Quotes About Faith

“This is what the whole congregation of the LORD says: ëWhat is this breach of faith you have committed today against the God of Israel by turning away from the LORD and building for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel against the LORD this day?

Was not the sin of Peor enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day? It even brought a plague upon the congregation of the LORD.

If indeed the land of your inheritance is unclean, then cross over to the land of the LORDís possession, where the LORDís tabernacle stands, and take possession of it among us. But do not rebel against the LORD or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God.

“The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! He knows, and may Israel also know. If this was in rebellion or breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today.

But in fact we have done this for fear that in the future your descendants might say to ours, ëWhat have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel?

For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between us and you Reubenites and Gadites. You have no share in the LORD!í So your descendants could cause ours to stop fearing the LORD.

That is why we said, ëLet us take action and build an altar for ourselves, but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.

Rather, let it be a witness between us and you and the generations to come, that we will worship the LORD in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings.í Then in the future, your descendants cannot say to ours, ëYou have no share in the LORD!í

Therefore we said, ëIf they ever say this to us or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the altar of the LORD that our fathers made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.í

When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation—the heads of Israelís clans who were with him—heard what the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had to say, they were satisfied.

Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that the LORD is among us, because you have not committed this breach of faith against Him. Consequently, you have delivered the Israelites from the hand of the LORD.”

So the Reubenites and Gadites named the altar Witness, for they said, “It is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”

A long time after the LORD had given Israel rest from all the enemies around them, when Joshua was old and well along in years,

“and you have seen everything that the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake, because it was the LORD your God who fought for you.

See, I have allotted as an inheritance to your tribes these remaining nations, including all the nations I have already cut off, from the Jordan westward to the Great Sea.

The LORD your God will push them out of your way and drive them out before you, so that you can take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you.

Instead, you shall hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day.

The LORD has driven out great and powerful nations before you, and to this day no one can stand against you.

One of you can put a thousand to flight, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as He promised.

Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know with all your heart and soul that not one of the good promises the LORD your God made to you has failed. Everything was fulfilled for you; not one promise has failed.

Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.

And Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ëLong ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and worshiped other gods.

But I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac,

and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau Mount Seir to possess, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.