HEBREWS 11:11-22 - Land Of Our Sojourn

Introduction

In my day job I regularly come across trainings and initiatives and seminars on what has come to be known as “DEI” initiatives- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. But Penn State, in an effort to show that they are even more committed to these principles (which, as we know, are just thinly-veiled covers for bitterness and envy)—Penn State has added their own spin to their DEI initiatives by adding another letter: B. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging… (because, apparently inclusion doesn’t include actually belonging to what you are included in…)

But as we are fond of saying, places like higher education institutions love the idea of diversity until they are actually confronted with some. This point has been driven home rather forcefully in the past few years at Penn State DuBois, with students being publically isolated by faculty for having “diverse” viewpoints like believing in biblical marriage, and being harshly reprimanded by senior level administrators on campus for questioning the presence of biological males in the women’s restrooms. (The students were essentially told that the biological male belonged in the ladies’ room, and they had no right to question it.)

And it’s not just higher education, is it? These sorts of conflicts are taking place with increasing frequency in our country, and Christians who see this so-called “wokeness” creeping into their workplaces, into their families, (or even into their churches) can feel increasingly isolated—that they just don’t belong.

On one of his last albums, Rich Mullins recorded a song called Land of My Sojourn (it’s where the sermon title comes from) that captures the Christian’s experience living in this world exquisitely:

Nobody tells you when you get born here / How much you’ll come to love it / and how you’ll never belong here / So I’ll call you my country / And I’ll be longing for my home / And I wish that I could take you there with me (David Strasser / Richard Mullins copyright Capitol CMG Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group)

This is where I want us to begin this morning as we consider the text before us, because when you read these verses you can feel that very same sense of not belonging in the world you live in, of longing for a home you haven’t reached yet:

Hebrews 11:13 (LSB)

All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

Remember, the writer of Hebrews is laboring earnestly in this letter to call wandering Christians back to faithfulness to Christ. They were weary from the constant pressure to go back to the Jewish Temple; they were drained by the constant upheaval and turmoil and violence of Jerusalem in her final days, they had heard the promises of salvation in Christ but were beginning to feel like it wasn’t worth it.

And so throughout this epistle the writer has been exhorting them over and over again not to let go of Christ. Not to fall away from His promises or doubt His superior sacrifice for their sins or His better priesthood for their sanctification. Hebrews 11, this great “Hall of fame of faith”, as it were, is the author’s demonstration that all of the Old Testament saints’ steadfast faith came from looking forward to the promises of God to save them.

And so as the writer of Hebrews is bringing to his readers’ attention these remarkable examples of steadfast faith from the Old Testament in order to strengthen and encourage them to hold fast to the promises of Christ. And so this is the way I want to present this passage to you this morning—in these verses, God’s Word is calling you to

Imitate the UNSHAKEABLE faith of the SAINTS who DELIGHTED in God’s promises

The author points to the lives of the patriarchs and their families as examples for us to imitate—Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. But amidst those examples he states this summary statement of their faith (that we read in verse 13) Heb 11:13

Hebrews 11:13 (LSB)

All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

See here what causes that unshakeable faith—that faith that does not waver in the face of opposition or trial or unbelief., faith that does not waver even in the face of death. I submit to you that this kind of unshakeable faith is born from

I. Your LONGING for your HOMELAND (Hebrews 11:13-16)

Notice in verse 13 that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob saw the promises from a distance. The fulfillment of God’s promise to give them their inheritance was far in the future, but they saw it and welcomed it. They knew it was coming someday, and they “welcomed” (or “greeted” or “saluted”) it from afar. This is the first quality of a faith that is longing for our homeland:

Your EYES are FIXED on home (v. 13a; cp. Romans 8:1)

If you have ever gone hiking or hunting or any kind of activity over rough terrain, you know how important it is to keep landmarks in sight—that tree on the top of the ridge is your goal, and you have to keep it in sight through all the ups and downs and twists and turns of the terrain until you get there.

In the same way, through all of his years of wandering in exile in his own land, Abraham kept his eyes on the promises of God. He was steadfast and unyielding because he knew that God could not fail in His promises. He kept his eyes on God’s faithfulness, and it made him unyielding in his faith.

In fact, we find that this is the entire point that the author is leading to with all of these examples from the patriarchs—he begins in Chapter 12 with the exhortation to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith… (Heb 12:2). Just as Abraham fixed his eyes on the inheritance that he was promised, never take your eyes off of what Christ has accomplished for you.

