The Book of Hebrews 11:17-22 Things to come.

Good morning. We're going to be moving into the Hebrews passage that Randy just read for us here, and that'll be at Hebrews 11, 17 through 22. if you want to track with us here. This is out of chapter 11, which we have been referring to as the Hall of Faith, or even the Great Hall of Faith, and we'll continue on with this through the rest of the chapter.

Hebrews 11.2 summarizes it, for by it the men of old gained approval. Now, one of the points we made, and this is not a slide in your handout, one of the points we made when we last were in Hebrews, which was actually three weeks ago, is that everyone has faith.

I think this is something we tend to think in our culture of faith is something that religious people have, whereas the reality is everyone has faith. It is simply a matter of where you place the faith. Everyone has faith, including the most skeptical person who openly opposes what they call religion. Even they have faith. Everyone's faith is only a matter of where it is placed. In what or in who do they place their faith?

Where's the faith? That's the question. The Word of God urges that we place our faith in God and what He has revealed to us in His written Word. So that's when we talk about faith in scripture, that's the message that we get. But everyone has faith. Where we place our faith is also where we place our hope. Everyone needs hope. And so where we place our faith is where we place our hope. And so that's how faith and hope are connected.

Hebrews 11 17 by faith Abraham when he was tested offered up Isaac and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son here is the aerial photo of Israel and surrounding region And so back in Genesis 22 is where Abraham is given this message.

He is told to go from where he is at, which is Beersheba. Sometimes people will say it just Beersheba, but Beersheba, to Mount Moriah, later Jerusalem. So this is the trip that he's told to make. Very interesting. It wasn't right where you're at do this, but go to this particular place. this particular place.

Now, one of the points we'll make here, Isaac wasn't Abraham's possession. That's the key thing. Isaac wasn't Abraham's possession. God had entrusted Isaac to Abraham. Key point. Abraham had placed great hope in Isaac as his only long-promised heir. Isaac wasn't Abraham's personal possession. God, however, had entrusted Isaac to Abraham. Isaac was still God's own. You see, Abraham could have thought, you know, I really don't want to go through with this because he's my son and, you know, this is, I've been waiting a long time and, you know, I just don't, it doesn't make sense to me.

He could have done that, right? But he realized, no, This is God's promised child, but it's God's child, right? A key lesson for us as parents, even our children are entrusted to us by God Himself. Our children are entrusted to us by God Himself. So Abraham had this understanding. God entrusts our children into our care, but ultimately they are His and not ours to claim. We don't own them. We're not free to do what we wish or what they wish with their lives. They're God-given. They're entrusted to our care by God Himself.

Abraham understood that. So here's the message that Abraham got. Take now your son, your only son whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, offer him there on one of the mountains. Wow. Abraham was a living picture here of the Father giving his son. That's capital F and capital H and capital S, right?

God the Father giving his son, Jesus Christ. Abraham was being tested by being asked to give his own son, Isaac, but it was even more than that. Abraham was also a living picture of the father giving his own son Jesus Christ to be our Savior. Imagine what it took for Abraham to offer up his own son by faith. Imagine here is the father and the son in eternity past with no flaw in their relationship.

And now that father offers up his son, his only son, to be the sacrifice for you and for me. Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.

Genesis 22. Here we have in John chapter 17, Christ is praying hours before he is going to be crucified. So in John 17, 23 through 26, it says, Even as you, the Father, have loved me, Christ says, Father, you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the love with which you loved me. Within hours, the Father who loved the Son gave him to die.

So John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his own one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. So we have there in this passage in Genesis 22, 13 and 14, just as Abraham is ready to sacrifice to end the life of his one and only son Isaac, the Lord stops Abraham. Stop! That's enough.

God provided a ram caught in the thicket right nearby. Now, rams can look variously depending on what particular kind of sheep or goat they're from, and they might look like this, might look like this, They don't look like this. Okay, that's Ram, but that's not the right kind of Ram. Okay. All right so Now here's this Hebrews 11 17 by faith Abraham when he was tested offered up Isaac and He who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son Abraham believed God even to the point that he would offer up his one and only son of promise for whom he and Sarah had waited until they were long and past having children. We talked about that previously.

