Deeper Commentary
CHAPTER 11
11:1 Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction about
invisible things- The context of this discourse about faith is to be
found in chapter 10. The Hebrew Christians were abandoning faith in Jesus
as Christ and returning to the visible, concrete things of the temple
system for their salvation and justification before God. All the examples
of faith now given are to be understood in that context. As noted on 1:1,
this discourse is based upon Stephen's in Acts 7, which would have been a
mainstay of Hebrew Christian faith.
Yet the definition of faith here is deeply relevant to our materialistic
age which seeks for science to prop up faith, and demands that spiritual
understanding be inline with observable phenomena as defined and
understood by contemporary science. The definitions of faith given here
preclude any appeal to science as 'proving' God's existence or the truth
of His word. Science cannot prove faith nor underpin it, for faith is
assurance in "invisible things". The "things hoped for" are those of
chapter 10- the "hope" of the Christian is not a hope for the best at
judgment day, but a solid conviction that our sin has been dealt with and
we can confidently anticipate the promise of eternal inheritance at the
last day. The complaint that science conflicts with faith is misplaced;
for faith is not about observable things. The whole thrust of
'apologetics' is therefore seriously misplaced. No amount of
archaeological evidence or historical support or the intricacies observed
in the natural creation can provide faith. A generation of Christians
raised on this kind of thing is now wilting in faith, confronted by
scientific evidence which brings these things into question. Perhaps they
never had the faith spoken of here in Heb. 11:1.
Faith is the assurance that the hope of salvation shall come true for us.
Issues such as how God created the world are not in view here. "Assurance"
is the word used of our "confidence" in salvation in 3:14. The argument
may appear logically faulty, at first blush- faith itself is the
confidence, whereas we would expect faith to have some kind of basis.
Faith comes by hearing the Gospel; when confronted with the message of
salvation, there is a power within the message itself which compels faith.
This is all the stuff of the Spirit, and the secular mind recoils at such
statements. But the few thousand former atheists I baptized in the former
USSR all came to faith not through scientific 'evidence' nor the
argumentation of apologetics; but from being confronted with the Gospel of
itself. Thus indeed, the basis for faith is faith- which appears a
circular argument to the literalist and the materialist, but millions of
transformed lives are a far greater witness. And the man who structures
his life and thinking on the sole basis of rationalism, empiricism and
literalism is not a happy chappy. Indeed, there is no such person. Faith
is the "conviction" or "evidence". The evidence for faith is faith. Yes,
it is therefore a leap in the dark. But so in fact is every position held,
for nobody is a pure rationalist or literalist, believing only what is
before their two eyes. The ultimate thing "not seen" is our salvation,
which we hope for patiently (Rom. 8:24,25; Mt. 13:17; 2 Cor. 4:18). Noah
saw by faith what could not be seen- his salvation from the flood (:7).
Elsewhere in the New Testament, faith is predicated upon connection with
the Lord Jesus; the Son is the only way to the Father, and it is through
or on account of the Son that we believe on the Father (1 Pet. 1:21). Any
claim to 'believe in God' which is not predicated upon faith in Jesus is
therefore not real faith in God as Biblically defined. To believe is to
trust; not simply to intellectually accept that there is likely to be some
higher power. The 'belief' in God of non-Christian religions and
philosophies is not therefore Biblical faith in God. Faith in Him comes
from hearing His word, which is about Jesus.
11:2 For on account of their faith, the elders had witness borne to them-
The various translations all suggest that God has already judged those "elders" who have died in faith: “gained approval” (NASB), “received approval” (NRSV), “were commended” (NIV), “were attested” (NAB), “obtained good report” (KJV), and “obtained a testimony” (Rheims). The idea is that God's acceptance of a person is directly related to their faith / trust in His salvation of them. Believe it, and He will give it to you. We are invited to think that God has already judged them. So the purpose of the future judgment seat will be for our benefit, and not for Him to gather information and form a judgment.
These "elders" may not refer to those of whom we shall go on to
read. I suggested on 1:1 that the Jerusalem church is being addressed
here, and that the Hebrew letter is shot through with allusions to
Stephen, their martyr. And nowhere is that clearer than in Hebrews 11,
which is based upon Stephen's witness in Acts 7. The same word for "had
witness borne" is translated "of good report", concerning the elders of
the Jerusalem church (Acts 6:3). "Elders" is the word repeatedly used
about the "elders" of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:2,4,6,22,23; 16:4).
The founding elders of the Hebrew congregation in Jerusalem were therefore
publically commended for their open faith in the Lord Jesus and resistance
of the temple system; and the Hebrew audience were to follow their example
rather than quitting Christianity and returning to Judaism.
11:3 By faith we understand that the ages have been framed by the word
of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which appear-
This is no reference to the world being created ex nihilo, out of
nothing. The ages (aion) were prepared according to God's
word, the Gospel; but we only perceive history from that perspective "by
faith". Revelation puts this truth in a different way by saying that the
Lamb opened the seals of future history through His sacrifice. The
structure of all history revolves around His work as explained in the
Gospel, "the word of God". The things which are now seen are not the
things of faith, which cannot be seen (:1). In the context of this chapter
and its position within the letter, the things which are seen referred to
the temple system (see on :1). Those things were not created out of the
reality of Christ which had now appeared. Understood properly, this is
actually a strong case against the personal pre-existence of the Lord
Jesus. They were not made out of Him, He who appeared or was manifest in
His life and death, but pointed forward to Him, as a shadow, rather than
being the very reality from which He came and would have therefore been
subservient to.
11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God
bearing witness in respect to his gifts; and through it he, though being
dead, still speaks- As noted on :1, the examples of faith in this
chapter relate to faith in the invisible rather than the visible, concrete
things of tabernacle ritual; and to faith in the Lord's sacrifice. It was
by faith in that future sacrifice that Abel offered a blood offering,
because he believed the principle of 9:22, that without shedding of the
Lord's blood there could be no remission of sins. God bore witness to this
faith by sending fire from Heaven to consume his sacrifice, rather than
the vegetable sacrifice of Cain. That witness was not a recognition of his
obedience but of his righteousness. Given the strong message of
imputed righteousness in chapter 10, we are left to assume that through
faith in the Lord's future sacrifice to cover him, Abel was counted
righteous just as Abraham was, and just as we are. In that sense he "still
speaks" to us by way of example.
Heb. 11:4 speaks of God bearing witness, giving a verbal testimony, to
Abel’s sacrifice, and that through that witness Abel is as it were still
speaking to us, in that to this day God is still speaking / testifying to
that acceptable act of service performed by Abel. Abel, through the
account of him in Scripture, "is yet spoken of" (Heb. 11:4 AVmg.) in the
Biblical record. Isaiah was prophesying directly to the hypocrites of the
first century, according to the Lord in Mk. 7:6 RV. God says that He
'watches over My word to perform it' (Jer. 1:12 RV). Thus God didn't just
write the Bible as we write words, and forget it. He remains actively
aware of all His words and consciously fulfils them. This is another
window into the way in which the word of God can be described as a living
word. There is an active quality to the words we read in our Bibles.
Who we are is in reality our judgment. After death, our works "follow us"
to judgment (Rev. 14:13). According to Jewish thought, men's actions
followed them as witnesses before the court of God, and this is the idea
being picked up here. There is a great emphasis in Hebrews 11 on the way
that each man has a "witness", "testimony" or "report" as a result of his
life (Heb. 11:4,5,14,39). Because of this the dead are still spoken for,
in that God keeps and knows that testimony, and it speaks for them (Heb.
11:4 AV mg.). They are 'alive', not personally in conscious form, but in
the memory and testimony of God.
