Introduction
Are you carrying the torch of faith in a way that helps the next generation see God more clearly, and are you willing to keep believing when the flame feels like it’s about to go out? The central teaching of Hebrews 11:17–22 is that genuine faith endures across generations as we trust God through testing, submit to His plans over ours, worship Him through the whole story of our lives, and anchor our hope in His future promises. Hebrews 11 is often called the “Hall of Faith” because it shows us what faith looks like through real lives. This passage highlights a single family line, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, like a torch being passed from one bearer to the next. The world will soon watch the Olympic torch move from person to person, city to city, over mountains and through storms, until it reaches its final destination. In a far more meaningful way, God has always been doing something like that with faith: one generation receiving God’s promises and passing them on, sometimes through weakness, sometimes through tears, sometimes through near-extinguished moments, yet God keeps the flame alive. We stand today because faith was carried to us. And we’re responsible to carry it forward.
Main Points
Are you carrying the torch of faith in a way that helps the next generation see God more clearly, and are you willing to keep believing when the flame feels like it’s about to go out? The central teaching of Hebrews 11:17–22 is that genuine faith endures across generations as we trust God through testing, submit to His plans over ours, worship Him through the whole story of our lives, and anchor our hope in His future promises.
Hebrews 11 is often called the “Hall of Faith” because it shows us what faith looks like through real lives. This passage highlights a single family line, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, like a torch being passed from one bearer to the next. The world will soon watch the Olympic torch move from person to person, city to city, over mountains and through storms, until it reaches its final destination. In a far more meaningful way, God has always been doing something like that with faith: one generation receiving God’s promises and passing them on, sometimes through weakness, sometimes through tears, sometimes through near-extinguished moments, yet God keeps the flame alive.
We stand today because faith was carried to us. And we’re responsible to carry it forward.
Faith Gets Tested Beyond Sight
Hebrews says, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac” (Heb. 11:17). This is one of the highest “mountain peak” moments in Scripture, Abraham ascending a mountain to offer his promised son. But I need you to hear this carefully: the point is not that you and I should try to find a one-to-one equivalent sacrifice (as if God is asking you to recreate this moment in some smaller form). This was a unique test with a purpose “in a figurative sense” (Heb. 11:19).
What it does teach us is that faith will be tested, sometimes in ways that feel beyond comprehension. Some of you are in that kind of test right now. The circumstances don’t seem to match the goodness of God, and you’re being asked to trust Him when you cannot see.
A crucial distinction helps us endure: temptation pulls you away from God’s will and leaves you farther from Him; testing is something God allows to display the genuineness of faith and to draw you nearer to Him. Testing is designed, however painfully, to bring you through to deeper intimacy, stronger perseverance, and clearer sight of God’s provision (compare James 1:2–4). Abraham’s test did not end in loss; it ended in God’s provision.
Faith Clings To God’s Word
Hebrews highlights Abraham’s reasoning: God had said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called” (Heb. 11:18), so Abraham “concluded that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead” (Heb. 11:19).
This is mature faith: if God said it, it must be true, even when circumstances scream otherwise. Abraham didn’t pretend the command made sense; he anchored himself in what God had already promised. Isaac was the child of promise, therefore Abraham believed Isaac was, in a sense, “indestructible” until God fulfilled what He said, even if it required resurrection.
And notice how God had trained Abraham for this. Isaac came from “deadness” already, Sarah’s womb was barren, and Abraham’s body was as good as dead. God had already proven He brings life from death. That becomes an anchor for us too: if you are in Christ, you already believe in resurrection power. Scripture says we were “dead” in sin, and God made us alive (see Eph. 2:1–5). New birth is a miracle. So when you face an “impossible,” you’re not starting from scratch, you’re someone who already stands in the reality that God raises the dead.
Faith Sees The Gospel In The Provision
Hebrews says Abraham received Isaac back “in a figurative sense” (Heb. 11:19). The whole scene is a living parable pointing beyond itself.
Here we must not miss the clearest parallel in all Scripture: a father and his only beloved son. Yet the greater story is not that Abraham had to offer Isaac; it’s that God provided the offering. On the mountain, God supplied a ram caught in the thicket. In the gospel, God provided His own Son, the true sacrifice, given for the salvation and blessing of the world. Abraham could say, “God will provide,” and that sentence reaches its fullest meaning at the cross.
So when your faith is tested, you’re not just trying to “be strong.” You’re learning again that God’s heart is to provide what He requires. That is the foundation of Christian endurance.
Faith Submits When Plans Break
Next the torch passes: “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come” (Heb. 11:20). The reference is Genesis 27, and it’s messy, deception, favoritism, scheming, and grief.
Isaac intended to bless Esau. Esau wanted the blessing. Rebekah and Jacob manipulated the moment so Jacob received what culture said belonged to the firstborn. Yet Hebrews still calls Isaac’s act “by faith.”
