Introduction
The writer of Hebrews concluded Hebrews 10, by reminding his audience that the righteous live by faith, not by what is seen. Further, those who give up and shrink back will be destroyed by God. But those who have endurance and keep their faith will preserve their souls. The writer states with confidence that we are those who have faith.
In Hebrews 11, the writer is going to tell us what faith looks like. It is fascinating to see how many misconceptions of faith exist considering that Hebrews 11, gives a great explanation of faith and what faith looks like. Some think of faith as having any sort of spirituality.
We hear language today that there are many faiths, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc. Some understand faith as having the belief that something good is going to happen to them. Some think of faith as something that is blind, that is, taking a blind leap against known facts. But none of these are descriptions of Biblical faith.
This chapter has been described in various ways, perhaps the most familiar is “The Roll call of Faith” but I think that a more accurate description would be that used by Bishop Westcott, “The past triumphs of faith”
There is no question that this is one of the most powerful chapters in the entire New Testament. Certainly, it is one of the best known and most popular, and the highlight of this letter, and if, as I suggested at the beginning of these studies, this letter had circulated as a sermon, this chapter must have been the climax to it.
If you look at the last verse, Hebrews 10:39, you will see how this chapter on the heroes of faith is led in. He speaks of “those who have faith and keep their souls”. And it is obvious that he is telling his readers that if they do not keep their faith they are in danger of losing their souls.
But there is a deeper reason for this chapter than that. Remember the problem with which these former Jews were struggling. We have seen that he has shown the superiority of Christ and the new covenant faith, over the Old Law, showing that Christ is superior to previous messengers, The angels, Moses, Joshua, Abraham and Aaron. It now appears that only one objection remains.
Imagine his readers saying, “Very well, all that you say may be true. But what about the Fathers, the Patriarchs? Surely, they belong to the old religion? And in turning our backs on Judaism and the Old Law we have turned our backs on them. We have cut ourselves off from them. We have lost our historic heritage! Surely they are on the other side!”
And the writer’s reply as revealed in this chapter is quite simple, He says; “No! That is where you are mistaken, the great men and women of the past do not belong to the Old Law. They belong to faith, your faith. They belong to the new covenant, because, even though they lived under the old, they looked forward to the new. They were men and women who lived by faith, and therefore they are yours!”
This is probably the climax of the letter to the Hebrews, revealing how, in every age, men and women have triumphed through the exercise of faith.
Notice again how the passage is introduced, by the last verse of Hebrews 10, Hebrews 10:39, where the writer refers to ‘those who have faith and keep their souls’. The word ‘faith’ which appears twenty-four times in the passage is pistis, belief. Pisteuo means ‘to have faith,’ to believe together, these words appear 244 times in New Testament.
An analysis of the chapter
1. We have a general statement on the nature and character of faith.
2. A statement on the importance of faith, in relation to creation.
3. Examples of faith throughout the ages, demonstrated in the lives of men and women of God.
4. Up to the flood, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Hebrews 11:4-7.
5. After the flood and in the land of Canaan, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Sarah is also mentioned here, Hebrews 11:8-20.
6. From Egypt to the conquest of Canaan. Including Joseph, and Moses. His parents, Joshua, by implication. Rahab, Hebrews 11:21-31.
7. In the land of Canaan. During the Judge’s period to the kingdom. Gideon, Samson, Barak, Jephthah, Samuel, David and all the prophets, Hebrews 11:32-37.
8. The inter-testamental period. The final struggle of the period of the Maccabees. The unnamed Eleazar, whose mother and seven brothers were tortured and killed rather than their faith in God, Hebrews 11:38.
It is important to recognize that this is not a random choice of personalities, but is a logical, systematic, chronological progression through history, revealing how faith acts.
For this reason, there are some dramatic omissions! Where are Adam and eve? Aaron and Miriam? Solomon? The principle which is illustrated is that a man’s behaviour is determined and directed by what he believes, James 2:18.
Faith in Action
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” Hebrews 11:1-2
Faith is the basis, the substructure, of the whole Christian life. Faith is the basis for everything in which we have hope in this life. Faith involves confident action in response to what God has made known, Genesis 1:1. Faith does look upward, away from the things of this world, toward the unseen things above.
We sing songs like ‘My faith looks up to Thee’ and many other songs that remind us and encourage us to keep our eyes on our unseen reward. Our faith also looks forward in time to when Christ comes, Hebrews 10:38.
Faith is about having confidence that the promises that have been given by God and things that we cannot see will actually happen. We cannot forget that it is by faith that people are approved by God. What exactly did these people do who are praised in this chapter?
They put their undivided confidence in God. Despite their trials and difficult circumstances, they triumphed because of their trust in God. What we are seeing as we read about their heroes of faith are people who are clinging to the promises of God, depending on God’s word, and remaining faithful to God in their actions.
Everything depends on faith, Hebrews 11:1. This statement is not a ‘definition’ of faith, it points to the nature or character of faith.
a. It is the assurance of things hoped for. The word ‘hupostasis’ means ‘that which stands under’. We get our word ‘substance’ from this. ‘sub-stansis’.
Furthermore, the word ‘hupostasis,’ assurance, was also used to describe a collection of documents, or title deeds, deposited for safe-keeping, as proof of one’s claim to a property.
And, notice that the word ‘things’ is the word ‘pragma’ in Greek, which means ‘a thing-done.’ So, faith is the title deed to everything hoped for. It is your assurance, your guarantee, your proof.
Faith is the conviction, evidence of things not seen. The word ‘elezchos’ means ‘a proof, that by means of which a thing is tested.’ In other words, faith is the means whereby we become convinced and convicted of things which are unseen.
1. Faith is the basis of conviction, the foundation of all our hopes for the future.
2. Faith gives foundation, direction, power and meaning to life.
3. Faith and belief are synonymous, Hebrews 11:6.
4. Faith is produced by evidence, Romans 10:17 / John 17:20 / 1 Thessalonians 5:21.
a. Our faith can be no greater than our trust in the Word of God. Those who do not trust God’s Word do not believe or trust Christ.
b. God does not give faith without effort on man’s part.
5. The “ancients” are men of old, those who lived in past ages, the fathers of Israel, those of whom he is about to speak. They were men who trusted in God, they believed in His Word.
The word ‘presbuteros’ is the word for elders, they received God’s approval because they exercised faith. Because they bore witness to Him, He bore witness to them. The word ‘martureo’, used here, means ‘to bear witness’.
This is what the writer now sets out to demonstrate, that these Old Testament worthies were approved by God because they acted on the principle of faith.
That picture of faith is really seen in the example provided in Hebrews 11:3.
“By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” Hebrews 11:3
The beginning point is quite simple, yet powerful. The universe and everything created were brought into existence by things that cannot be seen, Colossians 1:16. The words of God, as He commanded the universe into existence, cannot be seen. Yet those unseen words brought the visible worlds. I believe this stands as what has been called today the watchmaker argument.
