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    How hard could it be to believe in God while there was a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night?  How hard could it be to listen to the commandments of Jehovah when his presence was thundering before you on top of Mt. Sinai?  How difficult would it have been to listen to the Lord’s directions after he poured forth water from a boulder at Meribah?

    While one would think these situations made faith easier, the history of Israel shows us that this is hardly the case.  What was wrong with those people?  Why in the world couldn’t they just allow their choices to be affected by the miracles and signs and wonders that God was performing in their midst?  Why couldn’t they have even a shred of faith?

    That, having faith, was exactly the problem.  In the wilderness, Israel did not need faith.  Now, that may seem like an odd assertion to make, but this is the answer that the Scriptures seem to provide to those questions asked earlier.

    Faith is the conviction of things not seen.  That does not mean there is no evidence, but faith most certainly involves things that have never been actually seen.  For instance, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is something crucial to the faith of a Christian.  However, no one alive today has ever seen the resurrected Christ.  How are we able to believe in something that neither we nor anyone we know have ever seen?  The answer is simple: faith. 

    It is through faith in God that David was able to slay the giant.  It was through faith that Jephthah was able to subdue the Ammonites.  It was through faith that Moses left the riches of Pharaoh to suffer among his people.  Faith in God has been the impetus for the accomplishment of many great things. 

    How does this explain the failures of Israel in the wilderness?  At Mt. Sinai?  At Meribah?  At their initial entrance into the land of promise?  All of these are instances when Israel chose to walk by sight rather than faith. 

    Israel was terrified of God at Sinai because of the marvel they saw atop the mountain.   They did not consider the spiritual aspects of God and the judgment that was to come at the end of time.  The moment that Moses left and they became accustomed to the thunder and lightning, they were ready to return to their old way of life.

    When Israel grumbled at Meribah because they had no water, they did not consider the God whose voice spoke into existence all the world around them.  They did not have faith that God could supply them with every need because they did not see water.

    At the promised land, they saw the inhabitants with their physical eyes and were terrified at their great statures, mighty cities and valiant warriors.  Surely, they thought, there was no way a nomadic, desert people could overthrow the powers of Canaan.  They did not consider in this judgment the mighty hand of God that brought Egypt, the most powerful kingdom in the world, to its knees.  Though these people saw great wonders and miracles performed so that they might believe in Jehovah, they had no faith in God.

    We, too, must take great care to walk by faith rather than sight.  We must be diligent to enter the rest that God will provide for his people on the last day, and that requires all of the faith that we can muster today, while it is yet today.  We must recall to our remembrance that today is the day of salvation so long as we have faith.

    When we find ourselves surrounded by temptation, sin, evil and persecution, it is at that moment that our faith is being tested.  We must resolve now to stand firm in that day, to resist the devil so that he will flee from us.  We must take up the shield of faith and refuse to put it down.  We must hold fast to that which is good and refuse to consider the ways of scoffers and evil doers. 

    Our trials come in different forms than Israel faced, but the test is still the same.  Will we look at the world about us through eyes focused on physical things, or will we have spiritual eyes that perceive the cosmic and spiritual warfare that surrounds us? 

    We must not be of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but we must have faith, stand in that faith and preserve our souls against all the wiles and schemes of the devil.