Stories of Trusting God for what is not yet Visible — Heb 11 (pt.14)

  • After huge claims for the value of faith/trust for our lives, and the pleasure it gives our Father, Hebrews goes on to show this with a set of stories.
  • But they contain a surprising twist—which makes them far more relevant to us today!

 

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Video cover image by BiblePics.co CC BY NC SA 4.0

Summary of Last Week

  • Here is how today’s passage fits into the flow of the whole of Hebrews

Structure of Hebrews

✓✓ Jesus! his throne is forever and ever 1:5–14
warn Pay attention to what you hear, don’t drift away 2:1–4
smiley Brothers & sisters of Jesus, living in his victory 2:5–18
hand Therefore: fix your thoughts on Jesus 3:1
warn O.T. warning—don’t follow negative examples 3:2–4:13
heart Approach God’s throne with confidence—find grace 4:14–16
snow New High Priest after order of Melchizedek 5–7:28
snowsnowsnow The point of what we’re saying: New Covenant 8
snow A New way to God and a New sacrifice 9:1-10-18
heart Draw near to God with sincere heart, full assurance 10:19–25
warn O.T. —be inspired by positive examples 10:26–39,11
hand Therefore: Let us fix our eyes on Jesus 12:1–2
smiley God’s sons and daughters! live in New Covenant 12:3–24
warn Don’t refuse him who’s speaking and turn away 12:25
✓✓ Jesus! The same yesterday, today and forever 13:1–20
  • He has given us these amazing truths, but if we don’t believe them, it counts for nothing!

Last time:

  1. Therefore, brothers and sisters,
    since we have authorization for free access to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20by the fresh and living way that he opened up for us, through the curtain—that is through his flesh,
  2. and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
  3. let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings,
    • because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from a burdened conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.
  4. And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy.

Hebrews 11

  1. Now trust in God gives us confidence in what we hope for, and assures us of the reality of things that are not seen.
  2. It is because of this trust in God that the people of old received commendation
  3. By trust in God we understand that the ages of the world were created
    by the word of God
    so that what is seen did not originate from what is seen…
  4. Without trust it is impossible to please God
    for it is necessary for the one who draws near to God to believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.

Continuing from last week:

  • I’m going to talk about the difference between living with your focus on
    • the visible world
    • vs. the invisible world of God’s promises
  • and how this will change your life
  • If you have a firm hold of the true reality (by means of faith) -it will do three things for you:
  1. it will change what you value in this life
  2. you will have a different attitude to your problems
  3. you will have joy and hope for the future

Hebrews 11

  1. People of Old: commended for their faith
    1. Examples: faithful marginalized people
      1. Abraham, Isaac & Jacob trusting in the “invisible” homeland
        1. Sarah, even though old and barren, believed the promise of Isaac
          1. All these died in faith, but God loves them and they will receive what he promised them
        2. Abraham willing to sacrifice Isaac the promised one, trusting...
      2. Isaac, Jacob & Joseph trusting in the “invisible” homeland
    2. Examples: faithful marginalized people
  2. People of Old commended for their faith

Hebrews 11 A—A

Part A

  1. Now faith gives us confidence in what we hope for
    and assures us of the reality of things that are not seen.
  2. It is because of this faith that the people of old received commendation
  3. By faith we understand that the ages of the world were created
    by the word of God
    so that what is seen did not originate from what is seen.
B. Early examples of faithful marginalized people
C. Abraham, Isaac & Jacob trusting in the “invisible” homeland
D. Sarah, even though old and barren, believed the promise of Isaac
E. All these died in faith, but God loves them and they will receive what he promised them
D. Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac who had received the promise, trusting...
C. Isaac, Jacob & Joseph trusting in the “invisible” homeland
B. Later examples of faithful marginalized people

Part A'

  1. All these, though commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised,
  2. God having planned something better for us, so that they might not reach the perfect ending without us.

