Heb 11:8-12 Abraham and Sarah
Notes
Transcript
8 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. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 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.
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I don’t know how it started, but our family has for the last 3 or 4 years started a tradition of sleeping in a tent in the backyard at least one night during the summer. The whole reason I do it is because Byron loves the memory of it. It is not something that I look forward to each year. Over the past few years, I have been more careful and intentional as to which day to camp out, not only because of the temperatures but also because often I end up not sleeping that well.
The tent camping in the backyard brings joy to my son, but also it reminds me to be appreciative of God’s care and provision that we can sleep inside a house, with a comfortable bed and bathroom. We just take for granted the heating and cooling that we are so used to, that we probably don’t give thanks enough to God for such things.
Furthermore, sleeping in a tent reminds us of the life of Abraham, who not only slept once a year in a tent but lived in tents. Abraham is the next in the faithful hall of fame in Hebrews 11.
We have looked at the faith of Abel, Enoch, and Noah and how their faith shaped their lives. Abel, Enoch, and Noah received God’s commendation because of their faith, they walk with God. They are an example for us so we are encouraged in our walk as we seek to walk by faith in obedience to Christ. Now for our encouragement the author of Hebrews turns the focus to Abraham.
8 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.
8 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.
In the previous example of faith for our encouragement, Noah build an ark out of obedience concerning events yet unseen, now Abraham obeys by leaving a safe and comfortable place to a place he did not know. Both Noah and Abraham did great acts of faith because they completely trusted that what God says is more secure and safe than what they could see with their physical eyes.
Gen 12 is where is recorded God’s calling of Abram. It says “Now 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.” A few verses later it says “ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him”.
In the book of Acts Stephen gives us a little more details about Abraham’s journey. Stephen says ““Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living” (Acts 7:1-4)
Of all the heroes of the faith in Hebrews, Abraham is the person with whom the author spends the most time describing. We might ask why? It doesn’t seem to me that Abraham’s faith was greater than the others that are mentioned in this list. However, Galatians 3 says that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Furthermore, Abraham is described as a man of faith. I think the extended description of Abraham is not because his faith was greater or smaller, but because Abraham is a key figure of faith because of God’s covenant with Abraham.
As we have seen before Abraham is considered by the Jews as their father, someone that is a model and example to follow. We see this emphasis in Stephen's speech as he called Abraham our father. For a Jew the highest example of faith is Abraham. It is through Abraham that all nations are blessed, God said in Gen 12:3 “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”
How are all the families of the earth blessed through Abraham? Through his faith in Abraham’s descendent, Jesus of Nazareth. That is why Abraham is so important to Jews and Gentiles.
What does v8 tell us about Abraham’s faith? It says that he obeyed God and left everything to go somewhere he didn’t know. When we think of this high-risk taking situation we might think of missionaries that leave everything behind to go in obedience to Christ.
I can say from experience that it is not easy to leave a culture and place you know and are familiar with to go to a different culture. It takes a lot of flexibility and adaptability, but God empowers and strengthens us when we fully trust in Him.
Even though there are places that are really hard to get and not everywhere is safe. It is not the same as it was for Abram. The movie His Only Son portrays well the dangers of traveling during that time period.
A similar situation for us today would be if our home was in Germany and you were a farmer, then you take all your possessions and animals and you go walking from Germany all the way to the border of Ukraine and Russia. It would not only be not safe, but crazy far and difficult. Furthermore, you cannot make any plans because you don’t really know where you are going or how you are going to get there.
As you can imagine it took a lot of faith and trust for Abraham to leave the comfort and security of his home to follow God to a place he didn’t know. The key part is that he went, he obeyed by faith.
We don’t know how long it took for him to travel to the promised land, but it is safe to assume that it took a significant amount of time, not as long as it took Noah to build the ark, but still, the obedience of Abraham was not a one-day resolution, but Abraham is an example of a lifetime commitment to follow God’s instruction. We continue seeing his lifelong commitment in verses 9 and 10.
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.
10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
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. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
By faith, Abraham left the comfort of a known and secure place, of being surrounded by relatives to somewhere he didn’t know, but he had to trust that God was going to guide him and protect him along the way. As Abraham obeyed, God protected and guided him to the promised land. That God was going to give him the strength, health, and ability to complete such a journey. However, Abraham’s story of dependency on God didn’t end there. It continued as Abraham continued wandering through the land, throughout all of that time Abraham was a stranger and a foreigner to all those that lived around him.
He continued living in tents, the only piece of land he owned was the cave at Machpelah as a place of burial. It would be very hard to live in tents with your family and have to take care of all the animals. However, for Abraham, it was much harder because God had blessed him with great wealth and many servants. When Abraham rescues Lot in Gen 14 it says that Abraham took 318 of his trained men. Considering that number it would be safe to assume that Abraham had 500 servants or more. Can you imagine the pressure he must have felt to just build a city, and houses, and just settle down? Why did he keep living in tents?