We have not seen the person who made our watch, made our car, or made any other object or possession. Yet although we have not seen the one who made our watch, we know someone made it. Random chance and long periods of time do not create useful, powerful objects. So also it is with the universe. The visible world was created by the invisible God through His invisible command.
First, however, he declares that it is by faith that we understand that the world was created. How can you prove it? This cannot be either proved or disproved by the Empiric method. i.e., it is not an experiment that can be repeated!
In the final analysis, it is a matter of faith. The word for ‘understand’ is the word ‘noeo’ and it means ‘to perceive by reflective intelligence’.
The word ‘world’ is the word ‘aion’ in Greek and it means both ‘created things’ and ‘ages or periods of time’. The word ‘created’ in Greek is ‘katartizo’ and it means ‘filled out’ or ‘arranged’.
In other words, God did not merely create all matter, but He arranged it in an orderly manner so that it became fit for the purpose He had in mind.
And all this was done by ‘the word of God’. The word ‘rhema’, means ‘ the spoken word’. This is not a reference to the activity of Christ, as the Incarnate Word, John 1:1 / Psalm 33:6-9.
1. By faith we understand that the world was created by the Word of God, Psalm 33:6 / Romans 1:20.
2. It is because of faith and by means of faith that a true understanding of the created order is gained.
The faith of Abel
“By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.” Hebrews 11:4
Up to the flood. Hebrews 11:4-7.
Abel is chosen as the first example of faith acting because he was concerned with getting right with God, and keeping right! Through his faith, he was ‘approved as righteous’.
His faith was demonstrated in that he offered a sacrifice that was ‘more acceptable,’ excellent than that of his brother Cain. How did Abel know about sacrifice? And why was his sacrifice ‘more acceptable’? “Faith comes by hearing the word of God,” Romans 10:17.
God must have told these men what He required, Genesis 4:7. Abel’s sacrifice was accepted, not because of its quantity, but because of its quality. It involved the shedding of blood. It cost a life and his act of faith is ‘still speaks, even though he is dead’.
What does Abel still say to us today? Well he says three things.
1. Abel still speaks of the necessity of faith.
The very first name is mentioned in this chapter as an example of faith is Abel. Remember the writer says, ‘without faith it is impossible to please God,’ Hebrews 1:6. And the very first person that showed us that principle was Abel. By faith, Abel offered a better sacrifice to God than Cain did.
One thing that story tells us is not only is man called to work but from the very beginning, he’s been called to worship. So, in Genesis 4, we see men coming to God to worship him.
Now we need to ask the question, why was Cain’s offering of labour not pleasing to God? They both brought to God the best of what they did all day. In the Old Testament, grain offerings were often given to the Lord and he was pleased with it.
But why wasn’t he pleased with the grain offering of Cain? Obviously, the story leaves a lot out. But I think the text implies that God had given specific instructions concerning proper sacrifice.
Notice for example, there appears to be a proper time because the text says, ‘in the course of time’, which literally says, ‘at the ends of days they came to the Lord’, Genesis 4:3. In other words, there was a ‘prescribed time’.
Apparently, there was also a ‘prescribed place’, it says, ‘they brought their offerings to the Lord,’ Genesis 4:3. Where was that? My suspicion is, that it was at the place where the cherubim were because in the Old Testament often the cherubim guard the presence of God, but that is just speculation.
But there was apparently a prescribed time at the end of days. There was a prescribed place to the Lord. And evidently, there was also a ‘prescribed way’. Because notice God said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? If you do what’s right, won’t you be excepted?’ Genesis 4:6. God could only say that if Cain knew what was right to do.
What does the Bible say about faith? ‘Faith comes through hearing.’ Romans 10:17. You can’t act in faith until you’re given a revelation from God for you to act on. So evidently God had given to them instruction about a time and a place and a way to bring him offerings.
And evidently, God had instructed these first worshippers, that the only acceptable offering for sin had to involve death. I suspect that he gave that revelation remember when he made coats of skin for Adam and Eve, Genesis 3:21. But somehow God had communicated a revelation that an offering of atonement must involve death.
Yes, the Bible does talk about grain offering but never for atonement. Any offering in the Bible for atonement always involved blood, Leviticus 17:11 / Hebrews 9:22.
Now think about this, is that why possibly Abel was a keeper of flocks, Genesis 4:2, because he wanted to act in faith to the Lord’s command?. You might say, well why wouldn’t he keep flocks?
Remember at this point man is still a vegetarian. Why would he keep flocks, if he’s not going to eat meat? I guess the wool would be useful for clothing but evidently, it was important to Abel to always make sure there was always a lamb ready for sacrifice to God.
When it comes to approaching God, all men have got to choose either the way of Cain or the way of Abel. Abel offered God faith, and Cain offered God fruit. Remember that.
Because those exact two choices are still the same two choices that men make today. Most men go the way of Cain and they offer God the fruit of their hands. It could be their labour. It could be their morality. It could be their religion. It could be their knowledge.
Whatever it is, I’m going to offer God the fruit of my hands. But the Bible says in the very beginning, ‘God is not pleased with an offering of fruit for atonement.’ The only thing that can make atonement is blood.
Men want to go the way of Cain and come to God and say, ‘the way of faith is just too cheap, I’m going to impress God with something with my hands and give it to him and we’ll make a trade. God if you forgive me, I give you something I made with my hands’.
The way of faith is not cheap, it’s a free gift but it is not cheap. It cost God the blood of his holy and sinless son to make atonement for sin, Philippians 3:9. Abel still says. He still declares it is impossible to please God without faith.
2. Abel still speaks of the hostility against righteousness.
Originally Cain was angry at God, so why did he turn his anger at God onto his brother? Genesis 4:8. Worldly people cannot stand to be reminded that their lives are not lined up with the will of God. Abel is telling us that devote people should expect hostility from an ungodly world, 1 John 3:11.
Abel was hated because his life was a public rebuke to the way of Cain. In Luke 11:51, we find that when Jesus was talking to the Pharisees, Jesus says, ‘you know, you guys, you kill prophets and then your kids make monuments to them’, he says, ‘you’ve been doing that ever since the days of Abel.’
So, Jesus says Abel was a prophet, so perhaps not only did Abel’s own righteous life rebuke Cain but perhaps Abel even preached to Cain. Perhaps Abel tries to say to his brother,
‘Brother Cain, you need to listen to God, you should not go your own way, you should not rebel against God, you need to do what God says and you need to honour God.’
Jesus knew something, He knew that the murder of Abel was really the work of the serpent, John 8:44. Jesus knew who was behind the murder of Abel. Jesus knew the offspring of the serpent would always be at enmity with the offspring of the woman. You can just count on that, there are not going to be any peace talks, 2 Timothy 3:12.
There is only one way we can avoid hostility from the world and that’s to compromise and look so much like the world that they can’t recognise their own actions as evil as they are. That’s the only way.
