Living by Faith

Live by Faith. 

Hebrews 11:20-22

Dying Well.

They chose the ends of these men's lives to describe them, their deaths. Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph who all died in faith. 

Isaac in verse 20 was the longest to live out of all three of them but has the least written about him. He had two chapters while the other two had about twelve. This verse 20 refers back to Genesis 27 when he blesses him. When they say his eyes were dim it is also meant spiritual eyes as well as physical eyesight. He called the wrong son to him, Esau instead of Jacob. We also know that Isaac preferred Esau. So why include him as a man of God in Hebrews? Well Isaac believed in the promise of God to make him and his descendants a great people. He did believe and have eyes that saw the promise of God and followed through with faith. This was all based on faith. Also, once he realizes he blessed the wrong son, he immediately yields and submits to God's will. And then continued on to bless Jacob again for a second time on purpose based on the promise of God. We need to have firm faith based on nothing than the promise of God and also the promise of God through His son. Also another thought is that parents must speak these words into their children's lives. 

Jacob is also listed as a man of faith. Every time he goes to do something he probably shouldn't have done he does it right. He is a sneaky man through the gaining of his birthright and the winning of his wives. He deceives and lies but gains blessing and great promises of God. He desired the right thing and sometimes muddled it up by adding too much of himself. We do this so often, Jacob is a good picture of ourselves as Christian sinners. You see the end of Jacob's life in Genesis 47 and 48. The latter speaks of the blessing of the firstborn and the blessing of Joseph's two sons. He dies solely reliant on God. His scheming and errors fall away and see him as he always should have been. Joseph works vey hard to get his sons blessed properly, but Jacob followed God's word and promise and crossed his hands to reverse the blessings. It was all contrary to even what Joseph wanted, but Jacob was living in faith. 

Joseph was another man to live and die by faith. He had an entire life of consistent faith. Despite the fact that he lived 93 years in Egypt and had all his family and wives and houses and everything there, he desired his future that laid with the promises of God and desired his bones lay in the land that he grew up in for 17 years. Joseph says that they will someday be freed from that land and when that happens he wants to be there, free. He wants his physical bones to be in the land of God's freed people. Through all of his life he displays such strength and faith in God and God's promise to him and all of his descendants.