"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."
Hebrews 11:13 [KJV]
Last week, I visited a beach. I had hoped to spend time meditating and praying, but I soon grew disgusted by the smell and sight of the rotting seaweed that blanketed the entire beach. How like life, I thought gloomily. Yet another failed expectation, yet more disappointment.
But as I headed back to my car, I saw something lying on a pile of revolting seaweed. It was a ball-shaped sea urchin shell. This one was tinted green, and surprisingly, the fragile, hollow shell was intact.
I marvelled that something so delicate and beautiful could be found in such a disheartening context. I also felt rebuked. As I touched that shell, it was as though I could hear God saying, “Child, where is your faith? Here’s a reminder that I am the Creator who is sovereign in all circumstances.” Our faith should not be in circumstances, but in our God. Hebrews 11:13, which comes partway through a list of Old Testament heroes, says, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”
Who were these who “died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off”? Hebrews 11:1-12 mention these Old Testament figures: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Issac, Jacob and Sara(h). Many of those named in Hebrews 11 did not see the total fulfillment of the promises God made to them. Yet, as they lived by faith, God gave them specific reassurances that He was committed to fulfilling His promises. For instance, think of Sarah’s example. The Lord promised she would be “a mother of nations; [and] kings of people shall be of her” (Genesis 17:15-16). Sarah died before her only son married. She never met her grandchildren, or saw her descendants become multiple nations (See Genesis 23 & 24). Yet the miracle of Issac’s birth would have confirmed her faith in God’s commitment to His promises. Abraham obeyed God’s command to leave his father’s house, “and he went out, not knowing whither he went” (Hebrews 11:8c). It was after he obeyed in faith that “the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land” (Genesis 12:7a), a promise God repeated to him several times. The Lord is not obliged to give us repeated reassurances of His faithfulness. If God promises something, it’s going to happen, regardless of the current circumstances (Numbers 23:19). Yet God knows our human frailty (Psalm 103:14). He knows how vulnerable we are to doubts and temptations (Matthew 14:31, 1 Corinthians 10:13). So, He gives us reassurances of his faithfulness. The theme of God’s faithfulness is repeated throughout scripture. It underpins the Gospel message – a loving God who sent His only son to save us from our sins (John 3:16). The Holy Spirit permanently indwells all believers (Ephesians 1:13). And we see evidence of God’s faithfulness running through our lives too, from salvation to eternity. God can use anything – even a shell on a sea weedy beach – to remind us of His faithfulness.
They “were persuaded of [God’s promises] and embraced them…” Persuaded means to be fully convinced. By faith, they believed that God would fulfil His promises. That didn’t mean they never struggled with doubt; Sarah initially didn’t believe the angel’s message (Genesis 18:12-15), and Abraham entered a wrong relationship with Hagar (Genesis 16). But Hebrews 11:11 reveals Sarah’s testimony, “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.” Abraham failed tests of faith at various times, but the Bible records, “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead;” (Hebrews 11:17-19a). Sara and Abraham were so sure God kept His promises that they ‘embraced’ them. ‘Embraced’ is an action word, meaning ‘to greet enthusiastically’. Why do you embrace a person? Because you love them and value them. Why do we embrace God’s promises? Because we also love and value them. I valued that shell I found for two main reasons. I valued it for itself, because I admired its symmetry and beauty. But I also valued it because of where I found it, in the context of my disappointment. On a far greater scale of worth, God’s promises have great value for two similar reasons. As the infallible word of God, His promises have intrinsic value. They also have value because they contrast with the world we live in. God’s promises are reliable; human promises are not. God’s plan will be fulfilled; human plans change. God’s love is eternal and unchanging; human love is fickle and fleeting. I could go on, listing many aspects of our flawed world system that help us truly value the perfect nature of God’s promises.
The last part of the verse says that they “confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” This phrase is at the end of the verse, but it’s the crux of the passage. Why were they such people of faith? Why didn’t they become discouraged by difficult circumstances, or not being able to see each step of the way ahead? Because they had an eternal perspective. They saw themselves as “strangers and pilgrims”, people who didn’t belong to the world around them. Hebrews 11:16 says of them, “But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city”. We need to have the same focus on heavenly matters that these men and women of faith had, with the Apostle Peter saying, “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul". It’s so easy for us to act as though this life is all that matters. Sometimes we are devastated by trivial matters, or grieve the loss of things we shouldn’t have valued in the first place. Being upset because a beach is covered in seaweed falls into this category. However, we also encounter genuinely life-shattering events and trials, simply because we live in a sin-cursed world. Regardless, by faith, we can look forward and say with the Apostle Paul, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).
Faith helps us see past little things like rotten seaweed, and big things like devastating circumstances. Faith shows us God’s faithfulness in all times and circumstances. No matter what we encounter, may our testimony be the same as those recorded who may not have yet witnessed the fulfilment of God’s promises, “but having seen them afar off …were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”
And yes, when we're living by faith, God can use even a shell to preach a sermon.
Comments