11:5 By faith Enoch was snatched away so that he should not be killed;
and he was not found, because God had taken him away. He had witness borne
to him, that before his being snatched away he had been well pleasing to
God- Paul wrote this to Hebrew Christians under persecution, believing
that the second coming was at the doors, and soon they too would be
snatched away to safety from persecution (1 Thess. 4:17). Paul was urging
them to believe as Enoch did, and to be confident of final salvation as
well as preservation in this life. He was "well pleasing" in that he
believed (:6). Perhaps the example of Enoch is chosen because his ancester
was Cain, who did not please God, in contrast to Abel who has just
been mentioned (:4). The point would be that we can break out from our
surrounding environment, we are not inevitably, genetically tied in to any
spiritual situation, but there is available to us the radical power of new
creation in the Spirit (2 Cor. 5:17). There is no reason here to believe
that Enoch was snatched away to Heaven or immortality, for the wages of
sin is death; and Enoch was not perfect. The Lord Jesus was the first to
rise from the dead and receive immortality (1 Cor. 15:20-23).
The "witness borne to him that he had been well pleasing unto God” is
courtroom language. Could it not be that his representative / guardian
Angel in the court of Heaven had made this testimony to God Almighty?
11:6 And without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to Him. For
he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He rewards those
that seek after Him- Our faith in God is a seeking after Him. To
believe / trust in Him is to seek Him. Whilst this may be a Hebraism for
worship, it is all the same true that faith is not a finding of God, an
arrival at a point where we have all our questions answered and all
intellectual struggles resolved. That position, which is only theoretical,
would not be one of faith but of simplistic dogmatism and literalism. Our
faith is not simply in Him, but in the fact that we really shall receive
the promised salvation or "reward".
There are a few NT references to the Yahweh Name. One of them is in Heb.
11:6: he who comes to God must first [most importantly] believe that He
is [a reference to He who is who He is, and will be who He will be],
and that therefore, as an intrinsic part of who He is, He will be a
rewarder of His people. Surely the point is that it's not just knowing the
Name theoretically, it is to believe it- that He who is, really is
in our lives. Who God is, i.e. His Name, is an imperative to
believe Him and be like Him. If we are His sons and daughters, who He is
becomes quite naturally the law of our being. Thus we should love our
enemies, because God makes His sun [cp. 'our' goodness] to rise on
both His friends and enemies. As we reflect on the massive power that
every moment works to move the sun and earth around each other, so every
moment we have an imperative to love.
This is why belief in God cannot be merely an intellectual act occurring
within certain brain cells. Belief means action in some way. Belief and
the act of baptism are necessary for salvation; but some NT passages speak
as if faith alone saves. This is reconciled by understanding that faith,
true faith, includes works. James reasons that there is no distinction
between true faith and works. They are part of the same nexus. Thus when
we read in the NT of belief in Christ, the normal construction with a
dative case was dropped and instead a preposition is used with the verb-
belief into Christ is the idea, with implied reference to baptism
into Him and an active life in Him as a result of our
belief. To be brethren in Christ is not to just believe Christ or God, but
to believe into them in practice. R.T. Lovelock comments: "The NT
writers felt the importance of this utter trust in God so strongly, that
they originated a new construction in their language to emphasise the
concept and force it upon the attention of their readers".
11:7 By faith Noah, being warned concerning things not seen as yet-
The unseen things were of judgment to come for sin, and of salvation
through the ark into a new world, typical of God's future Kingdom on
earth. The same word for "warned" is used of how we are not to refuse the
Lord's warning voice today (12:25).
Moved with Godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his household. By
this he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is
according to faith-
Noah's fear of judgment to come was because he too was a sinner, and he
feared judgment. He was in the position of those Hebrews who had a fearful
looking forward to judgment because they had refused the sanctifying,
saving work of the Lord Jesus (10:27). But he did something about it- he
built the ark and entered it, understanding something of how Peter
understood it- that it represented the Lord Jesus.
Noah is one of several examples in Hebrews 11 of where the faith of a
third party can save others; it was by his faith that he saved his family.
And as with Abel, we see that the idea of imputed righteousness was around
far before Abraham. Righteousness was imputed to him because he feared
condemnation for his sins. He believed that the salvation system offered
him would work, and did what was required to enter it and remain within
it. And thus he was counted righteous. This was done for him without the
offering of sacrifice or participation in any ritual; he accepted
salvation in the ark and did what he could to build it. This was of course
highly relevant to the Hebrew Christians seeking to return to sacrifices
and ritual.
Noah's response was not to smugly reflect how that soon he would be
vindicated for his separation from the world, i.e. for his own personal
righteousness. Instead he took seriously God's warning that sinners were
to soon be destroyed. Noah was, of course, a sinner as we all are. He
therefore must have cried out to God in faith, asking for God to count him
as if he were righteous, so that he would be saved from the coming
judgments against sin. This is how he had righteousness imputed to him. He
showed his faith that God really had justified him by doing something
physical- his faith led to the 'works' of building the ark; as our faith
likewise leads us to baptism into Christ.
Noah's very example was a condemnation of his world; the very existence of
believing Gentiles judges the Jews as condemned (Rom. 2:27); and the very
existence of the repentant Ninevites condemned first century Israel (Mt.
12:41). The faithful preaching of the Corinthians would judge an
unbeliever (1 Cor. 14:24). Noah's very act of righteousness in building
the ark condemned / judged those who saw it and didn't respond (Heb.
11:7). The fact the Pharisees' children cast out demons condemned the
Pharisees (Mt. 12:27). This is why the rejected will be shamed before the
accepted; they will bow in shame at their feet (Rev. 3:9; 16:15). Perhaps
it is in this sense that "we shall judge angels" (1 Cor. 6:3)- rejected
ecclesial elders, cp. the angels of the churches in Rev. 2,3? The point
is, men's behaviour and conduct judges others because of the contrast it
throws upon them. And this was supremely true of the Lord. No wonder in
the naked shame and glory of the cross lay the supreme "judgment of this
world".
11:8- see on Gen. 12:4.
By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed-
This statement itself is an example of imputed
righteousness. The Greek implies that as soon as God called Abram,
he got up and left Ur. But a closer examination of the record indicates
that this wasn't absolutely the case. It is stressed that both Abram and
Sarai left Ur because "Terah took Abram his son... and Sarai his
daughter in law" (Gen. 11:31). Abram had been called to leave Ur, separate
from his family and go into Canaan. But instead he followed his father to
Haran, and lived there (for some years, it seems) until his father died,
and then he responded to his earlier call to journey towards Canaan. The
Genesis record certainly reads as if Abram was dominated by his father and
family, and this militated against an immediate response to the call he
received to leave Ur and journey to Canaan. At best his father's decision
enabled him to obey the command to leave Ur without having to break with
his family. And yet, according to Heb. 11:8, Abram immediately responded,
as an act of faith. But it was a moment of faith.
For some unrevealed reason, perhaps the invasion of the area by hostile
tribes, the workings of providence made Terah take the decision to leave
Ur. Because 'Canaan' would have been relatively unheard of (Abram "went
out, not knowing whither he went", Heb. 11:8 AV) and uncivilized compared
to Ur, it is possible to speculate that Abram had told Terah about the
promise he had received. Terah then may have decided that such a promise
ought to involve him as Abram's father, and decided to go with
Abram. Terah must have had a very high level of motivation to leave
cosmopolitan Ur for uncivilized Canaan. "Terah took Abram"
certainly implies that some unrecorded circumstances took the decision out
of Abram's hands; he had to leave his own country, because his father had
ordered a mass emigration of the family. How hard it must have been for
Abram to make sense of all this! He had been told to leave his family and
country, and travel to a land God would show him. At that point in time,
he was unaware that that country would be Canaan. How God would lead him
was unexplained. But he believed God, and "when he was called to go out
into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed"
(Heb. 11:8). Therefore when his father announced that they were emigrating
to Canaan, Abram would have realized that this was a Divine prod to obey
the call from God to get up and leave. Unlike the rest of Terah's
unrecorded family, who would have mocked such a crazy plan, Abram
willingly submitted. But how was he to leave his kindred and father's
house? For they were coming with him! Indeed, Terah "took Abram". Thus
Abram had faith in God's promise, yet may have balked at the command to
leave his country and family. Providentially arranged circumstances then
resulted in his aging father taking him, implying some degree of
compulsion, and leading him out of his native country. Whilst not fully
understanding how he could leave his father's household whilst they looked
set to be accompanying him on this journey to a strange land, he went
ahead in faith. It is emphasized that God "brought out" (s.w. to
lead, pluck or pull out) Abram from Ur (Neh. 9:7; Gen. 15:6,7). The
calling came through Abram's hearing of the word of promise, and
providentially arranged circumstances encouraging his faithful response to
it.
