No
Country for Faithful Men
The movie No Country for Old Men
(2007) was a neo-Western set in 1980 West Texas near the Rio Grande
River. The old man in the script was an aging sheriff, who was often
seen reflecting on better times against a background of ruthless
murders and drug trafficking. He felt time had passed him by with the
evolving mayhem of the country. Old men like himself no longer had a
country with which they could identify and in which they could feel at
home.
The scripture teaches us the Old
Testament patriarchs, Abraham in particular, lived their lives with
that same sense of dislocation. Unlike the aforementioned movie script,
faithful men like Abraham never felt they were 'stuck' in a country
where turning back the clock was impossible. They looked forward to a
new country, to a new city, wherein God would turn the clock forward
and usher in the things he's prepared for the faithful.
Our text is Hebrews 11:9-10, 14-16:
“By faith he sojourned in the land
of
promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac
and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a
city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”
“For they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been
mindful of that [country] from whence they came out, they might have
had opportunity to have returned. 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.”
Sojourned
is παροικέω
(paroikeō),
“to dwell beside” (reside as a foreigner). The word is used twice in
the NT. In its other usage, one named Cleopas said to Jesus: “Art thou
only a stranger [sojourner] in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things
which are come to pass there in these days?” (Luke 24:18).
In other
words: “There is NO way you could be a permanent resident of Jerusalem
and NOT know about the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth that shook the
city a few days ago!” What we believers share with Abraham is a sense
of sojourning in a strange country that is NOT our permanent
residence.
The phrases ”as in a strange country”
(11:9) and “they seek a country”
(11:14) are instructive. The scripture uses two different words for
“country.” In the first instance, the word is ἀλλότριος
(allotrios),
“belonging to another, not of one's own family.” In the second, the
word is πατρίς
(patris). “a father-land, one's homeland.” The first is
temporary; the second is permanent. Our Father Land is where the Father
abides. Jesus said: “In my Father's house are many mansions [abodes]”
(John 14:2).
One truth made abundantly clear in
these verses is the inseparability
of “country” and “city.” The writer employs a unique blend of verbs and
tenses to teach us the proper mindset for sojourners. That mindset is
revealed in four phrases: (1) “for he [Abraham] LOOKED for a city,” (2)
“they [Abraham and kin] SEEK a country,” (3) “if they had been
MINDFUL,” and (4) “they DESIRE a country.”
Looked
is ἐκδέχομαι
(ekdechomai), “to look out for, to receive or
accept.” In terms we can understand, it means the Patriarchs were 'on
the lookout for' a city of God's making, and willing to wait
God out
for fulfillment of the promise. The verb is imperfect tense. They kept
on looking out for the city as a pattern of life. Seek is ἐπιζητέω
(epizēteō), “to seek upon, desire, demand.” The prefix ἐπι (upon)
intensifies the root ζητέω
(seek, to be zealous for). It paints a
picture of zeal layered upon zeal for the heavenly Father Land. The
verb is present tense. The use of the present tense to describe past
events is a unique literary device in scripture. It allows the reader
to view the action as if it's happening in real time.
Mindful
is μνημονεύω
(mnēmoneuō), “to exercise the memory, be mindful
of.” The verb is imperfect tense, the same tense used with the verb
“looked.” Its dual usage is instructive. Their continual looking for a
city prohibited a continual remembrance of the country from whence they
came. The one imperfect offset the other. The writer does NOT mean to
say Abraham never once thought about his former country. But Abraham
did not DWELL on it. If he had, he might have found opportunity (a
time, season) to have returned. To get the sense, imagine an
avid
deer hunter who bags his limit of deer each year and loads up his
freezer with venison. Do you believe he only thinks about deer hunting
when the season opens? An avid deer hunter is mindful of deer hunting
ALL year long, setting up deer stands, salt blocks and corn bins, and
surveying potential hunting sites for deer signs. His mindfulness
of deer hunting goes unfulfilled all year UNTIL opening day of
deer
season. That's when the first deer-hunting opportunity presents itself.
He'll be in his deer stand before daylight!
Desire
is ὀρέγω
(oregō), “to crave, to stretch one's self out in order
to touch or grasp something.” In two other NT usages, it is used of one
who desires
the office of a bishop (1 Timothy 3:1) and of some who have
coveted after
money with resultant sorrows (6:10). The verb is present
tense, middle voice. As looked
and mindful
are both imperfect tenses,
seek
and desire
are both present tenses, as if happening in real time.
The middle voice signifies a reflexive benefit for the actor. The
believer who sets his affections on things above and craves, as a
pattern of life, the Father Land, does himself a great service. A
continual craving for the Father Land that lies in our FUTURE has
tangible benefits for us in PRESENT time! One benefit is
having a God whom you cannot disappoint. That's because
you are continually stretching yourself out for that which he's
prepared for you. A believer is in a good place when he longs for things that matter to his
God!
God is both builder and maker of the city
he's prepared for his
children. Builder
is τεχνίτης
(technitēs), “a technician, artisan, craftsman.” In
three of its four NT usages, it's translated
“craftsman.” We seldom think of God as a technician. Maker is δημιουργός
(dēmiourgos), “a workman for the people." This is its only usage in scripture. It depicts God as a
public servant. Imagine a land developer who buys 100 acres of land
with plans to build 100 houses on one-acre lots. Before the first
foundation is poured, a host of public workers and contractors survey
the land, place lot markers, install infrastructure (sewer and power
lines) and lay down curbs and asphalt for streets. ALL this they do for
those who will inhabit the houses.
In the city God has prepared for us,
he was the technician, building its infrastructure and
doing all the groundwork so
we could one day live there forever. ALL the infrastructure and
groundwork for that city in the Father Land was accomplished by Jesus
when he endured the Cross, shed his redemptive blood for us sinners and
broke the chains of death in his resurrection. That's enough for
every believer to keep on looking for, seeking
and desiring
what God has prepared for the faithful.
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