by Logan Ames
I bet that sounds pretty arrogant, doesn’t it? I mean, who in the world would write a blog post about their own faith in a series about the heroes of the faith? Well, it was suggested to me by another writer based on what has taken place in my life over the past few weeks and I feel it’s appropriate for several reasons. First, I don’t think that any of the “heroes” of the faith that I’ve discussed in my writings over the past ten months would have considered themselves as such. They did and experienced great things by faith not in their own abilities or merit, but through a righteous, just, and loving God. In their own eyes, they weren’t even almost heroes, but were simply doing what they knew was right in God’s eyes even when it was difficult. Secondly, God honored their faith even though they were ordinary human beings who struggled with sins just like we do. And third, those individuals who were faithful had no special power to see the future. When they chose to be faithful, they had no idea how God would use their circumstances to reveal himself to others. Each of these things ought to be true about our lives as well.
If you don’t already know, my wife Clara and I welcomed our first child into this world on June 19, 2018. We chose not to find out the gender of our child ahead of time, but are now blessed to be the parents of our precious daughter, Evangeline Myra Ames. As I think back on the faith of my wife and I over the course of our relationship, there have been so many times that we struggled, sinned, or frankly didn’t even stop and consider what God would have us do. But God, who is always faithful (1 Thessalonians 5:24), has continued to do his work even when we weren’t concerned with him.
Clara and I did not always honor God in our relationship with the way we viewed and treated one another. However, we made the decision of commitment in 2015 and were married on July 2, 2016. If you’ve followed my writings over the years, you may remember that I took a season away from Worldview Warriors during that time. Even after we said our vows, we learned that marriage is a blessing but not always easy. We both struggled with where God had us in our jobs in Ohio and wrestled with any changes he would want us to make. God turned our discontentment into an opportunity to trust him when we began to consider moving to York, Pennsylvania, which was only 40 minutes from where I grew up and about two hours from where she did. I was offered a lead pastor position at a local church in PA and we decided to take it. I can certainly say that we prayed about it, but I’m not sure how much we listened. Like many of you, I presume, we do a lot of talking in our prayers but find it hard to sit and silently listen. Yet, God was faithful anyway.
We made the trip back to PA on June 19, 2017. If you’re keeping track, that’s exactly one year before our little angel arrived in this world. We grieved having to leave what was comfortable in Ohio and bid farewell to the many friends we had made during our time there, but we saw many ways that God was with us during the process. From the many people who helped us with the move on both ends to the fact that God provided a job in PA for my wife where she gets to help people who struggle with mental illness from a faith-based perspective, we’ve experienced God’s goodness all the way. Then came the biggest blessing of all. We decided that while we were open to having children if it be God’s will for us, we would do very little to “plan” it. It would be totally up to God if and when it happens. We found out in October that Clara was expecting and, to say the least, she had a blessed pregnancy with very little sickness and no complications.
Evangeline graced us with her presence exactly a year after we made our giant step of faith. She is the best gift of all. We chose the name Evangeline for two reasons. The first is that it is part of Clara’s family history, but the second is that her name comes from the Greek εὐαγγέλιον or euangélion, which simply means "the good news." We know that she is a blessing from above and that she represents the good news of Jesus in our lives. We don’t deserve her and we don’t always know what she needs or how to best care for her, but she puts her faith in us daily just as we put our faith in God daily. One of the most important aspects of faith for any Christian is knowing that you need more of it. Read the story of the man whose son was demon-possessed until Jesus healed him in Mark 9:14-29. The man declared that he believed, yet still asked Jesus to help him overcome his unbelief. That’s where we all should often find ourselves, admitting that we need Jesus’ help to fully trust him. A person who has NO faith cannot utter these words, for it is only by faith that one can realize that they need more of it.
We’ll never consider ourselves heroes of faith, and most days we just hope to make more right choices than wrongs ones in God’s eyes. But the more we trust in him, the more his providence is obvious in our lives. We pray that Evangeline will not only strengthen our faith and dependence on God but also be an example to the world around her. What steps is God asking you to take that make you afraid today? Think about the endless possibilities of how he might just be waiting to bless your socks off until you trust him a little bit. Once you’ve practiced trusting him a little bit, then move on to trusting him more and more. Not everything will be easy, but God is faithful even when we are not and you will never regret depending on him.