And left for a place which he was to receive for an inheritance
afterwards. And he left not knowing where he was going to- The promise of inheritance was of "eternal
inheritance" (9:15), the same promise made in the new covenant to us.
Detailed information or knowledge about the future Kingdom was not
required; he didn't know where he was going to. And contrary to the
apparently solid, permanent location of Judah in Palestine at the time,
this was not the receipt of the promised inheritance. Abraham's faith or
trust was in that he did not understand the details; he just said yes to
God as far as he understood God.
11:9 By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as yet not
his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of
the same promise- Abraham had been an urban dweller, both in Ur and
Haran; not a bedouin. He became a wandering herdsman and tent dweller by
faith in the promises to him. The chronology provided in Genesis actually
allows for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to have all lived together at some
point in the same encampment. "A sojourner" refers to the way Abraham
recognized he was "a stranger and a sojourner" in the land (Gen. 22:4) and
therefore needed to buy a burial plot there for his wife.
11:10 For he looked for the city which has the foundations, whose
builder and maker is God- The urban dweller who by faith lived as a
nomad always hankered after a solid city- but not Ur. He overcame the
desire to return to the city of his roots by focusing instead upon the
future Kingdom of God, called her "the city". This was relevant for the
Jerusalem Church who are being addressed here, tempted as they were to
return to the stability of the temple city. The "architect" (Gk.) of the
future city was God; recalling how the ages of human history were "framed"
by God (:3). The foundation of God's work is the doctrine of the Christ
(6:1); He is also portrayed as the "foundation" in 1 Cor. 3:11 and Eph.
2:20. Abraham perceived that his future seed would be the foundation of
his own eternal city. Again we see that it is faith in Christ which was
the basis of the "faith" of Abraham and others mentioned here.
11:11 By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive seed when
she was past age, since she counted Him faithful who had made the promise-
The seed of Abraham was only realized by faith, despite so many
reasons to disbelieve. If faith were based upon rational evidence then she
could never have come to such faith.
This personal nature of the promises resulted in a mutuality between God
and the patriarchs, as it can between Him and all Abraham's seed. God’s
present judgment of us is actually related to how we ‘judge’ God to be.
There’s a mutuality between God and man in this business of present
judgment. This theme is played on throughout Hebrews 11. Sarah “judged”
God as faithful, and He ‘judged’ her as faithful (Heb. 11:11); she counted
Him as trustworthy and He counted righteousness to her. As Abraham “was
offering up Isaac” (RV), with the knife raised, he was “accounting” God to
be capable of performing a resurrection, just as Moses quit the riches of
Egypt, “accounting the reproach of Christ greater than the treasures of
Egypt” (Heb. 11:17,19,26 RV). And yet God ‘accounts’ us to be faithful,
imputing righteousness to us. Through these acts and attitudes of faith,
“these… had witness borne to them through their faith” (Heb. 11:39 RV). It
was as if their lives were lived in the courtroom, with their actions a
constant presentation of evidence to the judge of all the earth. Our
judgment of God to be faithful thus becomes His judgment of us to be
faithful.
"Even Sarah herself" is clearly making a point, holding up a flashing
light over this particular example. There is every reason to think, from
the Genesis record, that Sarah not only lacked faith in the promises, but
also had a bitter, unspiritual mind. The account alludes back to Eve's
beguiling of Adam when it records how "Abram hearkened to the voice of
Sarai" (Gen. 16:2) in acquiescing to her plan to give her a seed through
Abram marrying his slave girl. The whole thing between Sarah and Abraham
seems wrong on at least two counts: firstly it reflects a lack of faith in
the promise; and secondly it flouts God's ideal standards of marriage.
Sarai seems to have recognized the error when she bitterly comments to
Abram: "My wrong be upon thee" (16:5). Her comment that "the Lord hath
restrained me from bearing" (16:2) would suggest that she thought she
hadn't been chosen to bear the promised seed. Yet because of her faith,
says Heb. 11:11, she received strength to bear that seed. Hagar was
so persecuted by Sarah that she "fled from her face" (16:6). God's
attitude to Hagar seems to reflect a certain amount of sympathy for the
harsh way in which Sarah had dealt with her. These years of bitterness and
lack of faith came to the surface when Sarah overheard the Angel assuring
Abraham that Sarah really would have a son. She mockingly laughed at the
promise, deep within herself (18:15). Yet according to Heb. 11:11, she
rallied her faith and believed. But as soon as Isaac was born, her
bitterness flew to the surface again when she was Ishmael mocking. In what
can only be described as unrestrained anger, she ordered Hagar and Ishmael
out into the scorching desert, to a certain death (humanly speaking).
Again, one can sense the sympathy of God for Hagar at this time. And so
wedged in between incidents which belied a deep bitterness, lack of faith
and pride (after Isaac was born), the Spirit in Heb. 11:11 discerns her
faith; on account of which, Heb. 11:12 implies ("therefore"), the whole
purpose of God in Christ could go forward. See on Gal. 4:30.
Because of Sarah’s faith, “therefore sprang there...so many as the stars
of the sky in multitude” (:11,12). Those promises to Abraham had their
fulfilment, but conditional on Abraham and Sarah’s faith. Gen. 18:18-20
says that the fulfilment of the promises was conditional on Abraham
teaching his children / seed the ways of God. Those promises / prophesies
were “sure” in the sense that God’s side of it was. Rom. 4:18 likewise
comments that Abraham became “the father of many nations” precisely
because he believed in this hope. Yet the promise / prophecy that
he would be a father of many nations could sound as if it would have
happened anyway, whatever. But it was actually conditional upon Abraham’s
faith. And he is our great example exactly because he had the possibility
and option of not believing in the hope he had been offered. The
promises to Abraham form the new covenant, of which Paul has had so much
to say in Hebrews. And yet the realization of it depends upon faith, just
as it had earlier depended upon the faith of Abraham and Sarah, no matter
how fragile that faith was.
"Faith" in Hebrews 11 often refers to faith in Christ, the seed of
Abraham. Perhaps we are to understand Sarah's faith that conception would
occur as motivated by her faith that the promises of the great seed would
have to come true through her as the legitimate wife of Abraham. So it was
by her shadowy faith in Christ as the future seed that she sound the faith
to believe that her old body could bear a child.
11:12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as
many as the stars of the sky in multitude- innumerable as the sand which
is by the seashore- According to Heb. 11:12, God’s promises to Abraham
were fulfilled on account of his faith; God in some way allowed Himself to
be potentially limited by Abraham’s faith. Indeed, the promised world-wide
blessing of all nations was promised only “because thou hast obeyed my
voice” (Gen. 22:16,18). In this sense the covenants of salvation were
partly due to another man [Abraham] being faithful [although above all our
salvation was due to the Lord Jesus]. In this sense he is the “father” of
the faithful.
