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Introduction:
Reconstructing the religious world of Abraham’s day is
difficult. First, based on the genealogy of Genesis
11, Noah lived until Abraham was 58. Shem lived 33 years
after Abraham died. However, there were 9 generations between Shem
and Abraham. That is, Shem was Abraham’s
great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. Since we
live in a time when only the long-lived few see their
great-grandchildren, we can hardly know how much influence Shem or
Noah would have had over Abraham. Yet, I am hard-pressed to think
Jehovah God who caused the flood could have been completely
forgotten while Noah and Shem lived. Their stories of the flood
and their trip on the ark and how they knew to build it and be
prepared must have been known and been passed on. Yet, sometime
before Abraham, the descendents of Shem, Ham and Japheth were
scattered at the tower of Babel (Genesis
11). We really have no way to know what Abraham knew of
Shem and Noah. With all this in mind, we read Joshua
24:2 to learn that Terah, Nahor and Abraham served other
gods. We have no idea what Abraham really knew of Jehovah when he
was called. We have no idea exactly what Jehovah God did to call
Abraham. We see no burning bush. We do not see generations of
patriarchal training. We simply see a polytheist having been taken
from his homeland by his father and then left in Haran when his
father died (Genesis
11:31-32). At that point, Jehovah called Abraham to
continue the trek Terah had started. For a man serving fake idols
who never spoke, it must have been a shock to be called by the
true God represented by no idol whatsoever. Yet, Abraham listened.
Talk about faith. From that point on, Abraham became the Father of
the Faithful. He is the great example of faith for all time, not
that his faith was perfect, but his faith allowed him to travel to
Canaan, into Egypt, back into Canaan and eventually to paradise.
We must not miss the implication that paradise in the story of
Lazarus and the rich man is called “Abraham’s bosom” (Luke
16:22).
Most of us know the great story of Abraham. If you do not,
I encourage you to read Genesis
12-25. In this lesson, instead of following all of his travels
step by step, I want to examine the faith by which he traveled as
revealed in Hebrews
11:8-10. Abraham was fundamentally the same as us.
Surrounded by a cacophony of error, one voice of truth called out
to him. He followed. We are in the same situation. If we wish to
travel to Abraham’s bosom and then on to heaven, we must follow
Abraham’s footsteps of faith. Examine these verses and learn how
to travel by faith. 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. 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. For he was looking
forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and
builder is God. (ESV) Discussion: I.
Abraham traveled by faith. A.
Hebrews
11
is not about Abraham. It is about faith. Everything these
characters did, they did by faith. According to Hebrews
11:1, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the
conviction of things not seen” (ESV). This hope is not wishful
thinking, but earnest expectation. Further, it is not earnest
expectation that flows against the evidence. Rather, it is the
earnest expectation based upon the word of God (Romans
10:17). Abraham had received God’s word. He believed it.
He didn’t have to see anything, he merely had to hold on to
God’s word. B.
II
Corinthians 5:7
says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” That was Abraham. He
had not seen God. According to Exodus
6:3, Abraham did not even know God’s name. He had simply
received God’s word and, therefore, put one foot in front of
another no matter what kind of ground was before him. A wonderful
illustration of this faith is seen in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. While working his way through
the secret passages to find the Holy Grail, Jones is stopped by a
chasm without any apparent means of crossing. He examines the
notes his father had made in which a man walked by faith and not
by sight across a gaping chasm. Believing his father’s research,
Jones lifts one foot in front of him, closes his eyes and allows
himself to fall forward. At the seeming last moment, his foot
found solid ground. Then we, the audience, are allowed to see the
camouflaged bridge. Only after Jones crosses the bridge is he able
to see with his eyes what he had done by faith. That was
Abraham’s journey, repeatedly stepping out into the chasm
because God said so and repeatedly finding a foothold just as God
had promised. C.
Abraham traveled by faith and so must we. Hebrews
11:6 explains, without faith, we cannot possibly please
God. Until we are willing to hold God’s hand, close our eyes and
step out into the chasm, we are not fit to be God’s servants. II.
By faith, Abraham obeyed. A.
If we stop with point one, as so many students of faith do,
we will not really know what faith means. We will speak only of
mental assent. However, for Abraham faith was not a mental event,
it was a very practical event. It impacted his daily life. Hebrews
11:8 does not merely say, “By faith.” It says, “By
faith, Abraham obeyed…” That is the key. Abraham’s faith
saved him not because he had faith, but because he had enough
faith to do what God said. B.
