Hebrews 12:7-11

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7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. ~ Hebrews 12:7-11

Today, we return to Hebrews 12 where the writer of Hebrews is yet giving us reasons we want to invest in the invisible kingdom of God. This requires faith which is the product of two things according to the James 1 and Romans 10:17. And, those two things are enduring trials and hearing the spoken word of Christ.

In v.7 of today's text we read, "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?"

Literally, the first two words in v.7 of today's text reads, "Into training you endure." This sentence includes an indicative and an imperative statement. This sentence includes a statement of fact and a command. And, it indicates a strong connection between training and endurance, specifically, endurance in the race of knowing Christ for ourselves.

In training us, "God is treating us as sons." This is what a good father does for his children, he trains us. The bottom line before any blessing or seeming curse happens to us, we must first be convinced that God is good. We have known times when we thought, due to the circumstances, that God was not good. For me, I blamed God for the death of my mother when I was five years old. For years I was angry at Him. I did not understand that He truly is good, and, the fact that we live in a fallen world wherein Satan reigns and pain and death are its products. For years I wrongly accused God for that which Satan was ultimately responsible.

In v.8 of today's text we read, "If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all."

Now, if our heavenly Father does not train us, He is not our Father and we are not his children. This means we are "illegitimate children." Training, then, should be received as a sign of the nearness of the Father and that all the privileges of being his sons are ours. The training of the Lord that He has caused or allowed in my life down through these forty years that I have know Him has included some horrible things. I have learned the Lord uses all things in my life for my good and for His glory. I have not understood it all but His training has always been motivated by His love for me and it gives me great comfort to know that I am in His family and He has my best interest at heart.

This is why we must garner His culture everyday through our study of His word. Otherwise, we will interpret life's events incorrectly. It's difficult for us to accept the truth of these verses because they teach something that is foreign to our experience. So much of the bad things that happen to us are not motivated by human love and are not signs of human acceptance. In fact, they are motivated by human anger and are signs of human rejection. They are expressions of non-redemptive punishment or retribution. Their intention is to hurt, not to help. That is our human experience, which makes it difficult for us to understand God's heart through such experiences. And, to make matters worse, it is difficult for us to understand God's training as motivated by love when that training comes in the form of human punishment motivated by anger. It may seem that God is treating us as enemies or aliens when in reality He is treating us as sons and daughters.

This is why the writer of Hebrews writes in v.9-10 of today's text, "9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. "

The first response when we encounter any trial that we must value in our souls is: "This is happening because I am my heavenly Father's son, and He is allowing or causing this to happen in my life for my good and for His glory." God is ultimately sovereign in our lives, and, this text does not say that God looks on while hostile sinners hurt His people, or while Satan badgers us, and only then steps in to turn all this evil for good. God is not a passive observer in our lives while sinners and Satan beat us up. He rules over sinners and Satan, and they unwittingly, and with no less fault or guilt, fulfill his wise and loving purposes of discipline in our lives. God's discipline or training in our lives is necessary because we lack to resounding influence of His culture in our souls. 

Ultimately, the questions for us will always be: "Do I trust Him?" And, if we subject ourselves to Him we will "live," according to v.9 of today's text. This means we will experience the life the Lord Jesus died to give us. This is talking about "eternal life" in our lives right now. It is His life which includes joy, holiness, peace and righteousness. The word "holiness" can also be translated "completeness." At the root of all my anxieties is my lack. And, it is our lack that throws the door to our heart open to covetousness. God's joy, holiness, righteousness and peace are all gifts of the New Covenant. Our suffering takes us to a deeper place, where we encounter deeper aspects of the relationship we have with the Father. Growing closer to Him, He becomes more and more prominent in and through our lives.  

In v.11 of today's text we read, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

We do not like discipline, but, give God enough time and He will show us the benefits of the discipline that He causes or allows. The greatest benefit is that we receive a deeper intimacy with Him. When we endure, first hand, the involvement of God in our lives through the tool of trials, we discover that we have been trained or prepared by God's righteousness and peace, as indicated in this verse. These gifts enable us to have vision which is what sets us apart in this world. And, the greater the trials, the greater our vision of God. This translates into a life of faith which takes on the big things of this world. You see, this kind of vision or faith will take us outside the realm of the predictable, the safe, and the expected to the realm of the absolute miraculous. The adventure awaits ... will we trust Him?

Hebrews 12:4-6

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4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” ~ Hebrews 12:4-6

Today, we return to our study of Hebrews 12. In these three verse that we will consider today, we will gain valuable principles on battling those things in this life that would trip us up in our pursuit of the Lord Jesus.

In v.4 of today's passage we read, "In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood."

Like any important relationship that we have, our personal relationship with the Lord Jesus requires endurance. The writer of Hebrews has written these words so that we would not grow weary in our pursuit of Him. In order to do this, our focus is to be placed on the Lord Jesus who suffered as He did on the cross. As a result, we will be enabled to look at our difficulties and sufferings through the lens of His wisdom. 

Our struggle against sin or the temptation that leads us to choose contrary to God's wisdom is and always will be intense due to the fact that we are born again and we live in a world that is naturally in opposition to God and His culture. In this struggle we often find ourselves positioned to see our nothingness the best. When we come face to face with His greatness and our own nothingness, it is imperative that we are defined by the Lord Jesus greatness because He made us to be in fellowship with Him. 

In Hebrews 12:1-3, we saw how drawing encouragement from the lives of other believers who have gone before us helps, but not completely. It is only when we look to the Lord Jesus that we gain the additional motivation to endure in our pursuit of Him and His culture.

The "sin" that these to whom the writer of Hebrews wrote was the sin of others, not their own sin. The struggle was to not be influenced by whatever opposition they faced from "sinners," fellow Jews who opposed the gospel, and to continue believing in God's promises. Up to this point, they had "not yet resisted to the point of shedding their blood." 

In v.5-6 of today's passage we read, "5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son."'

In these verses the writer of Hebrews quotes Proverbs 3:11-12 where he provides the the encouragement these young believers needed. This reminder included the reminder that they were the sons of God. When we consider what the Father thinks of the Lord Jesus, we are given the understanding of what He thinks of us who believe in His Son as our Savior. God, the Father, wants us to understand something so thoroughly foreign to our thinking that it is difficult for us to accept it and easy for us to forget, just like it was for the original readers of Hebrews. But if we hear it, and remember it, and believe it, our spirits will be lifted in the middle of our greatest struggles.

The phrase "loose heart," here in v.5, is the same word that is translated "grow weary" in v.3. The hostility of sinners often causes us to grow weary. And, it is the discipline or the training of the Lord, that enables us to understand that our growth in the Lord includes the opposition or hostility of sinners.

