Abraham's Astounding Faith

We are continuing our study in Hebrews 11, and we are slowing down as we work through a list of Old Testament saints presented to us as examples of walking by faith. Today’s example is Abraham, who is a major figure in Old Testament history, and he is introduced to us in Hebrews 11:8.

It says this—By 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. [9] By 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. [10] For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. [11] By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. [12] Therefore 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.

Abraham is known as the father of Israel. And the Israelites understood that the land promised to them by God was Canaan, which includes modern-day Israel.

Abraham, however, wasn’t originally from Canaan. Both before and after being called by God, his life included a lot of travel. Let me give you some of the background for Abraham’s life, and then we’ll get to verse 8 which mentions a specific aspect of his journey.

The story of Abraham starts in Genesis 11. The first part of the chapter traces the line of Noah’s son Shem. Four generations after Shem, there came a man named Peleg. According to Genesis 10 and 1 Chronicles 1, it was at the time of Peleg that the earth was divided. That is probably a reference to what happened as a result of the Tower of Babel. All of Noah’s descendants were living in the same basic area, but after the Tower of Babel, due to God confusing their languages, they began to spread over the earth.

Peleg’s great, great grandson was named Terah, and Terah was the father of Abram, who came to be known as Abraham.

Originally, Terah and his sons were from a land called Ur of the Chaldeans, which many scholars believe is in modern-day Iraq. It’s almost 200 miles southeast of Baghdad toward the Persian Gulf along the Euphrates River. According to archaeological evidence, Ur was a major and prosperous city in that part of the world. The people there worshipped many gods.

Genesis 11 tells us that Abraham was originally named Abram, and he married a woman named Sarai. Unfortunately, she was barren and had no children.

After one of Abraham’s brothers died, their father Terah decided to take the family to Canaan. This meant travelling about 1000 miles across what is known as the Fertile Crescent. About 700 miles into the journey, however, the family stopped in a city called Haran and decided to stay there. Haran is modern-day Turkey, near the Syrian border.

Ur of the Chaldean was a big city, but Haran was even more developed. It was at the crossroads of major trade routes. Again, the people there worshipped many different gods.

Some time after Terah died, God spoke to Abraham. This is where the story picks up in Genesis 12, verse 1. Here’s what it says—Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.”

For those of us who are familiar with the stories of the Bible, this may not sound all that extraordinary but think about what this meant for Abraham. The opening word in the command is “Go.” Abraham is going to have to move. That’s hard enough on its own, but notice what follows.

He needs to go from his country, or from his land. Up to this point he had lived in two major cities. He had settled into what were major urban centers. But now, he’s going to have to get uncomfortable. “go from your country.”

The next phrase adds another element. God says, “Go from your kindred and your father’s house.” He is going to have to leave both the places and the people that have been part of his home his entire life. That’s his source of security. That’s his stability. But he’s going to have to say goodbye to all of that in obedience to the one, true God.

Verse 4 tells us that when Abraham left Haran he was 75 years old. Seventy-five years old! Most men today have retired by that age, but Abraham is going to be packing up and moving.

Why would Abraham, at the age of 75, leave the comfort of his home and the security of his extended family?

To use the word of Hebrews 11:6, Abraham had faith that God rewards those who seek Him. What was the reward? It was God’s promises in Genesis 12:2-3. This is known as the Abrahamic Covenant. God’s instruction to Abraham came with a promise.

Here’s what God said—And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

People in that age understood that one of the greatest blessings of life was having multiple children. Children brought stability and security. Children continued the family line. Children meant greatness.

Abraham has no children; his wife is barren. But God promised that Abraham’s name would be great. He will be a blessing to all the families of the earth. But in order for this to happen, Abraham had to go. He couldn’t stay where he was. Going wouldn’t be easy, but it would bring a great blessing from God.

This brings us back to our primary passage in Hebrews 11:8. Let’s read that one more time and see how it presents Abraham as a model for us. Hebrews 11:8—By 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.