Both Sarah and Abraham were biologically way past having any children. Not possible. God waits until it's impossible. God waits until it's a miracle. We'll soon see how Abraham believed God was going to work this out, that he would have descendants. Still, even after offering up Isaac, why would he do that? God stopped Abraham, he provided the ram at the last moment. God provided a miracle baby and God was now going to provide a miracle man. What we look at in a lot of the pictures of Abraham offering up Isaac We frequently see a young man, sometimes even someone you'd say is probably still a teenager.

By this time, Isaac was somewhere around 40. Somewhere around 40 years old. Matter of fact, if you think about this, Abraham was about 140. At this point in time, do you think that if Isaac wanted to resist Abraham and take him on at age 40, with his father being 140, do you think that Isaac could have taken his father on? I think so. I think likely so. Isaac could have said, hey dad, this is not looking good. You've not got a ram and we're going up and getting ready for the sacrifice. And dad, I don't like this picture. Something's wrong here. And he could have said, I'm not doing this.

So it wasn't just Abraham who he had to trust here. It was also Isaac. It's also Isaac. Now that God told Abraham to offer up Isaac, Abraham assumed that God would make this miracle baby a miracle man. A miracle man. And here's how it shows up in verse 18. It was he to whom it was said, In Isaac your descendants shall be called. Isaac had been promised by God with increasing clarity in the book of Genesis. Genesis 12-2, I will make you a great nation from one son to your descendants. Not just one, multiple. Descendants. Genesis 15-4, one who will come forth from your body, he shall be your heir.

Genesis 17 19 Sarah your wife will bear you a son and you shall call his name Isaac Genesis 18 14 at this time next year Sarah will have a son Sarah will have a son so God gets more and more specific as we progress through Genesis here Sarah conceived and as promised bore a son and at the very time God had said Abraham named his son Isaac just as God had told him that was out of Genesis 17 and the name Isaac means laughter excuse me On hearing that they would become parents in their old age, Abraham and Sarah each took turns laughing at the news. Genesis 17, 17 and 18, 12. Can you imagine?

These people are way past having children. Way past having children. And God tells them, you're going to have a son. And they just go around snickering and laughing. I can't believe it. And then everybody else is going to laugh for me. They're going to laugh at me. It's going to be hilarious. Now, this is on the top of page 2 here. I say, Genesis 21, 1-12, a comedy routine. And remember, the name Isaac means laughter, right? How do you say laughter in Hebrew?

Isaac. Isaac that's how you say it so it looks like this then the Lord took note of Sarah as you said and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised so Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him whom Sarah bore him Isaac ha ha ha ha right okay and then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac ha ha ha ha right okay and when he was eight days old as God had commanded him. Now Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac, ha ha ha, right? Okay, was born to, that's enough of that, anyway.

Sarah said, God has made laughter for me, God has made Isaac for me, okay? Everyone who hears will laugh with me, okay? It's actually, literally, laugh for me, okay? And she said, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age. The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac, laughter, was weaned. Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. And that word also there is laughter.

Therefore, she said to Abraham, Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac. But the matter distressed Abraham greatly because of his son. But God said to Abraham, Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid. Whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendant shall be named. that last part of verse 12 here in Hebrews.

Okay, now, this is back on page 1, sorry about that. Abraham had learned something about faith in God. You see, what had happened is he did act in faith, but he also realized, no, God's serious when he means act in faith. And so Abraham had learned about faith along the way.

Oh, God doesn't want me to come up with my own plan for fulfilling what God promised, right? You see, what happens, and this is common to people, we want to help God out, right? Abraham had found out that the let's help God out plan with Hagar and their son Ishmael was not at all what God had in mind. Ever feel tempted to help God out, right? God doesn't need help, okay? And we don't need them to just help us a little, okay?

Isaac was the son the miracle baby and the miracle man that God intended to be the fulfillment of his promise to Abraham and Abraham came to believe that God would keep his promise Abraham was learning about faith through his life by faith Abraham Because he tried at times to do it on his own without faith. He said that's not working. Okay, and By the time he was asked to offer up Isaac, he had come to the realization, I need to trust God completely. Now, question. Why would Abraham consider that sacrificing Isaac was consistent with God's promises?

Here we have Hebrews 11, 19. He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, which he also received him back as a type, from which he also received them back as a type. We'll talk about that as a type. That's not a typo. God is able. God is able.