In other words, there is going to be enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman as long as this world turns. It is going to be with us until Jesus comes back. If you accept a standard that is different from the world. There are going to be clashes. If you pursue loyalties that are above earthly loyalties you’re going to be opposed.
When God said, ‘from this woman’s seed there’s going to be a head crusher’, Genesis 3:15. Satan made up his mind that he is going to attack every godly seed that comes from this woman. He did to Abel, he did to every prophet who came after Abel and he’s still doing it today.
Don’t deceive yourselves that someday there is going to be great harmony and there is going to be great peace between the people of God and the people of the world. There is never going to be peace. Because Satan doesn’t want peace.
What I’m saying is that you need to feel good that you are on the serpents enemy list and when he comes after you and he attacks you, when he sends the Cains of this world to attack and oppress and confront and ridicule you, you need to feel good that you are on the serpents enemy list. Because this thing is going to keep going until the world stops.
And that’s what Abel is trying to say.
1. ‘You’ve got to focus on faith”.
2. ‘The hostility between me and Cain is going to last until Jesus comes back’.
3. ‘Abel still speaks of the certainty of judgement.’
Evidently, Cain thought that nobody would notice his crime. ‘I’ll take him out into the field, we’ll be all by ourselves, I’ll kill my brother, who’s going to know?’ And so, God comes to him and says, ‘Cain, where is your brother?’ Genesis 4:9. And this arrogant fool thinks he can even fool God. ‘I don’t know, I don’t make it my job to keep up with my brother’. Genesis 4:9. And God says, ‘What have you done? Listen!’ Genesis 4:10.
I’m sure there was a pause and Cain turned his head. He hears the sound of the birds in the trees, the sound of the breeze against the grain. ‘What? what?’ Then God said, ‘your brother’s blood cries up to me from the ground’, Genesis 4:10, and for the first-time God curses a man.
And Cain he is so hardened in sin at this point, that he doesn’t respond with remorse, he doesn’t fall down on his face and repent. He responds with reproach, he says, ‘You can’t do that, that’s too much, I can’t bear what you’ve done,’ Genesis 4:13. Basically he’s saying, ‘God, you don’t have the right to assign that kind of judgment.’
Let me tell you something about the serpent’s seed, they are always blasting God at his right to assign judgment. Have you ever heard this question? How can a loving God send people to hell?
The serpent has been getting Canaanites to ask that question since the beginning of creation. That is not the question the Bible asks. The Bible says upfront that a Holy God has the right to assign judgment.
Here is the question of the Bible. How can a Holy God let people into heaven? How can a Holy God let people into heaven? And that is the question the Bible answers.
Now the amazing thing to me is that God put a mark on Cain to say to the rest of the world, ‘even this evil man’s blood is my property, so don’t touch it,’ Genesis 4:15.
But God also sent out another word. He put the world on alert that God hears the cries of the Abels who have been treated unjustly and he will take up their cause. One of the things that burden us as believers, is that we see a world where is little justice and we get upset with God.
Why do innocent babies get shot when there is a war? Who’s going to speak for all the infants that were torn out of wombs by abortionists? What all the women who have been raped and the people who did it were never caught? All the millions and millions of kids who have been abused and violated and nothing ever happened?
The list just goes on and on and on and on and on. And sometimes it gets so big that people even start to doubt God. And they see this world that is so full of un-judged evil, they start to think nobody is in control. This story tells us that judgement is certain. God has heard the cry of every innocent drop of blood that’s ever been spilt, and He will deal with it in His time, Revelation 6:9-11.
That’s probably not the answer you want to hear to that question. God, how long are you going to wait before you avenge the blood of all the righteous people on earth? And the answer is, ‘I’ll take care of it, but not yet,’
But you need to understand, nobody that is going to escape the justice of God’s court. God’s justice system doesn’t have any cracks, Hebrews 9:27. A time is coming when all men will either be born again or wished they had never been born at all. The blood of Abel still cries for justice.
You might be thinking, wait a minute, I’ve made mistakes, I’ve gone the way of Cain in my life, what hope is there for me if all the people I’ve hurt are crying for justice? Well, Abel still speaks, but loved ones Abel doesn’t have to have the last word.
Let me close by telling you that Jesus speaks too and Jesus speaks a better word than Abel. In Hebrews 12:29, we are told ‘how awesome God is, how God is a consuming fire, how God is a God that makes men tremble and quack.’ But read what it says about us, Hebrews 12:22-24.
Abel’s blood cries out for judgement, but Jesus’ blood cries out for mercy. Abel’s blood sends the sinner away from God to wander and Jesus’ blood opens the way back to God, Hebrews 10:19.
All men can’t hear the blood of Abel but God can but there is something else that God can hear that men can’t hear. God hears the blood of Jesus. And God hears every time the blood of Jesus speaks for a sinner, every time.
We need to pray for sinners who are still living the way of hostility, these people will face judgement. And if they do not have the blood of Jesus to speak for them, the blood of Abel will speak against them and they will be lost.
1. Abel. Hebrews 11:4 / Genesis 4:3-7.
2. Abel’s worship, and sacrifice, were made in faith. It was more excellent and God accepted it.
3. All who worship God must worship in faith.
4. Saving faith does not “set down and trust. It gets up and follows.”
The faith of Enoch
“By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.” Hebrews 11:5
Enoch was the father of Methuselah, who was the oldest living man, Genesis 5:27. Notice that ‘Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years’, implying that he did what God wanted him to do for that length of time, Jude 14-15. After 365 years on earth, God took Enoch away.
Because of Enoch’s faith, he was ‘translated’ the Greek word is ‘metathemi’, and when broken down, we see the word ‘meta,’ which means change, and the word ‘tithemi,’ which means place. ‘To change from one place to another.’
The same word is used for the carrying of the bones of Jacob from Egypt to Canaan. Acts 7:16. So, because he lived by faith, Enoch was moved from one realm to another, from Earth to Heaven.
How was his faith revealed?
1. He walked with God, Genesis 5:22. He and God walked together.
2. He went in the same direction as God.
3. He kept pace with God and was consistent.
4. He trusted God and therefore God trusted him and told him about the coming deluge.
5. He pleased God, Hebrews 11:6.
Enoch never died but was translated, transferred into an eternal fellowship with the Creator. He was received into eternal fellowship with God without being obligated to pass through the experience of death.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following, concerning the Hebrew passage.
‘Here the apostle explains what God’s taking him means, by saying that he was translated that he should not see death; from which we learn that he did not die, and that God took him to a state of blessedness without obliging him to pass through death’.
MacKnight, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Enoch’s translation by faith is mentioned by the apostle, not to raise in believers an expectation of being translated into heaven, as he was, without dying, but to excite them to imitate his faith, in the assurance of being admitted into heaven in the body after the resurrection.’