Abraham was impotent, "as good as dead". The argument here is so similar
to that in Rom. 4:19. Abraham believed his body could be empowered to do
it, "without being weakened in faith", the same word translated “impotent”
in Jn. 5:7. Abraham was physically impotent, perhaps even seriously ill
and weak at the time the promise was given- but not impotent or weak in
faith. The idea of the Greek is that Abraham didn’t weaken in faith as he
observed / considered his body. "Considered" in Rom. 4:19 means that he
didn't fix his mind upon the fact his body was dead (i.e. impotent) and
unable to produce seed. He wasn't obsessed with his state, yet he lived a
life of faith that ultimately God's Kingdom would come, he rejoiced at the
contemplation of Christ his Lord; and he filled his life with
practical service. He wasn't obsessed with the fact that in his marital
position he personally couldn't have children when it seemed this was what
God wanted him to do; and this was very pleasing to God. Nor did he
consider the "deadness of Sarah’s womb". So often we allow the apparent
weakness of others to become a barrier to our faith. ‘She’ll never change…
she just isn’t capable of that’. But Abraham not only believed that he could
do it, but that the apparent obstacle of another’s weakness was also
surmountable by the word of promise.
11:13 These all died in faith- The point is that they continued
believing until the end of their lives; they did not give up. And that was
a necessary exhortation for the Hebrew Christians who were giving up their
faith in Abraham's seed.
Not having received the promises, but having seen them, and greeted them
from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on
the earth- All the faithful went
through the same process: persuaded - embraced - confessed to the world
around them. Confessing was part of the natural response to belief of the
promises. Hearing God's word in faith is associated with declaring it
(Jer. 9:12). The confession of being a stranger was surely that made by
Abraham publicly to the local inhabitants of Canaan that he was a stranger
and sojourner amongst them (Gen. 22:4).
When we read that the faithful ‘saw’ the promises although they didn’t
receive them, we are surely meant to understand that they ‘saw’ the
fulfilment of the promises. This is the faith which sees that which
cannot be seen in natural visible terms (:1). ‘The promises’ are so sure
of fulfilment that the phrase is put by metonymy for ‘the fulfilment of
the promises’. And because of their utter certainty, we are to be
strangers and pilgrims, and unworldly (Heb. 11:13,14). There is therefore
an obvious link between doctrine and practice. A doctrine believed leads
to us coming out of this tangled world and unashamedly speaking of our
secular lives as not being what we really identify with. Believing the
promises to Abraham involves open confession to the world around us.
11:14 For they that say such things make it obvious that they are
seeking after a country of their own- Abraham made the statement that
he was a stranger and sojourner in Canaan whilst he was actually there in
the land (Gen. 22:4). Contrary to how Judaism reasoned, the literal
presence of the Jews in Palestine was not the fulfilment of the promises,
which spoke of "eternal inheritance". They were seeking a far greater
fulfilment of the promises (:16).
11:15 And if indeed they had been mindful of that country from which
they went out, they would have had opportunity to return- Abraham was
called to leave Ur and travel to Canaan, the land promised to him. If his
heart had remained in his native land, as the heart of most immigrants and
exiles does, God would have worked in his life to make it possible for him
to return to it, and thereby reject God's covenant with him. The fact
Abraham wasn't given this opportunity indicates his faith. It also shows
that God gives us the opportunity to renounce our faith if that is what we
want in our hearts (cp. Balaam).
11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one-
As noted on :14, the physical presence of the patriarchs in Canaan was
not seen by them as the fulfilment of the Abrahamic promises. They looked
for an "eternal inheritance" (see on 9:15). Their desire was for "a
heavenly [country]", not in the sense that they desired to go to Heaven-
for they were never promised that. They looked for the Kingdom of Heaven
to come on earth, symbolized in Revelation by the city of heavenly
Jerusalem coming to earth at the Lord's return. The "better" nature of
what they sought connects with how Hebrews uses this word of the "better"
things of the new covenant in contrast to the inferior things of the old
covenant. The old covenant offered Israel a national homeland, but no
"eternal inheritance" (9:15). It was life eternal, eternal inheritance of
the promised land, which was promised in the new covenant; it was that
which was so far "better" than the promise of the old covenant. "But now
they..." raises the question as to who is in view. The "they" of :15
were the patriarchs; but they were long dead and unconscious. The "they"
merges with us the Christian believers, identified with Abraham's seed by
baptism into that seed (Gal. 3:27-29).
Therefore God is not ashamed of them- to be called their God-
Right now, God is
ashamed or not ashamed of us, according to our separation from the spirit
of this world; and yet His not being ashamed of us will also be apparent
at the final judgment. We have our judgment now, from His point of view.
"To be called" is literally 'to be surnamed'. His Name becomes part of
ours, in spiritual terms; the things of His Name and purpose become
inextricably bound up with us, just as 'Abram' was changed to 'Abraham' by
inserting the middle letters of the Yahweh name into Abram's name- see on
Is. 44:5.
For He has prepared for them a city- This is the Kingdom on earth prepared from the
foundation of the world (Mt. 25:34). It is called a city because Paul
wants the Jerusalem Hebrew Christians to whom he is speaking to realize
that the "Jerusalem that now is" was not the true city of hope; and
neither was Rome. Heb. 11:13-16 contains some radical demands in a first
century context- to see the true city, when Rome was the
city to be identified with; to be a non-citizen of any earthly state… how
hard would that have been for Roman citizens to read, hear, and say ‘Amen’
to! This was particularly an issue for the Hebrew Christians, who were
attracted to return to Judaism because the Roman legislation permitted it
to exist as a recognized religion.
11:17 By faith Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he that
had gladly received the promises was offering up his only begotten son-
The tenses here are important. Abraham was counted as having offered up
Isaac; hence he figuratively received him back from the dead (:19). The
language of effective resurrection in :19 leads me away from thinking that
the mere act of placing Isaac on the altar was spoken of as Abraham having
"offered up Isaac". Abraham had done it in his mind. God counts our
intentions as if we have done them; hence in the matter of generous
giving, the desire to give is all important and counted all the same as
"giving" (2 Cor. 8:12). We too are asked to give up our children; not to
Molech, but to God. For our children are God's children whom we raise for
Him and trust Him to use them as part of a wider purpose which we have to
trust Him for.
"Was offering up" invites us to play Bible television with this verse. We
are taken back to Abraham there on Moriah. He who was remembering how he
had laughed with joy at the promise of the seed, rejoicing to see Christ's
day (Jn. 8:56), and naming the little boy "Isaac", 'laughter', to reflect
his joy... was now fighting back those memories as he was offering up
Isaac his son in sacrifice. "His only begotten son" emphasizes how this
was all pointing forward to God offering His only begotten. Seeing Abraham
had many other children, Paul may be rather forcing a similarity here,
perhaps reasoning that Isaac was Abraham's only son by his legitimate wife
Sarah.
11:18 Even he to whom it was said: In Isaac shall your seed be called-
As noted on :17, we are asked to imagine Abraham's thoughts as he was
offering up Isaac. He would have struggled to understand how this son of
promise could be the path to the promised seed, if he had to now offer
him. The faith displayed was therefore trust, trust that although we do
not rationally understand, we believe that God's purpose will somehow work
out. Again, faith is portrayed as not at all based on rational evidence or
reasoning (see on :1).
11:19 Abraham accounted that God is able to raise up, even from the
dead. From where he did, figuratively, receive him back- Abraham was
driven to the conclusion that God would resurrect Isaac, so that the
promises would be fulfilled. Faith in the Abrahamic promises likewise
requires faith in the resurrection of his Messianic seed; a faith which
the Hebrews were finding hard to maintain. Abraham's willingness to offer
Isaac was counted as if he had done it; hence the arising of Isaac from
the altar was effectively his resurrection. See on :17.
Abraham 'accounted' that God was able to raise Isaac; his faith involved
an intellectual process. Israel were to hear / understand “the statutes
and judgments… that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them” (Dt. 5:1).
Understanding is related to obedience. See on Rom. 10:10.