Besides all the servants he had, he must have had a significant number of animals, and on top of that, he had great wealth. It would have been very easy for Abraham to build himself a city. It would have been the most logical thing for him to do. In the same way, it was illogical for Noah to build a ship in the middle of the desert, it was illogical that Abraham and his descendants lived in tents, while they were in the promised land.
Furthermore, it says that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, lived in tents as they were the heirs of the promise. They were to receive the land in which they couldn’t settle down and build houses. I see a great parallel here for us. We are called to live as exiles and foreigners in this world. But, through Christ, we are the heirs of the kingdom.
Luke 12:32 32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
But, back to Hebrews 11 V10 it tells us why Abraham did not build cities and just settled comfortably in the promised land, it says “10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”
The tent living was intentional for Abraham it was a reminder that the greatest promised land he was looking forward it was not in this life. Abraham’s lifestyle of tent living indicated that the promised land that is still to come is far greater than anything in this fallen world. It is a renewed world with God as the reigning King on earth. The book of Revelation tells us that it is the New Jerusalem that is coming down from Heaven.
I’m so grateful that God has not called us to live in tents. I’m reminded that instead of complaining about sleeping one night in the backyard, I should be very thankful that it is only one night for the whole year.
We have not been called to live in tents like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Also, it is not a matter of how much riches you have or how many workers are under your supervision. Clearly, God had blessed Abraham greatly with his possessions. However, the New Testament commands us over and over to live in accordance with our new identity in Christ.
We are to see our life in this world like Abraham saw his, as strangers and foreigners. 1 Peter 2:11 calls us “sojourners and exiles” We are to remember that even though we don’t live in tents, we cannot settle down and be comfortable with this world. This is not our home, God created us and change us so we long for the restoration and the coming of the New Jerusalem.
Our identity often is related to our citizenship, where we are from, and where we belong, where our home is. Paul says in Philippians 3:20-21 “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
Our American citizenship is not as important as our Heavenly Citizenship. America existed as a country for only 250 years. 250 years is nothing, the oldest country in the world is nothing compared to the eternity of Heaven. If we are united with Christ, then that’s where we are from, where we belong, and where our home is.
Furthermore, our identity is rooted in our adoption as sons and daughters of God. John 1:12 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Eph 2:18-19“18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,”
We are sojourners and exiles in this world, but with God, we are no longer strangers and aliens. We are sons and daughters of the King of the Universe. Therefore, we need to live like we are truly ambassadors for Christ.
This week you will have the opportunity upon opportunity to build your own kingdom of self, your wills, your desires, your wants, your wishes. It is in those little moments that we have to live like Abraham and choose to live for the Kingdom of God, instead of our will, God’s will, instead of just looking at ourselves looking at others around us, and choosing to show the light of Christ, remembering that God adopted us as sons and daughters so we can show love, and kindness, compassion to those around us and point them to the King who is coming.
We need to remember that we would not be able to live out this way in our own power or strength. We need to rely on the power, strength, and ability that only God provides to us through Christ by the abiding Holy Spirit in our hearts.
It is through Christ that we receive the power to live by faith, in the same way, Sarah received the power to conceive at an old age.
11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.
11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.
Gen 17 and 18 record the encounter of God with Abraham and when God promises Abraham that within a year Sarah was going to have a son from Abraham. At this time Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old. When it says that Sarah was past the age, it meant really past the age, it would be quite astonishing for a woman to conceive in her 60s or 70s, but Sarah was 90 years old, she was no spring chicken.
Now let’s pause a moment, and reflect on where you are in your life and the aches and pains of getting older. Now think about how much greater that would be if you were 100 or 90 years old. On top of that think of bringing a baby into your home when you are at that age.
It is no wonder that when God told Abraham this in Gen 17, Abraham’s first reaction was the following (Gen 17:17) “17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” It was a similar reaction that Sarah had (Gen 18:12) “So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”
It is understandable for them to laugh because it was so impossible for such a thing to happen. We know they had servants who could have helped to carry a young child; however, it was in Sarah’s womb that Isaac developed and grew. It was her old body that provided everything that every baby requires and needs from their mothers. Sarah without God’s provision would not have survived carrying a baby for 9 months or delivering a baby when she was 91 years old.
It was not by her power that Sarah conceived and delivered Isaac. She considered “him faithful who had promised.” Sarah had faith that God was going to provide everything she needed because her trust was not in herself and her ability, but in God’s faithfulness. God said it was going to happen, even though it seemed impossible, she knew God’s past records of bringing to fruition everything God had promised.
It was by faith that Abraham and Sarah were able to accomplish what was impossible, to have biological descendants as v12 says.
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.
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.
Abraham and Sarah were as good as a dead couple, and even then, it was through them that God brought Isaac and Jacob, through that lineage Jesus of Nazareth, and through Him innumerable descendants by faith, including you and me here today.
Therefore, in the same way for us, even though we know that it is impossible for us to walk by faith and live faithfully for the kingdom of God in our strength. We need to remember that through Christ the impossible is possible. Through Him, we can live by faith.
The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is working towards us who believe in Jesus so that we will live faithfully relying on our heavenly identity and citizenship that has been granted to us because of Jesus’ death and resurrection.