By faith, everything is made better. Faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen that were promised or spoken of by God. By faith, the people of old gained approval by God.
Throughout scripture, we have examples of God’s people who lived by faith, fulfilling their role in the covenant that God made with them, because they believed that God was faithful to fulfil his promises. There were some promises that were fulfilled in their time, according to the specific covenant God made with them (e.g., the Abrahamic covenant, the creation covenant, covenants of blessings, or children, or land, etc..), but all the faithful examples listed in this chapter died in faith, without receiving the promises of the New Covenant, but having seen and welcomed them from a distance.
They were people who knew that this world (the current age) is not their home. They knew they were strangers, looking for a better home, a heavenly one (that will come down to earth), whose maker was God.
By faith, Abraham offered up Isaac. He knew his God was faithful to his promise that through Isaac, the promised seed (Jesus) would be born. That can’t happen if his son is dead. So Abraham had faith that God was able to raise people from the dead.
By faith, Moses chose to suffer with his people, rather than to indulge in the temporary pleasures of sin that came with the territory of being a grandson to a rich Pharoah. He considered the shame of Messiah greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking to the reward.
There are so many examples of faithful people of God mentioned in this chapter. If you’re lacking in faith, read about them, you won’t be disappointed! The point in reminding the Hebrew readers of this I believe, was to teach them, or to remind them, that the people of old were faithful to the end of their lives, to a God they believed was faithful in keeping his promises—even the ones they had not yet received prior to dying, and thus became pleasing to God. They were chosen because of their faith, enduring until their end.
Yet, God wasn’t willing to establish his kingdom with them in their time, because he wanted them to be with the Hebrews in this letter. By extension, he wanted them to be with us. He didn’t want them without also having you! That’s the God you chose to serve!
The promise of a better hope, the one obtained now through the New Covenant, spoken of in the law and the prophets of old, is for those pleasing to God – the faithful; the chosen. It’s for those who have gained approval through their faith (their obedience to whatever covenant God made with them because they believed he was faithful), who are made perfect with those of us who chose to enter the New Covenant with God through Jesus. The better promises are all through Jesus, and they’re available for everyone who seeks God through him, choosing God back through their faith.
“6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is (exists) and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
-Juliet Taylor
Reflection Questions
1. It is common for people to say, “Have faith,” but I don’t think people should have faith in something that God never promised them. The examples in this chapter seem to reflect that. What do you think?
2. Whose faith recorded in this chapter do you admire most, and why?
3. We are to have faith in promises not yet received in this age too. How will you keep your faith until the end?
Hebrews chapter 11 is very well known and a powerful and beautiful piece of writing, maybe on a level with 1 Corinthians 13. What Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 about love is more often quoted in wedding services, out of context, than used to discuss the situation at Corinth. Something similar may be true with what Hebrews 11 says regarding faith. Good use is made of the passage to discuss faith, but perhaps comparatively not much of the time in the context of what Hebrews is about. It is extremely easy to break this passage away from the rest of what was written by Herb (my name for the author of Hebrews, for simplicity).
New Testament Greek had no chapter breaks, or even paragraph breaks. When authors of that time wanted to establish a change in topic they needed to do so with their words. Herb does a lot with inclusio, also called bracketing, which used repeated words to emphasize a section of text. The presence of these repetitions helped people who were following along with a work while hearing it out loud – and those attempting to memorize it. For hundreds of years very few people had access to written copies of these works and often they depended on listening to them spoken aloud, perhaps even from memory. (In seminary I had a teacher who assigned students to memorize a Psalm and recite it. Part of the point was to gain some sense of what it was like to hold scripture in your mind and speak it aloud. He was pleased and surprised when a student took up the challenge of learning Psalm 119 and succeeded.) There is an inclusio in Hebrews 11:2 and 39 created with the Greek for “to witness” which sets apart that chapter and shows our chapter break to be reasonable.
