By Faith, Jacob (Heb 11:21; Gen 48)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, September 27, 2026

Tony Evans writes:

Somebody has come up with a great concept—putting playrooms in doctors’ offices. Many parents bring their kids to the doctor because they are sick and they need the doctor to see them. The playrooms are designed to distract the children from the pain of their problem until their problem gets fixed. The playroom gives them joy in a bad situation.

That’s the way God works. Even though things may not be going the way we want them to be on the outside, God has designed a “playroom” in our soul. In the midst of our circumstances, His joy can distract us from our pain or discomfort, until He makes provision for our change or healing.^520,[1]

So, how does your faith make you feel? Does trusting in God make you happy? Does God make you happy? Without your faith, would you be unhappy? I don’t believe all Christians are happy and joyful all the time. But I like to believe that being reminded of God’s promises will encourage and equip us for both good times and bad. I want to believe that returning to God’s promises will give us renewed hope. 

Today, I want to look at a passage that will once again take us back to Genesis. We will look at Jacob and how he blessed his son and two of his grandsons. In this blessing, he was both prophetic and trusting in God’s promises. 

My theme and application:

Jacob blesses both of Joseph’s sons, trusting in God’s promises. We can also have faith by trusting in God’s promises.

Recall that we introduced Jacob last Sunday. At that time, he was not yet married. He was a conniving man who stole his brother’s birthright. Yet this demonstrated God’s sovereignty. God oversaw everything, and God’s will came to pass. 

Now, years later, Jacob is 147 years old and has a large family. He has 13 children, 12 of whom are sons.

Read with me:

Hebrews 11:21–22 (ESV)

²¹ By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. ²² By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

I heard about a pastor who said:

On one of my pastoral visits, I had just stepped inside a hospital elevator and punched the button for the fifth floor when a young pregnant woman slipped in beside me.

Noticing she glanced at the button panel, but didn’t press a button for another floor, I asked, “Number five?”

“Heavens no!” she gasped. “It’s only my first!”^[2]

Well, it was her first, but Jacob had 13 children. A lot has happened to Jacob in the last few years. Now, here he is, and he is grateful.

1. The Abrahamic Covenant continues:
   1. God made a promise to Abraham, and that promise was still being fulfilled. The promise is called the Abrahamic covenant, first recorded in Genesis 12:1-3; let’s turn there.
   2. Genesis 12:1–3 (ESV)
   3. Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
   4. Now, turn over to Genesis 13:14–18 (ESV)
   5. ¹⁴ The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, ¹⁵ for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. ¹⁶ I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. ¹⁷ Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” ¹⁸ So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.
   6. Now, this covenant is again repeated in Genesis 15:18–21 (ESV)
   7. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
   8. Once again, now turn over to Genesis 17:6 (ESV) ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
   9. These are God’s promises to Abraham and his descendants; understand that Christians are grafted into these promises (Romans 11:17-24; Galatians 3:15-29 (especially 29); 4:1-6; 21-31 (especially 28)).
   10. Jacob knew these promises, and God, who is sovereign and in control, was going to fulfill the Abrahamic covenant even through Jacob, who was conniving. God fulfills his promises even through you and me.
   11. So, we come to Genesis 48, where Jacob is about to die and will bless his children and grandchildren.
2. Let’s look at the blessing:
   1. Turn to Genesis 48:15–16 (ESV) ¹⁵ And he blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
   2. This blessing predicts the future in a manner similar to the blessing Isaac gave to Jacob and Esau in Genesis 27.
   3. How can anyone predict the future?
   4. In 1995, an American scientist named Clifford Stoll boldly predicted that the Internet would be just another passing fad. He wrote an article for Newsweek titled “The Internet? Bah!” Here’s what Stoll said in an interview with Minnesota Public Radio:
   5. I expect the value of the Internet for communications in general isn’t very high. I don’t think it will ever replace face to face meetings and real rallies—things that get commitment and involvement from people. Rather, it induces a very shallow … involvement and as such, I think it’s grossly over-promoted and there’s a great deal of hyperbole surrounding it.
   6. I think it’s grossly oversold and within two or three years people will shrug and say, ‘”Uh yep, it was a fad of the early 90’s and now, oh yeah, it still exists but hey, I’ve got a life to lead and work to do. I don’t have time to waste online.” Or, “I’ll collect my email, I’ll read it, why should I bother prowling around the Worldwide Web …” simply because there’s so little of value there.
   7. Ten years later, in a 2006 TED talk, Stoll reflected on his failed predictions and said, “If you really want to know about the future, don’t ask a technologist, a scientist, a physicist. No! Don’t ask somebody who’s writing code. No, if you want to know what society’s going to be like in 20 years, ask a kindergarten teacher.”^[3]
   8. I like the last line. Ask a kindergarten teacher!
   9. Or, God. God knows the future and had already given future promises to Jacob. Jacob personally heard God’s promise.
   10. Turn over to Genesis 28:13: And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.
   11. Jacob knew God’s promise, and he clung to it as he blessed. Next, he blessed two of his grandsons. He blessed the younger one first.
   12. Turn back to Genesis 48:17–22 (ESV) ¹⁷ When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸ And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” ¹⁹ But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” ²⁰ So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’ ”
   13. Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. ²¹ Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. ²² Moreover, I have given to you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”
   14. Jacob knew God’s promises and blessed accordingly. This was faith, trusting in God.
3. Okay, now it is for us to trust in the promises of God as well. Have faith like Jacob.
   1. God has promises in Scripture, and we must trust in them.
   2. We must trust that the Lord is our Light and our Salvation. Whom shall we fear? (Psalm 27:1)
   3. We must trust that we can look to the hills, for our help comes from the Lord (Psalm 121).
   4. We must trust that the Lord is our Shepherd (Psalm 23).
   5. We must trust Phil. 4:4-13: We are to pray with prayer and petition with thanksgiving, and then there is peace that passes understanding. We can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us.
   6. We must trust James 4:7: when we submit to God, we can resist the devil, and he will flee from us.
   7. We must take John 3:16–18 (ESV) as a text about security and trust:
   8. ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
   9. We must hold fast to the promise of Rev. 21 and the new Jerusalem.
   10. We must hold fast to the promise that, absent from the body, we are present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8).
   11. As Jacob remained true to the promises when giving this prophetic blessing, so we must cling to the promises of Scripture.

