Written ~ 11-25-2024
Read Hebrews Chapter Eleven
Hebrews 11
***Make sure to read the entire chapter before we begin!***
Throughout the entire Bible we read about faithful, God-fearing people who believed in the promises of the Lord. When God spoke, people listened and they carried out the commands they received from the Lord even when what was being asked of them, seemed impossible.
Hebrews chapter 11 is famously known as the “Faith Chapter.” Chapter 11 lists many people from the Old Testament whose faith in the Lord was extraordinary. They trusted in the Lord; they obeyed the Word of God even if some of His promises seemed incredibly impossible. You and I can have this same type of faith. We can have the unwavering faith like those we read about in this chapter, we can believe in the things we cannot see and have faith that it is the Almighty God who is behind everything.
Have you ever had someone give you a promise and even without any evidence that it would be fulfilled, you chose to have faith in them? It’s not so much different when making the choice to have faith in God. Bu do you find it is easier to have faith in a person in whom you can see and touch even when they are not reliable, than it is to have faith in the Lord who has shown His trustworthiness over and over again in Scripture?
It should never be considered weakness to have faith in something you cannot see with your eyes or touch with your hands, no, it requires incredible strength to make the choice to believe and have faith in the Lord. Reading over all the accounts written in this chapter of God-fearing people who had incredible faith, we see their unwavering desire to obey the Lord, they stood firm in what they believed. Incredible courage is needed when we are steadfast in our faith and belief that we have a God in Heaven who loves us and asks us to trust Him in everything.
In the interest of time, we will not go over every story of these faithful figures listed in this chapter, we would have to read the entire Old Testament to do that! So, for the sake of time the two examples I will be focusing on are Noah and Sarah.
But first let’s look at the first few verses of chapter 11 and see what the Bible says about Faith.
Hebrews 11:1-3, 6…
1 “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. 2 Through their faith, the people in the days of old earned a good reputation.
3 By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.
6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.”
If you are reading these words and you don’t have the faith to believe that there is a God who created the universe and wants to be a part of your life, then I challenge you, ASK God to show Himself to you. Even if you’re not quite sure you will get the answers you seek, do it anyway. Ask the God of the universe to show Himself to you and have “faith” that He will.
As a believer, our faith gives us a hope far beyond the lives we live here on earth. We have the hope of Heaven and so did the faithful men and women of the Old Testament. We should take time to study their lives, they give us wonderful examples of faith and obedience, pretty much anything you and I have gone through in life has been spoken of in the pages of Scriptures through the lives of ordinary people. And they worshiped the same God as us!
“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for…” Faith is an action word, if we do not put forth a bit of effort, faith can diminish. And over time if we don’t “feed” our faith and have confidence in what we are putting our faith in, we will see it slowly die. We must have hope, we must stand firm in what we believe to be true… God is real, He created the Universe, and His Words are truth.
In the Life Application Study Bible, it says:
- “Faith starts with believing in God’s goodness and truth – that He is who He says He is. Faith culminates with knowing God will do what He promises. When we believe that He will fulfill His promises even though we don’t see them materializing yet, that’s when we demonstrate true faith.”
“It is impossible to please God without faith…” Also, in the Life Application Study Bible it says this…
- “Believing that God exists is only the beginning, even the demons believe that much. God will not settle for mere acknowledgement of His existence. He wants your faith to lead to a personal, dynamic relationship with Him.”
From the beginning of time, God has made His presence known, it’s up to each of us to acknowledge we see His presence in all of creation and to believe He follows through on each of His promises. It is also up to each individual to accept, through faith, the Salvation He freely gives.
So, let’s look at two examples of faithful people from the Old Testament and see the differences they demonstrated when God asked them to have faith in His promise to them.
Hebrews 11:7…
7 “It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.”
