By faith the patriarchs

 

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

By faith Jacob, when 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 departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones. - Hebrews 11:17-22

 

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph were all picture of faith.

 

Abraham offered up his son Isaac

Isaac passed his blessing on the Jacob and Esau

Jacob passed the blessings on to the sons of Joseph and he worshipped God

Joseph stayed left instructions to the people following him

 

Four generations of men were faithful in passing truth on to the next generation. Of all the things we could have read about these guys the things God wanted us to see is their faithfulness to the next generation.

 

This is the key way that we pass on our faith. Deuteronomy speaks of teaching our children and the New Testament tells fathers to bring their children up in the future and admonition of the Lord.

 

Of all the tasks we have one of the keys is to consider the heritage we leave behind. The day is going to come when all we leave here is our reputation. Let’s be sure that we leave a reputation that includes the words ‘by faith.’