Passing now from the men of the primeval world, the writer comes to the patriarchs, and especially to Abraham, who stands out in the OT as the chief example of faith. Abraham showed his faith by his obedience to God's call, and by his refusal to make a permanent settlement in the land of Canaan, even though it had been promised to him. His heart was set on God's ultimate promise of an eternal rest in the heavenly city (Hebrews 11:10). His wife Sarah shared his faith and became a mother in her old age, so that Abraham, when his life seemed as good as ended, became the progenitor of a great people. And as the patriarchs lived in faith, so they died (Hebrews 11:13). They only saw the promises from afar, as the traveller sees the distant city which is his goal; and in their dying words they confessed that they were strangers on the earth (cf. Genesis 23:4; Genesis 24:37; Genesis 28:4; Genesis 27:9). Such confessions implied that they were longing for their own country; and if it was merely their native country on earth that was in their minds, they could have returned to it whenever they pleased. As it was, the home they desired was in heaven, and in recognition of this faith God called them by His name, as the destined people of His heavenly city (Hebrews 11:16). The crowning instance of Abraham's faith was his offering up of Isaac. Although he was confident in the truth of God's promise, he was ready at God's command to sacrifice the son through whom alone the promise could have fulfilment (Hebrews 11:17 f.). He believed that God would effect His purpose even though it should be necessary to bring Isaac back from the dead; and the restoration of Isaac was indeed a type of the resurrection (Hebrews 11:19). That faith is able to triumph over death is shown more clearly still by the examples of Isaac, Jacob, Joseph. Each of them, when on the point of dying, looked forward without misgiving to a fulfilment of God's promise in the future. To themselves it had been denied, but they believed that it would be realised through those who would come after them.
Hebrews 11:19. in a parable: this does not merely mean that Isaac was so nearly slain that he did, in a manner, come back from the dead. We have rather to translate by way of a parable. The wonderful escape of Isaac was a kind of parable, illustrating the fact of the resurrection.