Close:

Charlie Engle, Ray Zahab, and Kevin Lin know endurance better than most. For 111 days, they ran the equivalent of two marathons a day in order to cross the entire Sahara Desert on foot. They touched the waters at Senegal and then made their way through Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya, and Egypt to touch the waters of the Red Sea. Along the way, the trio faced blazing afternoons of over 100 degrees, jarring, freezing nights, sandstorms, tendonitis, violent sickness, and the usual aches, pains, and blisters. But the biggest challenge they faced can be summed up in one word: water. Finding it in its purest, cleanest form gets to be a bit of a chore while in the middle of nowhere!

Crossing the Saharan Desert on foot is an amazing accomplishment. But just as commendable are these marathon finishers:

• Christians who finish their lives still growing, still serving.
• Husbands and wives who stay faithful to each other “until death do us part.”
• Young people who preserve their virginity until marriage, in spite of crushing peer pressure.
• Pastors who stay passionate about ministry until their last breath.
• Church members who weather the rougher patches and remain joyful, loving, and faithful.^[4]

Let’s pray

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pray

1. Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 174. ↑

2. Preston A. Taylor, Hondo, Texas. Christian Reader, “Lite Fare.” ↑

3. Molly Bloom, “The Internet will be a fad, claimed scientist in ’95,” MPR News (2-16-12) ↑

4. Jon R. Mutchler, Ferndale, Washington; source: Anna Johnson, “3 ultra-athletes run across Sahara,” USA Today (2-20-07) ↑

In Toy Story 3, Andy, the owner of Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and other toys, prepares to leave for college. At the end of the movie, he decides to give his toys to a young girl named Bonnie.

The scene starts with Andy entering the front gate of Bonnie’s home and showing her the box of toys. Andy tells her, “I’m Andy. Someone told me you’re really good with toys. These are mine, but I’m going away now, so I need someone really special to play with them.” Then as Andy proceeds to hand the toys to Bonnie, he introduces them by saying something special about each one.

He begins with his toy cowgirl Jessie: “This is Jessie—the roughest, toughest cowgirl in the whole West. She loves critters, but none more’n her best pal, Bullseye.”

Andy then hands Bonnie his toy Tyrannosaurus, Rex, “the meanest, most terrifying dinosaur who ever lived.”