11:20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to
come- Yet the record of this in Gen. 27 doesn't paint Isaac in a very
positive light. “Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but
Rebekah loved Jacob" (Gen. 25:28). The AVmg. seems to bring out Isaac's
superficiality: "Isaac loved Esau, because venison was in his mouth". This
seems to connect with the way Esau threw away his birthright for the sake
of food in his mouth. Esau was evidently of the flesh, whilst Jacob had at
least some potential spirituality. Yet Isaac preferred Esau. He chose to
live in Gerar (Gen. 26:6), right on the border of Egypt- as close as he
could get to the world, without crossing the line. And he thought nothing
of denying his marriage to Rebekah, just to save his own skin (Gen. 26:7).
So it seems Isaac had some marriage problems; the record speaks of "Esau
his son" and "Jacob (Rebekah's) son" (Gen. 27:5,6). The way Jacob gave
Isaac wine "and he drank" just before giving the blessings is another hint
at some unspirituality (Gen. 27:25). Isaac seems not to have accepted the
Divine prophecy concerning his sons: “the elder shall serve the younger"
(Gen. 25:23), seeing that it was his intention to give Esau the blessings
of the firstborn, and thinking that he was speaking to Esau, he gave him
the blessing of his younger brothers (i.e. Jacob) serving him (Gen. 27:29
cp. 15). Isaac didn't accept the sale of the birthright, and yet God did
(Heb. 12:16,17). And yet, and this is my point, Isaac's blessing of
the two boys is described as an act of faith; even though it was done with
an element of disbelief in God's word of prophecy concerning the elder
serving the younger, and perhaps under the influence of alcohol, and even
though at the time Isaac thought he was blessing Esau when in fact it was
Jacob. Yet according to Heb. 11:20, this blessing of Esau and Jacob
(therefore Hebrews doesn't refer to the later blessing) was done with
faith; at that very point in time, Isaac had faith. So God's
piercing eye saw through Isaac's liking for the good life, through Isaac's
unspiritual liking for Esau, through his marriage problem, through his
lack of faith that the elder must serve the younger, and discerned that
there was some faith in that man Isaac; and then holds this up as a
stimulant for our faith, centuries later! Not only should we be exhorted
to see the good side in our present brethren; but we can take comfort that
this God is our God, and views our Christian hypocrisy in the same way as
He viewed theirs.
Isaac blessed his sons by faith concerning things to come (Heb. 11:20). "Things to come" is literally "to come", and consistently this term is used in Hebrews about the things of the coming Kingdom of God. Abraham "would after", in the coming age, receive the eternal inheritance of the land (s.w. Heb. 11:8); our "continuing city" is "to come" (Heb. 13:14); the fire of judgment "shall" (s.w.) devour the condemned at judgment day (Heb. 10:27); we have only a foretaste of the powers of the world "to come" (Heb. 6:5); the world "to come" (Heb. 2:5) is that of the Kingdom, when we "shall be" saved (Heb. 1:14). The other examples of faith in Hebrews 11 are of faith in the future Kingdom and in the things of the Lord Jesus. So we are to deduce from this that Isaac's blessing of his sons was done with a perspective of the Kingdom within him- even though so much of his blessing was misplaced, wrong and unspiritual. And so often we see this in the NT comment upon Old Testament incidents, such as Sarah's angry words to Hagar, and her mocking reference to Abraham "my lord being old also...".
11:21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of
Joseph and worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff- The Hebrew
for "bed" has the same consonants as "staff", and is translated "staff" in
the Septuagint, which Paul generally follows over the Masoretic text. It
may be that Jacob considered Joseph to be the special Messianic seed
(which he was, in type), and this would explain why Heb. 11:21 adds the
detail that at the end of his life, as he was dying on his bed, Jacob
showed his faith (i.e. his faith in Christ, which is the theme of Heb. 11)
by worshipping Joseph, propping himself up on the bed head with his last
energy to do it (Gk.). He clearly saw in him a type of his future
redeemer. He finally accepted the truth of Joseph's dream: that Jacob must
bow down to his greater son- although he reached this humility, this
bowing before the spirit of Christ, in his very last breath. It seems
probable that meditation on Joseph's experience was what brought Jacob to
Christ; he had managed to scheme and plot his way out of every other
crisis, but the loss of Joseph brought him to his knees helpless.
11:22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, made mention of the
departure of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his
bones- Joseph's faith was specifically in the promises to Abraham
concerning the eternal inheritance of Canaan. By faith he looked to the
day when Abraham's people would no longer be in Egypt but in Canaan, and
he wanted his bones buried in the promised land to show his identity with
that future Kingdom rather than all the wealth of secular life in Egypt.
And our lives too should be full of countless such acts of identity with
the things implied in the promises to Abraham.
11:23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid for three months by his
parents, because they saw he was a goodly child, and they were not afraid
of the king's commandment- "Faith" in Hebrews 11 generally refers to
faith in the Abrahamic promises which comprise the new covenant, and in
the promised, saviour seed of Abraham. It was this faith, rather than
simply faith that God would save their darling baby boy, which led to
Moses' parents hiding him. They perceived from babyhood that he was a
child "fair to God" (Heb.); maybe they thought he would be the promised
seed, or would at least typify that promised seed. So again it was their
faith in the Abraham promises which motivated them. Again we note the
salvation of a person as a result of the faith of third parties, just as
the Lord forgave the sins of a man because of the faith of his friends
(Mk. 2:5). Their faith in the promises meant that they did not fear the
commandment to kill Moses; and their faith was passed on to Moses, who in
maturity likewise did not fear the wrath of Pharaoh.
11:24- see on Acts 7:35.
By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of
Pharaoh's daughter- "When Moses was
grown, he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens...
when he was full forty years old it came into his heart to visit
his brethren... by faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter" (Ex. 2:11; Acts 7:23; Heb.
11:24). The implication seems to be that Moses reached a certain point of
maturity, of readiness, and then he went to his brethren. We too have
points of maturity we must reach before the Lord gives us our next task.
So at age 40, Moses came to a crisis. He had a choice between the riches
of Egypt, the pleasures of sin for a season, and choosing rather to suffer
affliction with God's people and thereby fellowship the reproach of
Christ. He probably had the chance to become the next Pharaoh, as the son
of Pharaoh's daughter; but he consciously refused this, as a pure act of
the will, as an expression of faith in the future recompense of the
Kingdom. There are a number of passages which invite us to follow
Moses' example in this. Paul was motivated in his rejection of worldly
advantage by Moses' inspiration. And as in all things, he is our example,
that we might follow Christ, who also turned down the very real
possibility of temporal rulership of the world- for the sake of living the
life of the cross, and thereby securing our redemption.
11:25 Choosing instead to share ill treatment with the people of God,
rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time- "(Moses)
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; having chosen
rather (Gk.) to suffer affliction with the people of God" (Heb.
11:24,25) suggests that there was a struggle within the mind of Moses,
between the reproach of Christ and the approbation of this world, and he
then decisively came down on the right side. If we are truly saints,
called out ones after the pattern of Moses, this struggle between present
worldly advantage and the hope of the Kingdom must surely be seen in our
minds. For this reason Moses is held up so highly as our example and
pattern.
Moses could have been the next Pharaoh; according to Josephus, he was the
commander of the Egyptian army. But he walked away from the possibility of
being the richest man on earth, he "refused" it, because he valued "the
reproach of Christ" and the recompense of the Kingdom to be greater
riches. Yet what did he know about the sufferings of Christ? Presumably he
had worked out from the promises of the seed in Eden and to the fathers
that the future Saviour must be reproached and rejected; and he saw that
his own life experience could have a close association with that of this
unknown future Saviour who would surely come. And therefore, it seems,
Moses counted the honour and wonder of this greater that the riches of
Egypt. Both Paul and Moses rejected mammon for things which are abstract
and intellectual (in the strict sense): the excellency of the
understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ and His cross, and the Kingdom this
would enable. Living when we do, with perhaps a greater knowledge of the
Lord's victory and excellency, our motivation ought to be even stronger.
