Hebrews 11:8  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 whither he went.
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:
10  For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
11  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.
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 sea shore innumerable.
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.
14  For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
15  And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16  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.
1 Peter 2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
12  Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Psalm 39:12  Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry;  hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.
13  O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more. Psalm 119:19  I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.

MEMORY VERSE:  And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.  1 Peter 1:17

CENTRAL THOUGHT:  We are today pilgrims and strangers in this life even as Abraham was.  Abraham’s and our true possessions are not in this fleeting earthly life.  We are living for a much better place to possess, an eternal home to share with all who have also had the faith that Abraham had.

WORD DEFINITIONS

Hebrews 11:8,  “after receive”:  Possess in the eternal future.
Verse 9,  “sojourned”:  Lived as a foreigner or stranger.  “tabernacles”:  Temporary dwellings such as tents.  “with Isaac and Jacob”:  As they also lived.
Verse 10,  “looked for”:  Looked forward hopefully for.  “a city which hath foundations”:  A great society of godly people to live forever.  “builder and maker”:  Creator and Perfector.
Verse 11,  “past age”:  Past normal time for having children.
Verse 12,  “as good as dead”:  No more than a mortal.
Verse 13,  “persuaded”:  Fully convinced as truth.  “embraced”:  Welcomed and held on to earnestly.   “confessed”:  Acknowledged without question.
Verse 14,  “declare plainly”:  Make clear and distinct.
Verse 15,  “been mindful”:  Held in special memory.
1 Peter 2:11,  “strangers and pilgrims”:  Sojourners and passers through.
Verse 12,  “conversation honest”: Good and upright behavior.  “in the day of visitation”:  When God brings the truth to light.
Psalm 39:12,  “stranger”:  Alien; foreigner.  “sojourner”:  pilgrim.
1 Peter 1:17,  “sojourneying”:  Living as a foreigner.

LESSON BACKGROUND

We have for our lesson today another vivid and inspiring picture of a man of faith and obedience to God.  Abraham, through his overcoming persuasion and obedience and unfailing trust in the Almighty God, was a prime example of faith for us to follow.  He fills the title of the father of the faithful of many nations.  His example of faith and obedience to God is one we all need to follow after and

imitate. We begin our lesson from Hebrews 11:8 following mention made of some examples of faith before Abraham.  Abraham, whose name at first was Abram, was called of God to leave his native land and go to a land, a land that he knew not where it was.  But Abram obeyed God and he started out, not knowing where he was going.  In the account of Abram from Genesis 12, we see how his faith developed and brought him through various wonderful experiences.  We see how that Sarah, his wife, also had a faith in God that enabled her to conceive and bear a son when she was past the age of child-bearing.

In our lesson from Hebrews, we have a vision spread before us of the great outreach of Abraham’s faith in his wonderful children through the ages.   As verse 12 declares, their number is as the stars of the sky and as the sand by the seashore.  These lived and died in the faith of their father Abraham.  These declare plainly that they seek a better country than that of this old world; they seek a heavenly country, and God hath truly prepared for them an everlasting city.  We have included other scriptures that express the thought of our earthly life as a pilgrimage and a sojourn.  This earthly life is but temporal and will one day pass away.  But the hope we have by believing and obeying our God assures us of an eternal home.  This is the faith of Abraham.  We even have a scene in Luke 16 of the poor beggar Lazarus who was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom.  Oh, what a hope this signifies and shows so sweetly!  Oh, let us be of good courage to seek for and lay hold of the faith and hope that is offered to us in the glorious gospel of Christ Jesus in accord with the faith of father Abraham!           —Bro. Leslie Busbee

QUESTIONS:

  1. What was the first example that Abraham showed of his faith?
  2. How does faith cause us to view the things of time and earth?
  3. What does faith cause us to think and feel about earthly life?
  4. What does faith cause us to set our affections upon?
  5. How does faith cause us to truly and gladly live here on earth?

COMMENTS AND APPLICATION

Thank the Lord for the sweet inspiration of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives!  His blessed presence uplifting us above the vain and earthly influences is vital and a great benefit to our precious souls!  He points our hearts and minds toward the blessed Hope that we have in living for Jesus.  2 Corinthians 4:16-18 has a wonderful message for us. “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”  How sad as we look out on our society today to see people so taken up with things that are seen.  Yes, the fleshly, earthly, material vanities are the ruling factors in the majority of mankind.  Houses, cars, money, sports, the opposite sex, and many other vanities rule people’s lives.  But we who are born again and led by the Spirit of God are taken up with visions of eternal values.  All of this old earthly realm is going to pass away in a instant.  We need to get down to business and take time for things that are unseen.  Prayer, Bible study, and other ways and means of worship to God are so important.  In chapter 5 of 2 Corinthians, Paul continues this thought of eternal values.  “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle [tent] were dissolved, we have a building of God [immortal body], an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”  Oh, how vain and empty are these earthly things when compared with the eternal blessings the Holy Spirit inspires us to behold!  May the Lord stir our hearts and help us to live and walk worthy of that eternal prize that awaits for us in eternal glory.  There have been many precious saints down through the ages that have proven the unseen eternal things are worth all one might endure and suffer for.  Let us keep our eyes on the everlasting treasures that are waiting for us to have and enjoy.             —Bro. Leslie Busbee

REFLECTIONS

It’s been right here, all the time, yet I haven’t seen it until now. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all lived in the “land of promise”–the physical land of trees and plains and mountains; yet they still called themselves strangers and pilgrims and sojourners! They didn’t feel at home; they didn’t put down roots or build fine mansions, or immerse themselves into the culture. So if it were the literal land which was the true inheritance, they would have said, “This is it!” But, it says they were looking for a city made and built by God which had eternal foundations. David identified himself with them, calling himself a sojourner too. Peter calls the life of the saint a “sojourning”. He also says that we as New Testament saints enjoy what the Old Testament pilgrims only saw afar off. The Hebrew writer says that we complete, or make perfect, the faith of those pilgrims by what we have been given in the Holy Spirit. We have received that kingdom which cannot be removed! We have been made members of that city which came down from heaven—the New Jerusalem, whose builder and maker is God!

When I saw this, I wept—tears of joy at the glory and wonder of what we have in the Holy Spirit, the Church of God, and the citizenship of that heavenly city. I wept tears too at the folly of putting down roots in this world, being consumed by material possessions, cares, riches, and earthly pursuits. And I wept tears of grief for the millions of modern Jews and Christians, who are still looking for an earthly kingdom to be set up in the “promised land” and others who think that the “promised land” is only heaven, only to be gained after we die.

Oh–it is ours now. Let us live in it, and claim it, and enjoy the fulfillment of Abraham’s promise. And even then, as wonderful as it is, it is just the earnest of our inheritance; truly, the rest and the best, comes later.              —Sis. Angela Gellenbeck