City Life Starter

Written by Megan Meier

The Word

“17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son,18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.” Hebrews 11:17-22 ESV

Reflection

God and Abraham were tight friends, Abraham haggled God into sparing Sodom on the condition of fifty righteous people to ten (Genesis 18:20-33) (spoiler alert: in the entire huge city of Sodom, there weren’t even ten righteous people and it was destroyed (Genesis 19:23-25)) and saved Abraham’s nephew Lot, despite him being an ungodly man. God saved him for the sake of his friend (Genesis 19:29).

God promised Abraham he would be the father of many nations (Genesis 17:6) and Isaac was the child of the promise (Genesis 17:19, 21:12). So God telling Abraham to sacrifice Isaac made zero sense. But Abraham had faith Isaac would be returned to him as he told his servants they will come back (Genesis 22:5). When Isaac saw the wood and fire but no lamb he became suspicious, and Abraham assured Isaac God will provide, even not knowing himself how (Genesis 22:7-8). Abraham knew God could do anything, even raise his son from the dead, and at the very last minute an angel of the Lord spared Abraham from this dreadful deed and provided a ram in place of Isaac. Because Abraham valued God over his legacy, God further promised to make his descendants numerous and blessed (Genesis 22:9-18).

Many years later, Isaac was deceived in the blessing of his sons, why was it faith that blessed the wrong son? God intended it to be that way, while Rebekah was in labor with her twin sons Esau and Jacob, the Lord told her the younger will lead (Genesis 25:23). Also Esau placed very little value on his birthright as he gave it up to Jacob for a quick meal (and he wasn’t even close to starving to death) (Genesis 25:29-34).

The patriarch Jacob knew what would happen when he lead his family into Egypt, his grandfather Abraham would have told his father Isaac, and Isaac would have told him that his descendants would face four hundred years of slavery (Genesis 15:13-14), but God told him to not fear, for they will return to Israel (Genesis 46:1-4). He blessed Joseph’s sons Manasseh and Ephraim not according to birth order as was custom, but according to God’s will (Genesis 48:17-20). Joseph, despite being the second-in-command of all of Egypt and knowing the fate of his descendants, did not use his resources to relocate his family. He still had faith the Israelites would have a land to call their own (Genesis 50:24-25). Tomorrow Paul will talk about Moses, who lead the Israelites to freedom and foreshadows what Jesus Christ will do many years later.  

Each of these Biblical figures were tested in some way and trusted in God’s plan despite extreme difficulty and ended up triumphant in their faith. They did not see the blessings of their triumph in their lifetime, but as explained in the previous verses, the heroes of the faith were focused on their true home with the Lord in the heavenly country (Hebrews 11:13-16). They were confident in what they did not see at the time (Hebrews 11:1).

Application

As Pastor Chris said during last Sunday’s message, faith is not a feeling, but an action. It is a test and a trust, which turns into a triumph. Admittedly, the triumph might not be seen in your lifetime, or even the next generation. But God sees it, and He will reward you and bless future generations (Deuteronomy 7:9).

Prayer

Dear Jesus, help me to trust You when I am tested. Even if I don’t see the results in my life, let my faith translate into action and lead to Your triumph. In Your Name I pray, amen.