June 07, 2020 | Dr. Bo Rice
Passage: Hebrews 11:17-22
Faith in the Midst of Testing
Hebrews 11:17-19
Can you imagine the test of faith that Abraham experienced? God promised that Isaac was the heir through whom Abraham would father a great nation. Now, God commanded Abraham to kill Isaac.
How could Abraham sacrifice Isaac when God had declared that Isaac was the child of promise?
Abraham could easily have questioned God. But he didn't!
His faith in the God of Providence was so strong that he concluded God would raise Isaac from the dead after the sacrifice had been completed.
Genesis 22:5 -- "Then Abraham said to his young men, 'Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we'll come back to you'."
Verse 19 is incredible to consider!
“Abraham's faith ascended to the level of a resurrection, and God restored Isaac to him as one snatched unexpectedly from the dead.” — Warren Wiersbe
Abraham chose to believe that God's promise could not fail and obeyed accordingly.
Learn from Abraham's example!
We can trust God with what we value most.
We must trust God and give Him everything.
Faith in the Unseen Blessing
Hebrews 11:20-22
In the next three verses, the author of Hebrews references three different examples of faith without going into the details of each story.
The concern is not the details, but how each person exemplified faith in an incredible way.
(v.20) Isaac was the promised son of Abraham. It was through Isaac that God fulfilled His promise to give Abraham many descendants.
Isaac had twin sons, Esau and Jacob. God chose the younger son, Jacob, to continue fulfilling the promise of a great nation.
Yet, in this verse, Isaac's faith is commended in blessing both Jacob and Esau when he spoke of their future (Gen. 27).
(v.21) Jacob (later known as Israel), when he was old and dying in a foreign land, had faith in God's promise that Abraham's descendants would be numerous and that Israel would become a great nation (Gen. 48).
Likewise, Jacob's faith led him to extend the unseen blessing to the sons of Joseph.
Both Isaac and Jacob showed faith in recognizing that God intended to give the greater blessing to the younger son, and they accepted God's sovereign plans rather than resisting them.
(v.22) Joseph showed his faith by giving directions concerning his future burial after the Exodus (Gen. 50).
Believing in a future Exodus of God's people from Egypt involved incredible faith.
As different as these three men were from one another (Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph), each modeled true, biblical faith.
Each one acted in faith because they were confident in the God who promises to make His name great through His people.
Their faith points to trusting in God and doing what He desires, regardless of the cost or consequences.
- Learn from their example!
We can trust God with an unseen future.
We can trust Him to use our lives as a blessing while He builds His kingdom.
Series Information
