17: Living By Faith - part 3 (Hebrews 11:17-27)
Jesus is Better (a Study of the Book of Hebrews) • Sermon • Submitted
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· 67 viewsWhen’s the last time you obeyed God and did what was difficult instead of cowering to do what was comfortable? Today we are reminded how Old Testament titans of the faith trusted God with the future they couldn’t see and consider how we can follow in their steps.
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Today is the 3rd week that we are in Hebrews 11 - the Faith Hall of Fame - filled with Hebrew heroes who were LIVING BY FAITH in the living God.
Genuine faith is living like God exists and God rewards those who seek Him.
That’s the faith of those we have studied so far - Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, & Sarah who trusted God in this life and in the next. But is that OUR faith?
When’s the last time you obeyed God and did what was difficult instead of cowering to do what was comfortable? Today we are reminded how Old Testament titans of the faith - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses - trusted God with the future they couldn’t see - and consider how we can follow in their steps.
Quick side note: Just in case you look at these folks and think, “Yeah, they are great examples, but I can’t live faithful like they did.” - We could spend time exploring moments of unfaithfulness.
Noah got drunk.
Abraham was scared for his life and told other men who wanted Sarah that she was his sister and not his wife. Later Abraham slept with Sarah’s maid at Sarah’s request before she gave birth to Isaac.
Isaac and his wife played favorites with their kids. Isaac loved Esau more while Rebekah loved Jacob.
Jacob was the trickster who traded some soup for his brother’s birthright. Then Jacob and is mother tricked Isaac into blessing Jacob by pretending to be Esau - even putting on hairy animal skin so his blind Dad would feel him and think it was his favorite son.
And Joseph - remember his arrogance as he was quick to share his dreams showing that his brothers would bow to him? That so infuriated his brothers some wanted to kill him and they sold him into slavery.
The failures of these folks in not spotlighted by the writer of Hebrews, but I want EVERY PERSON LISTENING to know…God can greatly use you, even if you haven’t always been faithful to Him.
PRAY
Hebrews 11:17–19 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and yet he was offering his one and only son, the one to whom it had been said, Your offspring will be traced through Isaac [Gen 21:12]. He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead; therefore, he received him back, figuratively speaking.
As we have already studied and discussed in this series, it was by faith that Abraham offered up Isaac, knowing that God had already promised his offspring would be traced through Isaac.
In other words, Abraham would obey God to sacrifice Isaac, remembering that God had promised that Abraham’s family would come from Isaac’s family tree (Gen 21:12), so....somehow…some way…God’s promises would prove true.
How? Abraham had a thought that the Genesis text doesn’t tell us about - that God was able even to raise someone from the dead. His thinking could have gone something like this - since God brought Isaac to life from Sarah’s dead womb in the first place (Rom 4:17-18), God could raise Isaac back to life.
The ancient audience along (along with US) should be prompted to the fantastic truth that God has another raised from the dead the Lord JESUS!
Hebrews 11:20–22 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and he worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, as he was nearing the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions concerning his bones.
All 3 of these men have 1 thing in common, what they said was by faith as they were facing death. With death just over the horizon, they trusted God’s future promises as if they were sure of what they hoped for and convinced of what they did not see (Heb 11:1 NET).
I want to see a person’s faith in the goodness of life, but show me their trust in God as death looms…and this greatly encourages me!
And just as was true with Abraham, the 3 promises God had made were not yet seen by any of them: 1) possession of the Promised Land 2) a great nation of their descendents 3) blessing many nations through their family.
John MacArthur writes:
They were so confident in God’s word that they passed on the promises to their children. They believed what they had never seen, and they passed on what they had never seen to their children...They had not seen the land possessed, the nation established, or the world blessed, but they saw the promises, and that was enough. [John F. MacArthur Jr., Hebrews, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1983), 338.]
So it was, that not long before death...
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob over Esau even though Jacob was NOT the firstborn. He prophesied concerning things to come - that Esau, the firstborn, would be under the family leadership of Jacob instead of the other way around (Gen 27:26-40). And that’s exactly what happened. In fact, the Hebrew people are not named after Esau, but after Jacob - whom God gave the name of “Israel”.