Just like with Noah, Abraham’s faith was demonstrated by his obedience to the word of God, but there is one specific aspect that gets highlighted for us, and that element is uncertainty. God told Abraham, “Go to the land that I will show you.” Abraham didn’t know exactly where he was going, or how long the journey would be, or what the conditions would be like when he got there, but he went anyway. He went in faith, trusting in the inheritance God had promised Him, verse 8 says, “not knowing where he was going.”

In other words, Abraham was uncertain of what the journey would be like, uncertain of how long it would take, but by faith, he was absolutely certain of God’s goodness and God’s promise.

Verse 9 points to the difficulty of Abraham’s decision. It says, “By 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.”

God sent Abraham to a specific place. And later, God promised him he would inherit that land. But Abraham never really settled in, at least not in the way he would have settled in to his previous homes. Ur and Haran were impressive cities, with structures and design. Abraham probably had a home of his own there.

But once he leaves, he will spend the rest of his life living in a tent. It’s going to take multiple generations before Abraham’s descendants can permanently settle into the land God had promised them. But Abraham didn’t grumble. He knew he was an heir, as verse 9 puts it. He had an inheritance coming.

What kept Abraham going? What was he hoping for?

Verse 10—For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Abraham knew that God had prepared something better for him than anything he had had in Ur or in Haran. And so, by faith, he obeyed and he waited and he persevered. He was waiting for God’s gift to him. Abraham knew that his true home wasn’t here on this planet. It was coming to him from God.

Again, Abraham was uncertain of what the journey would be like, uncertain of how long it would take, but by faith, he was absolutely certain of God’s goodness and God’s promise.

What an example to us, and what a picture of what it means to have placed our faith in God through Jesus Christ. To come to Jesus changes the trajectory of your life. For those who came to Jesus at a young age, this is still true, though we can’t fully see where your life was headed without Jesus.

But for those of us who came to Christ as adults, you, like Abraham might have seen the trajectory shift faith brought to your life.

Abraham was 75 years old! He might have assumed life was all but over. Maybe he was planning to live out his days in Ur or in Haran and then just die never having had children of his own. But God turned that all around. He was called to a harder life, from an earthly perspective. But he was also called to an inheritance more glorious than anything he could have imagined.

That’s the same with Christians today. To come to Christ is to change the trajectory of your life. To come to Christ is to have faith in certainty of God’s goodness and God’s promise.

There are some people who teach today that if you have enough faith, God is going to make everything better for you in this life. That is not what the Bible teaches. Just as Stephen from the book of Acts. He was put to death for his faith.

To come to Christ is to deny yourself. It is to change the course of your life in surrendering to Jesus, and it is to embrace the uncertainty of the journey and the uncertainty of the timeline. But there is the certainty in God’s goodness and God’s promise, which is, not only forgiveness, but oneness with God, and an eternal inheritance in a new heavens and a new earth.

If you’re not a Christian, what will it mean for your life if you come to faith? In many ways, I can’t answer that. I don’t know what God will have in store for the rest of your life. But I can tell you, on the authority of God’s word, there is eternal joy and peace and love and glory on the other side of this.

How long and how hard will the journey be? I don’t know. But it will be worth it. And God will use your life to fulfill His eternal plan. God will use you so that others will be called to salvation and be strengthened in their walk.

Is it possible that God will call you, men, to be a pastor? Yes, it is. Is it possible that God will call you as a missionary? Yes, it is. Is it possible that God will have you move out of California? Is it possible that he’ll have you stay right where you are? Might God have you get married earlier than you think? Would He have you get married later than you think? Yes, it’s all possible. We don’t know what our lives will look like, even after we come to Christ. But coming to Christ means we are willing to let Him lead, and we will follow.

If at any time, we end up thinking, “Well, I know what Jesus wants me to do but, what if x, y, and z?” and we let those thoughts keep us from obedience, we’re not walking in faith at that moment. Faith can recognize some uncertainty in the details, but ultimately it trusts in the absolute certainty of God’s goodness and His promises.