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Last week, I discussed five key questions regarding our worldview. Where did I come from? Why am I here? Who am I? Where am I going? Who do I listen to? How we answer those questions is how we see things around us. The way I answer those questions is how Charlie Wolcott sees this world. The way Jason DeZurik, Katie Erickson, Steve Risner, Nathan Buck, or Logan Ames answers these questions is how they see things. Same with each atheist, Christian, Muslim, politician, scientist, etc. Today, I am going to address the only worldview that actually matters: God’s worldview, which is revealed to us in the Bible.
Now pay very close attention to the distinction I am about to make because so many do not and will not see it. What I am about to describe is not MY idea or MY perspective. It is what God says to us about how he sees it. He tells us his perspective through the Bible, but he also shows it in action the closer we get to him in our relationship and walk with Christ. We do have access to the mind of Christ and our lives as Christians is to be transformed to be more and more aligned to God’s worldview. So how does God answer these five questions about us?
Origins: God is the Creator, the initiator, the author, and the ruler over all. He gave us a record of who did the creating, what mechanism he used to create (he spoke them into existence, without natural methods), the order of how he did things, the time frame he did it in, how much time has passed since he did it all, and the condition of the Creation when it was finished. It is not difficult to figure this out. Our job is to believe God in what he says. Many say this is a secondary issue, yet EVERY doctrine of Christianity actually traces directly or indirectly to a foreshadow, reference, or foundation laid out in the first few chapters of Genesis. I have done that study and have a book in the works on it.
On a personal level, God sees each person’s past in the same way an author does his/her characters. He looks at the whole story, examines what each person is going to encounter, and he allows things to happen for the purpose of getting people in action and prepared to do things. He does allow man to make his own choices, and those choices often have terrible effects upon others, however he will see wrongs made right. There is also Satan out there who seeks to devour any he can. But God sees our past, every right and every wrong, and if we trust him, he will work them out for good.
Purpose: God made each and every person for a reason and with a task to do. He equips people with skills and talents to do a job. He offers every person a chance to work with him and alongside him, but many refuse it. We do not see the whole picture, but God does, so while we go through dark times, God knows where each person is and is in the process of positing us to be where we need to be when the right moment comes. All of this is for the purpose of glorifying God. Every person exists to glorify God, by will and choice, or by the smoke of their torment in hell as God’s judgment is poured upon them. It’s always best to do things God’s way.
Identity: Each person is created in the image of God and has value. Even the poor and disabled are precious in the sight of God. He seeks that none should perish but all might repent and have ever-lasting life. However, he also sees every person in their state regarding sin: either still lost in their sin or as a redeemed child of God. He sees every legitimate Christian and every faker. God never sugar-coats the waters. He always says exactly what each person is and what their actions are. He will call defiant sinners as “Sons of Satan” and those who constantly seek after him as “children of God.”
He also knows where each and every person will go. That is NOT an endorsement for “God picks and chooses who goes to heaven or hell,” but rather that he knows each person so well he knows which decisions they will make before they do it. He will hold a Day of Judgment where every person will stand before him and give an account for every word said, every deed done, and everything which should have been said or done and wasn’t. He knows where each person’s journey needs to go and which detours are required to get them there. Some destinations are good and some are bad. The bad ones are a result of God’s judgment for poor decisions. The good ones are rewards for choosing correctly.
Finally, God is the ultimate authority. It truly is “my way or the highway” with God. Why? Because he’s God and we are not. God establishes every authority on earth, raising up kings and setting them down. Every kingdom and every authority is under God’s rule and authority. The kings and “experts” who are in rebellion against God are fools and God laughs at them, holding them in derision. They have absolutely no real power or knowledge because the only true power and knowledge comes from God. Man has no need to fear any authority of man, but he has every right to fear the authority of God.
This is just a brief snapshot of how God deals with each and every question we ask. Did I give it proper justice? Absolutely not. Again, this is not from my opinions. This is what God has revealed through the Bible. I just happen to agree with it. Our job as Christians is to align our worldview to God’s worldview. Will it ever completely match? Not on this side of life, because we are finite beings still living in sin-cursed bodies. However, we can work and strive to make our worldview align to God’s worldview. He is the standard, not us, and we are not capable of being correct on anything unless it aligns with what God says on the matter.
