Faith gives up what the world holds tightly
God asked Abraham to take the son of promise, Isaac, and offer him up as a sacrifice (Hebrews 11:17; Genesis 22:1-14), testing his faith to its fullest. Abraham was ready to obey God completely. Remember, Isaac was the only son of his kind (Genesis 17:14-21). Only through Isaac could the promises of God be kept.
Lightfoot writes, “The word translated offered is in the perfect tense, while the expression was ready to offer up is in the imperfect. The imperfect tense vividly portrays unfinished action: Abraham was in the act of offering Isaac when God intervened. The perfect tense expresses the idea that the demands in the sacrifice were fully met, and that, from an ideal standpoint and as far as Abraham was concerned, the offering was a completed action.”
Abraham had other children, but God had decreed Isaac would be the only one considered as being from the regular line of descent (Genesis 21:12; 25:4-5). Abraham’s great faith is seen in his belief that God could raise Isaac from the dead. Milligan and other commentators suggest Abraham did receive Isaac figuratively raised from the dead as the end of the verse says (Hebrews 11:18-19). In Abraham’s mind, or figuratively, Isaac was already dead, so he figuratively received him back alive. Of course, Jesus was of the seed of Abraham and was literally raised from the dead.
Isaac blessed his sons through faith (Genesis 27:27-40), not actually seeing the way their lives would be lived. Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons by faith (Genesis 48:1-20) setting Ephraim, the youngest, before Manasseh. He worshiped, believing that Joseph would bury him as promised (Genesis 47:29-31). Joseph died in faith just like his father. He believed God would deliver his people as promised. He made his relatives promise to carry his bones with them as a result of that belief (Hebrews 11:20-22; Genesis 50:22-26).
Moses’ parents displayed great faith. They knew Pharaoh had commanded all male children be thrown in the river, but they hid their son three months (Exodus 1:22; 2:1-3). God rewarded their faith by allowing their son to be spared (Exodus 2:4-10). When Moses grew up, he rejected the Egyptians in favor of his Hebrew brethren by faith (Exodus 2:11-12). Rather than turn away and let the Egyptian beat the Hebrew slave, Moses chose to throw off the pleasures of the sinful Egyptians and risk the suffering of the Hebrews (Hebrews 11:23-25).
Moses gave up the luxuries in Egypt, desiring the heavenly reward instead. He choose to suffer the reproach Christ. Milligan believes this to be the reproach that Christ bore while on earth and the reproach that he bears in the person of all true believers. When Moses left Egypt, he was afraid because others knew he had slain the Egyptian (Exodus 2:11-15). However, the Hebrew writer says he did not abandon Egypt out of fear, but faith. Through the eye of faith, Moses was able to see Christ, the invisible (1 Timothy 1:17; 6:14-16). He took courage in the fact that Christ is faithful in keeping his promises (Hebrews 11:26-27).
The children of Israel and Moses kept the passover, as God had commanded, believing that God would destroy the firstborn of Egypt and save the Israelites (Exodus 12:1-36). It was by faith that the Israelites were able to pass through the Red Sea and the Egyptians were drowned (Hebrews 11:28-29; Exodus 14:10-31).
These stories repeatedly show that men of faith give up things to which the world would hold tightly. Their driving force is always an eternal home. May we imitate their example.
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