Hebrews 11D (2014) The Luvre museum in Paris cntains ver 380,000 bjects and displays 35,000 wrks f art. It is said that if ne was t walk thrugh the Luvre and spend nly 4 secnds gazing at each bject, it wuld take yu three mnths night and day t get thrugh the whle museum. Our tur thrugh the Hall f Faith has cnsiderably fewer exhibits But ur tur prbably seems like it s ging t take just as lng And hw we NOT linger ver this magnificent cllectin examples f faith in actin We can talk abut living ut ur faith all day lng, but as the saying ges, a picture is wrth a thusand wrds And each persn captured in the Hall is a picture f faith driving bth the thinking and decisins f rdinary peple called by Gd t witness t Him We re finishing up the patriarchs this mrning fllwed by examples frm Mses and the exdus Last week I read thrugh v.21, but I prmised we wuld return t vs.20-21 and the example f Isaac and Jacb But when I intrduced these guys, I mentined that the writer s emphasis fr all the patriarchs was their faith in resurrectin And in a reward that awaited the life after this wrld Let s reread thse tw verses Heb. 11:20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacb and Esau, even regarding things t cme. Heb. 11:21 By faith Jacb, as he was dying, blessed each f the sns f Jseph, and wrshiped, leaning n the tp f his staff. Isaac s blessing f Jacb and Esau regarding things t cme is ur first exhibit this mrning This is anther well-knwn stry frm Genesis Jacb and Rebekah were wrried that Isaac was ging t extend the blessing f the seed prmise and inheritance upn Esau 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Hebrews 11D (2014) 2 f 11 S they cnspired t trick Isaac t ensure the blessing fell n the right sn In the end, the blessing went t Jacb as it shuld and bypassed Esau When Isaac bestwed his blessing upn Jacb thinking it was Esau, he said: Gen. 27:28 Nw may Gd give yu f the dew f heaven, And f the fatness f the earth, And an abundance f grain and new wine; Gen. 27:29 May peples serve yu, And natins bw dwn t yu; Be master f yur brthers, And may yur mther s sns bw dwn t yu. Cursed be thse wh curse yu, And blessed be thse wh bless yu. Isaac spke f blessings Gd wuld grant t the sn wh inherits the cvenant prmise The fatness f the earth and the abundance f the harvest Of becming the chief natin n the earth And f becming master ver the family f Gd Later, when Isaac and Esau realized they had been tricked, Isaac spke f a different future fr Esau Gen. 27:39 Then Isaac his father answered and said t him, Behld, away frm the fertility f the earth shall be yur dwelling, And away frm the dew f heaven frm abve. Gen. 27:40 By yur swrd yu shall live, And yur brther yu shall serve; But it shall cme abut when yu becme restless, That yu will break his yke frm yur neck. T Esau, Isaac acknwledged the reality f what lay in the future fr this lessr sn He wuld be denied the blessings f Heaven 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Hebrews 11D (2014) 3 f 11 He wuld be a vilent man with a vilent family In the end, his peple wuld live nly t serve Israel thugh nt withut rebellin In bth the case f Jacb and Esau, these prnuncements reflect a life f faith, as the writer indicates Isaac speaks f future events that are the direct result f Gd s prmises Isaac was s cnvinced that what Gd prmised wuld cme t pass, that he spkes f these future things as predestined and unavidable utcmes in the lives f his sns T the sn the Lrd favred, Isaac spke f the prmises f the cvenant T the unfavred sn, Isaac spke f the cnsequences f sin In bth cases, he delivered prmises that were built n tp f prmises he received frm Gd Only if Isaac believed in these prmises wuld he have reasn t speak f them t his sns And mre than that, ntice that Isaac understd that he culdn t reverse what he had spken even after he discvered the deceptin He was s certain that the prmises f the cvenant culd nly be given t ne sn accrding t Gd s decree that he culd nt ffer Esau a slutin Once the prmises had been granted t Jacb, they were ut f Esau s reach frever Thugh Isaac s intentins were nt in league with Gd s plans, nevertheless he was acting ut f faith in Gd s prmises Isaac blesses Jacb with prmises that referred t the Kingdm t cme And therefre, Isaac