By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 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. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 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.
Hebrews 11:24-28
In these few verses, the author of Hebrews reveals something truly incredible: Moses knew about Jesus!
That knowledge accounted for some of the actions that Moses took, and the author cites the fact that Moses made a choice to be numbered among the Hebrews rather than to continue in his place of privilege in the household of Pharaoh. Moses “regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt” and so he left the slave masters and joined with the slaves. Moses placed his priority in line with God’s covenant purpose, not because the New Covenant was in effect, for it was centuries in the future, but because God’s covenant with Abraham was in effect, and it contained a promise that the people would be set free from bondage in Egypt, a promise that was made over 400 years before his own lifetime.
In this, Moses was forward-looking, to his reward, to the exclusion of his current peril on the earth. How might that have inspired the original recipients of the letter? How might that inspire us?
It was by faith that he both left Egypt and incurred the anger of Pharaoh, and later that he applied the blood of the Passover.
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
Hebrews 11:29
The people Moses led had their moments of faith too, as when they crossed the Red Sea, but sadly they more often drifted away from their faith, and never received God’s land promise; even Moses rebelled and could only gaze upon the Land. But Joshua and Caleb never lost their faith:
By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
Hebrews 11:30-31
The story of faith is an amazing one indeed, and it is a story that you and I are part of: What role will we play?
What is it about Autumn that stimulates the imagination?
I’m not sure. Maybe it’s the colors or the cooler air; maybe it’s the upcoming holidays or back to school…
While I have always been partial to summertime because of its warmth, the coming of Fall has always seemed like a special time; even when I was a little kid and wasn’t crazy about going back to school. As I’ve gotten older, I think it’s more than just cooling off a bit; I took the picture above several years ago and I recall vividly that according to my phone, the temp was over 90F. No, it isn’t that it’s cooler… I think it’s something else.
I really think that it is the colorful and spectacular display of God’s hand in nature that makes this a special time of year. The Fall is a time of year when it is particularly difficult for me to accept the notion that life on this planet is somehow just a matter of chance. Combine that with it being the time of harvest for so many crops and believing in happenstance life is just a bit too much, if you ask me.
Before you freak, I must point out that I stayed in school and learned all of the explanations for these things from science, but somehow, they ring hollow. For instance, isn’t it interesting that trees change color when the number of hours of sunlight reaches a certain point, and yet their turning times aren’t always the same. I must also point out that one professor I had required a different answer on his midterm; it was the temperature that had the biggest effect. As I mentioned above, the temp on this day was quite summer-like, and there had been no great cooling trend in that area previously.
They could at least get their stories straight!
OK, yes, that was unfair, I’ll admit that, and yes, sometimes educated people have different opinions, so back to mine…
Just to be able to look around and see God’s hand at work makes this an amazing time of year, and I hope that you have some time to take it all in this year! Of course, if you are in the southern hemisphere, you have a different change of seasons going on, and spring is pretty awesome too.
Yes, I think I’ll look around as much as I can, see God’s work, and give Him thanks for His wonderous Creation.
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, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
Hebrews 11:17-19
What an amazing thing Abraham did when God told him to sacrifice Isaac! The author brings this out in these verses, and let’s just stop and think about it for a moment. God’s big promise to Abraham was that he would have offspring greater in number than the stars in the sky and the sand on the shore, pretty amazing considering his age. The greatest promise of all was that through his seed, all nations of the earth would be blessed, and when the son of promise finally comes along, nothing short of a miracle in itself, God tells Abraham to sacrifice him… and Abraham was about to do what God had told him to do; now that is putting faith into action!
I can’t imagine what Abraham must have been thinking… I really can’t; but our author tells us, and apparently it occurred to Abraham, that if God made this promise, and then told him to kill the boy, God must have a plan to raise Isaac from the dead. His faith was so strong, he wasn’t thinking that God had changed His mind. So, in a way, he did receive Isaac back from the dead, for at that critical moment, poor Isaac was a dead boy walking.
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
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.
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.
Hebrews 11:20-23
Take a close look at these “by faith” verses…. very close. What do they all have common, other than “by faith”? It’s no trick, there is a clear pattern…
Each one of these “by faith” incidents is directly related to covenant faithfulness. The main things mentioned about Abraham related to the land promise. In the verses above, it’s the son of promise. Isaac and Jacob verses are referring to their covenant birthrights. Joseph was concerned about the exodus, also a promise of the covenant. Moses was no ordinary child, because God would make another covenant with him… and later we’ll see more about Moses.