From Proverbs 3:11, we discover that God's training can include reproof and scourging for destructive behavior, although it is by no means limited to reproof and scourging. Training, or discipline, is not to be confused with punishment. That would be a negation of the cross, where Christ absorbed all of God's wrath and punishment for us. In punishment, there is no intent to help, only to hurt. The goal of punishment is vengeance, not redemption. God's discipline of us is always redemptive.

According to v.5 of today's passage, we are not to regard the discipline or training of the Lord, "lightly," "because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son." 

When we called on the Lord Jesus to be our Savior, we became the sons and daughters of God. The purpose of God’s discipline of us is not to punish us but to transform us. He has already meted out His punishment for our sins on the Lord Jesus at Calvary. The key words here are "loves" and "accepts." The emphasis here is not at all on the result of training but the motive behind it, and, His motive is always pure love. The Lord trains us because He loves us. Bad things happen to us because He loves us. The training of the Lord is a sign of His acceptance of us as sons. It is a sign that He wants us close to Him. More than that, it is a sign that we are close to Him, for if we are disciplined, we are the accepted sons and daughters of God.

Hebrews 12:3

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Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. ~ Hebrews 12:3

Today, we continue our study of Hebrews 12 where the writer of Hebrews continues to give us an idea of what a life of faith in the God of the Bible looks like. There are those who place the focus on the amount of our faith, however, the most important aspect of our faith is the object of our faith. The object of our faith is made most evident when life gets most difficult. It was J.R.R. Tolkien who once said, "Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens." 

One of the most remarkable capacities of the human mind is the capacity to direct its own attention to something it chooses. Due to those capabilities, we have the ability to focus our attention on anything we choose. The Bible calls us again and again to use this remarkable gift to pursue God in such a way that we get to know Him personally and intimately. Our tendency is to grow weary and to become despondent and choose to get out of the race. This is the problem these young Hebrew Christians to whom the writer of Hebrews wrote this letter had. And, of course, this is the problem we face in our lives today. 

When we run the race of faith, we access the joy of the Lord which is what helped Him endure the torment of the wrath of God. Of course, running the race is our pursuit of Him. This race is not the pursuit of a better self or a sanctimonious faith that somehow sets us apart from others. This is a pursuit of the One who made it possible for us to place our faith in Him in the first place. Our challenge is to contemplate the unfailing endurance of the Lord Jesus as He went through the experience of the suffering and death of the cross. And, when we grow weary, we must look intently to His overwhelming steadfastness in the face of extreme suffering. This will enable us to realize that we, even under extreme duress, have not endured anything like He did, therefore we will be enabled to take heart and persevere in our pursuit of Him.

The Lord Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and your joy may be made full." We share in His joy because He has made us to sit also at the right hand of the Father. In the Lord Jesus believers are enthroned with Him as joint heirs of all that is His and His Father's. This is all possible because the Lord Jesus laid hold of us after He laid hold of the prize of conquering sin and death at the cross.

In today's verse we read, "Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

The word translated "consider" occurs only in this place throughout the entire New Testament. It means "to analyze." If we think deeply about who the Lord Jesus is and all He went through for us and all that He has accomplished for us, we will be able to endure this race of pursuing Him. In the process of all of this, personal relationship with Him will occur. You see, it is not that we analyze to the point of gaining information about Him; it is that we analyze Him so much that we experience transformation from Him. And, this transformation will always render a deeper personal walk with Him.

The Lord Jesus was and is God, and, at any moment He could have rendered total annihilation on those who opposed Him and put Him on that cross, but He didn't. He didn't because He has a God-sized patience for the ignorance of sinners. The good news is He took the burden of our sins and placed them on Himself at the cross. Then He rose from the dead and sat at the right hand of God interceding on our behalf so that we continue in the faith. As a result, we will be energized to endure all this world will throw at us because He is the One who defines us. As we consider Him "who endured such opposition from sinners," we will gain the ability to see as others do not.

In the book of Ephesians there is a phrase that is used repeatedly. The phrase is "in heavenly places." When we pursue the Lord Jesus, we gain the perspective of this life from the vantage point of the heavenly places. When this happens, we are enabled to see our lives from His vantage point. We will access His wisdom in and through our pain and troubles and we will not grow weary and lose heart. It is at these very important moments in life that we are enabled to recognize that the events of our lives are controlled by a loving God who desires for us His best. So, when we encounter frustrations and disappointments, we will be enabled to recognize that He either has caused them or He has allowed them. And, He always has purposes that can only be seen from the vantage point of the "heavenly places." 

The word "gospel" means "good news that is announced." When we pursue the Lord Jesus personally and daily, we discover that the good news is that even though we are lost and broken in this fallen world, God has come to find and save us. To do that He became a man who lived an ordinary human life, distinguished only by the startling fact that He never did anything wrong. He kept all of God’s laws, both internally and externally, and having done so, He transferred all the credit for that obedience to those who trust in Him. Having entered into a personal relationship with Him, we are granted the privilege of really knowing Him. And, as we get to know Him, He orders our lives and we find ourselves defined by Him as we apply His way of living to our lives. This is why we are exhorted to consider Him, to analyze Him for it is out of this growing relationship with Him that we realize His eternal life.

Hebrews 12:1-2

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1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ~ Hebrews 12:1-2

Today, we transition into Hebrews 12 wherein the writer of Hebrews instructs us on how to live in view of the faith of all those Old Testament men and women of faith whom he wrote about in Hebrews 11. Based upon the testimonies of those Old Testament saints, we are called to run the race of faith in the God of the Bible. This is not a race that we run, the Lord Jesus ran it for us. When we run we are positioned to realize His run in our lives.

In v.1 of today's passage we read, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

I know, we are commanded to run. We run the race but we do not earn it. We do not achieve the victory. That is what the Lord Jesus has done for us. And, we apply these principles of throwing off those things which keep us from Him in order to realize the victory the Lord Jesus has already earned for us. 

The phrase "since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses," means the lives of those Old Testament believers in Hebrews 11 tell us we ought to lay aside everything that hinders our faith pursuit in the God of the Bible. 

Now, the word "race" in v.1 is a metaphor which means we are  engaged in a race, doing all we can to pursue the Lord Jesus. The word "race" literally means agony. As believers in the Lord Jesus, we are to agonize in our pursuit of knowing the Lord Jesus. And, this race that we are involved with is not a sprint. This race is a marathon; it is a faith race. 

The writer of Hebrews writes, "let us throw off everything that hinders." This is not referring to sin. This is a reference to those good things in this life that hinder us in our total pursuit of the Lord. These young Jewish believers were being hindered by their religion. They were pursuing the rituals and the ceremonies, but not the Lord Himself. They were running like overweight people who were going to collapse in a pile of their own legalistic duties. This race is run by faith plus nothing, and anything we hold onto from past religion that is made up of pointless ceremonies, traditions, rituals, and rules only slows us down. 

