Hebrews 11:8-10: By Faith Abraham
2023-07-15
Hebrews 11:8
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. (Hebrews 11:8)
Abraham’s life was full of faith. He was the one of which it was said, “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). This first section about Abraham shows some aspects of his faith.
We saw some of this as we discussed previously. Let us see the original calling of Abraham. “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).
Consider the chronology of events and implications here.
Recall the threefold promise to Abraham: the land, the seed, and the blessing. Abraham’s response was immediate at that juncture: “So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran” (Genesis 12:4).
Abraham was led out to a land that he had never seen. He had lived in Ur in Mesopotamia, and later he was in Haran in Syria. He only heard God’s promise, believed it, and acted on it. He had never been to Canaan. Nonetheless, God told Abraham to go there, and that this land would be his inheritance. Abraham heard, believed, and acted.
Hebrews 11:9
By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise (Hebrews 11:9)
When Abraham got to Canaan, he did not attempt to take the land as his own. “By faith he sojourned” in this “strange country.” By strange, it means it was foreign. The land would be his in fact one day, but then he was a foreigner. Consider Genesis 12:5-9.
They eventually cross into the border of Canaan. Canaanites were there; Abraham was definitely a foreigner among them. The LORD appeared to Him, and surely Abraham was affirmed that he was doing what was right. Abraham built an altar there in the plain of Moreh. He moved again and settled between Bethel and Hai and built another altar. He was marking the Lord’s territory with altars. After going to and coming back from Egypt, he went to the plain of Mamre and built again an altar. “Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD” (Genesis 13:18). Abraham was establishing little places to worship the LORD amid the pagan Canaanites.
Abraham lived in tabernacles, or tents, as a nomad. These tabernacles were not permanent homes. He was constantly traveling with no single place to settle and call his home.
Isaac and Jacob were alive when Abraham sojourned in Canaan, and both also lived in these temporary homes. Jacob would have been about 15 years old when Abraham died.
Abraham left Haran at age 75, and he lived 100 years longer without realizing his inheritance. However, he believed the Lord that it would still be his inheritance.
Hebrews 11:10
For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:10)
Abraham would always be a stranger there his whole life. Even if he saw the many years of Israel and Judah, he would have been a stranger there, too. He would not be a stranger in God’s city. He was called the friend of God and “friendship of the world is enmity with God” (James 4:4).
If we are God’s friends, we will also feel as sojourners in this world, not fitting in.
There is a city “whose builder and maker is God”: The New Jerusalem. We will look at this in the next few verses.