I’ll close with this quote from Eric Ludy from his sermon “Betrayed with a Kiss” about what a “Canon-Mind,” or as I describe a “Biblical-Mind,” is. THIS is what I wrote is all about. This quote is at the 35:00 mark of the linked video.
“A mind given wholly to God, implicitly trusting God’s definition of reality, exclusively devoted to God’s opinion and command, closed to all thoughts, ideas, or philosophies that would lead the mind to take on another reality. The Canon-Mind is built on God’s Word as if it were, in fact, God’s Word. The Canon-Mind is built upon the rock-like conviction that God’s Word is the perfect revelation of Fact. It cannot lie and is 100% truth. And the Canon-Mind knows that God intends his Word to be comprehended by his saints, understood by his saints, and lived out by his saints. The Canon-Mind is not open to any thought, notion, or definition of reality that is not 100% concurrent with the Revelation of God’s Word."
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by Steve Risner
Today I was hoping to take an introductory look at the famed Table of Nations found in Genesis 10. The Table of Nations stands today as an enormous testament to the truth of the Bible. If you're unfamiliar with this piece of history, read on, and hopefully I can explain a bit. Thanks for reading.
Genesis 10 is amazing; here's the background. God determined that man's thoughts were evil all the time and He was sorry He made him. He decided to destroy all mankind in a worldwide Flood about 4400 years ago (give or take). In all the earth, God found but one man's family that He felt was worth saving to repopulate the earth. The Flood waters rose, but Noah and his wife along with his three sons and their wives survived because their father had received orders from God to build an Ark. I'm sure you know the story. It rained a lot and the entire earth was engulfed in water, killing everything on land and likely rearranging the planet's surface. All (land dwelling animals) that survived were on the Ark—Noah's family and 2 of each kind of land animal. After the waters receded, the Ark rested on the Mountains of Ararat. As the animals and men exited the Ark, God told them to “...be fruitful and multiple and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). He said this twice in a short period of time (again in Genesis 9:7), emphasizing its importance, blessing them, and establishing His covenant with them.
However, rather than fulfill this command of God, the descendants of Noah decided to join together and stay in one place, making a great name for themselves. This is the historical account of the Tower of Babel. I'll get into that later, perhaps, but God was not happy with the people and confused their languages so the different families couldn't understand each other. This drove them apart and the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Noah's sons) went their separate ways, filling the earth and establishing the nations. The Table of Nations gives us a look at who these descendants were and what people groups they became. Let's take a look further.
The first verse of Genesis 10 says, “This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the Flood.” It goes on from there to give us a detailed look at the offspring of these men, and their offspring, and so on. At that time, the time of the dispersion where everyone went their own way, there were 70 different families accounted for in the genealogies listed for us. The heads of these families literally became the founders of all the major people groups in the world today. Of course, over time, some of these groups have been extinguished—either killed altogether or assimilated into another people group, or they've mixed with other groups making a new group, in a sense. But every people group on earth can trace its origins back to these 70 families and, eventually, back to Noah through his sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth. I think that's remarkable.
Archaeology and anthropology both seem to confirm what is written in these pages for the most part. I'll delve into that in future blog posts, but I say “for the most part” because there are peoples mentioned in the Table that we have no knowledge of. That's okay, of course. As I stated, there have been groups that have been lost through history due to war, wide scale tragedy, or assimilation. But for some of these groups, a great deal of them were unknown to us at all except in the Table of Nations only to have evidence unearthed thousands of years later. I find that strong evidence for the veracity of the text and also for the Bible in general. This is recorded history. It confirms that the Bible is true and also confirms without question the account of the Flood. If it confirms the Flood and the lineages outlined are to be trusted, it then confirms the creation of man—Adam and Eve—and gives us a pretty good look at when this might have happened. And if Adam and Eve were real people, it stands to reason that the previous 5 days of creation are historically accurate as well.
In other words, if the Table of Nations is accurate and true, then the Flood was a real event that was global in its extent. If the Flood was a real event, then all of geology testifies to this and leaves no room for 1) evolution and 2) billions of years. If this is true, then the creation week must have been a real event and we have no excuse for suggesting it's some sort of poetic literature or metaphor or anything else other than an historical account of something that, according to the family histories outlined in the Bible, occurred about 6000 years ago (give or take).
