Considering how the heroes lived

Paul exhorted the Jews of his time "Remember your leaders . . . Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith." (Heb 13:7). He had just produced a long list of warriors of faith that reads like a Who's Who of the times past - a Hebrew hall-of-fame - a couple of chapters before making this exhortation. He had also asked them to look up skyward at this great cloud of witnesses and at Jesus the Morning Star, and run with perseverance the race marked out for us, without growing weary and losing heart (Heb 12:1-3). We too will do well to heed this advice and look at the giants of faith amongst our ancestors and in the 20 centuries since Paul's exhortation, and follow their footsteps.

While I would want to look at the faith of some modern-day giants at a future date, today I would like to look closely at the early Patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. All three obeyed God under circumstances that were not conducive.

Abraham's was a life of faith - believing he will be a father when he was without child and already 99 years old, believing he will be a father of nations when he had just one child, and obeying God's command to sacrifice even this only begotten son -- a bundle of joy he had awaited for atleast 25 years if not more . . . And it all began about 25 years earlier when the Lord told him "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great Nation." Abraham, then Abram, was a resident of the UR of the Chaldeans. Ur was a thriving city inside Mesopotamia (corresponding to modern Iraq, North-East Syria, South-East Turkey and South-West Iran) - often referred to as the cradle of Civilization. Ur, according to one estimate, was the largest city in the world from 2030 to 1980 B.C. Here was a man who was being called from the most developed part of the world at the time, to an obscure, under-developed part by God. Imagine someone in the U.S. being called by God to go to the dark continent to live among tribals -- not many can palate such a thought, leave alone heeding such a call. And this man, stepped out in faith. The Bible says, he took his wife, his nephew, all the possessions they had accumulated and all the people they had acquired, and set out for the land of Canaan. His caravan would have had to walk across deserts, braving the bandits, defying the desert storms, all in faith on the one who called.

Abraham's son Isaac, we see, had excelled where his distinguished father had failed. Earlier in Abraham's time, there had been a severe famine (Gen 12:10). The Hero of Faith who had journeyed to Canaan all the way from Ur, did not have the faith to stay in Canaan. He had tried to escape famine by running to Egypt and was apparently successful acquiring, livestock, menservants and maidservants. Little would he have realized that one of these Egyptian maidservants - acquired when his faith wavered for once - would prove to be cause for torment not only for him but for all generations. Fourteen chapters later, in Isaac's time, there is again a famine. Isaac was probably contemplating moving to Egypt, while in Gerar among the Philistines, when the Lord tells him "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands . . .(Gen 26:1-3). In verse 12, we find that Isaac planted crops in that land. Imagine someone planting crops during a famine, during years of drought . . . he would have been laughed at. He had faith on the Lord who promised to bless him even when there was a wasting famine around. And we find that he reaped a hundred-fold because the Lord blessed him. He became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very rich. (Gen 26.12,13). Did not Jeremiah say centuries later, "blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. (Jer 17:7,8) "


Jacob was probably the most unlikely hero. Here was a man trying to be successful in life through deceit. He is now running away from his brother who is seeking his life, anxious for food and clothing, despairing for life itself. His 'gate of heaven' experience at Luz, leads him to place his trust on the Lord. At Paddan Aram, he finds his match in his maternal uncle Laban, who is a master of deceit. He first tricks him into hard-labour for 7 years for a wife, tricks him again into another 7 years for the girl he loved, by marrying off the other daughter through deceit, and attempts to trick him by changing his wages 10 times in the next 6 years. After 20 years of settling in a far-off land, having learnt to thrive under the nose of the deceitful Laban, he hears the Lord telling him "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you." (Gen 31:3) Paddan Aram is now his home. The one who had just a staff when he came over, now has livestock, menservants, maidservants and two groups (of family). But instead of trusting his possessions, he trusted the Lord who showed him kindness and faithfulness that he was totally unworthy of. He dared to meet his brother again, risking the lives of his wifes, his dear children and his own, in obedience and faith on the one who said "I will make you prosper". (Gen 32:10-12)

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob . . . all were sure of what they hoped for, certain of what they did not see, placing their faith on the one who spoke to them. And God was not ashamed to be called their God. Do we trust God with our lives - having seen God's love and faithfulness expressed unambiguously in his son Jesus ?