It was because Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, the Israelite people, and Rahab trusted God that he blessed them.

Hebrews 11:17-31

17 It was because Abraham trusted God that he was ready to kill his son Isaac as a sacrifice when God tested him. This same man to whom God promised to give ◄a son/many descendants► was going to sacrifice that same son, the only son whom his own wife had borne! 18 It was to Abraham that God said, “It is only from Isaac that I will consider your family to descend.” 19 Abraham considered that to fulfill that promise, God could make Isaac live again even if he had died after Abraham sacrificed him! The result was that when Abraham did receive Isaac back after God told him not to harm Isaac, it was as though he received him back even after he died.

20 It was because Isaac trusted God that he prayed that after he died, God would bless his sons Jacob and Esau.

21 It was because Jacob trusted God that, as he was dying, he prayed that God would bless each of the sons of his own son Joseph. He worshipped God as he leaned upon his walking stick before he died. 22 It was because Joseph trusted God that, when he was about to die in Egypt, he anticipated the time when the Israelis would leave Egypt; and he instructed that his people should carry his bones with them when they ◄left Egypt/returned to Canaan►.

23 It was because Moses’ father and mother trusted God that they hid their son for three months shortly after he was born, because they saw that he was so beautiful. They were not afraid of disobeying what the king of Egypt had commanded, namely, that all the Jewish male babies must be killed. 24 The daughter of the king, whom they called Pharaoh, raised Moses, but when he had grown up, it was because he trusted God that he refused to accept the privileges that would have been his if people considered that he was ◄the son of the king’s daughter/the king’s own grandson►. 25 He decided that it was better for others to mistreat him for a time along with the Israeli people, than to temporarily enjoy living sinfully in the King’s palace. 26 This is because he decided that if he suffered for the Messiah, it would be worth far more in God’s sight than his owning all the treasures of Egypt that he would receive as Pharaoh’s heir. He decided that because he looked forward to the time when God would give him an eternal reward. 27 It was because he trusted God that he left Egypt. He was not afraid that the king would be angry because of his doing that. He ◄kept going/did not turn back► because it was as though he kept seeing God, whom no one can see. 28 It was because Moses believed that God would save his own people that he instituted the festival called Passover. He did that by commanding that the people should kill lambs and sprinkle their blood on their doorposts. They did that in order that the angel who causes people to die would not kill [EUP] the oldest male Israelites when he killed the oldest sons in each Egyptian family.

29 It was because they trusted God that when the Israelite people walked through where the Red Sea had been, it was as though they walked on dry land! But, when the army of Egypt also attempted to cross that same water, they drowned, because the sea came back and flooded them!

30 It was because the Israeli people trusted God that the walls around Jericho city collapsed, after the Israelis marched around the walls for seven days.

31 Rahab had been a prostitute, but because she trusted God, she did not perish with those inside Jericho who disobeyed God. Joshua sent some spies into the city in order to find ways to destroy it, but God saved her because she welcomed those spies peaceably.