Hebrews Chapter 11
Originally posted Friday October 24, 2008
General Comment: In
"Hebrews" the author has interspersed exposition - interpretation of
biblical texts, with exhortation - encouragement of the faithful. He pleads
with the faithful "not to abandon" or "shrink
back" from their baptismal confession and confidence in the hope they
first held. In the close of chapter 10 we read that the fulfillment of this
confidence and hope to which they are to cling is close to being realized.
"The one who is coming will not delay." The author holds fast to
his own confidence that he and others are not included "among those who
shrink back" and are lost. Rather, they are people of faith who will
be among those who will be with Christ after that "very little
while."Vss. 37-39 serve as
a transition to the long section on faith - beginning with a definition and
followed with a number of examples of the faith of Old Testament figures.
Hebrews, Chapter 11:1-2 The Meaning of Faith - Exposition
The opening verse is
a classic definition of faith adapted from Paul's letter to the Romans (Rom. 8:24). The two features of faith
are assurance and conviction. Only by faith can we be assured
of the outcome of our own hopes. Only by faith can we hold the
conviction of the validity of what cannot be seen.
Hebrews, Chapter 11:3 Faith Defined
Two general examples
of faith are offered. The first relates to the ancestors (Israelites) who
"received approval." By faith the Israelites were sure
(assurance) that God would be faithful to them and fulfill God's
promise of land to the descendents of Abraham, the father of their
faith. By that same faith they were certain (conviction)
that possession of the unseen land of Canaan would be realized. To be
sure this was an indirect faith - a faith in the faith of another. In Old
Testament understanding the faith that was Abraham's would have been "in his
loins" and passed down to his descendents - something like a genetically
inherited faith or at least the opportunity to act out of faith (see 7:9). The author notes that it was
by their faith that they "received approval." Based on a later
text these words are used to refer to a person who has been
considered by God as righteous. This would be in keeping with the New
Testament understanding that faith is rewarded with an
attributed righteousness.
Hebrews, Chapter 11:4-7 Examples of Faith - Abel, Enoch and
Noah
(1) Abel (Gen. 4:3-5): It was Abel's offering to God "from
his fatlings of the first born of his sheep" and
not Cain's offering from the fruits of the land that was more acceptable
to God. Therefore, by Abel's faith (as evidenced by the offering) "he
received God's approval as being righteous or "it was reckoned to him as
righteousness." (These are the same words used in Genesis when referring
to Abraham's faith.) The last phrase, "he still speaks," is
characteristic of the Christian understanding that the words of the Old
Testament were written for their instruction.
(2) Enoch (Gen. 5:18-24): The important text in 5:24 referring to Enoch is
"And Enoch was well pleasing to God...and he was not found [to have
died] for God had transposed him." Enoch was the subject of Jewish
speculative writing in which he is said to have been "translated to
heaven" before his death, much in the same way as was Elijah. We can
see the connection between Enoch and Abel in the words "he was well
pleasing to God." Both were well pleasing to God, one by an offering
and one by his 160 years of "walking with God." Being "well
pleasing" to God is considered a pre-requisite to receiving God's
"approval as [being] righteous." (The Book of Enoch influenced
both early Jewish and Christian apocalyptic writings.)
Before the author
reaches Noah he inserts a parenthetical remark that applies to all three
characters and, so, to the readers of "Hebrews." The twice mentioned
"being pleasing to God" is a necessity for anyone who would
"approach" God and to be pleasing to God requires faith. Here
the author adds a dimension to the meaning of faith. As an example of vs. 1 faith should include
believing in the existence of God and that those who seek God are rewarded. We
should probably interpret this as a reward of the faith of the seeker
since God would not be sought after unless one had faith that the
unseen God existed.
(3) Noah (Gen. 6:7-14): The Greek text of Genesis informs
us "But Noah found favor before the Lord, God" and "Noah
was a just person. Being perfect in his generation he was well pleasing to
God." God warned Noah of his future (unseen) plans to flood the
earth and instructed him to build an Ark. By faith Noah believed that the
unseen events would occur and so obeyed God's command to build the Ark. By
his obedience, the author writes, Noah "became the heir to a righteousness
born of faith." It is not clear what being such an heir means. Genesis
does not develop his imputed righteousness any further. It may involve his
being the father of postdiluvian human kind. In Paul's development of faith as
the path to God he does not use Noah as the model, preferring the more
proximate Abraham.
