Hebrews 11

Hebrews 11:1

B. Exhortation to Faith by Old Testament Examples (Chap. 11) 11:1 This chapter deals with the vision and endurance of faith. It introduces us to men and women of the OT who had 20/20 spiritual vision and who endured tremendous shame and suffering rather than renounce their faith. Verse 1 is not really a formal definition of faith; rather it is a description of what faith does for us. It makes things hoped for as real as if we already had them, and it provides unshakable evidence that the unseen, spiritual blessings of Christianity are absolutely certain and real. In other words, it brings the future within the present and makes the invisible seen. Faith is confidence in the trustworthiness of God. It is the conviction that what God says is true and that what He promises will come to pass. Faith must have some revelation from God, some promise of God as its foundation. It is not a leap in the dark. It demands the surest evidence in the universe, and finds it in the word of God. It is not limited to possibilities but invades the realm of the impossible. Someone has said, Faith begins where possibilities end. If it’s possible, then there’s no glory for God in it.Faith, mighty faith the promise sees, And looks to God alone; Laughs at impossibilities And cries, It shall be done.Author unknown. There are difficulties and problems in the life of faith. God tests our faith in the crucible to see if it is genuine (1Pe_1:7). But, as George Mfcller said, Difficulties are food for faith to feed on.11:2 Because they walked by faith and not by sight, the OT worthies received divine approval. The rest of this chapter is an illustration of how God has borne witness to them. 11:3 Faith provides us with the only factual account of creation. God is the only One who was there; He tells us how it happened. We believe His word and thus we know. McCue states: The conception of God pre-existent to matter and by His fiat calling it into being is beyond the domain of reason or demonstration. It is simply accepted by an act of faith.By faith we understand. The world says, Seeing is believing. God says, Believing is seeing. Jesus said to Martha, Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see … (Joh_11:40). The Apostle John wrote, These things I have written to you who believe … that you may know (1Jo_5:13). In spiritual matters faith precedes understanding. The worlds were framed by the word of God. God spoke and matter came into being. This agrees perfectly with man’s discovery that matter is essentially energy. When God spoke, there was a flow of energy in the form of sound waves. These were transformed into matter, and the world sprang into being. The things which are seen were not made out of things which are visible. Energy is invisible; so are atoms, and molecules, and gases to the naked eye, yet in combination they become visible. The fact of creation as set forth here in Heb_11:3 is unimpeachable. It has never been improved on and never will. 11:4 Adam and Eve are bypassed in the honor roll of faith. When Eve had to decide whether God or Satan was telling the truth, she decided that Satan was. However, this does not deny that they were subsequently saved by faith, as pictured by the coats of skin. Abel must have had some revelation that sinful man can approach God only on the ground of shed blood. Perhaps he learned this from his parents who were restored to fellowship with God only after He had clothed them with the skins of animals (Gen_3:21). At any rate, he exhibited faith by approaching God with the blood of a sacrifice. Cain’s sacrifice was one of vegetables or fruit and was therefore bloodless. Abel illustrates the truth of salvation by grace through faith. Cain pictures man’s futile attempt to save himself by good works. George Cutting points out that it was not the personal excellence of Abel that God looked at in counting him righteous, but the excellence of the sacrifice that he brought and his faith in it. And so it is with us: we are not justified because of our character or good works, but solely because of the excellence of the sacrifice of Christ and our acceptance of Him. Abel was killed by Cain because law hates grace. Self-righteous man hates the truth that he cannot save himself and that he must cast himself on the love and mercy of God. But Abel’s testimony is perpetuated: Through his faith he still speaks. There is a sense in which faith enables a man’s vocal chords to go on functioning long after his body is lying in the grave. 11:5 Sometime during his life Enoch must have received a promise from God that he would go to heaven without dying. Up to that time everyone had diedsooner or later. There was no record of anyone ever having been taken away without dying. But God promised and Enoch believed. It was the most sane, rational thing that Enoch could do; what is more reasonable than that the creature should believe his Creator? And so it happened! Enoch walked with the invisible God for three hundred years (Gen_5:21-24) and then he walked into eternity. Before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. The life of faith always pleases God; He loves to be trusted. 