1. Enoch. Hebrews 11:5 / Genesis 5:21-24.
2. Enoch walked with God and because of this he pleased God and did not die, 2 Corinthians 5:7.
3. Enoch was a prophet. Jude 14-15.
This is a key teaching
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
Notice that it is not difficult to please God without faith. It is not challenging to please God without faith. There are very few statements in the Scriptures where we find the words that something is impossible.
We have been taught that there is nothing that is impossible with God. But here is a statement about what is impossible and we need to listen to these words very carefully. It is impossible to please God without faith. Without having our confidence in God, without relying on God’s promises, without depending upon God’s word, and without faithful actions toward God, we are not going to make it.
If our eyes are on the things of this world, we will definitely shrink back and we will give up. We need to feel the force and the sting of the word “impossible.”
We are not going to make it if we do not have our full faith in God. I see that in my own life and I am sure that you have seen it in your own lives also. Without a full and complete reliance upon God, difficult circumstances will cause us to shrink back and give up.
Notice that there are two things that we need to have full confidence in our lives.
1. Must believe that God exists.
I submit to you that this is not just merely the mental assent that one believes in God. Faith is being certain about things we cannot see, Hebrews 11:1.
Do you have the faith that gives you the certainty that God exists? Do you believe in the God you cannot see? Do you believe that He spoke the worlds into existence? It really does matter because if we do not, then we are going to shrink back and not be found pleasing to God.
2. Must believe that God rewards those who sincerely seek him.
This belief is just as important. For us to not shrink back, we really must have confidence that there is a reward coming from God if we choose to seek Him. We must know this. We must believe this.
These things tie to the endurance that we were told we needed to have in Hebrews 10:36. We must know that God exists and know that He cares. For God to reward me means that He cares and knows what is going on with me. That knowledge is what will pull us through difficult times.
The faith of Noah
“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.” Hebrews 11:7
The faith demonstrated by Noah is seen in that he was ‘instructed by God’, The greek word is ‘chrematistheis’. The same word is used in Acts 11:26, where disciples are ‘called by God’ Christians. The word ‘chrematistheis’ is used in classical Greek for ‘to make known by an oracle’.
Noah ‘took heed’, and here the word means ‘to act cautiously, to reverence, in Greek is the word ‘eulabeomai’. He constructed an ark. He ‘equipped, fitted out the ark’, and in obeying God and acting on faith in this way, he ‘condemned the world.’
He condemned the world. His act of building, at God’s command, announced to the world that it was under condemnation, that God had pronounced a sentence on it.
The word ‘world’ is ‘kosmos’ in Greek, and refers to organized society. His faith not only saved his family, but through it, he also ‘became the heir (owner or possessor) of righteousness’.
Imagine the ridicule he bore whilst he was building! Imagine how eagerly his neighbours seized whatever he left behind when he entered the ark! And then see Noah becoming the only land-owner in the world!
Noah and baptism
From 1 Peter 3:18-20, some teach that Jesus proclaimed the message of salvation to the souls of sinners imprisoned there since the flood, but this is totally contradictory to Peter’s own words, 2 Peter 2:4-5 / 2 Peter 2:9.
Notice that the ‘spirits’ that Peter is talking about were ‘disobedient in the days of Noah’. To say that the Spirit of Christ went to release the souls of the righteous who repented before the flood is a misunderstanding because at the time of the flood there were no righteous people around only Noah and his family, Genesis 6:5-13 / Genesis 7:1.
Christ in His Spirit didn’t go anywhere to save those who were righteous before the flood because there were none, just Noah and His family.
Remember our Bibles are split into books, chapters and verses and sometimes that is helpful and other times it’s not so helpful so, to keep these verses in their context we must go back to 1 Peter 2:18-24.
Peter reminded us that if suffering should come our way then the Christians should make sure they are suffering for the right reasons. In other words, if you’re going to suffer, suffer for doing good not for doing evil.
And then when we go to 1 Peter 3:13-22, where he returns to the theme of suffering again and he informs us about three different suffering situations.
In 1 Peter 3:13-14, he reminds us about the possible suffering of Christians, in 1 Peter 3:18, he reminds us of the suffering of Christ, and finally in 1 Peter 3:20, he reminds us of the suffering of the disobedient souls before the flood.
What Peter is telling us is that those who rebelled against God in the days of Noah, suffered at the hand of God for doing evil but the end result wasn’t a blessing but imprisonment after they had died.
Peter is telling us that Jesus suffered whilst He was alive but He did it for the good and the reason He did it for the good was because He did it for God. And what was the end result? Jesus was resurrected and enthroned at the right hand of God.
We need to choose what it will be, 1 Peter 3:14, gives us the choice to suffer for doing good and the end result will be salvation beyond the grave, that’s why Peter talks about being raised with Christ. That’s why Peter talks about baptism being a commitment to obedience, 1 Peter 3:20-22.
But those who were baptized during Noah’s time with the flood figuratively speaking were imprisoned beyond the grave because of their commitment to their disobedience.
What Peter is doing is comparing the two, he’s saying back in Noah’s day those who didn’t listen to God, their flood baptism resulted in death and imprisonment. But the Christian baptism results in life, it results in renewed life to God through the resurrection and glorification of Jesus Christ.
He’s saying if we’re going to suffer Christian, even to the point of death at least we didn’t die at the hand of God like those who were around at Noah’s time.
Peter says that the spirits are those to whom Noah preached when Noah and they were very much alive, but by the time Peter writes this letter, those very same spirits are long gone and they are now spirits who are in prison, 1 Peter 4:6.
They were dead whilst Peter wrote this letter but they were very much alive whilst the Gospel was being preached to them. But didn’t Jesus preach to these spirits when He was in the grave for three days? Peter is saying that the Spirit of Christ, in other words, the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets to the people when they were alive, 1 Peter 3:19.
And what he’s saying here is that the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit spoke through Noah to the people when they were alive, 1 Peter 1:11-12. And also remember that Noah was a preacher of righteousness, 2 Peter 2:5.
He’s not talking about what happened when Jesus was in the grave and we shouldn’t make a text mean something it doesn’t say. Jesus spoke through the prophets of old for centuries, but only a few listened to Him. He spoke through Noah for 120 years but no one except his family listened to Him.
After talking about how the Spirit of Christ preached through Noah to those who were disobedient, Peter makes a statement that is as plain as the nose on our face concerning salvation.
When Peter uses the word ‘baptism’, he is using it in a way which we call an antitype, which basically means ‘a thing formed after some pattern, that which corresponds to a type’.
You have two things that somehow relate or correspond to each other, one is a type, the other is the antitype. In other words, Peter says the waters of the flood are the ‘type’, and the waters of baptism are the ‘antitype’.
Barnes, in his commemoratory, says the following.
‘The meaning here is, that baptism corresponded to, or had a resemblance to, the water by which Noah was saved; or that there was a use of water in the one case which corresponded in some respects to the water that was used in the other; to wit, in effecting salvation.’
