Hebrews Series
“The Victory of Faith”
Heb. 11.20-22
July 30, 2014 Chester’s FBC, Chester, IL Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
A It is at the end of life that faith’s victory is seen most clearly.
1 I remember reading an article when I was in my early twenties about the final moments of the crew of the Challenger Space Shuttle.
a Some of the crew were cursing God, others were saying the Lord’s Prayer/23rd Psalm. (I have no idea if that story is real or not . . . but I’ve been around enough folks who are dying to know that this kind of thing happens.)
b It’s at the end of our journey that proves whether our faith was shallow or deep; cheap or precious.
2 The three OT patriarchs in our text demonstrate faith’s victory by their dying utterance.
a The faithful folks climbed the mountains of life’s difficulties and with spiritual eyes saw into the glorious future of all who believe.
aa From a distance they saw all that God promised the believer,
bb They embraced a future promise as a present reality.
b Death to men like Isaac, Jacob, & Joseph was not a terrible thing to them in old age. . . they looked forward to it.
B They all died giving a blessing, and though they never saw the promise made to them come in fulness, they died believing.
1 As Christians get older, I think it’s standard thinking for us to ask ourselves, “How will I face the end of my life?”
a You can know victory at the end of life’s road.
b The three men in our text (Isaac, Jacob, & Joseph) each illustrate one aspect of faith’s victory.
2 Pray
I Isaac: Victory Over the Flesh (v.20)
Hebrews 11:20 (NASB) 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come.
A If there was one word that defined Isaac’s life, it was “submissiveness.”
1 He submitted . . .
a When Abraham took him to Mount Moriah, in the selection of his wife Rebekah.
b He was submissive/full of peace as he watched the Philistines capture one water well after another he had dug with his own hands. (Each time they lay claim to one, Isaac would just dig another.)
2 Isaac as a godly man, faithful man . . . but he still had a fleshly weakness.
a God told Isaac/Rebekah that their son Jacob was the chosen son that was to carry blessing, but Isaac showed more favor to the outdoorsman son, Esau.
aa So what was Isaac’s weakness?
bb His appetite for meat (Gen. 25.28; 27.3-5).
Genesis 25:28 (NASB) 28 Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Genesis 27:3-5 (NASB) 3 "Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me; 4 and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die." 5 Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home,
b Because of his weakness of the flesh, Isaac was willing to change the decree of God, namely in blessing Jacob over Esau.
3 Knowing her husband’s weakness, Rebekah helped put together a scheme to get the fatherly blessing placed on Jacob instead of Esau.
a She put wild animal skins on Jacob, around his neck, made a stew for Isaac.
aa At the right time, a half-blind Isaac put the blessing on the one God wanted him to put the blessing on in the first place.
bb Until tonight, I’ve been disappointed in Rebekah . . . but not after tonight. SHE WAS BEING FAITHFUL TO WHAT GOD WANTED!!!
b Where does Isaac’s faith enter this story of blessing?
aa When Isaac is made aware of this scheme, deception, but refuses to reverse the decree and transfer the blessing to Esau (Gen. 27.30-41).
Genesis 27:30-41 (NASB) 30 Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31 Then he also made savory food, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, "Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that you may bless me." 32 Isaac his father said to him, "Who are you?" And he said, "I am your son, your firstborn, Esau." 33 Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, "Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed." 34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me, even me also, O my father!" 35 And he said, "Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing." 36 Then he said, "Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing." And he said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?" 37 But Isaac replied to Esau, "Behold, I have made him your master, and all his relatives I have given to him as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?" 38 Esau said to his father, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father." So Esau lifted his voice and wept. 39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, "Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, And away from the dew of heaven from above. 40 "By your sword you shall live, And your brother you shall serve; But it shall come about when you become restless, That you will break his yoke from your neck." 41 So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob."
bb Isaac would not repent of the blessing, & in the end believed and held on to the Word of God; Gen. 27 records that the supreme blessing was on Jacob and the secondary blessing on Esau.
B Faith acts on what God says, not on what the flesh sees.