For the Potato Heads, Andy says, “The Potato Heads—Mister and Missus. You gotta keep em together cause they’re madly in love.”

Slinky the Dog “is as loyal as any dog you could want.”

Andy blesses Hamm, the Pig, by saying, “He’ll keep your money safe, but he’s also one of the most dastardly villains of all time, Evil Dr. Pork Chop!”

Buzz Lightyear is “the coolest toy ever. Look, he can fly and shoot lasers. He’s sworn to protect the galaxy from the evil Emperor Zurg!”

Finally, for his pal Woody, Andy says, “He’s been my pal as long as I can remember. He’s brave, like a cowboy should be. And kind, and smart. But the thing that makes Woody special, he’ll never give up on you—ever. He’ll be there for you, no matter what.”^[1]

It seems as though Andy is giving a benediction, a blessing regarding the toys.

Today, we continue our walk through Hebrews 11 and come to verse 20. For the next two weeks, we will look at blessings. Today, we look at Isaac and the blessings he gave Jacob and Esau. This is an insightful passage, and the longer I read it, the more it revealed to me. I have read this passage repeatedly, but until now it never stood out to me how God’s sovereignty came through and how Isaac had faith. 

My theme:

Isaac blessed his two sons in faith, and Isaac’s blessings are prophetic.

Application:

God is sovereign; we can trust Him. This means that we can have faith in Him.

Hebrews 11:20 (ESV)

By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.

