Sep 15, 2015

Hebrews 11 ~ The Gallery of Faith

>   Cruising Chapter 11
 In Hebrews  ...Jesus, is our High Priest!

...6And without faith it is impossible to please God (v.6)

>Related PAST POSTS:
OUR GREAT SALVATION ~ FAITH

New International Version ~ Faith in Action
1Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for.
3By 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.
4By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
5By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”a For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because sheb considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
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Note on v.16: The spirits of the OLD Testament saints could not go into heaven until Jesus died for their sins, so they went to Sheol (Hell). Jesus taught that Sheol was divided into two parts, with Abraham the head of the part for those who believed in God's promises (Luke 16:19-31, Psalm 16:10, Isaiah 61:1, Matthew 27:52,53) ~ Pastor Chuck Smith's explanation. (he has prepared a city for them.~ v.16)
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17By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”c19Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
22By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.
23By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
24By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
30By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.
31By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.d
32And 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, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched 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. 35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection.36Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37They were put to death by stoning;e they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.


Footnotes:
a 5 Gen. 5:24
b 11 Or By faith Abraham, even though he was too old to have children—and Sarah herself was not able to conceive—was enabled to become a father because he
c 18 Gen. 21:12
d 31 Or unbelieving
e 37 Some early manuscripts stoning; they were put to the test;


4So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. 6Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspringc I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.  ~Genesis 12
As the years go by, there seemed to be no heir in sight. Neither Abram nor Sarai were getting any younger!  ....yet Abram continued to wait on God ....because Abram knew God was faithful to his Word!  He was very old now as was Sarai  (the mother to be).  Perhaps they wondered aloud at night as they drifted off to sleep, "....is this going to really happen?"  Abram knew it would but perhaps he began to have doubts it seemed, because the text shows he began to include Eliezer in his estate planning!
In Genesis 15 we see more of Abram's faith, and God continuing to promise Abram that He would fulfill what God had promised many years prior.

"... the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,a
your very great reward.b ”
2But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inheritc my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
4Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspringd be.”
6Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. - Genesis 15
Abram was indeed a wealthy man.  In this agricultural society, his wealth was measured in terms of his abundance of livestock.  Abram had it all in this society.  However in this society, if one didn't have an heir (son), it meant that at death the wealth would pass to the steward (manager) of the wealth.  Nowadays, wealth by law passes to the family, but at some point, it seemed to Abram, that Eliezer his manager, was going to inherit all of Abram's mighty wealth.  Can you hear Abram's frustration at the thought of it all just slipping through his fingers when he died? 
 ““Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inheritc my estate is Eliezer of Damascus? (God)...You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”


Hebrews 11: "A Gallery of Faith"

Probably no subject is so glibly misunderstood as faith. Nearly everyone professes to have some of it. Many people would like to have more. The writer to the Hebrews takes faith out of religious theory and clothes it with flesh and blood. The author does this with what we today call role models. These models inspire us to go on believing in Jesus.
·         Faith is confidence ... (v.1)
·         We have never seen the wind.  We see the effect of the wind, the evidence for the wind on trees, blowing dust, blowing our hair, feeling it on our face. 
·         We have never seen magnetic forces.  But we only see evidence of it, we haven't actually seen the force.
·         We have never seen God. Yet we see the evidence of God all around us.  Faith in God helps us to realize God because of the evidence all around us.
·         God said, "Let there be light"; God said, "Let the waters above the firmament be divided with the waters beneath the firmament"; God said, "Let the earth bring forth herb-yielding fruit after it's own kind".
·         by Faith we learn that the world was made by God's command!

·         The Hall of Faith begins here.  These are people who were known for outstanding faith.
  
·         Abel (v.4) Abel's sacrifice was offered in faith, Cain's was not.  Cain got angry that his offering was rejected!  
·         Gen 4:2 ~ Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.6Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” 8Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”d While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
·         Enoch (v.5) ...he was commended as one who pleased God.  Just as Enoch was spared from the judgment of God upon the earth during the Flood, so the Church will be spared from the tribulation.

·         Noah (v.7) When God warned Noah about the rains to come, Noah accepted His word by faith, though it had never rained before.  He so believed God's word that he was motivated by fear to build the ark.  Noah's building of the ark condemned the people around him for their unbelief, and made him an heir of righteousness.  Noah's faith prompted him to positive action.  Faith and works go hand-in-hand.  Righteousness by faith produces works that are consistent with what we believe, whereas the righteousness in God's eyes is the result of our faith, never our works.


·         Abraham (v.17) Abraham is called the father of those who believe.  
·         His first step of faith was to leave the land of his father to journey to the Promised Land.
·         The birth of Isaac was based on God's faithfulness in performing that which He had promised - not on Sarah or Abraham's faith.

·         Sarah (v.11) was past childbearing age (over 90) and Abraham was over 100 years old, "as good as dead," and yet God gave them a child and innumerable descendants.

·         In Genesis 12 we read the (famous) Abrahamic covenant (promise) that God held with Abram (later called Abraham).  God's promise to them concerned giving them the child (later named Isaac) they always wanted to have. Remember at this time Abram and Sarai his wife were elderly when God gave this promise to Abram.  Track with me as we observe Abram's faith, and what it means to us in today!

1The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.a
3I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”b





 Just when it seemed to Abram that the promise wasn't going to be fulfilled in his lifetime, he had a fresh word from the Lord......God reminded Abram again of His earlier promise!  God reminded Abram of who put the stars in place!  God reminded Him that yes indeed, a son would be born to Abram and Sarai even in their old age.   God always keeps his promises !

4Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man (Eliezer) will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspringd be.”
6Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. - Genesis 15

Here now, we can fast-forward to the New Testament and then find that we can lay claim to the fruit of our faith!

7Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles (gentiles...that would be you!) by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”d 
9So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.    ~Galatians 3:7-9


Here in these passages, we see we humans easily have a tendency to let doubt creep in, even though the very God of Heaven offers us His promises.  This is a classic case of God's man trying to work things out his own way, even after God had given him a promise!  Abram began making plans for Eliezer to take over Abram's estate, until God took him aside and reminded Abram of the promise he'd make to him earlier.

Genesis 15:1-6. And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

·         Isaac (v.20)
·         Jacob (v.21)
·         Joseph (v.22)
·         Moses (v.23)
·         Rahab (v.31)
·         Gideon (v.32)
·         Barak  (v.32)
·         Samson (v.32)
·         Jephthah (v.32)
·         David (v.32)
·         Samuel (v.32)
·         The Prophets (v.32)

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