The “Foolishness” of Christian Faith

Faith comes by hearing the word of God proclaimed with authority. Faith is trust in God and his sure word. No one can be saved except by faith. There is no do-it-yourself salvation. God alone can do the impossible and save sinners.

However, not all who hear the word of God believe it. In fact, to those who are perishing, God’s wisdom is considered to be foolishness. Paul declares, “We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks” (1 Cor. 1:23). He also writes, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him” (1 Cor. 2:14).

But true foolishness is the wisdom of man that excludes God. Paul asks, “Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” (1 Cor. 1:20). Thank God, he opened our eyes to see his wisdom and our foolishness. God granted us faith to believe in the “foolishness” of the gospel, thus enabling us to be saved forever.

Saving faith believes continuously, not just one time at the beginning. The Christian life is continuously living by faith in God and his word, and believing and acting on that word in each new situation. Hebrews 11:29-31 speaks about the “foolishness” of the Christian faith, especially as seen in the faith of Israel in crossing the Red Sea on their way to Canaan, the faith of Israel that caused the fall of the walls of Jericho, and the faith of Rahab that secured her salvation.

By Faith Israel Crossed the Red Sea

“By faith Israel crossed the Red Sea” (Heb. 11:29). Faith is not a leap in the dark or an irrational, subjective hunch. Faith rests securely in God and his particular revelation. In Exodus 14 we discover that Pharaoh changed his mind after he said the people of Israel could leave Egypt. People change their minds all the time. This is true, not only of unbelievers, but also of believers. They will say “Jesus is Lord” but later change their minds. They will tell their spouses, “I will love you until death puts us apart,” but they change their minds. They will join a church only to change their minds later. They will agree to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and they change their minds. God, however, does not change his mind. We can rest in that truth.

Pharaoh changed his mind and pursued the departing Israelites with all his chariots and well-trained army. Now the Israelites had a problem. Before them was the Red Sea; behind them, the Egyptian army with its chariots. They were terrified by these problems and began to murmur against Moses.

In Exodus 14:13-14 Moses speaks to the people as God’s prophet. He begins, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm.” That means they were to believe in the God whose eternal plan was to deliver them from Egypt and take them to a land flowing with milk and honey. “Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today.” Then he says, “The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.” When God comes, he judges those who will not believe in him and saves those who believe in him. Then he says, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Then the Lord himself says, “Tell the Israelites to go forward” (v. 15). But how could they go forward? The Red Sea was in front of them. Here we must note a principle: when God delivers us, he will always tell us to go forward. He is not a God of open theism who does not understand the problems we are facing, and who, once he sees a problem, says, “I am sorry; you have to go back. I did not know there was a Red Sea or the Amalekites or a wilderness. I did not anticipate the problems you would face at Marah or the lack of food in the desert or how hard it would be to cross the Jordan River at flood stage.”

God understands all things. Isaiah says he knows the end from the beginning (Is. 46:10). He instructed Moses, “Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide it so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground” (Ex. 14:16). Through this miracle God gained glory for himself. Three times in this passage God says he will gain glory (Ex. 14:4, 17, 18). Jesus Christ gains glory for himself by salvation and by judgment. God gains glory because he triumphs in every situation. We are to the praise of his glorious grace (Eph. 1:6, 12, 14). The church is for his glory. Hell is for his glory.

God’s instruction to Moses sounds foolish. This is the offense of the gospel, which sounds foolish to natural man. How can God dry up the sea so the Israelites could go through? How can God defeat the mighty Egyptian army and its chariots? Such questions are appropriate if we are speaking about a god who is bound by nature. But our God is a God of miracles. He created the whole world out of nothing and sustains it by the word of his power. We breathe because he enables us to do so.

The God of Israel is infinite Person, the Creator of heaven and earth. Faith is reasonable when we realize who our God is. All enemies shall fall dead before him. Jesus said the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church that Jesus Christ builds. All obstacles shall be removed when God moves. When God leads, he says, “Go forward.” He never tells us to go backward because of unseen enemies of obstacles. He delivers us from the city of destruction and leads us forward to the city of God. He defeats all our enemies because our enemies are his enemies. Therefore, do not be afraid. Believe God and go forward; the Lord will fight for us and triumph over his enemies.

