We are in chapter fourteen of Exodus with our word for today which is a phrase. וַיַּֽאֲמִ֙ינוּ֙ בַּֽיהוָ֔ה believed in the LORD. It is used two times in the Old Testament. Before we look at our phrase let’s check out the word אָמַן wearing, prove to be firm, confirm, believe, have faith. It is used 95 times in the Old Testament. This concept of faith, belief, and trust has everything to do with the object in which it is placed. In other words, God wants us to examine the evidence before we put our trust in it because it has shown that is trustworthy. Here is a good example of who belief words. Proverbs 14:15 The simple יַאֲמִ֣ין believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps. This is why God has revealed himself to us not just through creation around us but his word that he has put in front of us. Psalm 19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is נֶ֝אֱמָנָ֗ה sure, making wise the simple. So with this in mind that God has given us all the evidence we need to trust him let’s look at our phrase in our chapter for today. We first see it used when God came to Abram after being with him to rescue his nephew lot. And showed him the stars of the heavens pointing out that his descendants would be too numerous to count like the stars in the sky. Here is how Abram responds to God. Genesis 15:6 וְהֶאֱמִ֖ן בַּֽיהוָ֑ה And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. Then we see it used in our chapter for today. Exodus 14:30-31 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, וַיַּֽאֲמִ֙ינוּ֙ בַּֽיהוָ֔ה and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
After God spoke through the prophet Jahaziel to king Jehoshaphat he encouraged his people with our phrase. 2 Chronicles 20:20 Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! הַאֲמִ֜ינוּ בַּיהוָ֤ה Believe in the Lord your God, וְתֵ֣אָמֵ֔נוּ and you will be established; הַאֲמִ֥ינוּ believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” Our phrase is used to identify Israel’s sin of not unbelief. 2 Kings 17:14-15 But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not הֶאֱמִ֔ינוּ בַּֽיהוָ֖ה believe in the Lord their God. They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them. What is interesting about this example of unbelief is that it reminds me of this prediction of Jesus where our word from our phrase for today is used. Isaiah 28:16 therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: הַֽמַּאֲמִ֖ין ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’ Notice Psalm 118:11 The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Jesus ties this idea of the precious cornerstone and the stone the builders rejected to himself and everyone’s choice to either trust in him or fail to believe in him. We see this in Matthew 21:42-43 then he says this in verse 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed. When Peter was standing before the Jewish leaders the Holy Spirit speaking through him ties this together in this way. Acts 4:11-12 Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” We can either trip over Jesus and fall because of our choice of unbelief or we can let Jesus be our firm foundation to build our life on.
