We'll be returning to Hebrews chapter 11. We're continuing our series in the book of Hebrews. This is now message number 35 in the overall series. entitled, A Better Country. And we're going to be looking at Hebrews 11, verses 8 to 16. By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed. And he went out not knowing whether he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith also Sarah 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. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable. 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. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country that isn't heavenly. Wherefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a city." So the last part of chapter 10 begins exhorting the readers to perseverance in the faith and that really takes up, that exhortation really takes up the remainder of the letter to the Hebrews. He's telling them that they have to believe, they have to keep on believing until they receive the inheritance, that promised future reward. Now chapter 11 begins defining faith, as faith is so important in endurance and perseverance, as the writer has been bringing out. And so he defines faith, and he illustrates faith at the beginning of the chapter, illustrates it with the knowledge of the creation. And he establishes right from the very start a very important continuity, and that is the continuity of faith all the way from the fall to the kingdom in the future. So the writer has warned the readers in different ways not to turn back from Christ and to turn back from their faith and to turn back to the old covenant. And he has shown them the impossibility of many of the thoughts that tempted them. of course, believes and trusts God. And so there is knowledge of the past by faith, there's hope in the future by faith, and it affects and informs our lives in the present by faith. Perseverance and pleasing God, which the writer has shown in the beginning of chapter number 11, are only done by faith. And we've looked at the examples that he gave with Abel and Enoch and Noah, and he's going to continue with other examples. And that's going to be true of all of these examples and many more that could be made. He illustrates with these examples of these saints, different saints in the past who believed and persevered and pleased God, but they did not yet receive the reward. And then we know that he's leading toward that toward the end of the chapter. Well, verses 8 to 16 now begins using Abraham for an illustration. And, of course, in using Abraham, there will be some mention of Sarah and Isaac and Jacob as well, leading all the way to Joseph in Egypt in this whole section about Abraham and his descendants. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, though, provide a very significant example because they were recipients of the covenant. The covenant that God made beginning with Abraham and he also made with Isaac and with Jacob again progressively And that's full of so many promises. And we spent time, I think we had three or four messages where we focused on the covenant with Abraham when we were studying the biblical covenants. And there are so many promises. This is a very large covenant, this covenant with Abraham. And when you look at it, most of those promises would not be fulfilled in any of their lifetimes. They would be fulfilled much, much later. And they, these patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in particular, they endured many trials. They endured many tests of faith, and we will see that they also died in faith. Now, if you're familiar with the accounts of these different ones that are mentioned here in Hebrews 11, you know as well as I that they had their faults. They had their stumblings. They had their problems sometimes self-inflicted. But the writer is not talking about those, not as if he's acting as if they didn't exist or didn't matter. Those things do matter. But he's making the point of that they have endured and persevered by faith. And that's the reason why they died in expectation of the promises, not because they had attained or lived a perfect life on the earth so that they were able to please God with these number of works, but rather by faith they pleased God and are accepted by Him and have expectation of that future reward. So these are the examples that the writer is commending his readers to follow, and we want to look at this in two parts, verses eight to 12, that focus particularly on Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and particular promises of the covenant to them. And then verses 13 to 16, where the writer speaks about their seeking for a country of their own. So let's begin here with verse number eight. By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed. And he went out not knowing whether he went." So now the writer is continuing these examples, the examples of both doing and enduring by faith. Now the writer mentions Abraham ten times in this letter to the Hebrews. And in fact, back in chapter six and verses 12 to 15, he commended Abraham as an example for his readers to follow of one who patiently endured in order to receive the promises. Well, the account of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of course, begins at the end of Genesis chapter number 11 with the birth of Abraham and the beginning of his family there. And then it continues really to the end of the book with Joseph and the children of Jacob in Egypt. Now the writer here refers to the beginning of their account, and particularly that calling of Abraham. So this is Genesis 12, verses 1-4. Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee. and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And just a little bit later, after they had come to the land of Canaan, in verse number seven in Genesis 12, and the Lord appeared unto Abram and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land. And there builded he an altar unto the Lord who appeared unto him. Now notice how that the writer emphasizes that Abraham was called to go out to a place. Now, going out to a place sounds sort of general, but the word that's translated here actually has the idea of a marked-off spot. So it's not random or general, but it's a particular It's just that when God first told Abraham to leave his own country and family and home and to go to this place, it's a particular place. He just hadn't revealed to Abraham where this particular place was and what the specific dimensions of it were and those sort of things. So he told him to go out to a place that he's going to show him. And not only that, but he also told him, that he would receive that place that he was going to go to as an inheritance. And of course, Genesis 12, 5 states that they'd come into the land of Canaan and it was after that in verse number 7 when God said, I will give you this land. And also in Genesis 15, 7, the Lord said, he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it, which he later in Genesis 15 identifies as the land of the Canaanites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and on and on. All those different nations that occupied that greater land that was promised to Abraham. Now, in Genesis, there are around 22 references to the land of Canaan as described by the Lord, from the rivers and all of those, the description and the nations that occupy those lands, as described by the Lord to Abraham as the promised land to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So in Genesis alone, there are around 22 references to that particular land that was promised to them and to their descendants, particularly that nation, Israel, for an everlasting possession. Now you have to realize that nations and kings were promised to Abraham. His seed was going to be very, very numerous. In fact, he had a son named Ishmael. He had sons and daughters after Isaac, later after that Sarah had died. So he had other children, physical descendants, and even as you go down the line, Isaac had Jacob and Esau. And Esau also had nations that came from him. So Abraham was truly the father of many nations in many respects. But this land, this place, this land of Canaan was promised only to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the nation from them that is later identified as the nation of Israel, the nation of Jacob. The point of this example is that Abraham obeyed God's directions. Abraham didn't previously know God or serve God and God appeared to him and I think Stephen points out that he appeared to him in glory, in brightness. He appeared to Abraham and he called him out. Now God didn't tell Abraham Everything at once. Now, I don't know if modern-day parents do this as much, but I know in my time and when I was young, my parents had this very annoying and frustrating habit of not giving me a full itinerary of their plans. You know, they would stuff you in the car, and he's like, where are we going? When are we going to be there? How long are we going to be there? Well, you just wait and see. You just wait and see. We just weren't given a lot of information ahead of time. Now, maybe parents, I don't know, in their daily text updates and such, they provide those itineraries today. I don't know. But Abraham was one that was called to go somewhere, and he didn't know where he was going. He didn't know what all this was going to consist of. He's told that God's going to give him this land, and he finds these things out more and more progressively. Now, most of the promises, again, of the covenant that God made with Abraham would not be fulfilled in his lifetime. In fact, when you look at Genesis 15, he even talks about Abraham dying, going to his grave, and then 400 years later, things that are going to be happening. He believed God and he trusted him for future reward, this place that he would receive as an inheritance, including all the other promises, but he's particularly making an emphasis of this land. Verse 9. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise." Now the word for sojourn doesn't mean that he passed through. It doesn't have that idea. or just that he simply traveled in or traveled through. Rather, this underlying word means that he lived as a foreigner. He lived as a stranger. In other words, he lived in a place that was not his own native country and that was not among his own native people. That's the point. That's what this word is bringing out about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They lived in this land and lived there as foreigners, not belonging to the people who owned the land, so to speak. The land of promise, of course, that he refers to, again, the land of Canaan that was promised to Abraham in this covenant for his inheritance. Now the word for strange or foreign here, indicates that the land belonged to another. In fact, I believe the word here is alatios, which is used in some other places referring to one's own business and that sort of thing. So they lived in the land that belonged to another. That's the emphasis. But God said he would give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob this land. But yet they lived out their lives without full possession of this land promised to them for a possession. Verse number 10. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. So the writer is now explaining, you see that for there, because he's explaining now Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob's actions He's contrasting the tents that they lived in. He's dwelling in tabernacles, word for tents, with Isaac and Jacob. Dwelling in tents. Tents are temporary, very temporary structures. Tents are mobile structures. They're very transient. They move from place to place, can be easily somewhat set up and take down much more easily than building a permanent type of dwelling. So now he's playing off of this contrast in living in tents with looking for a city with foundations. So they lived in tents as foreigners in land that they didn't own. And he's contrasting that with them living in a city with foundations, with a permanent dwelling and possession. Of course, a city also is not a single family residence. It's a house of Abraham's, or the home, rather, of Abraham's descendants. Now these words for building and making are very technical type terms that don't really appear much. The one term I think only appears once here and the other not very much in the New Testament. But they are real technical terms that would apply to what we might think of as the design and the construction of the city. And it seems connected with the expectation, in other words, that the builder and maker of this city, it's not the Canaanites, not the Amorites, not the Perizzites, and so on. The builder and maker of this city that they're looking for is connected with the expectation of the restoration of the earth from the curse spoken by Lamech that was Noah's father in Genesis chapter 5 verses 28 to 29. So they're looking forward to the city of the king that Jacob prophesied in Genesis chapter 49 verses 8 to 12. And so looking forward to the city of the king that Jacob prophesied about This is distinct from what man has done or can accomplish. So, on the one hand, what does this tell us? Well, this tells us that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they lived as foreigners in tents in this land that God promised to them, but they did not possess. And they weren't going to possess it by force. They weren't going to possess it by craft. They weren't going to build their city, so to speak, but they looked for that that God was going to do. They looked forward, in other words. Verse 11, Now the Lamb promise is significant and there's much more, there's more about that to come just after this. But the covenant again included many, many promises, including the birth of a son to Abraham and Sarah. Now this is something that was fulfilled in Abraham's lifetime, though he did have to wait 25 years for it. But they were promised a son, that Abraham and Sarah together would have a son. Now, according to Genesis 17, 17, Sarah was 90 years old. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born. And so for 25 years, God had promised them a son, and Sarah had been barren all of her life. And in all the years of their marriage, which had to have been quite significant by that time, they had had no children. And even though, again, if you're familiar with the accounts, you know that both Abraham and Sarah struggled somewhat with this particular promise. They did have some doubts here and there and they didn't always take the right actions. But even though that they doubted at times, the writer emphasizes that by faith, Sarah was able to have a son. Genesis chapter 21 verses 1 to 3. And saying that she trusted God as trustworthy. In other words, God has promised this. She trusted God as trustworthy. And again, amidst some stumbles, but nevertheless she had true faith in him. And then verse 12, Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable. So the birth of Isaac was necessary in order for these promises pertaining to this numerous offspring, actually innumerable offspring as the sand and as the stars, in order for that to be fulfilled, they had to have that first child. They had never had a child and God made it known that Ishmael was not the choice. He was not perpetuating the covenant through Ishmael but through Isaac. So the writer is here emphasizing that this birth of Isaac and Sarah was past age and Abraham was as good as dead in terms of this. In other words, the birth of Isaac was beyond human possibility. This wasn't something that they could have done or caused in and of themselves. That's the point. They were given a promise that depended entirely upon God fulfilling it. And that is where, again, the faith comes in. Now, referring to the promises in Genesis chapter 15 verses 4 and 5 and chapter 22 and verse number 17 concerning Abraham's descendants, that they would be as numerous as the sand by the seashore and as the stars in the sky. This promise rested on other promises. In other words, for Abraham to have this innumerable offspring, he had to have that first son. So this promise rests on other promises. And Abraham believed for 25 years before this son was born. So the point is that Abraham endured by faith, even past what you might call the point of possibility, even past the point of reasonability that they would see this in their lifetimes, but yet they did, but they did so by faith and they endured. Then we get to verses 13 to 16 where he goes back to this about the land and how that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in particular were seeking a country of their own. Verse 13, 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. Now the writer's returning here to this land problem, and verses 13 to 16 sort of function as a little bit of a summary. He's sort of drawing out some lessons. We've already seen this earlier in chapter number 11, so he makes reference to some of these accounts and the facts of their lives, and then he's pulling out some applications, some conclusions from what the record tells us about them. And so this summary section, he refers, these all died in faith. Well, the all that he refers to here is referring specifically to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In other words, you could go through Hebrews 11, and every one that is mentioned, and you could say they all died in faith, except for Enoch, of course. But what he's saying here is not about everyone, in this chapter. It is about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Of course, they had their own particular circumstances and situations, just as it was with Noah. Not everyone is called on to build an ark. In fact, Noah is the only one. Not everyone is called on to do what Abraham did. In fact, Abraham was the only one. So they had their specific situation and he says all of them, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as parties of God's covenant with many, many, many promises. And we know that