The writer of Hebrews also writes, we are to "throw off the sin that so easily entangles." The sin here is the sin of unbelief; the failure to take the revelation about the reality of Christ in our lives seriously. When we lack eternal perspective, we tend to value things which are not to be valued as much. And, the key to our success spiritually is an ever increasing intimacy with the Lord Jesus.

In v.2 of today's passage we read, "...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

The secret to our persistence is found in this phrase, "fixing our eyes on Jesus." It is quite instructive to discover the Encyclopedia Brittanica uses 20,000 words to describe the life of Jesus Christ. Take all of the words used in the Encyclopedia Brittanica to describe the lives of Caesar, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Buddha, Confucius and Mohamed and the Lord Jesus' life required more.

It is also very instructive to learn that ancient history heroes were identified as those who vanquished their enemies. But, the Lord Jesus was the one who changed it, He changed the definition of the hero. Now, we consider the hero as the one who lays down his life for others. We go out of our way, today, to thank the first responders and the nurses and the doctors who save lives, and, all the while risk their own.

Anyone who has ever run a race knows that we have to keep our eyes on our goal. We can not run effectively looking at our feet or behind us. The Lord Jesus must be the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. He Himself ran the race. He laid aside every weight, every restraining hand he brushed aside that He might resolutely vanquish our foes. He set his face against the popular sin of unbelief and walked on in patient perseverance, trusting the Father to work everything out for Him. He set the example.

We are to look daily to the Lord Jesus because He only can do what we and the others mentioned in Hebrews 11 could not do. They can inspire us, but only the Lord Jesus empowers us. Moment by moment, when we look to Him we discover the secret to our success. He is the secret. The faith of the Lord Jesus made Him alienated from God, to bear all the sins of all the people throughout human history who would eventually believe, and to emerge triumphant. The triumph or the race  has already been won at His cross. He is the One who enables us to win the race of total dependency upon Him and this is Christianity.

Hebrews 11:37-40

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37 They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. ~ Hebrews 11:37-40

Today, we complete our study of Hebrews 11 where we have been given a robust look at faith. The full gamut of faith has been covered. We have gone from weak faith to very strong faith. Today's passage reveals a very strong faith. 

The greatest struggle of faith is to be preoccupied with our faith rather than our Savior. This is probably why God waits to bring His promises about, to demonstrate it was He that brought it about. As we have seen in this list of Old Testament believers, they didn't have it all together, but their difficulties led them to the God of the Bible who does have it all together. This is why the key to it all is the object of our faith.

In v.37 of today's passage we read, "They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated."

The Bible contains more information about Jeremiah's life and times than any other prophet. But with regards to how he died, the Scriptures leave no record. Church tradition suggests that Jeremiah was stoned to death in Egypt by Jews. Another example of someone who was stoned to death is Zechariah. According to 2 Chronicles 24, the officials of Judah did not like hearing the convicting words of Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, so they stoned him to death in the Temple.

And, then some "were sawed in two." The Old Testament prophet Isaiah prophesied to the people of Judah during the reigns of the kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. This great prophet was martyred by King Manasseh, son of Hezekiah. According to tradition, Isaiah was tied inside a sack, placed within the hollow of a tree trunk, and then sawed in two. This story traces back to a first-century, non-canonical book called the Ascension of Isaiah, which claims to tell the story of Isaiah’s death.

"Some were killed by the sword." Ken Wuest once wrote, "The Greek has it that they 'died by sword-slaughter,' indicating mass-slaughters. Examples of this abound in the Maccabean period." The most striking quality of faith is it dares. When God has spoken, faith ignores the contrary evidence even though it seems to be absolutely impossible. These endured on the basis of the future which was contrary to their present.

"They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated." All of these things would be somewhat familiar to the Jewish people who were hearing this being read to them. They knew the stories of these people that we don’t know because they’re not necessarily contained in the pages of Scripture, but likely much of it was passed down. These people of God were wanderers, vagabonds, just existing because they had been rejected by society. That was the price they paid for their faith in the faithfulness of God.

In v.38 of today's passage we read, "the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground."

The world thought these to be unworthy to live, but, the truth is the world was not worthy of them. All of these men and women of faith in the God of the Bible endured all of this because their hearts had been apprehended by the God of heaven. They, to varying degrees, saw the Lord with their hearts. These were convinced of God and heaven and they were convinced of His promise which included a better resurrection. 

In v.39 of today's passage we read, "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised."

All that these believers had was their faith in the Lord. These gained approval through their faith, though they didn’t receive what was promised. The promise referred to here is the resurrection the Lord Jesus made available to all of His followers. 

In v.40 of today's passage we read, "...since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect."

The writer of Hebrews has sought to encourage these young Hebrew believers to keep on believing. He has exhorted them to faith by these Old Testament examples of faith. Just as they did not "cast away their confidence" in the face of difficulties, so neither should the readers. In these closing verses the writer tells them that the reason that God did not bring to pass all that He had promised in the Messiah was because to do so would have been to leave these contemporary believers out. And, I might add, it would have left you and me out, as well.

The word "perfect" at the end of this verse means "saved." It means access that is opened and granted to God. Full access to God which the old covenant couldn’t give. Access into the very presence of God both in time and eternity. These Old Testament believers lived by a faith in someone they couldn’t see. And, their faith was courageous because they counted on a salvation that would be provided in a way they could not see.

Hebrews 11:35-36

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35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. ~ Hebrews 11:35-36

In the Bible faith and belief are used interchangeably. However, one can have false faith or incomplete belief, which is inadequate. The difference is not between the two words but in the object faith or belief. Having said that, we must be careful to differentiate between weak and mature faith. We have seen in our study of Hebrews 11 the difference between these two, and yet, the key to it all is the object of our faith and belief.

As we come back to our study of faith in Hebrews 11, we read in v.35 of today's passage, "Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection."

In the latter part of this chapter we have seen the achievements of the God of Old Testament believers' faith in the midst of great difficulty. These "women who received back their dead, and raised to life again" include the widow in 1 Kings 17 whose son was awakened out of death by Elijah. It also refers to the Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4 whose son was raised by Elisha.

In 1 Kings 17 we read of the prophet Elijah and the widow from Zarephath. The chapter notes that the Lord was withholding rain from Israel. The drought was in judgment of the nation’s rampant idolatry, led by the royal couple Ahab and Jezebel. The Lord commanded Elijah to go to Zarephath, a gentile town outside Israel, to a widow who would provide him many meals even though she had very little. Then, one day, the woman’s son one day died of an illness and, in her anger and grief, the widow blamed Elijah for his death. She wrongly assumed God was judging her for her sin. But Elijah cried out to God, and the son was restored to life. 

