Faith of the Fathers

FAITH OF THE FATHERS Spring Valley Mennonite; March 29, 2020; Hebrews 11:20-29 Greetings from Spring Valley Church where I am preaching to empty pews. I’m hoping to record this sermon on video, but certainly it will be recorded. I plan on posting this on the church Facebook page if everything goes right! I miss seeing each of you and worshipping together. One possible benefit of this separation is to make us appreciate the benefits of gathering together. The fellowship of believers as we meet together is certainly desired and needed. It will be sweet when we can gather, and the corona virus crisis is over. Until then, be wise and be safe. It looks like Easter will need to be celebrated at our individual homes this year, as I doubt the health crisis will be resolved by then. Hopefully the worst will be over by then and we can meet again together. I appreciated the comments from those of you who listened to the sermon last Sunday. Let me know you are listening (or watching), as it is an encouragement to me. I am studying, creating and delivering this sermon by faith, which is appropriate as that is an example of what faith is: the conviction of things not seen! We continue our study in Hebrews 11, where God lists His “Heroes of the Faith.” Today we examine the faith of four prominent Old Testament Fathers of Israel. I have entitled this message “Faith of the Fathers.” The four men whose faith we will explore are Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses. Beginning in verse 20 (Read). I. THE FAITH OF ISAAC Of all the Patriarchs, Isaac has the fewest verses devoted to his life. In Genesis, Abraham has 13 ½ chapters devoted to his life, Jacob has 9 chapters, Joseph has 12, but Isaac has only 2 chapters, plus a few verses. And as we examine these relatively few verses, we find most of them are chronicling his mistakes! We read how Isaac followed his father Abraham’s example of lying, when he told King Abimelech that his wife was his sister. When Abimelech found out the deception, this pagan ruler was more morally offended than was Isaac! Isaac also tried to subvert God’s choice of Jacob as the inheritor of the blessing in favor of Esau, revealing his favoritism of Esau. We surmise this favoritism was selfish in nature because Esau was a hunter and provided Isaac with savory meals of wild game. Rebecca and Jacob schemed to deceive Isaac, but when Isaac discovered the deception by Jacob, Isaac did submit to God’s will and Jacob received the blessing of the Abrahamic Covenant. So why is Isaac presented as an example of faith? He obviously was deeply flawed as an individual. Isaac demonstrated dying faith. He blessed Jacob and Esau when he was convinced he was dying, although he lived for a number of years after giving the blessings. He believed God was going to honor the covenant and he blessed Jacob accordingly. Let’s turn our attention to Jacob, another flawed Patriarch. Read verse 21. II. THE FAITH OF JACOB We probably are more familiar with the life of Jacob than with Isaac. He was the schemer, who stole the birthright and the blessing by deception from Esau. Fleeing from his brother Esau Jacob met his match in deception with his uncle Laban. Laban tricked Jacob into marrying Leah instead of Rachel, resulting in Jacob having to work 14 years for his brides Leah and Rachel. Laban changed his wages 10 times over the next years. Jacob finally left Laban’s territory to return to Canaan in the middle of the night, finally returning after 20 years of serving Laban. He fathered 12 sons, but his family life was a mess! His two wives and 12 sons never got along with one another. There was no good example to follow there! Jacob gave summary testimony of his life to Pharaoh in Genesis 47:9: “The years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty; few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, nor have they attained the years that my fathers lived during the days of their sojourning.” This was hardly a testimony of faith! Yet, Hebrews 11:21 points out his faith. But see at what time of his life he was recognized: it was as he was dying. Like his father Isaac, God is pointing out his dying faith. Moving on to Joseph, look at verse 22: (Read.) III. THE DYING FAITH OF JOSEPH The account of Joseph’s life, in contrast to the stories of Isaac and Jacob, demonstrate first, a life of hardship, and second a life of blessing. We can learn many lessons from Joseph, but the point being made here in Hebrews, like Isaac and Jacob, is his dying faith. Joseph had spent none of his adult life in Canaan, but he was confident that his descendants would in the future return to possess the promised land. He had faith that God was worthy of his trust and that God would keep His promises. The 19th century commentator Matthew Henry wrote, “Though the grace of faith is of universal use throughout the Christian’s life, yet it is especially so when we come to die. Faith has its great work to do at the very last, to help believers to finish