Chapter 11

The "faith" chapter.  I have a note that says those who believe in something are the walking talking evidence that it exists.  Else how could their belief persist?  To believe in what does not exist is mental insanity.  When so many believe in the same thing, it is mass insanity.  How do you disprove mass insanity?  What is the evidence that those who believe are insane, and those who don't are sane?  Shaky ground for unbelievers.  If you separate one of the believers from the herd, will he still persist in his belief?  If he does, if any does, then it should scare those who do not believe.

2021 - I like the way this is worded in ESV - especially in light of the paragraph above:

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. [Heb 11:1 ESV]  as compared to this:

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. [Heb 11:1 NKJV], which is the way I've always seen it before.  I like conviction better.  Evidence must be seen I think, or at least that's how the word is used nowadays.  If you want it to be exhibit A, you have to be able to put a tag on it.  Conviction cannot be seen, but our actions show that we have it.  Actions based on faith make real the object of that faith for all to see.  And that is what we see in the rest of chapter 11 - actions resulting from conviction. 

This verse:

3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. [Heb 11:3 ESV]

Follow right along from what I said about verse 1.  Rejecting evolution and holding fast to creation - because it is in the Bible, comes by faith.  You can't believe this without faith.  Perhaps because Satan has heaped up so much momentum that He didn't create it.  Creation is a God thing.  No other creature or being creates from nothing except God. 

2021 - The Big Bang theory starts with all that is already present and ready to become what we see.  The Big Bang theory doesn't tells us where all that mass and energy came from.  This verse says it was spoken into existence by God.  It became something from nothing.  It is a supernatural thing beyond the understanding of man.

2026 - Or...perhaps here is the explanation for why the current telescope sees mature galaxies where none could possibly exist.  Because God created these things already complete and formed on day one.  He created with the appearance of age as proof that they were created.  At some  point, the limited knowledge of man reaches the maturity that him to show that these old galaxies could not have "evolved", but had to arise already intact.  Our great learning proves - yes PROVES - that creation happened.  That the universe is supernatural in origin.  So now, to reject God is to reject your own eyes, your own data, and for that you are condemned.  On the historic timeline, man believed God made everything because he had no alternative explanation.  Then, for a few short hundreds of years, science had an explanation that didn't need God.  So God increased our knowledge to the point where all the science turns out to be wrong, and again, we have no better explanation for creation than God.  We are back where we were before.

2025 - This verse:

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. [Heb 11:4 ESV]. By our sacrifices we are made righteous.  Righteousness came to Abel "through" (Greek dia) the acceptable sacrifice he made.  I think what this is telling us is that Adam and Eve were for a time sinless, but they never sacrificed, they never had to choose good over evil, they never did any good works, and so though sinless and therefore justified before God, they were not righteous.  Perhaps if they had obeyed for a long enough time it would have been counted as righteousness, but we really don't know that.  What we know, from Adam and Eve, and now from this verse, is that for mankind, both justification and righteousness are required by God.  Abel had faith, which justified him (The just shall live by faith, by faith Abraham...) and Abel was made righteous by bringing what God required of him in the way of sacrifice.  The Law of Moses was about being made righteous, by the High Priest's intervention year by year in offering bulls and goats - the Old Covenant way.  Under the New Covenant, we are still justified by faith, though now that faith is in the Son, and we are made righteous by the shed blood of the perfect sacrifice.  This is why we drink the blood of the New Covenant sacrifice, though doing so was prohibited in the Old Covenant.  The life of the flesh is in the blood...and at the Lord's supper, we drink the blood of the perfect sacrifice.  That is symbolic.  In practice, we are righteous to the extent that we follow Jesus, and we do as he would have us do.  The works are important for us, just as bringing the correct sacrifice was important in the time of Cain and Abel.  To be acceptable, you had to DO THE RIGHT THING.

2025 - And it goes on.  Enoch didn't die because he was already counted both justified and righteous before God.  Enoch performed as God required and so was justified.  Noah is next.  He built an ark on dry land when no one had ever seen rain, flooding...there was absolutely no scientifically based reason to build that ark.  It was a work and God required it of Noah.  God told him to do it, so God saved Noah, but without works Noah would have drowned with everyone else.  Noah did the works because he believed in God, and he performed as God required.  Both.

2025 - This is where it gets mixed up.  This is where all the "works required" stuff comes from.  It is one of those things where Baptist go overboard in saying "not by works".  But look what that proof text actually says:  16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. [Gal 2:16 ESV]. Works have nothing to do with justification.  Sinlessness - a pure heart and life, complete obedience to God and His Laws - no sin at all in our lives - is what leads to justification.  But where is righteousness?  It is surely a part of the equation.  It is works that lead to righteousness, as Noah's ark-building was rewarded with a declaration of his righteousness - Just like Abel.  Righteousness is about rewards.  Righteousness is about standing.  Works matter.

