Dying in Faith

By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

Having devoted the greater part of Hebrews 11 to Abraham, the author of Hebrews now devotes just one sentence each to the son, grandson and great-grandson of Abraham. Yet in these three verses are found pure gold for helping us in our journey of faith. Each of these verse focuses on the dying faith of these men.

In their dying days each of these men faced challenges to their faith: Isaac faced the challenge of moral and spiritual failure, Jacob faced the challenge of physical frailty and Joseph faced the challenge of his wealth and fame in this world. Although these three challenges do not cover all the challenges we might possibly face to our faith, the lessons learned will serve us well as we face our own faith challenges.

Let’s begin with Isaac:

Isaac: From Failure to Faith

As we begin looking at Isaac let’s look again at verse 20:

Hebrews 11:20 ESV

By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.

This episode in Isaac’s life can be found in Genesis 27, Isaac was now 137 years old and he had gone blind. Although he would live for an additional 43 years, the story makes it clear that Isaac expected to die soon. Let me read that text:

Genesis 27:1–4 ESV

When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”

There is a problem here with Isaac’s plan—it wasn’t God’s plan! 77 years earlier when Isaac was a spry 60 years old, God had given his wife Rebekah a prophetic word.

Genesis 25:23 ESV

And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”

You see, God’s plan was for Isaac to give the blessing he was about to give Esau to his younger brother Jacob. For 77 years Isaac had been in rebellion against God’s plan!

We all have areas of our lives that we struggle to bring into submission to God’s will. These are what are called “besetting sins.” Some people for example, struggle with anger all of their lives. Other’s struggle with sexual sins or substance abuse. Sometimes it is a struggle with doubts or negative self-talk. I don’t have time to list them all, but I think you get the picture. You have probably already identified several of examples of besetting sins in your own life even as I speak.

The problem with Isaac’s besetting sin was it was still with him at what he thought was the end of his life. If he had died, he would have died in unbelief and rebellion!

Thankfully, God is a God of grace and He intervened to restore Isaac’s faith in God’s plan. God did this by using the sinful plot of Rebekah and Jacob. I will not go into the details, you can read it yourselves in Genesis 27, but they deceived Isaac into giving the blessing to Jacob. Of course, when Esau came back with his “delicious” dish of wild game the plot was exposed!

You would think that at this point Isaac would resend his blessing of Jacob and give it to Esau, but the text says that Isaac refused to do this. What had happened? Isaac had woken up and saw his sin, more importantly, he repented and placed his faith in God’s plan.

When our sin is exposed, it is easy to become discouraged. I know that is the way I feel when my moral and spiritual failings are exposed, especially if they are long standing, besetting sins. We need to understand something, thoughts like these come from the Devil. God never wants to move us to disrepair and hopelessness. He always wants to move us to repentance and faith. So, if you are feeling that you have failed so miserably that there is not hope, know this—that is the Devil talking to you! God wants to move you to faith.

God by His grace restored Isaac’s faith and drove Him to repentance; and the God of grace will do the same for you! Listen to and believe this wonderful promise:

1 Peter 5:10 ESV

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

The second man in our text today to die in faith was Jacob.

Jacob: From Frailty to Faith

Again, let’s refresh our memories with the text:

Hebrews 11:21 ESV

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

Jacob was born griping the ankle of his brother Esau. His name means “grasper” or “deceiver” and it was a very fitting name. What he lacked in charisma and physical prowess, he more than made up in tenacity! Of course, there was a price to be paid for his ruthless deceit—his brother and brothers-in-law wanted to kill him! In fact, after long years in exile in Haran, he was running for his life back to the Promised Land. The only problem was his return had not gone unnoticed by his brother Esau. Gathering his men, Esau came to intercept Jacob. For the first time in his life Jacob was in a situation from which his wits and his cunning could not rescue him. If he went back he would be killed by his brothers-in-law. If he went forward he would be killed by his brother.

What was he to do? What he should have been doing all his life—grasping onto God!

That night, Jacob wrestled with God. He would not let go until God blessed him with His protection, but before God blessed him he broke Jacob’s hip. Why did God do this? Because God wanted to remind Jacob not to rely on his own strength but God’s. The most powerful lift in weight lifting is the dead lift. You can’t lift hundreds of pounds with your back. You can’t lift it even with your legs. You have to lift it with your hip. If your hip is broken your strength is broken.

In our text this morning we find Jacob blessing the sons of Joseph and worshiping God while leaning on his staff. It is a picture of frailty, but also of faith.

Some of you are in the prime of life as Jacob was when God broke his hip and have had your strength taken from you. Some of you are old like Jacob was when he blessed the sons of Joseph and are frail. It is easy to get angry and accuse God of unkindness when we find ourselves frail, but I want you to see God’s grace in your weakness. Listen to the words of Paul.

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 ESV

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

God is at work in your weakness, He is moving you from frailty to faith!

The third man in our text is Joseph.

Joseph: From Fame to Faith

Joseph is portrayed as the “golden boy” of the Old Testament. Next to David, Joseph is most clearly a type pointing to Jesus. Through his undeserved suffering, Joseph become the savior of not only the people of God, but the whole known world at that time! By the end of his life he had risen to great fame and fortune. Yet it wasn’t his fame and fortune that Joseph placed his faith and hope in. Listen to our text again:

Hebrews 11:22 ESV

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

Joseph didn’t look back, but he looked forward! Back in 1984, Bruce Springsteen topped the charts with a song entitled, “Glory Days.” It was a song about looking back to the “Glory Days” of one’s youth. For most people that is all they have—the glory days of the past.

For the person who places their faith in Christ their glory days lie in the future!

It is hard to have such faith when we have fame and fortune in this world. Jesus once said:

Mark 10:25 ESV

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

It is not failure or frailty that is the greatest obstacle to faith, but fame. I make this point because I want you to see what a great work God did in the heart of Joseph. Joseph’s fame and fortune could have easily shipwrecked his faith, but God did not let that happen. And why is this important to you? Because if you have given your heart to Jesus in faith, God is not going to let anything shipwreck your faith as well! Paul was so confident of this he would write:

Philippians 1:6 ESV

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Don’t let the obstacles of faith get you down, right now it may feel like your faith is being beaten down, but God is taking you through this trial to build your faith up in order that as you take your dying breath your faith does not look to anything or anybody but Christ. As I conclude this message, hear again God’s promise to you:

1 Peter 5:10 ESV

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.