The Patriarchs - Faith and Folly

I just finished reading through Genesis and I want to take a moment to reflect on the lives of the Patriarchs and what I learned when reading through the lives of Noah, Abraham, Issac, Jacob, and Joseph.

First, as recognized by the writer of Hebrews, the faith of these men is amazing and inspiring. From Noah, who was willing to build an ark and, in doing so, become the laughing stock of his community, to Abraham who left his relatives to set out for an unknown land that God had promised him, to Jacob and Joseph, who despite decades of troubles always drew near to the Lord, the faith of these men convicts me to live a life of faith, despite the inconvenience of the calling or the trials of my temporary circumstances.

However, the faith of these men is far from perfect. Abraham obeyed his wife's wish that he sleep with her servant, because they didn't trust that God really would provide a son in their old age. Jacob spent most of his life with almost a half-faith of sorts. He was deceitful when he stole his brother's blessing, and went to the home of Ladan, still only half-way trusting the Lord. For example, when Jacob is fleeing his brother's wrath, he has his well known dream of a ladder or stairway to heaven. When he wakes up, he knows he has encountered God's presence, but he only builds a pillar instead of an altar in response (Genesis 28). It is not until his life-altering wrestling match with God at Peniel about twenty years later that he gives his heart fully to the Lord(Genesis 32). What an awesome reminder that God really does use "faith like a grain of a mustard seed" (Luke 17:6). The Lord, by His Spirit, gives and increases faith. It's nothing we can do on our own. If faith were created and sustained within ourselves and by ourselves, I'm pretty sure the men of Genesis would not have left much of a legacy.

Also, it's important to remember that these men were not perfect; they were called righteous because of their faith, as small and weak as it was at times. Noah, the faithful boat-builder and father of all generations after Adam, spent his old age getting shamefully drunk, according to Genesis 9. Abraham, who planted the seed for the whole nation of Israel, slept with his wife's servant (which started the Arab-Israeli conflict that we see to this day) and denied his wife two times, giving her over to other men to save his own life. How important to remember that God is good; we are not. Even these men, who never lived to see "their commendation" in Hebrews 11, were not perfect. They lived by faith in the mercy and grace of God through Jesus Christ. Although they had not seen Christ, and had heard very little of him, except through hints of a kingdom established by God and prophecies of the defeat of sin, they were willing to live lives of faith, knowing that God had "prepared for them a city" after death (Hebrews 11:16), and that His promises would be fulfilled in coming generations.