Why? Because at the end of it, Isaac submitted to God’s plan even though it wasn’t his plan. God had spoken earlier that “the older shall serve the younger” (Gen. 25:23). Isaac didn’t get his way, and Esau didn’t get his way, but the promise moved forward according to God’s word.
I want to disciple you into this: you will face broken plans, personal, relational, cultural, and even spiritual expectations that don’t unfold how you imagined. Faith does not mean you never grieve; it means that in the grief you can still say, “Nevertheless, Lord, Your will, not mine.” Faith submits even when the path is tangled.
Faith Worships Through The Whole Story
Then: “By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff” (Heb. 11:21). Genesis 48 shows Jacob blessing Joseph’s sons, again giving prominence to the younger (Ephraim) over the older (Manasseh), despite Joseph’s objections.
But Hebrews emphasizes something else: Jacob worshiped.
Jacob had every reason to become bitter. His life included deception (his own and others’), broken relationships, years of exploitation under Laban, and deep sorrow believing Joseph was dead. Yet when he looks back near the end, his testimony is worship:
“God…has fed me all my life long to this day, the Angel who has redeemed me from all evil…” (Gen. 48:15–16)
Leaning on his staff is a picture of weakness and dependence, perhaps even a lifelong limp from wrestling with God (Gen. 32:24–31). But the key is this: faith learns to say, not by sight but by trust, “God, You have been good.”
And even what we do when we gather to sing, pray, and confess truth is an act of faith: we worship an unseen God, cling to future promises, and proclaim Christ’s finished work and coming kingdom. If you want to endure, you must become someone who worships through the whole story, not just in the chapters you would have written.
Faith Anchors Hope In Future Promises
Finally: “By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel and gave instructions concerning his bones” (Heb. 11:22). That seems like such a small detail when Joseph’s life included resisting temptation, enduring injustice, forgiving betrayers, and testifying that God meant evil for good (Gen. 50:20). Yet Hebrews chooses this: Joseph wanted his bones carried back to the promised land (see Gen. 50:24–25).
That request is faith. Joseph lived and died in Egypt, surrounded by comfort and honor, but his hope was not anchored in Egypt. He believed God would keep His promise to bring His people home. His bones became a testimony: “God is not finished. God will do what He said.”
I want you to learn to die, and to live, like that: not clinging to the “Egypts” of this world, but holding tightly to the promises of God that outlast you. This is how you pass the torch: by making choices that say to your children, your church, and your disciples, “God’s future is more real than my present.”
Conclusion
Hebrews 11:17–22 shows the torch of faith moving from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to Joseph. Along the way we learn the shape of enduring faith:
- Faith is tested in ways beyond sight.
- Faith clings to God’s word and believes He can raise the dead.
- Faith rests in God’s provision, ultimately revealed in Christ.
- Faith submits when our plans break and God’s will stands.
- Faith worships through the whole story, refusing bitterness.
- Faith anchors hope in God’s future promises and passes them on.
You are not the first torchbearer, and you will not be the last. But you are responsible for your portion of the journey. By God’s grace, keep the flame.
Father, thank You for the witness of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Strengthen my faith when You test it, and help me distinguish between temptation that pulls me away and testing that draws me nearer. Teach me to cling to Your word when circumstances feel impossible. Thank You for providing the true sacrifice, Jesus Christ, so I can rest in Your gospel provision.
Lord, when my plans break, give me a faith that submits to Your will. When my story includes pain, disappointment, or unanswered questions, keep me from bitterness and make me a worshiper who can say, “You have been good.” Anchor my hope in Your promises that extend beyond my life, and help me pass the torch faithfully to those who come after me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Conclusion
Hebrews 11:17–22 shows the torch of faith moving from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to Joseph. Along the way we learn the shape of enduring faith:
- Faith is tested in ways beyond sight.
- Faith clings to God’s word and believes He can raise the dead.
- Faith rests in God’s provision, ultimately revealed in Christ.
- Faith submits when our plans break and God’s will stands.
- Faith worships through the whole story, refusing bitterness.
- Faith anchors hope in God’s future promises and passes them on.
You are not the first torchbearer, and you will not be the last. But you are responsible for your portion of the journey. By God’s grace, keep the flame.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for the witness of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Strengthen my faith when You test it, and help me distinguish between temptation that pulls me away and testing that draws me nearer. Teach me to cling to Your word when circumstances feel impossible. Thank You for providing the true sacrifice, Jesus Christ, so I can rest in Your gospel provision.
Lord, when my plans break, give me a faith that submits to Your will. When my story includes pain, disappointment, or unanswered questions, keep me from bitterness and make me a worshiper who can say, “You have been good.” Anchor my hope in Your promises that extend beyond my life, and help me pass the torch faithfully to those who come after me. In Jesus’ name, amen.