Faith in Action: The Israelites
Chosen for the Sake of the World
Chosen for the Sake of Others
Picture a world filled with nations, each with its own gods, kings, and ambitions. In that noisy crowd of power and pride, one small people begins to take shape. They have no army, no land of their own, no reason for anyone to take notice.
Yet Yahweh sets His eye on Israel.
Their forefathers were wanderers, moving from tent to tent beneath the wide desert sky.
They were to build no empire of their own.
Instead, they carried a promise that through their descendants, blessing would reach every empire on earth.
This is where their story of faith in action begins, not as an expression of human will, but the Call of God.
God chose them. God gave them purpose.
God formed this people so that the world might see what happens when Yahweh is God.
A People Set in the Sight of the Nations
The Word was not given to be admired or even debated but to be lived. They were told to keep God’s Word by doing what it said.
God’s Word became His tool for forming a people unto Himself.
They trust and obey. Their faith was something the world could see.
“Keep them; do them,” the instruction went, “for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations.” Their life together was meant to be watched.
Visible justice. Tangible mercy.
Worship audible beyond the camp.
When they listened and lived, the nations began to listen too.
What they heard was the nearness of Yahweh, God who saves.
A People Who Remember Mercy
Yahweh, unlike the gods of other nations, was compassionate.
He defended the widow, the orphan, and the “sojourner” - another name for “foreigner”… all the people “not like you”….
Yahweh has compassion and commands His people to do the same.
This was not social idealism; it was vicarious living. God's people regard all people as equals because, in fact, that is how God made us. "You shall love the sojourner, for you also were sojourners in Egypt."
The Israelites are a rescued people.
God reminds them constantly about this fact so they will remember what it means to be rescued when they see their neighbor in need. “You shall have the same rule for the foreigner and for the native, for I am Yahweh your God.”
Through Israel, God opened up for all people equal access to Himself.
Israel’s compassion was their confession of faith in the God who saves.
A People Through Whom His Power Is Made Known
Even in their failings, Yahweh’s name would be glorified.
God once told the despot who had enslaved His people, "For this purpose I have raised you up, to show you My power, so that My Name may be proclaimed in all the earth."
God was also working in the world - even in the lives of pagan kings - to tell His story: Yahweh, God who saves!
The Israelites survived the wilderness despite their rebellious and stubborn and perpetually and annoyingly sinful lives.
There were some tough lessons about earthly consequences for sin, but God's people survived because God saves His people.
To the nations, Israel was living evidence that Yahweh is God and there is no other.
The Fulfillment of Faith in Action
Every story of Israel’s faith in action pointed toward one moment in history.
The sacrifices, the prophets, the priests, the kings, the vicarious atonement for sins… all of it was preparing the world for the day when God Himself would act.
When Yahweh would step into His story, not as a distant ruler, but as the Redeemer.
The purpose of their calling was not simply to build a nation of virtue, but to turn the eyes of every nation toward the altar where mercy and justice would meet.
The world would see in that single act what the Torah and the Prophets had been saying all along: Yahweh saves!... by laying down His life for the world.
Faith always moves to action.
The Israelites. A people called into existence by Yahweh.
A people who carry the righteousness of Yahweh into the nations.
The people through whom God Himself would come…
Beyond that moment, a new people will rise from every nation, carrying the same promise forward.
Next week: Faith in Action – The Church.
