Faith Thru Hearing

Deborah
2 hours ago
3 min read

SERIES: Hear God

Romans 10:17 ESV

Looking back I can now see that for the first half of my life faith was relatively easy. I had read about others having a defining moment in their life when their faith was tested.

I knew Romans 10:17 said, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

I heard and received faith when I was twelve years old and while I had been tested I was confident that my faith stood the tests that had come.

Then, everything I had known in my life unraveled. That was my defining moment.

Many of us can relate to the journey of the Apostle Paul…I know I can.

He was raised in the Hebrew faith, the faith of his fathers. He went to Hebrew school for boys and he did very well so each year he advanced to the next level. In the first century Hebrew boys had a choice. If they studied hard and did well they advanced to the next academic level as they studied scripture.

If a Hebrew boy did not excel in Hebrew school he went home and learned the trade of his father. But because Paul continued to do well he advanced to the high level of Pharisee. He did so well that he studied under the renowned Pharisee Gamaliel. He was at the top of every class.

There were other Hebrew scholars who had learned at the Tabernacle and they were curious about Jesus’ teaching. Even though they were born Hebrew they eventually came to believe in Jesus. But Paul hesitated to believe in Jesus. So, why the hesitation?

Scholars today believe more than likely Paul would have rejected Jesus because of Deuteronomy 21.

Deuteronomy 21:22-23 basically says if someone guilty is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole, you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse.

We are reminded that Paul was classically trained…highly trained in the Old Testament.

Other Old Testament texts written later equate hanging on a pole by crucifixion as being a curse from God.

The Pharisees, including Paul determined that Jesus was cursed because his body was left on a pole.

Second Temple texts equate hanging on a pole with hanging on a pole overnight. Paul would have been familiar with the definition and the Second Temple texts. As a result Paul initially believed that Jesus was cursed because he was hanged on a pole. Later Hebrew texts also stipulated that the word (‘n) in Hebrew referred to hanging alive on a tree (or a pole). The smallest detail often matters when considering ancient texts. This simple detail mattered…. חי .

It would have taken a monumental event to change Paul’s mind about Jesus not being cursed but rather Jesus being the Messiah.

And so it did. One day while he was on the road to Damascus Paul was a bright light from heaven caused Paul the Hebrew strict defender off the faith to submit to God (Acts 9:1-9).

Even though Paul had firmly believed that Jesus was NOT the Messiah, in an instant God made a believer of him.

In my lifetime I’ve witnessed God miraculously change men and women who said they did not believe that Jesus is the Messiah. Then suddenly and miraculously they changed in an instant and they became a follower of Jesus.

God did a miracle for Paul and God still does miracles today!

Deborah/acrazyjourney.com

Practice