Reflections on Hebrews 11

Hebrews 11 (Contemporary English Version)


1. Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see.
2. It was their faith that made our ancestors pleasing to God.
3. Because of our faith, we know that the world was made at God's command. We also know that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen.
4. Because Abel had faith, he offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. God was pleased with him and his gift, and even though Abel is now dead, his faith still speaks for him.
5. Enoch had faith and did not die. He pleased God, and God took him up to heaven. That's why his body was never found.
6. But without faith no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and that he rewards everyone who searches for him.
7. Because Noah had faith, he was warned about something that had not yet happened. He obeyed and built a boat that saved him and his family. In this way the people of the world were judged, and Noah was given the blessings that come to everyone who pleases God.
8. Abraham had faith and obeyed God. He was told to go to the land that God had said would be his, and he left for a country he had never seen.
9. Because Abraham had faith, he lived as a stranger in the promised land. He lived there in a tent, and so did Isaac and Jacob, who were later given the same promise.
10. Abraham did this, because he was waiting for the eternal city that God had planned and built.
11. Even when Sarah was too old to have children, she had faith that God would do what he had promised, and she had a son.
12. Her husband Abraham was almost dead, but he became the ancestor of many people. In fact, there are as many of them as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand along the beach.
13. Every one of those people died. But they still had faith, even though they had not received what they had been promised. They were glad just to see these things from far away, and they agreed that they were only strangers and foreigners on this earth.
14. When people talk this way, it is clear that they are looking for a place to call their own.
15. If they had been talking about the land where they had once lived, they could have gone back at any time.
16. But they were looking forward to a better home in heaven. That's why God wasn't ashamed for them to call him their God. He even built a city for them.
17. Abraham had been promised that Isaac, his only son, would continue his family. But when Abraham was tested, he had faith and was willing to sacrifice Isaac,
18. (SEE 11:17)
19. because he was sure that God could raise people to life. This was just like getting Isaac back from death.
20. Isaac had faith, and he promised blessings to Jacob and Esau.
21. Later, when Jacob was about to die, he leaned on his walking stick and worshiped. Then because of his faith he blessed each of Joseph's sons.
22. And right before Joseph died, he had faith that God would lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. So he told them to take his bones with them.
23. Because Moses' parents had faith, they kept him hidden until he was three months old. They saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king's orders.
24. Then after Moses grew up, his faith made him refuse to be called Pharaoh's grandson.
25. He chose to be mistreated with God's people instead of having the good time that sin could bring for a little while.
26. Moses knew that the treasures of Egypt were not as wonderful as what he would receive from suffering for the Messiah, and he looked forward to his reward.
27. Because of his faith, Moses left Egypt. Moses had seen the invisible God and wasn't afraid of the king's anger.
28. His faith also made him celebrate Passover. He sprinkled the blood of animals on the doorposts, so that the first-born sons of the people of Israel would not be killed by the destroying angel.
29. Because of their faith, the people walked through the Red Sea on dry land. But when the Egyptians tried to do it, they were drowned.
30. God's people had faith, and when they had walked around the city of Jericho for seven days, its walls fell down.
31. Rahab had been a prostitute, but she had faith and welcomed the spies. So she wasn't killed with the people who disobeyed.
32. What else can I say? There isn't enough time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets.
33. Their faith helped them conquer kingdoms, and because they did right, God made promises to them. They closed the jaws of lions
34. and put out raging fires and escaped from the swords of their enemies. Although they were weak, they were given the strength and power to chase foreign armies away.
35. Some women received their loved ones back from death. Many of these people were tortured, but they refused to be released. They were sure that they would get a better reward when the dead are raised to life.
36. Others were made fun of and beaten with whips, and some were chained in jail.
37. Still others were stoned to death or sawed in two or killed with swords. Some had nothing but sheep skins or goat skins to wear. They were poor, mistreated, and tortured.
38. The world did not deserve these good people, who had to wander in deserts and on mountains and had to live in caves and holes in the ground.
39. All of them pleased God because of their faith! But still they died without being given what had been promised.
40. This was because God had something better in store for us. And he did not want them to reach the goal of their faith without us.
    
    

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    In this 11th chapter, the writer illustrates the benefits and the possibility of faith in all types of circumstances for his readers, some of whom were tempted to apostacize. Besides showing, through the examples of people of faith throughout history, the possibility of remaining faithful in spite of difficult circumstances and not ever seeing in this lifetime the outcome of their faith, he also showed that the reward of faith is not necessarily immediate gratification.
    
    The writer begins this chapter of faith with the role of sight in faith. Faith, he says, is not a result of what we can see, but rather, what we can see is a result of faith. The reality of what we cannot see is made known through faith. This is why he says it is the "proof of what is not seen." (11:1) It is also by faith that we understand what is unknowable in any other way, and that is creation. It is not through science that we understand creation, but only through faith. Some consider science and faith to be incompatible. But how can one master a discipline that studies a subject without understanding the One who made it? Excluding the Creator from the study removes the possibility of understanding.
    
    The first set of examples used by the writer demonstrate the role of faith in pleasing God. Using Abel, Enoch, and Noah as examples he makes the point that "without faith it is impossible to please God." (11:6) Abel's sacrifice was accepted by God because it was offered in faith. Enoch did not experience death because his faith pleased God. And Noah was delivered from the flood because his faith led him to do what God told him.
    
    The next set of faith examples demonstrates persisent faith even when the reality of the thing hoped for does not happen for years or even in their lifetime. Those in this set of examples included Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob. They all acted as if God's promises were a sure thing even though they would never see their fulfillment. This is because their sights were on a greater reward - "the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God." (11:10) Rather than grasping for gratification fulfillment in their lifetime they saw themselves as "foreigners and temporary residents on the earth." They could forego a temporary blessing in exchange for an eternal blessing. The writer's point in these examples was that these heroes of faith aspired "to a better land--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." (11:16) His message to his readers and to us is that our faith should not rise and fall based on circumstances in this life, but it should be based on the reward God has prepared for us in heaven. This hope has no bases in the circumstances of life but remains a constant hope despite circumstances. The more difficult our circumstances the greater our desire for that ultimate reward.
    
    The theme of the second set of examples carries into the third set and becomes more focused on this concept of foregoing short-lived pleasure in the present in exchange for an eternal pleasure in heaven. The heroes of faith in this set include: Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Joseph, Moses, and Rahab the prostitute. In this set the writer shifts from a faith that anticipates the fulfillment of a promise beyond the individual's lifetime to a faith that endures the displeasures of the world and doing without material goods in exchange for a "greater wealth" in heaven. Moses is the central person of faith in these examples. He could have enjoyed prestige and wealth as the "son of Pharaoh's daughter," but instead chose to "suffer with the people of God," thus giving up "the short-lived pleasure of sin" for a "greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt." (11:24, 25, 26) What was true for Moses could also be true for the first readers of Hebrews and for us.
    
    In the last set of faith examples the list includes a wide range of individuals who had a wide range of faith experiences. By faith, these individuals "conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the raging of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength after being weak, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead raised to life again. Some men were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might gain a better resurrection, and others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated." (11:34-37) There are too many examples to pass them off as isolated situations. What was possible for all these people is possible for any of us. The key is faith. And the key to that faith is a single-minded focus on God and the life He has waiting for us beyond this life, which makes everything in this life pale by comparison.
    
    The type of faith demonstrated in all these examples is summed up in this: "All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us." (11:39-40) Their faith, out of which came the Messiah, provided something better for us in that we have the Messiah. And our faith in the Messiah completes their faith.