Hebrews 11:17-40

17 That all this is in resurrection is further enforced by the offering of Isaac. Abraham had such confidence in God, that he was ready to slay his son, believing that God would rouse him from the dead in order to fulfil His promise. This is the faith that pleases God and which will count in the kingdom. Though Isaac was not killed on this occasion, his very birth had been like life from the dead, and his sacrifice was practically accomplished, so far as Abraham's faith was concerned.

20 Isaac was the depository of the promises, and it was his faith that led him to pass on the blessing. Nothing is said here of his failure to perceive that Jacob, not Esau, the firstborn of the flesh, was in the line of promise. See Gen.27.

21 Jacob had learned one lesson of faith, doubtless from his own case. The firstborn of the flesh are not necessarily the first in the purpose of God. So Jacob had received the blessing Isaac intended for Esau. And now, when blessing Joseph's sons, he guided his hands deliberately so as to give the greater blessing to the younger son, even though Joseph had purposely placed them so that the flrstborn should be at his right hand (Gen_48:8-20). And so Ephraim was preferred to Manasseh, though Joseph would have desired to have it otherwise.

22 Joseph believed the word that God had spoken to Abraham, saying that his people should sojourn in Egypt and be afllicted, and afterward should come out (Gen_15:13-14,). Thereore he told them before his death, "God will notably note you, and you shall bring up my bones from this place" (Gen_50:25).

28 Moses' fathers also believed what God had spoken to Abram, and looked for Him to judge Egypt and deliver His people. No mandate of Pharaoh could thwart God's purpose or hinder the fulfilment of the promise. They were confident that the mandate would not be carried out. It is quite evident that it was not, or there would not have been a man in Israel, at the exodus, younger than Moses himself. On the contrary, this astute method of curbing Israel's power was used by God to place Moses in the family of Pharaoh, so that the brilliant king himself might provide the very instrument to defeat his own purpose.

24 Moses is a marvelous example of the power of faith to wean from the world and its allurements. With the brightest prospects possible, he deliberately turns his back on the treasures of Egypt, and possibly the throne itself, in order to share in the eonian reward of the faithful. Had he enjoyed the temporary pleasures of Egypt, his name would probably have been forgotten long ago, yet now his fame and memory are enshrined in the heart of the human race. What will be his reward in the resurrection!

27 Moses feared when he found that his attempt to help his brethren became known (Exo_2:14). And we would naturally suppose that it was fear that drove him to the back side of the desert, but we are assured that he did not fear, though he fled. Far greater still must have been the faith that stood firm before Pharaoh, that prepared the passover, that led the people out of the land in defiance of the forces of Egypt, and brought the people into the wilderness through the Red Sea.

30 The wilderness seems to be almost devoid of faith, for the enumeration of faith's victories passes from Egypt to the land. Indeed, with faith there would not have been the wanderings in the wilderness. And this is the inspired type of which the Pentecostal era is the antitype! Had the nation believed, the kingdom would have come. Now the few faithful who are left are pointed to the worthies who, like themselves, have nothing but God's bare word, yet believed it, and anticipated its fulfillment, seldom receiving the benefits Which it promised.