Heb 11:20-22 Last Words

A couple of weeks ago Pr. Jim was talking about last words. Let’s explore this theme a little more. Here are some interesting last words: - Archimedes, a Greek mathematician, whose last words were “Do not disturb my circles!" he said that to a Roman soldier who interrupted his geometric experiments during the capture of Syracuse, whereupon the soldier killed him - Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, last words were "Too late." on learning that the King was to visit him. -Richard Loeb, last words were "I think I'm going to make it.", after being slashed 56 times with a razor in a prison fight. - Pete Maravich, a basketball player said "I feel great.”, before dying of an undiagnosed heart defect during a pickup game While other's last words show their hopelessness. The famous Leonardo da Vinci, last words were: "I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have." Hadrian, a Roman emperor last words were: "O my poor soul, where are you going?" Peter Abelard, who was a famous philosopher and theologian, last words were "I don't know." The famous Machiavelli, last words were "I desire to go to hell, and not to heaven. In the former place I shall enjoy the company of popes, kings, and princes, while in the latter are only beggars, monks, hermits, and apostles." Cesare Borgia, Italian politician last words were "I have taken care of everything in life, only not for death—and now I have to die completely unprepared." Others were prepared to die and face their Creator. Stephen in Acts 7 last words were “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, Lord do not hold this sin against them” Many others, like Lady Jane Grey Queen of England last words were: "Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit” -Wessel Gansfort, Dutch theologian and humanist last words were "I know only Jesus the crucified." - Edward Coke, an English judge and politician last words were Thy kingdom come, thy will be done." While others, like Robert Bellarmine, last words were only "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus." What we say in the last moments before death matters greatly for those who remain, our descendants. We will be studying v20-22 of chapter 11 of Hebrews where Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph were paying close attention to their last words. In the previous section, we were studying Abraham’s faith and how he trusted and obeyed God in the most impossible scenario. Even then, he trusted and obeyed God because his eyes were fixed not on the circumstances, but on who God is and what God can do; reasoning thus that God was trustworthy. After considering Abraham for several verses the author of Hebrews mentions 3 patriarchs in only 3 verses. Starting with Isaac in v 20.

Hebrews 11:20 ESV

20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.

20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. Previously Isaac was mentioned when Abraham by faith obeyed God and was about to offer up Isaac. When we consider the event in Gen 22 in the eyes of Isaac it seems that Isaac wasn’t an active agent in that interaction. I’m confident that despite his young age he learned a few things since his very life was at stake. Today we would have him in counseling for the trauma he experienced… However, the next thing mentioned about Isaac is what he did last in his lifetime. Before we consider Isaac's last action by faith, we should consider the unspoken fact that throughout his whole life, Isaac lived in tents. He did receive the inheritance from Abraham, all the other sons and daughters of Abraham received gifts, however, Isaac was the recipient of the inheritance. Therefore, Isaac had great possessions and throughout his whole life, he lived like a stranger and an exile while he had the resources and the capital to build himself a city. Like his father, Isaac was looking, seeking a homeland; he had a greater desire for God and that shows by the way he lived. Furthermore, it is quite a feat for Isaac to be mentioned, in that case, it is a feat for anyone to be on this list of the faithful Hall of Fame. The amazing thing is not that these men and women were great in and of themselves, they were just ordinary men and women who trusted and obeyed God, and through them, God showed his power and strength. Here in Hebrews 11:20, it makes mention of Isaac’s sons. We need to remember that Abraham had the promise of many descendants, and he had one child of the promise, that is Isaac. It was through Isaac that the promises would be fulfilled, however, he had only two sons. Remember that when the average couple might have 10 to 15 children, having one or two sons is not considered as many descendants by any means. Like Abraham, Isaac had to hold on to the promises by faith not by sight. He had to believe in what God had said to his father Abraham and trust God and His word more than what he could see. That is how Isaac lived, because by the end of his life, he is still looking to God’s promises by invoking future blessings on Jacob and Esau. It is interesting the order of the names: Jacob before Esau. It implies that it was Jacob and not Esau through whom the promises were to be fulfilled and that is the order in which they received their blessing according to Genesis 27. The blessings pronounced by the next generations of patriarchs, Isaac and his son Jacob, are mentioned briefly to illustrate faith’s confidence in God to bring about an as-yet-unseen future. It is very interesting that as Isaac invoked future unseen blessings, he was physically blind and deceived by his own son Jacob. The author of Hebrews doesn’t make mention of Jacob's deceit and how he had already purchased Esau’s inheritance as firstborn. This story was well known to the first readers of this letter, they were former Jews who were familiar with the Genesis account of their ancestor. Therefore, the author’s inversion of birth order in naming the brothers is sufficient allusion to it. The main point from this short verse is that the blessing from their aged and blind father spoke of things future and so demonstrated Isaac’s faith in things not seen. As we come to the next verse, we see another instance when another patriarch is physically blind seeing the future and blessing his children.