1 God’s decree, not man’s desire, must govern our lives.
2 Isaac acted on the word of God.
a Does the flesh & fleshly appearances, affections and appetites govern our lives?
b Faith can gain the victory over flesh.
II Jacob: Victory Over the World (v. 21)
Hebrews 11:21 (NASB) 21 By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
A God appeared to Jacob five times and on every occasion the purpose was to give discipline & correction.
1 On his death bed, Jacob blessed Ephraim & Manasseh, the sons of his own son Joseph.
a In the Bible, people get their names changed from time to time, makes it hard for us lay folks to understand.
b Jacob’s name was changed to Israel.
aa God promised that “Israel would be a blessing” and in Jacob (Israel) we see Israel now blessing the people of God.
bb Lost people die angry/cursing because he is leaving everything behind . . .
2 When Jacob leaves this life and passes over into the next, he’s blessing because he knows that a believer who crosses over into eternal life could never be at home in this world.
B We note from the text that in Jacob’s final days he worshiped while leaning on a staff.
1 What a contrast to his younger years when he wrestled with God.
a According to Gen. 32.24-30, the Lord touched Jacob’s leg during the wrestling match and knocked it out of joint.
aa Genesis 32:24-30 (NASB) 24 Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." 27 So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." 28 He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed." 29 Then Jacob asked him and said, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And he blessed him there. 30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved."
bb For the rest of his life, Jacob halted or limped.
b The staff was a mark of glory for Jacob.
aa What do I mean?
bb Every time he looked at that staff he was reminded about the time YHWH disciplined him and taught him to lean not on his own understanding, strength . . . but upon Jesus.
2 Jacob worshiped the One who had brought him victory over the world.
III Joseph: Victory Over the Devil (v. 22)
Hebrews 11:22 (NASB) 22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones.
A Joseph, in his dying requests, disdains the wealth of Egypt for the pleasures of Zion.
1 Very few men in the OT were as mistreated as Joseph.
a He was sold into slavery (brothers) , lied about (Potifer’s Wife), betrayed (Cell mate); but through it all, remained faithful.
b Like Job of old, Joseph would not “blame God.”
Job 1:22 (NASB) 22 Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.
aa God would vindicate the faith of Joseph . . . Satan had no true hold on this man’s life.
bb Joseph believed that fact and it was that faith that brought him through every difficulty he faced.
2 Hebrews 11.22, speaks of Joseph’s dying faith.
a His words were to his countrymen, pre-Egyptian slavery, “As you go back to Canaan, carry up my bones.”
aa It was more of a reminder than a request.
bb Egypt is not our home (Gen. 50.24-26).
Genesis 50:24-26 (NASB) 24 Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob." 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, "God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here." 26 So Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years; and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.
b Isn’t it weird that out of all the things that Joseph saw & demonstrated in his life, this is thing that gets chosen to be listed in the “Hall of Faith.”
aa The Holy Spirit could have chosen to mention his purity when he refused the advances of Potiphar’s wife.
bb Brag on his conduct while he in jail, or how he interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, or how he forgave his brothers.
c None of those things . . . instead, Joseph’s dying words . . . he wanted to be buried in Israel.
aa He didn’t want a pyramid, fancy tomb . . .
bb Just put me in a simple grave in my homeland when ya’ll go back home.
B Joseph, by faith saw that soon Egypt’s hospitality would turn into hostility, enslavement was coming to his kinsmen.
1 His bones would be a reminder to all those who came after him that, “God will deliver you!”
2 We have a memorial to take part in today . . . we take Communion at the Lord’s Table, and it reminds us that we have a future in the kingdom of heaven.
a Joseph’s bones were a promise to Israel that soon they’d be going home.
b The Lord’s Table is a promise to His children that soon . . . we’ll be going home, too!
Conclusion:
A We shall all come to the end of life . . . we can come to it in faith (shouting victory over the world, flesh, over the enemy)
B Old hymn: Faith is the victory! Faith is the victroy! Oh, Glorious victory that overcomes the world.”
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Mike Fogerson
