Hebrews 11:1-40
Faith in Action
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 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.
4 By 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.
5 By 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.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And 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.
7 By 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.
8 By 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. 9 By 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. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And 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.
13 All 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. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, 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.
17 By 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, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
22 By 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.
23 By 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.
24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.
31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
32 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, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 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. 35 Women 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. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.37 They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Romans 8:38-39
Nothing Can Separate Us from the LOVE of God
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Faith and death are difficult subjects...And these two subjects must be connected...Sometimes I think faith is as much about death as it is about life...Faith makes us face death -and each of us may face our death-related faith beliefs and ideas differently...Death takes us away from our loved ones and on to eternity...And in death, faith is about going to heaven and getting to be with God and His Son...
The author of Hebrews is really the only Biblical author and book that gives us a definition of faith...So we need to study it, as we study faith and the definition of faith...The author gives us men and women, who are examples of faith...The ancient Hebrew author tells us says this about faith...Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see...This is what the ancients were commended for...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...By 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...
By faith Abel still speaks even though he is dead...And all the other ancient ones that are commended for their faith in Hebrews are also now dead...The author writes about Enoch, the good son of Cain...He tells us "By 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.”...For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God...And 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...Enoch was taken away from earth and take to heaven with God...And as the author tells us about the people of faith in the Bible, he tells us that "All these people were still living by faith when they died."..
Faith squarely faces death...Faith faces death in one way or another for each of us...Our faith, when we are alive, gives us this hope...When one has faith in his life, then one has this hope...And in each of the men and women of faith that this author writes about the are all commended for their faith...But at the same time none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect...God has something planned that is much better than earthly life for us...So much of this hope and our faith is thought about in our own death, our family's death, and our friend's death -or when these close ones die...And our hope is rooted in what God has planned for us after our deaths, and is somehow in the fabric of our faith, even though we may not give this much thought...It is a trust in our Father that will give us (as the author says) something better...
These great men and women of faith were still living by faith when they died, and none had received there great promise from God yet...But these people of faith believed and understood that God is good, but at the same time do not understand how He was going to make that great promise good...
After all the deaths we have had since the beginning, their is still faith in this world for God and His Son...Everyone that has been born has died...Even the Son of God...But He died in a "special way"...This "special way" of dying was on a cross...He died His death for our sins...And on this cross we share both life and death...Because this "special way" of dying, continued even after His death...He died on a cross, and then came back to life...God has given us proof that His death was done in a "special way" by giving us this proof by raising Him from His death...For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the LOVE of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord...