Father, I am grateful for the stories of faithful men and women written about in the Bible. Help me to learn from them and to be inspired to walk more closely and courageously with you.
Read HEBREWS 11:8–22
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[a] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”[b] 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.
Footnotes
- Hebrews 11:11 Or By faith Abraham, even though he was too old to have children—and Sarah herself was not able to conceive—was enabled to become a father because he
- Hebrews 11:18 Gen. 21:12
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
May God give us the grace to trust him when we are called to enter an uncertain future.
Think Further
When I hear people looking for clear guidance, I always think of verse 8: ‘By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.’ As I have thought of this verse over the years, I have concluded that, like Abraham, I would prefer God’s gift of faith to any certainty I might have as to what my next steps into the future might look like.
Today we consider the faith of Abraham and Sarah, and the patriarchs Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. When God called Abraham, he went – not knowing where he was going. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob camped in what was later to be the Promised Land. They were like aliens, with their eyes on God’s promised future: a city with foundations that went deeper and were more stable than tent pegs; the city that was designed and built by God. This was a future homeland (not the one they had left), a heavenly country, the city God had prepared for them. As for Sarah, even though she was past child-bearing age, by faith she was able to bear the children God had promised. And Joseph? He was so certain that God’s promises go beyond the grave that he would not permit his descendants to bury his bones in Egypt.
Notice how everything is oriented toward their future with the God who has promised that he will ultimately dwell with his people.1 They had assurance about the things they hoped for and the things they could not see, because they knew God and knew God’s promise to bless. Thus, they could enter a future that was unclear, but assured, for God was with them.
Apply
God promises not certainty, but faith. Ask for faith as you step into the future with assurance that, however the details unfold, God will be with you in them.
Closing prayer
Heavenly Father, there is nothing for which I cannot trust you. No matter what the future holds for me, use my every circumstance to prove your presence with me and to build my confidence in your faithfulness.
Last Updated on August 9, 2024 by kingstar
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