The perseverance of the saints is an astonishing miracle. And perhaps in this day and age, an underrated act of God.
Whether it is moral failures or theological drifts, it is all too common for men of God to die while bringing shame upon the Gospel.
But on the other hand it is so wonderful when we see men and women greatly used by God in their lives who model for us what it truly means to die well.
The writer of Hebrews does a remarkable thing in Hebrews 11:20-22.
In these verses he highlights the faith of three talismans of the faith: Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.
But even though he would have so many faithful acts to zero in on in their lives, with all three men he commends their faith to die in the faith.
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come. By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones.
— Hebrews 11:20-22
These men lived hard lives. Isaac was almost killed by his father! Jacob served for 14 years for a wife while being hunted to be killed by his brother, and Joseph, we know, went to jail for being faithful after being sold by his brothers into slavery.
These men were faithful throughout their lives and yet, the writer of Hebrews tells us, that it is their death that truly made them stand out. Here’s three reasons why their faith in death is so miraculous.
They blessed others in their death
I was impressed in re-reading about the end of their lives and their focus on their children. They simply were not thinking about themselves but wanted to encourage their children and their grandchildren to be faithful. In this day and age it is so uncommon to find a dying person who is thinking about the spiritual life of their children. Most people on this earth only think about this life. They don’t know what comes next. So they make decisions and invest their money in ways that will bring them happiness today, while usually, ignoring eternity. Christians can loose this focus as well. They can be tempted to focus so much on gaining success in this life that they ignore eternity.
These men all are an example to us to think of others when we die. Not just to leave a lot of money for our children. But instead to prepare our children to follow our example in the faith as we followed Christ.
They were walking closely with God in their death
What is truly remarkable is their communion with God. These men though wonderful examples for us of what to do, were also examples for us of what not to do. All three deceived. All three had sinful tendencies. All three were faithless many times in their lives.
But when it came to death all three loved Yahweh and were walking closely with him, perhaps closer than at any point in their lives. This is an example for us to continue to grow in our faith. To continue to seek to know God more and to live every day desiring to walk just a little bit closer to the Lord than the day before.
They were used by God in their death
Ultimately we can know that the patriarchs were close to the Lord because they were used by Him greatly as they were dying. It was obvious in reading the Genesis account of these men’s death, just how important their blessing and curses were. Esau was so incredibly distraught that Jacob had stolen his blessing. He begged and begged his father to give him a blessing. Joseph tried to correct his father as he blessed his children and inverted his arms to give the older child the lesser blessing and the younger one the greater. Though Jacob knew exactly what he was doing.
It is just so evident that God used them greatly in life but perhaps even more greatly in their death.
It is truly a remarkable thing to die in the faith. The perseverance of the saints is an absolute miracle that we should be so appreciative of when we see God use sinful people and bring their faith to completion.
May we be encouraged, despite the sad examples around us of those who make shipwreck of their faith, that the Lord is gracious to bring to completion the work he started in us and help us bear increasing fruit until we go to glory.
