali .Barak came from the city of refuge named, Kedesh (Judges 4:6). Cities of refuge were given to the Israelites by God for the protection of those who found a need to flee to a place of protection. I find it interesting that Barak was called out of one of these cities to go and fight Israelites' enemy who was oppressing them terribly. In a way, he was called to lead them into a state of refuge and peace.

As it was, God had Deborah, a prophetess, who judged Israel, summoned Barak to go and fight their enemy to bring peace back to their land. Barak said, "Only if you will go with me." Now why do you think that he did that? I believe it was because he had little faith in himself as a leader & in God as a deliverer. But since Deborah was willing to go with him he gained courage, & lead 10, 000 men into battle against their enemy.

Once Deboroah yelled, "Charge!" Barak gave the battle all that he had. Why is that? I believe that it was because as the battle went on & he could see that they were winning. That made his faith stronger and stronger. You see faith is a little like a muscle that gets stronger with work or exercise. By the time the battle was over, Barak's faith had grown very strong, and after the battle was over Barak & Deborah sang praises to God for the victory. (Judges 4:1-5:31)

Gideon~ the man who was called out of hiding to become a mighty man of valor

The next picture we see in this great hall of faith is that of Gideon. Gideon was from the tribe of Manasseh. Manasseh was the son of Joseph who was the son of Jacob is is the Father of the  original tribes. If you will remember that Jacob blessed Joesph's sons & promised him that his sons would also be given a piece of the promised land (Gen. 48:1-22). This did happen when their people entered the land (Joshua 17:1-8). So now that we know how Gideon connects with those in whom we have been looking at let us take a look at the circumstances that took Gideon from being a man in hiding to a mighty man of valor.

Because the children of Israel had disobeyed God, again. God allowed the Midianites to rule over them for seven years.The Midianites made it so hard on the Israelites that they were hiding from them by living in dens & caves in the mountains.  The Midianties also were stealing their food. Because of this, the Israelites cried out to God.

God heard their cries & the angel of the Lord came to Gideon and his Father, Josash. Now let us picture this in our minds. Josash & his son, Gideon were hiding behind a wine press to thresh the wheat In other words, Gideon was a coward. Then the angel of the Lord comes up and sits next to them & tells him that God is with him & then goes on and calls him a man of valor! Gideon couldn't believe his ears & argued the point. Much like Moses did (Ex. 3:1-11). But the Angel of the Lord encouraged Gideon. But Gideon wasn't sure so he did a couple of tests to make sure that he had heard God right. Both times the tests proved that God indeed want him to lead the Israelites into battle against the Midianites.

Once Gideon was sure that this is what God wanted him to do, he went to God for directions & obeyed everything that God asked of him. He indeed became a mighty man of valor! Later he became a judge for his country. You can read all about it in Judges 6-8:13.






                                                                                                                                                                 

Rahab~ the woman whose faith took her from harlot to being in Jesus' lineage

The next picture we see on the wall shows that God not only went outside of Abraham's family, but outside of the chosen people of God, as well. Why? Because of her faith. Let us take a closer look at her life to better understand why she is a great hero of faith, shall we?

Rahab was a harlot in the city of Jericho. That would make her an untouchable in two ways in Jewish eyes. Why? 1.  Because she was not of the holy lineage of the Jewish people.. They believed that they were not to deal with the  "Greek," also known as non-Jewish .people, for they were unclean. 2. She was a harlot. They not only were told not to touch a harlot, but harlots were often stoned to death for the crime of adultery. So why is she in Jesus lineage? Faith, my friend, faith. Let us take a closer look at that.

Joshua sent spies into the city of Jericho to see where it's weak spots were, as knowing this would help them to best figure out how to over come & destroy it. While there they were spotted & reported to those who were protecting the city. A man hunt was called on. The spies were trying to figure out how to best get out of the doubled walled city before they were spotted. As they did so Rahab whose home was built between the two walls of the city & on the outer wall, called to them. She motioned for them to go into her house to hide. They yielded to her call & went into her home. 

Once in her home, she hid them on the back roof of her house & placed stocks of flax that were drying over them to keep them from being found. People often dried their stocks of flax on their roofs to dry, so no one would have thought anything about them being there. She also lied to the King when she was called into a court of law before the King of Jericho, & told him that she had no idea where they were (Josh. 1:1-6:27 ).