2025 - We do the works because we have faith first.  We do the works to gain the unseen reward that our faith tells us will be there as promised.  Reward in heaven is connected to works we do by faith (after faith?) on earth.  We do not stress works nearly enough.

This verse:

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. [Heb 11:6 ESV]

Lines right up with "The fool has said in his heart..." 

Unbelievers never ever get a credit for doing good.  Their unbelief precludes any credit.  Being a "good person" without believing is an oxymoron.  It is not a "thing".  Unbelievers judge themselves with great leniency.

7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. [Heb 11:7 ESV]

In vs 7 it says that construction of the ark condemned the world.  The faithful action of one man separated that one man from the whole world.  As long as there was a contrast between good and evil, there could be condemnation.  Ever get to feeling alone?  Read about Noah.  Ever think no one wants to hear what you have to say about God?  Read about Noah.  Ever think doing what faith requires is just wasted effort?  Noah's saved his own family.  Faith drove the action that saved Noah from destruction.  Faith compels faithful action.  If you don't feel compelled, then check for true faith.

This is a good vs for a FB post.

Abraham lived in the land of promise as if it was a foreign land.  We live in the world as if it is a foreign land, but in eternity, the world will be new, and the world will be our inheritance, as Cana was Abraham's.  It is foreign for us because sin has corrupted it.  Made it "foreign" to us.

Vs 13 urges us to continue in faith, as these who died without seeing the object of their faith remained faithful. 

Never noticed this one:

16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. [Heb 11:16 ESV]

God not ashamed to be called our God, because we look to the city in heaven He has built for those who have faith enough to shun this corrupted place and things it has to offer in favor of the place built by God. 

This pivotal verse:

19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. [Heb 11:19 ESV]

Abraham did not believe for a second that the son of promise would stay dead.  He believed he would die, by his own hand, but he knew it was not permanent.  This is a picture of Christ dying at the hands of sinners.  Christ's resurrection can save those who believe in his resurrection with the same fervent faith Abraham believed that Isaac would live again.  Belief in the face of impossibility.  Though Isaac did not die, his release from the altar of sacrifice was a picture of him returning from the dead.

2026 - This is also the explanation for how Abraham "seeing" Christ in John.  This verse:

56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad." [Jhn 8:56 ESV].  Abraham saw that the promises of God would come through one resurrected from the dead.  This is what Jn 8:56 means as absolutely clearly explained here in Heb 11:19!  Abraham did not "see" Jesus.  Neither did Moses "see" him.  But Moses read about Abraham and Isaac - or he "comprehended" what that story foretold!  Moses too saw that story not just as an "event" but of prophecy of what was to come!  As a type.  Surely I need to get this into a clear presentation of  these things and post it.

I have never seen it before, yet here it is, and it now  seems plain as day!

This chapter is showing that God advances his plan for mankind through people of faith.  He doesn't just "make them do what he wants", but they do it of their own volition through the firm faith they have in God.  God made Pharoah's heart hard, Pharoah had no faith.  In Pharoah's case, God did "make him do what He wanted", to the destruction of Pharoah of His army.  The Israelites went through the sea by faith, and it saved them from drowning.  Pharoah's army went through because it was their duty, and they all drowned.  Same with Assyria, Babylon, Rome.  Those who act out of unbelief, though they do God's will, do so to their own inevitable and well-deserved destruction.  You do not want God to make you do things.  You want to do as He requires of you by faith, with the future inheritance in mind.  Possible FB post.  But what verse would you use?  This is a really good thought, but needs a verse.  Perhaps this one?  29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. [Heb 11:29 ESV]

2026 - Again, from vs 29.  The Hebrews were able to do the impossible, they were able to walk on dry land through the parted sea because they had faith.  And when Pharoah's army tried to reap the benefits of faith though they had no faith, look what happened to them!  It is the same today.  Though one do as God's word commands, follow every rule, give to the poor, love his neighbor, cast out demons in His name (put in the requirements of Islam too - they surely belong here), and the rest of the things at the sheep and goat, though you do ALL of that JUST LIKE THE BELIEVERS DO, if you have no real faith, the sea is going to crash down on you and you will drown in your lack of faith.

2022 - This verse:

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. [Heb 11:30 ESV]

I always think it was the vibration from the trumpets that weakened the walls because of a harmonic frequency that did it.  Or simply that God did it.  This says faith brought the walls down, and perhaps the actions that faith prompted.  Faith always leads to action, and faithful action leads to results.

A separate FB post...or an addition to the one above?

This verse:

35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. [Heb 11:35 ESV]

What an interesting study...each time a prophet, Jesus, or an apostle raised someone from the dead, was that person restored to a woman?  No...Jairus' daughter, the guy that fell out of the window...But many times a woman is mentioned.

40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. [Heb 11:40 NKJV]  They could not leave Paradise for heaven and the very presence of God until Christ's resurrection.  That is why Jesus went to get them, to declare himself to those "imprisoned" in paradise, and then lead the captives to heaven with Him.