15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.
15 And truly if [and they did not] they had called to mind that country from which they had come out,
The “country from which” Abraham and his family “had come out” was the Mesopotamian Valley. The “if” in this clause is contrary to the fact; that is, it was not true that they wanted to go back to their homeland (second class condition).
they would have had opportunity to return.
Because Abraham and his clan had no land and no city but dwelt in tents, they might have had a big reason to return to the Mesopotamian Valley and Ur or Haran. Abraham did not yield to that temptation (Ge 24:6; 31:3).
Ur in Mesopotamia was a prosperous city of higher culture. It was a center of culture and commerce. It had both schools and temples. The patriarchs willingly left this for an unknown land with no assurance of prosperity.
PRINCIPLE:
There are many opportunities to go back to our life before Christ.
APPLICATION:
Abraham had ample opportunity to not walk by faith. He could have gone back to the security of his home in Ur, but nothing daunted him from claiming the promises of God. If the patriarchs had returned to their homeland, they would have broken faith with God.
If believers go back to the life they had before becoming Christians, they will break faith with God. They will not experience the wonders of God’s promises for them in time. None of the patriarchs returned to the Mesopotamian Valley; they remained in the promised land.