Why?  Because, she knew that they were with the great group of people who had entered the land & had won many battles against other cities in the land. She had heard that people in her city were afraid of them for they knew that the Jewish people's God was very powerful & helped them win these battles. She told them this before she helped them to escape by climbing out her back window & climbing down a scarlet rope. She also spoke of her faith in their God & asked them to spare her family & her when they came to destroy Jericho.  

They promised that they would indeed save her family & her. Then they went on to tell her to get her family together & keep them in the house, also to keep the rope tied where it was so that they would know here her house was during the fight. After they left and led to the hills to hide until it was safe to go back to their people, Rahab gathered her family together in her home & they waited many days for the men's return. I speak of this waiting period in more detail in "In Pursuit of the virtuous woman". Feel free to read it.

Then when the day finally came, and the Jewish people were marching around the city, Rahab & her family continued to wait. For seven long days, they waited. I believe that shows that she continued to have faith enough to be patient for the time to come.  Then the walls finally fell. Can you imagine what it might have been like to be held up in Rahab's house when the walls fell, & the fighting started. Imagine hearing it all, & yet waiting, & wondering... will the walls fall on us, or how long is it going to be, or will they remember their promise. Yet they stayed put. Why? Because of Rahab's  faith(Heb. 11:31).

When they dug up the lower parts of Jericho's walls remains, they found that part of one of the walls were still standing & the houses there were still whole. That is our powerful God!

So you see, Rahab went from being a harlot to being in the lineage of Christ (Mat. 1:5), because of her faith in God.

  

Joshua ~from fearful to powerful leader

 The next picture that we see in this great hall of faith is Joshua. Up to now, most of the ones we have looked at are from the same family. But Joshua is different. He is in here because of who he worked with, as well as his faith. But he was not always the powerful leader that he became. Let us look at his story to see how God changed him from being a fearful leader to a powerful one, shall we?

Joshua worked for the great leader, Moses. He was one of the spies who went into spy on the land for Moses before they went into it. He is one of two men who came back with a report that showed that he had faith in God's abilities to help them take over the land(Numbers 13).  Joshua also lead God's people in battles along the way, while under Moses direction (Ex. 17:12). Then Moses dies.

Someone has to finish leading God's people into the promised land. So God looked over all the people to find a man who would be just right for the job, and there was Joshua! A man of faith, who had faithfully served under Moses as he lead these people. You could say that he had been trained for the job all along.  But there was one problem. Joshua liked being the man behind Moses, & he didn't feel qualified for the job, when God appointed him to lead His people. You could even say that the idea even scared him a bit. We see this when God encouraged him and tells him, "Be of good courage" (Joshua 1:6,9).

But thank God, Joshua didn't keep that way of thinking! After God gave him a pep talk letting him know that he would help him lead these people & to take courage & lead. Joshua lead God's people into the land God had promised to them & into many a battle to claim it. You see, once Joshua knew that he would not have to lead these people by his own strength, but by the strength of God. He walked in faith with God, leaning on God to do the job that he was appointed to do. And why did God appoint him to do this? Because he had shown that he had had faith in God clear back when he was just a spy, as well as, walked faithfully with God & faithfully did his duties when he wasn't the leader. That is why his picture hangs in the great wall of faith!

You can read all about Joshua in the book that has his name on it.

Moses~ from reluctant leader to mighty leader

The next picture we see is that of Moses. He was blessed to come from the house of Levi (Ex. 2:1). Why is that important? Because this fact plays a big part in the fact that he even lived. Let us take a look at that shall we?

  Pharaoh had commanded that all Jewish baby boys be cast into the Nile river. But his parents had faith that God has a purpose for each child that is born. So, they hid him for three months. When they could no longer do so, they built a small floating bassinet and placed it in the Nile among the reeds. They had his older sister, Miriam watch over it by day until Pharaoh's daughter found him. He was found by Pharaoh's daughter where? In the same river that Pharaoh said to kill the male babies in. God has a sense of humor.

When the Pharaoh's daughter found Moses, Miriam asked her if she wanted her to find a wet nurse for him. She said, "Yes". So Miriam ran and got her mother, who raised him to weaning age, and then gave him to the Pharaoh's daughter who finished raising him (Ex. 2:1-19). Now that takes faith!

