The Faith of the Patriarchs

We are in the book of Hebrews and studying what is known as the faith chapter, Chapter 11. Two weeks ago we started and talked about faith itself. In verse one, we find the most complete definition of faith in the Bible. , Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. NKJV The Amplified Bible Translation puts it this way, , NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. AMP I'm surprised that the Amplified doesn't amplify the word hope. That Greek word used there, Elpidzo, means to expect or to trust in.

The great thing about Christianity is that we can trust in and wait for, expect the promises of God to come true. No other religion does that. The Apostle John writes, , These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. NKJV There is no doubt for those who have faith, true faith in Christ as their Lord and Savior. Don't wonder, know!

I was watching a 60 Minutes or Dateline, one of those shows the other night and they were interviewing Michael Bloomberg. He's worth about $53 billion and is listed as the 6th richest man in America and the 10th richest in the world. He was the founder of Bloomberg L.P. which is known for the Bloomberg computer terminal which sits on the desks of every major stock trader in the world. He was the mayor of New York City for 12 years and was known for his large soda drink ban which banned the sale of sodas and sugary drinks over 16 ozs.

But I digress. In the interview, Bloomberg talked about the great amount of money that he has given and the good work that he has done for people and said, "We've spent a billion dollars trying to convince people to not smoke. It's been phenomenally successful. We've probably saved millions of lives. There aren't many people that have done that. So, you know, when I get to heaven, I'm not sure I'm going to stand for an interview, I'm going right in. Hahaha." (Taken from CBS 60 Minutes interview, August 27, 2017. https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/bloomberg-2/ )

Unfortunately, this is the idea that a lot of people have. The good things I have done determine whether I go to heaven and my place there. They believe that they arrive at the Pearly Gates and are greeted by St. Peter and you tell St. Peter what you have done and he lets you in. Not going to work that way. Before John wrote what I read a minute ago in 1 John, he wrote this, , He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. NKJV Bloomberg's good deeds, nor his great wealth, nor his giving away of that wealth will get him into heaven. He will have to stand for the interview and that interview will not be with St. Peter, it will be the God of the Universe and He will ask one question, "What did you do about My Son?"

We'll get back to that. Let's look at .

, By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude — innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. NKJV

The starters of the Nation of Israel, the Jewish people, Sarah and Abraham. The whole point of these mentions is that everything that Abraham did and that Sarah did, they did out of faith in what God promised them in the future. Abraham headed out into the unknown, away from his family to a place that God told him to go to. Not knowing anything about what might happen but trusting in God.

Look at this list of promises that God gives to Abram before he even leaves. , Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. #1 I will make you a great nation; #2 I will bless you And #3 make your name great; And #4 you shall be a blessing. #5 I will bless those who bless you, And #6 I will curse him who curses you; And #7 in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." 4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. NKJV

Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. #1 I will make you a great nation; #2 I will bless you And #3 make your name great; And #4 you shall be a blessing. #5 I will bless those who bless you, And #6 I will curse him who curses you; And #7 in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." 4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. NKJV

We would see one more promise in verse 7 when the Lord promises to give to Abram all the land of Canaan. Even when Abraham and Sarah messed up by trying to help God, God promised them a son, the true heir to all of this. Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 when Isaac was born. A man "as good as dead," the author says. This man bore the child of promise that would lead to all of these other promises eventually being fulfilled.

Abraham and Sarah's child and grandchild would become heirs of the same promises that would still not be seen in their lifetime but would indeed be trusted in.

, These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. NKJV

All of them died believing in but never receiving, never seeing those promised completely fulfilled. They never received the rest of the Promised Land. But they had faith that they would see it one day. We are to live our lives the same way. For some, if not many, if not all, we will die before we receive the rest of the Promised Land of heaven. See the parallels here to us? Promises believed but not received but waited for and trusted in.

It says that they saw "them afar off." The clarity of that statement is not fully known. How did they see it? Was it through the sacrifice of Isaac? Was it in a visitation from the Lord? All of those spoken of here had a physical visitation from the pre-incarnate Christ. However they "saw from afar", it caused them to be assured of the promises. It says they were assured of them and embraced them.

Do we embrace the promises that God has given us? We have greater than a pre-incarnate visitation, we have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within us to assure us! , Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. NKJV

All of them confessed that they were strangers and sojourners on the earth. They had not yet received the land of the promise, Canaan. So they travelled throughout the land. They were confessed as strangers and pilgrims awaiting the Promised Land of Canaan on the earth. We are strangers and pilgrims on the earth awaiting the Promised Land of heaven! As Christians, we no longer belong here. This is not our country, heaven is our place of residence, and we are just not there yet!

These patriarchs would come to have no expectation of the land of Canaan being given to them but instead being given to their posterity and their expectation would be on a heavenly country.

, By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones. NKJV

By faith, by faith, by faith we hear him say. Trusting in what God has promised all of these things were done.

Abraham offered his son Isaac. Ready to sacrifice him because he knew...he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God had promised to make a great nation from Isaac. How would He do it? Would He raise Him from the dead? Abraham knew that he didn't need the answer, but instead needed faith. We don't need to know how to do, how it will be done, we just need to know that God said He would do it. Many times faith fails because we can't figure out how God will do something or even if God WILL do something.

Abraham took the promise that he had and it says that when it came time to sacrifice Isaac, he just made up his mind that God would resurrect Isaac, somehow, someway. We don't have any mention that I could find of resurrection before that. We don't even read it then. This is the first we hear that Abraham conceived this idea in his head. And, because of Abraham's faith, God DID figuratively raise Isaac from the dead. Because for all intents and purposes, he was dead. Abraham was going to kill him.

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau. He pronounced things of the future that had been promised to him, over them.

By faith Jacob blessed the two sons of Joseph. Even though he could not see, he crossed his hands and blessed the younger over the older, pronouncing the posterity of Ephraim to greater than his older brother Manasseh.

In these two we see a reversal of the norm done in two different ways. The oldest should be blessed greater than the younger. But Isaac is tricked by Jacob because Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob. But then Jacob divinely switches the blessing from Manasseh to Ephraim.

And finally in verse 22, we see that by faith, Joseph declared that the Israelite people would leave Egypt and he desired that his bones would be removed from there to be brought to the Promised Land.

We'll continue with reading of the faith of those that have come before us and what that means to us. We are wise to remember as we go through this section what we have read previously.

, But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. NKJV

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. NKJV