According to Strong's Concordance, the very first mention of the word FAITH is in Deuteronomy. This is where we'll begin.
Deuteronomy 32:20 "I will hide My face from them," He said, "and see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who have no faith.
Here, God is speaking about the children of Israel. God had continually shown Himself real...parting the Red Sea, drowning the Egyptians, manna and quail in the desert, walls falling in Jericho...and yet His children just couldn't find it in them to trust Him. Anytime things got a little rough, they went back to grumbling and complaining, idols, and false Gods.
Have you ever found yourself in this boat? God brings you out of something and, even though you know it was God, the next issue comes along and suddenly you're wringing your hands, asking others for advice, complaining that God's never done anything for me, blah, blah, blah! I used to get so frustrated with the children of Israel! They SAW, with their own eyes, and they still couldn't have faith. I did this until I realized that I, often, do the same thing. I believe this is exactly the reason that God has me doing this study. That through reading about others, both good and bad, I can learn to have a deeper trust in God and to stir up my faith. My prayer is that it helps you too!
Onward! According to Strong's Concordance, the meaning of the word faith here is also trust or believe. When God was saying "children who have no faith," He was saying "they don't trust me." How hard is it on you, as a parent, to think about your children not trusting you? God, our Father, wanted only good for His children, but they didn't trust that goodness. Why? Was it because He didn't snap His fingers and say "it's done?" Was it because the children had to go through some hardships to make them stronger and they didn't want to? Was it because they had to go through the fire? Why is a very strong question to ask. So ask yourself today...why don't I trust God? After you ask the question, LISTEN. Listen to His answer to you. He wants to reveal Himself very real to you, so that, you and I, can trust Him further!
Below are some different translations on the very end of the verse...children who have no faith.
American Standard...children in whom is no faithfulness
Common English Bible...they are children lacking loyalty...OUCH! They have no loyalty...in other words they went back to their idols and false gods. They went back to what was familiar and easy. Again, how often do we do this?
Complete Jewish Bible...untrustworthy children...don't know about you, but I want to be trusted with the things of God!
Easy to Read...they are like children who won't learn their lessons...again, OUCH!
God's Word...children who can't be trusted...I want my earthly mother and father to be able to trust me. Wouldn't I, so much more so, want my Creator, Father, Daddy, Abba to trust me?
Cross References...
Deuteronomy 1:32 In spite of this, you did not TRUST in The Lord your God.
In spite of what? In spite of God saying "I will give to you a land flowing with milk and honey." I will GIVE it to you. Instead, they sent out twelve spies and only two of them trusted God at His word and said, "we can do this, let's go!" Because they didn't trust God to give them the land, that generation never entered into the promised land. What is your promised land and what is holding you back from entering into it?
Psalm 106:24 Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not BELIEVE His promise.
I encourage you to go back and read this entire Psalm. This Psalm takes you through the entire story, from the exodus of Egypt, being in the desert, entering the promised land, and then being scattered among the nations. How many times have we gotten what we so desired from God and then, suddenly, it just wasn't good enough? We started to despise the pleasant land.
Numbers 14:11 The Lord said to Moses, "How long will these people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to BELIEVE in Me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?
This is an interesting verse to me. God is asking Moses, basically holding Moses accoutable for the people's faith, "How long?" If I were Moses I think I would have said..."I don't know, ask them!" Surely Moses was just as frustrated with these people as God. BUT! In verse 17-19 Moses stands in the gap for Israel.
17 "Now may the Lord's strength be displayed, just as you have declared: 18 'The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished; He punishes the children for the sin of the fathers tothe third and fourth generation.' 19 In accordance with Your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now."
This section of scripture goes on to say that God forgives them, however, because of their unbelief, those that came out of Egypt and saw the signs and wonders that God performed, NEVER entered the promised land. Of the adults, only Caleb and Joshua got to enter the promised land...the reason...THEY BELIEVED GOD!!
Hebrews 3:18-19 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter His rest is not to those who disobeyed? So we see they were not able to enter, because of their UNBELIEF.
Go back and read Hebrews 3, starting with verse 7. When there's no faith in God, our hearts harden which leads to sin and rebellion. I don't know about you but I don't want a hard heart. I want a heart that has faith in God, even in the fire and the trials!
Psalm 78:22 for they did not BELIEVE in God or TRUST His deliverance.
There are over 100 scriptures with the word faith in them. My goal is to study each one and share with you my thoughts. May our faith in our Father grow more and more during this time! Be blessed and don't forget to leave a comment!
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