The Lord made a dry pathway for his people and they passed through the Red Sea (Ex. 14:21-22). Before that, the angel of the Lord moved from in front of the people and went between the Egyptian army and Israel (Ex. 14:19-20). God was now between his people and their enemies. There was total darkness for the Egyptians but brilliant light for the Israelites. Oh, what security is ours in God! Our enemies cannot touch us without first defeating our God. We are in Christ and held up by his hands. Who can snatch us out of those hands? Neither death nor life nor anything else can separate us from God’s everlasting love. We are in all things more than conquerors through him who loved us, loves us, and will love us forever.

The Egyptians were defeated and drowned, and we are told not one survived: “That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. When the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant” (Ex. 14:30-31). To God be the glory, great things he has done! Let us sing unto the Lord eternal praise: the horse and the rider he has thrown into the sea (cf. Ex. 15). “During the last watch, the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion” (Ex. 14:25). God just looked down. In the Hebrew “threw it into confusion” can read “[He] took off the wheels of their chariots.” The Egyptians became stuck in the mud. One look is all that was necessary to defeat God’s enemies.

If you are facing obstacles, I hope you will be encouraged by this teaching. “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty” (Zech. 4:6). This mountain shall be removed, the sea shall dry up, and the walls shall come down for you, because you are his. He loves you. Go forward, led by the Spirit, in the paths of righteousness.

This great victory of dividing the Red Sea and making a pathway for God’s people is celebrated throughout the Scripture. Isaiah himself learned from this great event and declares: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze” (Is. 43:2). Saints of God, let us cross all our Red Seas by faith.

By Faith The Walls of Jericho Fell

“By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days” (Heb. 11:30). The king of Jericho heard how the God of Israel defeated the king of Egypt forty years before and more recently, how he utterly defeated the Amorite kings of Sihon and Og. Yet the king of Jericho thought he would not be defeated. As he saw the Israelites approaching, he refused to surrender and sue for peace. He was very confident that he could triumph over the God of Israel.

Jericho was the gateway city to Canaan. It had fresh water and plenty of food stored up. We read in Joshua 6:1 that the city was tightly shut up. The city was impregnable. The Jerichoites were in a war mode. As Joshua was inspecting the towering walls and wondering what to do, the commander of the army of Israel came (Josh. 5:13-14).

God gave Joshua instructions that would sound foolish to those who do not believe in God: “Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout.'” And here is the gospel: “‘Then the wall of the city will collapse and all the people will go up, every man straight in'” (Josh. 6:2-5).

Let us analyze this procession. The armed guard was told to go forward first, followed by seven priests blowing rams’ horns, announcing the arrival of the King of kings to fight against the king of Jericho. Then would come the central feature of this march-the ark of the covenant, carried by priests. The ark is mentioned nine times here, so we understand its central significance: God is with us! Then the rear guard was to follow the ark. They were to circle the city once each of the first six days. On the seventh day, they were to circle the city seven times. At the seventh circling of the seventh day, the priests were to sound a trumpet blast as a signal for all people to shout. At that point, they anticipated the walls would crumble. The people were to make no sound until the seventh circling of the seventh day. They were trusting in God’s promise to deliver the city to them. When they shouted, the walls would come down.

This gospel sounds foolish. I am sure the Jerichoites looked at the Israelites and started laughing. “Look at these fools. They are doing nothing. They have no battering rams. They are just marching around.” Yet it was the wisdom of God.

By faith the Israelites strictly obeyed the directions. Finally, on the seventh day, the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and the walls collapsed. God is a warrior who comes as the commander of the army of Israel. He wins every battle he fights. (PGM) Who are we to stand against the infinite, personal, almighty God? If we are arrogant, we shall fall as the walls did, in due course. Not even the gates of hell shall prevail against him and his people. Are you with God? Then he is with you, and you shall enjoy his victory. Believe, and all walls shall fall down, and we shall go forward to victory. As David said, “With [God’s] help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall” (Ps. 18:29).

By Faith Rahab Was Saved

Finally, we are told that by faith Rahab was saved (Heb. 11:31). Rahab was a Gentile woman, a secular prostitute of Jericho. Yet, amazingly, Rahab was saved from destruction by grace. Paul tells us, “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more” (Rom. 5:20). There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, slave or free-God saves all. “Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you” (Matt. 21:31).

