“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith Abraham, even though he was past age – and Sarah herself was barren – was enabled to become a father because he considered Him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” – Hebrews 11:8-16
Without any doubt, Abraham is the greatest example of faith in the Bible. Of course, others such as Enoch, Noah and even Moses lived extraordinary lives of faith, but none are so closely chronicled as that of Abraham. Throughout the entirety of the Old Testament and even into the New Testament he is held up as the great example of faith and the father of all who truly believe: “Consider Abraham: ‘He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham” [Galatians 3:6, 7; Hebrews 2:16]. James adds that because of Abraham’s faith, Abraham was called “God’s friend” [2:23]. Abraham is thus the undisputed paragon of faith.
Our knowledge of Abraham extends back to the nineteenth century B.C. Scripture indicates he was a citizen of the city of Ur, located on the Euphrates River in what is now southern Iraq. Ur was already an ancient city in Abraham’s time and boasted an elaborate system of writing, sophisticated mathematical calculations, educational facilities, and extensive business and religious records. The city was dominated by a massive three-staged Ziggurat built by Ur-Nammu during the beginning of the second millennium B.C. Each stage was colored distinctively, with the top level bearing the silver roomed shrine of Nammu, the moon-god. The royal cemetery reveals that ritual burials were sealed with the horrors of human sacrifice. So Ur, advanced as it was, was nevertheless in the bonds of darkest paganism. And Abraham as an idolator [see Joshua 24:2], was a part of its conventional social and religious structure. We also know from Stephen’s speech before the Sanhedrin that there in Ur of the Chaldeans, “The God of glory appeared” to Abraham, and that the Lord delivered this singular message: “Leave your country and your people … and go to the land I will show you” [Acts 7:2, 3]. We know, too, what happened inside Abraham, because the universal pattern of faith, was activated in his heart. He believed God’s word with a certainty so powerful that he regarded the future promise as virtually present. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for.” He became so certain that God had called him and would lead him to a land where he would establish a great people that future promise was transposed to the present.
It is important to note that Abraham’s believing life began with an immediate act of obedience. Faith and obedience being inseparable in man’s relation to God, Abraham would never have obeyed God’s call if he had not truly taken God at His word. Abraham’s obedience was thus an outward evidence of his inward faith. His obedience was so prompt that the Greek text presents Abraham as setting out on his journey while the word of God was still ringing in his ears. What is more, the text adds that he “obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” It was not until later that his destination was revealed to be the land of Canaan. There was a glorious abandonment in Abraham’s faith. And it cost. Faith spawns reflexive steps of obedience. It steps out. We must not imagine that we have faith if we do not obey.
Having shown that it was by faith that Abraham obeyed, setting out for the Promised Land, the writer of Hebrews adds that is was also by faith that he was able to be a sojourner in the Promised Land: “By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise” [v. 9]. God had promised the land of Canaan to Abraham, but during his life [and the lives of his sons, Isaac and Jacob] God “gave him no inheritance … not even a foot of ground” [Acts 7:5]. The only land Abraham ever owned was Sarah’s tomb, a cave in a field in Machpelah near Hebron, which he bought from Ephron the Hittite [Genesis 23].
The word for Abraham’s existence was dissonance – he never fit in. His religion was different and far above that of the land. He was a monotheist, and his neighbors were polytheistic pagans. His standards of morality were rooted in the character of God, while theirs came from the gods they themselves had created. His worldview invited repeated collisions with that of the inhabitants. He was always living in conscious dissonance. What a lesson for us! The life of faith demands that we live in dissonance with the unbelieving world. A life of faith is not anti-cultural, but countercultural. Thus, a vibrant faith is always matched with a sense of dis-ease, a pervasive in-betweenness, a sense of being a camper. This does not mean, of course, that Abraham was separate from culture. To the contrary, the Genesis records reveals he was deeply involved in the politics of the land, even being considered a “mighty prince” among the Hittites. But there was always that dissonance. He was never at home!
The parallels between Abraham’s experience and that of the Christian are easy to see, because the Christian has the promise of an ultimate land as well. In fact, every believer is called to step out in faithful obedience and to follow Christ as He leads on to that land. All of us are, by faith, to obey and go as God directs, though we do not know where the path will take us. All of us are, by faith, to become willing sojourners, living in constant dissonance with the world as we await our final inheritance. It is a dangerous thing when a Christian begins to feel permanently settled in this world.
Abraham went out, and Abraham camped out. But in his obedience and sojourn he was overall a patient “happy camper.” Why? Because of his ultimate faith-perspective – “For he was looking forward to a the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” [v. 10]. According to R. Kent Hughes, the Greek literally reads, “For he was looking for the city which had the foundations” – the idea being that he was looking for the only city with enduring foundations. There was simply no other! This city was, and is, totally designed by God. “Builder,” demiourgos, signifies the one who does the actual work. The city was designed in God’s mind and built with His hands. Signficantly, it was a city, a place that is intrinsically social. There he would not only see God, but he would dwell with believers in harmony rather than dissonance [Hebrews 12:22-24]. No more camping! No more dis-ease. No more alienation. No more pilgrim life. How much more our faith would be strengthened to step out and sojourn if we, like Abraham, would continue “looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”
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