1. Noah. Genesis 6-9.
2. Noah’s faith was a faith of action.
3. He took God at His Word.
4. Noah’s conduct condemned the unbelieving world.
5. Noah did all that God commanded. His faith stood out in strong contrast to the unbelieving world.
6. Noah became righteous by building the ark.
The Faith Of Abraham
“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.” Hebrews 11:8-12
5. After the flood and in the land of Canaan, Hebrews 11:8-20.
Lockyer, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Abraham’s place in the Bible portrait gallery is altogether unique and unapproachable. He stands out as a landmark in the spiritual history of the world. Chosen of God to become the father of a new spiritual race, the file leader of a mighty host, the revelation of God found in him one of its most important epochs.’
Abraham’s faith was proved because ‘he went out (from Ur of the Chaldees) not knowing where he was to go’. Notice, first Hebrews 11:8. ‘When he was called’ means, ‘being called’, in Greek, is the word ‘kaloumenos’.
The significance is that his obedience was immediate. There was no hesitation, No questioning, even though he did not know, at the time, the destination to which he was being sent. Strictly speaking, the statement means that even whilst he was being called, Abraham was obeying and went out.
What is more, ‘not knowing where he was to go’, is powerful. The usual word for ‘know’ is ‘ginosko’ in Greek. But the Greek word here, ‘epistomenos’ means, not merely that he did not know, but that he did not care where he was being sent. He did not even think about it! The word means ‘to fix one’s thought on’. Faith trusts God and acts.
And when he reached Canaan, he lived there as a pilgrim, a tent-dweller, recognizing that it was but a temporary stay. ‘As in a foreign land’, because he knew that God had something better prepared for him. Hebrews 11:10, tells us that Abraham looked for a city built by God.
Some people today want something in which Abraham had absolutely no interest! He did not want a permanent home in Palestine! He saw because he had faith, that the earthly Canaan was only a symbol of a heavenly home and that is what he wanted.
The faith of Sarah
How was the faith of Sarah demonstrated? Notice the word ‘even’, Hebrews 11:11, because it stresses the fact that, although she formerly laughed, more in amazement than disbelief by the way, she came to exercise sufficient faith in God’s promise that she was enabled to bear a son, through whom the promises of God were to be fulfilled.
1. Hebrews 11:8.
2. The Book of Genesis remarks about the faith of Abraham.
3. Abraham was the classic example of faith to the Jew, Nehemiah 9:7-8.
4. Abraham is called “the friend of God.” 2 Chronicles 20:7 / Isaiah 41:8.
5. Abraham lived in Ur of the Chaldees. Ur was in Mesopotamia. Genesis 11:27-31.
6. “He was called,” the idea is that as soon as Abraham was called, he obeyed. He freed himself from his own country, family and friends, He stepped out on the call of God. He trusted God’s promise and went out “not knowing where he was going.”
Abraham leaving, going into the unknown, displays the intensity of his faith.
1. Hebrews 11:9.
2. Abraham’s faith led him to live like a stranger in a foreign land. This is the type of faith that Christians should have, 1 Peter 1:17.
3. When Abraham died his only possession in the land was the cave of Machpelah and the field around it, Genesis 23:3-20 / Genesis 25:7-10.
1. Hebrews 11:10.
2. Abraham longed for a higher and heavenly home, the city of God, Hebrews 12:22, which is to come, Hebrews 13:14.
3. God is the designer and constructor of this heavenly city. It is a prepared place for those who are obedient to God.
4. Abraham understood better than many who live today that this earth offers no permanent residence.
1. Hebrews 11:11.
2. One time Sarah laughed to herself when she heard that she would give birth, Genesis 18:9-15. Her laughter was of amazement because both she and Abraham were old.
3. Sarah’s faith won over her amazement. She considered God trustworthy.
1. Hebrews 11:12.
2. Abraham and Sarah no longer had the ability to have children. Romans 4:19.
3. God’s promise set aside these obstacles and their descendants were like the stars in heaven and the sand by the sea, Genesis 15:5 / Genesis 22:17 / Isaiah 51:2 / Galatians 3:29.
“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” Hebrews 11:13-16
Hebrews 11:13-16, concludes with the statement, ‘These all died in faith not having received what was promised’, that is, they did not live to see, in the deepest sense of the word, the fulfilment of God’s promises.
This was because the plans which God had made, were not intended to reach fruition in their time. But having told us this, the writer then declared that they were confident that God would keep His word, and ‘they saw them, and greeted them from afar,’ Hebrews 11:13.
This is an expression used to describe seamen, who can see on the horizon the shore of a country, on which they cannot land, and they ‘greet it from afar’. Literary, they are waving to it as they sail by!
Living a life of trust in God, they died in faith. They had not seen the fulfilment of God’s promises. Yet, they had seen God working out His promises through them. They were convinced that God could and would keep His promises, John 8:56.
In other words, when they were alive, they didn’t see heaven as we understand heaven today. The text doesn’t say they didn’t go to heaven but while they were alive, they longed to go to heaven even in their limited understanding of what heaven is, they wanted to be with God, Hebrews 11:10. All those mentioned in Hebrews 11, were commended and approved on account of their confidence in God, Hebrews 11:2.
So these men and women of faith accepted that they were pilgrims, strangers and exiles on this Earth. There is an anonymous letter from the 2nd Century A.D., known as the ‘Letter to Diagnetus’ which beautifully expresses the faith of the early Christians.
It says, “They inhabit their own country, but as sojourners; they take part in all things as citizens, and endure all things as aliens; every country is theirs, and every country is foreign.” This expresses the real essence of Pilgrimage. Living by faith!
Hebrews 11:15, tells us that if these people had been thinking about the land they left. The phrase ‘had been thinking’ means, ‘if they had habitually remembered’.
If the land from which they originally went out had been in their minds they could have gone back. They could have returned to Mesopotamia. But now, that is, ‘as things stand’ because of their obedient, trustful faith.
1. “God is not ashamed to be called their God”, Genesis 11:16.
That expression is a striking one, the Greek word is ‘epikaleisthai’ and it means that God is not ashamed to have them add His Name to their own! For example, God says “I am THE God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” “I am the God of Israel”.
He is graciously pleased to say this and to have them say that He is their God. ‘The God of Abraham. The God of Jacob. The God of Isaac.’
2. He has prepared a city for them.
And they make it clear that they were seeking a ‘homeland,’ Hebrews 11:14. It is not back in Mesopotamia, where Abraham, set out. It is not in Palestine, where they eventually arrived.
In the Greek, ‘whose architect and builder is God’, Hebrews 11:10. And God has not changed! In every age, it is faith, which He acknowledges and rewards.
Hebrews 11:13-16, are very important to understanding the nature of our faith. All died in faith not receiving the things promised, acknowledging that they were merely strangers and exiles on earth. Faith shows us that our attention is not here on the things of this world. Faith is understanding that we serve God not for what we will receive right now.
