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#34: Abraham and Faith

Hebrews

Sep 27, 2015


by: Jack Lash Series: Hebrews | Category: NT books | Scripture: Hebrews 11:8–22

I. Introduction
A. Really this passage is not just about Abraham. It’s about the patriarchs. But most of the focus is on Abraham.
1. If you’re not that familiar with the Bible, the OT is primarily about God’s dealings with Israel. And in the book of Genesis we learn how all that got started. And it was through the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
B. This passage is composed of six stories: of Abraham, his wife Sarah, their son Isaac, their grandson Jacob, and their great-grandson Joseph, acting in faith, and one explanatory description of their faith. So that’s what we have before us. Let’s begin with the six stories of faith.
II. Let’s look at these six events of people living and acting by faith, and let’s look at what it was that they were promised (as it says in v.13 “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised.”), what it was that they believed.
A. 8-10 Abraham leaving his home and going out at the Lord’s command to a land He promised
1. This is where the story of the patriarchs – and the story of God’s people Israel – begins.
2. Abraham lived in Ur of the Chaldees. And suddenly God told him to leave, without telling him where He wanted him to go.
a. It sounded crazy. Abandoning everything he had, the entire structure of his life, his friends, his family, his support network, his livelihood, his home. He just left. He just believed what God said and left.
3. What God did tell Abraham was that He would bless him and make him great and make of him a great nation.
a. Gen.12:1-4 “The LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” – Genesis 12:1–2
4. Later, God led Abraham to the promised land, the land of Canaan, though not as a permanent resident. Rather he lived in tents as an alien there with his family. And even at the end of his life, he still hadn’t received what he’d been promised.
a. He was promised his family would become a great nation, but he could still count them on one hand.
b. He was promised a great land, as far as the eye could see. But he still did not possess the land, but lived as a visitor in it. As it says in Acts 7:5 “God gave Abraham no inheritance in Canaan, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him.”
5. This is why Heb.11:8-9 tells us: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.”
B. 11-12 Sarah’s womb being opened in her old age (to bear Isaac) – Gen.17:19; 18:11-14; 21:2
1. Years after calling Abraham to take his wife Sarah and leave, after promising him that He would make them into a great nation, God came to Abraham and Sarah in the form of a man with three companions (angels in the form of men). He promised them that in one year they would have a son through whom the promise would be fulfilled.
2. In response, Abraham believed that he would become the father of many nations, even though his body was as good as dead (since he was about 100 years old) and his wife Sarah was both old and barren. (Romans 4:18–21)
3. But we’re never told in Genesis that Sarah believed God. In fact, Sarah, if you remember, laughed in disbelief when she heard the word that she was going to have a baby. But she must have had a change of heart. Perhaps it came when God knew that she’d laughed (Gen.18:9-15).
4. Anyway, though it sounded crazy, they believed God’s promise that Sarah would bear a son in old age.
5. Thus, we are told in Heb.11:11-12: “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”
C. 17-19 Abraham offering up Isaac on the altar at God’s command
1. In Gen.22:1-10, after the promised son (Isaac) had been born and was growing up, God told Abraham to take the boy, the one through whom God had promised a great nation, and offer him up as a sacrifice.
2. Talk about crazy! You are promised a great nation through a son you don’t yet have. And then in your old age God gives you that son. But then a few years later He tells you to slay him upon the altar. What’s God up to? How can He command the boy be killed but also fulfill His promise of a great nation through the boy?
3. The rest of the story, in case you don’t know it, is that when Abraham laid his son on the altar and raised the knife to slay him, God intervened & stopped Abraham from carrying through with it.
4. The fact is that Abraham was thinking that even if he killed Isaac, God could raise him from the dead in order to fulfill His promise. Thus, we see that Abraham was still believing God’s promise.
5. And so, we told in Heb.11:17-19 that: “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.”
D. 20 Isaac in his old age blessing his sons Jacob and Esau
1. When Abraham’s son Isaac got to the end of his life, he blessed his two sons Jacob and Esau in such a way that it was clear that he was believing in God’s promise to his father Abraham.
2. For instance, in Gen.27:29 he blessed Jacob with these words: “Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you... Cursed be everyone who curses you, & blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
3. This is why Heb.11:20 tells us: “By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.”
E. 21 Jacob in his old age blessing his two grandsons, Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons of Joseph
1. Again, Jacob’s blessing makes it clear that he was believing in God’s promise to Abraham.
2. For instance, Genesis 48:16: “Bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
3. And so, we are told in Heb.11:21: “By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.”
F. 22 Joseph on his death bed, speaking to the leaders of Israel about the future deliverance from Egypt and giving instructions for his bones to be carried back to Canaan when the time comes
1. How did Joseph know that the Israelites would be delivered from Egypt? It was because he believed God’s promise to Abraham to give his children the land of Canaan.
2. And so, in Genesis 50:24, Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
3. Joseph also made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here” (Gen.50:25, fulfilled in Exodus 13:19), again because he believed the promise of God to Abraham and his children re: the land of Canaan.
4. And so, Heb.11:22 tells us, “By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the Exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.”
III. The heart of this section is Heb.11:13-16.
A. After the story of Abraham obeying God’s call to leave (Heb.11:8-9), the author of Hebrews says of Abraham in v.10 that “he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”