This verse provides an insight into Abraham's faith that we don't get from reading just the Old Testament. Abraham believed that God could raise Isaac from the dead. That's what this verse is telling us. Abraham believed that if he sacrificed his son Isaac, that God was able to raise Isaac back up. The footnote for as a type says that it could be translated figuratively speaking. Since Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac, Isaac was figuratively brought back from the dead. As far as Abraham was concerned, he was going to follow through with this.

He was going to do it. because God stopped him, then that's the reference here. Figuratively speaking, he was brought back from the dead. So, what makes the faith of Abraham even more amazing is that while we do have record of people in the Bible being raised from the dead, we don't have any record of it before the life of Abraham.

All the examples in the Bible of people being raised from the dead are later. after the time of Abraham so Abraham believed that God could raise up Isaac even though so far as we know he hadn't seen an example of that in his lifetime or in the past some Bible examples Elijah and Elisha two prophets Elijah and Elisha each raised a woman's son They each did that. They each raised a woman's son. Jesus raised a son, a daughter, and Lazarus. And Peter and Paul each raised a person. So those are biblical examples, but they are all after the time of Abraham.

So far as we have any record, Abraham hadn't seen or heard of anyone being raised from the dead, but he believed that God could do it with Isaac. so here's Hebrews 11 20 by faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau even regarding things to come even regarding things to come here is how it happened back in Genesis 27 Rebekah having heard Isaac speak with Esau planned along with Jacob to make the savory dish that Esau was going to go out and get by hunting To get the meat They connived together, okay, and Then they would have Jacob come with this savory dish a little too soon But have him come and put on something hairy so they did appear to be like his brother Esau Esau was by minutes the eldest son and Jacob would bring this savory dish and place a hairy garment on his arm, since Isaac couldn't see very well, so that Isaac would place his blessing intended for Esau upon Jacob. That's how this deception was going to take place. So that Jacob would get Esau's blessing. The blessing intended for Esau.

Here's how they pulled it off. The plan or the scheme came off actually rather well. You see, according to the culture of the day, once a blessing had been given, even if mistaken, even if by deception, once a blessing had been given, it couldn't be rescinded, couldn't be reversed.

So Isaac questioned that his son Esau was back so soon from hunting. Wow, that was fast. Jacob craftily said it was because of God's favor. Had a really, you know, quick catch of this animal here. Isaac was puzzled because he heard the voice of Jacob, but felt the hair, I don't have much, anyway, the hair of his son Esau, right? Jacob assured him that he was Esau and gave his father the savory dish along with some bread and some wine. Of course, Rebecca had probably cooked this all up. And now, the stolen blessing. So Isaac gave to Jacob the blessing of the firstborn son that he intended for Esau.

But as I mentioned, in the culture, it sticks. Can't back it out. In the culture of the day, the blessing of a son, even by error or by deception, was final and irrevocable. You couldn't say, nah, you deceived me and then back off. Once done, it was done. So by Rebecca's scheme and also by Jacob's deceptive cooperation, the blessing intended for Esau was stolen from him and given instead to Jacob. It could not be reversed.

So here is the blessing. Genesis 27 27 through 29 and he came close and kissed him and when he smelled the smell of his garments He blessed him and said see the smell of my son is like the smell of a field Which the Lord has blessed now may God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and abundance of grain and new wine or its physical blessing, okay May people serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master of your own brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you. And that is from Genesis 12, 1 through 3, where the first covenant, the first promise is given to Abraham. So now he carries it down, passes it along to his eldest son.

But here's the insight from Hebrews 11.20, by faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau.

Even with the deception, Isaac is said to have blessed by faith. Isn't that amazing? Even though Isaac was deceived by Jacob and his mother, even though Isaac gave the wrong blessing to his sons as a result, Isaac still blessed them by faith in God. The deception was on the part of Jacob and his mother Rebekah. But Isaac still blessed by faith. Isaac still blessed by faith. What is amazing is that God chose Jacob over Esau to be the one through whom the promises came.

But that's the way grace works. That's the way grace works. Grace doesn't look at the deservedness of the one receiving. It doesn't look at that at all. Did Jacob deserve the blessing that he got? No. But that's the way grace works. He didn't deserve it. He didn't earn it. No way. Jacob didn't earn or deserve God's favor Because that's the way grace works Now how about that things to come phrase there in Hebrews 11 20 Since the promises God had given to Abraham and Isaac were all for the future even the distant future The blessing was likewise for a distant future in Isaac's day those who bow down to Jacob?

