Abraham to Moses

Chapter 11: 17-29

“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, ¹⁸ of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ ¹⁹ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. ²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. ²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. ²² By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.

²³ By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command. ²⁴ By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. ²⁷ By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. ²⁹ By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.”

By now, hopefully, you are getting more and more secure in your faith. Even if you already had very strong faith, there may still be room to grow. I remind you of the definition of faith that we encountered a few weeks ago:

This definition of faith contains two aspects: intellectual assent and trust. Intellectual assent is believing something to be true. Trust is actually relying on the fact that ‘the something’ is true. A chair is often used to help illustrate this. Intellectual assent is recognizing that a chair is a chair and agreeing that it is designed to support a person who sits on it. Trust is actually sitting in the chair.

These men and their families lived by this kind of faith, the faith that drove them to do extraordinary things. The kind of faith that made them do things that, to us, look like they were crazy, but nothing could stop them from obeying God, not even their own family. These godly men and women are just like us, normal, flesh and blood, and our God is the same God. He is the Supernatural power that gave these men and women the ability to obey God.

• Abraham trusted God for His Son Twice, verses 17-19

Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born; he had waited 25 years for him, for the promise. He was way beyond the childbearing age. His wife Sarah was 90 years old when they had Isaac. She was way past the normal times that women give birth. God did it this way so that there was no doubt that Isaac was a gift from God. But then, in Genesis 22: 1-2 (NIV), God comes to ask Abraham to sacrifice his son to Him.

“Sometime later, God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ “Here I am,” he replied. 2 Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.'”

Isaac was a grown young man by this time, able to ‘take’ the old man if necessary. But Abraham had instilled in this young man such an example of faith that he went with his father, helped him build the altar, and then laid on it to be killed. Abraham, we are told, believed that God could and would raise Isaac from the dead; in practical application, God had already done that. Sarah had become pregnant in a dead womb, so to speak, and since God had promised to use Isaac to grow Abraham’s seed, then God would have to raise Isaac from the dead. We know the story; God provided a ram, a substitute to die in Isaac’s place, and in it, we see the picture of Jesus dying in our place. Isaac taught this faith to his sons Esau and Jacob, and of course, we know that Jacob is the chosen line of Israel.

• Jacob and the Departure from Egypt, verses 21-22

God had promised Abraham the land of Canaan; he told it to Isaac, and he, in turn, told it to Jacob. While living in Egypt, Jacob reminded his sons that Egypt was not their home. God would come one day and take them out to the Promised Land. Egypt was just a temporary stop; there, they would grow and have kids in a safe environment. But one day soon, we know it to be about 400 years, God would send and take them out of Egypt. Joseph made the people promise to take his bones out with them to the Promised Land. For the next 290 years, until they left, they passed on this promise to Joseph, reminding the next generation that they would be leaving Egypt one day and to be sure to carry his bones. Thus, when Moses showed up, they were looking for a deliverer. By faith, they had passed on the promises of God from one generation to the next, and as usual, God made good on His promises.

• Moses the Deliverer, verses 23-29

Moses would rather be identified as a Jew with the powerless people than be numbered with Pharoah’s hoards. He understood that identifying with God’s people was true riches, the kind of riches that last an eternity, not just for a few dynasties. Moses observed the very first Passover; we still sing about his acts of faith: ‘When I see the Blood, I will pass over you.’ We still sing about the ‘horse and rider’ falling into the Sea. The Ten Commandments is still one of the most-watched movies. This man’s faith still lives on as an example to us today. God called on him to do extraordinary things, experience extraordinary things, and often take the road and the way less traveled. He is described by God, in Numbers 12:3, this way:

“Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.”

What a tribute from God! Because he was humble, God used him in mighty ways, as he simply allowed God to do with him as He pleased. We serve the same God. What if you and I set a goal to be even more humble or to be as humble as Moses? Imagine what God would do with us and how He would “increase our faith,” a cry often heard in the New Testament, Luke 17:5.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch
Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/
Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca; support@mmbchurch.ca

God Is Not Ashamed of Us

Chapter 11: 13-16

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. ¹⁴ For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. ¹⁵ And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”

Millions, maybe even billions, of saved Old Testament and New Testament saints have died over the past 6,000 years since the fall of man. Notice verse 1, ‘these all died,’ but none of them got to see the promise of the Messiah in the Old Testament, and none of the New Testament saints got to see the redemption of the whole earth. Yet, they all lived by faith, looking forward and focused on the PROMISES OF GOD. These were accepted and taken by faith. We explored last week that faith was not just believing but also action based on the belief.

