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Looking Forward by Faith
The examples of faith in Hebrews 11 help us understand what faith is and its fruits. Faith trusts in God’s promises for the future and bears fruit in our obeying God in the present. Faithfulness means obedience to God, and there can be no true faith apart from faithfulness.
Enoch, we are told, did not experience physical death. He pleased God, so God took him as a sign to all of us that God rescues His servants. Enoch earnestly sought God, trusting Him for the future and obeying Him in the present (Heb. 11:5–6).
Noah built an ark. God told him 120 years before the flood that the flood was coming (Gen. 6:3ff.; 1 Pet. 3:20). For 120 years, Noah built the ark and endured the world's ridicule. For 120 years, the world witnessed an act of faith but did not repent. Noah trusted God’s predictions about the future and obeyed Him in the present (Heb. 11:7).
Abraham packed up and left a comfortable home in Ur and became a nomad, moving from place to place and taking up a wholly new lifestyle. He dwelt in tents, which were fairly elaborate structures, but he looked for a dwelling with foundations, which no tent has. He dwelt in the fields but looked for a city. He trusted God’s promises for the future and obeyed Him in the present (Heb. 11:8–10).
Sarah had been alienated from Abraham because of Hagar and Ishmael, but God told her that she would have a son. She was past the age of childbearing and physically barren, but she trusted God for the future and obeyed Him in the present. She received Abraham back by faith and was rewarded with Isaac (Heb. 11:11–12).
Though each of these people received confirming signs and rewards during their lifetimes (Enoch did not die; Noah saw the Flood; Abraham had a son), they knew these were only preliminary signs of the future. They looked forward to the coming of the kingdom of God, and they died in faith (Heb. 11:13–16). We, says the author of Hebrews, have received the beginning of the kingdom, but history is not over yet. We must still endure by faith and look forward to the final Sabbath rest to come.
CORAM DEO Living before the face of God
“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way,” wrote the hymnist. If we focus our minds on our present problems, we may get bitter at God and disobey Him. If you have lapsed into such an attitude, take some time this weekend to repent and meditate on the future God has promised you.
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The book of Hebrews helps us understand how the Old Testament prophets, priests, and promises point to the person and work of Jesus Christ. Take this fourteen-day study to understand how the gospel fulfills the Old Testament’s prophecies, and be encouraged to run the race before you in faithfulness and perseverance.
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