Well Worth the Wait

September 20, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

³⁹And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. – Hebrews 11:39-40 ESV

Now that we’ve reached the end of the chapter, let’s go back through the list of the faithful again.

Abel died at the hands of his brother. Enoch was taken by God in the prime of life. Noah survived the flood that destroyed the earth, only to watch sin raise its ugly head again and infect his own family. Abraham would never occupy the land God had promised to give him, and he would die long before his offspring would grow to be as numerous as the stars in the sky. Sarah would bear a son in spite of her old age and barrenness but die without ever giving birth again. Isaac would watch his sons, Jacob and Esau, spend years of their lives separated from and loathing one another. Jacob would die in the land of Egypt, the patriarch of a family that numbered no more than 70 – not exactly a mighty nation as God had promised. Moses led the people of Israel to the promised land but never stepped foot into it himself because of his sin against God. The people of Israel made it into the land but failed to obey God’s commands and eventually ended up being removed by God and forced to live in exile in Babylon. For Rahab, other than her mention in the lineage of Jesus, she passed into obscurity, living among the people of Israel.

Their life stories, while marked by faith, are not all pictures of the good life. Their lives were not trouble-free or devoid of difficulty and doubt. They are recognized for their faith, but the author makes it clear that though they lived lives of faith, they also experienced their fair share of trials and troubles. He describes those who were tortured for their faith, “refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life” (Hebrews 11:35 ESV).

These unnamed but faith-filled individuals refused to recant their faith in God even under the pain of torture. Instead, they trusted that, should they die, God would raise them again to eternal life. The author speaks of women who “received back their dead by resurrection” (Hebrews 11:35 ESV). I don’t think this means that their dead loved ones were raised back to life, but that these women had faith that they would see them again in heaven. They were willing to suffer loss in this life because of their faith in the life to come.

What is amazing is that the author makes it clear that many on his list “did not receive what was promised” (Hebrews 11:39 ESV). Why? Because the promise was future-oriented. The fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham was ultimately fulfilled in Christ. His death and resurrection opened up the gospel to all people. No longer would the Jews be the sole beneficiaries of God’s blessings. Today, people from every tribe, nation, and tongue have placed their faith in Jesus Christ and have become part of the family of Abraham. The book of Revelation tells us of a scene that will take place in the future where all the offspring of Abraham, both Jew and Gentile, will gather before the throne of God.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” – Revelation 7:9-10 ESV

Abraham longed to see that day and died believing that it would come. He was a living, breathing example of the author’s definition of faith.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. – Hebrews 11:1 ESV

Each of the individuals in the Hebrews 11 list received something better in the end. Because of their faith in the promises of God, they eventually received entrance into His presence. Ultimately, their faith was in the hope of God’s redemption. None of them lived long enough to see the coming of Jesus into the world. Yet, they lived their lives longing for a Messiah, a deliverer from the sin that surrounded them. Paul tells us, “But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe” (Galatians 3:22 ESV).

This includes those who lived before the coming of Christ. Their belief in the promises and power of God was considered by God to be faith in the coming Messiah. They were willing to trust God with their present circumstances, knowing that He had a future solution in mind.

Ultimately, their faith was in God. They trusted Him for things they could not see. They had hope for the future because they had an assurance that He could deliver what He had promised. They were able to endure because they believed He would come through. And every promise God made to these individuals was finally realized in the coming of Jesus Christ. He was and is mankind’s hope. And while they may not have fully realized it, every one of the people in the Hebrews “Hall of Faith” was placing their faith in Christ; God’s redeemer, deliverer, savior, sinless sacrifice, and the ultimate key to experiencing all the blessings God has in store.

Abraham lived in tents all of his life, but we’re told “he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10 ESV). He knew that God had something better in store for him and he died believing in that reality. But Abraham was not alone. The author of Hebrews tells us that every one of the individuals on his list “died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar” (Hebrews 11:13 ESV).

They knew something better was in store for them, so they were willing to live as “strangers and exiles on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13 ESV). They desired “a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:16 ESV). They put their faith in God and their hope in something they could not see. “Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city” (Hebrews 11:16 ESV). And the Book of Revelation paints a vivid picture of what that long-awaited city will look like when it comes.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. – Revelation 21:1-7 ESV

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Faith Down to His Bones

September 11, 2023September 12, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

²²By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.– Hebrews 11:22 ESV

Ever since Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers, he had spent the majority of his life living in the land of Egypt. The early portion of his time there had been marked by periods of blessing followed by times of adversity. He experienced both feast and famine, success and failure, but God was always with him. Eventually, he became the second most powerful figure in Egypt, a remarkable turn of events that was not lost on Joseph. Years later, when he was reunited with the men who had sold him into slavery, he confidently told them, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20 ESV).

Joseph recognized that the sovereign hand of God had been directing his life and accomplishing a far greater and grander purpose than his brothers could have ever imagined when their jealousy drove them to betray him all those years ago. Joseph’s meteoric ascension to the upper echelons of Egyptian power was the work of God. It had all been part of God’s divine plan for fulfilling His promise to his great-grandfather, Abraham.

You have to go all the way back to Genesis 15 to see how all of this fits into God’s grand plan for Joseph’s life and the descendants of Israel. Abraham had just finished giving God a lecture about His promise to produce a great nation from an old man married to a barren wife. As far as Abraham could see, God’s plan had some serious flaws, so he confidently proffered a workaround.

“O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” – Genesis 15:2-3 ESV

But God attempted to calm Abraham’s fears by taking him outside and telling him, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them. So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5 ESV).

God wasn’t interested in Abraham’s Plan B approach. He knew all about Abraham’s age and Sarah’s barrenness; neither of which would prove to be a problem for God. Not only would God give Abraham more descendants than there are stars in the sky, but He would provide a land for them to live in, and He confirmed it by a covenant in blood. Then God followed this blood-covenant ceremony with an announcement that must have left Abraham a bit confused and apprehensive.

“Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.” – Genesis 15:13-14 ESV

Now fast-forward to a scene back in the land of Egypt. Seventy of Abraham’s descendants have migrated to Egypt in order to escape a famine in the land of Canaan. Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, has sought refuge for his small clan in a land that was not theirs because a famine had made the land of Canaan virtually uninhabitable. Because Joseph, the long-lost son of Jacob, had risen to prominence in the Egyptian court, he was able to allocate land to his brothers and their families and provide them with jobs caring for Pharaoh’s vast flocks and herds.

Jacob’s relocation to Egypt had proven to be a boon for his family. They enjoyed their new homeland and were provided with everything they needed by their powerful and influential kinsman. It seems that everyone forgot about Canaan, except Joseph. As the years passed, Joseph came to the realization that he would never see his homeland again. As he grew older, he came to grips with the fact that he would die in the land of Egypt. But he had never given up on the promise that God had made to his great-grandfather, Abraham.

So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s house. Joseph lived 110 years. And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph’s own. And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. – Genesis 50:22-26 ESV

Notice what Joseph said. He told his brothers that they were going to return to the land of Canaan. He was confident that God would accomplish exactly what He had promised to do. They would live in the land of Egypt for 400 years, but then God would redeem them from slavery and return them to their land, “with great possessions.” At this point in the story, the people of Israel are not enslaved. They were living in Egypt as the guests of Pharaoh. Their relative, Joseph, was the second-most powerful person in the land. They had land, jobs, houses in which to live, and no reason to complain about their circumstances. But Joseph understood that things would not always remain that way. He remembered what God had said to Abraham; that they would be afflicted for 400 years. But he also recalled that God had promised to return them to the land.

Joseph had been in Egypt a long time and he knew that it would be the place of his death. But he had not given up on God’s promise. He believed that his people would one day return to the land that God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was so confident that he made his brothers swear that they would dig up his embalmed body and take his bones back to the land of Canaan when the time came for them to leave.

The book of Exodus picks up the story from there.

All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. – Exodus 1:5-7 ESV

During their 400-year stay in Egypt, their number had increased greatly. What had begun as a small clan of 70 people had turned into a nation that numbered in the millions. And their meteoric growth would expose a spirit of ruthlessness in the heart of the new Pharaoh.

Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. ¹Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves. – Exodus 1:8-14 ESV

God was setting up the perfect scenario to fulfill His plan. He was going to accomplish His will for them and return them to the land of Canaan. But the only person who seems to have believed that any of this would happen was Joseph. Despite all that had happened to him, he never gave up hope that God would fulfill all that He had predicted and promised to do. As the author of Hebrews wrote, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV).

Joseph had longed for the day when his people would return to their land, and he had a confident assurance that it would happen. He harbored a strong and unshakable conviction in the inevitability of God’s promise being fulfilled. So much so that he gave instructions to have his bones returned to the land when it happened. And Abraham’s bones did make it back to Canaan. After suffering all the plagues and the deaths of their firstborns, the Egyptians finally released the Israelites. And the book of Genesis records that auspicious occasion.

“Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, ‘God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.’” – Exodus 13:19 ESV

Joseph placed his hope in God and God came through. He believed the promises of God and God did not disappoint. Throughout his long life, Joseph maintained a future-focused faith that refused to give up on God even when the circumstances of life seemed to contradict what God had promised. His faith in God was based on an assurance of things hoped for and a conviction of things that remained unseen and as yet unfulfilled. But he knew that God was not done. His plan was not yet complete. Joseph was willing to give God time and the trust he deserved.

Even when he considered his brothers’ unjust treatment of him, he knew that it had all been part of God’s grand master plan.

“God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.” – Genesis 45:7 ESV

“Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” – Genesis 50:19-20 ESV

Joseph had played his part in God’s plan. Now, he was ready to trust God to accomplish the rest. And he was so confident that God would return his family to the land of Canaan that he made his brothers swear to take his bones with them when they left.

Faith in the Face of Uncertainty

September 9, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

²⁰By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. – Hebrews 11:20 ESV

Isaac, the son of Abraham, would live a long life and father two twin sons, Jacob and Esau. He would also inherit the same promise from God given to his father, Abraham.

“Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed…” – Genesis 26:3-4 ESV

When Isaac realized that his days on earth were coming to a close, he determined to bless his sons, beginning with Esau, the first-born of the two.

When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.” – Genesis 27:1-4 ESV

Of course, little did Isaac know that his wife, Rebekah, had overheard his instructions to Esau. She immediately conspired with Jacob, her personal favorite of the two sons, to trick Isaac into giving him the blessing reserved for Esau. In her defense, Rebekah thought she was doing the right thing.

Like her mother-in-law, Sarah, Rebekah had been barren and unable to have children. But God came to her and promised to give her twin boys. He told her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23 ESV). She believed that the blessing of Isaac was the key to God’s promise being fulfilled, so she concocted a plan to make sure Jacob received the blessing of the firstborn. And Jacob went along with it because, technically, the birthright was his. Esau had unwisely and impulsively sold it to him for a pot of stew (Genesis 25:29-34). Driven by his hunger, Esau had flippantly forfeited his right to the blessing

So, when Rebekah approached Jacob with her plan to deceive Isaac, he was reluctant but eventually agreed to carry it out. And their deception worked. Unknowingly, Isaac gave the blessing to Jacob that had been intended for Esau.

“May God give you of the dew of heaven
    and of the fatness of the earth
    and plenty of grain and wine.
Let peoples serve you,
    and nations bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
    and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,
    and blessed be everyone who blesses you!” – Genesis 27:28-29 ESV

But what is interesting about this story is what the author of Hebrews says about Isaac. He writes, “By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.”

But wait a minute! He was deceived. He didn’t knowingly bless Jacob. He did so because he was tricked. How can this be an example of faith? Well, first of all, we have to realize that the blessing he gave, fully believing he was giving it to Esau, was an example of faith. It was based on things hoped for and a conviction of things not seen. In simply invoking the blessing he was trusting God to bring it all about. Isaac could speak the words, but God would have to bring them to fruition. That is an act of faith.

Yet even when Isaac discovered that he had been deceived by his wife and youngest son, he was angry but remained faithful.

Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.” – Genesis 27:33 ESV

Despite the subterfuge of Rebekah, Isaac had faith that God would fulfill the promise He had made to Abraham and had passed on to him.

And the Lord appeared to him [Isaac] the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” – Genesis 26:24 ESV

Things had not turned out quite like he had planned, but he was willing to trust God with the future outcome. In a display of acceptance of God’s sovereign will in the matter, Isaac pronounced a second blessing on Jacob before he moved to Paran in order to escape the wrath of his disgruntled brother.

“God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!” – Genesis 28:3-4 ESV

Notice what Isaac did. He went back to the promise of God. Despite all that had happened, he kept his focus on what God had said. He didn’t grasp the full implications of all that had transpired; he didn’t even like it, but he was willing to trust God with it. He had no idea what was going to happen in the years ahead. He was blind to all that God was going to do with and to Jacob. But he believed that God had meant it when He had said, “I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 26:3-4 ESV).

And years later, when Jacob had returned from his self-imposed exile and his father Isaac was near death, God visited him and reconfirmed His covenant commitment.

And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” – Genesis 35:10-12 ESV

It is interesting to note that God changed Jacob’s name. In Hebrew, his name meant “he takes by the heel or he cheats.” This was a result of what happened at the time of Jacob and Esau’s births. Esau came out first, but the text tells us, “Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob” (Genesis 25:26 ESV).

But now, years later, God would change Jacob’s name. In Hebrew, the name change from Ya`aqob to Yisra’el was subtle but highly significant. Israel means, “God prevails.” In spite of all the trickery, deceit, human flaws, misplaced blessings, and convoluted circumstances surrounding Jacob’s life, God was in charge. His will was being done. His promise was being fulfilled. And it was in this fact that Isaac had placed his hope and conviction. He had faith that God would do what He said He would do. So by faith, he invoked future blessings on his two sons, trusting God to take care of the rest. Isaac believed his God to be faithful, trustworthy, and fully capable of fulfilling His promises – despite the well-intentioned but highly deceitful actions of Rebekah and Jacob. God was in charge and Isaac placed his faith in that foundational fact.

The Testing of Our Faith

September 8, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹⁷By 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, ¹⁸of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ¹⁹He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. – Hebrews 11:17-19 ESV

This story deserves a second look. There are four little words that should raise a certain amount of suspicion and create a bit of confusion in our minds – “when he was tested.” The account of this story found in Genesis says, “After these things God tested Abraham” (Genesis 22:1 ESV). But why did God test Abraham? The Hebrew word for “tested” is nacah and it can mean “to test, try, prove, tempt, assay, put to the proof or test” (Hebrew Lexicon :: H5254 (KJV). Blue Letter Bible). Again, why would a good God test Abraham? We might also ask why an omniscient, all-knowing God would need to test Abraham. What was the purpose of the test? Was it to prove, test, or try Abraham’s faith? Wouldn’t an omniscient God have known what the outcome of such a test would be? Didn’t he already have a ram ready to serve as a substitute offering in place of Isaac? Was God really waiting to see what Abraham would do?

On further examination, it would appear that God was testing Abraham, not for His own enlightenment, but for Abraham’s. God already knew the outcome. The psalmist would have us remember that God is all-knowing.

O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. – Psalm 139:1-4 NLT

God did not need to know what Abraham would do. But Abraham needed to know what God would do in response to his obedience – even in the face of an impossible, illogical request. The test was for Abraham.

There is another story that speaks of God’s testing. It is found in the book of Exodus. It took place early in the story, immediately after the Israelites’ deliverance from
Egypt and God’s miraculous parting of the Red Sea.

Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them… – Exodus 15:22-25 ESV

In recording this event, Moses used the same Hebrew word, nacah. God tested them. But notice the difference between the two stories. In this case, the people of Israel, who had just witnessed God’s divine deliverance, arrive at Marah and immediately begin to complain about the lack of water. Remember, they had seen God send ten plagues upon the people of Egypt. They had seen Him destroy Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea. But when they found themselves in the wilderness without water, they grumbled and complained, saying, “What shall we drink?”

They didn’t even take their problem directly to God, the one who had delivered them. Instead, they went to Moses, and he delivered their complaint to God. Despite their complaining, God took care of their need and provided them with sweet water. There he tested them. But again, who was the test for? Did God not know how they were going to react? Was He not fully aware of their hearts and completely unsurprised by their reaction? Wasn’t He the one who led them right to that spot, fully knowing that there was no water? The answer to all three questions is “Yes.” God knew. So, this test was for them.

After God miraculously provided them with drinkable water, He said to them, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer” (Exodus 15:26 ESV).

God wanted them to know that He could be trusted. He wanted them to know that He was all-powerful. He was testing their knowledge of Him and their faith in Him – for their benefit. The lack of water at Meribah revealed to them that they didn’t know or trust God. It revealed their lack of faith. When they had stood on the banks of the Red Sea with the army of Pharaoh bearing down on them, Moses had told them, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today” (Exodus 14:13 ESV). And God had delivered them. But as soon as they faced their first problem, they doubted God. They failed the test.

But Abraham passed his test – with flying colors. God was not surprised. He knew Abraham would be obedient. He even had a ram caught in a thicket to serve as the stand-in for Isaac. But that day Abraham learned a great deal about himself and about His God. His faith grew. His hope in God’s promises increased. His conviction deepened that those things promised by God, though as yet unseen and unfulfilled, would actually happen. God was good for His word.

The test was for Abraham’s benefit, not God’s. He learned what true obedience to God looks and feels like. In a way, Abraham was testing the faithfulness of God, counting on Him to come through. He even told his son, Isaac, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son” (Genesis 22:8 ESV). He was putting all his faith in God, counting on Him to spare his son or even raise him back to life should he have to follow through with God’s command and take his life.

God was not testing Abraham in order to see what he would do. The test was so that Abraham could see what God would do. The result of the whole affair was that Abraham’s faith in God increased. The apostle Peter gives us an insight into the tests we face in this life.