In a world that runs on accusation and guilt and condemnation where you are expected to cower and apologize for your ethnicity, your possessions, your faith, fix your eyes on the One Who has completely and unalterably removed your guilt by His blood! As you long for the day when you will come into possession of your inheritance in glory, fix your eyes on the fact that

Romans 8:1 (LSB)

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The unshakeable faith of the saints who delighted in God’s promises is shown to us here in these verses in that they longed for the homeland that they fixed their eyes on. And see here in verse 13 of our text another characteristic of this unshakeable faith:

You are CONTENT to be a FOREIGNER here (v. 13b)

Hebrews 11:13 (LSB)

All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

The two words for “strangers” and “exiles” can be translated “foreigners” and “temporary residents”—the patriarchs realized that they did not belong, and would never really belong in this world. So for us as well—that nagging sense of not belonging here, that feeling that you don’t fit in with the lifestyles or priorities or affections of everyone around you? That’s not a bug, it’s a feature!

It seems that Christians as a whole have begun to lose a perspective on our place in this present age that was far more commonplace in the past—the old Gospel song captures it well:

This world is not my home I’m just a-passin’ through / My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue / The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door / And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore!

But for far too many believers today, a desire to be well-thought of by the fallen world around us has overtaken our desire for our homeland with Christ—we want to be the kind of Christian that is considered a “reasonable” Christian by the world; the kind of Christian that gets invited to write articles for The Atlantic or The New York Times, the kind of Christian that doesn’t step on toes or ruffle feathers with “controversial” stances based on Scripture because we want to be liked by the world. We want, in short, to belong to this world more than we want to belong to Christ. And so we will say whatever they tell us to say, affirm and celebrate whatever they want us to affirm or celebrate, accept whatever guilt or criticism is assigned to us—all so we won’t feel like such foreigners in this world.

But no matter how much you give away, Christian—no matter how far you try to kow-tow or grovel for the approval of this world, you will never have it. This world will not give you citizen status unless they get you to utterly reject Christ. And they will go piece by piece, bit by bit, promising that if you just deny this bit of your faith, or agree to “struggle” with this verse in the Bible then you’ll have their approval. But that is all a game. You will never belong in this world while there is any part of you that longs for Christ more than it longs for belonging in this world. They will not stop until they have gotten you to abandon everything.

Christian, there is no belonging that this sorry, wicked world can offer you that comes anywhere close to the belonging that you have in Christ. The Book of Revelation is another New Testament letter written to encourage Christians to keep their eyes fixed on the promises of Christ. The first three chapters include letters written to specific churches in Asia Minor, and each one of them end with beautiful promises of belonging to Christ. In particular, the end of the letter to the church at Pergamum says

Revelation 2:17 (LSB)

‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’

Think of it, Christian—when you awaken in the presence of your Savior in the homeland of Heaven, He will give you a name that only the two of you know! What a picture of intimacy with your Savior—that of all of the uncountable billions of redeemed souls that will inhabit the City of God, you will belong to Jesus in a way that no one else will ever share. He will name you, and you will be known by that name with Him. (Are you really telling me you’d be more excited to have your name show up on a New York Times byline?? Really??)

Christian, imitate the steadfast faith of the saints who delighted in God’s promises more than the promises of this world—fix your eyes on home, be content to be a foreigner. And verses 15-16 show us another characteristic of this steadfast faith—you know that

You can never RETURN to the PAST (vv. 15-16; 1 Cor. 6:9-11)

Hebrews 11:15–16 (LSB)

And indeed if they had been remembering that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now, they aspire to a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He prepared a city for them.

Consider for a moment that Abraham lived his whole life as an exile in a land that God had promised him, and never received it himself. The writer of Hebrews is making it clear here that there was nothing really preventing him from going back to Ur of the Chaldees—he had “opportunity to return”, after all.

But Abraham couldn’t go back to that life—because to do so would mean forfeiting all of the great and glorious promises of YHWH to him! There was nothing in Ur but the darkness and bondage of the idolatry that he had been delivered from—he would rather live as an exile with the promises of God than at home cut off from God!

Christian, in the same way, there is no real freedom from the bondage and darkness of this world, from the idolatry and shame of your old life. There is no forgiveness in that world; there is no clean conscience to be gained by following the world’s prescriptions of forgiving yourself or easing your own guilt or breaking bad habits or banishing negativity or whatever other lies slaves tell each other to convince themselves that their chains are actually the badges of their freedom. The faith that imitates the saints of the Old Testament is faith that realizes that the only inheritance worth seeking is found in the promises of Christ—you can never return to that past!

