The emphasis in this section is on the promise of God and His plans for the nation of Israel (Heb. 11:9, 11, 13, 17). The nation began with the call of Abraham. God promised Abraham and Sarah a son, but they had to wait twenty-five years for the fulfillment of the promise.
For me, waiting is one of the most difficult disciplines of life. I cannot stand it and do not like it at all. Yet true faith is able to wait for the fulfillment of God’s purposes in God’s time. But, while we are waiting, we must also be obeying. “By faith Abraham … obeyed” (11:8). He obeyed when he did not know where he was going (11:8–10). He lived in tents because he was a stranger and pilgrim in the world and had to be ready to move whenever God spoke. Christians today are also strangers and pilgrims (1 Pet 1:1; 2:11). Abraham had his eyes on the heavenly city and lived “in the future tense.”
He also obeyed when he did not know how God’s will would be accomplished (11:11–12). Both Abraham and Sarah were too old to have children. Yet they both believed that God would do the miracle (Rom. 4:13–25). Unbelief asks, “How can this be?” (Luke 1:18–20) Faith asks, “How shall this be?” (Luke 1:34–37). Abraham believed and obeyed God when he did not know when God would fulfill His promises (Heb. 11:13–16). None of the patriarchs saw the complete fulfillment of God’s promises, but they saw from “afar off” what God was doing.
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he left, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as a stranger in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; 10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore even from one man, and one who was as good as dead at that, there were born descendants who were just as the stars of heaven in number, and as the innumerable grains of sand along the seashore. 13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen and welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. 15 And indeed if they had been thinking of that country which they left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. (NASB)
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- When God called Abraham to pick up and move, he did it without question. May we do better about trusting God fully and not arguing or wrestling with Him. May we have that faith to follow wherever God leads.
- No matter what we are going through, we must endure and persevere in the faith. We must hold on to the promises of God, cling to Him, and remember this is not our home. Our home is with God and what a great place it is.
- In spite of our failures and failings, God can use us and our faith to do great and amazing things. We might not see it in our lifetime, but the faith we have can be contagious to our family and create a great legacy.
- God always fulfills His promises to His believing people, either immediately or ultimately.
CLOSER LOOK:
Verses 8–10: That the readers should look forward to “the world to come” and treat their present experience as a pilgrimage is a lesson enforced by the life of Abraham. This great patriarch “lived as a stranger” in a land he would later receive as his inheritance. So also would the readers inherit if they, like this forefather, kept “looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God,” a reference to the heavenly and eternal Jerusalem (cf. Rev. 21:2, 9–27).
In this section, we see three pieces of evidence of Abraham and Sarah’s faith. First the move to Canaan. The fact that they moved to Canaan indicates faith, meaning that they believed God in faith. He showed a tenacious faith by living as a nomad in a foreign land without rights and privileges. The second and clear evidence of their faith is the birth of Isaac. His faith extended to his family. Isaac and Jacob became linked as heirs with him of the same promise. Third, Abraham did not look primarily for a physical city in the Promised Land but for a spiritual city founded and built by God. Abraham wanted God to be the architect and builder of the city. The secret of Abraham’s patient waiting was that he could see the invisible and move toward it.
He lived as an alien in a foreign land. By the way, did you notice or remember when he died, the only land that he owned was a cave at Machpelah, which is the burial spot for Sarah.
Abraham’s faith is an amazing example. Paul spent an entire chapter (Rom. 4) commending the faith of Abraham. Abraham received a call to follow God which he accepted without question. He left Haran by faith (Gen. 11:31–12:4) and trusted God to supply the way. He did not receive his inheritance at the time of his first call, and he did not even know the location of the Promised Land. His bold faith earned him the title of “father of the faithful.” Jews, Muslims, and Christians revere the name of faithful Abraham, but it is likely his contemporaries laughed at him when he left Haran. God can accomplish wonderful results in His followers, who walk with Him as pilgrims on earth.
