These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
Abel. Noah. Abraham. Sarah. Moses. The author of Hebrews tells us that they were people who walked by faith and died in faith. It sounds poetic, but the painful reality is that they did not see the promises of God to them come through them; they did not see God’s promises come to pass in their lifetime.
Think about Abraham: taking possession of the land, having many decedents, and the blessing of all nations would not come until after his lifetime.* This means that on his deathbed, he had to ask, “is God faithful?” Laying there, taking his last handful of breaths on this side of eternity, Abraham did not see what was promised. How is it possible that he held onto his faith?
Have you received a promise from God? How long have you waited? What if the wait is longer than your lifetime? What if you die before it’s fulfilled?
I spent my life pursuing a professional soccer career, and it never came to fruition. God closed every door. I met with a pastor about it because, though it was short of a promise from God, I genuinely believed that it was the call of God on my life. I couldn’t understand it. He asked me this, “what if the thing that you are pursuing is God’s call on your son’s or daughter’s life, and not your own?” I didn’t like that. You see, I didn’t have a generational perspective. I wasn’t married, and kids felt like a lifetime away. Now, I have two kids. I can tell you this: any promise that God has given to me, I am happy to pass to my children instead. I now have a legacy perspective.
Those listed in Hebrews 11 that did not receive their promise in this lifetime held more than a legacy perspective; they held an eternal perspective. Their faith grew to stretch beyond this life to a perspective on the reality of eternity.* Because of this, the author of Hebrews tells us, God was not ashamed to be called their God.*
The days and moments before their deaths, these individuals of faith did not lose their confidence because their posture was looking up toward who God is and forward to His ability to fulfill His promises.* In this, faith defies death.* Death cannot stop faith.
The secret to the patriarchs and matriarchs of the faith, the secret to their ability to hold onto faith without having seen the promises in their lifetime stems from this: the true object of desire of their hearts was not what God might do in their lives, but God Himself.* It’s natural to want what God might do for you; it’s holy to want God.
Guthrie says it this way:
Faith is confidence that results in action carried out in a variety of situations by ordinary people in response to the unseen God and his promises, with various earthly outcomes but always the ultimate outcome of God’s commendation and reward.
Ruth Haley Barton asks in her work Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership,
Could it be that the promised land is less about a physical destination or anything that is outward and more about a way of life and being that enables us to worship and love God fully?*
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to trust Him with both your future and His plans and promises for it. Perhaps today God wants you to pursue Him more than His promises. Maybe today God would have you shift from a temporal perspective or even a legacy perspective to an eternal perspective. Maybe today God wants to help you see that you are living another generation’s promises.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.
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*Stedman, R. C. (1992). Hebrews (Heb 11:8–19). IVP Academic.
Grindheim, S. (2023). The Letter to the Hebrews (D. A. Carson, Ed.; pp. 568–571). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
France, R. T. (2006). Hebrews. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Revised Edition) (Vol. 13, pp. 154–155). Zondervan.
Guthrie, G. (1998). Hebrews (pp. 378–379, 390). Zondervan Publishing House.
Barton, Ruth Haley, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry (Downers Grove: IVP Books, 2018), 215.