These folks patterned their lives and the lives of their children in a way that showed that they always looked toward the future that God had promised.

Just this morning, I was reading Genesis 50; Joseph made his brother promise to take his bones out of Egypt when they left. Joseph was about 37 or so when the whole family moved to Egypt. He died at 110, so the next generation, for more than 300 years, had to pass on the belief that they would be leaving Egypt and charge them to take Joseph’s bones. They patterned their lives around the promise that one day God would give them their own land. A promise He made to Abraham (in Genesis 12:1, 7) changed Abraham’s life so much that he taught it to Isaac, Isaac to Jacob, and on and on for generations. They built their entire heritage around the leaving of Egypt, so much so that they could pack and move in one night.

• They Embraced and Confessed the promises, verses 13-14

This is so important and why we encourage the people in our churches, and in truth, anyone who is saved and looking for the return of Jesus, to constantly review the promises that were made in the Bible. Read them, repeat them to each other, repeat creeds, and sing songs that teach these doctrines. One of the major problems that a lot of our modern ‘Christian music’ faces is that there is a lack of doctrinal teaching in them. The best way to teach is by song; Sesame Street has been doing this for decades. This is how we teach our children, by embracing the promises of God and then confessing them to our kids, our friends, and our church family.

My ‘life’ verse is 1 John 3:1, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.“ When I get down, get broken, get beaten down by my own sin and flesh, get tired and feel unappreciated, I turn to this verse. I say it, repeat it, go over and over it in my head, and it reminds me that God has called me His child. He has bestowed His love on me; I did not earn it or buy it; He gave it to me. This is just one example. Maybe you have an example of your own – a verse that keeps you, focuses you, and comforts you.

These patriarchs and matriarchs embraced the promises of God; they held them close as if they were precious and cherished. We should be the same way. God’s promises to us are precious, paid for in the blood of Jesus, His only Begotten Son.

• They Embraced Being Aliens, verses 13-15

They left their home; Abraham left his people and all that he knew. He left all that he had, tangible things, and traded them for a promised land. He gave up what was secure and seen for the promised and the unknown. He had to accept and then teach his kids that they had a home here, in this wilderness, and then in an even greater place that God had made.

His kids stayed: Isaac was a tent dweller, and Jacob left to find safety from Esau, but when God called, he willingly came back and dwelt in tents. Abraham was a resident alien, a sojourner here on earth. Peter tells us that we are resident aliens as well (1 Peter 1:1, 2:11), called to understand that this world is not our home. We, like these stalwarts of the faith, wait for a homeland whose builder and maker is God. I believe in aliens; we, the children of God, are the aliens.

• God Embraced Us, verse 16

God embraces us, and we embrace Him and His promises. He embraces us, and we serve Him and look for a place that we cannot see, a place that we cannot touch, and a place that is as real to us as the ground we walk on. God, the scriptures tell us, is not ashamed to be called our God. He identifies with us. We are His, and He welcomes us to call Him ‘Abba,’ the common name for Dad in Hebrew. ‘Our Abba’ who is in Heaven. I am as much His, and He mine. We are united in a Promise, paid for in the death and sacrifice of Jesus, our Savior, eternally secured in the power of His resurrection.

God embraced these sinful men and women: adulterers, murderers, thieves, schemers, liars, and on and on we can go. He embraced men and women just like us – sinners saved by grace, secure in the Promise of eternal life that we have from God. The reciprocal love we have is from God the Father; He embraced us, He loved us, He endowed us with great promises and hope, and we, in turn, embrace His promises and confess them to one another. This way, we help each other to be secure in our faith, strong in our hope, and comforted by His hand.

John 10: 28-30, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.“

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch
Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/
Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca; support@mmbchurch.ca