Setting the Context — Abraham and Sarah
We’ve all heard people complain that the Bible is boring. But when we take a look at the events of redemptive history, we find what has to be the most interesting and compelling story in all of human history. In Genesis 12, God calls a man named Abraham and his wife Sarah to leave their home and move to a new country as yet unseen. Abraham obeys. God then tells Abraham that he will become the father of a great nation, and will have so many descendants that only God can count them all. What makes this promise so remarkable is the fact that Abraham and his wife were nearly one hundred years old, and was impossible—humanly speaking—that they would be able to conceive a child.
Yet, despite the physical limitations of old age, Abraham and Sarah believed that God would make good on his promise. And then when Sarah gives birth to a son (Isaac) through whom the promise would be fulfilled, and after the boy grew to manhood, God appears to Abraham yet again, and this time commands Abraham to take his only son and sacrifice him. What? How could God command such a thing? How could God’s promise be fulfilled if the heir is dead? And what would Abraham do in light of such a command? This is not only a compelling story and a startling turn of events, it raises a number of questions about the mysterious redemptive purposes of God, one of several questions about the patriarchs addressed in the 11th chapter of Hebrews.
The Nature of Faith – They All Believed God’s Promise
In Hebrews 11, we find the so-called “hall of faith” – that list of Old Testament luminaries who are considered to be examples of people who had great faith under the most trying of times. As we have seen in previous installments when covering this chapter (chapter 11), the author of Hebrews’ focus falls not so much upon the examples these people set for us (although this is certainly a part of what is in view), but primarily upon the fact that these people all placed their trust in the same thing–the immutable and gracious promise of the covenant making God to provide his people with a Messiah who will redeem them from their sin.
To read the rest, follow the link below
Read More