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please Him. No amount of good works can compensate for lack of faith. After all is said and done, when a man refuses to believe God, he is calling Him a liar. He who does not believe God has made Him a liar (1Jo_5:10), and how can God be pleased by people who call Him a liar? Faith is the only thing that gives God His proper place, and puts man in his place too. It glorifies God exceedingly, writes C. H. Mackintosh, because it proves that we have more confidence in His eyesight that in our own.Faith not only believes that God exists, but it also trusts Him to reward those who diligently seek Him. There is nothing about God that makes it impossible for men to believe. The difficulty is with the human will. 11:7 The faith of Noah was based on God’s warning that He was going to destroy the world with a flood (Gen_6:17). There had never been a flood in human experience, in fact, there is some reason to believe that there had never been rainfall up to that time (Gen_2:5-6). Noah believed God and built an ark, even though he was probably very far from navigable waters. Doubtless he was the butt of many a joke. But Noah’s faith was rewarded: his household was saved, the world was condemned by his life and testimony, and he became heir of the righteousness which is received on the basis of faith. Perhaps many of the early Jewish Christians to whom this Letter was written often wondered why, if they were right, they were such a small minority. Noah steps out from the pages of the OT to remind them that in his day only eight people were right and all the rest of the world perished! 11:8 Abraham was probably an idolater, living in Ur of the Chaldees, when God appeared to him and told him to move. With the obedience of faith, he left home and country, not knowing his ultimate destination. Doubtless his friends ridiculed him for such folly but his attitude was: I go on not knowingI would not if I might, I’d rather walk in the dark with God Than walk alone in the light; I’d rather walk by faith with Him Than to walk alone by sight. Helen Annis Casterline The walk of faith often gives the impression to others of being imprudent and reckless, but the man who knows God, is content to be led blindfolded, not knowing the route ahead. 11:9 God had promised the land of Canaan to Abraham. In a very real sense it belonged to him. Yet the only parcel of ground he ever bought in it was a tomb for his dead. He was content to live in tents, the symbol of pilgrimage, instead of in a fixed abode. For the time being, he treated Canaan as if it were a foreign country. The companions of his pilgrimage were his son and grandson. His godly example left its mark on them also; even though they were heirs with him of the same promise that the land would be theirs. 11:10 Why did Abraham hold such a light grip on real estate? Because he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. He did not have his heart set on present, material things, but on the eternal. In the original there is a definite article before both city and foundationsthe city and the foundations. In the reckoning of faith there is only one city worthy of the name and only one with sure foundations. God is the architect of this heavenly city and He is its builder as well. It is the model city, without slums, polluted air, polluted water, or any of the other problems that plague our metropolitan centers. 11:11 By faith Sarah was miraculously empowered to conceive when she was about ninety years old. The record clearly states that she was past the time of life when she could bear a child. But she knew that God had promised her a baby, and she knew He could not go back on His word. She had shatterproof faith that He would do what He had promised. 11:12 Abraham was about ninety-nine when Isaac was born. Humanly speaking it was just about impossible for him to become a father, yet God had promised a numerous posterity and so it must be. Through Isaac, Abraham became the father of an innumerable earthly family, the Hebrew nation. Through Christ, he became father of an innumerable spiritual family, that is, true believers of every subsequent age. The sand by the seashore probably pictures the earthly progeny, while the stars of the sky illustrate the heavenly people. 11:13 The patriarchs all died in faith. They did not live to see the fulfillment of the divine promises. For instance, Abraham never saw his numerous progeny. The Hebrew nation never occupied all the land that had been promised to it. The OT saints never saw the fulfillment of the promise of the Messiah. But their telescopic vision brought the promises near, so near that they are pictured as waving at them in joyful anticipation. They realized that this world was not their final home. They were content to be strangers and pilgrims, refusing the urge to nestle to make themselves comfortable. Their desire was to pass through the world without taking any of its character upon themselves. Their hearts were set on pilgrimage (Psa_84:5, Knox). 