By faith, Moses chose to walk away from all the comforts & privates of being royalty, to identify with the people of his blood, the Jews.

But when God called Moses to be a Priest, he said, "No, make my brother, Aaron, a Priest instead."
Why? I believe that he didn't think that he was able to take on such a big task. So he started out as a reluctant leader. But in time, he did show faith when he stepped out in obedience to God & lead God's people out of Egypt. Let us look at that.

Once he got his act together, he was willing to upset his "royal stepbrother or grandfather", when he went & asked for the Jewish peoples release, time & time again. That's takes faith. He also showed his faith when he prepared the Passover which saved the first born sons of the Jews. He also showed faith when he lead them out of Egypt in obedience to God guidance (Ex. 2:11-Deut. 34:12). It was also by faith that Moses & God's people crossed the Red Sea on dry land & the Egyptians drown.

We see Moses showing much faith as he lead these for the forty years in the wilderness. And that is why Moses is in this great hall of faith!

Joseph- The man who stayed faithful to God no matter what

The next picture is that of Joseph. Joseph was the beloved son of Jacob. But he was also a great man of faith. Let us take a closer look at his life, shall we?

Joesph was the first born son of Jacob's favorite wife, Rachel. His Father did not hid the fact that he loved Joesph more than his other sons. In fact, he really showed it when he made a very fancy coat for him that was many different colors.  This made his other brothers' very jealous of him, for they wanted their Father's love too(Gen. 37:1-4).

Then, Joesph had a couple of dreams, and in these dreams it showed that his family would be bowing down to him like he was a ruler. This made his brothers even madder at him(Gen. 37:5-11).

One day, their Father, Jacob, sent Joesph out to check to make sure that his brothers & the family life stock were doing good or not.  In obedience to his Father's wishes, Joesph does so. While he was far off, they saw him & plotted on how they could kill him(Gen.37:12-20). But his brother, Reuban wanted to save his life, so he told them to put him in a cistern instead. He said this for he had plans to go back later & take him back to their Father. But the other brothers sold Joesph into slavery without Reuban knowing it.

For some people, this would be reason to doubt God's goodness. But not Joesph! He continued to believe in the one true God. Because of his faithfulness to God, everything he put his hand to went well. When the captain of the king's army, Potiphar realized this, he put Joesph in charge of his household.  All was going well, then Potiphar's wife got wondering eyes, and she tried to get him to have an affair with her. He refused. After much attempts & time, she got mad at him & told ties about him, which put him in prison.

Here again, most people would have gotten mad at God & quit servicing Him. But not Joesph! He just kept believing & serving God even though he was in prison. Soon the man who over saw the prison realized that all that Joesph put his hand to was blessed by God. So he too put him in charge of some of the other prisoners.

As time went on, a couple of the men under him had dreams & they told them to Joesph. Giving God the glory, he told them what the dreams meant. one of the men were to be restored to his job as the ruler's cup holder, the other man would die. Then he asked the man who was to be restored to remember him when he got his job back. But a last, the man forgot & Joesph was in prison for two more years. Yet, Joesph stayed true to God.

Finally, God gave the ruler a couple of dreams that no one was able to tell him what it meant. That is when the cupbearer remembered Joesph & told the ruler about him. The ruler had him brought before him to tell him what the dreams meant. Joesph not only told him that the dreams told of 7 years of good harvest & 7 years of famine, but told him how to make sure that his people would have food during the famine. The ruler was so impressed with Joesph that he put him in charge of overseeing the collection of the food.

 Again, God blessed what Joesph put his hands to, and food was stored up to be used when the famine came. It went so well, that there was not only enough food for Egypt, but the region as well. So Joesph sold some of it to those in neighboring countries as well. That is when we see the dreams that Joesph had had as a boy come true. For his family was affected by the famine as well, & came to ask for some food from him,

They did not know who he was, but he knew them. He choice to not tell them yet. This is where I believe that he had to turn to God for strength to forgive his brothers. He did so, and blessed his family with the food that they needed so much. But he was not done. In the end, he told them who he was & had his family move to Egypt to be with him.  

At the end of his life, Joesph spoke of his family leaving Egypt and going into the land that God had promised to his Fathers before him & gave them instructions to take his bones with them when they went. Which shows that he had held onto the faith that God would keep his promise (Heb. 11:22).