1. Now he picks up on that theme again, but generalizes it to include the other people of faith as well.
2. Heb.11:13-16 “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”
3. Let’s look at some of the things said here...
B. 13a “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised.”
1. All of these people died believing the promise even though the promise had not been fulfilled. This is the example of faith he holds up to us.
2. The author is saying to these Jewish Christian believers who are struggling in their faith because they thought Jesus was going to come very soon but it seemed to be taking a long time: “Maybe you too will die without having received the things promised you. Maybe you Hebrews will die without seeing Christ return and make all things right.”
3. But what’s the point of believing in God’s promise if you never receive what is promised?
a. Ah, but they do receive it! They just don’t receive it before they die.
b. And these patriarchs understood this. They understood that God’s promises were ultimately about the world to come. That’s why it says that Abraham “was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”
c. And that’s why it goes on to say of all them that...
C. 13b “...having seen them and greeted them [the things promised] from afar”
1. The background to this verse seems to be the story of Moses, who never got to the promised land but was able to see it from a distance from the top of Mt. Pisgah before he died.
2. These faithful heroes of the OT also saw the fulfillment of the promise off in the distance, but never experienced it during their lifetimes.
3. Many, perhaps even most, of the serious errors in evangelical Christianity today result from trying to have heaven here and now, instead of accepting that to a large extent we are not supposed to receive what has been promised in the here and now.
D. 13c “...having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.”
1. Meanwhile God’s people look weird. They don’t fit in.
2. Just as Abraham lived in Canaan long before it belonged to his family, so we live in a world which one day will be our home but isn’t yet, and won’t be until Jesus returns and remakes it.
3. God’s people will never fit in while we live in this world before Christ’s second coming.
4. Do you recognize that you are strangers and exiles here?
E. 14 “For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.”
1. One thing all true Christian believers have in common is that they’re looking to the land of promise.
2. Are you seeking a homeland? Or are you trying to make this world your home?
3. Is your life about seeking after money? Fame? Family? House? True romantic love? Then you are making this world your home. But our citizenship is elsewhere (Phil.3:20).
F. 16a “But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.”
1. The problem is not that people ask for too much. The problem is that they’re satisfied with too little! They’re satisfied with this country instead of desiring a better, heavenly country.
2. There is another home, another place, far better than this one. And we can’t ultimately have our hearts in both.
G. 16b “Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”
1. Earlier on in chapter 11 the author of Hebrews described faith as believing that God exists and believing that He rewards those who seek Him. Now he elaborates on that second part here.
2. It is not believing that He rewards those who seek Him primarily in earthly ways, that’s too small a reward. The reward He gives those who believe Him is far greater than anything this world can afford. In fact, it is far greater than we can enjoy in our present state.
3. You see, many people try to have faith, but it doesn’t work. Their faith is primarily for their lives now.
a. Faith is something you have or don’t have. Faith is not something you try. “I’m going to try believing in God and see if it works.” or “I’m going to try prayer and see if it works.”
b. In that case, your life is the ultimate thing and God is someone you’re using to try to get what you want. But that’s not faith. Faith is based on what God says, not on what you want.
4. If your faith in God has to do with this world only, if your faith has to do merely with your life right now: burdens and desires and goals and troubles, seeking God’s help, asking for His intervention, feeling His presence, receiving His strength, experiencing His comfort, if all your hope is here, if all your hope is focused on your lifetime, if you’re just praying and trusting that your life will be good, then you don’t have Christian hope or Christian faith.
5. Christ has told us that this is not our home, that there’s a better place for us, that He’s coming back and will recreate this world, removing human sin and sorrow.
6. Everybody talks about what a harsh and sad world this is. But this world isn’t the place we were meant for. This is our boot camp, not our home.
7. Every one of us experiences the uncertainly and insecurity of this world. But like Abraham and these others we are “looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”
8. From the very beginning the foundation of Bible faith has been in God’s promises regarding “a better country, that is, a heavenly one.”
9. Jesus Christ is preparing this city for us. The book of Revelations calls it “the New Jerusalem.”
10. The fact is, while you’re here on this earth you will never receive many of the things you long for. There will be injustice, there will be lost loved ones, there will be deteriorating health, there will be unfulfilled aspirations, there will be heartbreak.
11. Sure, there are many preachers who are willing to lie to you for fame and fortune, and tell you that you can have it all on this earth. But in saying that, they are blatantly contradicting what Jesus said over and over again.
12. I’m not saying that we live lives devoid of earthly joys. Not at all. But the very underpinnings of those earthly joys are the heavenly promises we wait for. That is, the sweetest earthly joys are but glimpses of the heavenly joys which await us.
H. Mothers of young children
1. How can you not focus on today?
2. But when you’re on a trip you still change diapers and maybe even do dishes and take kids to the doctor. This is sort of the way we need to think about everyday life.
3. Take Michelle and Ben, for instance. They are always on the move, having homes but no real home. They know that in this world there is no real home.
4. We’re marching to Zion! Beautiful, beautiful Zion! We’re marching upwards to Zion, the beautiful city of God! (Isaac Watts)