Below is a 1916 photo — likely taken by my grandfather — of my grandmother, my two uncles and my mother in front of their sod house in central Nebraska. This type of house was common for early farmers and ranchers in the area because lumber was scarce. But dirt floors, lack of indoor plumbing, and unpredictable intrusions from burrowing creatures motivated those who had come from cities to construct more liveable houses as soon as possible.
My mother often spoke of the frame house her parents later built as if it were a mansion.
In Chapter 11 of Hebrews, the author unfolds an outlook similar to that of pioneers on the early frontier of the Old West.
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. 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. For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Hebrews 11:8-10 NET
Those three founding Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and their faithful wives were led by God to wander with their flocks in a then underdeveloped area of the world. At the same time, they broke ground on the frontiers of faith in the One True God. Although they cherished the land they traversed that God had promised them, their ultimate focus was on their glorious forever home where the God of Scripture is honored and worshiped without challenge. Hebrews 11 goes on to name many others, who along with many succeeding generations, have not yet seen the promises of God delivered as an earthly kingdom. Here’s the mindset they adopted.
These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth. For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one…. Hebrews 11:13-16 NET
The Holy Spirit inspired Biblical writers to record authentic lives of ordinary people in their era in surprising detail. Although Scripture features military victories and miracles attributable to God, its portrayals forgo the narrative style put forward by powerful, ancient rulers who followed the custom of erasing their human foibles and glorifying themselves as gods. Instead, the Holy Spirit’s guidance led authors of Scripture to truthfully render those emotions and actions of our less powerful predecessors in the faith, to reveal their stellar character qualities as well as all-too-human responses.
The benefit of looking at these examples of faith is realizing that people like you and me are included in the glorious procession of the “ordinary”, yet phenomenal assembly of those who have our eyes on Jesus — our trustworthy destiny. What a celebration all generations will relish when our full spiritual transformation is complete!
Listen to Find Us Faithful to be inspired by those who have been faithful to Jesus, not only in our lifetime, but over many centuries. Add, We Shall Behold Him, as a bonus.
by Kathleen Petersen
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