Joesph is a great example that our lives can have trials and hard times, even when we are doing everything right. He is also a great example of how we should keep the faith no matter what hardships may come our way. Remember, life may not  be fair, but God is still good.

Jacob ~Father of God's chosen people

The next picture in the hall is that of Jacob. Jacob was blessed to come from the blood line of those of those who had followed the one true God. He is here partly because of that blessing.You see, he didn't always live the type of life that God would approve of. He cheated his twin brother, Esau, of both his birthright & blessing(Gen. 25:28-34; 27:1-41).

But God saw something good in Jacob.So God works with Jacob to break his bad habits (Gen. 28:10-22/Gen.32:1-12). Jacob came to the point where he obeyed God when God told him to return to the land in which God had promised to his Fathers before him & his seed (Gen. 1-13). I believe that is why God made him the Father of God's chosen people.

  He is also here, because he too, carried his forefathers faith of a land that God had promised to his people, even though he had not seen it with is own eyes (Heb. 11:9-10). And he spoke of it when he blessed his son, Joesph's two sons (Heb. 11:21-22/Gen. 48).

ISAAC- The promised son who carries the promise of a land foreward

The next picture we see is that of Isaac.Isaac was the son that God promised to Abraham & Sara. He had witnessed his Father's faith when his Father was asked to sacrifice him to God. He also had seen the salvation of the Lord when a ram was provided instead.

He grew up walking beside his Father learning of God's promise for a promised land. But he didn't just see it as a promise to his Father only, but had faith in that promise himself. He spoke of that promise when he blessed his two sons, Jacob & Esau (Heb. 11:20/Gen. 27:1-40). And he died believing in that promise& passed that promise to his son, Jacob  ( Heb. 11: 9-10,13).

That is why, he is in the great hall of of faith.

Sara~ her faith gave her strength to follow her husband into a new land & become the Mother of God's people

Sara

Sara's picture stands next to her husband, Abraham's picture for a reason. Why? They both walked that path of faith. How? They both  set out on a journey away from their home and all the comforts it gave them, and lived in tents. This may not seem like much to most of us, but let us remember that they were not young when God called them to do this. In fact, they were probably old enough to be having someone take care of them. Many a woman would not follow her husband into such a journey, but Sara did. That my friend takes faith.

Another area that Sara showed her faith was when she became pregnant with Isaac(Heb. 11:11). I heard ladies say that the older they got the harder it was to carry a baby and give birth. And we don't have to remind ourselves that Sara was old.

I have a little understanding ad to the faith it takes to get through a hard pregnancy. I almost died carrying my son. His Father thought that if  I lived long enough to give him birth, that I would die soon afterwards. But I had prayed for this child and I fought to stay alive, give birth and raise him. But I also believe that I would not had fought so hard, if I had not had the faith that God would help me do it. I believe that Sara had that kind of faith too. That is why she is in the great hall of faith!

Abraham~ whose faith made him the Father of God people

Abraham

Let us go to the next picture hanging in the great hall of faith. This one is that of Abraham. Now Abraham was a giant in faith, indeed. Let me explain.

God went to Abraham and told him to leave his home where he had grown up and travel to a land he didn't know anything about. You see, God didn't give him the details, like it is in such and such place, or it has lots of good grazing land. No, God just told him to go where I lead you, and as an act of obedience he went. (Gen. 12:1-13; Heb. 11:8-10). This is not easy and can't be taken without a leap of faith. I know, because my husband & I moved to Ohio in obedience to God. You kind of feel as though you are throwing yourself off of as cliff, praying the whole time that God is going to catch you as you free fall. But as with Abraham and Sara, we found that god is faithful to take care of us when we obey him.

Because Abraham honored God by obeying him. God in turn honored Abraham by making a covenant with him, promising him land and heirs when he was 75 years old (Gen. 15).  When Abraham was 99 years old, God came back and reminded him of that promise (Gen. 17:1-18:14). And then fulfilled that promise (Gen. 21:3).

