27 By faith he (Moses) left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
"I don't believe it anymore..." Three contemporary Christian voices have said this in the last year. Michael Gungor of the band Gungor that wrote several worship songs embraced by the church started it off about a year ago. Then Josh Harris who wrote I Kissed Dating Goodbye announced that he was divorcing his wife and was leaving the faith. The latest defector is Marty Sampson of Hillsong who has collaborated on many songs that we sing in church. What is going on?
As I look at this passage in Hebrews, I think it gives a few clues. Moses left Egypt, not for the Jewish faith, not for beliefs in the traditions, festivals, Sabbaths, Patriarchs, promised land prophecy, etc., but Moses left because he saw Him who is invisible. When the disciples heard some hard teaching in John 6 about eating Jesus' flesh and drinking His blood, Jesus asked them if they were going to defect like all the other followers. I love the disciples' response because they don't say "to what other faith shall we go?", or "Who else's teaching should we follow?", but they said "to who else shall we go?" You see, they saw Him who was invisible but now is visible. They had a relationship with a person not a doctrine. The Egyptians believed in 2 walls of water (in verse 29) with a path between it and trusted in that and were disappointed rather than believing in the Person who was parting the waters who was the invisible God. It is a lot easier leaving a set of teachings than a person.
I've used this illustration before but I think it bears repeating. Let's say the police come to my house looking for my wife. I reply,"why are you looking for her?", and they respond, "She stole a package off the neighbor's porch.", to which I reply, "That wasn't my wife; I know her and she would never do that!" They say, "We have a witness that saw her", and I say, "They must be mistaken!" They then say, "They have video surveillance" and they show me the tape and I see that it actually is her! My response then is, "Well I'm sure she had a good reason!" You see, Gungor started his defection because he didn't believe Genesis 1-11 could be true and it escalated from that. Harris had problems with the Bible's stance on marriage and homosexuality. Sampson had problems with billions going to hell. What I'm saying from my illustration is that if you know and love Jesus, when things don't add up you give Him the benefit of the doubt and say, "I don't understand this but I know Jesus and if it makes sense to Him then I will go with that until he explains it to me either here on this planet or in Heaven."
These people who defected say that they have lost their faith. The writer of Hebrews would say that they never had faith because faith is knowing Him who is invisible. They never knew Him. Paul wrote in 2Timothy 1:12, as he approached his execution, "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him" Paul, after all he had done in spreading the gospel, was rewarded with a dark, dank cell while he awaited beheading. Talk about something difficult to understand. Yet he didn't recant, denounce, defect but kept his faith because he knew Him who was invisible. Do you know Him or are you the next to go?
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