To serve God for what we can get now is simply idolatry. We are turning God into our idol who needs to provide us with health and wealth. We will only bow if God makes us happy and nothing less will be acceptable. This is not faith, but idolatry. Faith is about the unseen, not about receiving what can be seen right now.
This is why I love Hebrews 11:13, these heroes of faith saw their promises from afar. How could they see the promises when faith is in the unseen and when they did not receive the promises?
It is an awesome answer, these people were so certain in God’s promises and that God will reward them that they could see the unseen. Though they did not receive the promises and did not have anything tangible, they were so certain in their faith that they could see what they were going to receive.
This world was not their home
Hebrews 11:14, tells us that they were seeking their home. They were simply traversing through this life to go to a better country, Hebrews 11:16. Carefully consider Hebrews 11:15, if we are thinking about this world, we will go back to it. If we are concerned about this life, we will shrink back and we will cling to the things of this world.
If our hearts are here, then we will stay here. We will place life’s importance on the physical and material rather than on the better country that God has promised.
The heroes of faith desired a better country. True faith desires more than what is available here. Let us not forget that God made all of this. All of these things are His. He is promising that there is something better and something greater. Do not trade in the better, heavenly country for the temporary, fleeting pleasures of this world.
Look at Hebrews 11:16, because these are encouraging words also. Can you imagine God saying that He is willing to admit that we are His people and He is our God? What a glorious picture! Then the writer reminds us of what is waiting for us.
God has already prepared a city for us. The statement is in the past tense. The reward is there waiting for us. The reward is certain. Desire the better city, not the temporary pleasures of this world. This idea is continued throughout the rest of Hebrews 11.
1. Hebrews 11:13.
2. Living a life of trust in God, they died in faith.
3. They had not seen the fulfilment of God’s promises. Yet, they had seen God working out His promises through them. They were convinced that God could and would keep His promises, John 8:56.
4. Because of their trust in God they lived in a foreign land as strangers and pilgrims, Genesis 23:4.
5. The idea is of a pilgrim, one who stays in a strange place, seeing his home city on the horizon, Hebrews 13:14.
6. The things in this life have no enduring foundation.
1. Hebrews 11:14.
2. The patriarchs understood that the land in which they lived was not their own and they were headed for another land.
3. Essential elements for the search.
a. Trusting, unwavering faith in God and His Word.
b. God-fearing obedience of faith from the heart produces prompt and full submission to the will of God, Revelation 22:14.
c. Those who search with a heart to trust and obey will find, Deuteronomy 4:29.
3. For what are you seeking and looking? Earthly fame, pleasures, wealth?
a. One should be looking for the crown of life, 2 Timothy 4:6-8.
b. One’s primary citizenship should be in heaven, Philippians 3:20-21 / Colossians 3:1-2.
c. Those who seek the wrong things have a day of reckoning approaches, 2 Peter 3:11-12.
1. Hebrews 11:15.
2. There was nothing to stop them from returning to Ur, the place of their birth.
3. None of them showed a desire to return.
4. Abraham went to great pains to keep Isaac from returning to the homeland, Genesis 24:5-8.
1. Hebrews 11:16.
2. While living on Earth their desire and hope were in heaven.
3. They were not ashamed of God and He was not ashamed of them. This God showed by identifying Himself as the “God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Exodus 3:15 / Matthew 22:32.
4. As evidence of the fact that God approved of them, He prepared for them a city, a heavenly city. The patriarchs were so convinced that they were willing to suffer the loss of all earthly things to remain the people of God. This was the type of attitude Paul had in service to the Lord, Philippians 3:8.
“By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.” Hebrews 11:17-19
1. Hebrews 11:17.
2. Abraham was in the act of offering his son when God stopped him, Genesis 22:1-18. The idea is that as for as Abraham was concerned, the offering was a completed action.
3. “Only begotten son,” Hebrews 11:17 / Genesis 22:2.
a. Isaac was not Abraham’s only begotten son, Genesis 17:23-27.
b. Isaac was the only begotten son of promise.
1. Hebrews 11:18.
2. The test was extremely demanding. Abraham loved his son and all his hopes of the promises of God were centred on Isaac.
3. Abraham trusted God and left all in His hands.
1. Hebrews 11:19.
2. Abraham was not expecting such a command.
3. He reasoned that God would keep His promises and raise Isaac from the dead.
4. We can see the faith of Abraham in what he said to the young men who accompanied him to the land of Moriah, Genesis 22:5.
5. Isaac was as good as dead. When God stopped Abraham in mid-air, Abraham in a figure received his son back from the dead.
The Faith of Isaac
“By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.” Hebrews 11:20
1. Hebrews 11:20.
2. Genesis 27:1-40 / Genesis 28:1-5.
3. Isaac thinking Jacob to be Esau pronounced a blessing upon Jacob. When Isaac learned that he blessed Jacob, he determined not to change the blessing and confirmed it, “yes, and he shall be blessed.” Genesis 27:33. Isaac restates the blessing by giving Jacob the blessing of Abraham, Genesis 28:1-4.
4. A mark of true faith is a soul that yields to God. Isaac perceived the hand of God at work. He did not murmur or rebel but yielded to the will of God.
The faith of Jacob
“By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.” Hebrews 11:21
From Egypt to the conquest of Canaan, Hebrews 11:21-31.
1. Hebrews 11:21.
2. This verse relates to two incidents in Jacob’s life. They are in inverted order.
3. In blessing the two sons of Joseph, Jacob blessed the younger, Ephraim, first, Genesis 48:14-20. This he did by faith.
4. Bowing in worship over the head of his staff refers to an earlier point in Jacob’s life, Genesis 47:29-31. Jacob knew that he was near death made Joseph promise to bury him in the land of his fathers and not in Egypt.
a. In Genesis 47:31, the text says that Jacob bowed his head upon the bed. The LXX says that it was a staff. The same Hebrew word is used for both with only the vowels changing. The consonants are MTH. The word bed is ‘mittah’ and the word staff is ‘matteh.’
b. Some believe that both readings are correct. That Jacob was leaning on the head of the bed and the staff. This is very possible and reasonable to believe. It was the custom of the ancients to put their staff at the head of the bed. They would also put the spear of a warrior at the head of their beds.
The faith of Joseph
“By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.” Hebrews 11:22
1. Hebrews 11:22.
2. Genesis 50:24-25.
3. Before his death Joseph saw the promise of God coming about in that the Israelites would leave Egypt. He commanded that his bones be carried out of Egypt and buried in the land of promise, Exodus 13:19 / Joshua 24:32.
The faith of Amram, Jochebed and Moses
“By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.” Hebrews 11:23
1. Hebrews 11:23.
2. Moses was a great man of faith. His life is divided into three periods of 40 years each. The first 40 years were in Egypt. The second 40 years were in the wilderness of Midian, with the family of Jethro. In the last 40 years of Moses’ life, he was the leader of the Israelites, leading them in the wilderness as they journeyed toward Canaan.