some of them were fulfilled in Abraham's lifetime. Some of them fulfilled in the lifetime of Isaac and of Jacob. We studied those covenants and we looked at that. There were some promises that were more immediate, but most of them were far removed, far future to them, not fulfilled in their lifetimes. But nevertheless, by saying they died in faith, he means that they lived their lives by faith and went to the graves believing God and hoping for the future reward. So they didn't come to the end of their lives and look back and say, You know, I spent all this time waiting and none of these things came to pass. We never owned the land of Canaan as a possession. came to pass. So really I wasted all these years of my life and they would have regretted it or been bitter over it. No, he's saying that it's exactly the opposite. They come to their deaths and they had not received all of these many promises that God had made that they're going to receive and still yet they died in hope. That's the point that he's making. perseverance, their hope of the future reward. Now this is what the writer means when he says that they only saw them at a great distance. In other words, in the future is what he's referring to. They saw these promises as not being fulfilled in their lifetimes, but far, far into the future. They didn't have faith because all these things were given them immediately. That wasn't why they had faith. They had faith because God promised, and even though they have not yet seen them fulfilled. And we hear today sometimes people, well, if God would do this, then I would believe in him. Or if God would do that, then I would believe in him. And it's not the way that faith works. God has given us His Son. And He has given us the record of His Son in this world. And whatever blessings that God may bring upon us in our lives and so on, we don't believe because of those things. We believe because God gave his son and he gave us the record of his son and that's what we believe. And then of course we have expectation, we have hope, and we do receive many, many blessings even in this life from the Lord. Now after the death of Sarah, Abraham spoke these very words. He says they confessed that they were strangers and and pilgrims on the earth." Abraham actually spoke these words in Genesis 23-4 to the sons of Heth. And later these words were echoed by Jacob when he was talking to the Pharaoh in Genesis 47-9 and sort of giving an account of his life as he was of old age by that point. Now the word that is used here for strangers means a foreigner, but it means a resident foreigner, again, not among native people or land. And then he says they were pilgrims on the earth. Now the word for earth here is the very same word that in verse nine is translated land, sojourned in the land. This word has a very broad range of meaning. It can refer to the soil in which you plant a seed. It can refer to the land territory of a nation. It can refer to the dry land as opposed to the seas it can refer to the earth as a whole it can and it does in some places but clearly if you are reading the context and all of these references that have been made clearly he's talking here about the land of promise and in fact you go back to Genesis 23 and see Abraham talking to the sons of Seth, he says his pilgrimage, his sojourn was among them. Talking about their land. So this land of Canaan is still in view. He's not saying that they were foreigners on the entire earth. That is, oh, I could go, I could traverse the entire globe and nowhere would be home to me. I would be a foreigner and a stranger. That's not what is being said. In the land of Canaan, where they didn't own any of it, where they were not among their native people, they were resident foreigners in that land. And furthermore, when you think about it, the writer goes on to point out they did in fact have a native land. They weren't strangers and pilgrims in the entire earth. They did have a home country. Abraham came from somewhere. He had a native people and a native land. So it's what Abraham left by faith was his own native land where he was not a stranger and a pilgrim. Now we'll see why that's important as we keep reading in this section. Verse 14, Again, referring to this confession that Abraham and Jacob in particular made. This testimony of the patriarchs. Now the word for country that is used here actually means fatherland. What it means is one's own country. Just a country. I'm just looking for a country that maybe I will be able to call home. One's own country. In fact, this word appears eight times in the New Testament. And it is translated every time as one's own country or your own country, except here. This is the only place where it's just country. Everywhere else it's my own. Think about what Jesus said in his last visit to his hometown of Nazareth. He used this word a couple of times, Mark 6, 1-4. He went out from thence and came into his own country. Same word here. And his disciples follow him. And when the Sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? And what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and of Judah, and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country. Same word again. and among his own kin, and in his own house." So they that say such things, that they are strangers and pilgrims, they're foreigners sojourning in this land that belongs to another, so to speak, The writer says, living that way, they're very plainly saying that they were seeking a country of their own, the one that was promised to them by the oath of God. And remember, when God could swear by none greater, he swore by his own name. Verse 15, and truly if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. So the writer points out that they were looking forward, but had they looked back, They could have returned. In other words, they had a country. They had a people. They had a native homeland and native people that they could have returned to. We know Jacob even went back for a time and Abraham