The Lord Jesus referenced this story in His teaching, He said, "In truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow." 

Elijah found more faith outside of Israel than within it. God often uses unlikely people and sources to accomplish His purposes. 

In 2 Kings 4 we read of the Shunammite woman whose son was raised from the dead by Elisha. This woman was a wealthy married woman who rented a guest room to Elisha, acknowledging him as a prophet of God. Elisha often passed that way in his travels, and he stayed in the guest room. Elisha asked his servant how he could help the woman in return for her hospitality. His servant mentioned that she had no son and her husband was old. Elisha then called the woman and told her she would have a son by that time next year. The prophecy was fulfilled, and the woman had a child, but the story was not over. 

Several years later, the child came down with some kind of sickness, and he died in his mother’s lap. She immediately found Elisha and asked him to come heal her son. When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the LORD. Then he went up and lay on the child. And as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm. Then the child sneezed seven times, and then his eyes opened. This Shunammite woman’s sincere faith led to an amazing series of events. And it all began with her desperation.

The Greek word translated "tortured" in v.35 included an instrument that had a wheel-shaped contraption over which criminals were stretched as though they were skins. And they would have all their extremities stretched to the circumference of the wheel, and they would rotate on the wheel while people pummeled them with clubs. These maintained their allegiance to the God of the Bible, enduring the most vicious treatment known to man.

In v.36 of today's passage we read, "Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment." 

This verse is yet another reference to those who had mature faith in the God of the Bible. These had experienced God's involvement in their lives so much that they were enabled to endure anything for their trust in God. 

In Jeremiah 37, it is recorded that the prophet Jeremiah was scourged, whipped and imprisoned for simply speaking the word of the Lord to a nation who didn’t want to hear it. Jeremiah was imprisoned in a muddy cistern and left to starve to death when the city’s bread was used up. Thankfully he was rescued. Whether we are rescued or not, the stronger our faith is in the Lord, the more we will suffer for His glory. 

If believing in Christ could possibly mean we could even lose our lives, then why do it? We obviously would not do this to gain entry into heaven because it is only through Christ that anyone will ever get into heaven. This is the consequence of sanctifying faith because sanctifying faith takes us from knowing about the Lord Jesus to knowing Him personally and experientially for ourselves.

The Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 3 that he ran these risks in order to "know Christ and the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings." And, the more we know the reality of Christ, the more he will live for the invisible and eternal world that is to come. You see, the believer who is growing in faith in the Lord Jesus, sees life differently than those who do not know the residence of God. Knowing the Lord Jesus causes the believer to be defined by that which the Lord Jesus values.

Hebrews 11:32-34

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32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. ~ Hebrews 11:32-34

Today, we return to our study of faith in Hebrews 11. This passage describes the faith of people who were used by God to bring His culture to us. History proves faith does not act blindly. It evaluates, it weighs the possibilities, and takes note of the faithfulness of the object that it trusts. Biblical faith takes educated risks in the God of the Bible!

In today's passage we read of notable people who maintained their faith in the God of the Bible. In these three verses, starting with the Judges, the writer of Hebrews rapidly moves us to the Old Testament prophets. His point: History has always made it clear that it is faith in the God of the Bible which ushers in His involvement in and through our lives. Described with great intensity are the difficulties and subsequent faith in the lives of these Old Testament believers. These believers endured life-and-death situations because they were convinced of the utter faithfulness of God. 

When God sees fit to expose us to this intense type of pain described here, courage is required. There are six men mentioned in v.32, and they are not in chronological order, but they were all very critical to the nation of Israel establishing itself in the promised land. And, each of them required great courage for their faith in the God of the Bible to be demonstrated.

The first was Gideon who was a leader who made important decisions for the people Israel. Gideon faced a 135,000 man Midianite army and even though he began with a 32,000 man army, God paired it down to 300 men. For Gideon, all military strategy was out the window, because there is no military strategy by which 300 men can defeat 135,000 soldiers. Gideon was at the mercy of God who instructed him to gather pitchers used to pour water, trumpets, and torches. Then God told Gideon to go to the Midianite army armed with these three very important weapons. Gideon didn’t argue, and per God's instructions, he split his 300 men into three groups. At a certain strategic point, Gideon order the men to light their torches, and at the appropriate time, they were to smash their clay water pitchers. The breaking of the pitchers made so much noise, the sound reverberated in the dark. Then, the lights with the torches dispelled the darkness with such a bright light the Midianites were caused to be confused. And then, the men of Israel loudly sounded their trumpets. As a result the Midianites panicked, and, were subsequently defeated. That day Gideon vanquished the enemy and weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

Then, there was another man of battle, Barak, who had 10,000 men, and he was going against the massive force of Sisera the Canaanite commander. The odds were greatly against Barak, and, he had no way to win. But God, sent a message to Barak through a woman by the name of Deborah. Barak believed the message that God would give him the victory which was the message from God through Deborah. Gideon and Barak gained what was promised through their battles.

Then, we come to Samson, who demonstrated great courage in the God of the Bible. Samson rose to the place of leadership because of his prowess and his strength, and he was called by God to conquer the Philistines. He never feared to enter into battle. And he knew that his strength came from the Lord. The symbol of his strength was his Nazarite vow. Samson's strength came from the Lord, and he knew when he went into battle that at any moment that strength could disappear because he knew he did not deserved this power. At the end of his life, due to a series of poor choices that he made, Samson was compromised and bound by the Philistines. But, he recovered his strength and he went into the Philistine temple and brought it down on the Philistines. 

The next name in today's list of faithful Old Testament believers is Jephthah who was driven away from his family as an adult because he was an illegitimate child. But, there came a day when the Israelites were about to fight the Ammonites and they requested Jephthah to fight for them. When life is hard one learns valuable lessons of making it, and for Jephthah, the difficulties in his life taught him to be dependent upon the Lord. After the people requested the help of Jephthah, he accepted their request and went out to battle. He crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. Jephthah's life teaches us God can use us regardless of our background. 

The last list of names in today's passage are David and Samuel and the prophets. King David is the most notable here  and his victory over Goliath is the most notable battle in all of the Old Testament. This teenage kid was used of God to deal with Israel's greatest enemy at that time. Goliath was intimidating for he was about 9 feet tall. When David went down into the valley to spar with Goliath, everyone laughed. But, David did not for he was not afraid. Fear is the opposite of faith. In fact, when we are giving into fear, we are going backwards. It is said that 85% of all things we fear never happen.