Rahab was saved because she welcomed the two spies, hid them, and sent them away safely. She did so because she believed in the God of Israel and his saving power. Jesus said, “He who welcomes you welcomes me, and he who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me” (Matt. 10:40). Rahab welcomed, believed, and trusted.

No one preached the gospel to this woman. She gleaned it from the news of forty years before and of recent times-news concerning the God of Israel and his triumph over his enemies: “We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt and what you did to Sihon and Og. We have heard of it and our hearts melted” (Josh. 2:10-11). Faith comes by hearing the gospel. Rahab heard the gospel, believed it, and confessed: “I know that the Lord has given this land to you . . . For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below” (vv. 9, 11). The people of Jericho worshiped the moon god. But Rahab acknowledged that the God of Israel is the true God who created the heavens and the earth and defeated the Egyptians.

Not only did Rahab believe and confess, but she also prayed. Notice, she is asking only for mercy, for she recognizes that she is a wicked sinner: “Now, then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death” (Josh. 2:12-13). Salvation is from eternal damnation. Rahab’s prayer was answered: “‘Our life for your lives!’ the men assured her. ‘If you do not tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.’ So she let them down by a rope through the window” (v. 14). Then the men told her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you have let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and your family, into your house” (v. 17).

Faith obeys, and Rahab obeyed the instructions of the spies. If we do not obey God, we have no saving faith. She tied the scarlet cord in the window, collected all her family, and remained in her house. “Right after the collapse of the walls of Jericho, Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, ‘Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her out and all who belong to her in accordance with your oath to her'” (Josh. 6:22). Rahab was saved by her faith.

Jesus says, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it” (Matt. 11:12). Do not misinterpret this verse; it means that people are saved through saving faith. We must be persistent and bold: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:8). In the Greek it is, keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. We must not be timid when it comes to our salvation. Therefore, when blind Bartimaeus was told to be quiet, he refused and cried out even louder, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” As a result, a miracle took place that was greater than the miracle of the sun standing still: Jesus stood still and asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “I want to see,” Bartimaeus said, and Jesus healed him (Mark 10:46-52). Another Gentile, the Syro-Phoenician woman, asked Jesus to drive a demon out of her daughter. Jesus said, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” She did not deny her lowly status, but said, “Even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Jesus exclaimed, “Woman, you have great faith!” and God healed her daughter (Matt. 15:21-28). Rahab’s faith was also great.

The gospel comes to nobodies and they believe. Paul writes, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before him” (1 Cor. 1:26-29).

All the Jerichoites heard the gospel as Rahab had, but they refused to believe and surrender to the King of kings. The writer to the Hebrews says, “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient” (Heb. 11:31). Scripture tells us that Rahab later married Prince Salmon of Judah and became the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth and was the grandfather of David. Thus Rahab the pagan prostitute found a place in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. God honored her. This is amazing grace.

Let Us Live by Faith!

In conclusion, let us consider a few points that will encourage us to live by faith:

1. As Christians, we will all face fiery trials of faith in our lives; we cannot escape them. We may be terrified at first, but we must know that God is with us in all our trials. He is before us, behind us, and around us. He is for us, he is in us, and we are in him. We can be secure in God.
2. God will fight our battles for us. He is a warrior. War is his business. That is why he says to repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Therefore, let the Egyptian army pursue and let the gates of Jericho be tightly shut. God will win every war and gain glory for himself.
3. When God tells us, “Go forward,” the Red Sea shall split open to make a dry path for us and the walls of Jericho shall fall. When God is with us, we shall go forward through all battles to the Celestial City. Therefore, trust God and do not fear. All his promises shall be fulfilled. Only believe, and he will raise us up on the last day.
4. God’s ways are different from ours. Isaiah tells us this, and it is good to remember when we think a command of God is foolishness: “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts'” (Is.55:8-9). God’s ways are different, but they work salvation for us. To fools, God’s ways are foolishness; but to us, they are the power of God. God does not want us to lean on our own understanding, but to wholly trust in his word. We are not to go unto Hagar to produce Ishmael and call it God’s son of promise (Gen. 16). Paul writes, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:4-5). We must acknowledge that God is not dependent on natural laws. By the “foolishness” of God, Jesus walked on water, the virgin conceived, the dead were raised up, iron axheads floated, water became wine, the sea divided and became walls of water on the right and on the left, and the walls of Jericho fell.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, take heart! He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. Our faith in God and his word is the victory that overcomes the world.