11:14 Their lives indicated plainly that they were seeking a homeland. Faith implanted a homing instinct in them which was never satisfied by the delights of Canaan. There was always a yen for a better land which they could call home. 11:15 In saying that they were seeking a homeland, the writer wants to make it clear that he is not referring to the land of their birth. If Abraham had desired to go back to Mesopotamia, he could have done so, but that was no longer home to him. 11:16 The true explanation is that they were seeking a heavenly homeland. This is rather remarkable when we remember that most of the promises to the people of Israel had to do with material blessings on this earth. But they had a heavenly hope as well, and this hope enabled them to treat this world as a foreign country. This spirit of pilgrimage is especially pleasing to God. Darby writes, He is not ashamed to be called the God of those whose heart and portion are in heaven. He has prepared a city for them, and there they find rest and satisfaction and perfect peace. 11:17 We now come to the greatest test of Abraham’s faith. God told him to offer up his only son, Isaac, upon the altar. With unhesitating obedience, Abraham set forth to offer to God the dearest treasure of his heart. Was he oblivious of the tremendous dilemma? God had promised him numberless progeny. Isaac was his only begotten son. Abraham was now 117 and Sarah was 108! 11:18 The promise of a great host of descendants was to be fulfilled in Isaac. The dilemma was this: if Abraham killed Isaac, how could the promise ever be fulfilled? Isaac was now about seventeen and unmarried. 11:19 Abraham knew what God had promised; that was all that mattered. He concluded that if God required him to slay his son, God would raise him up, even from the dead in order to fulfill the promise. Up to this time there had been no recorded case of resurrection from the dead. Human experience had no statistics to offer. In a real sense, Abraham invented the idea of resurrection. His faith in the promise of God drove him to the conclusion that God would have to raise Isaac. In a figurative sense, he did receive Isaac back from the dead. He had committed himself to the fact that Isaac must be slain. God credited him with the act. But, as Grant put it so poignantly, the Lord spared Abraham’s heart a pang He would not spare His own. He provided a ram to take Isaac’s place, and the only begotten son was returned to his father’s heart and home. Before leaving this outstanding example of faith, there are two points that should be mentioned. First, God never really intended for Abraham to slay his son. Human sacrifices were never God’s will for His people. He tested Abraham’s faith and found it to be genuine; then He rescinded His order. Second, Abraham’s faith in the promise of a numerous progeny was tested over a period of one hundred years. The patriarch was seventy-five when the promise of a son was first given. He waited twenty-five years before Isaac was born. Isaac was seventeen when Abraham took him up on Mount Moriah to offer him to God. Isaac was forty when he married and was married twenty years before the twins were born. Abraham died when he was 175. At that time his descendants consisted of one son (seventy-five years old) and two grandchildren (fifteen years old). Yet during his lifetime, He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform (Rom_4:20-21). 11:20 It is hard for our western minds to understand what was so unusual in the faith of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, as recorded in the next three verses. Isaac, for instance, achieved a place in faith’s hall of fame because he invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. What was remarkable about that? Before the children were born, the Lord announced to Rebekah that the boys would become the source of two nations and that the older (Esau) would serve the younger (Jacob). Esau was Isaac’s favorite and, as the elder son, would normally have received the best portion from his father. But Rebekah and Jacob deceived Isaac, whose sight was now poor, into giving the best blessing to Jacob. When the plot was exposed, Isaac trembled violently. But he remembered God’s word that the older would serve the younger, and in spite of his predilection for Esau, he realized that God’s overruling of his natural weakness must stand. 