All of these people were imperfect, and the truth is that some of them were very imperfect. All, however, placed their priority on their covenant relationship with God, over all else, and when things were tough, that’s where their hearts were to be found. The really big question is this: What does that tell us about God’s priorities in relation to our sins?
In case I haven’t made this quite clear enough, let’s go about this in a slightly different way. None of the patriarchs was a saint. A few of them were a mess, and I’m including Abraham in this group. How many times did he allow Sarah, the woman who was to bear the son of promise, go into the harem of a pagan king? Not once, but twice! Now I haven’t been so perfect in my lifetime, but I most certainly have never done anything like that, have you? Probably not… Yet Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, because Abraham, in spite of his faults, placed his highest priority on his covenant with God; in this area, he was faultless. The same can also be said of his son and grandsons.
Back to the original recipients… Everything in this letter is in the context of covenant. Just think about all of the amazing things we’ve learned about the New Covenant in Hebrews. Think about what we’ve learned about our relationship with God in Hebrews. With all of that in mind, can you see what an insult it would be to God if we, after all He has done, and after all He has given to us, would turn our backs and walk away from this covenant relationship when the going got tough? You see, these warnings aren’t so much about our petty sins which are already forgiven anyway, they are about protecting and maintaining our covenant relationship with God.
Another day begins in the morning mists; what kind of day will this be?
For many, there is hard work ahead, there may be tasks at hand that are not pleasant, so will the day be a bad one? I should hope not…
Whatever our plans today might be, take a minute and recall that God is near at hand, that He is right there to see us through. When our tasks are not pleasant, do we dwell on the unpleasantness or do we focus on Him? I say let’s focus on Him as we go through our day. Oh, how often I blog on this subject! But why do I keep coming back to it?
Probably to remind myself!
Like you, I have struggles and challenges most of the time, and when I see only the struggles, the day is long indeed. As I go through those days, my mood begins to darken and sometimes I even wonder what the point of it all is. Usually, right about at then, a thought comes into my mind: Why should I despair when God is right here? Why should I tire when the source of my strength is within me in the person of His Spirit?
Then, everything changes for me. My strength returns, I am fresh with determination and hope and filled with His peace, and then, do you know what happens then?
Those problems and struggles don’t seem so big after all, and I am amazed at how easily they can be remedied. So, as we begin our day in the morning mists, let’s draw near to God, the source of all strength and goodness and let Him lead us through our day’s work, praising and thanking Him as we go through another great day!
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. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 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.
Hebrews 11:13-16
“These people,” Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their families, lived in a time and place where the fullness of God’s promises to them had not entirely come to pass. They looked forward to complete fulfillment to their dying days, but they did so with joy, for the fulfillment of God’s promises was never in doubt; they lived by faith. They saw from a distance, but they held on. You’ll recall that our author said that the Old Covenant worship was but an illustration, a shadow of the reality to come. Here the author uses the words “at a distance” to describe the same thing, for the reality of all of God’s promises came in the person of Christ.
There’s something really interesting developing in these verses, something that is very relevant for the original recipients of the letter, and very relevant for us as well. Did you notice that the author keeps pointing out that they were foreigners? They were strangers in a strange land when Abraham and his household entered the promised land, for there were already people there with a different culture, different language, and different values. Abraham had followed God to a place he didn’t know, and where the inhabitants didn’t know him. But that isn’t the point the author is making. Notice verse 13, “…they were foreigners and strangers on earth.” It wasn’t just that they had left Ur and travelled to Canaan, they had left the kingdom of this earth, and entered a covenant with God. They were no longer like the other people in a way that is much more significant than mere language and culture, for they have become people of God, in an environment that was in rebellion against God. Returning to Ur wouldn’t bring them home, for they were no longer citizens there, their orientation was now a heavenly one, and they could only look forward to the day when it became a reality.
Now, consider the implications of this upon the Jewish Christians in Rome during Nero’s persecution. Even if they had lived in Rome all of their lives, even if the State recognized them as Roman citizens, they had been transformed into citizens of a different realm, for in Christ they had become citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. They were now strangers in a strange land, a land that was in open rebellion against God… and Rome was acting the part. Rome persecuted them because they were of God now; that’s what the world does, and it should surprise no one. Yet through this trial, they had thus far remained faithful to their new Kingdom, and in the course of that, they had declared a testimony for Christ, and as we now know as we study the past, the Gospel spread rapidly by their testimony of faith in Jesus, even in the face of terrible persecution. Thus, God was not ashamed to be their God.