3. In this verse one can see the faith of Moses’ parents. The Israelites were under inhumane treatment at the hands of Pharaoh, Exodus 1:8-22.
4. Moses was “a proper child.” He was a beautiful child. This describes an attractive beauty that is unique.
5. The parents of Moses saw in him a distinctive quality that could be used for God’s purpose one day.
The faith of Moses
“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.” Hebrews 11:24-26
1. Hebrews 11:24.
2. The faith of Moses enabled him to choose wisely.
3. There are two elements in every choice.
a. The negative element, a refusing. One must refuse something decisively, Philippians 3:7.
b. The positive element, choosing the better way. Moses did more than say “no” to Egypt. He refused to go one way in order to say “yes” to another.
c. Moses’ decision was one that was deliberate.
Moses made the same trade-off. Let go of the temporary pleasures looking forward to the great reward.
4. What did Moses give up?
a. A high social position in Egypt.
b. “The treasures of Egypt,” the great wealth of the greatest kingdom on Earth at that time.
c. “The pleasures of sin,” ease and luxury, the sensual pleasures that Egypt had to offer. Moses understood that the pleasures of sin were only seasonal, short-lived. This is a lesson that must be learned today, 1 John 2:15-17.
5. Moses’ choice involved.
a. He chose a life of suffering and affliction.
b. He chose fellowship with God’s people.
6. He chose a life of hardship, “the reproach of Christ.”
a. He suffered the same reproach that Christ was later to bear.
b. “All reproach suffered for righteousness’ sake since the world began has been suffered for Christ’s sake”.
7. How was Moses able to give up all the pleasures of Egypt?
a. He fixed his heart on his heavenly reward.
b. He was determined to be true to God.
c. He was a man of faith, and trust in God.
d. Jesus teaches all today to have this type of attitude, Matthew 6:33 / Mark 8:36-37 / James 4:14.
“By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.” Hebrews 11:27
1. There is some difficulty in determining when this statement occurred in Moses’ life. Some believe it was when Moses fled Egypt going into Midian and others believe it is when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt.
The latter would put the text out of chronological order. In Exodus 2:11-15, Moses fled Egypt after killing an Egyptian. It was at this time that Moses fled in fear.
2. It seems reasonable that Moses feared the king in a relative sense for his personal safety. But he did not fear him so much as to disobey God.
a. Stephen’s account adds light to it when he said that Moses believed himself to be the deliverer of God’s people, Acts 7:24-29.
b. The people at this time were not ready to have Moses as their leader, but it never stopped his faith in God, it was in Midian that Moses learned that he had to do God’s work in God’s way.
c. In Moses’ choice to serve God and not Pharaoh, he had no fear. It is this choice that the author is speaking of.
3. Moses endured because he saw the promises of God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that God would not leave His people in Egypt. His faith enabled him to endure.
“By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.” Hebrews 11:28
1. The only means of escape from him who destroyed, was obedience to God’s Word.
2. The Israelites showed their faith in God by keeping and following the commands of God that Moses gave them, Exodus 12:2-14.
THE DESTROYER
Who is the destroyer? Notice, He, the LORD, will not permit THE DESTROYER to enter your houses and strike you down, Exodus 12:23. This certainly reads as though there are two distinct persons involved, the LORD and the destroyer.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This plague (death of the firstborn) is distinctly attributed here to the personal intervention of the Lord; but it is to be observed that although the Lord Himself passed through to smite the Egyptians, He employed the agency of the ‘destroyer.’
Davies, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The destroyer is the personified power of Yahweh Himself manifesting itself as destruction.’
The Hebrew word for destroyer is ‘shachath’, which means to decay, i.e. ruin. The Hebrew writer also makes reference to ‘the destroyer’ in Hebrews 11:28. He uses the Greek word ‘olothreuo’, which means to spoil, i.e. slay. The apostle Paul makes reference to ‘the destroying angel’ in 1 Corinthians 10:10. He uses the Greek word ‘olothreutes’, which means a ruiner.
The Jews believe that the destroyer is a divine agent or angel and certain Rabbis believe that the destroyer could be both an angelic figure and an embodiment of divine judgment. Some Christian commentators believe the destroyer is the preincarnate Christ, while others suggest that the destroyer is the angel of death and others believe the destroyer is the archangel Michael or Satan or one of his followers.
Encyclopaedia of The Bible, says the following.
‘A superhuman being, used as an instrument of God’s wrath in the execution of His judgment. It is difficult to say whether this is a good angel used by God as an agent of destruction, or Satan or one of his minions. If a good angel, God could use it to bring both blessing and destruction. The term is used only twice, Exodus 12:23 / Hebrews 11:28, and 1 Corinthians 10:10. In the Exodus passage, it is used in connection with the tenth plague of Egypt, the destruction of the Egyptian firstborn. In the 1 Corinthians passage Paul warned against grumbling, as some Israelites did in the wilderness and were destroyed by the Destroyer. It is thought by some that the Destroyer referred to by Paul was the fiery serpents God sent to bring death to the complaining Israelites.’
Some translations use the phrase ‘the angel of death’ instead of ‘the destroyer’, which isn’t at all what the Hebrew actually says. The main example given for proof of an ‘angel of death’ is found in Exodus when the final plague came upon Egypt, where the firstborn sons of the Egyptians would die, Exodus 11:4-5.
The phrase ‘angel of death’ is nowhere to be found within the Scriptures. And when we go over to the next chapter, we see this promise coming to fruition, Exodus 12:29. Notice in both of these passages there is no mention of any angel, never mind any mention of an ‘angel of death’.
If you read Exodus 11:4-5, and Exodus 12:29, carefully, you can’t miss the fact that it’s God Himself, who carries out this judgement. The text says, ‘I (God) will go out’, Exodus 11:4. Exodus 12:23 says that ‘the LORD will pass through’ and ‘the LORD will pass over.’ Exodus 12:29 says, ‘The LORD stuck down.’ As it is written, God was the One who promised to judge, and He is the One who executed it.
Though we read that God used the destroyer to bring about His judgment, Exodus 12:23 / Hebrews 11:28. The destroyer clearly emanates from the LORD. The Scriptures don’t reveal to us who this is, and the destroyer is not named as the ‘angel of death’ or even mentioned as an angel.
“By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.” Hebrews 11:29
1. Exodus 14:13-27.
2. The Israelites committed themselves to the sea through faith. They trusted in God in obeying the commands of Moses.
3. The Egyptians following the Israelites was an act of presumption. They thought they would be granted safe passage through the sea. The Egyptians presumed wrongly!
