Faith when Facing Death (Hebrews 11:20-22)

This sermon was preached on 13/10/2013

As we noticed previously, the author of Hebrews seems to have selected occasions where believers experienced or displayed the triumph of faith despite difficulties and trials. It would have been possible for him to have chosen many profound moments from the lives of Isaac, Jacob and Joseph to comment on. For Isaac, there were his experience with his father on Mount Moriah and later the way God provided him with a wife; for Jacob, there were his two meetings with God at Bethel and Peniel; for Joseph, there were his refusal to compromise with sin and his patience through years of imprisonment before being exalted to a powerful position in the government of Egypt. Yet the author mentions none of these occasions. Instead he tells us how these men exercised faith when they were facing death (Isaac would live many years after he gave the blessing, but when he gave it he thought he would die soon).

                     

The three men were vastly different in their characters. Isaac seems to have been a quiet man, Jacob was a determined man who would do anything to get what he wanted, and Joseph was a highly principled man who would not succumb to any wrong actions, no matter the cost. These different features describe many people today, but the author’s assessment is that what matters ultimately is not their individual traits but how they died.

The three men were vastly different in their experiences of life. Isaac does not seem to have left home, Jacob travelled to different places, and Joseph after a difficult start climbed to the top of the ladder of success. In this, they also picture many people in our world. Again our author’s assessment is that what matters is not where they had been but how they died.

The three men were spiritual failures in some ways as well. Isaac, although he was a quiet man who never left the family home, was marked by two obvious flaws. First, he was guilty of partiality towards Esau instead of Jacob and, second, he had not listened to or understood the divine information that had been given to Rebekah concerning the destiny of their children. Jacob had been a great sinner before he was converted, probably at Bethel on his flight from the family home because of his deceitful but successful way of obtaining his father’s blessing; even after that meeting with God Jacob still resorted to dubious methods. Although Joseph is almost a character without defects, I suspect that it is debatable whether he should have told his dreams to his family. In any case, each of them bound to have made many mistakes throughout their lives. Yet the author’s assessment is that what matters is not the nature of their defects but how they died.

The faith of Isaac

As noted above, Isaac seems to have been a quiet person and his life uneventful in comparison to the experiences of his father Abraham or his son Jacob.  We have already mentioned his favouritism, which pointed to a divided home because Rebekah favoured Isaac. This incident here also points to domestic difficulties because Isaac seemed to want to bless Esau privately, which would have been unusual. It appears that he did not want in involve Rebekah and Jacob in the event. Of course, he may not have wanted a public ceremony because of his sensitive nature. In any case, whether that desire arose from his personality or from his favouritism, he prayed in faith when he blessed his sons. What aspects of his faith can be deduced?

First, Isaac believed in the God of his father Abraham and that the blessing of this God would be passed down through his descendants, and eventually extending to include the world. He was aware of the great promises that had been made to his father and he was determined to pass them on to his descendants.

Second, Isaac had a faith that was not as informed as it should have been. For reasons unknown, he did not pay attention to the information that God had given to Rebekah concerning their sons and the place each would have in relation to one another (Gen. 25:3). If he had done so, he would have known that his blessing was to be given to Jacob and not Esau.

Third, Isaac’s faith accepted the over-ruling of God that resulted through the deception of Rebekah and Jacob. Isaac refused to reverse the blessings even although his own intention to bless Esau had been prevented.  He had trembled when Esau arrived with the cooked meat; his trembling was not a sign of fear of Isaac but a realisation that God had stepped in.

Two lessons can be deduced from the example of Isaac’s faith at the end of his life. It is a reminder that God’s promises to Isaac were not limited by the weakness of his faith. Further, God’s plan for his people in general was not hindered by the waywardness of a believer who had a crucial place in the development of the divine kingdom.

The faith of Jacob

The author has in mind a period of several days or weeks by the phrase ‘when he was a-dying’. We know from the Genesis account that there were several meetings between Jacob and his sons as the end drew near. Here we have an account of a believer’s triumphant death.

Is a triumphant death important? After all, not to have one will not keep a believer out of heaven. Here are two reasons why such an end is important, and I will use two quotations to explain them. First, Arthur Pink reminds us that ‘God is greatly glorified when His people leave this world with their flag flying at full mast: when the spirit triumphs over the flesh, when the world is consciously and gladly left behind for Heaven. For this faith must be in exercise.’ Second, Matthew Henry explains how such a departure can be a powerful witness: ‘God often gives his people living comforts in dying moments; and when he does it is their duty, as they can, to communicate them to those about them, for the glory of God, for the honour of religion, and for the good of their brethren and friends.’

Both Jacob and Joseph show us that faith is active when the believer comes to die. This does not necessarily mean that the dying believer has to be free of physical pain for this to happen. Faith should rise above earthly discomforts and anticipate glory.