well, to die to the Lord so as to honor Him, by patience, hope and joy so as to leave a witness behind them of the truth of God’s Word and the excellency of His ways.”1 The words of someone on his deathbed are universally regarded as truth. There is no reason for a dying person to lie or be deceptive. Isaac, Jacob and Joseph all expressed faith that God was absolutely trustworthy as they affirmed and passed on the blessings of the Covenant given to Abraham. The foremost task of a Christian parent is to pass on the faith to their children. Whatever challenges they have had raising their children, if the children follow in the faith, they have been a success. A word of encouragement to those who may have prodigals who are not walking in the faith presently, the final chapter of their lives has not yet been written. Faith and hope may never be realized in this life, just as Isaac, Jacob and Joseph never saw the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant of the land, the creation of a great nation, and the blessing of the whole world. What is significant about the dying faith of each of these three men is that, like their father Abraham, they all died without seeing the fulfillment of the promise. They received the promise by faith and by faith they passed it on to their children. While these three are pointed out for their dying faith, Moses is remembered for: IV. THE FAITH EXPRESSED IN OBEDIENT LEADERSHIP Read vv. 23-29. Moses’ life began and ended with examples of faith. By faith his parents defied the edict of Pharaoh and preserved the life of their son. Hiding him in the rushes, God honored their faith through the agency of Pharaoh’s daughter who found the child and adopted him as her own. Moses was raised in the Palace of Pharaoh, with all the advantages of royalty. But he rejected all these advantages, all the wealth and pleasures of the royal palace, making a choice to be identified with the Hebrew people. In Acts 7, before he was stoned to death, Stephen spoke of this decision by Moses: chapter 7, beginning at verse 22: “Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds. But when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.” It was not God’s timing for Moses to take his role as the liberator and Law Giver of Israel; that role was to come 40 years later. Moses had the dream of being the leader who would liberate his people, but he needed to learn servant leadership. God taught him that on the backside of the desert as a shepherd. God desired to teach him endurance, as verse 27 of Hebrews 11 states. Forty years is a long time to wait on the Lord, but it was a time he endured by faith. He had been taught about the Covenantal promise of Canaan made to Abraham, the promise passed down through the 400 years the Jews had been in Egypt. Moses believed these promises by faith. But when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, it seems Moses had lost his zeal to lead the people, giving excuses as to why someone else would be a better choice. His faith wavered until God reminded him that when He calls someone, He also equips them to succeed. We know the story of the plagues of Egypt, the last one being the death of the firstborn of all Egypt. In verse 28 we read how it was by faith that he instructed the Hebrews to apply the blood of the Passover Lamb to the doorposts of their homes to protect them from the angel of death. The people were liberated as the fear of God motivated Pharaoh to let the people go. But Pharaoh relented and pursued the people. Trapped between the army of Pharaoh and the Red Sea, Moses again responded in faith with the words to the people: “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” As Moses raised his rod over the sea, it miraculously parted and the people marched across the seabed on dry land. The Egyptians, as they followed, were drowned as the waters returned to their place. Again, and again, down through the history of the Jewish people, God called the people to remember this great deliverance which was won through the faith of Moses. It is valuable to point out that it also took faith for the people to take that walk through the pathway opened with walls of water on either side. Moses was a mighty man of faith, but that faith had to be developed over 40 years in the desert. God had singled Moses out for leadership, but that would only come about in God’s timing. Often our faith is tested as we are called to wait for God’s plan to work itself out. We presently are in a time of waiting for this virus to pass and life to return to a new stage of normal. By faith we are to trust God for the future, which might be somewhat different than what we have known in the past. By faith we are to consider this present life as only preliminary to our permanent home in heaven. By faith we are to proclaim that we are exiles and sojourners in this present world, seeking a city with permanent foundations, the celestial city. And by faith, we are to continue sharing the gospel to a world desperate for hope.