God said, “Leave Haran and travel to Canaan.” Abraham
obeyed. God said, “Let circumcision be a sign of our
covenant.” Abraham obeyed. God said, “Let your firstborn son,
Ishmael, and his mother, Hagar, be cast away from you. Through
Isaac your seed shall come.” Abraham obeyed. God said,
“Sacrifice your son, Isaac, on an altar.” Abraham obeyed. C.
Romans
4:12
says we must “walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father
Abraham had…” That doesn’t mean give a mental assent to what
God has said, that means believe what God has said so much that we
do it. When God says He will give us all things if we seek first
His kingdom and righteousness, do we believe it enough to do it?
When God says to go to our brethren and restore them when we see
them in sin, do we believe Him enough to do it? When God says we
must not let the sun go down on our wrath because that opens the
door for the devil, do we believe Him enough to deal with it? When
God says the husband is the head of the home and the wife is to be
submissive, do we believe Him enough to follow His pattern? When
God says if we spare the rod, we spoil the child, do we believe
Him enough to discipline our children? On and on these questions
go. Think about how those around Abraham must have thought of him
as he abandoned the idols they could all see for the voice of a
God no one had seen. Yet, Abraham believed. He did not follow the
cultural mandates. He did not live by the societal taboos. He did
not allow the ridicule of others to sway him. He believed what God
said and therefore he obeyed. D.
Remember James
2:17-24. If we are satisfied with a mere mental assent
that does not impact our daily lives, we are no better off than
the demons. We have enough faith to shudder and be afraid of God,
but not enough to obey Him. That demonic faith will do us no good.
Only the faith that is strong enough to obey will justify us. Let
us follow Abraham’s footsteps and increase our faith in God to
the point that we will surrender our lives to His will, obeying
Him when He says, “Take this step out into the chasm. I will
keep you.” III.
Abraham followed God without knowing the way. A.
According to Hebrews
1:8, Abraham obeyed God by faith even though he had no
idea where he was going. Abraham didn’t know anything about
Canaan. Further, he had no idea following God would lead him into
Egypt. He had no idea it would lead him to do battle with the five
kings in order to rescue his nephew, Lot. He had no idea when he
would have children. He had no idea how many children he would
have. He had no idea where his meals would come from once he got
to Canaan. He had no idea how his family would be cared for. Keep
in mind this was not a bed of roses. He endured a famine while
following God’s directions. He simply knew that God had called
him to travel this way and he went. Further, he went with the
willingness to go anywhere God told him, simply because God told
him. B.
Where will serving God take us? Some, in order to follow
God, have to leave jobs. Some, have to leave marriages. Some learn
to stay in marriages that are troubled. Some lose friends. Some
are ostracized by family. Some struggle with troubled
congregational relationships. All of us, at some time or another
go through famines in life. Don’t misunderstand, the
Christian’s life is not one misery after another. There are
plenty of good times and lots of blessings. However, following God
is not always a walk in the park. Sometimes following God means
lying down in green pastures and drinking from still waters; other
times it means walking through the valley of the shadow of death
and eating in the presence of our enemies (Psalm
23). Whichever path we take, we must let God be our
shepherd, allowing His rod and His staff to comfort us. Whether we
are eating the overflow of blessings, fleeing a famine or suiting
up for battle, we must follow God wherever He leads and we must be
willing right now to make that commitment. That is the
Christian’s commitment. We sing a song that says, “Where He
leads me, I will follow.” Do we mean that? What if He leads us
through trouble? What if He leads us through turmoil? What if He
leads us through self-sacrifice? Are we willing to follow even
though we don’t know where God will lead us? Abraham was. IV.
Abraham did not waiver when the promise was not fulfilled
immediately. A.
According to Hebrews
11:9, Abraham went to the land God promised to give to
him. However, he lived there as a foreigner. He didn’t get to
live there as if it was his homeland. Not only that, he lived
there in tents. Nobody lives on their own property in tents.
Travelers, sojourners going from one place to another who are just
passing through live in tents. When you own your own land and have
your own home, you build your own house. When you run your own
nation, you build cities and fortresses. However, Abraham spent
his entire life in tents sojourning from one place to another. Hebrews
11:13 explains what this means. Abraham had been given the
promise, but the promise was really for his descendents. This land
was his inheritance; however, he never really owned it. In fact,
that didn’t happen for hundreds of years until after the
Egyptian captivity. B.