When we are living by faith in the God of the Bible, we are advancing. That day, David and Israel advanced because the day before this battle, David was pronounced to be the next king of Israel by Samuel. David had learned to be defined by God, and so, that day he went into battle against Goliath. And, when David went into the battle, he was armed with vision of and from God. Having shut the mouths of lions, that day David didn't see a giant, he saw a big target. Goliath presented himself a total of 80 times challenging Israel over a 40 day period of time. On day 40, David showed up and escaped the edge of the sword and like all of the others, his weakness was turned to strength.

David defeated Goliath because he remembered past victories of God. He remembered those many times that he protected the sheep in the wilderness from lions and bears. Fear in the present is conquered by recalling victories in the past. If we have a good memory and a sound theology, we are prepared for any battle. That day, David became powerful in battle.

David defeated Goliath because he realized his personal assets. That day, David had five smooth stones, which, due to their smoothness, were aerodynamic. And, when David hurled one of those stones, it hit Goliath at just the right spot and down he went. That day, God gave David the victory over the much more sizable Goliath. 

David was prepared that day because he had done his homework, knowing Goliath had four brothers, which may have potentially retaliated against him after knocking Goliath down. Therefore, David chose five stones in order to prepare for his battle against Goliath and his very large brothers. And, that day, David took on his giants with a giant sized saturated soul of God.

David conquered Goliath that day because he was dependent upon God's power. He showed up referring to God. No one else that day discussed God. But, David talked about no one else but God. Goliath was not just attacking any old army, he was attacking the people of the LORD. That Day David came "in the name of the LORD" and he gained what was promised by God. If we are too slay giants, we must have a healthy respect for the God of the Bible. When God is magnified in our hearts, our fears are vanquished. The others could not win these battles because they compared Goliath's size to their size. As a result, they feared. David compared Goliath to God, and as a result, he increased in his faith in the God of the Bible and won the battle.

Hebrews 11:30-31

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30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. ~ Hebrews 11:30-31

Today we return to our study of Hebrews 11 where we have been considering the biblical definition of faith and what it looks like in our lives. Faith is "the confidence in what we hope for" and "the assurance in what we do not see." What we believe in is what we hope for and our faith gives hope a present reality, even though it may never come to fruition while we are on this earth. Due to the past demonstrations of God's faithfulness, faith is living in a hope that is so real it gives substance to the hope in the present. 

In v.30 of today's text we read, "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days."

In this verse we are positioned at the walls of Jericho, the entryway into the Promised Land. Here, the writer of Hebrews establishes a point that he has been hammering since he began this letter that salvation that gets us into heaven (justification) is by faith alone. He did this because Judaism had evolved to the point that its leaders taught that salvation is earned by our good behavior, and by the keeping of the Old Testament ceremonies and rituals. 

Today, we come to another real life illustration of faith in the God of the Bible. The aspect of faith that is being illustrated in today's passage is mature faith which is the type of faith that develops in our lives through the process of sanctification. Sanctification faith is different than justification faith. Justification faith gets us into heaven, whereas sanctification faith gets heaven into us now. Sanctification faith obeys God at all cost. It is mature to the point of demonstrating courage in the face of opposition, threat, and suffering. Mature faith does not draw back; it does not fold up; it does not collapse under pressure.

The wall of Jericho was massive and it surrounded the city of Jericho which, at the time of today's story, was tightly fortified. It was tightly fortified because this massive group of people, the Israelites, were advancing upon it and the people of the city were mortified. Israel was advancing upon Jericho because it had already been spied it out and the Lord had said, "I have given Jericho into your hand, but all the men of war must march around it once. And, do this each day for six days. And seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and you shall overtake it."

To take Jericho seemed to be impossible, but once the people obeyed the voice of the LORD, it fell exactly as God said it would. Perhaps the Israelites felt a little embarrassed while the watchmen up on top of the wall watched them walk around and then leave six days in a row. It appeared ridiculous. It didn’t seem like a right approach at all, but they obeyed the word of God. The people of Israel had learned, while in the wilderness, not to disobey because the consequences were so severe. Mature faith produces the courage to believe God in impossible situations. So, with ridiculous orders and incredible promises, the people obeyed. And, the experience at Jericho has long been known to be an illustration of what happens when we follow God's commands, even though it may seem ridiculous at the moment.

In v.31 of today's text we read, "By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace."

Joshua sent two men as spies into the land because according to Deuteronomy 19 by the mouths of two witnesses the word of the Lord shall be established. When the two spies entered the city, they entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab. Rahab was a Canaanite, but she believed in the God of the Bible. And, as a result of the condition of Rahab's heart toward God, He sent the two spies to her. Rahab hid the two spies thus she protected them from the men of the city who were hunting for them. Due to Rahab's actions, when the Lord gave Jericho to Israel, she and her father’s household and all she had was spared.

Historians tell us that the destruction of this Canaanite city and its culture created a great boon to the welfare of humanity because the Canaanites were so debased. But in the case of Rahab, she acknowledged faith in the true and living God. She believed and staked her life on the promises of the God of the Bible. She put herself in a dangerous position, hiding spies on her roof, and she ended up in the lineage of the Messiah.

Rahab had heard all the stories of how God worked among the Israelites who had fled Egypt. She concluded it made perfect sense to believe in the God of the Bible, and her faith grew quickly, so quickly she risked her life, her loved ones and her hotel. Her faith grew so rapidly, she was transformed from the house of shame to God's hall of fame. She went from someone who walked in the night to someone who walked in the light. I find it amazing that those who have the most outlandish faith come from contexts of the most outlandish lives.

Hebrews 11:27-29

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27 By faith he (Moses) forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. 29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned. ~ Hebrews 11:27-29

Today, we return to our study of the faith of Moses. As with all of the previous Old Testament people mentioned before the writer of Hebrews has written about, Moses provides a look at what faith in the God of the Bible looks like. Moses is mentioned 852 times in the Bible. He was one of two who appeared on the mount of transfiguration when Christ was shown to be greater than Moses and Elijah for He was the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament. 

In v.27 of today's passage we read, "By faith he (Moses) forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible."

Moses forsook all the treasures of Egypt because he knew his life was in the hands of the invisible and eternal God. The word "forsook" means a heart renunciation. Just like the disciples who followed the Lord Jesus, Moses refused to have the longings within him met with the temporary things of this world. He came to the place where he noticed the best of this world was not worthy enough to define him. After 40 years on the backside of the desert, shepherding his father's-in-law sheep, Moses came back to Pharaoh’s palace. This was quite a turn around after he tried to give God every reason in the book that he could not do what God was calling him to do.

This transformation came about as the result of being in the desert for forty years alone with God and sheep. During that time alone with God, Moses gained vision by the honing of his faith in the God of the Bible. Biblical faith enables us to develop vision which enables us to endure anything. Faith, or the heart's ability to see God, enables us to see Him more, and therefore, we draw conclusions that most do not. Jim Elliot once said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Self is always lost in the acquisition of vision and that is true freedom.

