יּקנרק'ד

Hebrews Chapter 11  Verses 17-19 

:17 “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son. 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.” 

Three events in the life of Abraham are brought together in this passage of scripture.  All three events manifested the faith of Abraham.  The birth of Isaac came about when Abraham and Sara were both unable by nature to have children.  God appeared to Abraham when he was 99 years old and Sara was 89 and told Abraham that at this set time in the next year that Sara would bear him a son and that his name would be called Isaac.  According to Rom. 4:19 “And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.”  Abraham believed God would perform what God had promised.   

Abraham having witnessed the miraculous performance of God’s work in bringing about the birth of Isaac knew by experience the great power of God in overruling nature.   

Next, as the above passage states, God had promised to Abraham, “in Isaac shall thy seed be called.”  All the promises that God had made to Abraham in the beginning were to be funneled through Isaac.  If Isaac had no children, then it would have been impossible for those promises to be fulfilled, which Abraham well knew.   

Finally, God had told Abraham to offer up Isaac as a burnt offering at the place that God would show him.  Abraham had experienced God fulfilling his promise to restore to him and Sara the time of life that they may have a son, and having the promise that the son would be the vessel to which all the promises God had made to Abraham in the beginning would be fulfilled, he reasoned within himself, that if he offered up Isaac as a burnt offering, then God would raise up the ashes of his son back to life again.  He accounted that God is able to raise him up even from the dead from which he received him in a figure.   

A great lesson in the above is that we should trust in the promise of God that when we die, God will raise us up again in the resurrection at the last day.  We, like Abraham, have experience the great power of God when we were born of the Spirit of God, which is life from the dead.  We have the promise of God in Rom. 8:29, 30 that all that God foreknew, predestinated, called, and justified will be glorified.  Therefore, we can look forward with hope and anticipation that our dead bodies will be raised up from the dead.  Our belief in the resurrection, like, Abraham’s belief that Isaac would be raised up is by both experience and faith in the promise of God.    

Verses 20-23   

:20 “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.”   

“By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.”  No man has the ability to accurately predict the future without the revelation of God.  Isaac had received the revelation from God and faithfully pronounced it concerning his son Jacob and Esau. 

“By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.”  What was true with Isaac was also true with Jacob as they both were faithful to pronounce the revelations that God gave unto them. In these examples, faith is both believing the revelations and faithfully pronouncing them.   

“By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.”  Joseph was stating a promise made to the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  He believed the promises and faithfully reminded the children of Israel of those promises that they would one day depart from Egypt and possess the land of Canaan.  

Gen. 50:25 “And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.”  This tells us that Joseph believed the promises and that he believed as God had promised that the children of Israel would depart and based on that he took the oath of the children of Israel.   

“By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.”  The faith under consideration in this verse was not the faith of Moses, but was the faith of his parents.  Pharoah had commanded that all the male children born of the children of Israel be cast into the river when they were born.  The faith of the parents of Moses was demonstrated as they first hid him for three months and then put him in a small ark in the banks of the river among the flags at the edge of the river.  While certainly not knowing how he would be delivered they trusted in the Lord that he would provide a way for his deliverance and of course the Lord did provide a way.