Over the next couple of weeks, I intend to review what the Table of Nations says. I want to explore the origins of the major people groups around the world as well as look at languages and their origins. Have you ever thought about where a language comes from? How is it developed? It's been a bit of a mystery for us if we fail to recognize the truth of Scripture. But if we accept it, we know where language came from as well as where all these groups of people came from. From these groups, we would eventually develop what some (incorrectly I feel) call races of people. A “race” is a subgroup within a species. I feel that immediately builds walls of separation and disunity. We are all members of one race—that being the human race. We have a variety of skin shades, eyes shapes, hair and eye colors, etc. But we are all descended from the same family—from Noah's sons and their wives. We can actually limit the number of our ancestors to 5. That is one man and 4 women. All of the sons of Noah were just that—sons of Noah. So all the children born of his daughters-in-law were his grandchildren. And his sons' mother was Noah's wife. So... 4 women and one man. From there, it is reasonable to believe that all the genetic variety we see around the globe within mankind is from this family.
I hope you'll stick with me as we explore this topic. The Table of Nations is a wonderful proof for the truth of Scripture, especially for the truth of Genesis. It means the Flood happened and was global, and it means the creation week happened about 1600 years previously (give or take). This eliminates the need for deep time or evolution and, in fact, makes them necessarily false. Thanks for reading. I know I've made some big claims in this blog post. I will be supporting those claims over the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned, faithful reader.
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Years ago, when my wife and I had our first child, we had a decision to make. In fact, we had a whole lot of decisions to make. One of those decisions was, how are we going to teach our children the difference between right and wrong, and how would we administer this teaching? We decided very early on to be consistent in our teaching and in our delivering of benefits or consequences to one’s actions.
We decided to administer first time obedience with our children. Once they knew what we expected of them, if they chose not to obey the very first time, they would receive a consequence for their disobedience. My wife and I agreed long before the offense what this consequence would be, and we also agreed that if we were not consistent with our children in administering this consequence then my wife and I were the ones at fault because we were allowing our children to continue disobeying us without said consequence being administered. We decided to take responsibility for our own actions.
For instance, if I came home after working and was sitting in my chair in the family room relaxing and decided I was too tired to administer the consequence or discipline when an offense occurred, then I was now becoming a part of the problem because I was not teaching our children the difference between right and wrong. If I was “too tired” to parent, well, I was in the wrong. Why? Because the God of the Bible had given my wife and me these children and had chosen us to raise them in His good and right ways. By us not taking responsibility in training them up in His ways, we were teaching them that our comfort was more important than following God and His ways. Let me dig into this idea just a bit.
Years ago, a friend of mine told me, “I have come to realize that if there is a son problem, there is more than likely a daddy problem going on.” Ouch! But that is so true. It’s not that fathers are bad or are not needed, it’s that we as fathers need to take responsibility for our actions and be willing to show our children what is good and right and true in every circumstance. In fact, when we do mess up, that is a great time to show your children what true humility really looks like.
I praise God that He sent me an amazing woman into my life who is a very strong-willed Christ follower and yet also understands the importance of working together as a team in our marriage. This means that even when she thinks my leading might be too tough or strong, she still honors my decision because we made decisions together long before we got into the situation. We believe character is not built in trials, character is tested in trials; it is built before the trial begins. This goes for not only someone in raising a child but also on a very personal note for each person in this world as well.
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There has been much debate over the years in regards to the view of immigration and border control that was shared among the founding fathers of our nation. Historians on both sides of the argument have attempted to co-opt the founders into their camp, and there is so much misinformation on the subject that it is difficult to ascertain anything about the actual view of our founders without abandoning modern research and returning to the original source documents from those great men who formed our nation.
When we return to the original writings of the founders, we can see two extremely important points about immigration that are often overlooked by modern scholarship on both sides of the debate.
1. There is a huge difference between immigration and naturalization.
Most of the quotations floating around the internet and purporting to reveal the founders’ views of immigration are actually statements about naturalization. For example, when Alexander Hamilton wrote that: “the influx of foreigners must, therefore, tend to … change and corrupt the national spirit,” he was not writing about immigration (the act of moving to a new land) but rather about naturalization (the process of becoming a citizen). This statement was part of Hamilton’s argument for requiring foreigners to live in America for five years before they could apply for citizenship and gain the right to vote. He concluded his argument with this statement:
“Some reasonable term ought to be allowed to enable aliens to get rid of foreign and acquire American attachments; to learn the principles and imbibe the spirit of our government; and to admit of at least a probability of their feeling a real interest in our affairs. A residence of at least five years ought to be required.”