1. Now, I must start by summarizing this event in the Old Testament.
   1. If you want to follow along, which I recommend you do, please turn to Genesis 27. I will be summarizing the passage.
   2. It’s easy to get bogged down in the details of how the blessings came about, but the reality is that in these blessings we see a great God. God was, and is, over everything. God’s plan was accomplished. God had determined that the older would serve the younger (Gen. 25:23), and the blessings show that. 
   3. This narrative has four main characters.
   4. We have Isaac, and he is the dad. He is the son of Abraham and Sarah.
   5. We have Rebekah, Jacob and Esau’s mother and Isaac’s wife.
   6. We have two sons: Esau, the oldest, and Jacob, the youngest.
   7. We have some backstory that you must be aware of:
   8. In Genesis 25:23, Rebekah is told that the older will serve the younger.
   9. In Genesis 25:25, we see the birth of the two boys.
   10. In Genesis 25:33-34, Esau, very hungry, sells his birthright to his brother. This meant that his younger brother now had the right to the firstborn blessing. 
   11. In Genesis 25:28, Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
   12. In Genesis 26:34-35, Esau took wives from among the foreign women, which made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah. 
   13. In Genesis 27, there is a major account of Jacob deceiving Esau to steal the blessing. Jacob had already paid for the blessing, but he now takes it. I suppose Esau was not really going to give it to him. As I shared, Isaac should have known that the firstborn’s blessing belonged to Jacob, the younger, as God had declared. Yet Isaac was not obeying God. Do you see how God works? Do you see that God’s will comes to pass in the end?
   14. In Genesis 27:
   15. Verses 1-4: Isaac calls Esau and tells him to go hunt some game so they can eat and he will give him the blessing. 
   16. Rebekah has overheard Isaac’s plan, but she loves Jacob more. So, she has her own plan. Jacob will take a few young goats, have them slaughtered, and have Rachel prepare them. Jacob will go to his father, Isaac, pretend to be Esau, and steal the blessing. Isaac’s eyesight is failing, so this should not be an issue. Jacob will wear Esau’s clothes and use goat skin to make himself feel hairy like Esau (Genesis 27:5-17).
   17. The plan works, and Jacob is blessed (Genesis 27:18-29).
   18. Esau returns, upset that the blessing was stolen. Isaac and Esau are beyond upset. Esau receives the secondary blessing (Genesis 27:30-38).
2. The blessing of Jacob is prophetic:
   1. Genesis 27:28–29 (ESV) May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
   2. Isaac’s blessing included four elements: agricultural prosperity (v^[2]. 28)—even as he had done for Isaac (26:12); international respect and success (27:29); a command directing Jacob to be master over the entire clan; and the transference of the protective provision of cursing and blessing that God had once given Jacob’s grandfather Abraham (12:3).^[3]
   3. He should never have given this to Esau, since he knew what God had said at the birth in Genesis 25:23.
   4. Cursed be everyone who curses you and blessed be everyone who blesses you. This is from Genesis 12:3 given to Abraham.
   5. Later, Esau entered the room, upset that the blessing was stolen.
   6. Isaac then gives Esau a blessing.
   7. Genesis 27:39–40 (ESV) ³⁹ Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high. By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck.
   8. Everything in this chapter is a mess, but God’s will comes through. His will was for Jacob to be the chosen one.
   9. Some insight that Tim Keller gives:
   10. Many years ago, when I first started reading the Book of Genesis, it was very upsetting to me. Here are all these spiritual heroes—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph—and look at how they treat women. They engage in polygamy, and they buy and sell their wives. It was awful to read their stories at times. But then I read Robert Alter’s The Art of Biblical Narrative. Alter is a Jewish scholar at Berkeley whose expertise is ancient Jewish literature. In his book he says there are two institutions present in the Book of Genesis that were universal in ancient cultures: polygamy and primogeniture. Polygamy said a husband could have multiple wives, and primogeniture said the oldest son got everything—all the power, all the money. In other words, the oldest son basically ruled over everyone else in the family. Alter points out that when you read the Book of Genesis, you’ll see two things. First of all, in every generation polygamy wreaks havoc. Having multiple wives is an absolute disaster—socially, culturally, spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, and relationally. Second, when it comes to primogeniture, in every generation God favors the younger son over the older. He favors Abel, not Cain; Isaac, not Ishmael; Jacob, not Esau. Alter says that you begin to realize what the Book of Genesis is doing—it is subverting, not supporting, those ancient institutions at every turn.
   11. When I read Alter’s book, I then reread the Book of Genesis and loved it. And then it hit me: What if when I was younger, I had abandoned my trust in the Bible because of these accounts in Genesis? What if I had drop-kicked the Bible and the Christian faith, missing out on a personal relationship with Christ—all because I couldn’t understand the behavior of the patriarchs? The lesson is simple: Be patient with the text. Consider the possibility that it might not be teaching what you think it’s teaching.^[4]
3. Did you notice God’s sovereignty in these events?
   1. Some of you need to read this and be encouraged.
   2. Be encouraged that you are never too far gone for God to use you. God wants to use you and will do so if you give Him the chance.
   3. You may think I am afraid I will mess up what God is doing. You won’t.
   4. Follow the Lord, live for Him, and things will be ok.
   5. Look, God worked in this mess, and He wants to work in your life.
   6. We see this in this chapter. God works in messy situations. You will not thwart God’s plan. However, you ought to be part of God’s plan.
4. Apply the faith of Isaac to your life.
   1. How was Isaac faithful? Let me get back to this. Isaac was faithful in that he trusted God to fulfill His promises.
   2. These promises come from the Abrahamic Covenant. The original promise of the Abrahamic Covenant began in Genesis 12:1-3, then in Genesis 13:14-18, then in Genesis 15:18-21, and then in Genesis 17:6. These promises concerned blessing the descendants so they would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. Isaac trusted God regarding the blessing. 
   3. Do we trust God’s promises?
   4. God’s promises are found in His Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Do we trust them?
   5. Do we trust the promise of the Gospel: 2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
   6. 2 Cor. 5:21: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Close:

Trust God’s Word, which contains His promises; Isaac did. In trusting we have faith.

Don’t run from God and don’t think you are too far gone. God is working through you. You will not thwart God’s plan.

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pray

1. Toy Story 3, Scene 33, “Goodbye Andy,” 1:28:55 to 1:32:05; Submitted by Derek Chin, Portland, Oregon ↑

2. v. verse ↑

3. Robert D. Bergen, “Genesis,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 50. ↑

4. Tim Keller, in the sermon “Literalism” (available on PreachingToday.com on 5-17-10) ↑

We are talking about stepping out in faith.

Last week we talked about Abraham. Now, we transition to Sarah.

J.D. Greear writes:

What will you do when you realize that the foundations of your life aren’t as permanent as you thought?

Before D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones became one of the greatest preachers of the twentieth century, he had been a promising young medical doctor, trained at the best British medical school and the protégé of the most well-known surgeon at St. Bart’s Hospital in London. Just as he was reaching the apex of his medical career, one of his colleagues, another rising star, was dating a young woman who unexpectedly got sick and died.

A few days later, the man appeared at Lloyd-Jones’ door and asked to sit with him by the fire. They sat there for two hours, in silence, as the man kept his gaze on the fire. Lloyd-Jones’ friend had seen the joy of his life taken from him—and he had no response.