11:26- see on 10:35; Phil. 3:8.
Considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of
Egypt. For he looked to the greater reward- Even within Hebrews, the description of
Moses' rejection of Egypt for the sake of Christ is shown to be our
example: "Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the
treasures (i.e. Pharaoh's treasures, which he could have had if he
succeeded as Pharaoh) in Egypt... let us go forth therefore unto (Jesus)
without the camp, bearing his reproach" (Heb. 11:26; 13:13). We
should be even eager to bear 'reproach for the name of Christ' as Moses
did (1 Pet. 4:14), knowing it is a surety of our sharing his resurrection.
For Moses, "the reproach of Christ" was his having "respect unto the
recompense of the reward". He therefore must have understood in some
detail that there would be a future Saviour, who would enable the eternal
Kingdom promised to Abraham through his bearing the reproach of this
world. Such was Moses' appreciation of this that it motivated him to
reject Egypt. His motivation, therefore, was based upon a fine reflection
upon the promises to Abraham and other oblique prophecies of the suffering
Messiah contained in the book of Genesis. Moses knew he could have a share
in the sufferings of the future saviour and thereby share his reward,
because he saw the implication that Messiah would be our representative.
Yet those promises are the very things which Christians now say they are
bored of hearing every few weeks on a Sunday evening. No wonder we lack
Moses' desire to share Christ's reproach, and thereby reject the
attractions of this world. The way Moses had "respect unto the recompense
of the reward" is our example; for again, even within Hebrews, we are
exhorted: "Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great
recompense of reward" (Heb. 11:26; 10:35). The Greek for "respect"
means to look away from all else; indicating how single-mindedly and
intensely did Moses look ahead to the Kingdom; the knowledge of which was,
in terms of number of words, scant indeed. All he had was the covenants of
promise.
Moses fought with the temptation to just observe from a distance, but then
he came out into the open, declaring that he was a Hebrew, rejecting his
kind Egyptian foster mother, openly declaring that he was not really her
son, as both she and he had claimed for 40 years. He would have borne the
shame of all this, "the reproach of Christ" (Heb. 11:26). But he was not
ashamed to call Israel his brethren, as Christ is not ashamed of us (Heb.
2:11- one of many allusions to Moses in Hebrews). All this suggests that
like Moses, our Lord came to a point where he "came down" from obscurity
to begin his work of deliverance. The references to 'coming down' in
John's Gospel allude to this.
It is possible that Moses appreciated that he was a type of Christ the
future Messiah; he considered "the reproach of Christ" enough to motivate
him to reject the attractions of Egypt (Heb. 11:26); he knew he was
sharing the sufferings of the future, ultimate saviour, and the wonder of
that alone was enough to motivate him to leave the attractions of this
world- even the possibility of being the next Pharaoh, the most powerful
man on earth. The similarities between Jesus and Moses are too many to
sensibly tabulate. There is ample opportunity to enter deeply into the
attitude of Moses towards Israel, and it is this which perhaps most
valuably deepens our appreciation of the love of Christ for us, and of our
own liability to failure after the pattern of Israel.
Moses was willing to give both his physical and eternal life for
the salvation of Israel (Ex. 32:29-32), that God's Name might be upheld.
He so loved and respected God's character, His personality (all bound up
in His Name) that he was willing to forego all personal blessings, even
life itself, just because of the wonder of God. A less spiritually mature
Moses had been motivated 40 years earlier by his respect of the recompense
of the reward (Heb. 11:26). But now his motive is the glory of God's Name.
Personal possession of the Kingdom is held up as a motivator in our
lives; but surely, like Moses, we ought to progress towards a desire to
see the achievement of God's glory, rather than being obsessed
with personally finding our place in the political Kingdom.
11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the anger of the king-
But Moses did flee Egypt, because he feared the wrath of the King
(Ex. 2:14,15). It seems that Moses had at best a mixture of motives, or
motives that changed over time; yet God sees through his human fear, and
discerns an element of calm faith within Moses as he left Egypt. This is a
theme here in Hebrews 11; weak faith is counted as faith all the same. In
similar vein, at the time of the burning bush, Moses seems to have
forgotten God's covenant name, he didn't immediately take off his shoes in
respect as he should have done, and it seems he feared to come close to
God due to a bad conscience, and he resisted God's invitation for him to
go forth and do His work (Ex. 3:5-7,10,11,18; 4:1,10-14). And yet at this
very time, the New Testament says that Moses showed faith in the way he
perceived God (Lk. 20:37). But it was a momentary faith, valid all the
same. Moses fled from Egypt, not fearing the wrath of Pharaoh; he went in
faith (Heb. 11:27). But the Exodus record explains that actually he
couldn't keep this level of faith, and fled in fear (Ex. 2:14,15).
For he endured, because he saw Him who is invisible- Hupomone is generally translated "patience"
or "endurance"; the idea is of the staying power that keeps a man going to
the end. The meaning of hupomone grows as we
experience more trials (Rom. 5:3; James 1:3). We find that the longer we
endure in the Truth, the more we can echo the words of Peter, when the
Lord asked him (surely with a lump in His throat) if he was going to turn
back: "Lord, to whom shall we go?" (Jn. 6:68). There is no third road in
the daily decisions we face. Over the months and years, hupomone
becomes part of our essential character; keeping on keeping on is what
life comes to be all about, no matter what short term blows and long term
frustrations we face. The longer we endure, the stronger that force is,
although we may not feel it. Moses is described as having it at the time
he fled from Egypt, even though in the short term his faith failed him at
the time and he fled in fear (Ex. 2:14,15). Yet God counted him as having
that basic ability to endure, even to endure through his own failure and
weakness. This is what God looks at, rather than our day-to-day
acts of sin and righteousness. See on Heb. 12:28.
Moses forsook the possibilities of Egypt not just for the reproach of
Christ"; he was also motivated by the fact that "he endured (Gk. was
vigorous), as seeing him who is invisible" (Heb. 11:27). It was as if
he had seen the invisible God, as he later asked to. He had the faith that
sees what the rational eye cannot see (:1). When the disciples asked to
see God, the Lord said that the manifestation of His character which they
had seen in him was the same thing (Jn. 14:8). Our experience of seeing
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, with unveiled face like
Moses, ought to be a wondrous experience. When Moses asked to
physically see God, the Angel proclaimed the characteristics of God before
him. So when we read of Moses as it were seeing God at the time he
decided to forsake Egypt, this must mean that he so appreciated God's Name
and character, he so had faith in the future Kingdom which this great Name
and character promise, that he left Egypt. The Lord Jesus fed for strength
on the majesty of the Name of Yahweh (Mic. 5:4). Therefore an
appreciation of the Name of Yahweh is what will motivate us to forsake the
attractions of this temporal world. This does not mean, of course, that
simply pronouncing than Name in our prayers and readings is enough. We
must develop an appreciation of God's righteousness, so that we read of
His demonstration of grace, of mercy, of truth, of judgement for sin, and
love it, revel in it, respect it. As Paul says, if we behold the glory of
the Lord as Moses did, we will by that very fact be changed into the same
image of that glory (2 Cor. 3:18). Yet such an appreciation needs constant
feeding and development. It is tragic, absolutely tragic, that over the
next 40 years Moses lost this height of appreciation, until at the burning
bush he seems to have almost completely lost his appreciation of the Name.
Whatever spiritual heights we may reach is no guarantee that we must
inevitably stay there.