Hamilton was not arguing for limits on immigration; he was arguing for delayed naturalization.
Similarly, James Madison said that we should invite “the worthy part of mankind to come and settle amongst us,” that the goal of this invitation was “to increase the wealth and strength of the community,” and that those not adding to the wealth and strength of the community “are not the people we are in want of.” In all of these statements, Madison was speaking of naturalization and not of immigration. In fact, Madison introduced these statements with the explanation that:
“When we are considering the advantages that may result from an easy mode of naturalization, we ought also to consider the cautions necessary to guard against abuses.”
He closed his address with the statement that:
“I should be exceeding sorry, sir, that our rule of naturalization excluded a single person of good fame, that really meant to incorporate himself into our society; on the other hand, I do not wish that any man should acquire the privilege, but who, in fact, is a real addition to the wealth or strength of the United States. It may be a question of some nicety, how far we can make our law to admit an alien to the right of citizenship, step by step; but there was no doubt, but we may, and ought to require residence as an essential.”
Once again, Madison, just like Hamilton, was arguing for delayed naturalization and not for any kind of limit on immigration.
In regards to naturalization, our founding fathers were adamant that assimilation into the American language and culture should be a requirement for citizenship. In regards to immigration, however, the founders never once argued for a limit on the number or type of people allowed to enter our borders.
2. Immigration was not just about improving America.
Throughout the writings of the founders, there are many references to the benefits of immigration, and some of those benefits have been forgotten in the flurry of debates. Both sides seem to be focused on the benefits of immigration to America, and the founders spoke of such benefits as well. More often than not, however, the founders were just as focused on the benefits to the immigrants themselves and even on the benefits that were enjoyed by the nation being left.
Jefferson, for example, explained that America’s immigration system was not based “on the selfish principle of increasing our own population at the expense of other nations” but rather on a desire “to consecrate a sanctuary for those whom the misrule of Europe may compel to seek happiness in other climes.” He then went on to explain how America’s open immigration system actually provided a benefit for other nations. He wrote that:
“This refuge once known will produce reaction on the happiness even of those who remain there, by warning their task-masters that when the evils of Egyptian oppression become heavier than those of the abandonment of country, another Canaan is open where their subjects will be received as brothers.”
Washington also expressed his desire for America to be a safe haven for those oppressed in other countries. He explained that:
“The bosom of America is open to receive not only the Opulent and respectable Stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all Nations And Religions; whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges, if by decency and propriety of conduct they appear to merit the enjoyment.”
Madison’s 1791 article on immigration lists several benefits that America’s open immigration policy would bring to other nations. According to Madison, one of those benefits was that allowing immigrants to come to America would help the economy of the nation that they were leaving. He pointed out that many nations were “permitting, and even promoting emigrations to this country” in order to boost their own economy, and he praised them for their efforts.
Madison then proceeded to endorse open immigration in order to provide relief for the poor and the beggars of other nations. He wrote that:
“Freedom of emigration is due to the general interests of humanity. The course of emigrations being always, from places where living is more difficult, to places where it is less difficult, the happiness of the emigrant is promoted by the change: and as a more numerous progeny is another effect of the same cause, human life is at once made a greater blessing, and more individuals are created to partake of it.”
He even argued that increased immigration would improve the declining morals of other nations.
“It may not be superfluous to add, that freedom of emigration is favorable to morals. A great proportion of the vices which distinguish crowded from thin settlements, are known to have their rise in the facility of illicit intercourse between the sexes, on one hand, and the difficulty of maintaining a family, on the other. Provide an outlet for the surplus of population, and marriages will be increased in proportion. Every four or five emigrants will be the fruit of a legitimate union which would not otherwise have taken place.”
