[Transcript represents full sermon's text]

       Continuing our progress in Hebrews chapter 11. We pick up in verse 17 with more on Abraham: “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, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” (ESV).

       A vivid image, the vivid story, presents itself of the ultimate test of faith, the testing of Abraham that occurred on the mountain when God asked him to sacrifice his only son. Most would not disagree, it seems, that it is the ultimate test, for a test would not get much harder. We can bring to mind the account from Genesis chapter 22. The reasoning behind the whole thing is that God wants to—wants to see for himself—what is in Abraham’s heart. We discussed the last time that our faith shows what is in our hearts. That’s what the external fruit of it is. That’s what Jesus stated, remember, when he said it’s out of the heart that various kinds of sins come. Unfortunately, and it seems to be true, that we nor anyone else really knows what is in our heart until that heart is put to the test by a trial. Does God induce trials to see what is in our hearts? Perhaps, perhaps. He himself needs to see it. He needs to see where we stand. That’s why it’s a test. And it’s also an indicator to us—to tell us for our own introspection where we stand. Have we arrived to where we should be? Or is there still some serious growth that needs to take place? Are we not where we should be?

       One can only imagine the serious horror that must have been racing through Abraham’s mind when the request came. After all, it was to Abraham that all the great promises had been made, back in Genesis chapter 12 from our vantage point. Awareness was present of the promise of an abundance in descendants which was to come through Isaac. Yet, we are let in on a great piece of information, something that’s not relayed back in Genesis 22. And that’s that Abraham, in his abundance of faith, believed that even God could raise Isaac from the dead if he had to. If the sacrifice ritual went all the way to the point that Abraham actually had to kill Isaac, he believed that God could raise him from the dead. That’s incredible, and there was no prior history of God ever doing anything like that. But there in Genesis 22, Abraham gives us a clue that that’s what he thinks, for he tells the young men who had gone with them to wait while he and Isaac go to perform the ritual (see verse 5). God himself had to have faith that Abraham would do what he hoped he would do—what he was certainly hoping he would do. This will be reminiscent of what takes place at the beginning of Job chapter 1, remember, when God bets on Job, when he tells Satan that he can to do anything he wants, expect take his life. God had no guarantees; people have free-will. But God needed to see if Abraham would pass the test, so that he could bless him accordingly (see verse 12).

       Verse 20: “By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones” (ESV).

       Now we are taken on a journey, a tour, of the fruit borne from Abraham’s descendants. We first read that Isaac gave future blessings to Jacob and Esau. This was Jacob’s final act, his Last Will and Testament. It wasn’t just a distribution of the things he currently owned and was about to give up, but Jacob spoke of things that were to come—future blessings for them and the descendants. Even for Esau—though things were negative—Jacob gave the promise for a future blessing (see Genesis 27). It could be that Isaac himself knew what was in Esau’s heart—for Esau plotted to kill Jacob once his Isaac passed away. If we fast-forward to Jacob’s death, we see him doing the same thing for Joseph’s sons—giving out blessings. And he showed that he was a sojourner in the land, like Abraham was, by bowing over his staff—that which he would use to sojourn. His permanent dwelling place wasn’t on the earth. Then we move to the end of Joseph’s life, and we see the faith still there that God would accomplish what he said he was going to do—blessing both his sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. God would give the Israelites the land that he had promised. He would move them there, and Joseph’s own bones would need to be moved there (see Genesis 48 to 50). That shows his faith in that God was going to still do it. He hadn’t done it yet, but he would do it.

       Carrying along to Moses. Verse 23: “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward” (ESV).

       Knowledge is present that Moses of old was born as a man with a specific and special call by God. We certainly see this in Scripture from time to time where this happens. In the New Testament, Jesus certainly had a specific call on his life, as he talked about one more than one occasion. The Apostle Paul was in the same situation, and noted to the Galatians, “But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me” (Galatians 1:15, ESV). Thus, God makes decisions at times to have persons arrive on the scene of human history for specific purposes. Moses was one of these individuals. What peaks our interest is his parents apparently thought they recognized that by how beautiful Moses was as a baby. That’s the thought inside their heads that God used to demonstrate he was set apart by God. It’s not that beautiful people are the ones called or are better, it’s just that God used this difference to make his plan clear. The King of Egypt had ordered a slaying of children, much like King Herod would later do after Jesus was born. Undoubtedly, Satan had knowledge of God’s plan and sought to kill Moses through the King’s edict. Of course, Moses as an infant could only be hidden so long before he would be discovered, and his parents entrusted him to the waters until he would be discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter. A bold move that required great trust in God. Sometimes people have to make choices when there is no clear answer on what is going to happen, and trust God with the results. That’s the way it works sometimes.