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 (LSB)

...Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Imitate the unshakeable faith of the saints who delighted in God’s promises—let that longing for your homeland make you steadfast in your hope. The author of Hebrews is pleading with his readers to imitate that steadfast faith, and so he shows them example after example of what that steadfastness looks like in the saint’s life. So look with me at some examples in our text of what this faith does in your life—how this unshakeable faith ensures

II. Your ENDURANCE through this EXILE (Hebrews 11:11-12; 17-22)

What does it mean to imitate the unshakeable faith of the saints of the Old Testament? Take the case of Sarah in verses 11-12 of our text. Unshakeable faith means that you believe God

Even when you are PHYSICALLY beyond HOPE (vv. 11-12)

Hebrews 11:11–12 (LSB)

By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she regarded Him faithful who had promised. Therefore there were born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

Sarah had never been able to have children—and then when she was 90 years old (way past the age when she would have been able to have a child even if she could have!), God promised that she would have a son:

Genesis 17:16 (LSB)

“And I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

At first, she struggled to believe such a thing, laughing at the very thought of it:

Genesis 18:12 (LSB)

And Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

But see the grace of God toward her, that the next time she laughed at having a baby, it was a laugh of such joy that they named the baby “Laughter!”

Genesis 21:3 (LSB)

And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.

Genesis 21:6–7 (LSB)

And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Christian, this is the unshakeable faith of the saints who delighted in God’s promise. Do you wonder sometimes at the physical frailties and weaknesses that you bear? God calls you to trust Him in the work He calls you to do—raising a family, getting an education, pursuing a vocation—He calls you to follow Him and obey Him, but you feel so unequal to the work He has set before you? See here your sister in the faith, Sarah, that even though she was utterly incapable of giving Abraham a son (and when she tried it herself by giving him her maidservant Hagar, that was a mess…)—even so, through all her inconsistencies and missteps, she regarded Him faithful Who promised. Imitate the faith of your sister Sarah and trust God even when you are physically beyond hope.

The next example we have is of Abraham and Isaac in verses 17-18 of our text. See here the example of your brother Abraham for faith that endures

Even when OBEDIENCE seems like it will BREAK you (vv. 17-19; cp. Matt. 19:27-29)

Hebrews 11:17–18 (LSB)

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only son, to whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.”

God gave Abraham and Sarah the son He had promised them—Sarah’s laughter made flesh, the joy of their hearts and the most beautiful, tangible proof of YHWH’s ability to keep His promises—and then he told Abraham to slaughter him as a burnt offering:

Genesis 22:2 (LSB)

Then He said, “Take now your son, your only one, whom you love, Isaac, and go forth to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”

Can you imagine—how can anyone imagine—the black turmoil and searing anguish that must have filled Abraham’s heart that night and the next morning. How can anyone put themselves into his shoes and consider the cost of that kind of obedience? And yet Abraham obeyed.

How could he do such a thing? Where does a man get that kind of obedience? Abraham was able to obey when it seemed like it would break him in two because he believed God would keep His promise. Consider—it was in Isaac that God promised to bless Abraham with descendants that would outnumber the stars (Gen 15:5). And so Abraham, knowing that God could not break that promise, then knew that if Isaac was sacrificed on that altar he would be raised to life again!

Hebrews 11:19 (LSB)

He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he also received him back.

Do you sometimes wonder if God has called you to give more than you can bear? That obedience to Him will cost you too much? That speaking up for your faith at work might cost you a promotion, that standing firm on your convictions for Christ-honoring holiness might cost you friends, that choosing Him over everything and everyone else is more than you can bear?

Then consider the outcome of the faith of your brother Abraham—because when he gave his son up for dead God raised him back up to him! When Abraham said, “Very well, God—take him. I know You will keep Your promise to me, even though it costs me everything to obey you!” That is the unshakeable faith of the saint who delights in God’s promises, and it is what Jesus said to His disciples when Peter pointed out that following Him had cost them everything:

Matthew 19:27–29 (LSB)

Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive one hundred times as much, and will inherit eternal life.

Christian—that is the promise for you when it feels like obedience will break you! Lay it all down on that altar knowing that He will still keep His promises to you! Let all of it go, and He will return to you a hundred times over everything you have lost!

When you are physically beyond hope and yet endure, you are imitating the faith of Sarah. When you obey even though it seems like it will break you, you are imitating the faith of Abraham. And in verses 20-22 we are called to imitate the faith of the patriarchs

When you PASS your HOPE to your DESCENDANTS (Hebrews 11:20-22)

See how the saints of the Old Testament instilled their delighted hope in God’s promises to their children and grandchildren:

Hebrews 11:20–22 (LSB)

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come. By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave commands concerning his bones.

Notice that both Jacob and Joseph are said to have blessed their children “as they were dying”. Here is another sure sign that you are imitating the steadfast faith of the Old Testament saints—your children have no question that you are trusting in God!