11:21 There were many inglorious chapters in the life of Jacob, but he is honored as a hero of faith nevertheless. His character improved with age and he died in a burst of glory. When he blessed Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, he crossed his hands so that the older son’s blessing fell on Ephraim, the younger. In spite of Joseph’s protests, Jacob insisted that the blessings must stand because this was the order which the Lord had specified. Though his physical sight was dim, his spiritual sight was keen. The closing scene of Jacob’s life finds him worshiping while leaning on the top of his staff. C. H. Mackintosh summarizes in his usual lovely style: The close of Jacob’s career stands in most pleasing contrast with all the previous scenes of his eventful history. It reminds one of a serene evening after a tempestuous day: the sun, which during the day had been hidden from view by clouds, mists, and fogs, sets in majesty and brightness, gilding with his beams the western sky, and holding out the cheering prospect of a bright tomorrow. Thus it is with our aged patriarch. The supplanting, the bargain-making, the cunning, the management, the shifting, the shuffling, the unbelieving selfish fears,all those dark clouds of nature and of earth seem to have passed away, and he comes forth, in all the calm elevation of faith, to bestow blessings, and impart dignities, in that holy skillfulness which communion with God can alone impart. 11:22 Joseph’s faith was also strong when he was dying. He believed God’s promise that He would deliver the people of Israel out of Egypt. Faith enabled him to picture the exodus already. It was so sure to him that he instructed his sons to carry his bones with them for burial in Canaan. Thus, writes William Lincoln, while surrounded by Egypt’s pomp and splendor, his heart was not there at all, but with his people in their future glory and blessing.11:23 It is really the faith of his parents and not of Moses himself that is in view here. As they looked on their baby, they saw he was a beautiful childbut it was more than physical beauty.

They saw that he was a child of destiny, one whom God had marked out for a special work. Their faith that God’s purposes would be worked out gave them courage to defy the king’s command and to hide the child for three months. 11:24 By faith Moses himself was able to make several noble renunciations. Though reared in the luxury of Egypt’s palace and assured of all the things that men strive for, he learned that it is not the possession of things but the forsaking of them that brings rest (J. Gregory Mantle). First of all, he refused Egypt’s fame. He was the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter and therefore assured of a place in the social elite, perhaps even as Pharaoh’s successor. But he had been born of better blooda member of God’s chosen earthly people. From this nobility he could not step down to Egypt’s royalty. In his adult years he made his choice; he would not hide his true nationality to win a few short years of earthly fame. The result? Instead of occupying a line or two of hieroglyphics on some obscure tomb, he is memorialized in God’s eternal Book. Instead of being found in a museum as an Egyptian mummy, he is famous as a man of God. 11:25 Second, he repudiated the pleasures of Egypt. Humble association with the suffering people of God meant more to him than the transient gratification of his appetites. The privileges of sharing ill-treatment with his own people was greater pleasure to him than dissipation in Pharaoh’s court. 11:26 Third, he turned his back on the treasures in Egypt. Faith enabled him to see that the fabulous treasure houses of Egypt were worthless in the light of eternity. So he chose to suffer the same kind of reproach as the Messiah would later suffer. Loyalty to God and love for His people were valued by him more that the combined wealth of Pharaoh. He knew that these were the things that would count one minute after he died. 11:27 Then, he also renounced Egypt’s monarch. Emboldened by faith, he made his exit from the land of bondage, careless of the wrath of the king. It was a clear break from the politics of this world. He feared Pharaoh so little because he feared God so much. He kept his eyes on the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen (1Ti_6:15-16). 11:28 Finally, he rejected Egypt’s religion. By instituting the Passover and by sprinkling the blood, he emphatically separated himself from Egyptian idolatry forever. He flung down the gauntlet in defiance of the religious establishment. For him, salvation was through the blood of the lamb, not through the waters of the Nile. As a result, the firstborn of Israel were spared while the firstborn of Egypt were slain by the destroyer. 11:29 At first the Red Sea seemed to spell disaster to the Hebrew refugees. With the enemy in hot pursuit, they seemed to be trapped. But in obedience to God’s word, they moved forward and the waters parted: The Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided (Exo_14:21). When the Egyptians tried to follow, their chariot wheels became clogged, the waters returned to their usual place, and Pharaoh’s armies were drowned. Thus the Red Sea became a causeway of deliverance to Israel but a dead end of doom to the Egyptians. 