We are going to look at several more well-known Old Testament characters today. The author will use them as examples of faith. We should feel encouraged to be more like these people, for they were ordinary people just like you and me. They believed in the enormous power of God and they trusted Him enough to obey whatever He told them to do. Because they placed their faith in Him, their names are written forever in His holy word. You can be sure that when you and I place our faith in Him, He writes our names down too. He isn't going to forget one single time that we trusted and obeyed Him when it would have been easier not to.
"By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff." (Hebrews 11:20-21) These men bestowed blessings based on the will of God, not based on their own feelings. Isaac preferred Esau over Jacob but was tricked by Jacob into giving him the blessing of the birthright. When Isaac realized what had happened, instead of renouncing the blessing he confirmed it, recognizing it as the will of God. Jacob predicted that Joseph's son Ephraim's descendants would become more powerful than the descendants of Joseph's son Manasseh. Because he recognized this as the will of God, Jacob blessed his grandsons accordingly. This is why the author says Isaac and Jacob acted on faith. They trusted the will of the God whom they could not see.
"By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones." (Hebrews 11:22) God had not told the nation of Israel that they would dwell the land of Egypt forever. God had made the promise to Israel, through Abraham, that they would inherit the land of Canaan. Joseph believed this would happen even though he didn't live to see it. His faith in this was so strong that he gave instructions to his people to take his coffin with them when they departed Egypt.
"By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw that he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict." (Hebrews 11:23) Pharaoh had ordered the murder of every baby boy born to the Hebrew women. But Moses' parents were going to save their baby no matter what the king said. They knew, through faith, that Moses was destined by God to do great things.
"By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible." (Hebrews 11:24-27) Moses had been brought up as a royal prince of Egypt. He was given the best that Pharaoh's household could offer: the best education, the best political and military training, the best food, the best clothing, the best horses and chariots. He had all the comfort and luxury of Egypt at his fingertips. And yet, though he must have loved the woman who rescued him from the Nile and raised him as her own son, he refused to be considered an Egyptian. Instead he identified himself with his own people. Instead of worshiping the many gods of Egypt, he worshiped the one true God of the Hebrews.
Moses lived in a time before the advent of Christ, but he believed the promise God made to Abraham, that One would come from Abraham's line through whom all the world would be blessed. Moses knew the God whom Abraham worshiped was the one and only God. Moses knew that the one and only God was going to provide the one and only means of salvation. So even though he couldn't possibly have understood in his day exactly how God was going to offer a permanent solution for sins to both Jews and Gentiles, he accepted on faith that God was going to bring this about. He didn't know of any better offer anywhere. The false gods of Egypt were many and they often seemed in conflict with each other. Even if these gods had been real their motives could not be trusted. Their character was too much like man's character. Their deeds revealed that they weren't holy themselves, much less capable of making anyone else holy. But the God of Moses' people was something else entirely. He was holy and righteous and He offered weak and sinful man a way to be considered holy and righteous in His sight. Moses knew this was the best offer he was ever going to receive---the best offer anyone was ever going to receive. So, by faith, he "saw" Him who is invisible. He saw Him in his soul, and he placed all his trust in Him.
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