The historical context of this is very interesting, but it also cries out to us in an important way. What is it telling us…? It tells us that we too, are strangers in a strange land, for no longer are we citizens of an earthly nation; we too are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, and we too have a role to play in its development. As Paul tells us, we are its Ambassadors here on earth; what will our testimony be?
The coming f the Christ was foretold by many of the Old Testament prophets, and it was prepared for by the last and final prophet of the Old Covenant: John. When the Christ came, He had several issues to resolve, they are:
1) What is it that God wanted in a person? Jesus demonstrated what God had intended when he made Adam, and consequently is called the second Adam (1Cor. 15:22). Christ was the “image” in which Man had been cast (Heb. 1:1-3). What God wanted in the Law of Moses was someone like Christ (Rom. 8:1-3). Jesus fulfilled the Law as God had wanted it fulfilled when He gave it at Mount Sinai (Matt. 5:17). What God wanted in the remnant, He demonstrated in Christ, the true suffering servant (Matt. 12:17). He was what God wanted of the church that He was to establish (Eph. 4:12-16). He is the model for the new humanity that God intended to create in Christ (Eph. 2:15 ff.). God had intended for all humanity to have the character and personality of Christ from the very beginning (Rom. 8:29). As a consequence, Jesus needed to show that the Law was just and right and that Man could, and should have kept it all along; He kept it as God had intended for it to be kept.
2) Jesus needed to re-interpret the Law placing things in their proper perspective. The Law had been intended to be the rule for the House of Israel, and not the guide for all humanity. If it had been, the specific ceremonies and one location Temple would be inappropriate. For this reason, Christ needed to set forth what ethic and duty would be when the Kingdom came… He frequently contrasted what had been written with what He would bring, see Matt. 5:21 ff. Many of His teachings separated the principles contained in the Law from the specific statures.
Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Matt. 22:36-39
Here Jesus shows the application of the principle: if you love the Lord your God, you must also love your neighbor, as God loves all Men. Jesus understood that all Law must have a priority system that takes into account the conflicts that will naturally arise, and His biggest charge against the Jewish legal authorities was that they had no sane priority system, instead preferring to apply whatever Law made them look good, and the other fellow look bad. (Mark 7:1 ff.)
(Heb. 1:3) When He died on the cross, the last sacrifice was finished; it was for that reason he had come into the world (John 12:27-28). When the goal was achieved, Jesus ended the Law: 3) Jesus came to put an end to the Mosaic system by being its last sacrifice.
It is finished. (John 19:28) In that moment the curtain in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. (Matt. 27:51)
Paul interpreted the meaning of this:
…having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Col. 2:14-15
The Law had outlived its usefulness and had actually been used to crucify the Son of God. As always, if anything that placed the mission of God, the relationship with His people, or the success of the relationship, it became a vile thing. The very Torah was nailed to a tree, and as Torah says, “Cursed be anyone that hangeth on a tree.” (Deut. 21:23) Jesus and the Torah, both servants of God, were nailed to a tree. Jesus died for the sins identified by the Torah. When Jesus died, the Torah died with him. This is something that only Jesus could do, because He was God in a body (John 1:1, 14) and was therefore party of the first part in the Covenant; the Covenant was His to terminate and replace.
Jesus’ Covenant Orientation
The word covenant is not used much in the Gospels because it’s a given. It is the only framework in which a religious discussion can take place; thus it need not be mentioned as pre-requisite. It was very clear however that significant tension developed between Jesus and the Jewish authorities because Jesus was intent on making significant changes in the three elements of the Covenant: the parties, terms and promises. Much of what He did in the Gospels is to demonstrate His authority to do so, and much is also said about each of these elements.
In the case of the parties, the Old Covenant parties are God and the blood descendants of Abraham through Isaac. Jesus had come to sweep that away:
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
John 1:11-13
Christ’s philosophy of covenant is similar to the Old Covenant in certain ways. He saw a covenant relationship as being about mutuality, but He held humanity responsible for evidence presented, and realized that words open peoples’ hearts. Words opened hearts so that we could be born of the Spirit.
The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
John 6:63
Jesus said several times that men who do not choose the blessings of God do so because they prefer the praise of Men. In so stating, He indicates not that Men are depraved, but rather holds them responsible for their choices:
How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?
John 5:44
Jesus also set about to change the terms of covenant. In so doing, His approach focused on the positive benefits rather than upon the penalties for breech. Whereas the Law focused on “Cursed be…” Jesus’ focus was on “Blessed are…” and the differences are striking:
Old
New
Cursed is the man who carves an image
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
Cursed is the man who moves a boundary stone
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth
Cursed is the man who dishonors…
Blessed are the merciful…
Cursed is the man who withholds justice
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness
Cursed is the man who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God
Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law (Deut. 27:15 ff.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. (Matt. 5:1 ff.)