11:30 The walled city of Jericho was the first military objective in the conquest of Canaan. Reason would claim that such an impregnable fortress could be taken only by superior forces. But faith’s methods are different. God uses strategies that appear foolish to men in order to accomplish His purposes. He told the people to encircle the city for seven days. On the seventh day they were to march around it seven times. The priests were to give a loud blast on their trumpets, the people were to shout, and the walls would fall. Military experts would write off the method as ludicrous. But it worked! The weapons of the spiritual warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy strongholds (2Co_10:4). 11:31 We do not know when the harlot Rahab became a worshiper of Jehovah, but it is clear that she did. She abandoned the false religion of Canaan to become a Jewish proselyte. Her faith received a rigorous test when the spies came to her home. Would she be loyal to her country and her fellow countrymen, or would she be true to the Lord? She decided to stand on the Lord’s side, even if it meant betraying her country. By giving friendly welcome to the spies, she and her family were spared, while her disobedient neighbors perished. 11:32 At this point the writer asks a rhetorical question: And what more shall I say? He has given an imposing list of men and women who demonstrated faith and endurance in OT times. How many more must he give in order to make his point? He has not run out of examples, but only out of time. It would take too long to go into details so he will satisfy himself to name a few and catalog some triumphs and testings of faith. There was Gideon whose army was reduced from 32,000 to 300. First the timid were sent home, then those who thought too much of their own comfort. With a hard core of true disciples, Gideon routed the Midianites. Then there was Barak. When called to lead Israel to battle against the Canaanites, he agreed only on the condition that Deborah would go with him. In spite of this cowardly facet in his character, God saw real trust and lists him among the men of faith. Samson was another man of obvious weakness. Yet, in spite of that, God detected the faith that enabled him to kill a young lion with his hands, to destroy thirty Philistines in Ashkelon, to slay one thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey, to carry away the gates of Gaza, and finally to pull down the temple of Dagon and slay more Philistines in his death than he had in his life. Though an illegitimate child, Jephthah rose to be the deliverer of his people from the Ammonites. He illustrates the truth that faith enables a man to rise above his birth and environment and make history for God. The faith of David shines out in his contest with Goliath, in his noble behavior toward Saul, in his capture of Zion, and in countless other episodes. In his psalms, we find his faith crystallized in penitence, praise, and prophecy. Samuel was the last of Israel’s judges and her first prophet. He was God’s man for the nation at a time when the priesthood was marked by spiritual bankruptcy. He was one of the greatest leaders in Israel’s history. Add to this list the prophets, a noble band of God’s spokesmen, men who were embodied consciences, who would rather die than lie, who would rather go to heaven with a good conscience than stay on earth with a bad one. 11:33 The writer now turns from naming people of faith to citing their exploits. They subdued kingdoms. Here our minds turn to Joshua, to the judges (who were really military leaders), to David, and to others. They worked righteousness. Kings like Solomon, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Hezekiah, and Josiah are remembered for reigns which, though not perfect, were characterized by righteousness. They obtained promises. This may mean that God made covenants with them, as in the case of Abraham, Moses, David, and Solomon; or it may mean that they received the fulfillment of promises, thus demonstrating the truth of God’s word. They stopped the mouths of lions. Daniel is an outstanding example here (Dan_6:22), but we should also remember Samson (Jdg_14:5-6) and David (1Sa_17:34-35). 