But you can really see the relationship between God and Abraham in Chapter 18 of Genesis when God chooses to share his heart with Abraham. Let us look at that. After God had come back to remind Abraham of his promise of an heir through his wife Sara. God got up to head out towards Sodom to destroy it. But because he honored Abraham, God told him what he was about to go do. Abraham's nephew, Lot's family lived there. So Abraham asked God to spare the city. But God said, "no", for it was evil. So Abraham negotiated with God until he got God to say that if he found ten righteous men there, he would not destroy the city. I believe that he stopped with that number because there were that many people in Lot's family. But a last, there were not ten righteous people found in Sodom, so God went to the city and got Lot, his wife, and 2 of their daughters out before he destroyed it.

Years after Isaac was born, God tested Abraham to see if he still had faith in Him. Let us look at that. God went to Abraham and asked him to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac to him(Gen. 22:1-11). Abraham was again obedient to God, believing that God would come through for him (Gen. 22:8). And when God saw that he still had faith in him, he spared Isaac & provided a lamb for Abraham to use instead (Gen. 22:13).

Abraham died not seeing the total fulfillment of God's promise of a homeland, as did Isaac & Jacob. Yet, they lived that promise everyday of their lives (Heb. 11:12-21). They passed on that hope to their sons before dying, and even Joseph spoke of that land before he died. We could learn a lot from these men, as we too, travel this earth waiting for a city not made by human hands(heaven). We too are just travelers passing through this earth.

Easter Blessings

Hi!

I'm am wishing you a blessed Easter!

Toni Kratochvil

Noah- the man who saved animal & mankind

Let us move on to the next picture on the wall. It is the picture of Noah. Let us take a closer look at Noah to see why he is in this great hall of faith, shall we?

Noah was blessed to come from a godly family. For his Great-grand father was Enoch, Grandfather was Methuslah and hid Father was Lamech. When Noah was born his Father prophesied over him by saying, "From the very ground om which the Lord put a curse, this child will bring relief from all our hard work" (Gen. 5:28-29 Today's English Version). These words were so true. Let us look at his life story to see why.

The Lord became upset with how wicked the people on earth was , so He decided to destroy them, but the Lord was pleased with Noah (Gen. 6:1-8). Noah had no faults & was the only good man of his time. He lived in fellowship with God (Gen. 6:9-10 Today's English Version). So God shared his heart with Noah & gave him instructions & blueprints in which to build the ark, and fill it with supplies for the animals, birds, and bugs.  Then God told him to get into the boat seven days before the flood....AND NOAH OBEYED all that God had instructed him to do (Gen. 6:13-7:5).It is believed that he took 100 years to build it (Gen. 5:32,
 7:13). That shows just how faithful he was to God and what God had asked of him.

It rained 40 days and nights, but that is not the only way God flooded the earth, check out Gen. 7:11-12.  But Noah and his family were in the boat for one year (Gen. 7:11; 8:13-18). Can you imagine being on a boat for a whole year and not knowing when you would get off of it? Now that would take faith.

When the world finally became dry and they could get off of the boat, Noah built an altar and worshiped and thanked God. This pleased God so much that he made a covenant with Noah, his family, their descendants, all living things & their descendants. This is the first covenant recorded in the Bible (Gen. 8:20-9:17). We are reminded of that covenant every time we see a rainbow in the sky.

We could learn a lot from Noah, such as obeying God's instructions when he asks something of us... sticking to the task God gives us no matter how long it takes to do it... even when the task doesn't make sense at the time or place in which you are doing it...and remaining faithful to the task when you can not see its fruits.

What saw Noah through all these days of labor and waiting? His faith in God is what lead him to obey God & that obedience pleased God greatly & is why he is in the great hall of faith (Heb. 11:7).

Enoch- the man who walked with God

The next picture we see in this hallway is that of Enoch. To understand where in God's history Enoch falls, let us look at whom came before him, shall we? Here is a list of some of some of his relatives that we may know: God, Adam, Seth...Cainan...Jared, then  Enoch. Enoch was 7th one from Adam. I find this interesting. Let us look at this great man of faith to see how his faith lead him to walk a holy life.

Enoch witnessed for God.  As a prophet he spoke of how God would judge the ungodly(Jude 14). Some believe that he was speaking of the flood that would come later.

Enoch "walked with God" (Heb. 11:5-6). He must have been a holy man to have a holy God walk with him.  The Bible tells us that he walked with God, 300 years after he had Methuselah (Gen. 5:21, 24).

