Hebrews 11
People Commended for Their Faith
11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.
The Old Testament saints were persecuted just as the Messianic believers were currently being persecuted. The Old Testament saints survived the persecution, because they possessed hope in a divine and invisible kingdom which they could not see, but they knew they would be a part of.
11:2 For by it the people of old received God’s commendation.
History proved that these Old Testament saints possessed faith. Other witnesses observed their faith in God and recorded it in Scripture as examples for the Messianic believers to study.
11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command, so that the visible has its origin in the invisible.
God created the universe out of nothing. No one was there to observe it, so the Messianic believers must exercise faith in what they were not able to observe.
11:4 By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith he still speaks, though he is dead.
Abel offered a blood sacrifice by faith, knowing that it looked forward to the seed son predicted to Adam, Eve, and Satan in Genesis 3:15. Cain offered the best of his crops, although this was against the will of God. Abel was considered righteous not because of his bloody offering, but because of his faith in what was sure to come.
11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God.
Enoch pleased God so much that God raptured him up to heaven.
11:6 Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Faith is belief. One must believe in the existence and promises of God, or God will not be pleased. According to Romans 1, if one does not believe in the existence of God, then God will allow the unbeliever to follow his own self-degradation.
11:7 By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Noah had never seen rain or a global flood. However, he believed God, so he built an ark. The ark was a daily testimony that condemned the world for their unbelief. Noah preached for 120 years, asking the people to repent and turn back to God. His only converts were his three sons and three daughters-in-law. Noah preached the global flood message by faith. He believed what God told him about the coming flood.
11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going.
Abraham was a wealthy businessman in the powerful city state of Ur. Notice that Abraham did not call God, but God called Abraham. In the Greek, Abraham immediately left Ur and traveled to an evil land called Canaan. Abraham left the prosperous city-state of Ur and moved into this dangerous and unknown land, because Abraham believed that God would protect him and even bless him.
11:9 By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise.
Abraham left his property and business and lived in tents in Canaan. This was a huge step for Abraham. He left the walled-city state of Ur and moved into the desert unprotected. He left his business and property behind, believing that God would bless him.
11:10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Abraham was not looking for an earthly Jerusalem, but for a heavenly Jerusalem.
11:11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, he received the ability to procreate, because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy.
Sarah was in her menopause stage of life, so giving birth to a baby was humanly impossible. However, God promised Abraham that Sarah would give birth to the seed son. Abraham believed God. God gave life to the womb of Sarah. Isaac, the next seed son, was born.
11:12 So in fact children were fathered by one man – and this one as good as dead – like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand on the seashore.
Abraham was also sterile. However, he believed God. And Abraham’s descendants are now as innumerable as the grains of sand on the seashore. Israel and the Arab nations all came from Abraham.
11:13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth.
The patriarchs all died, but they knew that God would resurrect them from the dead and fulfill his promises to them.
11:14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
God will raise up all the Old Testament Jewish believers and give them the land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This transfer of ownership will occur at the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom. Jesus said that many will come from the north, south, east, and west to recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Land of Israel (Mat. 8:11). For this prophecy to be fulfilled, God will have to raise these three patriarchs back to life and place them in the land of Israel.
11:15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.
Abraham and his descendants could have returned to Ur, but they had so much faith in God, they decided to stay in Canaan and wait for God to give them their land.
11:16 But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
The patriarchs knew that God had built a better city for them in heaven. They were willing to patiently live on earth wherever God called them to live, knowing that the New Jerusalem waited for them in heaven.
11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son.
Abraham had seven sons from Sarah, Hagar, and Keturah. However, Isaac was chosen by God to become the seed son from whom the Messiah was to come.
11:18 God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,” 11:19 and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there.
When God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham knew that God would have to raise Isaac from the dead in order to keep His seed-son promise.
11:20 By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future.
Isaac wanted to bless Esau, even though Jacob was called by God to be the seed son. God’s sovereignty could not be outdone, even by a patriarch.
11:21 By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff.
Joseph was old and dying, but he leaned on his staff and blessed each of the two sons of Joseph.
11:22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave instructions about his burial.
Joseph knew that he would die in the land of Egypt, but because he believed the promises of God, he wanted to be resurrected in the land of Israel.