was lking ahead t a resurrected life with his sn We knw Isaac had the wrng sn in mind, but nevertheless he was acting with faith in resurrectin and future reward 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Hebrews 11D (2014) 4 f 11 Speaking f Jacb, he had his wn mment f living in faith in Gen 47 as he cnsidered his wn death The writer says in v.21 that Jacb blessed his sns and wrshipped at the head f the bed, This is a gd example f hw the New Testament writers cmmnly make use f Old Testament references The pint the writer is making is bigger than the shrt phrase he captured in Hebrews 11:21 He s using that reference t call t mind the larger scene that takes place at the end f Genesis In particular, the writer is thinking f the mment Jacb began t issue instructins and blessings t his family as his death apprached Here s hw the scene began Gen. 47:29 When the time fr Israel t die drew near, he called his sn Jseph and said t him, Please, if I have fund favr in yur sight, place nw yur hand under my thigh and deal with me in kindness and faithfulness. Please d nt bury me in Egypt, Gen. 47:30 but when I lie dwn with my fathers, yu shall carry me ut f Egypt and bury me in their burial place. And he said, I will d as yu have said. Gen. 47:31 He said, Swear t me. S he swre t him. Then Israel bwed in wrship at the head f the bed. Ntice what was n Jacb s mind as he lay n his death bed He calls Jseph t his side and asks Jseph t swear an ath that Jacb wuld nt be buried in Egypt Instead, he wants Jseph t carry his dead bdy back t Canaan and bury him there Once Jacb received that prmise, he bwed and wrshipped in thankfulness t the Lrd that his bdy wuld rest in the Prmised Land Why did Jacb care abut where his dead bdy was buried? He cared fr the same reasn that his grandfather and father had cared t remain nmads their entire lives 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Hebrews 11D (2014) 5 f 11 He wanted his earthly life including the way he died t be a testimny t what he believed cncerning Gd s prmises He believed that ne day his bdy wuld be resurrected And in that day, he wuld be granted all the prmises Gd had spken cncerning the blessings f the Prmised Land We knw and I think Jacb knew als that it desn t matter t Gd r the certainty f His prmises where ur dead bdy lies n earth But he wanted Jseph t makes this prmise because he wanted his burial t be a testimny Because he believed and lked frward t resurrectin and life again n earth, he wanted his bdy buried in such a way that it testified t his cnfidence Daniel speaks f the mment the Old Testament saints are resurrected t enter the Kingdm at the cnclusin f the Tribulatin Dan. 12:1 Nw at that time Michael, the great prince wh stands guard ver the sns f yur peple, will arise. And there will be a time f distress such as never ccurred since there was a natin until that time; and at that time yur peple, everyne wh is fund written in the bk, will be rescued. Dan. 12:2 Many f thse wh sleep in the dust f the grund will awake, these t everlasting life, but the thers t disgrace and everlasting cntempt. Dan. 12:3 Thse wh have insight will shine brightly like the brightness f the expanse f heaven, and thse wh lead the many t righteusness, like the stars frever and ever. We dn t knw hw much f these details Gd revealed t Jacb But we d knw that Jacb expected these things t cme t pass And he wanted his bdy as clse t the place f his future hme as pssible Ntice again hw cnfidence in the resurrectin is the key t Jacb s understanding? Each time in the lives f the patriarchs, it was their belief that Gd s prmises will await a new life in a new bdy that sustained them and infrmed their life chices That s the writer s pint fr us as well 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Hebrews 11D (2014) 6 f 11 As believers, we dn t just give lip service t ur faith in Christ and what lies ahead We must be prepared t live ur faith in tangible ways Ways that reflect ur cnfidence that what has been prmised will cme t pass Nw the writer transitins t Mses, wh receives the mst mentins f faith in the Hall While examples f the patriarchs centered n their expectatin f resurrectin, the examples f Mses emphasize faiths respnse t persecutin Heb. 