The Demonstration of Faith
December 19, 2020
Commentary
Noah obeyed even when he experienced rejection from others around him (v. 7). Although it seemed foolish to the people, God commanded Noah to build a huge boat in the middle of dry land. Since no one at that time had ever seen a flood, Noah’s actions must have generated a great deal of interest and ridicule and made him seem strange to his neighbors. In fact, in Noah’s day, the people were involved in everyday activities and completely ignored Noah’s witness (II Peter 2:5). If you obey God, don’t be surprised if others regard you as “different.” Remember your obedience makes their disobedience stand out also. Abraham obeyed when he did not know when God would fulfill His promises (vv. 8-10). God called Abraham and Sarah to leave their homeland in Ur of the Chaldees and to journey to an unknown land. They believed God, obeyed Him and went. This act involved great faith, for they left family and friends to go to a place they had never seen, not knowing what it was like or how to get there. They lived in tents because they had to be ready to move whenever God spoke. Even though Abraham received the promise of this land, he never possessed it during his life time. The only property he ever owned in Canaan was his burial plot in Machpelah (Gen. 23:1-20). Still he continued to look for a city that God would build (v. 10). By faith he expected that city; so he never returned to Ur. (Read Gen. 18).Sarah doubted at first when God told her she was going to have a son in her old age, but afterward she believed (vv. 11-12). Sarah was a woman who had been barren all her life, and now she was over ninety years old. Yet, both Abraham and Sarah believed that God would perform a miracle and give them a son just as He promised He would do. As a result the whole Jewish nation is the product of a miracle birth. (Read Gen. 18).
Application
As I obey God I should never be surprised if others regard me as “different.” My obedience will make their disobedience stand out. I just need to remember that if God asks me to do something He will give me the necessary strength to carry out the task.
Hebrews 11:7– 12 (NET)
7 By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, he received the ability to procreate, because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 12 So in fact children were fathered by one man—and this one as good as dead—like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand on the seashore.
Illustration: “One Step in Obedience is Worth Years of Study About it”
“One step forward in obedience is worth years of study about it.” (Oswald Chambers, quoted in Our Daily Bread, March 4, 1993).