By faith Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph. This is one of the most tender pictures in all of Scripture as Jacob on his death-bed summons all the strength he has to sit up in his bed and welcome his son Joseph who brought his 2 young sons to see their grandfather - Jacob (whom God had renamed “Israel”
Genesis 48:8–12 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons God has given me here.” So Israel said, “Bring them to me and I will bless them.” Now his eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly see. Joseph brought them to him, and he kissed and embraced them. Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, but now God has even let me see your offspring.” Then Joseph took them from his father’s knees and bowed with his face to the ground.
And then Jacob prayed a blessing on his son Joseph, and his 2 sons.
But instead of giving the greater blessing to the oldest of the 2 sons - Manasseh, Jacob gave the greater blessing to the younger - Ephraim. And just as had happened in Jacob’s own life where his older brother served him, so too Jacob blessed them by faith that the younger would be the leader (Genesis 48:17–20) - which after Jacob’s death - became true.
By faith Joseph…mentioned the exodus which was still many years away - over 400 years away (Acts 7:6)! Remember that at the end of Joseph’s life he and his Hebrew family were treated well by the Pharaoh. But the Pharaohs that followed put Jacob (aka Israel) & Joseph’s family into slavery for several generations! Although Joseph didn’t know all the details of what was to come, he knew one thing…God is faithful to fulfill His promises. Joseph KNEW his people would one day return to the land God had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Here is the account the author of Hebrews is writing about:
Genesis 50:24–25 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will certainly come to your aid and bring you up from this land to the land he swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” So Joseph made the sons of Israel take an oath: “When God comes to your aid, you are to carry my bones up from here.”
And that’s exactly what they did - about 400 years later when the Hebrews left Egypt (Ex 13:19).
And now the author parades the prince of the Hebrew people, the Old Testament shepherd who led them out of Egypt - enter stage right - Moses.
But just before we get to him, we must consider a faithful couple.
Hebrews 11:23 By faith Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict.
Just in case you don’t know the story, the Pharaoh had commanded the Hebrew midwives helping women giving birth to KILL any son that was born (Ex 1:15-16).
Evidently, Pharaoh expected these ladies to act as undercover assassins who would quickly kill the babies just after their birth, just before being cleaned up and handed to the mother. This would have eventually wiped out the Hebrew people.
But the Hebrew midwives “feared God” and refused to obey Pharaoh (Ex 1:17), making up a story that by the time they made it to the Hebrew women to help with the birthing process, these strong ladies were already holding their bouncing baby boys .
When Pharaoh’s plan was thwarted, he came up with a new one.
Exodus 1:22 Pharaoh then commanded all his people, “You must throw every son born to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every daughter live.”
That’s what faced the parents of Moses at the time of his birth. So...
Hebrews 11:23 By faith Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict.
Of course, Moses’ parents couldn’t hide him forever, so his mother got basket and coated it with a tar-like substance and put it in the Nile River while Moses’ sister tracked where it was taking him (read about it in Exodus 2).
The little boat with the little boy floated up on one of Pharaoh’s daughters and she recognized the treasure inside as a Hebrew baby boy and felt sorry for him - probably knowing what most Hebrew baby boys were drowning, not floating in the Nile.
When Moses’ sister saw that this lady intended to protect the baby, she walked up to Pharaoh’s daughter and asked if she wanted to get a Hebrew woman to nurse the infant for her. And that’s what happened - Moses’ mother was hired to nurse her own child, and later brought Moses back to Pharaoh’s daughter to live as her son.
In fact, it was Pharaoh’s daughter who named him “Moses” - meaning “drawn out” - as in “drawn out from the water” (Ex 2:10).
And so it was that this Hebrew boy was raised in the royal family of Pharaoh and given the finest education (Acts 7:22) in the most wealthy, cultured, and advanced nation in the world.
Yet,
Hebrews 11:24–25 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasure of sin.
Instead of becoming a respected & wealthy leader in Egypt, Moses became public enemy #1. His drawings were likely shown on “Egypts Most Wanted” and Moses fled for his life. Why? When Moses, still an Egyptian member of the royal family, saw a slave driver abusing a Hebrew slave, Moses killed him (Ex 2:11-15).