11:34 They quenched the violence of fire. The fiery furnace succeeded only in burning the fetters of the three young Hebrews and setting them free (Dan_3:25). Thus it proved to be a blessing in disguise. They escaped the edge of the sword. David escaped Saul’s malicious attacks (1Sa_19:9-10), Elijah escaped the murderous hatred of Jezebel (1Ki_19:1-3), and Elisha escaped from the king of Syria (2Ki_6:15-19). They won strength out of weakness. Many symbols of weakness are found in the annals of faith. Ehud, for instance, was left-handed; yet he slew the king of Moab (Jdg_3:12-22). Jael, a member of the weaker sex, killed Sisera with a tent peg (Jdg_4:21). Gideon used fragile earthen pitchers in the defeat of the Midianites (Jdg_7:20). Samson used the jawbone of a donkey to slay one thousand Philistines (Jdg_15:15). They all illustrate the truth that God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the strong (1Co_1:27). They became valiant in battle. Faith endowed men with strength beyond what was natural and enabled them to overcome in the face of insurmountable odds. They put to flight the armies of the aliens. Though often under-equipped and greatly outnumbered, the armies of Israel walked off with the victory to the confusion of the foe and the amazement of everyone else. 11:35 Women received their dead by resurrection. The widow of Zarephath (1Ki_17:22) and the woman of Shunem (2Ki_4:34) are cases in point. But faith has another face. In addition to those who performed dazzling feats, there were those who endured intense suffering. God values the latter as much as the former. Because of their faith in the Lord, some were subjected to cruel torture. If they would have renounced Jehovah, they would have been released; but to them it was better to die and be raised again to heavenly glory than to continue this life as traitors to God. In the time of the Maccabees, a mother and her seven sons were put to death, one after the other, and in sight of each other, by Antiochus Epiphanes. They refused to accept release that they might obtain a better resurrection, that is, better than a mere continuation of life on earth. Morrison comments: So this is also a result of faith, not that it brings deliverance to a man, but that sometimes, when deliverance is offered, it gives him a fine courage to refuse it. There are seasons when faith shows itself in taking. There are seasons when it is witnessed in refusing. There is a deliverance that faith embraces. There is a deliverance that faith rejects. They were tortured, not accepting deliverancethat was the sign and seal that they were faithful. There are hours when the strongest proof of faith is the swift rejection of the larger room. 11:36 Others were mocked and flogged, and were bound in prison. For faithfulness to God, Jeremiah endured all these forms of punishment (Jer_20:1-6; Jer_37:15). Joseph too was imprisoned because he would rather suffer than sin (Gen_39:20). 11:37 They were stoned. Jesus reminded the scribes and Pharisees that their ancestors had murdered Zechariah in this way between the sanctuary and the altar (Mat_23:35). They were sawn in two. Tradition says that Manasseh used this method of executing Isaiah. They were tempted. This clause probably describes the tremendous pressures that were brought to bear on believers to compromise, to recant, to commit acts of sin, or in any way to deny their Lord. They were slain with the sword. Uriah the prophet paid this price for his faithful proclamation of God’s message to King Jehoiakim (Jer_26:23); but the expression here refers to mass slaughter such as occurred in the times of the Maccabees. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. Moorehead comments: They might have rustled in silks and velvets and luxuriated in the palaces of princes had they denied God and believed the world’s lie. Instead, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, themselves accounted no better than goats or sheep, nay, they like these reckoned fit only for the slaughter. They suffered poverty, privation, and persecution. 11:38 The world treated them as if they were not worthy to live. But the Spirit of God burst forth here with the interjection that actually it was the other way aroundthe world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. Dispossessed of homes, separated from families, pursued like animals, expelled from society, they endured heat and cold, distress and hardship, but they would not deny their Lord. 11:39 God has borne witness to the faith of these OT heroes, yet they died before receiving the fulfillment of the promise. They did not live to see the Advent of the long awaited Messiah or to enjoy the blessings that would flow from His ministry. 11:40 God had reserved something better for us. He had arranged that they should not be made perfect apart from us. They never did enjoy a perfect conscience as far as sin was concerned; and they will not enjoy the full perfection of the glorified body in heaven until we are all caught up to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). The spirits of OT saints are already perfect in the presence of the Lord (Heb_12:23), but their bodies will not be raised from among the dead until the Lord returns for His people. Then they will enjoy the perfection of resurrection glory. To put it another way, the OT believers were not as privileged as we are. Yet think of their thrilling triumphs and tremendous trials! Think of their exploits and their endurance! They lived on the other side of the cross; we live in the full glory of the cross. Yet how do our lives compare with theirs? This is the cogent challenge of Hebrews 11.