Over and over again throughout the writings of the founding fathers, we find them praising what Madison termed “the character of liberality” which formed the foundation of our immigration system. They realized that “America was indebted to emigration for her settlement and prosperity,” and they recognized that the “part of America which had encouraged [immigrants] the most had advanced most rapidly in population, agriculture, and the arts.” At the same time, the founders were also very careful to ensure that immigrants did not become citizens until after they had been properly assimilated into the American culture. We would be wise to remember both the founders’ desire for open immigration and their caution against rapid naturalization.
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Truth is an important topic in our culture today. Many people say it’s a subjective thing - what’s true for you may not be true for me. We’ve written on the topic of absolute or relative truth previously, here and here, so I encourage you to go check out those posts. Today, we’re going to focus on what the Bible says about truth.
Perhaps one of the most commonly known passages about truth is found in John 8:32: “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” If you look at the context of that passage, you’ll see that Jesus spoke that line right after saying, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples” (verse 31). The truth comes from Jesus’ teachings, and it will set us free when we are His disciples. Jesus and the Jews then have a discussion about sin and being Abraham’s descendants, and Jesus ends His discourse with this: “Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God” (verses 45-47). Jesus did not sin, so He never lied, so He always told the truth. But the truth wasn’t what those Jews wanted to hear, so they did not believe Him. Sound familiar, like anything in our culture today?
We know from a few chapters later in John that Jesus Himself is the truth. “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:6). If we know Jesus, then we know the way to the Father, the truth about everything, and we can have life through Him. He is the truth. 1 John 5:20 says, “We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
A few chapters later, in Jesus’ message to His disciples, He shares that the Spirit we have received is the Spirit of truth. “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come” (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit helps us understand and comprehend what the truth is, because the Spirit is truth.
The belt of truth is part of the armor of God, in Ephesians 6:14. We are to have it buckled around our waist. You can read more about the belt of truth here.
Speaking truthfully is important for all believers, and it’s even part of the Ten Commandments. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). This is echoed many times in the book of Proverbs too. Proverbs 12:19 says, “Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.” Proverbs 12:22 says, “The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.” Proverbs 19:5 says, “A false witness will not go unpunished, and whoever pours out lies will not go free.” Similarly, Psalm 15:1-3 says, “Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others.”
Proverbs 30:5 also tells us that God’s Word is true: “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.” In John 17:17, when Jesus is praying to the Father for the disciples, He says, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” The message of Jesus is truth: “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation” (Ephesians 1:13).
There are many more passages about truth in the Bible; these are just scratching the surface. Why are there so many? I believe that’s partly because the Bible IS truth. The Bible is THE authority, the standard by which we measure whether all things are true or false. Naturally, to hold that place of authority, the Bible must speak about truth. Also, the Bible is the way that God has specifically revealed Himself to us. God is truth, so His Word is truth, and again should speak on what truth is.
What is truth in your life? Do you try and make your own “truth,” or are you holding to the truth of the Bible? I encourage you to find out more about what the Bible says about truth and what the Bible says the truth is.
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by Logan Ames
Irena Sendler, whose story can be found here, was a woman who risked everything to save the innocent and oppressed. She valued God’s standard of justice, mercy, and humility (Micah 6:8) over the current laws of the land. Her “land” happened to be Nazi-occupied Warsaw, Poland during the time of the Holocaust. Irena actually did what many of us would like to think we’d do if we were in her situation. She used her position as a social worker to rescue some 2,500 Jewish children by smuggling them out of the Warsaw ghetto, giving them fake identities, and arranging for them to receive the care and shelter they needed in safe places. She had an understanding, just like Queen Esther in the Bible, that God had probably given her the position she had for such a time as the one she faced. Irena is quoted as saying, “Every child saved with my help is the justification of my existence on this Earth, and not a title to glory." She did not see it as something for which she could boast, but as the ONLY reasonable choice for a true follower of God to make in that situation. She risked everything to save those children and endured severe torture and imprisonment, but never gave up the names or locations of the children she rescued. Irena Sendler is a true, contemporary hero of the faith.
