Hebrews 11 - What's the Big Deal About Faith Part 4
Hebrews: Jesus is Greater • Sermon • Submitted
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· 3 viewsTonight we will learn from the "Patriarchs of Faith"
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
**Recap the last several weeks
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
Remember the set up for this chapter is found in Hebrews 10 and is a quotation from the Prophet Habakkuk …
37 For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; 38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
Tonight we are going to look at 4 Patriarchs of the Faith:
Abraham
Isaac
Joseph
Joseph
Abraham
Abraham
A man who believed in the resurrection power of God
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son,
Abraham could have easily said in objection: “God, I thought you were different!” (The Canaanites God’s required human sacrifice)
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
Very important lesson … God does not want human sacrifice - He was different than other gods!
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
Abraham’s faith was not in God providing “another” sacrifice (We had this all wrong). Perhaps you pictured Abraham holding a knife over Isaac for some time waiting for God to provide another sacrifice.
18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
Hebrews 5. Abraham’s Faith Was Great Enough to Know God Was Able to Raise the Dead, and that God Was Able to Keep His Promises (17–19)
The ancient Greek word translated accounting means just what it sounds like in English. It is a term from arithmetic expressing “a decisive and carefully reasoned act.” (Guthrie)
What is remarkable is that up until this point, there is no record of a resurrection happening.
Isaac
Isaac
20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.
To understand this we must go back to Genesis 25-27. Isaac marries Rebekah … Isaac prays to the Lord because she is barren … God honors Isaac’s prayer.
21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.
The Lord’s answer to Rebekah:
23 The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
As the boys grew, the “jostling” continued … but not just between Esau and Jacob, but Isaac and Rebekah as well:
27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Who acted Godly in all of this? (No one)
How is Isaac an example of faith?
Isaac came to faith when he actually realized that although he had been trying for years to override God’s decision to bless Jacob (the younger son) instead of Esau, God had his way.
33 Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”
The ancient Hebrew is very vivid “He started shaking like a leaf”
Why? He knew he tried to go against God, but God’s plans will always win.
Isaac basically said: “Ok, God you win. I will bless Jacob and you can bless Esau as you see fit.”
Lesson: you can’t outwit God, you can’t con him into blessing you (you can’t counterfeit the blessing of God), but if you submit, He will indeed bless you!
Jacob
Jacob
21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.
Jacob, who stole the birthright from his brother Esau, is leaning on his staff.
It’s really hard to find a highlight from Jacob’s life because he bargained, cheated, manipulated, and even lied to get what he wanted.
Jacob’s posture tells us a story about him.
24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. 28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
Have you ever wrestled with God? I believe we wrestle with God all the time. We need to realize that He’s God and we are not.
Here, God wrestled with Jacob. Sometime God needs to wrestled us down in order to build him up.
Lesson: The best thing that could happen to some of us is for God to wrestle with us and defeat us, then He can rebuild us!
Jacob wrestled with God more often than just the account in Genesis 32.
In fact in Genesis 47 Jacob tells Pharoah after he blessed him that his years have been few and difficult.
For some, faith comes easy, but for others (like Jacob) faith is harder. But the good news is that God has faith in us - we can be remembered for our faith!
Joseph
Joseph
22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
Joseph’s life is a highlight reel of faith, yet the author of Hebrews choses this event!? What’s the big deal about this event? Joseph knew that Egypt was not their home!
God told Abraham that Israel would be in Egypt for 400 years and then God would deliver them to the promised land.
The Bible doesn’t tell us this but I believe that Abraham told Isaac, Isaac told Jacob, and Jacob told Joseph.
Joseph was saying that I want my dead bones to testify to the children of Israel that this is not our home. We are not Egyptians, we are children of the most high God. The God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph!
Joseph, even though the promise was a long way off, wanted his life to testify to the promise of God.
Does your life testify to this?