As we walk in faith, God is going to use our lives to touch other people’s lives. As an example of this, verse 11 shifts to Sarah, Abraham’s wife. Her faith wasn’t perfect; she doubted God’s word would come true, but by and large, Abraham’s faith became her own.

Hebrews 11:11 says, “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.

Sarah’s faith was expressed in obedience and submission to God’s plan. She didn’t end up having Isaac until Abraham was 100 years old, and she was 90. From a human perspective, this was impossible. But Sarah eventually believed in God’s promises, and so, God worked through her. She came to believe that God was faithful.

She was uncertain of the details, but absolutely certain of the outcome, absolutely certain that God would fulfill His promises.

That’s the kind of faith we need to have. God is going to do what this world says is never going to happen. It is the undoing of all that there is and the renewing of all creation through Jesus Christ. That’s what we’re waiting for. That’s what we’re hoping for. That’s why we’re willing to embrace the challenges of the Christian life—because there is a better life to come.

Look at verse 13. It’s a recognition that Abraham didn’t get what he was hoping for in this life, but he knew it was coming. That’s a life of faith.

Verse 13—These 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. [14] For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. [15] If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. [16] But 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.

From an earthly perspective, someone might say that Abraham’s decision wasn’t worth it. What did it accomplish? He went from a nice house in a nice city to living in a tent. What kind of a decision was that?

Abraham’s answer would have been, “I wasn’t trading things of this life for better things of this life. I gave up things in this life because of something better in the life to come.” Abraham didn’t care if he had to live in a tent for a while. It just helped him remember that this world was not his true home. He was a stranger and an exile. He’s just here temporarily.

That’s how you and I need to live by faith. We can recognize the blessings of God in all the good things of this world, but we can never forget that this is not our true home. Don’t get too comfortable. Don’t invest all that you have in this life only. This is not our true home. We are strangers and aliens and exiles and pilgrims.

We have a homeland. We haven’t been there yet, but we will be one day. And just like Abraham had to leave without looking back, we need to make sure we don’t turn our backs on heaven and settle in to this world.

At the end of Luke 9, Jesus says, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” He was talking about a complete focus on our destination.

Plowing a field means dragging something through the dirt to turn over the soil. It was done in preparation for planting. Well, it’s kind of like mowing a lawn, in the sense that you start with one line, and then you follow that pattern until the area is all done.

But if you’ve ever tried to chalk a sports field, you know that if you get halfway, and then look back, that line is going to go crooked. The proper way is to look at where you need to go, and keep looking there, and go. Don’t look back.

And that’s what Jesus is saying here. You can’t follow Him if you’re looking back at the world. There is no looking back once you are going to follow Him. If you’re going to be looking back, you are not fit for the kingdom of God. Set your eyes on Christ. Set your eyes on the reward God has promised you, and go forward.

And verse 16 tells us what that reward is. It is “a better country.” It’s a heavenly one. If you want to read more about what that means, just read the final three chapters of the Bible this week, which talk about the new heavens and the new earth. That’s what we’re hoping for. That’s our true home.

When our eyes are on our eternal home, verse 16 says God is not ashamed to be called our God. What does that mean? Well, what’s the opposite of shame? If you’re not ashamed of your child, what are you? You’re proud of him. You delight in him. And you reward him. That’s how verse 16 ends, and that’s where we’ll end for today.

God is not ashamed to be called our God, and He has prepared for us a city. A city? Yes, a city. A permanent place to live. A beautiful testament to God’s love and glory. Revelation 21 calls it the new Jerusalem. The most glorious and beautiful city this world will ever know. And it will be ours to enjoy forever because we have placed our faith in the goodness and in the promise of God.

So, let’s go out this week and embrace the uncertainty and the challenges of this life. We don’t know what’s going to happen. We don’t know how tough it will be. We don’t know how long it’s going to last. But we know that God will give us what He has promised us. Just like He promised us Jesus who came to die and rise again, He is sending Jesus again, and all who have trusted in Him will be saved forever.

Don’t get too comfortable here. This is not our true home. We’re waiting for something better in the life to come. Until then, we live by faith.