Several Old Testament anticipations of the crucifixion involve a time of
great darkness when God Himself 'came down', in a way reminiscent of the
theophany on Sinai. There God Himself in person in some form 'came down'
to earth. Moses saw His back parts, but not His face; for no man can see
the face of God and live. He saw the face of the Angel and spoke to him as
a man speaks with his friend. Moses seeing the back parts of God could
even mean that God Himself came down to earth. If He did this at the
institution of the Old Covenant: how much more at the death of His very
own Son? The reference in Heb. 11:27 to Moses as having endured seeing the
invisible may lend support to this idea that Moses did in fact see the
back parts of the God whose face cannot be seen by men. I submit
that likewise He was there, almost physically, at the cross. The blood of
the covenant was shed before Him, in His presence, just as countless
sacrifices in the tabernacle had foreshadowed for centuries beforehand.
See on Jn. 19:19.
11:28- see on 1 Cor. 10:10.
By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, that the
destroyer of the firstborns should not touch them- This is another example of how the faith of one
party can save others. It would not be surprising if Israel were not all
obedient to the command to daub their doorposts with blood; but they were
saved by Moses' faith rather than their obedience.
Israel's deliverance through the Red Sea seems to be attributed to Moses'
faith (Heb. 11:28,29; Acts 7:36,38). Yet in the actual record, Moses seems
to have shared Israel's cry of fear, and was rebuked for this by God (Ex.
14:15,13,10). Yet in the midst of that rebuke, we learn from the New
Testament, God perceived the faith latent within Moses, beneath that human
fear and panic. we can as it were do the work of the Saviour Himself, if
we truly live as in Him. In this spirit, Moses’ faith in keeping
the Passover led to Israel’s salvation, they left Egypt by
him (Heb. 3:16; 11:28); and when Aaron deserved death, he was redeemed by
Moses’ prayer on his behalf (Dt. 9:20). Israel were intensely
disobedient to God from the time of their exodus from Egypt, even before
their deliverance from the Red Sea (Dt. 9:24 = Ex. 20:5,6). Only because
of Moses’ faithful keeping of the Passover did the Angel which destroyed
the firstborn (both Egyptian and Hebrew- see on 1 Cor. 10:10) not destroy
the whole of Israel as God had initially planned. Moses faith was not
simply that God would save His people in the moment of crisis; the faith
spoken of in Hebrews 11 is faith in the promises to Abraham and in his
promised seed. We can conclude that these things were what motivated
Moses' faith.
11:29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as if on dry land, which
the Egyptians in trying to do were swallowed up- “By faith he kept the
Passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the
firstborn should touch them (Israel). By faith they (Israel) passed
through the Red Sea". Yet at this time Israel were weak in faith, they
passed through the Red Sea cuddling the idols of Egypt, from the day God
knew them they were rebellious against Him; so runs the refrain of the
prophets. It seems that due to Moses' faith in the promises about the
salvation of Abraham's seed that Israel were saved by the Passover lamb,
through his faith in these promises they passed through the Red Sea; his
faith was so great, his desire for their salvation so strong, that God
counted it to the rest of Israel. Thus "he (Moses, in the context) brought
them (Israel) out" of Egypt (Acts 7:36,38). This points forward to
Christ's redemption of us, and also indicates how quickly Moses' faith
rallied. And yet just prior to crossing the Sea, God rebuked Moses: "Why
do you cry unto me?"- even though Moses calmly exhorted the people to have
faith (Ex. 14:15 cp. 13). Yet by faith he brought them through the Red
Sea. Therefore as with his first exit from Egypt (he feared the wrath of
the King, and then he didn't), his faith wavered, but came down on the
right side. Again we see how the examples of faith quoted in Hebrews 11
are often of faith displayed in weakness.
11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been
compassed about for seven days- Whose faith? What faith? Was
Joshua-Jesus' faith counted to the people? Or was their very weak,
hope-for-the-best faith all the same accepted as faith by God's grace? The
faith of Joshua was in the Abrahamic promises that the seed would inherit
the land- and therefore he believed that seemingly insurmountable
obstacles such as Jericho's walls would fall.
11:31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those that were
disobedient, having received the spies with peace- Her faith was in
the promises to Abraham and their implications; things she may have heard
in garbled form from her clients. She welcomed the spies ["with peace"]
because she wished to identify with the people of the promised seed, and
she later married into them and became an ancestor of the promised seed
Himself. She believed not simply that Yahweh was more powerful than the
local gods; she believed that Canaan would be given to Abraham's seed, and
she wished to identify with that seed.
Rahab's faith was faith in God's grace. For Rahab was an Amorite
and according to the law of Moses there was to be no pity or covenant with
them- only death (cp. Dt. 7:2). Rahab had the spiritual ambition to ask
that they make a covenant with her- she requests hesed, the
common term for covenant relationship ("deal kindly with me", Josh. 2:12
cp. 1 Sam. 20:8). And the spies made a covenant with her. Grace, like
love, finds a way. Remember that she was also aware of what Israel had
done to their enemies on their way to Jericho- and she appears to allude
to Moses' commands to destroy utterly and not make covenant with
the peoples of the land (Dt. 2:32-37; 7:1-5; 20:16-18).
There are times when circumstances do change the appropriacy of behaviour
which in more normal life we should practice. Take lying as an example. To
lie is wrong. We should be truthful. Of course. But think of Rahab. She
lied- and her lie and acts of deception are quoted in the New Testament as
acts of faith! Further, Rahab implied that the Israelite spies were her
clients- "there came men unto me" (Josh. 2:4) appears to be a euphemism-
and she gave the impression that of course, as they were merely passing
clients, how did she know nor care who they were nor where they went? Her
male interrogators would've found it hard to press her further for
information after she said that. So she not only lied but she gave the
impression that the messengers of the Kingdom of God were immoral- in
order to protect both them and her. Of course the way she left a red cord
hanging from her window, as if almost inviting people to imagine the spies
had been let down over the wall from her home on the wall, was a
tremendous act of faith and witness by her, but she presumably kept to her
story that they were her anonymous clients. For she was still living in
her home when the city was taken. Her witness was thus an indirect one to
those who wished to perceive it, but it was made within the context of a
major series of untruths. The Hebrew midwives lied to the Egyptians- and
were blessed for it. And we could give other examples. If we probe
further, and ask why such lies were acceptable and even required, we find
that often those lies were connected with saving life. To do anything that
would cause the loss of human life when it is in our power to save it is
dangerously close to murder.
11:32 And what more shall I say? For time will run out if I tell of
Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets-
"Time will run out" is another example of language appropriate to a sermon
being given live; see on 13:22.
The Lord's idea of binding the strong man must surely look back to Samson.
The language can't just be accidentally similar (cp. Jud. 16:21). This
means that the Lord saw Samson as the very epitome of Satan, even though
ultimately he was a man of faith (Heb. 11:32). Thus the Spirit doesn't
forget a man's weakness, even though ultimately he may be counted
righteous. The mention of all the names given here makes us reflect that
all of them had weakness, quite significantly so; but their faith, weak as
it was at times, was deeply impressive to God. The incomplete faith of men
like Baruch was graciously counted as full faith by later inspiration
(Jud. 4:8,9 cp. Heb. 11:32). The exploits later mentioned have relevance
to Samson in particular, who killed a lion, escaped fire and killed many
Philistines by his faith- so the Spirit tells us. Yet these things were
all done by him at times when he had at best a partial faith, or was
living out moments of faith. He had a worldly Philistine girlfriend, a
sure grief of mind to his Godly parents, and on his way to the wedding he
met and killed a lion- through faith, Heb. 11 tells us (Jud. 14:1-7). The
Philistines threatened to burn him with fire, unless his capricious
paramour of a wife extracted from him the meaning of his riddle. He told
her, due, it seems, to his human weakness and hopeless sexual weakness. He
then killed 30 Philistines to provide the clothes he owed the Philistines
on account of them answering the riddle (Jud. 14:15-19). It is evident
that Samson was weak in many ways at this time; the Proverbs make many
allusions to him, the strong man ruined by the evil Gentile woman, the one
who could take a city but not rule his spirit etc. And yet underneath all
these weaknesses, serious as they were, there was a deep faith within
Samson which Heb. 11 highlights.