It was Dennis F. Kinlaw who once said, "Satan disguises submission to himself under the ruse of personal autonomy. The shift in commitment is never from Christ to evil; it is always from Christ to self. And instead of his will, self-interest now rules and what I want reigns. And that is the essence of sin."

Moses biggest enemy was not Satan or Pharaoh, it was trying to satisfy his God-given desires with the wrong things.  Moses was not defined by the pleasures of sin which is what tries to convince us that we are the god that we should serve. And, when we partake of sin, we will be more hollow within than we were before. But, when we partake of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Living Water, we discover a reality that most can not see.

So Moses went back to lead his people out of Egypt and he had no army. He had no weapons. And, he faced a proud monarch who reigned over the greatest empire in the world. And everyone in Egypt knew the story of this former prince. They knew he was guilty of murder. Moses had been gone for 40 years, and with the boldness he walked into the presence of Pharaoh and made his demands. Moses told Pharaoh he had better respond or it would not go well for he and his kingdom. And it didn’t take long before the plagues started coming. You see, our opportunity to grow in great faith comes on the heels of being driven to God through our trials in this life. The greater the degree of our pain, the greater the revelation of God to us.

In v.28 of today's passage we read, "By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them."

The last plague was when the angel of death came and killed the firstborn in the houses of those who had no blood applied to their doorposts. Moses applied the blood to his doorpost because God was his definer. He didn’t try to make it on his own. He didn’t try to develop his own strategy. He accepted God’s will and was defined by God. This is what obedience looks like. And, of course, obedience is one of the products of faith.

In v.29 of today's passage we read, "By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned."

Moses was enabled by God to lead as many as two million out of Egypt. This was a stunning act of faith. When the people came to the Red Sea, it looked bleak until God opened the Red Sea and the people walked through it on dry ground. And, that massive miracle came on the heels of the faith of a man who once trusted very little in the God of the Bible, but now had giant size faith. Moses had giant size faith because his trials served his faith in the God of the Bible, well. Biblical faith is armed by God’s word and God's promises and runs right into the raging battle. 

After God split the Red Sea, all two million of God's people walked through on dry land. And, when Pharaoh's entire army tried to follow, they were all drowned. The story of Moses is not the story of the Law, it is the story of faith, the type of faith that chooses to follow the plan that the God of the Bible has laid out for us. The type of faith that is bold to move ahead in confidence of the God of the promises. This kind of faith is a gift of God. This is the kind of faith says "no" to sin and says "yes" to this wonderful God who is far from being anything but faithful and trustworthy. 

Hebrews 11:23-26

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23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command. 24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. ~ Hebrews 11:23-26

Today, we continue our study of biblical faith in Hebrews 11. Having consider several from the Old Testament, today we turn our attention to Moses whom God specifically chose to lead the Israelites from captivity in Egypt to salvation in the Promised Land. Moses was also the mediator of the Old Covenant and is commonly referred to as the giver of the Law.

The unknown writer of this letter wrote to a group of young Hebrew Christians who had come to recognize the Lord Jesus as the long promised Messiah of the Old Testament. They had left Judaism because it had developed into a system of works which taught that if one were good enough and moral enough, and observed all of the ceremonies and all the rituals, and did their part to keep the Law externally, and do all of the required things that the rabbis had added, they would be accepted by God. As they came to understand, it is impossible to earn the favor of God. If it were possible for any of us to measure up to acceptability before Him, He would be a very small god.

In v.23 of today's passage we read, "By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command."

Moses' life can be described in three forties, the first forty was spent growing up in Egyptian luxury, the second forty he shepherded another man's sheep on the backside of the wilderness, and the last forty was spent leading the Israelites out of Egypt. D.L. Moody once said, "Moses spent forty years thinking he was somebody; forty years learning he was nobody; and forty years discovering what God can do with a nobody."

The providence of God is when God uses the events of our lives to miraculously bring about His will in and through our lives. Such was the case for Moses. The Jews had become so innumerable in Egypt that Pharaoh issued a decree to have all the Hebrew male newborns thrown into the Nile river. But, God spared the life of Moses for obvious reason. The word "beautiful" indicates God gave Moses outstanding physical features that served him in the various callings God made on his life. This illustrates: Where God guides, He will provide.

In v.24 of today's passage we read, "By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter."

Moses weighed the wealth of Egypt and the prestige of royalty against the satisfaction of knowing the living God and being His instrument in the lives of his people. He without hesitation Moses chose God’s will because he looked beyond the visible and saw the invisible. He saw God at work and, because of that, Moses became the man, more than any other man in recorded history, who saw God doing things and learned to know God most intimately. Faith in the God of the Bible rejects this world’s prestige.

Moses, by the providence of God, had been put in a basket covered with pitch and set in the Nile River to float away. His mother did that because there was a decree to kill all of the Hebrew babies. And so, in order to save his life, they simply let him float away, cared only for by the providence of God. Had he been one of the Hebrew babies to be killed by Pharaoh, there would have been no story of Moses. 

As a baby, Moses floated down the river, and, just so happened to be discovered by the daughter of Pharaoh who claimed him as her son. Amazingly, for the first twelve years of Moses life, the most impressionable years of his life, Moses was raised miraculously by his mother. The daughter of Pharaoh needed someone to nurse the baby and that nursing led to twelve years in the home of his biological parents.

With the formal education in Egypt, Moses learned hieroglyphics and hieratic scripts. He no doubt copied the texts that were part of his formal education. And, while doing that he learned the languages of surrounding nations. All of this was used of the Lord to use Moses to write much of the Old Testament.

In v.25 of today's passage we read, "choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin."

The way the writer of Hebrews lays out the faith of Moses shows how His faith acted. Moses made a series of choices. In fact, the word "choosing" reveals his life was marked by choices related to his faith in the God of the Bible. This word used by the writer of Hebrews translated "choosing" reveals Moses made a judgment. It was not a rash conclusion, he made it after much contemplation. And, his choice did not render the easiest path for Moses.

Choice is the hinge of destiny. We make choices and our choices make us. For forty years Moses knew luxury and ease, and then, he chose the will of God for his life. And, the will of God often includes little luxury and disease while we live on this earth.

When we choose God's will, we are enabled to see the temporary nature of this world's pleasures. The will of God for our lives also enables us to see that which is most substantive in this life. Moses chose to suffer which led him to a biblical family. It was in that context that Moses learned the deeper truths of God. It is in the context of a family that our greatest needs are met. The two essential elements of family, marriage and parenthood, reveal God’s character like nothing else in Creation. The love between a husband and wife provides a glimpse of Christ’s passionate devotion to us as His bride. In the same way, the ups and downs of parenthood offer a compelling picture of God’s tenderness and patience toward us as His children. And family provides a safe place where children can experience God’s love through the parents and learn how to love other people.