AMF

Pamela Eisenbaum

The Jewish Heroes of Christian History

She raises the question concerning the criteria about which these heroes and their specific characteristics are highlighted. In other words, why were these people chosen and not others? She concludes that the key criterion in a profile of these people was their marginalization in relation to the nation of Israel. According to her, they were transvalued; that is the value normally placed on these people as national heroes is transformed into another value; that is, they were faithful as marginalized people.

  • Abel, Enoch & Noah all as good as dead!
  • They were also so imperfect!

Hebrews 11 D—D

A. People of Old were commended for their faith
B. Early examples of faithful marginalized people
C. Abraham, Isaac & Jacob trusting in the “invisible” homeland

Part D

  1. By faith Sarah herself, even when she was past the age, also received power to conceive, because she considered the one who had promised to be faithful.
  2. Therefore from one man, and indeed from one as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars in the sky and as innumerable as the sand on the seashore.
E. All these died in faith, but God loves them and they will receive what he promised them

Part D'

  1. By faith Abraham offered up Isaac
being tested
his only son, the one who had received the promises.
  1. It was said to Abraham: “Through Isaac your descendants will be traced”.
  2. He considered that God was able even to raise Isaac from the dead and so, in a prefigurement of what was to come, received him back.
C. Isaac, Jacob & Joseph trusting in the “invisible” homeland
B. Later examples of faithful marginalized people
A. People of Old were commended for their faith

AMF

  • Jacob duped Esau & Isaac

Hebrews 11 C—C

A. People of Old were commended for their faith
B. Early examples of faithful marginalized people

Part C

  1. By faith, when he was called, Abraham obeyed,
leaving
for a place
that he was to receive
as an inheritance; and he left, not knowing where he was going.
  1. By faith
he wandered in the land of promise, as if a foreign land,
living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob,
fellow heirs of the same promise.
  1. awaiting therefore
the city that has foundations,
whose designer and builder is God
D. Sarah, even though old and barren, believed the promise of Isaac
E. All these died in faith, but God loves them and they will receive what he promised them
D. Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac who had received the promise, trusting...

Part C'

  1. By faith also,
regarding the future,
Isaac blessed
Jacob and Esau.
  1. By faith, Jacob,
as he was dying,
each of the sons of Joseph,
blessed
and bowed in worship over the head of his staff.
  1. By faith Joseph,
as his end drew near,
concerning the exodus of the children of Israel
made mention
and gave instructions concerning his bones
B. Later examples of faithful marginalized people
A. People of Old were commended for their faith

AMF

  • Moses not presented as a national hero
  • The climax of the list: Rahab – Gentile, female, a prostitute
    • How God places value on people!
  • Note: No kings or priests in the list

Hebrews 11 B—B

A. People of Old were commended for their faith

Part B

  1. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain:
    because of it he was commended as righteous,
    God commending him on the basis of his gifts.
    And through faith, though he died, he still speaks.
  2. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death:
    he was not found, because God had taken him up.
    Now before he was taken up he was commended as pleasing God.
  3. Without faith it is impossible to please God,
    for whoever would draw near to God must believe
    that he exists and
    that he rewards those who seek him.
  4. By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen,
    in reverent fear built an ark for the saving of his household.
    By this he condemned the world
    and became an heir of the righteousness of faith.
C. Abraham, Isaac & Jacob trusting in the “invisible” homeland
D. Sarah, even though old and barren, believed the promise of Isaac
E. All these died in faith, but God loves them and they will receive what he promised them
D. Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac who had received the promise, trusting...
C. Isaac, Jacob & Joseph trusting in the “invisible” homeland

Part B'