11:33 Those who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness,
obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions- This states that the
likes of Abraham obtained promises by their faith. Yet the Old Testament
record clearly enough states that the promises were just given to them by
God, the calling of grace; they weren't requested by the patriarchs.
Indeed, David was surprised at the promises God chose to make to him.
Conclusion? God read their unspoken, unprayed for desires for Messiah and
His Kingdom as requests for the promises- and responded. Their weak or
hazy, vague faith was counted as faith. This was the case with the faith
of Sarah and Abraham as noted earlier. See on :32.
11:34 Quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from
weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, turned to flight armies
of aliens- All these things have strange reference to Samson; see on
:32. Perhaps he is the particular epitome of Old Testament faith which is
chosen, because his faith was so weak. Paul is not appealing for
perfection; he is teaching that God is eager to accept any faith in His
promises as faith, and the Hebrews should not be influenced by the
perfectionism of Judaism to think that weak faith was not acceptable. That
encouragement is needed today by those who have been spiritually abused by
the high bars and standards demanded of them by legalistic religion.
Samson is listed amongst those who out of weakness were made
strong. A character study of Samson must remember this about him. This
could suggest that he was even weaker than a normal man; or it could be a
reference to the way in which out of his final spiritual weakness and
degradation he was so wonderfully strengthened (Jud. 16:28).
11:35 Women received their dead by a resurrection; and others were
tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better
resurrection- The widow woman’s son was resurrected because God heard
Elijah’s faithful prayer (1 Kings 17:22); and thus Heb. 11:35 alludes to
this incident by saying that through faith- in this case, the faith of
Elijah, a third party- women received their dead raised to life. The
Centurion’s servant was healed for the sake of his faith; Jairus’
daughter was healed because of his faith (Mk. 5:36). Heb. 11 cites
women receiving their dead back to life as an example of faith. Because of
the faith and prayers of the women, a third party, their dead loved ones
were at times resurrected. Lazarus being raised because of his faithful
sisters Martha and Mary is the obvious example we know about, but the
Hebrew writer may well have had his mind on unrecorded Old Testament
examples too. Our faith in prayer in some sense limits God's ability. But
"faith" in Hebrews 11 is specifically faith in the promises to Abraham
which form the basis of the new covenant. The women mentioned therefore
believed that the promises implied future resurrection; and yet they
believed that those promises could have some present realization too.
Some were tortured "not accepting redemption" because their eyes of faith
were upon the future resurrection implied in the promises to Abraham. By
implication they accepted the true redemption of the blood of Christ
rather than the pseudo-redemption offered by this world and the claims of
Judaism and the temple cult. Again, the redeeming work of Christ is what
fortifies men against the fake Kingdom and redemption of the anti-Christ
anti-Kingdom of this world. There will be degrees of reward in God's
Kingdom- a "better resurrection" for those who endured torture. The
comfort is that those who did not endure- and there would have been many-
may also be saved. But those who did will have a "better resurrection".
This gradation of service and reward, some trading their talents better
than others, is impossible for the legalistic mindset to cope with. But
ranges of possible response to God's love, and appropriate eternal
consequence for the choices made, is all the stuff of living personal
relationship with God.
11:36 And others were tested by mockings and whippings, yes, also by
bonds and imprisonment- These words are all used about the sufferings
of Paul and his team, many of them witnessed personally by the Hebrew
Christians. And of course Paul had himself done these things to the Hebrew
Christians. So these anonymous "others" would bring the cloud of witnesses
painfully up to date; for there is a chronological progression throughout
Hebrews 11 to this point.
11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tested, they
were killed with the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins,
being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated- The reference may be to
various Jewish traditions about the fate of the prophets and some Jews
during the time of the Maccabees. But the point of Hebrews 11 is that the
faithful endured for the sake of their faith in the promises to Abraham,
the same new covenant which was operative for the Hebrew Christians. So I
personally doubt that the heroics of the Maccabees is paramount in
reference here. I have noted throughout that it was often flecks of faith
in moments of weakness which are being picked up here in the record. It
was Jacob who wore animal skins- in deceit and weakness, but out of an
enthusiasm for the promises to Abraham to be made to him. And thus he
became destitute, afflicted and ill-treated by Laban. Perhaps John the
Baptist is also in view; he is presented as a cameo of all the faithful
(Heb. 11:37 = Mk. 1:6 and 1 Cor. 15:47 = Jn. 3:31).
11:38 (Of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and
mountains and caves and the holes of the earth- The "world" in John's
Gospel and at times in Hebrews often refers to the Jewish world. The
Jewish world had turned away from God and His Son, and the fact the
faithful listed so far were largely Jews meant that the Jewish world was
not worthy of them. This was another warning to the Hebrews not to return
to Judaism and the Jewish world. It was faithless Israel who wandered in
deserts; but for some, they did so in faith in the fulfilment of the
promises to Abraham, that at the end of their desert wandering there would
be a promised land. David's wandering in deserts and mountains under
persecution was motivated by faith in the promise that somehow, God's
Kingdom would be established in Israel and the ancient promises come true,
as well as those given to him personally. The possibility of a reference
to David is strengthened by the next phrase about living in caves and
holes. For identical language is found in 1 Sam. 13:6 concerning Israel's
pining away when under attack by the Philistines. Yet some did so in faith
that the Abrahamic promises would be fulfilled, even though it seemed at
the time that Philistine domination was never going to permit that.
Likewise "The children of Israel made them the dens ('dry river channels')
which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds" (Jud. 6:2). Some
of the Israelites who fled to the dens and caves in Jud. 6:2 are described
as heroes of faith because of their faith that somehow, enemy domination
would and must end because of the implications of the promises to Abraham.
And yet their domination by the Philistines was a result of their
idolatry. They were idolatrous, and yet some had faith; and it was this
faith which was perceived by God.
11:39 And these all, having had witness borne to them through their
faith, did not receive the fulfilment of the promise- That witness, as
noted on :11, was before God in the court room of Heaven. Judaism posited
that the promises to Abraham and the new covenant had already been
fulfilled because Israel were in their land and had the temple system.
Paul is arguing that Christians are identified with the Old Testament
faithful who did not consider that those things meant that the promises
had been fulfilled. Seeing God keeps His promises, there had to come a far
fuller fulfilment, of "eternal inheritance", implying eternal life.
11:40 God having provided some better thing involving us, that without
us they should not be made perfect- All the believers are rewarded
together, at the same time; the Greek for "without us" means 'at a
space from'. Therefore there was no way that Judaism's claim that the
promises had been fulfilled could be true. This verse may also teach that
the number of 'the believers' is completed only by our development of
faith- implying that the sooner this happens, the sooner the united
perfection of the faithful can occur. God "provided" or planned this in
advance; because the eye of faith can perceive how the ages of human
history were structured by Him (:3). He is the "architect" of the city of
God's Kingdom to come (:10). Being "made perfect" is therefore presented
as the fulfilment of the promises to Abraham; and it is this moral
"perfection" by imputed righteousness which the new covenant offered,
according to how Paul has reasoned so far in Hebrews. Yet the literal
realization of that in physical terms shall come only when the Lord
returns. Then we shall be "made perfect", and not by offering animals now.
It is the Lord Jesus, the seed of Abraham, who was "made perfect" by His
sufferings (2:10; 5:9; 7:28). By being in Him, we too shall share that
perfection; whereas obedience to the law made nobody perfect (7:19; 9:9).
By status and in prospect, we have already been "made perfect" (10:14),
the spirits or characters of dead believers have already been "made
perfect" in God's record book (12:23), but the physical outworking of that
shall be when all believers in imputed righteousness are "made perfect" by
nature at the second coming.
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