Like Abraham, our faith will be tested at times. We will find ourselves facing situations and circumstances that will reveal whether our “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV). Will we allow the lack of water to cause us to complain? When God leads us to do something we find unreasonable or uncomfortable, will we balk at His request and refuse, or will we obey? God knows exactly what we will do. He is never surprised. But the question is whether we know what God will do, and are we willing to trust Him with the outcome? Paul gives us a word of encouragement.

For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! – 2 Corinthians 4:17 NLT

This present life is filled with troubles, trials, and tests that take us by surprise and catch us off-guard. We don’t see them coming and their sudden appearance in our lives presents us with a test of our faith. They are not so much tests to determine what we will do as much as they are opportunities to examine our trust in God. What will He do? How is He going to respond to our trials and difficulties? Abraham passed his test not because he picked up the knife to take the life of his own son, but because he believed God would somehow fulfill all the promises He had made, even if Isaac died in the process.

God had assured Abraham, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named” (Hebrews 11:9 ESV). That promise was good enough for Abraham. God had said it and Abraham believed it. And nothing, including the potential death of Isaac, was going to keep God from doing what He had promised to do.

The Danger of Misplaced Faith

September 7, 2023September 6, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

There will be times when the life of faith seems illogical. By definition, it involves “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV). Faith has a future orientation. It looks ahead and maintains an eternal perspective. Because of those things, it will be tested on this earth.

God had promised Abraham a son. There would be no plan B, no adoption of an heir, no acceptance of another son born through a slave girl. The son God had in mind would be born through Sarah, in spite of Abraham’s old age and her barrenness. Not only that, God had also promised a multitude of descendants and a land in which they would live. And God kept His word.

The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the 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. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” 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.” – Genesis 21:1-7 ESV

God came through. When Abraham had celebrated his 100th birthday, God provided him with a son. He and Sarah must have been beside themselves with joy and a deep sense of relief. They had waited so long. They had hoped for a son and now God had delivered on His promise. And they would enjoy every moment of every day with their young son, Isaac. Every time they looked at him, they would remember the faithfulness of God and realize that this young boy was the hope they had been waiting for for so long. But was he?

The day came when God gave Abraham the hardest choice he would ever make.

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” – Genesis 22:1-2 ESV

Can you imagine the shock? Can you begin to feel the sense of incredulity Abraham must have felt? As God acknowledged in His statement to Abraham, this was his only son, the son he loved. And now God was asking; no He was commanding Abraham to offer up that long-awaited son as a sacrifice. He was telling Abraham to take the life of his own son, his only son, the one who was the key to Abraham becoming the father of a multitude of nations.

Or was he? You see, as much as we may be appalled at the idea of God commanding Abraham to make a human sacrifice, we must keep in mind that, as the Scriptures say, this was a test. It was God’s way of determining if Abraham had mistakenly transferred his hope in God to his son. Had the gift he had been given become more important than the Giver of the gift?

It’s interesting to note the response of Abraham to this shocking news from God. The Scriptures somewhat matter-of-factly record: “So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him” (Genesis 22:3 ESV).

He didn’t argue or remind God of His earlier promise. He didn’t accuse God of unfairness or injustice. He simply obeyed. While he probably didn’t understand all that was going on, he kept trusting God. When his young son asked him, “My father, behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (Genesis 22:7 ESV), Abraham calmly replied, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son” (Genesis 22:8 ESV).

Whether Abraham was simply hiding the grim reality from his son in order to protect him or he truly believed that God would provide a substitute lamb, the passage doesn’t say. The very fact that Abraham ended up binding his son, placing him on the altar, and raising the knife to take his life, gives us ample evidence that he was willing to go through with God’s command. In his heart of hearts, Abraham trusted God and believed that He could still keep all His promises even if Isaac had to die. In fact, the author of Hebrews tells us, “He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead” (Hebrews 11:19 ESV).

Abraham passed the test. God sent an angel to stay his hand and prevent the death of Isaac. The angel of the Lord said to Abraham, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me” (Genesis 22:12 ESV). Then God miraculously provided a ram caught by its horns in a thicket to act as a substitute sacrifice. Isaac was spared. Abraham had shown that his faith was in God, not his son. He had proven that he trusted the Giver more than he did the gift. His hope was in God and he had full assurance and a strong conviction that God was going to do all that He had promised, and nothing, even the death of his own son was going to prevent it from happening. He had faith in God.

God had asked Abraham to do the unthinkable. He had commanded Abraham to take the life of his only son, his most precious possession. Not only was Isaac the fulfillment of a long-awaited dream, but he was also the hope of God’s promise of a multitude of descendants taking place.

Or was he? You see, the problem we all face is the tendency to take our eyes off of God and place them on things other than Him. Isaac was not to be Abraham’s hope. He was just a boy who would grow up to be a man. But Isaac would not bring about the fulfillment of God’s promises. Only God could do that. No man or woman will ever be able to bring to fruition the promises of God. For the divine will of God to happen, it must be accomplished by God Himself. We must never take our hope off of God and place it on anyone or anything else.

Abraham’s test was one of allegiance. It was a test of his hope and, ultimately, a test of his faith. Now that he had a son, was he going to transfer his hope from God to Isaac? He passed the test. His faith was in God. His assurance of things hoped for was in God. His conviction of things not seen was in God. He had an eternal perspective that would not allow the illogical and seemingly unthinkable to deter his faith in his faithful God.

Faith Is Not Wishful Thinking

September 6, 2023September 6, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹³These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. ¹⁴For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. – Hebrews 11:13-16 ESV

“These all died in faith.”

That statement sounds so odd. It seems to make no sense. These people (the patriarchs) had faith, but they died, “not having received the things promised.” Then what is the point of faith, one might ask. Why bother having faith if it isn’t going to do you any good? But that is not the author’s point. He is juxtaposing our temporal, earthly perspective with one that is eternal and future-oriented.

Faith is not a point-in-time experience that takes place once in a lifetime. It is a way of life that extends over a lifetime. We often hear people express their faith story in terms like, “I came to faith in Christ when I was 14 years old” or “I placed my faith in Christ when I was in my thirties.” Those statements are not incorrect or inaccurate, but they display an insufficient understanding of what faith really is. Faith is a journey; a pilgrimage. It involves this life, but it goes far beyond it. As the familiar verse says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV).