The statement of the dying Puritan divine John Owen has often been told. Towards the end of his life he had written his book, Meditations on the Glory of Christ and its process through the press was beginning. On being informed of this by a friend, Owen replied: ‘I am glad to hear it. But, O brother Payne, the long wished-for day has come at last in which I shall see that glory in another manner than I have ever done, or was capable of doing, in this world.’ On the day before he died, he wrote to a friend: ‘I am going to him whom my soul has loved, or rather who has loved me with an everlasting love – which is the whole ground of all my consolation…. I am leaving the ship of the church in a storm, but whilst the great Pilot is in it, the loss of a poor under-rower will be inconsiderable.’

Of course, not all Christians die in such a positive way. There is a story of a Christian who had several unconverted children. He was dying and he knew that his children were coming to see him. Therefore, he prayed that God would give him a very happy deathbed as a witness to his family. But he died in a state of distress, and probably he was upset that his witness seemed so weak. After he died, one of his children said to the others, ‘If our father, who was such a fine Christian, died in that way, what will happen to us who are not Christians?’ The outcome was that they began to seek the Saviour and eventually they were all converted.  

What features stand out regarding Jacob’s faith? First, it was a grateful faith (Gen. 48:1-5). He reviewed his life and mentioned the various ways in which God had helped him. At one time, his assessment of life was very different when he said, almost in total confusion, ‘All those things are against me.’ Now he looks back and blesses God for the way he had led him.

Second, it was a concerned faith that desired spiritual blessings for his grandchildren (Gen. 48:15-16). In one sense, Jacob was transferring the privilege of the firstborn from Reuben to Joseph, which was the significant aspect of his blessing, but in another sense he was desiring that both his grandchildren through Joseph would know the blessing of God.

Third, it was a Christ-centred faith; several times in his closing days he referred to the Saviour – he was the Angel who had met him during his journey (Gen. 48:16); he was the Shiloh who was to gather the peoples to himself (Gen. 49:10).

Fourth, it was a worshipping faith; although he was physically weak and had to lean upon his staff as he worshipped, he was engaged in the activity that he would soon perform to perfection.

Fifth, it was a witnessing faith. Jacob wanted to say that God’s cause would prosper, that although the children of Israel were in Egypt, God would keep his promises. He showed this aspect of his faith by requiring that he be buried in the land of Canaan.

The faith of Joseph

Joseph’s expressions on his deathbed are similar to those of his father. Like Jacob, he expected God to bless his people in the land that he had promised to give them. Politicians are often asked to write their memoirs, what they remember of their lives and the significant events in which they were involved. Joseph tells us here what he remembered, which was that God would restore his people.

Joseph died as a pilgrim with a future, not as a politician with a past. Matthew Henry has two pithy sayings about Joseph’s expression of faith: first, ‘he preferred a significant burial in Canaan before a magnificent one in Egypt;’ second, ‘he would go as far with his people as he could, though he could not go as far as he would.’

Conclusion

The author’s choice of emphases in these three individuals illustrates his earlier comment about the patriarchs, that they ‘all died in faith’. They died in different circumstances but they each died confident that God’s cause would prosper. As we close, I would like to ask three questions.

What was the secret of their faith? Did something unusual happen to it when they reached their deathbeds that was not present before then? I am not referring to the strength of their faith because it no doubt fluctuated. Rather I am asking what was the basis of their faith? I would suggest that it was basically the same when they died as it was while they lived. The basis of their faith was their confidence in the promises of God. These promises covered a wide range of subjects for them as individuals and for the people of God as a whole. Faith is not a vague notion that God may or may not do something. It is the assurance that God will keep his word.

God has given to us more numerous and more clear promises than he gave to these men. Therefore we have more material on which to base our faith. Our faith is in the God who promises eternal life to all who trust in his Son, who depend upon him alone for forgiveness of their sins.

Who are our heroes? A hero is someone who does great exploits that are worthy of emulation. Sometimes a person does a great achievement but then fails to do a greater that he tries, and he loses his status as a hero as a result. The persons to have as heroes are those men and women who follow Jesus in life and who die confident that he will yet fulfil all his promises concerning their futures in heaven and then after the resurrection. Isaac in his tent in Canaan, Jacob in his borrowed home in Goshen, and Joseph in his palace in Egypt should be among our heroes because they looked death in the face and were confident that God’s cause would prosper. They lived by faith, not by sight.

What is their message to us? Their message to us is that we too can die in faith. Often we dread the prospect of dying. But we are going to die unless Jesus comes. In a sense, what should be important to us is not the fact of death nor the fear of death – what is important is to have a faith that will enable us to be victorious over death. The only faith that will give that victory is faith in Jesus Christ. ‘When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”  “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” … But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Cor. 15:54-57).