seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[b] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”[c] 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.
23 By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.
31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.[d]
32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning;[e] they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
a. Hebrews 11:5 Gen. 5:24
b. Hebrews 11:11 Or By faith Abraham, even though he was too old to have children—and Sarah herself was not able to conceive—was enabled to become a father because he
c. Hebrews 11:18 Gen. 21:12
d. Hebrews 11:31 Or unbelieving
e. Hebrews 11:37 Some early manuscripts stoning; they were put to the test;
This is from blueletterbible.org.
Faith is the substance … the evidence: Faith is not a bare belief or intellectual understanding. It is a willingness to trust in, to rely on, and to cling to.
Obtained a good testimony: These Jewish Christians had been discouraged, and were thinking of giving up on Jesus and a distinctive Christianity. They needed a good testimony, and so they needed these examples of faith to break them out of discouragement.
By faith we understand: We did not see this act of creation; we only know of it by faith. We also know this by reason, because we know the world was created, and created by an intelligent Designer. Again, this is faith going beyond, but not in contradiction to reason.
Even in times when it seems when God expects a faith that contradicts reason, closer examination reveals He does not. For example, it might seem contrary to reason for God to expect Abraham to believe that Sarah's dead womb could bring forth a child. But it is not unreasonable to believe that the God who created life and the womb could do this, and would do it according to His promise.
By faith we understand: This text does not say that God created the world with faith. Since God sees and knows all things, "faith" in a human sense is superfluous to Him. If faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, what does God not see? What possibly could a sovereign Being "hope" for?
So that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible: Most scientists at the time Hebrews was written believed the universe was created out of existing matter, not out of nothing, not out of things which are visible. But the Bible corrects this misunderstanding.
Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen: Noah was warned of something that had never happened before. His faith was shown in not merely agreeing that the flood would come, but in doing what God told him to do regarding the flood - he was moved with godly fear.
Prepared an ark: Real faith will always do something. The book of James repeats this theme over and over again.
He condemned the world: We shouldn't think that Noah was a man who preached sermons of condemnation to the world. Instead, the mere conduct of the godly, without any preaching at all, can feel like condemnation to the world.
These all died in faith, not having received the promises: The promise of the Messiah was made to Abraham and Sarah, and they believed the promise. Yet they died having never received it, only seeing it in faith.
They seek a homeland … they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Walking in faith is easier when we remember that this world is not our home. It is easier when we remember that on this side of eternity, not everything is settled and every wrong is not righted. That is why they seek a homeland and a better … heavenly country.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: But for those courageous enough to believe in God, and to believe in Him as real, and heaven and eternal life as real, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
By faith he kept the Passover: It took faith to believe that the blood of a lamb on the door post would save a household from the terror of the angel of death. But Moses had that faith, and led the nation in observance of the Passover.
By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish: Rahab (Joshua 2) might seem an unusual example of faith, but her trust in God and willingness to identify with His people, no matter what the cost, is worthy of praise.
When she had received the spies with peace: When the Hebrew spies came to Rahab, she declared He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath (Joshua 2:11). This was proof of her faith. It was not strong faith, it was not perfect faith, but her faith was commendable nonetheless.
Tortured in the ancient Greek language has the idea "to beat with a stick or a baton."
A better resurrection: As Jesus said in John 5:29, there is a resurrection unto life, and a resurrection unto condemnation. These worthies received the better resurrection.
Trial of mockings: Isaac endured the cruel mocking of Ishmael, and Samson was mocked at the feast of the Philistines.
Chains and imprisonments: Joseph was cast into prison for his faith, and the evil King Ahab imprisoned the prophet Micaiah.
They were stoned: Zechariah was stoned to death between the altar and the temple, and Naboth was stoned to death by Jezebel's henchmen.
Sawn in two: According to reliable tradition, Isaiah was sawn in two and killed.
Were tempted: How does being tempted compare with these other persecutions? Some have thought the text was corrupted here, and the writer to the Hebrews originally wrote "branded" or "burnt alive" or "mutilated" or "strangled." But for those who have known the pains of temptation, it is not unreasonable to think that the writer to the Hebrews regards overcoming temptation as a true triumph of faith.
Were slain with the sword: Such as the eighty-five priests murdered by Doeg, or the prophets murdered in Elijah's day.
Wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins: Such as Elijah, who wore this kind humble clothing and did not mind the humility or the discomfort.
Of whom the world was not worthy: The world is not necessarily friendly to people of faith, and the world isn't necessarily worthy of them either!
"The despised and ill-treated group of servants of God was of greater real worth than all the rest of humanity put together." (Morris)
In dens and caves of the earth: David, Elijah, and prophets under the leadership of Obadiah were all forced to flee and hide in caves.
Faith... deep subject.... but when I put it in the context of this letter... it's understandable.
The author of this letter found out that a lot of the men in the early church were leaving the church and going back to Temple. They are going back to offering sacrifices and carrying the weight of human rules, regulations, policies and procedures instead of believing. I think the author knows what they are going through. Faith is believing something may be true even if it doesn't make any sense.
OK... These men were supposed to believe that a dead man.... a man murdered on the Cross by Rome.... walked out of the tomb, cooked a fish dinner for His disciples and then rose to Heaven. These men were supposed to believe that this man was going to come back and get rid of all the evil in the world. They were sharpening their swords and putting off big parties because they thought they were going to war against Rome.... but that didn't come about... they just kept waiting and waiting.
On top of that... they weren't just waiting in secret. Rome knew the Christians believed a human survived a Roman execution. Rome could not tolerate that story to grow wings... no one would behave the way Rome required. Rome had those Crosses erected on the hill in plain site for a reason.... Rome wanted all the people in Jerusalem to be afraid.... very afraid... of death on the Roman Cross..... but those Christians kept insisting that Jesus survived the Cross.
These men would not have had a problem if they themselves had seen Jesus get up and walk out of the tomb.... but they didn't... nobody did. They left a dead man lying in the tomb with a sheet over Him. He was naked from being on the Cross.... bloody from the beatings.... He had a slice in His side from the sword they jabbed Him with.... He didn't flinch.... they knew He was dead. If they had been there when the boulder was rolled in front of the cave where they laid Jesus... it would have been easy to hang out some more and wait. After all they were busy helping others so the days went by pretty quickly.
Those men were leaving because Jesus didn't return in their timeline. They were willing to trust that Jesus walked out of a sealed tomb.... but they weren't willing to believe that He was coming back because it didn't happen in their human parameters. They put a time clock on Jesus and when Jesus didn't come back in their timeline... they gave up and went back to the Temple... and sacrificing animals... and carrying around all those rules, regulations, policies and procedures.
So in this chapter... the author reminds them of the faith their forefathers had. He spoke of Noah, who built an ark even though there had never been a flood. He spoke of Abraham offered up his own son. He spoke of others who gave up their lives to stick to their guns... their belief in God....
He even talked about Isaiah who was sawn in half for his faith.
These people put their lives on hold... put their lives in danger.... because they believed they were working for a Higher Power... God.....
Faith is working on God's timetable.... even when you can't see the clock..... Faith is believing it's the right thing and following through.
Faith is hanging in there when everyone else has taken their ball and gone home.
