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| Chapter 11 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. 4 ¶ By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it he, being dead, yet speaketh. 5 By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see death, "and was not found because God had translated him." For before his translation he had this testimony: that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God of things not yet seen, moved with fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should later receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11 Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore there sprang even from one, and him as good as dead, as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded by them and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they are seeking a fatherland. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a City. 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called," 19 accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from whence he also received him, in a figurative sense. 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel, and gave commandment concerning his bones. 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a handsome child; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he had come of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. 27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. 28 Through faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. 29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, but the Egyptians, in attempting to do so, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been compassed about for seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with those who believed not, having received the spies with peace. 32 ¶ And what shall I say more? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak and of Samson and of Jephthah, of David also and Samuel and of the prophets, 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword. Out of weakness they were made strong, waxed valiant in battle, and turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 And others endured the trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented 38 (of whom the world was not worthy). They wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, 40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. |
A Superior,greater Hope through Jesus. 11:1-12: 11:18-24 The triumphs of faith. v1 The writer states that faith deals with two types of events, the future, things hoped for, and things not seen, not things unknown, they exist but not visible. So a person who has true faith also has all that is needed for life, the power of life. He shows this by giving a list of people who have lived by faith as evidence or proof of what he has been saying. v2,3 The Jewish fathers and heroes of the Old Testament are listed, starting from Abel they are shown to have faith so that they received a good report from God. From the creation of the world faith was involved, by the act of God’s Word all things were created. v4 Abel made a blood sacrifice which was acceptable to God, so showing that faith must also involve a blood sacrifice, a life of faith must involve atonement. We are not told how Abel sacrifice was accepted, there may have been a physical sign. v5 Enoch lived a righteous life, his aim was to please God at any cost, and he was successful and Enoch was taken up to God without dieing. Genesis 5:21-24. v6 States the universal application of faith, to approach God needs faith, worship and expecting a blessing from Him in faith must start that God exists and needs to be worshipped. With this faith and seeking Him comes the reward. v7 Noah, having received instruction from God, builds the ark. Noah believed that God was about to judge the earth, the ark proved his faith and Noah received a reward of heir of the earth. v8-10 Abraham was called by God to leave the land of Chaldaean’s Gen 12:1-9 and go into Canaan. Abraham accepted the command, obeying his God, willing to live in a tent and as a stranger in the land God had promised to him and his children. Looking for a city with foundations, this is not reference to Jerusalem but to some future heavenly city made by God. v11,12 Sarah, though at the beginning was full of doubt, eventually believed God’s promise that she would have a child though many years past the ability to give birth of a child. Genesis 18:1-15. As God promised, Sarah was the mother of a great race. v13 These people had received a divine inheritance but never received it in their earth life. They were "strangers and pilgrims on the earth." Gen 23:4. v14-16 The patriarchs desired a place to settle, if they had wanted too they could have gone back to Mesopotamia at anytime but they longed for the promised, unseen city, built by God. "God is not ashamed to be called their God," shows how much God saw their faith and keeping of His promise of the reward because He continued to refer to Himself as "God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Luke 20:37,38. v17-19 Genesis 22:1-18. God tests Abraham’s faith. Why put him through such a test? Perhaps Abraham was putting Isaac’s future before God? We are not told but God tells Abraham to sacrifice his future and destroy the promise of God. Abraham believed that if he sacrificed Isaac God could bring him back to life, just as God had enabled a ‘dead’ mother and father have a child. v20 Abraham blessed his two sons for the future,"things to come," though reading Gen 27:1-46 makes it difficult to see how he could do this, Esau was the first born and should have received the main blessing but Jacob by cheating received it instead. It was Jacob who understood the meaning of the blessing, Esau was happy "to sell it for food." Gen 25:29-34 "And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger." shows that it was by the will of God that Jacob was to receive the blessing. Worth noting that Jacob and his mother both tried to help God carryout His plan by the use of cheating. v21 "By faith Jacob,- blessed both the sons of Joseph" Jacob blessed Joseph as if the ‘firstborn’ instead of Reuben. In Gen 48:1-22 we see that Ephraim the younger was given the greater blessing. Ephraim became an alternative name for the Northern kingdom of Israel. v22 Joseph as he died still looked for the future place, he wanted his bones taken to the promised land and not left in Egypt. v23 The writer moving onto Moses but starts with the faith of his parents Exodus 2:2. Somehow they sensed that this baby was special and at great danger to themselves protected him from the Egyptians. Acts 7:20. v24,25 When Moses was 40 years old Acts 7:23 he chose to reject the Egyptian court, power and riches and return to his despised people of God, a group of Egyptian slaves. He had been adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter, Exodus 2:5-10, and could have been able to be reach a high Egyptian position. "pleasures of sin" Living without God. v26 Moses chose to suffer as a servant of God and his reward rather than worldly riches, a typical example of the life of Christ. v27 By faith he left Egypt for Midian where he was to receive God’s commands. Exodus 3:1ff. v28 By faith Moses persuaded the people of Israel to carry out the Passover, to place themselves under the protection of God through the shedding of blood. God’s Judgement fell on the firstborn. Exodus 12:1-31. v29 It is still by the faith of Moses but the people must also have had some faith, to walk across the seabed. Israel obeyed God, the Egyptians did not and perished. Exodus 14:1ff. v30 The writer has ignored all the failures while the tribe was in the wilderness. Jericho was one of the first campaigns in the promised land Joshua 6:1ff. The whole event was an example of faith in the command’s of God and His promises. v31 Rahab was a Gentile woman and had worked as a prostitute when she helped the two spies from Israel. Joshua 2:1ff; Joshua 6:17. The including of Rahab in this list of faith, a Gentile woman with a poor life style, has caused a problem for many people. But this woman believed in the God of Israel and His people. v32-33 The writer finds many other examples of faith in Israel’s history. He gives just a few names from the books of Judges and Samuel. Gideon, Judges 7:1; Barak, Judges 4; Samson, Judges 14:1ff; Jephthah, Judges 11:1ff; David and Samuel had many faith victories. v34-38 The writer now lists many ways that these people had been able to show their faith. v35 "dead raised to life," the son of the widow of Zarephath 1 Kings 17:17ff, the Shunammite woman 2 Kings 4:1ff. v39 These all had received a good report from God for their faith but still not received the promise. The saints of the old covenant saw fulfilment of some promises but never the eternal inheritance, not due to lack of faith but it could not happen under the old covenant, God had to provide the new covenant through Christ before redemption was available. |
Easy English Translation
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