ABRAHAM’S MILESTONES OF FAITH – Hebrews 11:8-12

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on February 10, 2016 under PM Bible Study |

PM Home Bible Study Group; February 10, 2016

Hebrews 11:8-12

Theme: Abraham’s three great milestones before God give us a great illustration of faith.

All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated.

The writer of Hebrews has introduced the subject of faith to us. He wrote that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1); and that “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (v. 6). And to illustrate this great theme, he has called us to remember the great Old Testament heroes of our faith.

So far, we have considered Abel—the first man recorded in the Bible to have made an offering to God on the basis of faith in His promise of a Redeemer (v. 4). And then, we considered Enoch—a man who so pleased God by his walk in faith that God took him, apart from death, to enter into His presence (v. 5). And in our last time together, we considered Noah—a man of remarkable faith who trusted in God’s promise of a coming flood; and who thus saved his family and became the ‘second’ father of humanity after the flood. And now, we come to one of the greatest of all Old Testament heroes of faith—Abraham. In fact, the Bible has nicknamed him “Abraham the believer”; saying, “So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham” (Galatians 3:6). It holds him up as the great example of faith by frequently repeating the testimony that “he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6; see also Romans 4:3, 22; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23).

We can see the greatness of Abraham’s faith through three great milestones in his life.

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The first great milestone is mentioned in Hebrews 11:8; where we’re told,

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going (Hebrews 11:8).

This would be . . .

I. HIS MILESTONE OF ‘SEPARATION’ (v. 8).

A. Abraham (then called Abram) was a pagan man, living in a pagan land in Mesopotamia. But at some point along the way—apparently late in his life—he heard from God. God called him to move to another land. Genesis 12:1-4 tells us;

Now the Lord had said to Abram:

“Get out of your country,

From your family

And from your father’s house,

To a land that I will show you.

I will make you a great nation;

I will bless you

And make your name great;

And you shall be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,

And I will curse him who curses you;

And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran (Genesis 12:1-4).

B. It must have taken great faith to obey the voice of God. He did not have the heritage of faith that the later Jewish people had, because he was destined to be the father of the Jewish people. Compared to us today, he had very few examples of faith to go by. And yet, we’re told that “he obeyed when he was called to go out”—by faith leaving the security of his father’s household and his homeland. He was basically giving up the security of an earthly inheritance—and that while he was 75 years old! Note that we’re told that when he made this separation from his father’s household, he did not yet know where he was being called to go. All he knew was that he was being called to a place that he would be given as an inheritance by God. And yet, his faith proved valid; because God’s promise has proven abundantly true! As the martyr Stephen once declared of him to his fellow Jews in Acts 7:1-3;

“Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell” (Acts 7:1-4).

C. Similarly, God calls us to separate ourselves from the security of our worldly dwelling and earthly heritage, and to follow the Lord Jesus to a land yet to be revealed to us. We’re called to love our Lord Jesus more than even the closest of relationships and family ties. Jesus calls us to love Him more than even father or mother, or son or daughter (Matthew 10:37). We’re to give up all for Him. But we—like faithful Abraham—give up these earthly securities for something even greater. Our citizenship, as the apostle Paul wrote, is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). As the writer of Hebrews puts it;

Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come (Hebrews 13:12-14).

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Verses 9-10 tell us of the second great milestone of Abraham’s walk of faith. We’re told,

By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God (vv. 9-10).

This describes to us . . .

II. HIS MILESTONE OF ‘HOMELESSNESS’ (vv. 9-10).

A. Abraham obeyed God and went to the land that He told him to go to. Genesis 12:6-8 tells us;

Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord (Genesis 12:6-8).

B. Think of what faith this must had taken! Abraham walked upon the land that God promised to give him. He pitched his tent upon it. He even set up an altar and worshiped God in it. But though it was his by promise, he did not yet possess it in a practical sense—and never did actually take practical possession of it in his lifetime. He dwelt there as a foreigner—living in tents. His sons and grandsons—to whom the promise was also given—also had to sojourn as a pilgrims in this promised land. Throughout Abraham’s life of sojourn upon that land, God had to reassure him of the promise that it would one day belong to his descendants (see Genesis 13:14-18). Stephen—in his great sermon to the Jewish leaders—reminded them;

Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him (Acts 7:4-5).

In fact, when Abraham’s wife died, he had to buy a place to bury her from the people of the land—that is, in the very land that God was promising to give to his descendants (Genesis 23). His descendants didn’t even take practical possession of it until many centuries later—under the leadership of Moses and Joshua.

C. Again, Abraham here serves as our example. He dwelt in the land of promise as a foreigner and a pilgrim, “for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God”. That’s what we are on this earth too. We live on this earth as mere temporary ‘tent dwellers’; but we look ahead to our dwelling place in a city that has true, permanent ‘foundations’—one that is prepared for us by God as an eternal dwelling. As the apostle Peter has put it, we live and walk as sojourners who are, by faith, looking ahead to a glorious inheritance that is given to us in Christ—one that is reserved in heaven for us.

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:6-9).

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Finally, the writer points us to not only the faith of Abraham, but of his wife Sarah. The promise was that the land would be given to their descendants when, as yet, they had no children. The writer tells us;

By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore (vv. 11-12).

This gives us one more great example of Abraham’s faith . . .

III. HIS MILESTONE OF ‘LATE FATHERHOOD’ (vv. 11-12).

A. Note that Abraham was an old man and his wife an old woman. They were well past the age of having children. But God made a promise to Abraham—and Abraham believed that God would keep it. So did Sarah. When she first heard this promise, she laughed at it within herself (Genesis 18:12). But she eventually came to believe when God asked, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (v. 13). Nevertheless, that faith came hard. There were times when Abraham struggled. We’re told about one notable experience of this struggle in Genesis 15:1-6. On one evening, God spoke to Abraham in a vision and said;

“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness (Genesis 15:1-6).

B. Abraham’s faith on that remarkable night—and the declaration he received from God—has been the encouragement of the saints ever since. It has become the model of saving faith through Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul wrote;

Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness” (Romans 4:16-22).

C. God kept His promise. The descendants of Abraham are all around the world—more in number than could be counted. And it was from them that our Redeemer was born. God, through Abraham, truly has blessed the world. And we are saved by faith in God’s promise concerning Jesus—just as Abraham was. “So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham” (Galatians 3:6).

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Praise God that He has given us such a great example of faith—and one whose faith has proven to be so valid! May God help us to faithfully follow in the steps of ‘believing Abraham’!