Enoch pleased God (Heb. ll:5). Remember without faith we cannot please God (Heb.11:6).  So Enoch had to have faith in who God was & acted upon that faith.

Enoch was such a good example of being an obedient servant of the Lord, that his son, Methuselah, and other generations behind him followed closely to God also (Gen. 5:18-32). In fact, God choose to bring his son, Jesus into the world through Enoch's blood line (Luke 3:23-38). You could say that those who came behind Enoch found him to be faithful to the God he had faith it.

 He is one of two people the Bible says did not die. Enoch & Elijah (2 Kings 2:1-11). The Bible said that Enoch simply "was no more" (Gen. 5:24) . I believe that God felt so close to him, that when he just took him home to be with him.

We would do good by following Enoch's example as a great man of faith, as we strive to walk with God. If we do, we too can be in God's great hall of faith.

Into the hall of the heroes of faith / Abel

Up to now, we have learned what faith is & that faith without action is dead.  The Bible says that those in this hall  received a good report from God.We all want that when we stand in front of Jesus, after we have served Him in this life and hear, "Well done my good and faithful servant", don't we? To learn how they did that, let us step into that great hall of faith that bear pictures of its heroes, & see what we can learn from each one, shall we?

When we first step into the hall we will see that it is a very long hall lined with many pictures from the beginning of time until today. Let us stop a moment and take in the vast length of this hall. It's a little overwhelming , huh? And as we look at each person and what they went through, it may seem even more so. But don't let it be so. Instead, let it encourage you as you realize that many,many has" walked by faith and not by sight"(2 Cor. 5:7), before you.

Ok, now it is time to start looking at these seemingly, giants of faith. The first picture is a picture of Abel.

Abel was Adam and Eve's second son (Gen. 4:2).  Cain was his older brother (Gen. 4:1). When these two sons of Adam and Eve grew up they both brought sacrifices to God. Cain brought the first fruits of his harvest to God, while Abel brought his best lamb to God. God was pleased with Abel's sacrifice and not Cain's. Why? Because God had taught them to sacrifice the blood of an animal to cover their sins. When?
I believe that God did the first sacrifice of blood when he killed an animal and used it's hide to cover their naked bodies (Gen. 4:21). Their sin was disobeying God's one rule (Gen. 3:1-11). I also believe that he taught them how he wanted them to make blood sacrifices to cover their sins.

Why? Because of what God says to Cain when Cain had given a sacrifice of vegetables, grain, or fruit. God was speaking of him as a loving Father would speak to a son who broke the rule In other words, Cain disobeyed God. While Abel had obeyed God.

Why is that important? Obedience to God showed that Abel honored Him. And Because Abel honored God, God declared him righteous  (Heb. 11:4). His faith lead him to obey God & that is why he is in the great hall of faith.

Faith is more than Just believing

Ok, so now we know what faith is, but faith has to be more than just believing in God. James addresses this when he says, "You believe that God is one, you do well. Even the demons believe - and shudder" (James 2:19). James tells us just above us why that is not enough. Let us look at that.

"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, If you say that you have faith, but do not have works? Can faith save you" (James 2:14 NRSV)? than answer to this is no. Faith a lone can not save you. You have to ask for forgiveness & accepted Jesus to be saved. That required you to do something.

James goes on to say, "But some will say, 'You have faith & I have works'. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith" (James 2:18 NRSV). James give an example of what he is talking about. "if a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you say to them, 'Go in peace; keep warmed and eat your fill,' and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that" (James 2:14-16). It goes on to say, "So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead" (James 2:17).

You see, if you have a faith that is a live it will change your thought pattern, & your actions. Those around you will see the change & wonder at it. Paul speaks of this when he says, " they will see your works & glorify your Father in heaven" ( Mat. 5:15-16). We are not saved just for ourselves, but for those around us who also needs God in their lives.

Now, let us go into the great hall of faith and look at each hero of faith's picture and see how this type of living faith moved them into acting out their faith & in doing so, helped others for the kingdom of God, shall we?

Faith, what is it?

First we need to understand what faith is, before we look at those in the great hall of faith. So what is faith, really? According to Hebrew 11:1, "...Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Let us look at that statement closer to better understand it. I wanted to really understand what each main word in this statement meant to make sure I understood what it meant to those who was reading it in the original language. So, I looked them up in the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.
This is what I found out.