Our faith or belief in Christ is meant to have an eternal focus, not a temporal one. Jesus told Mary and Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25 ESV). Physical death is still inevitable and unavoidable, but our faith is to be based on the promise that death is not the end of life, but rather, it is just the beginning. The apostle Paul reminds us:

For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 15:53-57 NLT

When the author of Hebrews opened up this section of his letter with the words, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” we probably read them with a temporal slant. We hope for a lot of things in this life. We hope for success. We hope for good health. We hope our marriage will survive. We hope for a better-paying job. We hope our children will one day accept Christ and live for Him. And then we try and muster up enough faith so that these things will come about. But that is a misunderstanding of faith.

Faith is not just another version of the power of positive thinking. During our lifetimes we have seen faith turned into a distorted name-it-and-claim-it theology that attempts to turn God into some kind of a cosmic genie in a bottle. We come up with our list of hopes and wishes, and then He is obligated to make them happen. But that is not the essence of biblical faith.

The apostle Paul would have us understand faith differently. He wrote, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4 ESV).

Seek the things that are above. Set your mind on things that are above. Have an eternal focus and a heavenly perspective. Paul told the believers in Ephesus that he longed for their spiritual enlightenment.

…that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. – Ephesians 1:18 ESV

Ultimately, as believers, our hope is to be on our future redemption and glorification. Paul said, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18 ESV). We live far too often with temporal hopes rather than eternal ones. We place all our hopes in this world instead of the next. We expect and sometimes demand heaven on earth, but God has something else in store. Something far better.

The patriarchs had to acknowledge that “they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” Abraham and Sarah had to live as nomads, moving from one place to another, never having a real home and never getting to live in the land promised to them by God. They never had the pleasure of seeing their descendants multiply into a great nation. By the time that happened, they were both long gone. But they had faith that it would happen. They also had faith that they would live in a better country. Abraham left his hometown and headed out for a new land. He had no idea where he was going but was simply trusting God’s word. He believed that what God was offering him was better than what he already had. He left behind his old way of life for a new one. The author says that God “has prepared for them a city” (Hebrews 11:16b ESV), a heavenly city.

The ultimate reward received by Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, David, Enoch, Abel, and all the other Old Testament saints listed in this passage, was the eternal state. Their lives spent on this planet were temporary and their days were filled with trials, troubles, setbacks, and disappointments. But they maintained their faith in God and His goodness.

As Christians, we must live with a constant awareness that this world is not our home. We are simply passing through on our way to someplace better. Like Abraham, we are to recognize our role as aliens and strangers in this “land.” We are not to get comfortable here. We are not to demand that God provide us with our best life here and now. We are not to put our hopes in things that rust, decay, break down, fall apart, get stolen, go out of style, and always fail to bring us the joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment we hoped they would. Remember the author’s description of faith:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. – Hebrews 11:1 ESV

We are to be assured of our future place in God’s eternal kingdom, and that is to be what we hope for. We are to have a strong conviction regarding our future glorification and the redemption of our bodies, and it is that for which we eagerly wait. Paul put it this way:

And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. – Romans 8:23 NLT

We will all one day die in our faith. But because we have faith, our death will not be the end. It will be the beginning of our eternal life with God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son. The city in which Abraham and Sarah live at this very moment is far better than any city they could have inhabited on this earth. The descendants they can claim are far greater and more in number than they could ever have imagined, and they include people from every tribe, nation, and tongue.

When we place our faith in God, He does great things. His will is far better than our most ambitious wishes. His promises are far better than anything we could ever imagine or hope for.

Well-Placed Hope

September 5, 2023September 6, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹¹By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. ¹²Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. – Hebrews 11:11-12 ESV

The line, “even when she was past the age” is a bit of an understatement. Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was way past the age of conception. She was almost 90 years old and, on top of that, she was barren. Genesis 18 records that “Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah” (Genesis 18:11 ESV). In other words, her birthing days were well behind her.

Genesis also reveals that when Sarah and Abraham were given news from God that the would have a son, they both expressed doubt. When God told Abraham that he would become the father of a great nation, Abraham’s response was, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” (Genesis 15:2 ESV).

Abraham was painfully aware of his wife’s barrenness and could see no way that God could produce a great nation through a woman incapable of producing eggs capable of fertilization. The only solution to the problem that Abraham could see was to use one of his household servants as his heir.

Sarah’s solution was a bit more creative. She came up with the “brilliant” idea to give her Egyptian maidservant for Abraham to impregnate.

“Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” – Genesis 16:2 ESV

And, like any red-blooded male, Abraham gladly took Sarah up on her offer. He offered no arguments or shared no reservations concerning her plan. Yet, God had wasn’t buying Sarah’ poorly conceived Plan B. Once again, He informed Abraham what He intended to do.

“I will bless her [Sarah], and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” – Genesis 17:6 ESV

And what was Abraham’s response to God’s announcement? He laughed at the very though of something so obviously impossible and improbable. Basically, he questioned the viability of God’s plan a.

“Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” – Genesis 17:17 ESV

But God confirmed His promise and assured Abraham that the impossible really would happen. Sometime later, when God appeared to Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre, God gave him exciting news. “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son” (Genesis 18:10 ESV). And Sarah, eavesdropping at the door to the tent, “laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?’” (Genesis 17:12 ESV).

Like her husband, Sarah had doubts, reservations, and a bit of a hard time seeing how any of this was going to happen. The circumstances surrounding her life seemed to strongly contradict what God was saying.

And yet, Hebrews says, “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive.” This seems like a gross exaggeration of the facts. Both Abraham and Sarah laughed at the news of God’s plan. Both came up with alternative options, their plan B’s designed to help God out. And yet it says that Sarah had faith. I think the problem is that we tend to put the emphasis on Sarah’s faith, rather than the object of her faith. It says that by faith she received the power to conceive. All Sarah could do was trust the power of God. Her faith did not bring the power into existence or make the results of that power produce the intended results.

She had to stop trying to do things on her own and simply rest in the power of God’s promise. She had to take her eyes off the circumstances – her old age and barren condition – and trust God. It was by faith that Sarah had to wait for the miracle of conception and the fulfillment of God’s promise.