Verses 11–12: The NIV introduces the word Abraham into these verses. But its marginal reading is preferable: “By faith even Sarah, who was past age, was enabled to bear children because she.…” The NIV interpretation is influenced by the opinion that the phrase “to become a father” (eis katabolēn spermatos) can refer only to the male parent, but this need not be so.[1] The writer here chose to introduce their first heroine of faith, one who was able to overlook the physical limitation of her own barrenness to become a fruitful mother. Since “she considered Him faithful who had promised” (NASB) so also should the readers (cf. 10:23). Her faith in fact, contributed to the startling multiplication of her husband’s seed when old Abraham was “as good as dead.”
One thing to point out here. Look again at verse 11, which says, “By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.” When we read about Sarah or hear stories of her, we do not always get the idea that she was a woman of great faith. It almost seems the opposite.
Remember Genesis 18, where we have the three angels that visited Abraham and he welcomed them and shared a meal with them. The Lord said, “One year from now your wife is going to have a child,” and she’s behind the tent door and she’s laughing. And He says, “why did Sarah laugh?” She says she did not and He said “Yes you did, you laughed.” In other words, she laughed in unbelief. That is why they named their son Isaac because his name means laughter. Potentially there is a lot of people laughing when Isaac was born because there is this 100-year-old man and 90-year-old woman having a child. Both Abraham and Sarah shared the conviction that God was faithful to His promises. From these two elderly Hebrews who were as good as dead came a nation teeming with life as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
So this here in Hebrews must be afterward. It could be that Abraham’s faith was contagious. After all, it takes two to have a baby. So she must have had an idea (or ability as used here) that yes this can take place, even if it was a small amount of faith. By faith, she conceived and Isaac was born out of faith. She learned faith from Abraham in that regard. It is very interesting. So verse 12 is a result of Sarah’s faith.
Verses 13–16: This section can be described well as the anticipation of faith. In an impressive summary of their discussion thus far, the writer pointed out that people can be still living by faith when they die, even if by that time they do not receive the things promised. Who are “all these died in faith?”? Basically Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob without receiving the promises. They are the ones that had the promises. By faith the old saints saw the promised realities from a distance and persisted in their pilgrim character, looking for a country of their own and refusing to return to the land they had left. So to the readers should renounce the opportunity to go back to any form of their ancestral religion and should persist in longing for a better country—a heavenly one. If they did so they, like the patriarchs, would be people with whom God would not be ashamed to be associated. On an extra note, there is a contrast between verses 15 and 16 that does not always show up in the translations. Verse 15 is really “on the one hand if they…” while verse 16 is “but on the other hand as it….”
These verses summarize the piety of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Three qualities stand out. First, these men were still living by faith when they died. Faith ruled their lives as they faced life and death. Second, they did not receive the things promised. They endured in their faith because they had seen the promises and embraced them. They trusted God to give future generations what they only hoped for. Third, they confessed that they were sojourners and wanderers on earth. They did not try to return to the comforts and ease of Ur and Haran in Mesopotamia. They looked for a heavenly city prepared by God. Despite the obvious failings of all these men, God was not ashamed to be called their God. He had prepared a spiritual city for them, and He was delighted to be known as their God.
An Extra Thought on this Whole Section: This chapter is a good apologetic for taking the land promises to the Patriarchs of Israel literally. In verses 8-10 Abraham left Ur to go to Canaan. One, if the promises were only spiritual, why was it necessary to move? Canaan was just as ungodly as Ur. Change of location would not have changed the environment. Why was it necessary to move unless that is the promised land. Secondly, furthermore, the land of Canaan is described as “the land of promise” (v. 9). What does that mean, land of promise, if it is not physical? Thirdly, verses 15-16 say the heavenly city is related to the land of promise. They were looking for a city whose builder and maker is God, a city that has a foundation. They are waiting for that to come. Fourthly, if Israel had not anticipated a literal fulfillment of the land promises, why would Joseph be concerned about his bones being transported to Canaan? If it was just spiritual why bother? He obviously was anticipating the fulfillment of the promises in Canaan physically.
[1] Zane C. Hodges, “Hebrews,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1985), 808.