Waiting for a Homeland
“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth… But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” (Hebrews 11:13)
One of the hardest things about the Christian life is that we do not see the full outworking of the plan of God – of the promises of God – this side of the grave. We see indications and glimpses. We see God at work. But so much is unfinished and unseen. With many projects in this world (home renovations, etc.), we have the satisfaction of seeing the end result. But the journey of faith is not like that. We live in hope of God’s promises. We stake everything on His word. We invest ourselves in serving Him for as many years as He gives us. And then we die – we are buried – and we trust and believe that we will see the fruit of our efforts on the other side of the grave.
Sarah wandered with Abraham for decades in the journey of faith. She went at his side to the land of promise. But she never saw her family take possession of one square inch of the land. Her husband had nowhere to bury her when she died. Notice how Abraham describes himself, “And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites, ‘I am a sojourner and a foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.’” (Gen. 23:3) As a seminomadic person, Abraham has no land on which to buy his dead. He was a sojourner—a person who was simply passing through.
Why were Abraham and Sarah willing to live as semi-nomads all those years? They were clearly wealthy enough to settle down. Why live in tents all that time – even when they were in the land of promise? They lived that way because they were looking forward to the city of God – the heavenly city— where their true home lies. As Hebrews 11:8 explains, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going…For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”
It is instructive that Abraham insisted on buying a plot of land to bury his wife. It speaks to his convictions. Abraham had not yet taken ownership of one square inch of the promised land. But he believed the promise, and he saw that this burial plot was significant--it was a declaration that he believed that God was still committed to his promise – still doing His work.
All of his foreshadows the death of another member of this same family who owned no land—a man who was buried in a tomb in this same land. This foreshadows the death of a sojourner named Jesus who died trusting that the Father would fulfil His promise, and complete His work. The awesome miracle of this was that, on the third day, this Son of Abraham was vindicated in His trust as the Father raised Him to life again. The resurrection of the Son of God is the guarantee of every believer’s resurrection. And on a day yet to come, Sarah’s body, laid in a tomb by Abraham, will be raised to resurrection life.
As sojourners who are passing through this world, let us emulate the faith of Abraham. May we continue to walk in faith as foreigners in this land while we await the fulfillment of God’s promises. May we treasure God’s Word and cling to a hope that stretches well beyond this world.