Hebrews 11:21 ESV

21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.

21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. Here in this instance as well when Jacob is giving the blessing he is also advanced in years and he is also blind. It is worth noting that the blessings that Isaac and Jacob gave were acts of faith because neither man could give what was promised to their sons/grandsons. They were totally dependent upon God to fulfill the promised blessings. Jacob had 12 sons and the blessings and foretelling of what was going to happen to their descendants is recorded in Gen 49. However, the blessing to Ephraim and Manasseh was given before in Gen 48. This is the blessing that the author of Hebrews focuses on instead. The reason the author of Hebrews selects this blessing to Ephraim and Manasseh instead might be because in this instance Jacob is clearly described as blind and the fact that he also inverts the order where the younger was honored over the older brother. Just like it happen in the previous generation with Jacob’s father Isaac. We need to remember that Jacob’s firstborn Reuben, had disqualified himself from the privileges as the firstborn, the leadership, and inheritance. In this blessing in Gen 48 Jacob adopts both grandchildren as his sons, as the heirs in place of Reuben who would have received double the inheritance. Isaac was blind when he mistakenly gave the blessing to Jacob, now Jacob is blind giving the blessing to Manasseh and Ephraim, but now deliberately the younger Ephraim is preferred over the older Manasseh. By faith, the blind Jacob foresaw the multiplication of tribes that would descend from Ephraim and Manasseh in the coming generations. In the process of blessing them, Jacob bowed in worship of God over the head of his staff. Jacob worshiped his faithful promise-keeping Lord. He praised God for what was going to happen after he died. Physically, Jacob was an old man and weak, he had to be supported by his staff. By contrast, his faith was strong. He was anticipating a time when his descendants would inherit their own land and prosper under God’s merciful direction. He lived and expressed the “assurance of things hoped for” and he knew that the God who had guided him would not fail his descendants. What we see is Jacob at the point of death, weak and worn out, expressing great hope and confidence for his descendants, being not only an example but also an encouragement to them that God is faithful. God is worthy of our trust and obedience. It might be because of our negative view of the future that we forget to be more like Jacob on our deathbed. I think we tend to be more like King Hezekiah than Jacob. You might say, King who? What are you talking about…. King Hezekiah's life is recorded in 2 Kings 18-20. He was one of the few kings of Judah who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Towards the end of his life, God healed him of a deadly disease and gave him another 15 years of life. After his recovery, the prophet Isaiah said to him in 2 Kings 20: 16-19. “16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 18 And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?” After hearing the terrible news of the coming judgment King Hezekiah was happy because he was only thinking of himself and his life. That is really the only way he could have said the word of the Lord is good in that situation. Therefore, it is likely that he didn’t do anything to admonish his son Manasseh who was a wicked, evil king, or to admonish the people and warn them to turn to the Lord and to trust Him and not depart from the ways of the Lord. Our world and culture have a huge influence on our lives and what we should do, think, and care for after we die. We are told over and over that we need to care for the earth and to think of future generations. The world values possessions and leaving stuff and money to descendants. That we should focus on ourselves and our retirement and enjoyment of life while we can. However, what the world is not going to tell us is that the most important thing we can pass on to the next generations is faith in Christ. On his deathbed Hezekiah was only thinking of himself, he didn’t care as much about the future generations. Jacob, on the other hand, even though he was physically weak and blind, was able to worship God on his deathbed because he was able to see and believe that God’s promise and faithfulness were going to continue after his death. We are not living in the same time period of the covenant as Jacob did where the promises and blessings were limited to a single lineage of descendants. Jesus came as a descendant of David, from the tribe of Judah, a descendant of Abraham. By faith, we can be adopted into God’s family and by faith become descendants of Abraham, but most importantly sons and daughters of God. As we grow old, weak, and worn out let us grow spiritually strong, holding on faithfully to the “assurance of things hoped for” knowing that God is faithful. Let us be like Jacob and be an encouragement to the next generations sharing with others the hope of the gospel, through our actions and words the hope and confidence in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who through Christ provided a way for sinners like us to be saved and reconciled to our Creator. Don’t think that because of your age, you can’t be a witness to others. If we are alive it is because God has a plan and a purpose for our lives. George Whitefield said, “We are immortal until our work on earth is done.” We are going to live until God will accomplish everything He has intended and planned for us. Our age doesn’t matter if God places someone in our path, it is our duty to share about the only true God, that salvation is through Christ alone, that even though we are not perfect and unable to keep God’s commands on our strength, we have a perfect Savior who will give us the right words and the right moments and the people to share about Jesus. Let’s imagine this scenario and consider what we should do in a situation like this. Let’s imagine that you are on your deathbed in the hospital. You talked with everyone, everything is in order, you are just lying there waiting for death to come. Then the cleaning person comes into your room, and you can tell that he or she is distressed, and the Lord puts on your heart very clearly that you need to share the gospel with this person. What are you going to do? You have the option to ignore this person and focus on yourself and your suffering, your pain, and how you just want to be home with the Lord. The other option is to speak life into this person and share the good news of Jesus. You can be a blessing and bring hope to others even when we are at the end of our lives, just like Isaac gave a blessing when he was blind and close to death, just like Jacob was blind and worn out ready to die and he adopts Ephraim and Manasseh and gives them a blessing. Which we also see in Joseph in this next verse as well. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones. Now the author of Hebrews turns to Joseph. Remember Joseph life and legacy, he was loved by his father and hated by his brothers. His brothers tried to kill him, but they settled on selling him as a slave. Then after 13 years as a slave and a prisoner, he was exalted as second in command in Egypt to save lives. What his brothers had meant for evil The Lord meant for good for the salvation of Israel. It was truly through Joseph that God saved Israel from destruction, and in the process, many others benefited from the fact that there was food in Egypt during the 7 years of famine. Joseph also tried to protect the Israelites from the Egyptian culture and false gods, by arranging so that they would live in the land of Goshen, so they were in a sense separated from the false Egyptian gods. We know in the end it didn’t work. In the same way, it doesn’t work for us if we try to be completely isolated from the world. In the same manner, monasteries don’t work to eliminate sin. If we remove all the external influences towards sin, there is still one big problem. The factory of sin…which is our hearts. Since the fall of Adam and Eve, we have had sin in our hearts and the desire towards sin. Jeremiah 13:23 “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.” Tripp says “I don’t know if you were aware, but it turns out that a leopard’s spots are skin-deep. If you were to shave off their coat, the spots on their fur would always grow back because God actually designed their skin to have spots! Spottedness is wired into the DNA of that big cat, regardless of what you do with the outer coat.” In the same manner, the sin issue is not an external issue. It is a problem that goes deep in the heart. We need Jesus to change us, give us a new heart, and daily to be renewed, and empowered by the Holy Spirit in order to live in a manner worthy of the calling. That is why it didn’t work for the Israelites to be separated in the land of Goshen. However, we should give credit to Joseph for doing what he could to help influence his relatives to remain faithful to the Lord. Joseph's life was crucial for the existence of the Israelites. However, it was not only during his life but also at the end of his life,