In v.26 of today's passage we read, "esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward."

Clearly, Moses is the picture of one who demonstrates that salvation comes not by works or ritual, but by faith in the God of the Bible. Moses was granted personal belief in the living God, and he built upon his belief through many trials in his 120 years on this earth. Moses choices' enabled him to see what others could not see. As a result, Moses had vision. 

Moses endured reproach that was similar to that which Christ endured, although he didn’t know about Christ and didn’t know Christ, he just knew that there was the promise of the coming Deliverer. But we know, and the readers of Hebrews know that he was willing to take a reproach to move from having everything to basically having nothing, from being honored, to being treated with scorn and disdain, as was Christ. Like the Lord Jesus, Moses was rich but he chose to become poor for the sake of others.

Hebrews 11:22

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By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones. ~ Hebrews 11:22

Today we return to Hebrews 11, the one chapter in the Bible where God gives us multiple examples of what it looks like to walk with Him by faith. Today, we consider the life of Joseph who was loved and favored by his father, Jacob. Of the 50 chapters in the book of Genesis, one fourth or 13 chapters of the book of Genesis are devoted to the life of Joseph.

Even though Joseph was younger than the rest of his 11 brothers, his dad gave him a coat of many colors which implied, "Joseph is my favorite." This created many problems between Joseph and his eleven brothers. And to add to that, God gave Joseph a dream that his brothers one day would bowed down to him. This resulted in Joseph's brothers hated him all the more.

One day, his father sent Joseph to check on his brothers as they cared for the family's flocks. Joseph's brothers took advantage of the opportunity as a caravan of Ishmaelites were passing by. So, they sold their little brother to the travelers who took him to Egypt where he ended up as a servant to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. God favored Joseph, and Potiphar trusted him, but Potiphar's wife desired him, as well. Joseph was a man of integrity, so he fled from her, and she couldn't stand it, so she falsely accused him of attempted rape. Reluctantly, Potiphar had Joseph put into prison.

There, Joseph faithfully trusted the LORD. In fact, even though he was a prisoner himself, Joseph was put in charge of the prison. There, Joseph ran the prison with God's favor. It was a dream scenario for the keeper of the prison, who paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the LORD was with him.

One day, Joseph noticed the sad faces of two prisoners. Jospeh asked why they were so sad. This gracious gesture was the first step toward an open door for Joseph. The two sad-faced men told Joseph of their dreams which they did not understand. Both of them had been servants of Pharaoh. The first, a cupbearer, had a dream Joseph knew meant good news. In three days, the cupbearer would be restored to his previous position. The second man, the baker, would suffer punishment in three days. It was time for him to get right with God.

All came to pass as Joseph had predicted, but the cupbearer forgot Joseph, until years later when Pharaoh was plagued by two dreams. Joseph was called before Pharaoh, and he interpreted Pharaoh's dreams accurately. As a result, Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of the entire Egyptian kingdom.

The years went by, and Egypt prospered under the influence of Joseph. Famine eventually overcame the nations, resulting in the nations coming to Pharaoh for grain, which Joseph had wisely stored up during years of plenty. Soon, land was traded for grain, and Pharaoh's wealth and property expanded beyond his wildest dreams.

Then, one day, Joseph's brothers came to Egypt. Like everyone else, they were in search of grain. Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. Joseph then organized a way for them to confess their sins against him. This was a story of grace on Joseph's part, and the family was reunited. He told his brothers, "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good."

Today's verse begins with "By faith Joseph," and, we can only imagine the many directions that sentence could have turned. By faith, Joseph believed the dreams God gave him. By faith, Joseph held onto his integrity in a foreign land when no one watched his life. By faith, Joseph loved God even when imprisoned. By faith, Joseph told Pharaoh double dreams are an indication God has guaranteed to perform His will. By faith, Joseph organized reconciliation and forgiveness in his family. By faith, Joseph saw how this gracious God had coordinated the events of his life.

Though Joseph had faith through all those events, the writer of Hebrews doesn't mention them. Instead, he wrote, "By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones."

According to Genesis 50, Joseph lived 110 years. The Israelites were still in Egypt, they were nomads, wanderers, and they had never possessed the land. While dying, Joseph made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave orders concerning his bones. While dying, he had not received the promise, and, it had been 200 years since the promise was first given to Abraham. Nobody had yet seen it. All of the patriarchs had died without seeing the promise from God come to fruition.

From a distance, Joseph foresaw the coming day when God would take his people out of Egypt. He knew they would go to the Promised Land that God had dedicated to Abraham generations earlier. Though he had not lived there, he believed his bones would go there. At the time of Joseph's death, the moment he ordered his family to bring his bones to the Promised Land, Israel was not a nation, but a family. And, they were in a good place, for Pharaoh favored them. In Egypt, they had been given good and peaceful land in which to prosper.

Joseph had no reason to wish for their future departure, for life was good in Egypt, and he had worked hard to make it so. But, still, Joseph knew, Israel would not be a small family with Egypt's favor forever. Eventually, 400 years later, they had to depart Egypt, despised by the Egyptians because God had grown them into a nation of people.

Joseph believed that God's will was the best for him and his family. Joseph saw how good he and his family had it in Egypt, but he believed the will of God was the best. And future generations, when they had it rough, would also need to believe in this God so much that they would be defined by Him. And, Joseph's bones preached that message for 400 years. His coffin delivered a one-point sermon: "God is faithful."

Joseph was a tremendous example of a man of faith in the God of the Bible. A key to his incredible adventure with God was his resolve to resist feeding the evil he knew to be in his heart. He didn't give into the potential anger toward his brothers or the temptation to give into the advances of Potiphar's wife. His whole life was totally built around the God of the Bible who gave to Abraham this incredible promise that is yet to come to pass. And everything in his life focused on the confidence he had in the God of the Bible, that He would do what He said He would do because He could be trusted. This is what biblical faith looks like.

Hebrews 11:20-21

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20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. ~ Hebrews 11:20-21

We return today to our study of Hebrews 11 wherein the writer of Hebrews has giving us a precise definition of faith in the God of the Bible. As we have been considering, faith is "the confidence in what we hope for" and "the assurance in what we do not see."   

In v.20 of today's passage we read, "By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future."

The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians who were familiar with the detailed story of Isaac and Jacob and Esau. Isaac, being very aware of his coming death, blessed Jacob and Esau. Biblical faith faces its greatest test in the hour of death when one has not experienced the fulfillment of the promise God has given. And, all of the patriarchs of Israel died not having received the multilayered promise that God initially gave to Abraham. Yet, all of them died in the confidence that the promise would be fulfilled even though they had not yet received it. 