       Regardless, Moses’ lively childhood years are spent in Pharaoh’s court. With this, undoubtedly, was all the things of the world at his fingertips. The Egyptian people wouldn’t have been aligned with the righteousness that comes from God, so they would have had sin interwoven within their culture. Moses could have forgone his call and had a nice, rich, and relaxing life. That was an option, but he knew he had a call of God on his life and decided to follow that call instead. How Moses came to this conclusion, we don’t know for sure. Perhaps it was his original parents that let him in on it, or perhaps God revealed it to him somehow. Notice how the author of Hebrews equates the Jewish people’s struggles with that of Jesus’ struggles. In other words, he is showing that Christ has always been with them. Remember, Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9, ESV). This shows Jesus identifies with the Jewish people’s struggles, and cares about what happened even back then. Moses cared for the well-being of his people rather than focus on worldly pursuits, and even that from a good starting point probably to really accomplish some things in the world. He cared more about what? Like Jesus, he cared more about the glory that comes from God rather than the glory that comes from man. Contrasts, this does, to some Jews in Jesus’ time, where John pens, “for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God” (John 12:43, ESV). To some degree, we all have a choice. We all get to decide what will be the main pursuit of our life. We can choose to please God, or we can choose to strive after the world.

       Verse 27: “By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them” (ESV).

       Moses’s bold choice to follow God was not met kindly by Pharaoh in Egypt. After all, he probably couldn’t understand why Moses would spurn all the luxury of Egypt which was rightfully his. He possibly also had plans for him, hoping to use him for this or for that within his government. After all, he hadn’t invested so much into Moses upbringing only to see him abandon the whole thing. We recall, after Moses killed the Egyptian, Pharaoh sought to use it against him, and tried to kill him (see Exodus 2:15). Of course, after the whole burning bush scene, Moses is empowered and returns to Egypt to face Pharaoh (howbeit, by this time a different person, for many years had passed). All of this action on Moses part, even though it wasn’t completely perfect, took faith. Moses stayed the course. After announcing and going through nine different plagues with the Pharaoh, the final one becomes the most monumental. This is when the destroying angel takes the lives of all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, from the small to the great. Of course, the angel passed over the Israelites’ firstborn, when he saw the blood on the top of the door and on the doorposts. That was the arrangement that God had setup—that if the Israelites would follow his instructions, there would be no issues for them. This whole unpleasant circumstance took great faith by the people of Israel, but they did it; they followed everything God had said. And by this faith was begotten the end result that Pharaoh let the people go—go to serve God in the wilderness. He actually allowed them to take their animals with them and requested a blessing from them!

       Verse 29: “By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned” (ESV).

       In our minds is ingrained the vivid image of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. Originally, we likely learned it in Sunday school somewhere, and then through watching various movies, like The Ten Commandments. Those only reinforced that image. We’ve also heard the accounts of the chariots and whatever else that’s been found at the bottom of the Red Sea. This scene certainly is familiar. Nevertheless, what we need to realize is that it had to take tremendous faith for the Israelites to go through on the dry ground when God put the water up as walls on each side. The water just being supernaturally held there on both sides. Yet, under the leading of Moses, they crossed through the sea. And, of course, the Egyptians under Pharaoh sought to do the same thing. But God wasn’t with them, and the walls weren’t held, and everyone that tried to go through drowned. Looking back there in Exodus chapter 14, we see that part of the purpose of this was, as spoken by God, so that “the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD” (4, ESV). God shows who he was and is by his actions. There was the people who had faith in the actual living God, and those who had faith in something else. The Lord demonstrates that he will help his people, though, they had to do what he said. They couldn’t shrink back into fear—or their deliverance wouldn’t have happened. They would have been recaptured again.

       The author offers two more examples of faith. Verse 30: “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies” (ESV).

       We further fast-forward to another scene involving the Israelites: the fall of Jericho. This dramatic event is recorded in Joshua chapter 6. This is when, by the leading of Joshua, the Israelites had received their promised land. During this time, the need for faith still continued. That need didn’t go away. The Israelites were to take the city, but that they had to march around it for seven days straight. They simply blew their trumpets, and had to hope that God would do his part—really only something he could do. And God did. The walls of the city came down on the seventh day. Had the people given up and not done what God had said, again, had they become fearful—they wouldn’t have obtained the city. Then we can back up to the story of Rahab from Joshua chapter 2. This was when God sent spies to scope out the land—for the Israelites to see it for themselves, that which God had promised to give them. Rahab was a prostitute, but she believed in the Hebrew God. She hid the spies in the roof of her home. Her faith in this action allowed herself and her whole family to be saved from the fall of Jericho. They most definitely would have been killed in the taking of the city. Yet, Rahab given her lifestyle, still chose to do the right thing. She still mustered up the courage to do what was right, and it produced fruit.

