Hebrews 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14  For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
15  And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

God paused His teaching on the many who walked by faith to remind us that the ones mentioned so far all died in faith. They never received the promises, but they died in faith. They believed what God said and by faith they saw the promises afar off. They knew it would not happen in their lifetime. They knew it would not even happen in the time of their children. However, they knew it would happen. The nation of Israel did not move into the land of Canaan until after the death of Moses. The people mentioned thus far in Hebrews 11 exercised a faith that the people of Moses’ day did not. The people of Moses’ day grumbled and complained even as God was feeding them and protecting them from harm. He made sure their clothes did not wear out for the entire time they were in the wilderness. Now I know most people would never want to wear the same clothes day in and day out for 40 years. Personally, I do not see anything wrong with that. I am sure they washed them and themselves often. God did not want the people stinking. They stunk spiritually because they fought against Him, but physically they kept relatively clean.
Again, God says those He has mentioned thus far all died in faith. They did not receive the promises literally, but they saw them afar off. They were persuaded of them. They embraced them. They confessed they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. They had their sights set on something better than we often do. They were not concerned about keeping up with the Joneses. They were content to live in tents and move as God directed them. They did not have investments in the bank or in some trust fund. They did not starve either. God looked after them.
For years now we have slept while our governments have encroached on what should be God’s territory and they are trying to make us subservient to them. They do not want free thinkers. They want yes men. They want us to be slaves for them. They want to live high and they want the rest of us to be happy to help them to live high. The “Great Reset” has been in a rehearsal stage for some time now.
We, those who are saved, need to get our spiritual eyes examined so that we can see the promises that these Old Testament saints saw. We have been promised eternal life and a home in heaven. Revelation 21&22 describes heaven for us. It is a beautiful place. Most importantly, it is a place where sin cannot enter. It is a place where there will be no sorrow. There will be no inflation there. No thieves will be there. No moth nor rust will be there.
Jesus commanded us, those who are saved, to be busy telling others the Gospel of Christ. The local church is to be about helping people to know the Lord and to walk with Him more faithfully. Now, people think they need to have gymnasiums and other distractions or they cannot attend a church. After all, the children need things to do, so we are told.
The people God described here were strangers and pilgrims on this earth. In verse 14 we read that the people who say such things speak plainly. They are looking for a country. They know there is no such country on this earth. Explorers of the past risked their lives to travel to different places, some of them seeking a better land.
My grandparents left Russia with what they could carry in their hands. My father was about 1 1/2 years old when they came here. My grandfather tried to convince his father to come over here after they were settled. He talked of how good things were here. His father warned Grandpa of the dangers of materialism. My Grandpa did alright for himself. His children did quite well also. However, spiritually they lost out big time. They went with the flow and helped to finance a religion that is void of truth. Yes, they have many activities, but they have no Gospel of Christ. They were not looking for the same country that the saints in Hebrews 11 were looking for.
As I observed the religion that I was raised in, I became quite disillusioned. I came to the place of rejecting that god. I did not want to know God if that was God. I am thankful that God is real. He did not leave me in that dark place for long. It was long enough, but God showed me that He was real and that He had a good plan for me. I was saved at the age of 20 and then started my journey with the Lord. At times I got sidetracked and He had to bring me back in line. He has never forsaken me.
We read in verse 15 that if those saints had been mindful of the country they came from, they might have chosen to go back. They put that out of their minds. They were convinced that God was telling them the truth and they were looking for that country He spoke of.
Abraham could have gone back to Ur, but he chose not to. He believed God and pursued the promise of God. As mentioned he was much wiser than the generation that left Egypt. They suffered greatly in that pagan land, but they wanted to go back there. They certainly lacked true Biblical faith.
In verse 16 we read that those saints mentioned thus far in Hebrews 11 desired a better country. We are told they desired a heavenly country. They understood that God was not going to keep them here for ever. They were strangers and pilgrims. They were just passing through. The result of their choice allowed God not to be ashamed of them. He did not mind them declaring that He was their God. I doubt if God would say the same of the majority of people that call themselves Christians today. In fact the majority of the Jews are not honouring God today. Most people cannot see the worldliness that has taken over their lives. The music, the immodesty, the secular mindset; they cannot see it. It is normal. The Holy Spirit is still at work, but we have learned how to shut Him out.
God prepared a city for the saints mentioned in our text. Jesus has prepared a place for those who trust in Him. That includes those Old Testament saints. Jesus is not up in Heaven building mansions now. They are all there. He is not making empty promises like our government. If they would stop and think of the promises of millions of houses they are going to build, they would know they were lying. If people stopped to calculate the time and money needed to build those houses, they too would understand that the governments are lying. The government has no business building houses for people. The government has no business financing housing. Anything they touch becomes very expensive and very corrupt.
We need to depend on the Lord and we need to look for that heavenly country. The perversions dismiss the mansions and turn them into rooms. Jesus did not tell us we are going to a rooming house. He said we are going to mansions. No doubt the place He has for us will not be like the “mansions” we see on this earth. They will be much better. They will never need any repairs. There will be no fires to destroy them.
God wants us to know that what He has promised is worth pursuing. He wants us to understand that the key to that promise is Jesus Christ. We must put our faith in God and not in ourselves or others. We need to take God at His Word and look to that country that He has prepared for His children. It is a great country. All our needs are met there. Let us pursue that promise today and each day.
Pastor Bartel