  1. By faith Moses, after he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw he was no ordinary child and they did not fear the king’s edict.
  2. By faith Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,25choosing to suffer abuse along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the short-lived pleasure of sin. 26He considered the reproach of Christ to be greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
  3. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the anger of the king. For keeping his eyes on the one who cannot be seen, he persevered.
  4. By faith he kept the Passover and had them sprinkle the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch them.
  5. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if on dry land, but when the Egpytians attempted to do so, they were drowned.
  6. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after being encircled for seven days.
  7. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had welcomed the spies in peace.
  8. What more should I say? For the time would fail me if I were to tell of
Gideon, Barak,
Samson, Jephthah,
and of David and Samuel and the prophets.
  1. Through faith they
conquered kingdoms,
brought justice,
obtained what had been promised,
shut the mouths of lions,
34quenched the power of fire,
escaped the edge of the sword,
were made strong in weakness,
became mighty in battle,
put to flight foreign armies.
  1. Women received their dead back
by resurrection.
Others were tortured, refusing to accept release,
in order that they might attain a better resurrection.
  1. Still others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
  2. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in half, they were killed by the sword, they wandered in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, persecuted, mistreated,
  3. of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in caves and in holes in the ground.
A. People of Old were commended for their faith

AMF

  • v.32 He’s running out of time —one of the reasons we thing this was talks, not a letter
  • v.33 At the end the film speeds up, just quick frames are flashed
  • v.40 What does this mean?
    • teleio-o “perfect” or “complete” determined from the context.
      • Here the context is not a search for moral perfection, but a completion of unfulfilled promises.
    • A simple answer: we’ll all get our promises finally fulfilled at the same time: Jesus’s return
    • Deeper: In some sense we are the inheritance they were looking for
  • Why end on the negatives?
    • In some way these were the greatest examples because they were wholly trusting for the future

Hebrews 11 E

A. People of Old were commended for their faith
B. Early examples of faithful marginalized people
C. Abraham, Isaac & Jacob trusting in the “invisible” homeland
D. Sarah, even though old and barren, believed the promise of Isaac

Part E

  1. All these died in faith, not receiving the things promised. They saw them and welcomed them from a distance, acknowledging that they were strangers and temporary residents on the earth.
  2. For people who say such things make clear that they are seeking a homeland
  3. If they had been focused on the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.
  4. But they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Because of this God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them
D. Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac who had received the promise, trusting...
C. Isaac, Jacob & Joseph trusting in the “invisible” homeland
B. Later examples of faithful marginalized people
A. People of Old were commended for their faith

Part A’

  1. All these, though commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised,
  2. God having planned something better for us, so that they might not reach the perfect ending without us.

AMF

  • There are invisible things in your life
    • On the surface they look like one thing
    • But God says something else about them
      • Are you going to trust what God says?

Hebrews 12:1–3

  1. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
    let us put aside every weight, and sin which entangles,
    and run with endurance the race that is set before us,
  2. keeping our eyes on the founder and perfecter of faith, Jesus.
    Because of the sake of the joy set before him, he endured the cross, despising its shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
  • v.1 Here is the image of the last stage of a race.
    • Anyone here ever run a long race (and have felt like giving up)
    • I’m told it’s a huge psychological encouragement to have people cheering you on!
    • Noah is there cheering you, so is Moses and Abraham!
  • v.2 But more than that, there are two words: pioneer and perfecter
    • Jesus is our pioneer
    • He has fought the battle of faith
    • Was it easy for him? —think of Gethsemane
  • If you are having a struggle with faith in your life right now, Jesus understands that!
    • In that sense he is the “pioneer”
  • He is also the “perfecter” or “completer”
    • This faith is a gift—he puts it in us and gives us his faith
    • But also, he completes the process of faith, be being our answer!
  • v.3 So we can have more victory than Abraham or Moses
    • because we have Jesus to strengthen us through his Spirit
    • He encourages us in a way that is much more direct than for those of old

Summary

  • Trust/Faith is the Confidence in what we hope for
  • assures us of the reality of things that are not seen.
  • Three parts to faith:
    1. The person doing the trusting
    2. The person trusted (in this case, God)
    3. The thing trusted for: now invisible
  • This is how we become a Christian…
  • You may have some things in your life, and on the surface it looks one way
    • But God says something different
    • Are we going to believe God?
  • Jesus did it for the joy (invisible) and he knows what it’s like for you!

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