Have they done that yet? No. It will be a future time in the coming Millennial Kingdom. The application and fulfillment of the blessing that Isaac gave by faith is still being carried out and some of it is still future to our own time. So here's a blessing that about 4,000 years later is still in future fulfillment Hebrews 1121 by faith Jacob as he was dying blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshipped leaning on the top of his staff Jacob finally tells the truth Jacob finally tells the truth Jacob, as we've seen here, this time of blessing, had been deceptive at critical moments of his life.

He had been deceptive at critical moments of his life. He had used lying and deception multiple times. Jacob was even the victim of deception by his uncle Laban. When he had last blessed his sons and Joseph's sons, he told the truth. And it would be truth that would unfold for centuries. Truth that would unfold for centuries.

In many cases, the blessings that Jacob gave were entirely unlike what the son, or Joseph's sons, deserved. Judah, for example, was a man of rotten character. A very deceptive, scummy, slimy guy. But, this is the way grace works. He didn't deserve to be at the head of a line of kings. He didn't deserve to have the Savior and the Messiah. come from him, the Lion of Judah. He didn't deserve it.

It's all by grace. Here's Hebrews 11.22, By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones. Now what's that about? While the Egyptians of the working class could expect to live in their forties, By reason of a higher standard of living and by God's blessing, Joseph lives to be 110 years old before he dies.

As an English nobleman, his body is embalmed and placed in a coffin. Joseph's body, too, would be taken to the promised land, but not until a few centuries later. Joshua 24, 32 records that his bones were taken there. So by faith, Joseph asked that his bones be taken back to the promised land when the Israelites left Egypt. So by faith, he was counting on the Israelites leaving Egypt and going back to the promised land. Not upon the death, his death, like Jacob's body had been. You see, when Jacob died, they took his body back to the cave of Machpelah in Hebron, where all the rest of the patriarchs had been buried. But Joseph, he said, no, when the Israelites leave, take my bones then. He, by faith, by faith, knew that the Israelites would be leaving, even though it would be centuries later. Even though Joseph had spent most of his life in Egypt, he knew that his people were going back to the promised land someday, and he knew that by faith.

Now, it so happens that if you were to visit the town of Nablus, you would find Joseph's tomb. There it is. And right nearby, you would find Jacob's well. And that is the place where Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman. So in that little place there, you got Joseph's tomb, Jacob's well, that Jacob had previously dug, and now this also being the place where Jesus intentionally met with this woman who was of ill repute. But the Samaritan woman, that's the place. That's where Joseph's bones are. So by faith, he gave the command, take my bones back. And Moses remembered that and made sure that it happened. And Joshua followed through.

One of the key things as you look here in this passage, faith believes God moment by moment. One moment, then the next, then the next. You know, we sing the song moment by moment. You know how the person who wrote that, you know how he was motivated to write that? He had just gotten through singing day by day, and he says that's not often enough.

So moment by moment, and we certainly are called to walk step by step in faith and in fellowship with God, but faith believes God for the long haul. And I mean the really long haul. So faith is moment by moment, one moment, one moment, one moment, and the next. But faith looks at the very long term. At the very long term. The really long haul. So we are to believe God this day for that day when we see Christ face to face. That will be the first day of endless time.

As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in chapter 4, 1 Thessalonians 4, forever we will be with the Lord. For the long haul. As the hymn goes, when we've been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days. It's not chk, chk, chk. And the number of days gets shorter. But we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun. It's not diminished. Faith believes for the long haul. Moment by moment, each little minute, but it believes for the long haul. For forever. For forever. The fulfillment of all these things took time, didn't it?

And a lot of it is still yet future. All these things we've seen in this chapter. But God's even looking way, way, way beyond that when this present heavens and earth is gone. And we will be with him for the long haul. The long haul. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you as we look at this passage, as we look at examples of faith. We do see that these examples demonstrated faith for the long haul, faith for forever. And we thank you that we can look forward a long, long way on into eternity to being face-to-face with you, because faith is for the long haul, the forever long haul. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.