But Herb did not discuss “faith” only in chapter 11. The Greek word for “faith” appears in Hebrews a total of 32 times: in 4:2; 6:1, 12; 10:32, 38, 39; then in chapter 11 (24 times); 12:2; and 13:7. Outside chapter 11 the references to faith almost all involve Herb expressing concern about believers having proper faith in Christ. You can also see a cluster of four references around chapter 11 which show how Herb set up that chapter and then picked up from it to move into the next part of the letter.
For these devotions we generally read a single chapter but if you wish after reading this devotion you could reread the text, backing up a few verses to include part of chapter 10 as a lead-in to chapter 11. First, I want to highlight a few more words to pay attention to that appear in both Hebrews 10 and 11.
In Hebrews 10:34 a Greek word for “better” appears which Herb uses 13 times in Hebrews. That is far more than elsewhere in the New Testament, but It obviously fits with the tone of the book, which keeps saying that Jesus is better than one thing or another. The word then gets used in 11:16, 35, and 40.
In Hebrews 10:36 a Greek word for “receive” appears for the first time in Hebrews. It will be used twice more, in 11:19 and 39.
Also in Hebrews 10:36, a Greek word for “promise” appears, the eighth of 14 uses. The remaining six times are in 11:9 (twice), 13, 17, 33, 39.
Breaking down the list, “faith” is mentioned in the end of chapter 10, all through chapter 11, and at the start of chapter 12. Three other words connect the end of chapter 10 to chapter 11, suggesting that Herb set up points he was going to make in the faith chapter: “receive,” “better,” “promise.” You could back up to Hebrews 10:32 and read on through 12:2 to see how these words are emphasized together.
If you choose to, you could also do a second exercise, for a different way of looking at things, considering these facts:
In Hebrews 10:32 a Greek word for “endured” / “endure” appears. It is used four times in Hebrews, here and in 12:2, 3, and 7.
In Hebrews 10:36 a Greek word for “patient endurance” or “perseverance” appears. It is used only here and 12:1.
So two words about ‘endurance’ bridge the end of chapter 10 to the start of chapter 12, for a total of six appearances. This suggests that while Herb didn’t choose to emphasize endurance on the part of the Old Testament figures chapter 11 discusses he wanted to emphasize endurance on the part of the Christians he wrote to. This will become very clear if you try another read through starting at Hebrews 10:32 perhaps, but this time skip over chapter 11 entirely and read to 12:7.
Hebrews 11 has a remarkable message about many great examples of faithfulness from the past who trusted God to be reliable and now serve as examples to us. Many people speak of the great acts of faith that these people engaged in, but that is not how the chapter describes them. It says that they “gained approval” from God for their faithfulness (v. 2, 39). In terms of Herb’s actual message these figures from the past are case studies in endurance, people who did not shrink back. Herb finally emphasizes not what they received through faith but what they did not receive, because none of them got what they were waiting for, which is interesting as it shows their common understanding of what to expect and that they did not allow thousands of years of waiting to throw off their patience (v. 39). We also see that the list of named figures stops with David and Samuel, in the time of the tabernacle. Some of the other figures are identifiable as from later times, such as the reference in verse 33 to “shut the mouths of lions,” which is plainly Daniel, but they remain unnamed.
Verse 40 is the kicker for this chapter, of course. “God provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.” This is now the twelfth of fourteen uses of this language about perfection in Hebrews (the next will be in 12:2, the last in 12:23). It is remarkable the lengths that have been gone to in some interpretations to have this language make sense, without having the return of Christ and the resurrection hope be significant for the Old Testament saints and the church, together. But the repeated (and, in my Bible, underlined) words of the chapter prompt us and we can’t ignore them – receive better promises – there is no reasonable explanation where some part of the Church has already inherited what God planned to give us. We are a body, undivided, faithful, and patient. “Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at his coming.” (1 Corinthians 15:23).
