Letter to the Hebrews Volume 143

 Overcoming Faith Part 1

Hebrews 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. KJV

The writer of Hebrews now begins to document for us a list of believers in the Lord God/YAHWEH/Adonai/Elohim/Jesus Christ by recounting, remembering, and recalling the very powerful acts of faith that these brothers and sisters exercised under extreme circumstances during the life and times of humanity in the Old Testament. Faith to believe God and believe in God is itself a gift from God as declared by the Apostle Paul with these words from the New Testament, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:" (Ephesians 2:8) (KJV). It has been discussed, debated, and deliberated over many centuries by many lay Christians and even by the learned Christian Theologians whether or not Ephesians 2:8 means that both grace and faith are God the Father's gift to those of us who are true believers. In my opinion, which ever side of this argument someone stands on, it is not a matter of division or a matter of whether a soul is truly saved or not, because we know that salvation, that is, the turning of a sinner into a saint of God is not from any good within the person/soul, but it is strictly granted because of the Mercy of God, going back up to read these words, "But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)" (Ephesians 2:4-5) (KJV). In other words, I believe that when we receive the Mercy of God which is found in grace, then we receive all that God the Father will and wants us to have and that includes faith to believe, faith to live as pilgrims, and faith to overcome whatever bullets or bombs that is thrown at us from the devil and his invisible demons and the two-legged devils that he uses to try and hurt us and even kill us.

So, the writer of Hebrews begins his list of those who exercised overcoming faith with the entire Hebrew army that went out at the command of Elohim to destroy and defeat the people of Jericho, as it is written here, "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days." (Hebrews 11:30) (KJV). After the death of Moses, Joshua was appointed to be leader of the Hebrew people (at that time) by the Lord God. Then Joshua was commanded by God to take the city of Jericho and to destroy/kill all the people in the city, however, the city walls were impenetrable. So, the Hebrew people encompassed or surrounded the city walls and kept the people of Jericho from going out of the city or coming into the city, as it is written here, "Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in." (Joshua 6:1) (KJV). In order for the Hebrew army to get into the city to wage war with the army/people of Jericho the walls of Jericho would have to be brought down. This was not humanly possible by the Hebrew people. However, YAHWEH had already seen their obstacle and was prepared to remove it for the Hebrew army, however, they needed to believe that God would do so according to His will and His command to them, as it is written here, "And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days." (Joshua 6:2-3) (KJV). The people of Jericho felt completely safe inside their mighty walls that they had spent many years building to do the job of protecting them from outside threats that were greater than them in numbers and in might. They perhaps stood at the top of their walls and mocked those fools for marching around them for 6 straight days. God could have brought down the walls of Jericho on the first day and He could have done so without the faith of the Hebrew people, but Adonai wanted the Hebrew people/army to exercise overcoming faith in the face of an obstacle that (from all angles on the outside) appeared to be impossible to overcome. Remember theses words written by this same author of the Book of Hebrews, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1) (KJV). The Hebrew army needed to believe God for what they had not yet seen happen. Anybody can see something and believe it exist or that it is real, but faith goes beyond the seen into the unseen because we have the One True and Only God Jesus Christ who made all things that are seen from nothing. The results of the Hebrew army by faith believing God, as it is written, "So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword." (Joshua 6:20-21) (KJV).

Here is what Albert Barnes had to say of Hebrews 11:30, "That is, it was not by any natural causes, or by any means that were in themselves adapted to secure such a result. It was not because they fell of themselves; nor because they were assailed by the hosts of the Israelites; nor was it because there was any natural tendency in the blowing of horns to cause them to fall. None of these things were true; and it was only by confidence in God that means so little adapted to such a purpose could have been employed at all; and it was only by continued faith in him that they could have been persevered in day by day, when no impression whatever was made. The strength of the faith evinced on this occasion appears from such circumstances as these: - that there was no natural tendency in the means used to produce the effect; that there was great apparent improbability that the effect would follow; that they might be exposed to much ridicule from those within the city for attempting to demolish their strong walls in this manner, and from the fact that the city was encircled day after day without producing any result. This may teach us the propriety and necessity of faith in similar circumstances. Ministers of the Gospel often preach where there seems to be as little prospect of beating down the opposition in the human heart by the message which they deliver, as there was of demolishing the walls of Jericho by the blowing of rams’ horns. they blow the gospel trumpet from week to week and month to month, and there seems to be no tendency in the strong citadel of the heart to yield. Perhaps the only apparent result is to excite ridicule and scorn. Yet let them not despair. Let them blow on. Let them still lift up their voice with faith in God, and in due time the walls of the citadel will totter and fall. God has power over the human heart as he had over Jericho; and in our darkest day of discouragement let us remember that we are never in circumstances indicating less probability of success from any apparent tendency in the means used to accomplish the result, than those were who encompassed this pagan city. With similar confidence in God we may hope for similar success."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…