The key phrase here in Hebrews 11:20 is "in regard to their future." Even though Abraham had not received the fulfillment of the promise, he reiterated it to his son, Isaac, who did not receive the fulfillment of the promise, either. Abraham had been promised the land, the nation, and the spiritual blessings to the world. He never saw any of it at all. Yet, he didn’t die in despair. No, Abraham died in faith, confidently passing on the promise to his son, Isaac, knowing Isaac would be the next step in the divine plan that would lead ultimately to the fulfillment of the promise. And, Isaac did the same thing, he passed the promise on to his son, Jacob. 

Isaac blessed both Esau and Jacob but Esau did not walk with God. The promise that God gave to the patriarchs is a promise of blessing which rooted in their confidence in God’s covenantal faithfulness. Though the patriarchs did not enter the land, and though they did not see the nation established, and though they did not see the nations of the world blessed, they fully expected God to keep His promise. The worth of their faith was discovered in the faithfulness of their God.

In v.21 of today's passage we read, "By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff."

Even though Jacob had his struggles in his walk with the God of the the Bible, he never stopped trusting Him. Jacob had to walk by faith in the God of the Bible because he encountered many struggles and challenges, and the victories came very hard for him. The fog in his life was thick, sin was heavy, but his faith never waned. The story of Jacob as recorded in Genesis alternates between calling him "Israel" which means "prince with God" and "Jacob" which means "deceiver." Like you and me, he had his good and bad days. Yet, fundamentally, he remained faithful because He knew that God is faithful.

Interestingly, in today's passage, the Holy Spirit selected a minute fragment of Jacob’s life with which to illustrate his faith in Him. No mention is made of all the amazing events which took place in Jacob's earlier life. The one point upon which our attention is focused is that of Jacob dying, blessing, worshipping, and leaning! The one minute fragment of Jacob’s life with which to illustrate his faith in God is discovered in the last few words of v.21: "Jacob leaned on the top of his staff." 

Jacob's staff had become necessary to him, because his hip had been dislocated in the wrestling match he had with God in Genesis 32 when God changed his name from Jacob to Israel. Leaning upon that staff, Jacob would always remember the miracle that God had wrought in his life, in breaking his stubborn self-will. When Jacob leaned upon his staff he was reminded of his helpless, moment-by-moment dependency upon his God. Jacob worshipped God as the result of becoming a broken man.

Jacob's staff was not just a simple rod, it was a rod with a short crossbeam. Through the many years it has developed into what we use today to make qualitative judgements of the height and angle of an object relative to the user of the staff. Such is the case with our faith in the God of the Bible. 

Interestingly, Jacob's staff points us to another cross, the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only through His cross that any of us have an operative faith in the God of the Bible who made a promise to Abraham that he would be the father of so many the stars of the heavens are an illustration of it. It is only through the cross that God opened the only way for our faith to be acceptable to Him. The message of the cross comes to us best on the heels of our brokenness or those moments that we are reminded that we need the Lord more than anything. This was Jacob's story for on the night he met God he thought his brother was coming to kill him. But, in the end, Jacob became an inheritance of God.

Hebrews 11:17-19

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17 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, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19 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

After yesterday's detour, the writer of Hebrews redirects our attention back to Abraham. Biblical faith is the subject of this chapter and Abraham’s faith provides proof of the validity of this biblical kind of faith. In today's verses Abraham encounters the most intense test of his faith in the God of the Bible. Today, we learn how God subtracts in order to multiply. 

In v.17 of today's passage we read, "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."

In Genesis 22, we are given the story of how God called Abraham to go up to the top of Mount Moriah and place his only son, Isaac, on the altar. This was to be a test from God for the development of Abraham's faith. You see, our faith does not grow without the trials of life. The real issue was in the life of Abraham was whom he loved most. Interestingly, the first time the word "love" appears in the Bible is in Genesis 22. Also, the first time the word "worship" appears in the Bible is here in Genesis 22. What we love we worship, and, what we worship we love.

Unsaved man's wisdom considers trials to be that which we should avoid and they do not consider trails to be useful tools in the hands of God to deepen our heart's ability to see Him. Unsaved man's wisdom looks at the now and so minimizes the values of God like faith, faithfulness, patience, steadfastness, endurance and intimacy with Him. 

Abraham knew about the culture of God, and he understood the necessity of sacrifice for sin. He knew and understood he was sinful and that he was in need of a sacrifice for his sin. But Isaac was the heir through whom all the promises would be fulfilled. Abraham had built altars and had sacrificed animals many times before. But this was different, much different. Yet, Abraham led his son up that mountain fully prepared to go through with the task God had called him to that day. Isaac carried his own wood, as it were, kind of a picture of the Lord Jesus carrying His cross. Then Isaac asked his father about the whereabouts of the lamb for the burnt offering. They knew what Abel and Enoch knew. So, Abraham informed his 30 year old son that God would provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering. Abraham built an altar there, arranged the wood, bound his son and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 

In v.18 of today's passage we read, "even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned."

All of Abraham's hopes and dreams were in Isaac. All the promises of God were in Isaac. Abraham loved Isaac, he had waited so long for him. Perhaps Abraham thought that he had sinned so terribly with Hagar that God had changed His mind. At the moment that Abraham had stretched out his hand to slay his son, God profoundly interrupted him.

Abraham also knew that God’s law forbad a man to kill his son, or to kill anybody for that matter. He also knew that God did not call for human sacrifice, so that sacrifice was always an animal. Abraham's trust was so great in the God of the Bible that he knew if God had to, He would raise Isaac from the dead.

In v.19 of today's passage we read, "Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death."

The word "test" used in Genesis 22:1 means to prove the worth. When God tests us, He is out to pull back the curtain to show us the proof His faithfulness in our lives. Faith is not blind or uneducated. When we pass the test, we are allowed to see that the success of our faith in nestled in the faithfulness of God. Isaac did not die that day on that mountain, but Abraham did. Abraham died to allowing his son to be more important to him than God. Abraham could do this due to the fact that he had seen God's faithfulness so many times before. And, in seeing God's faithfulness, Abraham had come to know God pretty intimately. Abraham knew without doubt that God could be thoroughly trusted. 

A boy was caught on the second floor of his family's home that was on fire. The father of the boy ran to save his son, but he could not get to the second floor of the home where the boy was. The fire raged. The father could faintly see his boy standing in the window seal of his bedroom. Due to all of the smoke the boy could not see his father. His father yelled, "Jump, son, jump!" The boy said, "But dad, I can't see you!" The dad then said, "Jump son I will catch you for I can see you." That day the boy demonstrated his faith in his father and his father demonstrated his faithfulness to catch his son.