Chapter eleven begins with the author's explanation of the faith mentioned in Hebrews 10:22, 23, and 38. If the “just” should live by faith, which is set in stark contrast to drawing or turning back, we should genuinely want to know what constitutes 'just,' 'faith,' and 'drawing back.' The author asserts what his own experience tells him, he asserts a truth imparted by the Holy Spirit. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Now, if hope seems insubstantial to any of you, perhaps your sights are set on personal worldly gain. In the sense of the author's assertion, we may view 'substance' as the cumulative body of hopes. A simple list of those hopes from the previous chapter shows us they were not looking for a new car or money in the bank. Their hopes were primarily set on spiritual gains. Salvation, redemption, eternal life; these are things not seen. Contrary to the things we know on our worldly plain, the 'substance' and 'evidence' of faith are as much a part of a higher mental/spiritual plain as the things hoped for. The hopes are internal, the faith is internal, the substance and evidence are internal.
What is a just person? Synonyms for the word 'just' include fair-minded, equitable, open-minded, objective, nonpartisan, unprejudiced, unbiased, and fair (as in actions toward others.) A just person is not easily influenced by material goods, powers, or personal advantage. Things are things, they come and go. For a person of this caliber, health is wealth. Such people are more concerned with their relationships – unions based on integrity, honor, love, and maintained through conscientious effort and virtue. Just people are not saintly in every aspect of their being – they are ordinary people. My Dad, for example, although of limited education, and of the type of his time and culture, was a just man. After the family broke up, he continued to raise me and my brother. He did so at the expense of a personal life. He believed in what was right, he believed in his duty as a father and was unswayed by thoughts outside that framework. Just people are often honored for acts of selfless dedication and heroism.
If drawing back is the opposite of moving forward in faith, is it also the opposite of 'just?' What does being a person who draws back entail? If one is not moving forward, one is either standing still or moving backward. This is a person who has quit. This is one who has lost hope and given up. Being, necessarily, a contributing member of a larger body of believers, the support this member once evinced is retracted, causing the greater body's work of faith to be more difficult. The one who turns back is an Indian giver. By turning back, this person fails in being just and is seen as selfish. There is a certain amount of courage involved in living a faithful life. The man who draws back proves his own cowardice. The faith of which the author speaks is nothing less than courage under fire. This faith thus glorified by the author is the faith of the patriarchs.
Beginning in verse two, the author tells us all the wonderful things that faith affords. Foremost, it was through the substance of things hoped for, and through the evidence of things not seen, that the elders, the patriarchs of old received a “good report.” That is to say, they received fame, renown, honor, etc. Before he continues, the author pauses to let us know that faith and understanding work hand-in-hand. He points out, in verse three, what you and I, indeed, all ordinary people of faith can understand. We know, for instance, that the worlds (plural) were framed by the word of God. There is the visible, corporeal world we are all familiar with. The truth of that world is that it was made to be an extension of the unseen spiritual world.
Continuing from verse four, Abel's faith provided a more excellent sacrifice than that of his brother Cain. By his faith, he obtained the witness of God that he was righteous, “God testifying of his gifts,” and through his faith, even after he was dead, he still spoke. Enoch, by his faith, was “translated” by God that he should not see the usual death of men. He was simply not there. Well before his translation, Enoch obtained the testimony that he “pleased God.” Let us pause on the word translate. The word simply means, 'to move from one location or condition to another.' Synonyms for the word include transfer, transport, and transplant.
From the case of Enoch, we may surmise, as did the author of Hebrews, that since Enoch pleased God through faith, without faith, it is impossible to please God. The author explains why in verse six. Anyone who comes to God must do so by first believing that God exists, that God is real, that he is who he claims to be. By extension, we also believe that God rewards those who “diligently seek him.”
Noah also had faith. Being warned by God of things to come, he believed. Noah was “moved with fear.” He was indelibly impressed. It was Noah's faith that led him to build the ark and save his family. Noah's faith was a condemnation of an unbelieving world. Out of all the people of his entire world, only Noah became heir to the righteousness that faith alone established. Abraham was another patriarch with a good report. His faith was expressed in obedience when he was called out of his homeland to inherit what he knew not. His faith carried him through foreign lands and strange countries all for a promise. Abraham is revered by three world religions for his unerring faith, a faith through which he became the father of nations.