11:23 By faith Mses, when he was brn, was hidden fr three mnths by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were nt afraid f the king s edict. Heb. 11:24 By faith Mses, when he had grwn up, refused t be called the sn f Pharah s daughter, Heb. 11:25 chsing rather t endure ill-treatment with the peple f Gd than t enjy the passing pleasures f sin, Heb. 11:26 cnsidering the reprach f Christ greater riches than the treasures f Egypt; fr he was lking t the reward. Heb. 11:27 By faith he left Egypt, nt fearing the wrath f the king; fr he endured, as seeing Him wh is unseen. Heb. 11:28 By faith he kept the Passver and the sprinkling f the bld, s that he wh destryed the firstbrn wuld nt tuch them. Heb. 11:29 By faith they passed thrugh the Red Sea as thugh they were passing thrugh dry land; and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drwned. The first example f Mses isn t really an example f Mses faith at all, but f his mther s faith We re tld in Exdus 2:2 that Mses mther hid Mses fr three mnths because she saw he was beautiful The Pharah was killing all the newbrn sns f Israel, s she tried t prtect her sn We knw every mther thinks her wn child t be beautiful, s it can t simply be his appearance that led her t hide her sn In fact, we can assume ther Jewish mthers 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Hebrews 11D (2014) 7 f 11 The particular Hebrew wrd translated as beautiful is tv, which means gd r beautiful r favrable But it can als mean wrthy r pleasing, as in pleasing in the sight f the Lrd Nw the writer f Hebrews explains that her actins were the result f a faith that the Lrd s prmises fr Israel wuld be accmplished thrugh her sns Mses She knew that Mses had been selected fr this purpse S she had the cnfidence nt nly t hide him but als t deliver him t the Egyptian curt In fact, Jsephus wrte that Mses father had been given a revelatin frm Gd that Mses wuld humble the Egyptians Next, Mses exhibited faith when he was a grwn man by refusing t cnsidered part f the Egyptian curt Instead, he chse t align himself with the Jewish peple When he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, Mses came t the aid f the Jew In ding s, Mses set his life n a new, far less cmfrtable curse As the writer explains in v.25, Mses decisin t renunce the Egyptian curt meant he was hunted, exiled and later wandering with the peple f Gd We might ask why wuld Mses vluntarily frsake the cmfrts f Egypt turn live an austere and persecuted life? Yu already knw the answer: faith Mses faith in the eternal prmises granted t Gd s peple gave him the strength t pass up the mmentary pleasures f sin In place f that temprary, fleshly reward, Mse chse instead the eternal, spiritual rewards Gd hlds ut fr the children wh bey Him 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Hebrews 11D (2014) 8 f 11 As the writer says in v.26, Mses understd his relatinship with the Living Gd brught with it a new identity That new identity was that f a Jew, ne f Gd s peple And that meant living under the same persecutin that Gd s peple always knw Ntice in v.27 the writer says Mses left Egypt, nt because he feared the king, but because he felt the Lrd calling him t endure this new life as a Jew Christ Himself tld us that since we are nt f this wrld, Satan s hme field, then we shuld expect the enemy t attack us And t the extent we live ut ur faith, we put urselves in Satan s crsshairs We stand t lse ur wealth, ur security, cmfrt and earthly peace, because the enemy wants t take thse things frm us But here s the key t remember: thse are the nly things the enemy can take frm us He desn t have the pwer t impact ur eternal future r inheritance His pwer stps at the drway int eternity S he can trment us here and nw, but nce we die and enter eternity and receive ur new bdies, his pwer is gne frever Knwing that, a man r wman f faith can endure the persecutins f this life because we have faith that in the age t cme, we triumphant ver the enemy s schemes And we will be rewarded fr that sacrifice and endurance Just as Mses understd that whatever he lst n earth was nthing cmpared t the riches f Christ awaiting fr him in eternity Ntice here again hw an expectatin f eternal reward fr ur bedience and sacrifice is an elementary part f living in faith Mses lived at the center f the richest natin n earth But he walked away frm all that, withut lking back 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Hebrews 11D (2014) 9 f 11 And he did s because it was a means t pleasing Gd Which has as its reward, the riches f Heaven As the Exdus begun, Mses exhibited faith in Gd s wrd as he perfrmed the Passver meal just as the Lrd prescribed Mses tk Gd s wrd as a reality when the Lrd prmised t spare the sns f Israel if they applied bld n the drpst The prmise f Gd was that judgment was cming But thse wh accepted the sacrificial bld applied in faith wuld escape that judgment Mses cmplied and instructed the peple f Israel t d the same And in s ding, Mses acted in cnfidence that Gd s wrd was true even befre the events came t pass And he did s cnvinced that his bedience wuld be rewarded with the sparing f the lives f Israel s sns And f curse, in the prcess he creates the mst pwerful Old Testament picture f the atnement f the Messiah Further prf that when Gd s peple bey in faith, we becme part f telling the stry f Gd s mercy and grace t the wrld And then finally, Mses led the peple acrss the Red Sea, perhaps Mses greatest mment f faith He led Israel int a dead end in the desert because he fllwed the Lrd as the fire and clud And as Mses and the peple std n the brink f destructin as the Pharah's army clsed in, Mses spke these wrds Ex. 14:13 But Mses said t the peple, D nt fear! Stand by and see the salvatin f the LORD which He will accmplish fr yu tday; fr the Egyptians whm yu have seen tday, yu will never see them again frever. Mses knew the Lrd s prmise t bring Israel ut f slavery and int the land 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Hebrews 11D (2014) 10 f 11 S thugh the situatin appeared bleak and hpeless, faith is never withut hpe Nt a hpe in speculatin r wishful thinking But a hpe rted in the truth f Gd s prmises and the reality f Gd s faithfulness S Mses declared that Gd was abut t d a miracle even befre it happened Then as Mses lifted his staff, the waters parted S the Israelites went thrugh n dry land But the enemy was swallwed up in the waters Because the prmises didn t apply t them Mses must have been afraid as he std there will the lives f 2 millin peple in his hands and the enemy bearing dwn He must have entertained mments f dubt But when the time came t take a stand, he std in faith with the prmises f Gd He trusted that Gd wuld rescue the peple frm the Angel f Death And he trusted that Gd wuld rescue them frm the pwer f the Egyptian army And in bth cases, Gd was true t His wrd As Mses did these things, he created a picture f cnfidence in resurrectin and expectatin f reward In the Passver, the picture is f surviving the judgment f Gd and escaping the slavery f sin And in the Red Sea the picture is f passing int a new life leaving the ld behind That drway int eternity is ne pened by faith in Christ And thse wh pass thrugh are rewarded in eternity 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Hebrews 11D (2014) 11 f 11 The Lrd may decide t grant us a life like the patriarchs, ne f peaceful existence in the wrld with plentiful supply until we die And if that s us, then the test f faith fr us is whether we will live as strangers and wanderers Will we let peace and prsperity rule ur lives Or will we rest by faith in the prmises f Gd Will we place an emphasis n enjying the rewards f this life? Or will we remember that ur inheritance can t be fund n earth? That will be ur test Or the Lrd may test us as He tested Mses, driving us away frm cmfrt and peace int a life f trial and want, where service cmes at the expense f great self-sacrifice And if that s ur curse in life, then the test f faith will be ne f endurance and patience Can we endure the persecutin, the deprivatin, the scrn? Knwing that the Lrd Wh has prmised is faithful? Knwing that the enemy can t tuch what awaits us in eternity Whichever path Gd assigned t ur life, ur faith will be tested And ur call is t allw ur faith in Gd s prmises t infrm ur chices and decisins S that ur life is a testimny t what we knw t be true S that we might please the Master Wh bught us 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.