The people of Israel had faith that moved them to do as God directed.

I was at a wedding reception recently, standing in line waiting to get at the food. I noticed that everyone standing in line was moving to the beat of the music the disc jockey was playing, including me. We just couldn't help it.

That is one of the characteristics of faith. It moves us like it did the people of Israel. "By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days" (Hebrews 11:29,30).

FAITH KEPT THE ISRAELITES MOVING

Now, let's take care of something right away. It might sound like the Israelites had such strong faith that the sea opened and the walls came tumbling down. But faith didn't open the sea or knock down the walls. God did. The size of your faith is not nearly as important as the size of your God.

So what part did faith play in all of this? A quick review might help. The Israelites, by the power of God, had just escaped slavery in Egypt. Then the King of Egypt had a change of mind. He sent his horses and chariots to get the Israelites back. The Israelites were backed up against the Red Sea with no place to go. God told Moses to hold up his staff, and God opened the Red Sea so that there was a wall of water on each side and the people walked through on dry ground.

Forty years later, the Israelites were entering the Promised Land. They were trying to take the fortified city of Jericho. God told them to march around the city seven times; and on the seventh day, the walls would fall down. They marched, and the walls fell down.

Well, normally walls of water fall down and walls of stone do not—unless God says something else. The Israelites believed that God would hold up those walls of water, and that faith moved their feet to walk across to safety. The Israelites believed that if they walked around those stone walls the way God said, God would bring down those walls. Their faith moved their feet to walk around the walls.

What would have happened if they hadn't believed God? Would the sea have opened and the wall have come down? You'll have to ask God that, but one thing is certain, the Israelites would have missed out. In one case they would have been enslaved again, and in the other they would not have taken Jericho. But they believed what God said, and it moved their feet.

FAITH KEEPS US GOING