Remember how this chapter started out.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. – Genesis 11:1 ESV

Sarah had longed and hoped for a child for decades. She had desperately desired to have a baby but had been forced to give up on that dream because of her condition. But when God promised to give her and Abraham a child, she had one recourse: to take what God said by faith.

She was forced to trust God. She had tried doing things her way and it had terribly backfired. God was going to do what He had promised to do and He would notaccept any alternative solution, no matter how well-intentioned. Eleazar and Ishmael would not suffice. Adoption was not an option. Sarah was going to have to trust God. And so it says, “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive.”

Sarah had to come to grips with the fact that God was faithful and rely on the truth that He was all-powerful. He had the character and the capacity to back up what He said. And it says she “considered him faithful who had promised.”

After all her conniving, doubting, whining, and self-sufficient planning, Sarah determined to trust God. She decided to put her faith in the one who had promised. And in God’s perfect timing, “The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him” (Genesis 21:1-2 ESV).

She placed her faith in God and He came through.

And Sarah said, ‘God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.’ 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.’” – Genesis 21:6-7 ESV

Sarah’s faith did not make any of this happen. Her faith was simply a confidence and conviction that the one who promised it would happen had the power to make it happen. She put her hopes in His hands. She put her fears and doubts on His shoulders. She quit worrying and started believing. She stopped trying to take matters into her own hands and left them in the highly capable and powerful hands of God.

Our problem is not that we don’t believe what God has promised, it is that we somehow think He needs our help in bringing it about. Faith is about giving up and resting on God’s faithfulness and sufficiency. It is about reliance upon His power, instead of our own. It involves putting our hope in God rather than allowing the circumstances surrounding us to suck the hope out of us. Faith is less a commodity than it is a state of being. It is a place to which we come when we are ready to take God at His word and rest in the reality of His power to do what He has promised.

Therefore from one man [and woman], and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. – Hebrews 11:12 ESV

Future-Focused Faith

September 4, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁸By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. – Hebrews 11:8-10 ESV

The first four words of this section of Hebrews 11 are critical: “By faith Abraham obeyed.” It would be easy to put the emphasis on the latter half of the statement, making Abraham’s obedience the main point. But the author is simply attempting to provide further proof for the opening line of this chapter: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV). Abraham’s obedience, while important, is meant to take a back seat to his faith. It is a byproduct of his faith. As the author said in verse six, “without faith it is impossible to please God.”

We have to go back to the Old Testament book of Genesis to see the complete story of Abraham’s call and his subsequent obedience to that call. He was living in Haran with his father and the rest of his family. They had moved there from Ur. And it was while he was living in Haran that God came to Abram (his original name), and said, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:1-3 ESV).

What’s important to notice is that, according to the text, God had not given him the exact location of his final destination. Even the passage in Hebrews says that Abram “went out, not knowing where he was going.” This is an important part of the story. The extent of Abram’s knowledge was limited. He knew that God had called him and had promised to give him land and to produce from him a great nation. While these promises were substantial in scope, they were also a bit vague. Anyone would naturally want to know where and how. Where is this land you are giving me and how do you intend to produce a great nation from a man with a barren wife?

Abram would have had questions and concerns, yet he still obeyed God and did exactly as he was told. But the author’s emphasis is the faith that fueled Abram’s obedience.

…by faith Abraham obeyed. – Hebrews 11:8 ESV

He had no idea where he was going or how God was going to pull off what He had promised. Genesis tells us that Abram headed out, under the direction of God, and before long he found himself in the land of Canaan, a land occupied by none other than the Canaanites, the descendants of Ham, one of the sons of Noah.

Abram was a descendant of Shem, another son of Noah. So once he arrived at his final destination, Abram found the land already occupied by some distant family members. The author of Hebrews reminds us that “By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land” (Hebrews 11:9 ESV). Abram found himself living in a land that belonged to others, and its residents lived in well-furnished houses while his small family was relegated to the transient lifestyle of nomads, living in tents and constantly moving from one location to another.

They were little more than squatters and vagabonds who enjoyed no sense of stability or ownership, and this state of affairs would last for generations, spanning the lives of Isaac and Jacob. Abram had received a promise of land but he spent his entire life living like a stranger rather than an occupant. He never owned a home or lived within the secure walls of a city. In fact, the author of Hebrews states that during his entire tenure in Canaan, “he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10 ESV).

The Greek word the author uses is ekdechomai and it means “to look for, expect, wait for, await” (Greek Lexicon :: G1551 (KJV). Blue Letter Bible. Web. 4 Feb, 2016. <http://www.blueletterbible.org). Abram was waiting for, expecting, and anticipating something that had not yet come. He was eagerly and hopefully waiting for God to make his residence a permanent one. His understanding of the promise was that it would include a city made up of bricks and mortar, with walls, ceilings, and floors. Abram was eagerly anticipating the end of his nomadic existence spent living in tents.

But he had to wait, and along with having to deal with the existence of Canaanites, he had to endure the devastating impact of a debilitating drought. When he first arrived in the “promised land,” things were so bad that he was forced to take an unplanned detour to Egypt to seek food for his family. This was not what he had expected when he obeyed the call of God back in Ur. But through a series of unexpected but divinely ordained events, Abram arrived back in Canaan a wealthy man with an abundance of livestock. In fact, his flocks were so large that he and his nephew Lot had to part ways in order to keep from running into conflicts over pasturing rights. And when he gave Lot the first choice of land, his nephew chose the very best, leaving Abram with the less attractive portion. But Abram continued to trust God. He placed his hope and convictions in the promises of God. Even after Abram gave Lot the choice of the best land, God reconfirmed His promise to him.

Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west. I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession. And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted! Go and walk through the land in every direction, for I am giving it to you. – Genesis 13:14-17 ESV

According to God, the land was as good as his – all of it. Every square acre of it, including all of the land occupied by the Canaanites and by Lot belonged to Abram. He had yet to take possession of a single square inch of the land of Canaan but, according to God’s promise, it was all going to belong to his descendants. Abram placed his faith and hope in God and His word. The fact that he did not possess a permanent home or the deed to a piece of property did not diminish his belief that God was going to follow through on His promise. Abram lived with the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Yet, the author states that Abram and all the others listed in chapter 11 “died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13 ESV). Theirs was a future-focused faith. It was based on a promise, and that promise was assured because the promise-maker was trustworthy. Abram knew that the promise of God was far greater and encompassed far more than just his individual blessing. God’s promise involved future generations and had far-reaching implications. Abram would never live to see the complete fulfillment of God’s promise. He would be long gone by the time his descendants faced another famine in Canaan and returned to Egypt. He would never live to see them multiply and grow to such a degree that Pharaoh would become fearful of them and decree a pogrom designed to exterminate them. He would not experience the joy of watching God set his descendants free from their captivity in Egypt and lead them back to the promised land. He would not enjoy the thrill of seeing them conquer the land of Canaan and make it their own. He would never see the rise of King David or view the splendor of Solomon’s grand kingdom. And he would never live to see the coming of the Messiah, the one through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

But Abram believed. He had faith. He obeyed. He worshiped. He waited. And he left the future in God’s hands. He had future faith because he believed in an eternal God who never fails to keep His word or fulfill His commitments. And the apostle Paul would have us live by faith as Abram did.

…we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. – Romans 8:23-25 ESV

The Faith Factor

August 31, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ²For by it the people of old received their commendation. ³By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. – Hebrews 11:1-3 ESV

What exactly is faith? How do you know when you have it? When do you know that you are living by it? The author of Hebrews, like the apostle Paul, spent a great deal of time defending the doctrine of faith. They both believed it was essential to salvation and a non-negotiable part of the Christian life. The author of Hebrews even goes so far as to say that “without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6 ESV).

Both Paul and the author of Hebrews borrow a phrase from the book of Habakkuk, “but the righteous shall live by his faith,” to support their position on faith. For each man, faith and righteousness were inseparable. You couldn’t have one without the other. To attempt to achieve the kind of righteousness that God demands, apart from faith, would be impossible and illogical. He had given His Law to the people of Israel to show them the extent of the righteousness He required and to reveal the utter futility of trying to live up to His righteous standard in their own strength. They couldn’t do it.

God knew they would be unable to keep the Law, so He provided them with the sacrificial system to atone for the sins they would inevitably commit. As the author has already revealed, the law and the sacrificial system were “but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities” (Hebrews 10:1a ESV).

The people sinned and then offered sacrifices for those sins, year after year. But this unending cycle of sin and sacrifice could never bring about true righteousness. As the author pointed out in the last chapter, these repetitive sacrifices “were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship” (Hebrews 10:1b NLT).

The Law was intended to reveal God’s righteous standards and expose man’s sin. Paul explained, “For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are” (Romans 3:20 NLT). God’s mandated sacrificial system demonstrated that His wrath against sin was real and required the shedding of blood to atone for those sins.

In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. – Hebrews 9:22 NLT

The blood of bulls and goats could only provide temporary atonement for sins, so God sent His Son to provide a permanent solution to man’s sin problem and a way to escape the sentence of death hanging over his head. But this new plan of salvation would require faith – “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV).

Faith is always forward-looking. It is based on the yet unseen and the as-yet unfulfilled. Peter gives us a wonderful glimpse of what faith should be like for us as believers:

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls. – 1 Peter 1:6-9 NLT

The author of Hebrews shared a similar admonition.

…let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. – Hebrews 10:22 NLT

We are to “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering” (Hebrews 10:23 ESV). He praised his readers for their willingness to endure difficulties and trials with joy.

You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever. – Hebrews 10:34 NLT

They were willing to put up with loss in this world because of their confidence in the promise of God that assured them of great gain in the world to come. They were “not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction,” but instead, they were “the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved” (Hebrews 10:39 NLT). Their faith was future-oriented because they firmly believed in the promises of God. They had an assurance of things hoped for and a conviction of things not seen. That is exactly what Paul encouraged the believers in Corinth to keep doing.

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. – 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT

If we take our eyes off the hope of God’s future promises, we will find it hard to endure the present trials of this life. If we live as if this earthly existence is all there is, then we will grow weary, disappointed, and disillusioned. The “great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3) the author referred to earlier in his letter will begin to appear weak and ineffective. But it is essential for every believer to understand that God’s salvation includes our future glorification. There is more to our faith than simply the assurance that we have been saved and our sins are forgiven. We will one day be redeemed and given new bodies. We will be freed once and for all from our battle with indwelling sin.

Our faith must always have a future focus. The apostle John, as a loving pastor, reminds us, “Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is” (1 John 3:2 NLT).

That is our hope. That is the basis of our faith, and the author of Hebrews will spend the rest of this chapter demonstrating what this kind of faith looks like in real life, using Old Testament saints as examples of a future-focused faith lived out in real life. This list of long-deceased individuals who lived long before the incarnation of Jesus is intended to provide us with hope. They illustrate that God’s redemptive work has always been based on faith. From Abel and Abraham to Noah and Moses, each of these children of God demonstrated faith in the faithfulness of God. Their lives are living examples of what it looks like to have “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV).

In their own way, each of them revealed their trust in God by stepping out in faith and relying on nothing more than His word. Abel offered the very best of his flock, potentially sacrificing his future livelihood but trusting that God would care for his needs. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son because he fully believed that God would keep His promise to produce a great nation from his offspring. Noah built and entered the ark, based on nothing more than the promise of salvation offered by God. And Moses took a leap of faith and delivered the people of Israel from their captivity in Egypt with little more than a sight-unseen promise from God about a land of their own.

Faith is the unifying factor in each of their stories. And, according to the apostle Paul, faith is still the sole means of accessing the salvation and future glorification that God has in store for each of His children.

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” – Romans 1:15-17 NLT

God’s Divine Exit Plan

March 17, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

³³The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” ³⁴So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. ³⁵The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. ³⁶And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

³⁷And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. ³⁸A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. ³⁹And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.

