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Heb. 11:8-16 looks at the faith of Abraham in relation to the promises of God and His plans for Israel. The Nation began with the call of Abraham, and this Bible passage brings out three key aspects of Abraham’s faith.

God’s promise to Abraham involved him and Sarah waiting for 25 years for the birth of their son Isaac. Waiting for the Lord, is for many of us, one of the most difficult Christian disciplines in life. True faith is able to wait for the fulfillment of God’s promises in God’s time. While we are waiting, we must also be obeying – “By faith Abraham…obeyed” (Heb. 11:8). The first aspect of Abraham’s faith is that from the moment he was first called by God, he obeyed even when he did not know where he was going (Heb. 11:8-10). He was a nomad who lived in tents because he was a stranger and pilgrim in the land he was in and had to be ready to move when God told him to. We as Christians today are also strangers and pilgrims in the world we live in. Abraham had his eyes fixed on the future of God’s promises and like him, we too have to live in the future tense.

The second aspect of Abraham’s faith is that he obeyed when he did not know how God’s will would be accomplished. (Heb. 11:11-12). Both Abraham and Sarah were too old to have children. Yet, they both believed that God would do a miracle. They trusted that He would be faithful to deliver his promise to give them a son. Unbelief asks, “How can this be?” Faith asks, “How shall this be?”

Lastly, Abraham believed and obeyed God when he did not know when God would fulfill his promises (Heb. 11:13-16). None of the patriarchs of the Bible saw the complete fulfillment of God’s promises before they were called home. However, they saw from “afar off” what God was doing. Dr. George Morrison, a great Scottish preacher, once said, “The important thing is not what we live in, but what we look for.” Abraham and Sarah and all the early heroes of faith lived in tents but they desired a better country. They knew a heavenly city awaited them in the future. They looked forward to this final home prepared by the God whom they, and we, have faith in. God always fulfills his promises to His believing people, either immediately, or ultimately.