4. This was a great victory that God won for His people, Exodus 14:13.
The faith of Joshua
“By faith the walls of Jericho fell after the army had marched around them for seven days.” Hebrews 11:30
1. Joshua 6:1-27.
2. God told Joshua and the Israelites to march around Jericho once a day for six days and seven times on the seventh day, God told them to have seven priests blow on the ram’s horn and the people shout. They did as they were told and the city fell. It was an act of faith.
3. There can be no faith in God unless one follows His instructions.
The faith of Rahab
“By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” Hebrews 11:31
1. Joshua 2:8-21 / Joshua 6:25.
2. In teaching a lesson on works of faith James goes back to Rahab to confirm that faith is dead without works, James 2:24-26.
3. Rahab was a Gentile who had faith in God, Joshua 2:11. Her faith in God enabled her and her family to live.
“And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets” Hebrews 11:32
In the land of Canaan, Hebrews 11:32-37.
1. There was a multitude of examples the author could have used in teaching about true faith. His time was limited and he did not go into detail.
2. Gideon was a man of faith. He took three hundred men and God gave them victory over the Midianites, Judges 7.
3. Barak along with Deborah, led the Israelites to a victory over the Canaanites, Judges 4-5.
4. Samson was God’s champion over the Philistines, Judges 15-16.
5. Jephthah was victorious over the Ammonites, Judges 11.
6. David as a boy and as a king trusted in God, 1 Samuel l7:45-46.
7. Samuel was a man whose life was filled with service to God. He was a man of courage who stood against King Saul, 1 Samuel 15:13-14 / 1 Samuel 15:22-23.
8. Prophets spoke God’s message to the people.
“Who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword whose weakness was turned to strength and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.” Hebrews 11:33-34
1. The faith of God’s servants enabled them to subdue kingdoms and establish righteousness. It is through their faith that they received the fulfilment of God’s promises, Joshua 21:45 / 1 Kings 8:56.
2. It was through faith that men like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who refused to worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar built, were delivered from fire, Daniel 3:17-18. And Daniel was saved from the lions, Daniel 6.
3. It was through faith that men like Elijah, Elisha and Jeremiah “escaped the edge of the sword.”
4. It was through faith that Hezekiah was able to look to God when he was near death and became strong, Isaiah 38:18.
5. It was through faith that wars were fought and won because they believed not it was their war, but God’s, 2 Chronicles 20:15 / 1 Samuel 17:46.
“Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection.” Hebrews 11:35
1. The women that received their dead by resurrection is a reference to the work that God did through the prophets Elijah and Elisha, 1 Kings 17:17-24 / 2 Kings 4:18-37.
2. Some were ready to accept torture and death as they looked to a better resurrection. It is better than the boys that Elijah and Elisha raised because it is a resurrection to everlasting life.
“Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.” Hebrews 11:36
1. These were some of God’s faithful that suffered because of their trust in God.
2. Jeremiah suffered because his faith was unwavering in God.
a. He was beaten and put in stocks, Jeremiah 20:2.
b. He was mocked, Jeremiah 20:7-9.
c. He was put in prison, Jeremiah 37:15.
d. He was put in a dungeon with no water, to sink in the mire, Jeremiah 38:6.
“They were put to death by stoning they were sawed in two they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated.” Hebrews 11:37
1. Zechariah was stoned for telling the people that they had forsaken the Lord, 2 Chronicles 24:20-21.
2. Tradition teaches that Isaiah was sawn asunder.
3. Elijah said that prophets were slain with the sword, 1 Kings 19:10 / 1 Kings 19:14.
4. Some lived like a vagabond because of their faith in God.
“The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and holes in the ground.” Hebrews 11:38
The inter-testamental period, Hebrews 11:38.
1. The world did not accept them, yet the world was not worthy of them.
2. They lived in poverty and were persecuted because of their faith.
“These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.” Since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” Hebrews 11:39-40
Notice that the writer of Hebrews comes back to the point made in Hebrews 11:13-16. It is not about what we will receive now, but what God has promised for us later. Don’t give up, have true faith. Put your full trust in God and you will receive the promises of God.
1. They lived and died in faith, hoping for the fulfilment of the promise.
2. They did not receive the promise.
This is the first place in the book of Hebrews where the ‘promise’ is used in the singular, Hebrews 11:17. None of those who are mentioned by faith in Hebrews 11, experienced the fulfilment of the singular New Covenant fulfilled by Christ. Instead, they anticipated the fulfilment of that promise by faith.
God has provided something better for us. The New Testament believer has a better promise than Old Testament believers. The church has the New Covenant fulfilled in Christ.
Since the day that Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, they all looked for one to arise from the seed of the woman, who would be bruised on the heel, but who would bruise the serpent on the head, Genesis 3:15.
Since the days of Moses, they always looked for the prophet to arise like Moses who would be another deliverer, Deuteronomy 18:15-29. Since the days of David, they always looked for the one to arise from his line to sit on David’s throne forever, 2 Samuel 7:13.
Since the days of Isaiah, they have always looked for the one born of a virgin who would be called Immanuel, Isaiah 7:14. Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace, Isaiah 9:6.
They were looking for the one to sit upon the seat of David, and reign forever and ever, Isaiah 9:7. This was the great promise that all of the Old Testament saints were looking for.
And yet, according to Hebrews 11:39, they “did not receive what was promised.” When the scripture says they didn’t receive the promise, this simply means that they did not receive the fulfilment of the promise or did not receive all that was promised.
They all still looked forward to some future blessings, Hebrews 11:13. All these died before the final unfolding of God’s promise, the coming of His Messiah into the world.
What was the promise?
The promise they didn’t receive was seeing the Messiah in the flesh. They saw him by faith, they believed in him and rejoiced at the expectation of His coming, but they never saw Him in the flesh, John 1:14.
Since these Old Testament faithfuls so strongly believed, and so cheerfully suffered before Christ came, the writer’s argument is, that those who did see Him, and all Christians today should ‘throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.’ Hebrews 12:1-2.
Where are all the Old Testament faithful?
In Matthew 22:23-32, Jesus taught that Old Testament believers go directly into God’s presence upon death. In that passage, Jesus is rebuking the Sadducees, who argued against the idea of a resurrection, Matthew 22:23.
Jesus’ reply reveals a lot to us in Matthew 22:31-32, those words have meaning only if Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all Old Testament saints, were presently and consciously living in the presence of God, Luke 20:38.
The story of the Rich man and Lazarus has Abraham in ‘paradise’ ‘heaven’, ‘God’s dwelling place’, Luke 16:22 / Luke 23:43 / 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 / Revelation 2:7.
If there is a ‘waiting place’ for Christians before Judgment Day, then who are ‘the spirits of the righteous made perfect,’ and where are they now according to Hebrews 12:22-24?
If there is a waiting place for Christians before Judgment Day, then who are ‘the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained,’ and where are they now according to Revelation 6:9-11?
1. Those of old lived in anticipation, of the coming Christ.
2. Christians live in the age the ancients looked for, the time of Christ and His work.
3. In the Christian age, better things are provided.