This encounter changed the trajectory of Lloyd-Jones’ life. Seeing the vanity of all human greatness, he left medicine to become a preacher, reasoning that even the best medicine, valuable as it is, cannot stop death.

Our perceptions and best wisdom are always in flux. Everything is crumbling, no matter what it is. Tim Keller once said that many seek the Lord after realizing their “cities” have no foundation. Like Lloyd-Jones’ friend, they encounter some crisis so acute that they aren’t equipped to handle it. It feels like the ground itself is giving way under their feet.

We all need a city with a lasting foundation. Hebrews 11 tells us that’s what Abraham realized (Hebrews 11:10). When God blessed him, he called Abraham away from what was familiar and secure to an unknown place where the only thing Abraham had left was to depend on him. Abraham knew all about the impermanence of this life.^[1]

And… Sarah was with him. Sarah had been by his side. So, let’s talk about Sarah.

Let’s read:

Hebrews 11:11–12 (ESV)

¹¹ By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. ¹² Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

1. Let’s put this passage in context.
   1. In verses 1-8, Abraham receives visitors (Genesis 18:1-8).
   2. The Lord himself and two angels visit Abraham near Hebron (Genesis 18:1-3).^[2]
   3. Then we see Abraham ministering to his heavenly visitors (Gen. 18:4–8): Abraham prepares a meal of veal, cheese curds, milk, and bread for his visitors.^[3]
2. Now, we see the reaction of Sarah (Genesis 18:9-15).
   1. The details (Gen. 18:9–10): In her tent, Sarah overhears the Lord’s promise concerning the birth of Isaac.^[4]
   2. Genesis 18:9-10: ⁹ They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” ¹⁰ The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.
   3. Now the angels and the 3^rd man, likely the preincarnate Christ, ask him where Sarah is.
   4. Sarah was listening at the tent door.
   5. Verse 11 says they were old and advanced in years. Sarah was past childbearing (literally, the manner of women).
   6. Sarah laughs in unbelief (verses 11-12):
   7. Genesis 18:11-12: ¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”
   8. Her laugh is a laugh in disbelief, a lack of faith.^[5] It says that she laughed to herself.
   9. Keil and Delizsch: Abraham also had laughed at this promise (Gen. 17:17), and without receiving any reproof. For his laughing was the joyous outburst of astonishment; Sarah’s, on the contrary, the result of doubt and unbelief, which had to be broken down by reproof, and, as the result showed, really was broken down, inasmuch as she conceived and bore a son, whom she could only have conceived in faith (Heb. 11:11).^[6]
   10. It has been suggested that this word should be translated “conception,” not “pleasure.” See A. A. McIntosh, “A Third Root ‘adah in Biblical Hebrew,” V^[7]T 24 (1974): 454–73.^[8]
   11. However, Timothy Keller makes the case that she is referring to sexual pleasure. He shares: What does this pleasure mean?” Right away I used to think (and you probably would think too) she is saying, “I am very old. I’m past the age of childbearing. Am I supposed to have the pleasure of a son? That’s not what she thinks. That’s not what she is saying, because the word for pleasure is sexual pleasure. Right away what she thinks about it is the fact is, “Abraham and I aren’t even having sex.”^[9]
   12. NET: Sarah will have a son. The passage brings God’s promise into clear focus. As long as it was a promise for the future, it really could be believed without much involvement. But now, when it seemed so impossible from the human standpoint, when the Lord fixed an exact date for the birth of the child, the promise became rather overwhelming to Abraham and Sarah. But then this was the Lord of creation, the one they had come to trust. The point of these narratives is that the creation of Abraham’s offspring, which eventually became Israel, is no less a miraculous work of creation than the creation of the world itself.^[10]
   13. Is anything too hard for the Lord (verses 13-14):
   14. Genesis 18:13-14:
   15. ¹³ The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”
   16. I love how the Lord questions; this is the Lord.
   17. The Lord asks why she laughs.
   18. The denial: in fear, Sarah denies that she laughed in unbelief.
   19. Genesis 18:15: ¹⁵ But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
   20. I love how the Lord responds, “But you did laugh!”
3. Applications of faith:
   1. We all must trust God with our children and grandchildren as Sarah did.
   2. First, notice that the Bible does not gloss over the sins of the people. Sarah had faith issues as far as her being the mother. But she did trust God’s major plan.
   3. If you go back to Genesis 12, we read that Abraham was to be the father of nations. Sarah trusted God but did not know how this was to happen. In Genesis 17:17, we find out that this was to happen through her womb. Sarah, being 90 years old, was to have a child. 
   4. But we can look ahead and see that Sarah’s child was born in Genesis 21:2 and named Isaac, which means “Laughter.”
   5. This was somewhere around 2000 B.C., and then when Hebrews was penned some 2000 years later, Sarah is remembered for her faith.
   6. She trusted God.
   7. Sarah had watched everyone else raise children, and now it was her turn. The Bible says in verse 14: “Is anything too difficult for the Lord?”
   8. How are we doing with trusting the Lord? How are we doing with trusting the Lord with our children on a day-to-day basis? How about even after they are grown?
   9. In that manner, we are best to remember that God’s faithfulness is unending and we must trust Him, who can do all things, with our children.
   10. Some Scripture:
   11. Psalm 89:1-2 (and the rest of the Psalm) are about God’s faithfulness.
   12. Psalm 91:1-4 compares God’s faithfulness to an eagle sheltering us under His Wings.
   13. Psalm 100:5 is about God’s faithfulness.
   14. Psalm 108:4: God’s faithfulness reaches to the skies.
   15. Psalm 143:1: O LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. (from New International Version)
4. How do we have faith? How do we trust God?
   1. Pray and talk to God. We must live with Jesus.
   2. Have silent time before the Lord. Read Scripture and listen. Meditate/ruminate on passages. Worship the Lord.
   3. Prayer partners are important (Ecc. 4:12; Prov. 27:17).
   4. Lean on your church family for help.
   5. Read testimonies of those who stood strong in faith in difficult times.
   6. Pray for a faith that is head and heart.
   7. Go to the Bible and read the Scripture passages on faithfulness.
   8. Talk with a small group or prayer partner, or me. Talk with a Christian counselor.
   9. For those going through tough times, I would welcome the chance to listen and pray with you.

