More Heroes of the Faith

You can’t think about faith without Abraham coming to mind.

We have seen in this letter to the Hebrew Christians that the worship of God leads to faith in God and it leads to work for God. It leads to doing the thing God wants you to do.

It was faith that moved Abram to believe God when He called him to leave everything he knew, the comforts of his surroundings, and to travel to a land he had never seen. And even when he arrived in that land, a place he had never seen, he trusted God by confidently looking forward to a city with eternal “foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10).

Even Sarah, despite her advanced age, was able to believe God when He promised to give her a child—a son through which God would keep His promise to Abraham.

Abraham’s son, Isaac, also made the list of heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11. His faith in God and in His Word compelled him to bless both his sons, Jacob and Esau, as a sign that he trusted God’s provision for both of their lives.

Jacob lived a life of faith in relation to his father, his son Joseph, and his grandsons. But the Bible highlighted one thing out of his life when he was dying. You must wait until the end of this man’s life before you can say he was a man of faith. At the time of his death, trusting God’s eternal plan, he blessed both of the sons of Joseph and his grandsons, and he worshiped God “leaning on the top of his staff.”

Few in the Old Testament more closely represent the life and ministry of Jesus than Joseph. He epitomizes the picture of Christ. Read his story for more detail—it will thrill you how God works. Joseph provides a compelling example of how God’s power accomplishes His purposes in your life.

God wants you to be encouraged by the connection between these remarkable individuals of faith and the opportunities you have to believe in God.

Moses was another great man of faith. Like Abraham, he saw Christ’s day and rejoiced. But perhaps the most dramatic act of faith in his life came on the shores of the Red Sea. While running from Pharaoh's armies, Moses led God’s people across the sea on dry land—by faith. To believe God at this dramatic juncture required remarkable courage. Defying logic while risking ridicule in the chance his plan would fail, Moses reached out across the sea and did all God commanded him to do.

Joshua followed Moses on the journey of faith. He had some big faith shoes to fill. But Joshua trusted God and led His people into the land of promise. He learned humility in leaving his future to the Lord and trusted the outcome of every battle in the gracious and powerful hands of the Lord.

Are you willing to trust God like that?

Next: Learn from several more examples of people who dared to show their faith in God.

1. The life of Abraham shows us that God keeps His promises, even if we don’t live to see it. What are you believing God for which might take longer than your lifetime to see fulfilled?

2. Believing in God transforms our thinking first, but then it transforms our actions. What areas of your life need to be transformed by belief?

3. How can reality be unseen? If you can’t see it, can it truly be real?

4. Why would faith require willingness?

5. Does it surprise you to see someone like Jacob, who was so often sinful and deceptive, in the list of people of great faith? What can we learn from his inclusion?

6. God did mighty works through Moses, but God still dealt seriously with the sin in his life. How can having the faith of Moses help us avoid the same mistakes?

7. If you could go back in time to interview Abraham or one of his descendants about faith, who would you choose? What would you ask?