Bible Commentaries
Hebrews 11

Verses 1-16

1 Faith is neither "substance" nor "evidence", as is the usual rendering of this passage. The word "substance" is changed to "confidence" in most later translations, as this word seems to agree with its context in 2Co_9:4 ; 2Co_9:1 ; 2Co_9:11-17 . But "confidence" is not at all suitable in Heb_1:3 , where the A.V. has "person". The Revisers change this to "substance"-the very rendering they refuse in this passage! But faith is intangible, the very opposite of substance. It assumes that to be truth which it expects to become fact in the future. The word "assumption" fits every passage in which this word occurs and opens up a marvelous vista of truth, as when we are told that the Son is the Emblem of the divine assumptions. God assumes various characters during His administration of the eons. He is Creator, Saviour, Judge, and Reconciler. In every assumption He is represented by His Son, Who, as His Emblem, is also the Creator, Saviour, Judge, and Reconciler. In his second epistle to the Corinthians, Paul assumes the attitude of boasting. Faith cannot become "substance" without being transmuted into sight.

3 That the worlds were framed is not pertinent to this passage. It deals with the change in God's administration of the eons as a result of the refusal of the kingdom proclamation. God has come in afresh, and, through the revelations made to the apostle Paul, has readjusted the eons to suit the conditions brought about by the apostasy of Israel. Those associated with this new grace find that, in spirit, not the kingdom, but the new creation has come ( 2Co_5:17 ), and not only so, but the very consummation has arrived ( 1Co_10:11 ). This does not preclude the actual kingdom in the future for which the Hebrews hope. They died in faith, like the elders, not having received the promises. The faith of the Pentecostal Hebrews was largely founded on miracles and signs. Our sheer faith has no foundation but God's declaration. Therefore, in spirit, we soar far ahead of the Hebrews, beyond the Regeneration, into the New Creation.

4 Cain is a type of natural religion, which offers a bloodless sacrifice, which it has "acquired" from the cursed ground. Abel, "vanity", recognizing sin, was the first man whose blood was shed. Cain would not shed the blood of an animal, but does not shrink from shedding his brother's.

5 Enoch, in order to believe God had a special revelation. Jude quotes from this early prophecy ( Jud_1:14-15 ). Though he walked with God, he evidently walked in the midst of a most ungodly generation, which, indeed, prepared the earth for the deluge. He registered his faith in the approaching judgment by naming his firstborn son Methuselah, which has been interpreted as "when he is dead it shall be sent". The deluge came in the year of his death. His longevity speaks of God's long suffering.

7 As Enoch's faith kept him out of the impending judgment to which he testified, so Noah's faith led him safely through it. One was called upon to warn, the other to work. The building of the ark must have been a tremendous task to undertake in the face of the derision and opposition of the whole world. It was a continual reminder of the threatened doom, and condemned them by its very presence.

8 In this account God takes no notice of the failures of faith. Abraham, indeed, obeyed, when called out of Ur. Yet it was a partial obedience, and tardy, for he did not leave his father's house, but tarried in Haran until his father's death. Neither is there any hint here of his sojourn in Egypt ( Gen_12:10 ), of his effort to fulfil God's promise by taking Hagar, or, at the very height of his faith, requiring a covenant to confirm Jehovah's promise ( Gen_15:8 ). Such lapses as these are not in line with this catalogue of the faithful, but, in Abraham's case especially, it helps us to see that even he failed in his highest excellence.

13 Here we have the key to this notoable chapter. The Hebrews did not desire faith; they wanted fulfilment. They wanted no more promises, but performances. They wanted the kingdom to come. But the time had not yet arrived. The nation is apostate. God had begun a work among the nations, through the apostle Paul, which must be finished first. What then, is left for the Hebrews? They are exhorted to take the same ground as the faithful of old, who died in faith, not having received the promised blessings. Only in resurrection would they find the fulfilment which they longed for. Abraham never really enjoyed the land which was given to him. In the reurrection he and his seed will not only Possess the land, during the day of the Lord, but they will have the still higher and better portion of the holy city, new Jerusalem, in the new creation.

Verses 17-40

17 That all this is in resurrection is further enforced by the offering of Isaac. Abraham had such confidence in God, that he was ready to slay his son, believing that God would rouse him from the dead in order to fulfil His promise. This is the faith that pleases God and which will count in the kingdom. Though Isaac was not killed on this occasion, his very birth had been like life from the dead, and his sacrifice was practically accomplished, so far as Abraham's faith was concerned.

20 Isaac was the depository of the promises, and it was his faith that led him to pass on the blessing. Nothing is said here of his failure to perceive that Jacob, not Esau, the firstborn of the flesh, was in the line of promise. See Gen.27.

21 Jacob had learned one lesson of faith, doubtless from his own case. The firstborn of the flesh are not necessarily the first in the purpose of God. So Jacob had received the blessing Isaac intended for Esau. And now, when blessing Joseph's sons, he guided his hands deliberately so as to give the greater blessing to the younger son, even though Joseph had purposely placed them so that the flrstborn should be at his right hand ( Gen_48:8-20 ). And so Ephraim was preferred to Manasseh, though Joseph would have desired to have it otherwise.

22 Joseph believed the word that God had spoken to Abraham, saying that his people should sojourn in Egypt and be afllicted, and afterward should come out ( Gen_15:13-14 ,). Thereore he told them before his death, "God will notably note you, and you shall bring up my bones from this place" ( Gen_50:25 ).

28 Moses' fathers also believed what God had spoken to Abram, and looked for Him to judge Egypt and deliver His people. No mandate of Pharaoh could thwart God's purpose or hinder the fulfilment of the promise. They were confident that the mandate would not be carried out. It is quite evident that it was not, or there would not have been a man in Israel, at the exodus, younger than Moses himself. On the contrary, this astute method of curbing Israel's power was used by God to place Moses in the family of Pharaoh, so that the brilliant king himself might provide the very instrument to defeat his own purpose.

24 Moses is a marvelous example of the power of faith to wean from the world and its allurements. With the brightest prospects possible, he deliberately turns his back on the treasures of Egypt, and possibly the throne itself, in order to share in the eonian reward of the faithful. Had he enjoyed the temporary pleasures of Egypt, his name would probably have been forgotten long ago, yet now his fame and memory are enshrined in the heart of the human race. What will be his reward in the resurrection!

27 Moses feared when he found that his attempt to help his brethren became known ( Exo_2:14 ). And we would naturally suppose that it was fear that drove him to the back side of the desert, but we are assured that he did not fear, though he fled. Far greater still must have been the faith that stood firm before Pharaoh, that prepared the passover, that led the people out of the land in defiance of the forces of Egypt, and brought the people into the wilderness through the Red Sea.

30 The wilderness seems to be almost devoid of faith, for the enumeration of faith's victories passes from Egypt to the land. Indeed, with faith there would not have been the wanderings in the wilderness. And this is the inspired type of which the Pentecostal era is the antitype! Had the nation believed, the kingdom would have come. Now the few faithful who are left are pointed to the worthies who, like themselves, have nothing but God's bare word, yet believed it, and anticipated its fulfillment, seldom receiving the benefits Which it promised.