I have used this story before, but I believe it is worth sharing again.

I love the story of the lumberjack who was preparing to cut down every tree in a certain section of a mountain forest. Just before he began, he noticed a bird building its nest atop one of the trees. Not wanting to harm the bird or its young, the lumberjack took a mallet and pounded on the base of the tree until the bird flew to another tree and began to build its nest there. But since the lumberjack knew that tree was coming down too, he repeated the process with that tree. So the bird moved to a third tree, which the lumberjack knew was coming down also, so he did it again.

He knew that every tree in this part of the forest was coming down, so the lumberjack and the bird repeated this dance a half dozen times, until the bird, highly annoyed, flew away and built its nest on the side of a rock face. The bird probably never understood why the lumberjack attacked each tree he attempted to build his nest in, but the lumberjack’s motive was not cruelty, but compassion. The lumberjack knew that every tree in the forest was about to come down, and he wanted the bird to build its nest in a place axes couldn’t touch it.^[11]

1. What to Do When the World Around You Crumbles. February 3, 2025; By J.D. Greear.

   https://jdgreear.com/what-to-do-when-the-world-around-you-crumbles/ ↑

2. H. L. Willmington, The Outline Bible (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999), Ge 18:1–3. ↑

3. Ibid, Ge 18:4–8. ↑

4. Ibid, Ge 18:9–10. ↑

5. Dr. Rydelnik, Open Line on Moody Radio 08.14.2021 ↑

6. Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 1 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 146. ↑

7. VT Vetus Testamentum (a journal) ↑

8. Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Ge 18:12. ↑

9. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). ↑

10. Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Ge 18:14. ↑

11. What to Do When the World Around You Crumbles. February 3, 2025; By J.D. Greear.

    https://jdgreear.com/what-to-do-when-the-world-around-you-crumbles/ ↑

I heard a good illustration from Chuck Swindoll:

My older brother, Orville, was never a wealthy man, but he was wonderfully generous with what he had. He never held back from the Lord . . . and that is still true! It was this overabundance of faith that led him to be a missionary for more than thirty years in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Just before that, he had done some short-term mission work in Mexico and had come north to gather his wife, Erma Jean, and the kids for the long trip down into the far reaches of South America.

