Faithful Patriarchs

| SEAN CAVENDER |

Hebrews chapter 11 is the quintessential chapter on faith. First, faith is defined as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Secondly, faith is how people “gain approval” before God (Hebrews 11:2). Third, faith gives us an understanding of the things that we cannot see (Hebrews 11:3). Finally, if we do not have faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Thus, the primary lesson of the chapter is that we must have faith! 

The author of Hebrews provides numerous examples of faithful men and women. The writer goes back to nearly the very beginning of all things — Adam and Eve’s first son, Abel. Abel lived by faith, as well as Enoch and Noah. These three men walked by faith, heeded God’s word, and obeyed God’s commandments. 

Then the Hebrew writer looks at the patriarchs from the family of Abraham as exemplars of faith (Hebrews 11:8-22). There are several lessons from these faithful patriarchs that we can learn that will help us increase our own faith. 

Abraham: Faith looks to heavenly things,
not to earthly things

God called Abraham to leave his homeland and to sojourn in a foreign land. Abraham obeyed God’s call (Hebrews 11:8). We learned that Abraham journeyed in the promised land by faith. He understood he was not looking for a physical country and a physical city. If Abraham had been searching for a permanent, physical city, then he could have quickly returned to his home (Hebrews 11:15). Yet, Abraham’s faith propelled him to follow God because He desired something better than what this world offers. He looked for a heavenly city (Hebrews 11:16). We need to develop a faith that will look beyond this world and what it has to offer. This world will tempt us with what we can see and touch. The devil will work against us using the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). Our faith must learn to look forward, upward, and onward to heaven! 

Isaac and Jacob: Faith in God’s blessing

Hebrews 11:20 states that Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau about things that were to come. Genesis 27 tells the story of Rebekah and Jacob deceiving Isaac, who was blind, so Jacob could steal the blessing that Isaac intended for the older brother, Esau. The deception was successful, and Isaac blessed Jacob instead (Genesis 27:27-29). To argue that Isaac was deceived entirely might be a stretch because Isaac recognized Jacob’s voice as belonging to Jacob and not Esau, and he still blessed him. Later, Esau begged Isaac for a blessing, yet Isaac was unwavering with Jacob’s blessing (Genesis 27:36-40). While it is perhaps difficult to see any element of Isaac’s faith in Genesis 27, maybe we can see it in the early part of Genesis 28. After recognizing Esau’s fury against Jacob, Isaac and Rebekah sent Jacob away, and Isaac reconfirmed that God would bless and multiply Jacob and his descendants. Despite his physical blindness, Isaac remained steadfast and faithful, seeing by faith that God’s blessing would come through Jacob. Isaac believed Jacob would be the instrument of extending the blessing of Abraham to all nations (Genesis 28:3-5). Perhaps Isaac realized that even through Jacob’s deception, Isaac’s blessing was consistent with what God had revealed earlier to Rebekah before the twins were born (Genesis 25:23). Even though Jacob plotted to deceive his father, Isaac remained convinced that God would work the Abrahamic covenant through Jacob and not Esau. 

Also, Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph by faith (Hebrews 11:21). This blessing gave Joseph a double inheritance among the rest of his brothers because Jospeh acted by faith and played a part in saving the family of Abraham (Genesis 50:20). 

We learn many things about faith from Hebrews 11. First, faith teaches us to look to heavenly things and avoid being caught up in earthly, carnal things. When we look to heavenly things, we will find that temptation holds less influence on us because our goal is to dwell in the city of God. Second, faith teaches us to trust in God’s blessing and providence. Even though we may not understand or see everything clearly, by faith, we can trust in God’s outcome and that God’s word will be accomplished.