 Faith means to have a conviction of religious truth or to have a strong assurance, belief , confidence, or trust in something. Substance means to have an abstract assurance or concrete essence of something to stand on. And Evidence means proof or conviction. So with that in mind, I would say that faith is to have a strong belief in things that we can not see with our physical eyes, yet have a strong conviction of the proof seen with our spiritual eyes.

Then Paul goes on to give an example of that in Hebrews 11:3, "Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." In other words, when God spoke and made the worlds, he took something from the spiritual world & made our physical worlds.

You see, we often have things backwards in our lives. We often let our minds tell our bodies & then souls what to do, or we let our physical bodies' feelings tell our mind & soul  how to act. Instead, we should have our souls dictate to our minds how things should be, and then our bodies will follow. When we do this, we will be walking in faith.

Introduction to new Bible study on faith

Ah, Faith, everyone has it, right? So, why does some people seem to have more than others?

Hebrews chapter 11, also known as the faith chapter, is one of my favorites. Maybe because it has a list of people of faith in it. My heroes! tI calls them, the great cloud of witnesses.I call it,the hall of faith. Let us walk down that hall, look at each hero's picture & learn from them, shall we?

In this study, we will look at faith, what it is, & the lives of the heroes of faith listed in Hebrews chapter 11 & in Christian history to get a better understanding on faith, what it looks like & how to get it.

I haven't named this study yet, so if you have suggestions, let me know.

Blessings!

Toni Kratochvil

letter from the author

Hi!

I am sorry that I have not posted on here. This blogsite wasn't letting me post from my last post until today.
Pray that it will let me do so each week again. I have missed my time with you.

In His service,

Toni

Spiritual goals launch us into the new year

As most of us enter a new year, we make New year's resolutions. These are goals of things we want to accomplish in the next 12 months.

Here are a few I have heard of: Lose weight; advance in one's place of employment; find a new or better job; be a better parent, husband, or wife; take some schooling.

These days it seems that many laugh at the thought of New Year's resolutions since so often we do not see them through. but "where there is no vision; the people perish" (Prov. 29:18a). We need to have a goal of where we are heading so that we can steer our lives in that direction, or we may never change anything in our lives for the better.

But do we ever think of making spiritual goals in our lives? We should.

But this is a new idea and I do not even know how to begin, what types of goals could I make for this area of our live? I hear you ask.

Here are a few that I have used over the years:

* Read the Bible more. How? You can start by reading it daily. you have many choices as to how much you want to read. you can read a verse a day & meditate in it, or a few verses to a chapter a day. some people read through the Bible in one year.

* Pray more often. Prayer is to be more than a fast prayer before meals. prayer is to be a conversation between you & God. It is meant to bring you and God closer together into a relationship. Things you can talk to God about are forgiveness of sins; salvation for yourself or others. guidance; needs of others and yourself; worship & praise of who God is; and foe those over you, be it parents, bosses, or government.

* Serve God. This can be done in many ways. here are a few ideas. In the church, by way of teaching, cleaning, parking, working in the nursery. A visitation ministry in the hospitals, nursing homes, the shut-ins. Let your light in your home, neighborhood, job, and school.

* Memorize
Scripture. You can memorize a verse a week, a verse a month or a verse a year. for about 18 years now, God and i have picked  verse for the year for me to memorize and meditate on. Amazingly, many of the verses coincided with what happens during the year.

In 1989, it was "for I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord.'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV). This was the year we moved three times in one year.

The year 2000 found me with, "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint" (Is. 40:31, KJV). This is the year i physically collapsed and took most of the year regaining my health and strength.

For more than one year, I used I Thess. 4:11-12,"And that ye study to be quiet, and do your own hands, as we commanded you; that ye may walk honestly towards them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing." These were very productive years on the farm for me.

All of these verses acted as catalysts that helped propel me into a new year. Then when the going got tough they encouraged me to keep my eyes on the goal, as I continued through the year. I found myself closer to my goal at year's end.

You, too, can take one or more of these ideas and use them to launch you into your new year. I wish you a new year filled with Christ and spiritual growth!

A prayer for the new year: Take a way my yesterday and give me a new dawn. Take away my yesterday and give me a new song. As I'm launching on, Lord, launching out into another year; as I'm launching on, Lord, help me to remember you are here.