⁴⁰The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. ⁴¹At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. ⁴²It was a night of watching by the Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations. – Exodus 12:33-42 ESV

Everything was happening according to God’s meticulous and well-timed plan. Every plague had come at just the right moment bringing with it the exact measure of God’s judgment upon the people of Egypt. Their cumulative effect finally brought Pharaoh to his knees when the final plague brought death to his doorstep. Having lost his firstborn son, Pharaoh hastily agreed to all the Israelites to temporarily leave the borders of Egypt to worship their all-powerful and death-delivering God. He was taking no more chances. This battle with Israel’s God had gotten personal and he had been on the losing end. So, he acquiesced and gave his permission for Moses to take the Israelites on their three-day journey into the wilderness to worship their God.

And his decision was met with the full approval of his citizens because they had also suffered great loss during the final plague. Moses states that “there was not a house where someone was not dead” (Exodus 12:30 ESV). This was a national disaster of epic proportions. With the dead bodies of their loved ones still lying in their homes, the Egyptians begged the Israelites to leave, lest there be more casualties in this battle of the wills between Pharaoh and Yahweh.

And the Israelites, having followed God’s instructions, were prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.

The Israelites took their bread dough before yeast was added. They wrapped their kneading boards in their cloaks and carried them on their shoulders. – Exodus 12:34 ESV

The night before, God had instituted the Passover meal, instructing His people to prepare the unblemished lamb and to consume it “with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord‘s Passover” (Exodus 12:11 ESV). Now, the meal having been eaten, and the blood of the lamb having been sprinkled on the doorways of their homes, the Israelites celebrated while the Egyptians mourned. The firstborns were alive and well in Goshen. The death angel had “passed over” their homes. Now, they were prepared to leave. So, they grabbed their kneading bowls and the unleavened dough they had prepared in advance, and they got ready to leave Egypt. But there was one last thing they had to do.

God had told Moses that the day would come when the people would be able to ask their Egyptian overlords for a handout and they would receive it.

“I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.” – Exodus 3:19-22 ESV

What makes this prophecy so compelling is that its fulfillment came after the Egyptians had suffered the catastrophic losses of their loved ones. Even as the Egyptians were reeling from the devastating consequences of the last plague, they still were willing to turn over their valuables to the Israelites. In another demonstration of God’s sovereign will, the Israelites “asked the Egyptians for clothing and articles of silver and gold” (Exodus 12:35 NLT).

After all that had happened to them, it seems that the Egyptians would have been in no mood to play along with this seemingly ill-timed and ludicrous request. But Moses matter-of-factly states, “The Lord caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth!” (Exodus 12:36 NLT). It was all part of His divine plan.

Moses then states that the number of Israelites who prepared to leave Egypt was “about 600,000 men, plus all the women and children.” (Exodus 12:37 NLT). Scholars have long attempted to calculate the total number of Israelites who exited Egypt on that fateful day. Assuming that many of the 600,000 men were married with children, some have speculated that the total number of Israelites was well over 1 million. And if you add in the “rabble of non-Israelites” (Exodus 12:38 NLT) who went with them, the number could have been as high as 2 million. But when considering the logistical problems associated with a group of this size, many scholars have tried to come up with ways to arrive at a much lower and more reasonable number.

For many, the idea of one to two million Israelites trying to navigate their way from Egypt to Canaan is not only improbable but simply impossible. How would Moses feed so many people? Imagine how long it would take for that many people to pass through the Red Sea when Moses parted its waters. Because of the difficulty posed in trying to reconcile such a staggering number of people, many scholars have come up with novel ways to determine a more manageable and believable interpretation of this passage. But, this entire story has been full of improbable and impossible scenarios that defy explanation.

When Jacob had begun his journey from Canaan to Egypt in order to escape the famine and reunite with his long-lost son, Joseph, God visited him at Beersheba and gave him the following promise:

“I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation.” – Genesis 46:3 ESV

More than 400 years later, Jacob’s descendants were preparing to leave Egypt and they had greatly increased in number, just as God had promised. In fact, the book of Exodus opened with the statement, “the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them” (Exodus 1:7 ESV).

And their fruitfulness had gotten the attention of the Pharaoh. He couldn’t help but notice that this motley group of 70 Hebrews who had entered the land four centuries earlier, had greatly increased in number; to the degree that he was forced to admit, “the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us” (Exodus 1:9 ESV).

While we may balk at the idea of 1 million or more Israelites marching out of Egypt under the direction of Moses, it is readily apparent that God had done something miraculous with His chosen people. He had greatly blessed them and fulfilled His original promise to Abraham: “I will make of you a great nation” (Genesis 12:2 ESV).

And now, this mighty host was making its grand exit from the land of Egypt. Moses puts it this way:

At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. – Exodus 12:41 ESV

This raises a second point of contention among many commentators and biblical scholars. Just exactly how long were the Israelites in Egypt? Was it 400 years or 430 years? Some believe that the Bible contradicts itself in regard to this matter.

Centuries earlier, God had told Abraham that his descendants would find themselves living in a foreign land for a period of 400 years.

“Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.” – Genesis 15:13 ESV

But Moses clearly indicates that the people left Egypt after 430 years. In fact, he states that their exit took place “on that very day” (Exodus 12:41 ESV). This 430-year period is probably calculated from the day that Jacob and the 70 members of his family first entered Egypt.

All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy. – Genesis 46:26-27 NLT

The rag-tag group that entered the land was only 70 in number, but 430 years later, when they left, they had grown into a great host. In the book of Acts, Luke records that God eventually delivered this great host into the land of Canaan, some 450 years after Jacob and his small clan had first arrived.

And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years. – Acts 13:19 ESV

His calculation would seem to include the 40-plus years the Israelites spent wandering in the wilderness. But however the calculations are made, whether dealing with the number of Israelites or the total number of years they spent in Egypt, it is clear that God performed a great miracle for His chosen people. More than four centuries earlier, Joseph had told his brothers, “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors” (Genesis 45:7 ESV). Now, those “many survivors” were lined up with their kneading bowls, unleavened dough, gold, and silver, ready to begin the long journey to the land of promise.

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Abraham