These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland (Hebrews 11:13-14).
The writer of Hebrews references certain Old Testament examples of faith in order to encourage Christians and exhort them to endure in faith with eternity in mind.
For a Christian who lives in the house or community where he or she has always lived, what does it look like to “seek a homeland”?
The Faithful Exiles
First, consider the heroes referred to in Hebrews 11: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah. Each of these, like Enoch, “was commended as having pleased God” (14:5).
They pleased him with their faith: “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (v. 6).
These individuals trusted God’s plan for them when they suffered upheaval when they had to wait a long time for the fulfillment of God’s promises.
Abraham, in particular, “went out, not knowing where he was going. [...] For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (vv.8,10).
Those who follow God, not knowing their destination but obeying him with every step, are not enacting a blind faith — they are following a God whose goodness and power are known and certain.
They are willing to be uprooted in the name of Christ, for his glory, if that is God’s will for them. Being uprooted could mean changing jobs, moving house, or leaving the country.
This kind of faith yearns for the Lord more than for temporary, temporal satisfaction.
What’s Wrong with Staying Put?
In the short term, as we make choices about what to do with our lives, one of those choices will be whether to stay close to home or branch out.
Not everyone is called away from a familiar place to take on a new professional role or to become a foreign missionary. Sometimes, a believer is called to stay put, and some servants don’t put down roots at all.
When in prayer, the obedient servant of Christ must ask, “Where do you want me today, Lord?” How can you know if you are being asked to become a sojourner, like the Apostles, and like modern missionaries, or even to simply move house and take a new job?
Making any major changes is a matter of considerable prayer and discussion with faithful friends. A missional approach does not necessarily involve what we deem “missionary work.” Every Christian is commissioned to share the gospel wherever he or she lives.
Hearing the Call to Move
But many will leave the security of an earthly home, the familiar places of childhood, or a neighborhood where they are known. How did Abraham, Sarah, Noah, and other people in Scripture know they were being called away from the familiar to a new place?
First, says the writer of Hebrews, they “acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13-14). It is much easier to leave home when you realize that there is no permanence in our mortal lives, and there shouldn’t be.
We are all merely “sojourners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11), yearning for our forever home with Christ.
We don’t want to live here forever because we trust in our promised inheritance, strengthened by the Holy Spirit to wait with confidence.
Paul said it this way: “We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).
What Do We Seek?
Yet, it’s helpful to understand that we do not only seek a destination but a person. That’s one reason we all seek a homeland, even if we never move away from home. The word “seek” used in the Book of Hebrews, epizéteó, means “to desire” or “to enquire after.”
When we love the Lord, we long to be with Him. When we love the Lord, we long to know more about Him and the place He has established for us.
Writing about “seeking a homeland” is both literal and metaphorical. Christians really are in pursuit of their ultimate destination with Christ for all eternity.
They are also seeking to abide in Christ. “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (John 15:4).
When we abide, we rest; we stay; we remain. We live “in Christ,” and apart from Christ is death. There is no “homeland” in death. While we remain on this earth, believers can rest assured that Christ is with them always and, as such, their home goes with them.
What about those living in the days before Christ — what were they seeking? Stephen Nichols explains that “there was a content that Abraham was putting his faith in — God and His promise.”
God’s people knew to anticipate the fulfillment of that promise, and they moved forward, growing in maturity, trusting the Lord more and more, each experiencing a very human faith journey that is not a perfectly straight line.
Though he struggled with doubt and with the flesh, Abraham’s idea of a homeland featured an expectation of rest and peace in God, similar to the rest and peace we as Christians enjoy in our Savior.
Abraham looked forward to the promised land and the coming Savior; we look forward to his return and the promised land he will bring, once and for all.
Why Do We Fight It?
In Numbers 13, Caleb asserts that the people of God would be able to overtake the Canaanites and claim their promised land. He declared, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it” (Numbers 13:30).
But his declaration was drowned out by protests that “the land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height” (v. 32).
The people of Israel were promised a new land, a better land, but they thought the way towards that land would be easy. God had instructed Israel to take it, never mind who was there.
When the path seems difficult, our current circumstances are suddenly very comfortable. We second-guess our calling from the Lord towards his peace.
What we are aiming for is a faith that is willing to seek a homeland in spite of the rough and perilous path we have to take.
We want to be like Ruth. She said to Naomi, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (1:16).
We want to trust God so fully that we go where he calls without knowing what to expect, except that His promise and His presence will remain steadfast.
Towards the Homeland: Our Challenge
We want Christ to come and take us home; we want to be at our destination with Him, where the pain and fear of fighting against the flesh are over. Sometimes, we want that so badly it’s tempting to focus homeward and ignore the present calling on our lives.
But Christ is our Rock, Stronghold, Cornerstone, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, He is with us all the time.
So, while we are on the move, uprooted in the temporal sense, trying to “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1), we Christians still rest on a foundation. We are “rooted and built up in him and established in the faith” (Colossians 2:7).
There is no need to cling too tightly to this short-term home because our home is wherever our Savior is. Our real homeland awaits, and it will come at the right time.
For further reading:
Are We Ready for Our Journey to Eternity?
Can Christians Be Afraid of What Eternity Will Hold?
Do We Know What Will We Do in Heaven?
Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/Bobby Stevenson
