Triumph, Tragedy, And Faith
Part of Hebrews - Pastor's Bible Study
February 8, 2018

TRIUMPH, TRAGEDY, AND FAITH TO ENDURE
HEBREWS 11:23-40

1. Moses And His Parents (vv. 23-30)

1) Moses’ parents (Amram and Jochebed) demonstrated faith (v. 23)

  • Moses’ life began with an act of faith.
  • He was hidden for three months in defiance of the Pharaoh’s edict to toss all male, Hebrew children into the Nile River.
  • After those three months when Jochebed could no longer hide Moses, she fashioned an ark made of reeds and strategically placed Moses in the Nile so that he would be found by the daughter of Pharaoh.

2) Moses demonstrated faith (vv 24-28)

1] He refused to go with the flow of a

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society. (v. 24)

  • Imagine Moses as a Hebrew in his
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    but decked out in all the
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    of Egyptian royalty, power, and luxury.
  • No doubt he wrestled with the tension between living his true identity as a Hebrew or the façade of Egyptian royalty.

  • v. 25 It took faith to choose to be an

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    , to choose to be true to his Hebrew heritage. It took faith to turn his back on material wealth, physical pleasures, political power, etc.
    This act of faith manifested itself in an act of the will. He chose to endure the suffering of being identified with his people.

    2] He left the

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    to venture into the
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    (v. 27)

    • He left Egypt all together. He went to another country
    • How did he do this? By not fearing the king. He instead saw and trusted in the One true God who is invisible.

    3] He was willing to swallow his pride and do the

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    (v. 28)

2. Other Heroes And Heroines Of Faith (vv. 30-40)

1) Joshua – acted in faith and led the children of Israel to act out God’s battle plan.

2) Rahab – hid the spies, trusted God, became great grandmother to King David and of Jesus.

3) Spattering of names and situations

  • Triumphs – conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promise, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in battle, put enemies to flight, received their dead raised to life again.

  • But others – experienced tragedy: tortured, endured mocking and scourging, experienced chains, imprisonment, stoned, sawn in two, tempted, put to death with the sword, went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, afflicted, wandered in deserts, hid in caves and holes.

  • In this fallen world, everyone experiences a mixture of both triumphs and tragedies. However, neither astonishing victories nor demoralizing defeats represent the end of the story.

  • Remember, faith isn’t about what we see, feel, experience, or accomplish in this life.

  • Faith is “the substance of things hoped for, it is the evidence of things not seen.”

  • As the author closes out this chapter, he summarizes this truth: And all these, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

  • We too can do as they did: look into the
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    by faith and live faithful lives in the
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    .

Application:

1) We must

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to go with the flow of a sinful society.

  • Which direction are you traveling? With the flow, or upstream?

2) We must

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the familiar to venture into the foreign.

  • Are we willing to answer the call?

3) We must

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our pride and be willing to do the unusual.

  • God doesn’t always do the predictable.
  • God may be asking you to go down an unusual path, perhaps an unwelcome road.
  • He may ask you to do something neither you nor anybody else would have expected. But you have to decide: will pride hold you back, or will you humble yourself and trust even if it is unusual?