       Let us read the next paragraph as a whole. Beginning in verse 32: “And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth” (ESV).

       In order to drive his point home, the writer of Hebrews now goes through a rather long list of faith continued throughout the Old Testament. Admittedly, this whole list is a little tuff for us, that is, for most of us who are Gentiles because the history mentioned is that of the Jewish people, and for those who haven’t studied the Scripture in-depth, it may be unfamiliar to them. If we were speaking of things from American history, we would probably immediately know what is going on. Nevertheless, let’s go through what the author says. He starts with Gideon and Barak, both found in The Book of Judges, and shows how they lead the Israelites in victories against their enemies, both the Midianites and Canaanites. Continuing in Judges, he next moves to Samson. We remember that the Lord gave Samson supernatural strength through his hair and he lead various campaigns in fighting the Philistines. Finally, he speaks of Jephthah, who sacrificed the animal at his door due to the Israelites victory over the Ammonites, as God kept his promise. We know all about David and probably Samuel to some degree. Maybe we’ve read some or all of the Old Testament prophets. Each of these persons who in faith acted in various ways. We simply do not have time to get into the logistics, as the writer of Hebrews did not, but really no explanation is necessary.

       Tied in with the list of saints, we are presented with a variety of courageous circumstances which were carried out through faith. As we listened to that list, various individuals probably came to our minds. When considering kingdoms conquered, enforced justice, and obtained promises, probably coming to our minds is the likes of Moses, or Joshua, or David, or even Solomon. When thinking about stopping the mouths of lions or quenching the power of fire, we are immediately drawn back to The Book of Daniel, and the scene of Daniel in the lion’s den (in Daniel 6), and the scene of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (in Daniel 3). In escaping the sword, we remember David’s fleeing of Saul or also Elijah (see 1 King 19). Being made strong out of weakness, two good examples for the Israelites would be found in Judges 6 and 16. There were numerous times by various leaders that the Israelites became mighty in war or put foreign armies to flight. What about women receiving back their dead by resurrection? Where did that happen in the Old Testament? Well, we could consider the account in 2 Kings 4, for instance, where Elisha raised from the dead the son of a Shunammite. When you read it there, it sounds very similar to what will be written in the Gospels later. Elijah did the same thing in 1 Kings 17.

       The author then moves to the parts we don’t really want to think about as pertains to faith—the bad circumstances we might say. He talks about the people of God who were tortured, mocked, flogged, and jailed. We can bring to mind prophets like Jeremiah, Zechariah, and Isaiah. Elijah, in one instance, stated, “For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:10, ESV). We recall that Jesus talked about this, when he spoke The Parable of the Tenants, he said “When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed” (Mark 12: 2-5, ESV). The writer speaks of how the saints lived in unpleasant circumstances, and even wandered about, because their fellow people rejected them. Psalm 107:4 and 5 speaks of this, when it says, “Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them” (ESV). Jesus experienced this to some degree, and of course we know the disciples experienced it after Jesus’ ascension to Heaven.

       Finishing up chapter 11. Verse 39: “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect” (ESV).

       Finally, we understand that the individuals of old were forerunners on our behalf—really on any Christians behalf. God had promised Abraham back in Genesis 12 that through him all peoples would eventually be blessed, and that is what has come to pass. God sent Jesus into the world to die for the sins of the world. That was the ultimate goal, where it was all leading to. The people of the Old Testament could have never received the new way, the New Covenant, or become a new creation without that. Sin always fought against God’s plan, the sin in people’s hearts in conjunction with the operations of Satan and his fallen angels. Indeed, it was God’s plan from the very beginning to make everything right, as the Apostle Paul speaks of in Ephesians 1. There, he explained, “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (4-6, ESV). He also noted, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory” (11, 12, ESV). Yet, to get to this point, the sufferings of old had to be endured. Why? We don’t know for sure. We do know that Christians the last several hundred years went through similar sufferings. The end result was stated by Jesus the best in John 17. Namely, in finishing up his prayer to the Father, he said, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:24-26, ESV).

- Daniel Litton