Before leaving, they stopped off for a quick visit with our parents in Houston. Now, you have to appreciate the kind of man my father was. Look up the word responsible in the dictionary, and his picture is there! To him, risks are for those who fail to plan. Responsible people leave nothing to chance. As far as he was concerned, faith is something you exercise when your three backup plans fall through and you have run out of all other options. My father was a believer, but he never understood the life of faith. Not really.

My brother, on the other hand, was stimulated by faith. He has lived his entire adult life on the raw edge of faith. To him, life doesn’t get exciting until God, and God alone, can get us through some specific challenge. That drove our dad nuts!

Orville pulled up to the house in an old Chevy sedan on four of the slickest tires I had ever seen. My father always inspected tires when we came to visit. I wondered how long it would take for him to say something. I’m sure Orville did too. Not very is the answer.

After a great supper of good ol’ collard greens and corn bread, onions and red beans, my mother and sister went into the kitchen, leaving my father at one end of the table, Orville at the other, and me sitting on one side. Then it started.

“Son, how much money do you have for your long trip?”

“Oh, Dad, don’t worry about it. We’re gonna be fine.”

Before he could change the subject, my father pressed the issue, “Answer me! How much money do you have in your wallet?”

Orville smiled and shrugged as he said, “I don’t have any in my wallet.”

I sat silent, watching this verbal tennis match.

“Nothing in your wallet? How much money do you have? You’re gettin’ ready to go down to South America! How much money you got?”

With that, my brother smiled, dug into his pocket, pulled out a quarter, set it on its edge on his end of the table, then gave it a careful thump. It slowly rolled past me all the way to my father’s end of the table and fell into his hand. Dad said, “A quarter? That is all you’ve got?”

Orville broke into an even bigger smile and said, “Yeah. Isn’t that exciting!”

That was not the word my father had in mind. After a heavy sigh and a very brief pause, Dad shook his head and said, “Orville, I just don’t understand you.”

My brother grew more serious. Looking Dad in the eyes, he answered without blinking, “No, Dad, you never have.”

I don’t know how he actually made the trip to their destination . . . or how he and Erma Jean took care of all their little kids, but they never went hungry. And they served in Buenos Aires and traveled to other parts of the world for more than three decades. My father was a man who emerged through the Great Depression, lived in fear of poverty his whole life, seldom took a risk, and never experienced the joy of trusting God that made my brother smile so big that day.^[1]

That faith, the faith that Swindoll’s brother, Orville, had, is the same faith Abraham had. Abraham is certainly the father of our faith. 

We are here because of Abraham. Our Christian heritage goes back to Abraham.

Abraham was blessed to be a blessing. He followed God in faith, not knowing where he was going, but he was blessed, and he blessed the world.

I want to turn to Hebrews 11:8-10 to talk about Abraham’s faith.

Today’s challenge:

Abraham had faith in following God, not knowing where God was leading him. So let’s follow Abraham’s example and have faith in God about our future. 

Remember that God is in control.

God is in control—repeat after me.

Hebrews 11:8–10 (ESV)

⁸ By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Now, let’s read Genesis 12:1-3:

Genesis 12:1–3 (ESV)

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

1. First, we see the pilgrimage of faith; this is separation from the world.
   1. This has to do with Abraham’s willingness to follow the Lord. He was willing to follow the Lord in uncharted territory.
   2. Let me set the context.
   3. In Genesis chapters 1-2, God creates everything. Then there is the fall. So, we have chapters 3-11, and these chapters are about degeneration. Things are getting bad. The world is going to hell. God destroys the world with the flood. Now, beginning in chapter 12, we have the regeneration.
   4. God will begin to regenerate the world through Abraham’s line.
   5. Abraham lived in Ur.
   6. He then goes to Haran before getting to the area of the promised land.
   7. Of course, if you read the rest of Genesis, he travels quite a bit.
   8. So, think about it: you are, let’s say, seventy-five years old and you hear from God. I don’t know how God spoke to Abraham, but He did. Imagine that God speaks to you.
   9. God says, I want you to go to Malaysia to serve on the mission field. It may make no sense to you. You are comfortable here. God just tells you to go.
   10. Or suppose that all of your family is close by. Your children and grandchildren live nearby, but God calls your son or daughter to Malaysia. This means they are going overseas, and so are your grandchildren. They are going to be missionaries.
   11. Suppose God calls your family to Iran, Egypt, or Iraq as missionaries. You see, this is what is going on for Abraham.
   12. I bet there are many family and friends that he never, NEVER saw or talked to again.
   13. No letters, no email, no Skype, no phone.