Hebrews, Chapter 11:8-22 The Faith of Abraham
We have read
the story of Abraham's faith and its impact on Christian theology in
Paul's letter to the Romans. The author begins with God's call to Abraham
to leave his home and travel to Canaan which was to be his descendents'
inheritance. "By faith he obeyed" and stayed in the land as did his
descendents Isaac and Jacob. (The three are usually mentioned together in
Exodus and elsewhere as the three most important of the post-Abrahamic
patriarchs.) The author interprets Abraham's faith as "looking forward to
the city" that God has built - the heavenly Jerusalem. (Some writers
conclude that the city is the earthly Jerusalem but "Hebrews" is more
interested in the heavenly models of earthly structures, e.g. the Tabernacle.
It was also by faith that Abraham believed he would have a son, his age and
Sarah's barrenness notwithstanding. This was the center of Paul's understanding
of faith about which he writes that Abraham's faith was "reckoned to him
as righteousness." His faith was not restricted to the birth of a single
son, he also believed God's promise of the unseen multitudes of descendents,
"as many as the stars of heaven and as innumerable as the grains of sand
by the seashore." This is faith indeed!
Apparently the faith
of Abraham extended to all of his descendents who are included in the "all
of these" that died and mentioned in vs. 13. Their faith was exhibited in their seeking of a homeland
they had not seen and would not occupy. Yet they could "see" those
who would occupy Canaan "from afar." The author understands
their seeking as being for "a better country," a heavenly country.
To Abraham's faith
that he would have a son and that his descendents would inherit the land, the
author adds the story of Isaac. In faith that Isaac, his only biological son,
would be the first of a multitude of decedents, he still offered him up as
a sacrifice in obedience to God. In something of a stretch of the imagination
the author suggests Abraham considered the possibility of resurrection with
regard to Isaac. Of course Isaac did not die. He passed on God's blessing he
had inherited from Abraham to his twin sons Jacob and Esau. In progression
Jacob passed on the blessing to the sons of Joseph (Genesis records that Jacob
blessed all twelve of his sons plus the two sons of Joseph).
Hebrews, Chapter 11:23-28 The Faith of Moses
Faith is seen as a
guiding influence in Moses' life. Faith led his mother to hide him in a basket
placed in the Nile to escape death at the hands of Pharaoh. By faith Moses
refused to reject his Hebrew heritage even though it meant giving up his royal
status and the "fleeting pleasures of sin." Placing a
Christ-consciousness in Moses, the author has Moses considering his own
sufferings as if for Christ, worth more than any wealth he enjoyed as an
Egyptian noble for he was" looking ahead to the
reward." By faith he left Egypt without fear as if guided by
"him who was invisible (Christ)." By faith Moses kept the Passover
and the sprinkling of blood thus protecting the firstborn of Israel.
Hebrews, Chapter 11:29-40 The Faith of Other Israelite
Heroes
The author finishes
his exposition of how faith played a significant role in the advancing of God's
elect from Abraham to Moses. Faith was involved in a number of events in which
obedience to God's command would accomplish the impossible. They crossed
the Red Sea; the walls of Jericho fell; Rahab the prostitute was saved along
with her family. And there were many more he could have mentioned as he refers
to biblical and non-canonical texts such as Joshua, Judges, I & II Kings,
the Prophets, Daniel and the Maccabees. There is a "yet" to all
this history replete with the curious mixture of suffering and faith. Even
though all of these - from Abel onward who were mentioned acted by and
were commended for faith in their obedience to God, they did not receive the
better place. They did not inherit the eschatological promise, the
heritage of "rest" in the presence of God. We may be left
with disappointment as we think that all of those who came before, who acted by
faith and were commended for doing so would not achieve the "better
place." It doesn't sound very fair or in keeping with God's justice. But
we need to remember the author's subtle interconnection of
all the crucial events of the historical drama he has laid out. Faith
really is faith and it really is rewarded. This is a gracious expression of the
universal nature of salvation. Those of the past did not receive the
"better place" as a reward for their faith because faith as the
one path to righteousness and entry into the "rest of God" had not
yet appeared. It would finally appear with the earthly advent of Christ
and the law of faith. The Author proclaims, in the graciousness of God,
that all those mentioned who acted in and by faith, will, with the readers of
"Hebrews" be made perfect on the last day.
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