Despite the fact that Abraham came to the Promised Land,
but never really received it, he continued in faith. Though he
remained in his tent traveling from place to place, he still
followed God’s lead. What about us? How well do we do with that?
If things don’t go exactly the way we want in our timing, do we
think of abandoning God? When we lose jobs, get sick, lose loved
ones, endure hardship, undergo trial, do we think God has
abandoned us and therefore think of abandoning Him? Abraham
didn’t. Even though God was acting on His own timing and not in
Abraham’s, Abraham still followed God’s lead by faith. C.
The great example of that is illustrated in Hebrews
11:17. Though God had said his seed would come through
Isaac, God now said to kill Isaac. Yet, Abraham did not waiver. He
believed he could obey God, sacrifice Isaac and God would still
bring about His promises through Isaac’s seed. What faith! What
obedience! D.
That is not to say Abraham never had struggles with his
faith. In Genesis
17:19-21 God had said Sarah would be the mother of
Abraham’s child of promise. However in Genesis
20, when Abraham traveled into the land of Abimelech,
Abraham lied about his relationship with Sarah. According to vs.
11, Abraham said it was because he feared for his life.
What about God’s promises? God’s promises did not allow for
Abraham to be killed yet. Here, I think, is a great comfort to us.
Sometimes we also struggle with our faith. However, one of our
greatest heroes of faith faced the same struggle and came out in
the end. Faith is a growth process (II
Peter 1:5, 8). Abraham faced these struggles but still
made it into the Chapter of Faith. Despite our struggles, when we
grow in faith we will be justified by God, just as Abraham was. We
must, however, not be turned aside just because God doesn’t
fulfill His promises in our timing. We must continue on in faith
and allow God to pursue His own timetable. As the song we sing
based on Ecclesiastes
3:11 says, “God makes all things beautiful in His
time.” V.
Abraham traveled because he could envision the city that
was coming. A.
Abraham was able to follow God without knowing where he was
going and was able to live in his “homeland” in tents because
he could envision by his faith what he could not see with his
eyes. Abraham was able to see ahead and see a city with
foundations. He was able to see the city built by God. I believe
this verse has dual meaning. Abraham lived in tents, but he was
able to see by faith in God’s promise the day when God built the
cities with foundations for Abraham’s descendents. Did he know
exactly what Jerusalem would look like? I doubt it. Did he know
exactly where it would be? Probably not. However, he knew God’s
promise. While he dwelt in a tent, he could see God’s city (cf. Psalm
87:1). B.
However, there is further meaning revealed in Hebrews
11:16. Abraham was more interested in a heavenly city than
in an earthly one. If God’s promise to have a homeland did not
come in Abraham’s lifetime, that was ok with him. He wasn’t
nearly so concerned about this life as he was the next anyway.
That is the whole key. It is hard to travel by faith if we are
bogged down by what we see. As Colossians
3:1-2 says, we must not be focused on things below, but on
things above. As Matthew
6:19-21 says, we must not put our value on things down
here, but value the spiritual things of heaven. Only then can we
walk by faith. We must see the city God is preparing. We must
envision where we are going in eternity. Only then can we walk
with our eyes closed down here. Only then can we faithfully step
out into the chasms where God directs us. If we are too worried
about preserving what we have here, we will never make it. That is
why it is so important to overcome materialism and covetousness.
We simply can’t walk by faith if our heart is divided between
God and earthly things. C.
Abraham was able to envision the heavenly city of God. Can
we? Don’t allow your physical eye to obscure your spiritual eye.
Meditate on God’s heavenly city. Look forward to it. Value it
above all else and this walk of faith with Abraham and God will
come naturally. Conclusion: One of my favorite stories of all time is The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I know not everyone agrees with me. I have heard several reasons why other people didn’t like those books. One of the most amazing, however, was from two separate people who claimed the same reason. They said the story just seemed like a cheap copy of other fantasy literature they had read. What is amazing is The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are the original fantasy stories. Every other fantasy story written has been so in the wake of J.R.R. Tolkien’s originality and creativity. That is really like our lives and Abraham’s. Too easily, we can look back at Abraham’s life and see it through the colored glasses of our lives. However, Abraham is the original. He is the example. He has blazed the trail for us to follow in his footsteps and walk by faith. We must never view Abraham’s life as an imitation of ours. Rather, we must let our lives be an imitation of his, traveling to the heavenly city by faith, obeying God though we have no idea where He will lead and maintaining faithfulness as we wait on His timing. That is walking by faith and not by sight. Abraham did it. So can we.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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