After 40 years a fugitive, God called Moses to return to Egypt and confront the next Pharaoh and command him to let God’s people go. And by faith - trusting what God had said, Moses returned to Egypt to align himself with the Hebrew underdogs rather than the Egyptian World Champions.
Moses no longer lived in one of Pharaohs plush palaces, but in the slave quarters of the Hebrew people. And Moses had to confront the most powerful man in the world as an enemy rather than a family member…over and over again!
Moses chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasure of sin.
He could of done what was most comfortable for Himself and his family. Instead, he left a stable job and his wife’s family. He ripped his kids away from their doting grandparents in order to OBEY GOD and return to Egypt. Rather than pleading with the Pharaoh to be allowed back into the riches of the royal family, and bow his knee to Egyptian gods, Moses chose to OBEY GOD.
After all, if Moses did NOT obey God - what would that have been? SIN. But rather than live for the temporary pleasure os sin that ultimately goes away - Moses, by faith, chose to obey God.
Moses had genuine faith and was living like God exists and God rewards those who seek Him.
Like the other Hebrew heroes mentioned over the last several weeks, Moses was sure of what he hoped for, and convinced of what he could not yet see (Heb 11:1 NET). The author Hebrews notes that with these powerful words.
Hebrews 11:26 For he considered reproach for the sake of Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking ahead to the reward.
Moses lived about 1400 years before Jesus the Christ (Messiah) came to earth. How much did Moses know about the future Messiah? We simply don’t know. There is another option that makes a lot of sense -
that this term translated as “Christ” means “anointed” is referring to the Hebrew people as in Ps 89:50-51. [William Lane & David deSilva both mention this - see Logos Notes]
Psalm 89:50–51 Remember, Lord, the ridicule against your servants— in my heart I carry abuse from all the peoples— how your enemies have ridiculed, LORD, how they have ridiculed every step of Your anointed.
In other words, the author might be intending that Moses considered reproach for the sake of God’s anointed people to be more valuable than the riches of Egypt.
In this way, both Moses and Jesus exchanged glory for suffering. Moses exchanged the glory of Egypt and Jesus exchanged the glory of heaven as both chose to be suffering shepherds leading the Hebrew people out of slavery - both looking ahead to the reward.
The Scripture continues...
Hebrews 11:27 By faith he left Egypt behind, not being afraid of the king’s anger, for Moses persevered as one who sees Him who is invisible.
By Faith...Moses persevered - that is - Moses kept on keeping on, even when tough times came…because He trusted Him who is invisible.
When powerful Pharaoh threatened him, Moses persevered - trusting God and not being afraid of the king’s anger.
When Pharaoh made things harder on the enslaved Hebrew people and and his own people blamed Moses for the difficulty, Moses persevered - trusting God when everyone else was questioning him.
Moses persevered because he had genuine faith -
Genuine faith is living like God exists and God rewards those who seek Him.
How about YOU?
FEET2FAITH
FEET2FAITH
Do you really believe God exists? Write down 5 evidences that demonstrate God’s existence and/or ask others for their answers.
Are you SEEKING God? Write down at least 2 ways you are seeking God or SHOULD be seeking God. Are you seeking God? If not, why not? What material possessions or personal relationships are distracting you from seeking Jesus 1st?
Give God the 1st part of your day Open the Scriptures and read at least 1 chapter day. Write down questions you have and insights you gain and share them with another person.
What sacrifice have you made/will you make for the One who sacrificed for Himself for you? What sin have you ditched? What truth have you defended?
Living By Faith won’t make sense to everybody on this side of eternity. But you don’t know to be worried about EVERYBODY, since there’s ONLY ONE you will be standing before on the day you breathe your last.
John MacArthur writes about...
Baron Justinian von Weltz who renounced his title, estates, and income, and went to serve as a missionary to South America (Dutch Guiana). Today his body lies there in a lonely grave, forgotten by the world, but not forgotten by God.
As he was preparing to go into missionary service he said, “What is it to me to bear the title ‘well-born,’ when I am born again to Christ? What is it to me to have the title ‘lord,’ when I desire to be the servant of Christ? What is it to be called, ‘your grace,’ when I have need of God’s grace? All these vanities I will away with and all else I will lay at the feet of my dear Lord Jesus.”
[John F. MacArthur Jr., Hebrews, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1983), 350–351.]
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DEACONS
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