Hebrews 11:22 ESV

22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones. By the end of his life, Joseph gave instructions about his bones. Joseph’s faith was displayed in the prediction and directions for after he would die. Even though, all 12 sons of Jacob would die in Egypt, Joseph believed that God would bring their descendants back to the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It seems that Joseph is prophesying about a future exodus. However, God had already informed Abraham, years before Isaac or even Ishmael were born of this exodus. It says in Gen 15:13-14 “13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.” Joseph not only gave directions concerning his bones, it says in Gen 50:25 “Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” Joseph made them swear, or promise that they would take his bones from Egypt. We might ask why Joseph gave such instructions. Joseph's faith was confident, and he had great expectations that God was going to fulfill what He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In a sense, he wanted to be part of the fulfillment of God’s promises, even if it was just his bones that would in participation of the fulfillment of the promise. A theologian says “Joseph’s request was not for selfish interest, but was intended as a stimulus to the Israelites: ‘he wanted to sharpen the desire of his people so that they would look more earnestly for their redemption’ and that they might ‘hope with certainty that they would at length be liberated.’” What an encouragement Joseph was for the next generations, it was through his faith and words that he encouraged and reminded the next generations that God was going to fulfill what He promised. While thinking of our last words and actions may seem and feel a bit morbid, combined with the fact that we don’t know the hour or time we have been appointed to die. These men of faith seem to be saying that our last words matter. Why? Not because it will be recorded or even necessarily remembered, but because it will show and determine how we are going to live each day. God says “do not let the sun go down on your anger”. The words of the rich fool in the parable in Luke 12 were “I will tear down my barns and build larger ones” What will your last words and actions be? We can be so self-focus, and self-centered that we might say like Archimedes “don’t disturb my circles” or we will have to choose each day to live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. If we want to live in this way, we will have to remind ourselves each day, in each moment, or in the midst of the frustrations of life. That My righteousness is Jesus' life. My debt was paid by Jesus' death. My weary load was borne by Him. And He alone can give me rest.