One of the greatest blessings that a believer can pass on to the next generation is to live with such steadfast faith in the certainty of God’s promises that when they come to die their descendents have no doubt whatsoever that they have passed into the presence of God in Heaven. There is nothing more heart-wrenching than to sit with a grieving family member at a funeral and hear the uncertainty in their voice and the longing in their words as they say, “He was a good man...”, as if to convince themselves that he really was a believer even though he never confessed faith in Christ. Imitate the faith of the saints of the Old Testament by living it out before your family.

And look again at these verses about Jacob and Joseph blessing their children as they were coming to the end of their lives—their children took their blessings seriously. It didn’t sound strange or unusual or out of place for them to hear the blessing of YHWH come from Isaac or Jacob’s mouth, it wasn’t odd to hear Joseph express such steadfast confidence that his descendents would be brought out of Egypt, because their children were accustomed to hear their fathers praise and worship God; they saw them living out that steadfast faith day by day.

So make it your aim, Christian, to live your life in such a way that blessing your children and commending God’s promises to them as trustworthy doesn’t sound like a joke in your mouth. Do not think that you can spend your life doubting God, living in anxiety or frustration, treating the gathered worship of God with his people as a contemptible thing, ordering your affections and your strength and your priorities exactly the same way as the unbelievers around you—and then expect to be able to offer some kind of spiritual comfort or expression of Christian faithfulness at the end of your life that won’t be met by bewilderment (or even contempt) from those who know you best.

And we cannot read what the Holy Spirit has written here for us without once again encouraging the moms and dads with little ones here this morning: We have said before and we continue to insist that one of the most beautiful things about our worship here at Bethel is the sounds of small children during quiet moments in the service—because that is the sign of parents who are passing their delight in God’s promises on to their descendents! And if you feel self-conscious from time to time and weary of the constant wrangling and wondering whether you will ever be able to sit and listen to a sermon in peace ever again, then take the words of Isaiah 8:18 as your prayer of worship to God:

Isaiah 8:18 (LSB)

Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from Yahweh of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

The faith that does not shrink back to destruction; the faith that endures for the preservation of the soul is a faith that imitates the unshakeable faith of the Old Testament saints. What do these verses ask of you this morning? Does God’s Word reveal in you this kind of faith—are you content to be an alien and stranger in this world, or are you constantly trying to live two separate lives in order to try to fit into both—would an unexpected meeting with one of your church friends and one of your school friends (or work friends) be merely a happy accident or would it be a disaster that threatens your acceptance in both of those worlds?

Does your presence here in worship on the Lord’s Day create in you an increasing longing for the day when your worship can be carried out in the very presence of God Himself, or have you spent the last hour or so fidgeting and wondering when you can get on with your day?

Do you look at Abraham’s example of obedience that broke him and understand how he could trust God that completely (even if you don’t know what you might have done), or do you encounter that episode in Abraham’s life and summarily dismiss the possibility that you would ever obey God if it meant you had to give up your child?

Can you see the kind of faith in your life that would say, “Father, I am so completely and utterly beyond my ability to see how you could carry out your promises toward me; I don’t have the strength, I don’t have the willpower, I don’t have the wisdom for any of it—but I trust you just the same”. Or when obedience gets hard or the stakes get high or the demand seems too much you just walk away from Him.

The only way that anyone can demonstrate this kind of unshakeable faith is when your eyes are fixed on the treasure you have in your salvation through Jesus Christ. Do you have that treasure this morning? Do you look to Him and see the satisfaction of God’s wrath against your sin by His blood? Do you see in Him your perfect plea before the throne of God for your righteousness? Do you marvel that He suffered the agonies of the Cross so that you would escape the eternal punishment your wickedness deserves?

Hear the invitation that comes to you this morning from the living and active Word of God: Stop making your home here in the darkness of this present age. Stop trying to make friends of this world and all of its false promises. Stop rejecting the promises of God sealed by the blood of His Son—His promise to forgive all of your sin, to cleanse you from your guilt and shame, to make you pure and holy and righteous in His sight and conform you into His image day by day through the land of your sojourn until you arrive at last in the presence of the city of God, face to face with your Savior, Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION

Hebrews 13:20–21 (LSB)

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, equip you in every good thing to do His will, by doing in us what is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

FOR FURTHER REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION:

Write down something you learned from this morning’s message that is new to you, or an insight that you had for the first time about the text? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Write down a question that you have about the passage that you want to study further or ask for help with: ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Write down something that you need to do in your life this week in response to what God has shown you from His Word today: ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________