Hebrews 11 Faith in a Chapter

   Heyo! So remember that one post I did on 1 Corinthians 13? Well apparently there’s a whole chapter on faith too! I was a little bit tickled by it, so I figured, why not do a post on it as well? The chapter’s a little longer than 1 Corinthian’s 13, so I’ll try to get to the main points and you can go read this amazing little bit yourself.
So Hebrews 11 starts off as so, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in the days of old earned a good reputation. By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we see now did not come from anything that can be seen.” So basically this chapter is about what faith is and how it works. Which by the way is a difficult concept to grasp in my opinion. Most people believe that faith is another pretty word for believe. But to quote the words from John Lennox, “Faith is not a leap in the dark; it’s the exact opposite. It’s a commitment based on evidence. It is irrational to reduce all faith to blind faith and then subject to ridicule.” Faith is not blind like belief. Faith is believing and knowing.
Continuing on through the chapter it lists examples of what faith has done in the bible. It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying. It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him his inheritance. It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. So it’s by faith that all of these insane happenings and miracles happened. If nobody had faith, they wouldn’t have the strength to continue on with what God had ordered them to do.
A few verses that caught my eye were verses 13-15, “All of these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a city for them.” At first I looked at this verse and was a bit irritated. So these guys had undying faith and they still didn’t get what they wanted? They saw it and was okay with it? But here’s the thing; Our earthly wants are never going to be fulfilled because they continue to grow. It’s like a hole that you think you can fill up with just a few things, but it’s larger than you expect. These people in the bible realized this, and was happy with what God had given them. They knew that earth was not their home, and that they were going to live in a place that could fill that endless hole.
After these few verses, it lists more examples of what faith has done in Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, the people of Israel, and Rahab. Then in verses 32-40 it says, “How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthath, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of a sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. Women received their loved ones back again from death. But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding and caves and holes in the ground. All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised them. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.”
I know that this post has a lot of scripture in it, but this is some intense and powerful writings that can easily be applied in our lives! Any story in the bible somewhere has an act of faith. We’re confused by what to think of faith, but it’s everywhere in our holy book. And look at what faith did! Because of their faith, the children of God were able to overcome great hardships and thrive. I think we live in a world where we underestimate the power of our faith, but think about it in your own life. It’s by your faith that you get saved. It’s by faith that you go and talk to that little girl sitting by herself at the lunch table. It’s by faith that you get baptized, give offering, read your bible. Faith is POWERFUL!
I’ll leave off with this, if you still don’t think faith is anything special, read this chapter for yourself. Read it, study it, apply it to your life, and use it to keep yourself in check. If your actions are not by faith, then they’re done by belief. There’s nothing wrong with belief, but it’s just one step behind faith.
I’m sorry that this post was late, I’ll try to be better about scheduling. At any rate, leave a like or a heart if you liked this post and if you have a question or a comment please do email me at fire.time.rsmith@gmail.com . Until next Wednesday, God bless and keep your fire for God blazing!