Not only men are known for faith. We find Sara in verse eleven. Her faith carried her from barren old age to childbirth past her age. “It is said that she judged him faithful who had promised.” Through the faith of Sara and Abraham, two elderly people near death, so many children sprang forth that they numbered in multitude like the stars of heaven. All of those the author listed died in their faith before they received the promise. They saw them afar off, they were thoroughly persuaded, embracing the promise and confessing they were merely strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Their minds were on a far country yet to be reached. If the country from which they came was on their minds, they surely could have returned, but they pressed on. They desired something better, something higher, that is to say, a heavenly country. That is why, says the author, God is not ashamed to be called their God. That is why, the author claims, God has prepared a city for the faithful.
Continuing from verse seventeen, we are made aware of the depth of Abraham's faith, that he would even sacrifice his only begotten son. He approached the sacrifice of his son, believing that God would raise him from the dead. This is because Abraham had already been told that through his son Isaac God's promises to Abraham would be effected. Abraham believed every word of God. The sacrifice of Isaac did not happen. All God wanted from Abraham was faith, but the near-sacrifice of Isaac was intended only as a figure of the true sacrifice of God's only begotten son.
Isaac, being another patriarch of faith, blessed his two sons in matters of “things to come.” Then Jacob, one of Isaac's sons, when he himself grew old, blessed the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh. Faith continued through Joseph, who, at his death, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel and gave instructions for the disposition of his bones. So it goes, the issue of faith is argued all the way to verse forty.
Faith is more than an opinion or personal inclination. It is a quality that also exists independently. Such faith is ascribed to Moses before he was able to reason. At the age of three, Moses, by the faith of his parents, was hidden from the Pharaoh's decree. They saw that Moses was no ordinary child, and in hiding him, they put their own lives at risk. Moses ended up raised by the Pharaoh's own daughter. He was in a position to live a privileged life, but his faith brought him to a divergent choice. His choice was for the people of God. Rather than “enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season,” Moses pledged himself to God's chosen people and suffered affliction with them.
Moses believed the reward at the end of it all would compensate him for all his losses. The author of Hebrews worded the faith of Moses in light of the fact that God and Jesus are one. He said it this way, “Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.” By his faith, he turned his back on Egypt, disregarding both the Pharaoh's anger and military might. He endured as one who could see the invisible God. Through faith, Moses kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, to protect the chosen people. Moses is a man whose faith is legendary, and he is revered alongside Abraham in the three major religions. Moses passed through the Red Sea and interceded for the chosen people of God for forty years before passing the mantle to Joshua.
The list of faith is long and hallowed. Faith took down the walls of Jericho. Faith saw the saving of Rahab for her dealings with the spies. Gideon is honored for his faith, likewise Barak, Samson, Jephthae, David, Samuel, and the prophets. The list of deeds through faith is impressive. All of these people, through the faith they evinced, subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, turned weakness into strength, fought valiantly, and put to flight the foreign armies. Women received their dead raised from death, while others would not accept deliverance from torture and certain death so they might obtain a better resurrection. Suffering cruel trials, mocking, scourging, imprisonment, stoning, and horrible forms of execution, they resisted temptations and wandered about disenfranchised. They slept in caves, holes in the earth, mountains, and deserts, dressed in skins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented.
They were heroes of faith, and none of them received the promise in their lifetime. The world, according to the author, is not worthy of such people. All of them have, through their faith, received a good report. Now, it might seem sad that these folks have endured such sorrows, but God has provided for them something far superior when it comes to rewards. The faithful continue to this day, yearning for the promised reward. When, at last, that reward unfolds, we shall see it in the company of all those who came before. Hand in hand, we shall accept the prize, saints, patriarchs, and prophets alike. We shall be made perfect together.
Throughout chapter eleven, we were introduced to the various heroes of faith. They were ordinary people called into extraordinary lives. They were beacons in their generations, inspiring countless others to persevere. We begin chapter twelve with this great company of champions, and how they pertain to the author's case. Life is a challenge to all of us, not only to those who have gone before but to ourselves in the here and now. In a legal sense, Hebrew law required only two or three witnesses to establish a matter as truth. The author has provided many more than three. To us, the jury deciding the case, the weight of so many reputable witnesses is an established truth against giving up. The case presents us with a challenge to continue in our own faith, to be strong in the face of adversity that is in no wise new to our generations. Our forefathers stood strong against the same trials, hope and faith never waned.
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