Lord, you have made lovely poetry, and remarkable prose. Yours are the greatest inventions, incredible art, the purest flavors, colors and lightning. I praise your creativity, and I await the wonders of the more perfect world that awaits when your son returns to earth. All I know now is the damaged version of what you intended. Some of what you first made still shines through, and it is amazing to me. Let me grow in faith in you always, for you are almighty and perfectly trustworthy. Amen.
-Daniel Smead
Reflection Questions
1. Imagine if chapter 11 really were not in Hebrews. What would we be missing?
3. Have you ever tried to memorize part of Hebrews 11? With its repeated pattern about “faith” it seems set up for that purpose, but modern Americans don’t tend to try memorizing much. What advantages do you see to memorizing scripture? How do you decide what scripture to memorize?
3. Do you expect that faith is easier to hold to if you have people encouraging you to be faithful? How have you tried to be encouraging today? What things do you find encouraging?
The opening verse of this chapter sets forth the premise of what is to follow: “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen” (v. 1). The author will go through no less than 10 explicit individuals, and mentioning a list of several more, who exhibited faith in their life. And then the chapter concludes by saying “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” (vv. 39-40).
The chapter’s conclusion draws together the litany of exemplary witnesses by tying it to the faith that they share with the audience. And while the exemplars of old had not received the promise, it was by no fault of their own, but it was determined beforehand by God that in his grace, he planned for “something better” to be available to the readers that was not available in the past to all those faithful witnesses that were mentioned. And that “something better” was “to be made perfect” (v. 40).
Now, to modern readers the idea of being made perfect might not be the same as the biblical idea of being made perfect. In Hebrews, the idea of “perfection” entails the definitive forgiveness and putting away of sin, purification and consecration to God, and glorification (i.e., resurrection). And so, to be “made perfect” refers ultimately to eschatological salvation that is bestowed on the worshiper through the high priestly ministry of Christ (cf. 10:14).
But let’s think for a moment, why does the author need to go to such a great length throughout the chapter to simply demonstrate that believers prior to the new covenant did not receive what was promised? Why make the emphasis so extravagant?
One reason for the author’s inclusion of such a long description of exemplars of the faith is to celebrate those who stood with faith looking forward to the promise, but yet not receiving it in their lifetime. The testimony of all these witnesses is that “Faith holds onto the promise, even when the evidence of harsh reality impugns its integrity, because the one who promised is himself faithful” (William Lane, Hebrews [WBC], 395).
I think we have all probably dealt with times when we are holding on to faith, but it doesn’t seem like anything is happening or changing, and we didn’t actually get to see the outcome of our faith. This is what it was like for the believers in the old covenant who looked forward to the coming Messiah and the fulfillment of God’s promise. But we don’t have to look forward since Messiah has already come and has begun to fulfill what God promised.
Therefore, while we have not been “made perfect” yet to the fullest extent of what God has planned for those who trust in him, in Christ we have the definitive sacrifice for sin, the cleansing of our conscience, and a taste of the powers of the age to come. Let us continue to hold fast to our faith in hope of what God has promised that is yet to come: resurrection and final victory over the power of death, so that those who stood by faith before us can also be made perfect with us in God’s coming kingdom.
-Jerry Wierwille
Questions
What encouragement do you gain from reading of the heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11?
Which heroes of the faith are you most looking forward to being with when we together receive God’s promise and reward at the resurrection and coming Kingdom? Why?
In my job as a school librarian, I often get asked where the superhero books are located. Spiderman and and Ironman are favorites of my kindergarten and first grade students. These characters possess superpowers that amaze their readers.
Since Covid-19 unfortunately appeared in our world, signs started sprouting up in front of hospitals or health-care centers, stating “Superheroes Work Here.” It was a way to honor and recognize the life-saving daily work of our health-care providers fighting this unwelcome virus. These individuals labored long hours, days, weeks, months through challenging and heartbreaking circumstances.
In both examples, superheroes use their powers to help make the world a better place. In Hebrews 11, superheroes used GOD’S POWER to face the world’s challenges, all the while anticipating the “world to come” that God had promised them.
Hebrews 11 is known as the Faith chapter of the Bible, and when you read it, you quickly understand why. It begins with a beautiful definition or statement of what faith is—“the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Let those words sink in. Meditate on them in conjunction with your life circumstances and trials. This singular verse brings so much reassurance and comfort.
Verses two and three continue with an explanation and introduction to verses 4-40, the Faith “Hall of Fame” of the Bible. Read these verses carefully, slowly, reverently.
“For by it the people of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the world has been created by the word of God so that what is seen has not been made out of things that are visible.”
“By faith”, “by faith”, “by faith”—these two words are repeated over and over throughout the chapter to introduce God’s superheroes and to justify their inclusion in this passage with an explanation of what they did “by faith.” Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets. Their stories are inspiring, uplifting, encouraging, HEROIC—because their faith, unfaltering in God and His promises, was the foundation of their lives.
These superheroes, “by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mocking and flogging, and further, chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented (people of whom theworld was not worthy), wandering in deserts, on mountains, and sheltering in caves and holes in the ground. Hebrews 11:33-38
As verse 38 said, the world was not worthy of them!
Going back to Hebrews 10:32-34, the writer reminds his readers of their sufferings after coming to faith. “But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through insults and distress, and partly by becoming companions with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better and lasting possession.” It all ties together—the Old Testament heroes, the New Testament heroes, and faithful believers down through the ages.
The writer’s counsel is this: “Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay.” Hebrews 10: 35-37 NASB
The superheroes of Hebrews 11, the Faith chapter, “gained approval through their faith, (but) did not receive what was promised.” (verse 39) They are resting in their graves, waiting for their reward. We are waiting, too.
That same reward can be ours. Have you accepted and follow God’s plan of salvation, so you can receive this reward God has waiting for you, a reward for your faith? I pray you have–I pray you will.
“Because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.” Hebrews 11:40
-Paula Kirkpatrick
Today’s Bible reading passages can be read or listened to at BibleGateway.com here – Jeremiah 39-40 and Hebrews 11
Hebrews 11 is one of the greater chapters of the Bible. If you want to learn about love, you can read 1 Corinthians 12. Resurrection is the theme of 1 Corinthians 15. Hebrews 11 is all about Faith. We are told what faith achieves for us, examples of who the faithful were in the Old Testament, but most importantly, we are given a call to be the faithful ones now. I’d encourage you to memorize Hebrews 11:1-2, 13-16, and 39-40. These verses show us what faith does for us, where faith will lead us, and what God has prepared for his faithful.
Hebrews 12 and 13 then are exhortations, encouragements, of how to live. In light of the greatness of Christ, in light of the faith he gives us and his life of faith, follow these commands.
Hebrews is hard to read. It is well-written but it feels different than the straightforward, sometimes blunt writings of Paul, and different from the simple writings of John. In Hebrews, our author gives us her (yes, her) greatest effort to not only argue but to prove one singular point:
Jesus is GREATER.
May we become the faithful who acknowledge the greatness of Christ.
-Jacob Ballard
Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to at BibleGateway here – Hebrews 11-13.
Weird people are my kind of people, and Samson definitely brings weird to a whole new level. We’ve seen Samson rip a lion apart with his bare hands, tie 300 burning foxes in pairs by their tails, and kill a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey.
God wanted Samson to follow through on his Nazirite vow, which involved abstaining from cutting his hair, drinking wine, and going near dead bodies (Numbers 6:1-8). In this way, Samson would be set apart from the rest of the world—sanctified and pure. However, he eats honey from a lion’s carcass, is tricked by Delilah into cutting his hair, and disappoints God in a dozen other ways. He’s hot-headed, prideful, and is obsessed with revenge; yet, in his weirdness and messiness, Samson is commended for his faith. He is mentioned in Hebrews 11, as a hero of great faith.
“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, 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 11:32-34).
Samson’s life ended with one act of great faith. After losing his hair, the source of his God-given strength, Samson was captured by the Philistines. They gouged out his eyes and threw him in prison. Since Samson was the Philistine’s public enemy number one, they ridiculed him in the temple for their own entertainment. On that day, Samson made one final request to God:
“Then Samson prayed to the Lord, ‘Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes’” (Judges 16:28).
God used Samson’s physical weakness and his obsession for revenge, turning it into strength. With a surge of God’s power, Samson pushed on the pillars of the temple, crushing the temple and all the Philistines in it. Samson was messy, but God used him to bring the Israelites closer to liberation from the Philistines. We, like Samson, are never too messy to be used by God.
In fact, when we believe we are too messy to be used by God, it’s God’s power we underestimate, not our own. He wants to transform your messiness for his glory. Will you be transparent in giving God the glory as he transforms your mess? What weaknesses of yours can you surrender to God to be redeemed as strengths? What messy people in your life, the same people God sees value in, are you avoiding?
Thank you, Mackenzie for your writing this week! Tomorrow, as we start a new week, Bethany Ligon will discuss the final chapters of Judges for us, and then take us into Ruth and 1 Samuel during the rest of the week. Keep Reading – Seeking – Growing & Loving! We have a great God!
There is that word again. I liked it before but not so much now. The word is “confidence”. We read it before in Hebrews 10:22 where we discovered that we could confidently enter into the very presence of God because of Jesus, where we could get close to God and be His child. I like the idea of being a child, having child-like faith. That sounds safe and secure. That feels comfortable and peaceful. But now Paul is using that word “confidence” again, but this time it does not sound at all safe or smart.
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11: 1
Faith is confidence in what we hope will happen, and assurance about what we can’t even see? Hoping something will happen and believing it will happen even if we can’t see anything? Really?? Quite frankly, this sounds a little crazy and unnerving. It sounds a lot like stumbling around in the dark, not seeing where we are going, not knowing where the light switch is, not knowing when the big, bad boogie man is going to jump out at us.
“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
As I keep reading this chapter, things seem to get worse. We are told that the whole universe which we can see with our eyes, was not made out of stuff that we can see. Quite frankly, that does not make any sense. How can you make something out of nothing? Who would believe such a thing?
The answer to my question is that Abel did. Enoch did. Noah did. Abraham and Sara did. Isaac did. Jacob did. Joseph did. Moses did. The walls of Jericho did. Rahab did. Women did, and a whole lot of other people did.
None of these people saw the end result of their faith. “These all died in faith, not having received the promises…” Hebrews 11:13. They simply lived their faith. They were confident that if they lived their faith, that God would be faithful. “and were persuaded of them (the promises) and embraced them” Hebrews. 11:13. They believed that they were making something out of something even though they could not see it.
This chapter of Hebrews is full of action words. Abel offered, Enoch pleased, Noah moved, Abraham obeyed, Sara received strength, Jacob worshipped, Joseph gave instructions about his bones, Moses endured, the walls of Jericho fell, Rahab perished not, women received their dead back to life, and others were tortured. They were all confident that they were making something out of something that the world thought was nothing. That something that the world thought was nothing was God’s promises.
All these people mentioned were giants in the faith. They all judged God faithful simply because He promised. They endured hardships, were stoned, sawn asunder, tempted, slain with the sword, tormented, afflicted, and wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. The world was not worthy of them. (Hebrews 11:37-38).
Now that I have read to the end of this chapter, all of this still does not make any sense to me, but for a different reason. Even though you and I will probably not experience the hardships that these giants endured, yet we will be right there with them when God fulfills His promise of the Kingdom. That does not make sense. We are so not worthy of them.
“God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”
Seek Grow Love 