Hebrews 11:15,16 - They were longing for a better country

11:15

“If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return”. Abraham left Ur, and never went back. Once out of Egypt the Israelties were warned against returning. On several occasions they wanted to return, but this was always a result or a sign of disobedience, of rebellion against God.

11:16

But the faithful heroes did not want to return, “they were longing for a better country - a heavenly one”. The desire of the Hebrews to hanker back to the old rituals of sacrifices and Levitical priesthood was probably out of a desire to gain God’s approval. In saying “Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God” the writer is telling his readers that the people that God approves of are those who are looking for a better country, not those who hanker after the old ways. For God has prepared a city for us, if we say we are quite happy with the old city, then we are rejecting God.