11:23 By faith, when Moses was born, his parents hid him for three months, because they saw the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
The Greek word for “beautiful” is ἀστεῖον (asteion), meaning a special child chosen by God. This Greek word is used only twice in the New Testament, both times giving a description of Moses. The parents of Moses recognized that God had a special purpose for Moses. Therefore, they hid him for three months, trusting God to take care of him.
11:24 By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,
At 40 years of age, Moses gave up the title of Egyptian Prince so that he could be identified with his people.
11:25 choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure.
Moses could have been the prince of the most powerful empire in the world, but he chose to suffer with his people. He figured that eternal life with God was better than a short life of pleasure on earth. This is a good lesson for those who are living in wealth, fame, and power today.
11:26 He regarded abuse suffered for Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on the reward.
Moses knew that the reproach of Christ was greater than all the riches and treasures of Egypt.
11:27 By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible.
Moses did not fear Pharaoh. He left Egypt, because Israel rejected him. Moses trusted in the invisible God to deliver him.
11:28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the one who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.
Moses killed a lamb and sprinkled the blood over his door, knowing that it would save him from being slain by the death angel. He performed this ritual, because he believed God.
11:29 By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if on dry ground, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were swallowed up.
It is unnatural for people to step into water, watch it divide, cross through the sea on dry ground, and then watch the army chasing you drown in the sea. However, Israel believed God and stepped into the water and observed all those things.
11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after the people marched around them for seven days.
It is unnatural to defeat one’s enemies by marching around a walled city seven times. However, Israel believed God and the walls fell down. Archaeologists have found the walls, and the walls fell outward.
11:31 By faith Rahab the prostitute escaped the destruction of the disobedient, because she welcomed the spies in peace.
All the citizens of Jericho knew about the miracles which God performed in Egypt during the Exodus and during the wilderness wanderings. However, they disbelieved God and were rebellious towards His will. Rahab had the same knowledge as the other citizens of Jericho, but she believed and was saved physically and eternally.
11:32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.
The use of the masculine article rules out Priscilla being the author of this epistle. Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah were judges who believed God and rescued Israel from their enemies. David was a king who believed God and made Israel the mightiest nation in the world. Samuel and the prophets believed God and warned Israel of things good and bad to come.
11:33 Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, shut the mouths of lions,
Joshua, the Judges, and David conquered kingdoms. David and Samuel administered justice. Gideon, Barak, and David gained what was promised. Daniel, Samson, and David stopped the mouths of lions.
11:34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight,
The three friends of Daniel quenched raging fire. Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Jephthah, and David escaped the edge of the sword. Gideon, Samson, and David gained strength in weakness. Joshua, Barak, and David became mighty in battle. David and Jehoshaphat sent foreign armies in flight.
11:35 and women received back their dead raised to life. But others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain resurrection to a better life.
Elijah raised the Widow of Zarephath and the son of the Shunnamite woman from the dead. Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus and Lazarus from the dead. There were others who God decided not to raise from the dead. Some of them were tortured and killed as martyrs for God, but all these martyrs will be raised to a better life.
11:36 And others experienced mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
Jeremiah experienced mocking and flogging. Joseph was tempted and endured chains and imprisonment.
11:37 They were stoned, sawed apart, murdered with the sword; they went about in sheepskins and goatskins; they were destitute, afflicted, ill-treated
Secular Jewish history teaches that Isaiah was sawed in half by Manasseh. Elijah wandered in sheepskins and goatskins. Many of the prophets were destitute and living in poverty. Other prophets were afflicted and ill-treated. David, Obadiah, and Elijah often were forced to wander in caves and holes of the earth.
11:38 (the world was not worthy of them); they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and openings in the earth.
The satanic world system did not think that these heroes of faith were fit to live. These people of God had forfeited employment and property. They were ostracized from society. They were reduced to poverty. They were persecuted, mocked, and imprisoned. Yet, they all believed God in spite of their circumstances.
11:39 And these all were commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.
All these heroes of the faith were commended for their faith by the Holy Spirit, yet none of them received what they were promised from God.
11:40 For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us.
All the Messianic believers in history were waiting for the Messianic Kingdom. They were willing to suffer in the satanic world system, because of the assurance of what was to come after their death. Therefore, since the Old Testament saints were willing to suffer persecution on this present earth, then the Messianic Jews should learn from their example. They should not relapse into Judaism, but they should not return to Judaism, quit missing the assemblies, and mature in the faith.