The following were the 12 obstacles that Abraham encountered in his faith journey:

1. Sarai was barren and incapable of producing an heir (11:30).

2. Abram had to leave the Promised Land, which God had told him he would inherit (12:10).

3. Abram’s life was in danger in Egypt (12:11–20).

4. Abram’s nephew (heir?) Lot separated from Abram over a land  dispute (ch. 13).

5. Abram entered a war and could have died (14:1–16).

6. Abram’s life was in danger from retaliation in the Promised Land (15:1).

7. God ruled Eliezer out as Abram’s heir (15:2–3).

8. Hagar, pregnant with Abram’s son (heir?), departed (16:6).

9. Abimelech threatened Sarai’s reputation and child (heir?) in Gerar (ch. 20).

10. Abram had two heirs (21:8–11).

11. God commanded Abram to slay his heir (ch. 22).

12. Abram could not find a proper wife for his heir (24:5).

“… the narrator has skillfully woven this material together in such a way as to involve the reader/listener in a drama of increasing tension between, on the one hand, the promise of Yahweh that Abram would have an heir and, indeed, would become the father of many nations, and, on the other, the threat to the fulfillment of this promise by a series of crises.”^68[2]0,[3]

1. Then we see the patience of faith—the ability to wait and endure without ever entering into possession of the promised land.
   1. Abraham reached the promised land but never owned it. We read in Genesis 23:1-20 that Abraham bought land to bury Sarah. But he did not live to see Israel take possession of it. 
   2. Abraham did not get to see but two sons.
   3. Abraham never saw the nation that his descendants would become.
   4. God’s promise to Abraham, which he waited on:
   5. There are seven elements in this promise—seven—suggesting fullness and completeness (cf. 2:2–3): (1) God promised to create “a great nation” through Abram. (2) God promised to “bless” Abram. (3) Abram’s “name” would live on after his lifetime (“I will make your name great”). (4) Abram was (commanded) to “be a blessing” to others. (5) God would “bless those who bless[ed]” Abram. (6) And God would “curse those who curs[ed]” Abram. (7) “All the families of the earth [would] be blessed” through Abram and his descendants.^[4]
2. Perseverance of faith: the positivity of faith, the focus on heaven that causes us to have a certain indifference to things in this life because we’re looking to that glory to come.
   1. Repeat after me. God is in control. God is in control.
   2. Consider that Abraham was looking towards a city that God would design.
   3. We are looking to the city of God.
   4. We are looking towards the New Jerusalem.
   5. We are looking towards a time when God makes all things new and right (Rev. 21).
   6. Now, some two thousand years after Abraham: The writer of Hebrews referred to “Abraham” 10 times in total; his example is especially helpful for those tempted to abandon faith in God. Only two other books mention him more: Luke (15 times) and John (11 times).
3. How do we apply this?
   • • 1. We must be willing to trust God to lead us to uncharted territory as Abraham was willing.
       2. We must be willing to sacrifice income, time, talent, and location to serve the Lord.
       3. We must be willing to move for the Lord.
       4. We must be willing to change occupations for the Lord.
       5. We must be willing to prayerfully consider mission trips, local or foreign. This may be uncharted territory.
       6. We must be willing to serve somewhere new in the community: hospice, nursing home ministry, etc.
       7. We must be willing to talk to someone about Jesus. This is uncharted territory in many ways.
       8. We must be willing to step out.
       9. We must be willing to trust God with our future. We must trust God with the unknown.  

Close:

The future can be scary, can’t it? I think the future can be very scary.

When I was in high school, I had many friends who were called to the mission field. Several of them are serving overseas now. I did not want to be called to missions. I was trying to be sensitive to the Lord’s will, but I was not interested. But now I realize I am called to missions as well. In like manner, I must trust God as Abraham did. I like comfort zones, but I must trust God. 

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pray

1. Taken from Charles R. Swindoll, “Ragged-Edge Faith and Reckless Generosity,” Insights (May 2007): 1-2. Copyright © 2007, Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide ↑

2. ⁶⁸⁰ Helyer, p. 80. See Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 90, for a diagram of the chiastic structure of the Abraham narrative. ↑

3. Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ge 11:27. ↑

4. Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ge 12:2. ↑