Her story reminds me of a man from the Old Testament, who will be the final specific hero of the faith I will address in this series. As we come toward the end of Hebrews 11, the writer tells us that “the world was not worthy” of the faithful heroes about whom he’s been writing (v. 38). In other words, the collective group of the despised, mistreated, and martyred servants of God were of greater worth than all the rest of humanity combined. The world did not see them as valuable and likely forgot about them after they were gone, but the writer reminds us that God will not forget about them and neither should we if we want to know what it’s like to live out our faith in the midst of the trials we face today. But then, after making what appears to be a concluding statement about the heroes of the faith, the writer surprisingly adds one more description of them: “They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground” (v. 38). We can’t be sure why the writer came back to this, but it’s worth noting that two of the most well-known heroes from the Old Testament, David and Elijah, would BOTH fit this statement. Both men followed the Lord and were forced to live as fugitives as the evil kings leading God’s people sought to kill them. Since we’ve already discussed those men in this series, I want to turn your attention to a lesser known faithful hero, but one who still played a major role in the history of faith and specifically in the story of Elijah.
The man’s name is Obadiah. Now, we know that someone named Obadiah wrote a book of prophecy in the Old Testament, but we can’t be sure which one it was because there are numerous “Obadiahs” mentioned other places in the Old Testament. The name means “servant of Yahweh” and that’s no surprise because the Obadiah of Elijah’s day certainly fits that moniker. You can find his role in the story in 1 Kings 18:2-16, which are the verses directly preceding Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal. This is where I can begin to draw similarities between Obadiah and Irena Sendler. Obadiah was the palace administrator under the evil King Ahab. This means he was in a unique position to work for justice even as the maniacal king and his crazy wife Jezebel were slaughtering many of the Lord’s prophets. We might think that he should’ve stood up to them, but remember that even Jesus told his followers to be “as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). Sometimes, we’re too quick to leave bad situations. We see discomfort for ourselves or evil all around us and we conclude that God must want us to leave. But maybe God wants us to be the change agent, or maybe he just wants us to use the platform he has given us to do his work in some way. This is a perfect example of understanding what it means to be in the world but not of the world (John 17:15-16).
Obadiah was put in a position, within an administration where he clearly didn’t agree with the rulers, to do God’s work even at great personal risk. 1 Kings 18:3-4 tells us that he was a “devout believer in the Lord” who “had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water." I understand that all indications are that Obadiah himself did not have to go live in a cave, so the writer of Hebrews was likely talking about the great faith of the prophets who trusted him. There’s no doubt that they also are to be commended. But they faced a certain death had it not been for Obadiah risking his life for them.
Obadiah’s faith didn’t end there. As the story continues, he is commanded by Ahab to go look for grass to feed their mules and horses because they are nearing starvation during the major famine across the land. As he follows the command of his superior, he is out walking and stumbles across Elijah (v. 7). Elijah tells him to go and tell Ahab that he has found Elijah. Obadiah, knowing that Ahab has been searching all over God’s green earth looking for Elijah to kill him, understandably has a brief moment of trepidation. He is certain that the Spirit of God is leading Elijah and worries that if he goes and tells Ahab that Elijah is there and then Ahab cannot find him, he’ll be called to account with his life (vv. 9-14). Elijah simply gives him the assurance that he would present himself to Ahab later that day, because we all know that if you’re following the Lord wholeheartedly there really is nothing and no one to fear. After that, we see that Obadiah puts his faith in God and in the promise from Elijah and spills the beans to Ahab. He had already been willing to die if he got caught hiding the 100 prophets, so why not keep leaving his life up to God anyway?
Obadiah’s part of the story ends there. We know what took place between Elijah and Ahab after that, but we don’t know what part, if any, Obadiah continued to have. We don’t know how much longer he served Ahab, or whether he was alive or dead when Ahab finally got what was coming to him. What we do know about Obadiah is that he was faithful. God doesn’t call us to worry about the results. We can trust those to him. He just calls us to be faithful. Obadiah was faithful in smuggling prophets into caves just like Irena Sendler was faithful in smuggling children into homes. Both individuals didn’t stop there but continued to supply those they had rescued with their daily needs. Both of them put doing what was right in God’s eyes ahead of loyalty to an evil and wicked man. Are you willing to live like these individuals, or do you constantly seek whatever is most comfortable and then try to tell yourself and others that it’s what God wants? What he truly wants is obedience and faithfulness regardless of the comfort level. He has put you on this earth for a reason. You do not exist unto yourself alone, but you have a purpose and a responsibility to use whatever platform or position he has given you to bless, love, and serve others. What’s stopping you and why? Surrender it to the Lord this very day!
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