The Supremacy of God’s Son: A Study in Hebrews
Hebrews 11:20-29 – Four More Faithful Servants of God
(This lesson is adapted from sermons and commentaries by John MacArthur, http://www.gty.org and J. Ligon Duncan, http://www.fpcjackson.org)
When we left chapter 10, the final verse in that chapter offered both the introduction and purpose of chapter 11…
Hebrews 10:39 – But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
This is the “connector” if you will to chapter 11. The writer has spent most of his effort in Hebrews up to that point making the case for the supremacy of Jesus Christ. But, in verse 39 of chapter 10, he prepares his readers for a challenge; a personal challenge. The statement is one of confidence, yet it is a challenge…a standard to live up to.
“we [all of us who are believers] are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed…”
That’s who we’re not…we’re not faking it; we don’t have a false commitment; we are not going to fall away or shrink back.
Who are we?
We are “of those who have faith and preserve their souls.” We will not fall away because we are truly saved by the grace of God and He will preserve our souls from the judgment for our sins.
This is also a similar encouragement to something we saw in chapter 6…
Hebrews 6:9-12
9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
That’s who the writer of Hebrews wants them and us by extension to be. We should imitate the true believers who have persevered to the end. Now, having encouraged these true believers, he offers up chapter 11 as examples of those who have faith and preserve their souls to the end.
J. Ligon Duncan – “…a gigantic illustration of those who have faith to the persevering of the soul, a phrase we found in verse 39 of chapter 10. The author gives us illustration after illustration of those who persevered in faith. They finished the race. They fought the good fight. They were faithful even in the midst of trials.”
So, this morning we continue on looking at those who are examples to us of faithfulness to God. Men and women who had complete assurance of inheriting what God had promised from long ago and was, in fact, yet to come about. Today, we look at four of those faithful servants and see how their lives should inspire and motivate us to walk daily in faith before the Lord.
Hebrews 11:20-29
20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.
29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
This morning we will look briefly at each of these faithful men: Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses.
1. Isaac – obedient to God concerning his family. v. 20
By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.
The writer of Hebrews makes a very short and simple statement about Isaac’s obedience, but it is extremely important. His sole focus is on the one act of Isaac in relation to instructions given by God. He obeyed the Lord and blessed Jacob and Esau just as God directed him to do. He did this in faith trusting that God would do what He promised. But, it wasn’t quite that simple…
What is particular about Isaac’s blessings of his two sons?
Genesis 25:21-23
21 And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided;
the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”
But, what do we know about Isaac and his sons? Who did he favor?
Yet, the Lord worked in this situation to bring about the accomplishment of His purposes. As you go on in Genesis, you see the story unfold and Isaac does everything possible not to bless Jacob as God commanded. Yet, in the end, he obeys God; trusts in God by faith and blesses Jacob and Essau as God told him to do.
J. Ligon Duncan – “…the point of this passage is that by faith Isaac believed the revelation which God made to him concerning the future destinies of Esau and Jacob. There came a point where even Isaac relented and embraced what God had said in His word.”
2. Jacob – trusting in God until the very end. v. 21
By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.
Interestingly, this is another incident of a father blessing his son and his son’s sons. However, the writer is careful to point out that Jacob did this as an act of worship to God. Let’s look at the passage in Genesis…
Jacob [also calledIsrael] is blessing Joseph and his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Just like with Jacob and Essau, according to God’s plan, the younger is blessed first over the older brother. After he had blessed them, he said this to Joseph…
Genesis 48:21 - Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.
This is at the end of Jacob’s life, yet as an act of worship before the God who has delivered him and kept His promises, he now blesses Joseph and his sons. Why does he do this? Because he believes the promises of God. He believes that the day will come when the Lord will deliver his people back to the promised land and God will do it according to His plan not according to human wisdom. This is in the same way that God choose to bless the younger over the older brother.
3. Joseph – planning for the fulfillment of God’s promises. v. 22
By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
What is the first thing that strikes you about Joseph’s actions here at the end of his life?
He believed that God would make good on His promise to return the nation ofIsraelto the promised land. He so much believed in that promise that he acting as if he knew it was going to happen.
What instructions did he leave that demonstrated the strength of his belief? Of his faith?
He wanted his bones taken back to the promised land. He’s at the end of his life and he focuses on what’s most important to him, that is making sure that his descendants, the people of God, continued to focus, plan and prepare for the return to the promised land. Let’s look at the scene in the very last words of the book of Genesis…
Genesis 50:24-26
24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
Look at his faith in God’s promise…verse 24 “God will visit you and bring you up out of this land…” and verse 25 “God will surely visit you…” Joseph knew, proof positive, that it would happen because God said it.
How did the people react to Joseph’s words…verse 26 “…they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin…” It sounds as if they were preparing for God to fulfill His promises as well.
J. Ligon Duncan – “…they trusted God to the end for promises that were not ultimately fulfilled and as the author of Hebrews is going to say at the very end of Hebrews 11, will not ultimately be fulfilled until all the people of God are gathered in, because they trusted God for those things, they were exemplary models for us in the practice of faith. And so he holds that sort of spiritual vision of faith before us.“
Do we have that kind of faith in the promises of God?
4. Moses – standing against the world by obeying God. v. 22
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.
29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
This passage is packed full on wonderful lessons about Moses faith, but because of time, I will hit each one briefly.
Verse 23 – we see the faith of Moses’ parents. They completely trusted that God would deliver their baby from the killing hands of the king’s army. The irony in that Moses would grow up in that same Pharaoh’s house.
Verses 24-26 – As a young man, Moses refused to be associated with the worldly system represented by Pharaoh’s house. He wanted to identify himself with God’s people because that’s where he belonged. He could have had all the power and riches of Pharaoh, but he knew this was not right in God’s sight. He also chose to suffer the enslavement of God’s people. He choose the life of a slave over the life of ease. This identification even looked forward to the suffering of Christ.
Verse 27 – It tells us that Moses faith was looking forward to eternal life (end of verse 26 as well) and that he had no fear of human rulers only fear of God.
Verse 28 – Moses was completely obedient to God in carrying out His instructions for the Passover and thus saving God’s people from death.
Verse 29 – His faith in God’s Word allowed him to lead the people ofIsraelthrough the middle of a sea that God had miraculously parted.
One of the key things to notice about Moses actions in all of these situations is how what he did was always related to God’s word to him. He acted because of what God said to him.
J. Ligon Duncan – “Faith is not in faith, faith in not believing as hard as we can something that we thought up in our mind. Faith is responding to God’s word; and, of course, in this case faith also involved looking for a reward and fearing God above everyone else.”
So, what do these four men teach us by their examples?
To me, it all goes back to what we read earlier in Hebrews 6:12, “so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
These examples should motivate us to persevere in the faith.
