Future Faith
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Hebrews 11:20-22 English Standard Version
Hebrews 11:20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.
Hebrews 11:21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.
Hebrews 11:22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
In Hebrews 11:20-22 we return to the patriarchs introduced in Hebrews 11:9.
Hebrews 11:9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
Thomas R. Schreiner in his commentary on Hebrews writes:
When we think about all that could be commented on in the life of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, it is remarkable that in every case the author reflects on what they said in their old age or when they were on their deathbed. He doesn’t comment on anything these people did in their lives that manifested faith. Instead, he zeros in on what they said, and how they prophesied about the future when they were about to die. In every case they continued to believe in the promises at their death, even when it became apparent they wouldn’t be fulfilled in their lifetimes.[1]
Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
Hebrews 11:20
1. By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.
a. Future blessings - lit., “concerning things to come”[2]
b. Isaac blessed them not just in reference to the future but concerning the “things” that God was going to do in the future. “Things to come” fits well with other descriptions of God’s final salvation.[3]
c. The verb underlying “things to come” (mellō) is used frequently in Hebrews to indicate the eschatological hope of the faithful (see 1:14; 2:5; 6:5; 10:1; 13:14).[4]
d. “Blessed” (eulogeō) in this context refers to the Hebrew custom of passing the promise, and the privileged position that goes with it (cf. 6:14), from one generation to another. Thus a father who is nearing death blesses his son or grandson (as Abraham blessed Isaac, Gen. 25:11; Isaac blessed Jacob, Gen. 27:27ff.; and Jacob blessed Joseph, Gen. 48:15, and Ephraim and Manasseh, Gen. 48:20).[5]
e. Issac
i. Genesis 26:2 And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you.
ii. Genesis 26:3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.
iii. Genesis 26:4 I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,
iv. Genesis 26:5 because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
f. Jacob
i. Genesis 27:28 May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine.
ii. Genesis 27:29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
g. Esau
i. Genesis 27:39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high.
ii. Genesis 27:40 By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
h. Jacob
i. Genesis 28:4 May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!”
Hebrews 11:21
1. By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph,
a. Jacob blessed his twelve sons Genesis 49:1-33 but the emphasis here is the blessing on Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
b. Genesis 48:3 And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,
c. Genesis 48:4 and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.’
d. Genesis 48:9 Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.”
e. The blessing for each son is recorded in Genesis 48:15-20.
2. bowing in worship over the head of his staff.
a. The last clause in this verse is taken practically verbatim from the lxx of Genesis 47:31. [6]
b. Genesis 47:31 Lexham English Septuagint He said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. And Israel did obeisance upon the top of his staff.
c. Genesis 47:31 And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.
d. The words for “bed” and “staff” consist of the same three consonants (mṭh) vocalized differently. The Masoretes of the early Middle Ages chose the vowels for “bed,” and so it has come to us in our Hebrew Bibles.[7]
e. It is possible to vocalize the Hebrew so the reference is actually to Jacob’s staff. On the other hand, there is evidence that Jacob was in fact in bed (Gen 48:2; 49:33).[8]
i. Genesis 48:2 And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed.
ii. Genesis 49:33 When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
Hebrews 11:22
1. By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
a. Exodus - departure (exodus) n. — the act of coming or going out of a place; especially referring to the departure that the Israelites made from Egypt.
b. Mention - to remember and mention v. — to remember and respond by vocally calling attention to something or someone.
i. to recall and to respond by making mention of—‘to remember and mention, to remember to mention.’[9]
c. Furthermore, Joseph “remembers” the promise of “the exodus” first given to Abraham. Thus, these examples continue the emphasis on faith as living with the certainty that God will fulfill his promises.[10]
i. Abraham
1. Genesis 15:13 Then the Lordsaid to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.
2. Genesis 15:14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
ii. Isaac
1. Genesis 48:21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.
iii. Joseph
1. Genesis 50:24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
2. Genesis 50:25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”
3. These instructions were duly accomplished, according to Exod. 13:19 and Josh. 24:32.[11]
a. Exodus 13:19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.”
b. Joshua 24:32 As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.
Work It Out
1. Faith perceives the future.
a. Genesis 27:1 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.”
b. Genesis 48:10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them.
c. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
d. Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
2. Faith praises God for the future.
a. Hebrews 11:21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.
3. Faith prepares for the future.
a. Hebrews 11:22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
4. Faith perpetuatesthe blessing to the future generation.
a. Hebrews 11:20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.
b. Hebrews 12:16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
c. Hebrews 12:17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
[1] Thomas R. Schreiner, Hebrews, ed. T. Desmond Alexander, Thomas R. Schreiner, and Andreas J. Köstenberger, Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2021), 359.
lit. literally
[2] Donald A. Hagner, Hebrews, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 197.
[3] Gareth Lee Cockerill, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012), 559–560.
[4] Donald A. Hagner, Hebrews, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 198.
[5] Donald A. Hagner, Hebrews, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 198.
lxx Septuagint (the pre-Christian Greek translation of the ot)
[6] Donald A. Hagner, Hebrews, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 197.
[7] Donald A. Hagner, Hebrews, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 199.
[8] Thomas R. Schreiner, Hebrews, ed. T. Desmond Alexander, Thomas R. Schreiner, and Andreas J. Köstenberger, Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2021), 358.
[9] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 348.
[10] Gareth Lee Cockerill, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012), 559.
[11] Donald A. Hagner, Hebrews, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 199.