Jesus summed up all His ethical principles into one definition: Godliness was the sum of ethic… “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt. 5:48) This is inadequate without a thorough description of what our heavenly Father is like, and Jesus provided that explanation. He described God as being much like an earthly father who loves his children. Our Heavenly Father loves His children and does well for them (Matt. 7:7). He lets His children go their own way (Luke 15:11 ff.). He welcomed home the prodigal son with joy and weeping. The best definition of God-likeness was Jesus; He and the Father were one (John 10:30). Jesus embodied God’s personality and character, Christ-likeness was God-likeness.
A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher
Luke 6:40
Our next post on Covenant will conclude this section about the end of the Old Covenant― see you then.
Chapter 11 of Hebrews is a discourse on active faith. This is certainly interesting when you consider that it comes right after the warnings against losing our faith in chapter 10 .
Who said faith and works were mutually exclusive?
That faith and works were somehow in opposition to one another is a presupposition of men, not a Biblical concept, for in the Bible, the two go hand in hand. This is not to say that we can ever earn our salvation by works; of course not! Salvation is by grace through faith. Yet, there is a definite linkage in the Scriptures between faith and action that many seem to miss. I think they might miss this connection because they consider salvation the end of the story, but as we have seen time and time again, it is the beginning.
In this chapter, the author begins with a very brief discussion of what faith is:
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.
Hebrews 11:1-3
Of course, we all know verse one as the classic definition of faith, and it is this faith that the Old Testament heroes were commended by God for having. It is also the faith that we have in Jesus Christ, for we are certain of His Truth even though we have neither seen nor touched Him. Verse 3 gives us an example of faith in the creation of the universe at God’s command. The universe is made of what was not seen, for no one saw Him give the command, and the universe came into being where before there was nothing at all.
Verses 4-7, which you can refer to at your leisure, refer to several Old Testament characters, and reminds us of their active faith, and then the author comes to Abraham:
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. 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. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 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. 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.
Hebrews 11:8-12
When God called Abraham to pack up the household and leave his homeland, he had no idea where he was going, but he went because he had faith (Action). When he finally arrived in the promised land, he made his home there even though he was a stranger in that place and knew no one, because he had faith in God and His promises (Action). Abraham and his descendants were confident in God’s promises of a great nation, and they actedaccordingly. Abraham believed God actively, and as a result Sarah bore him the son of promise and because of Abraham’s active faith, God fulfilled His promises, in spite of Abraham’s mistakes and miscues. This is what faith can do when coupled with God’s covenant promises.
Why do you suppose the author took this detour from the rest of the letter, and why here?
Let’s consider the structure of the letter first. In chapters 8-10:18 we saw an amazing recitation of all that God has done for us in Christ, with the superior high priest, superior sacrifice, bringing about a superior covenant with superior promises. We also saw how all of this replaced the old shadows of the old ways. This was followed by a section of warnings, and now faith. This all makes perfect sense, because all that the author has been sharing was there to help the recipients of the letter hold onto their faith in terrible times of trial. At such a time, more than in normal times, it would have been critical for them to understand that their faith is active rather than passive, for none of the characters discussed in this chapter were mentioned because of the way they clung to their faith while sitting at home on the couch. They are all heroes of faith because they put their faith into action.
The air is cool and crisp; the brightly colored leaves are still as the birds sing their joyous song. The smell of the grass is strong in the fresh air, and there is a slight scent of smoke. The leaves on the ground crunch as I walk along taking in the sights, sounds and smells of a new morning. My mind fills with images of the past and think of those great and small who have walked these grounds before. George Washington and his guests used to bowl on this green, and the generations since have come to call.
This was once a place of great industry and great men of high purpose, and I wonder if we have such purpose about our lives.
Many do have a great purpose to their lives, and while this purpose may not be recorded in the annuls of the Republic like those who came here in centuries past, our purpose is even greater than theirs, if our purpose is also God’s purpose. Many believe that God had a great plan in the birth of this Nation. I don’t know about all of that, but I do know that He has a purpose for us today. It is probably not in building a Republic, for His purpose is about building a Kingdom, His Kingdom.
So, refreshed in the cool morning air, and inspired by all that is around me, it’s time to head into a new day of making disciples and building the Body of Christ on this earth. May all of us begin our days with this vision, a vision of God’s purpose fulfilled in our lives.
What a wonderful experience life can be when it is filled with God’s work!
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