sent his servant back there to find a wife for Isaac. They had a place where they were not strangers and pilgrims and they could have returned to. So this is very important thematically for the primary warning of this letter, which is not to turn back. Do not turn back. So amidst the trials and the hardships of the sojourning life, they endured by faith and looking forward to God's promises and did not turn back. And that's really what the writer of Hebrews wants his readers to see and understand and glean from them as an example to follow. Let me get to verse 16. So rather than turn back, and this verse is given, it's the contrast, rather than going back to their own country, rather than turn back, they believed and desired a better Now, of course, better is thematic in this letter for something that's greater to come. And in this case, It is a land for a country of their own greater than the one that they left. And the writer reminded his readers of their earlier endurance of suffering and how that they looked forward to having better possessions than those at present in chapter 10 and verse number 34. Of course, this idea of rest and inheritance and such, again, it runs throughout this letter, this better country. There's a better inheritance. The better country, you'll notice, is described as heavenly. And so this is where we really need to read this in context. Describing this as a heavenly country is very much in agreement with verse 10, they're looking for a city that had foundations whose builder and maker is God. Now the word for heavenly here, it is an adjective and it is used earlier in the letter to describe the readers as partakers of the heavenly calling, meaning that that's where it's from, the source. In other words, this word for heavenly can be descriptive of a location, of a place. It can also be descriptive of a source, meaning that and particularly meaning these things on earth that are from heaven, so to speak. Now, it can be used to make a distinction between earth and heaven as different places. It can be used that way. But here, In context, heavenly means that it's the source, it's the source of this country, of this city, just as references like the kingdom of heaven, Matthew chapter 3 and verse 2, and Matthew uses that phrase a lot, that is where it is from. And Paul refers to our citizenship being in heaven, and Philippians chapter 3 and verse number 20, and 1 Peter 1, Peter refers to our inheritance being reserved in heaven. So again, this verse, verse 16, includes the idea of restored earth. Now, oftentimes this verse, and maybe a couple of verses around here, are just lifted out of context to say that they were living on the earth, but were looking forward to a home in heaven. Abraham was never promised a home in heaven. There are many, many promises in the covenant that was made to Abraham that he was an heir of, but a home in heaven was never any of them. Abraham was promised the land of Canaan, which again, the writer has been emphasizing throughout this section. He's contrasted it, not from heaven, but from the home that Abraham left, his own country. Abraham was promised the land of Canaan with his descendants, the nation of Israel, as an everlasting possession, and that is what he desired. So, therefore, he lived as a stranger and pilgrim in a land that he would later come to possess. But it also tells us that God was not ashamed then to be called their God. because he's prepared for them a city. Now, this is very similar to the language back in chapter 2 and verse number 11, that Jesus was not ashamed to call brothers, those that believe in him, those for whom he died, those for whom he took on the flesh. And he's also making a reference here that, again, is a covenantal reference, and you see repeatedly, particularly in the Pentateuch, but even later, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is what he's referring to, and it occurs in many places. And the point is that God will keep his promises. He has prepared a city for them. Well, believers who are not descended from Abraham. do have much application here. Jewish believers do as well, but believers not descended from Abraham, even in this present day, there's a lot of application here in this example. Now, when we studied the covenants, we saw how that God's covenant with Abraham has blessings for the nations in it. Not just Israel. There are blessings for Israel in the Abrahamic Covenant, blessings for the nations. In fact, all the nations of the earth in the Abrahamic Covenant. It's why the Bible writers like Paul speak of Abraham as the father of all the faithful, all who believe will be blessed in Abraham. But again, there are specific blessings there. There's blessings for the nations, there's blessings for Israel. Non-Jews, those not descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are not inheritors of the promised land of Canaan. But the nations do have inheritance in the earth, in the kingdom of the Messiah. We're not told what all that is. We're not told what all that will be. We don't know, but yet we will receive that and it will be fulfilled through the covenants that God made. So what I'm saying then is that non-Jewish believers are also seeking a country of our own. In some ways, we are similar to Abraham in this example. We don't know where we are going. We don't know the place that we will inherit in the earth, but the exhortation then is believe and live like it. In other words, if we are like Abraham in this regard, then follow his example and live by faith and live like foreigners in a land that is not your own. In other words, we may own property We may have a native homeland, we may have native people, but that's not our inheritance, that's not our everlasting possession that we will inherit someday. So live like it, live by faith, and don't become overburdened with pursuing things that are so temporary and fleeting. And that will actually play a part in the next section that we'll look at in Hebrews chapter number 11. Oh.