***You can read Noah’s entire story in Genesis 6:1 through Genesis 11:32…***
In Genesis 6:1-8, we see the Lord speaking of His sorrow and broken heart over the evil actions of the human race. In Genesis 6:5-7 it says… 5 “The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and He saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 6 So the Lord was sorry He had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke His heart. 7 And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing – all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” When humanity turned their eyes from the Lord, total destruction was the only way the Lord saw fit to deal with their great disobedience. Then we read verses 6:8-9, “But Noah found favor with the Lord…Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time…he walked in close fellowship with God.” Noah had faith in God, so much so that he could only be described as righteous and blameless, that does not mean he lived a life without sin, but that he wholeheartedly loved and obeyed God. With the world around him falling into every kind of evil, Noah and his family chose to obey the Lord and kept their faith in Him above all else. Because of the faith demonstrated in Noah, God told him of His plan to wipe out the entire world with a flood. It’s then that God revealed His plan to bring flood waters so high that every living thing would perish, expect for Noah’s family and the animals that God preserved with Noah on the ark. Noah was given instructions to build a giant boat and without question or disbelief of any kind it says in verse Genesis 6:22, “Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.” Can you imagine the ridicule and the bullying Noah and his family would have put up with from evil and godless people? Can you imagine, once the word got out that Noah was building a boat way out in the middle of the desert because God told him it was going to rain, how they must have tormented him with laughter? But even through all the mocking and jeering, Noah continued on, nothing was going to shake the faith he had in God and the promise he was given.
The building of the ark took roughly one hundred years. God gave the evil, disobedient people one hundred years to repent and turn their eyes back on the Lord. As Noah faithfully continued in the task given to him by the Lord, the rest of the people had a choice to see the evidence of Noah’s faith and turn from their evil ways. In the one hundred years of hearing the reason why Noah was building that boat, not one person turned their faith and obedience to the Word of the Lord. Just think of the resilience and dependency that Noah had on the Lord! His life is a pretty awesome example for us to follow, don’t you think? When the world around him was falling deeper into the depravity of sin, he stood firm in his faith, he did not back down, even when the promise of God seemed impossible.
It’s the same for you and me. We have the choice to believe and to have faith in the same God as Noah! We have the choice to stand firm in faith when everyone and everything else seems to be headed further and further from the truth of God’s Word. Is this the type of faith you want to have? Most of us won’t have one hundred years on this earth like the people in the days of Noah to make the decision to follow the Lord, to have faith in the God who created the universe. So, why not ignite a bit of faith within you and seek the Lord with all your heart, mind and soul.
Next, let’s look at Sarah, the wife of Abraham.
Hebrews 11:11-12…
11 “It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep His promise. 12 And so a whole nation came from this one man (Abraham) who was as good as dead – a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them.”
For Sarah’s story we need to turn to Genesis chapter 15. We’ll start with what the Lord promised to Abraham…
Genesis 15:2-5…
2 But Abraham replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son?… 3 You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.”
4 Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” 5 Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”
Sarah and Abraham were up in years, their prospect of having a child of their own had long since passed, but here we have God promising Abraham that his descendants would be numbered like the stars in the sky! This promise would be unbelievable for anyone to fathom, even today with all the advancements in medicine! But… even though this promise of God seemed so unlikely, look at Abraham’s response… Genesis 15:6, “And Abraham believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
Let’s fast forward a little bit and see the response Sarah gives when she overhears the Lord confirming that she and Abraham would have a child of their own. Remember, Abraham is now 100 years old, and Sarah is quickly approaching 90 years of age! It is easy to understand why Sarah responds the way she does.
Genesis 18:9-15…
9 “Where is Sarah, your wife?” the visitors asked.
“She’s inside the tent,” Abraham replied.
10 Then one of them said, “I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will have a son!”
Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent. 11 Abraham and Sarah were both very old by this time, and Sarah was long past the age of having children. 12 So she laughed silently to herself and said, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my master – my husband – is also so old?”
13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
15 Sarah was afraid, so she denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh.”
But the Lord said, “No, you did laugh.”
This notion must have seemed completely absurd to Sarah. Maybe her faith was wavering just a little bit when she laughed at the promise of God. Denial is one way to halt having faith in something. I think she wanted to believe, I think she really did want to have a child of her own, but how could she fathom that kind of a promise actually happening! It was something she was having difficulty believing. Did she have faith in God? Of course she did. So why would she doubt that God could cause her to become pregnant at 90 years of age? Fear. Fear of a promise not happening was causing her to doubt.
Fast forward to Genesis 21:1-7…
1 “The Lord kept His word and did for Sarah exactly what He had promised. 2 She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. 3 And Abraham named their son Isaac. 4 Eight days after Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded. 5 Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.
6 And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me. 7 Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!”
Could it have been that it wasn’t until Sarah held her baby in her arms that she fully believed the promise God had given to her? Some of us are just like that… we will not believe in the Word of God until we “see” something happen. We ask God to show us something, anything, to prove He exists, and not until we get whatever proof we are seeking will we believe and have complete faith in Him.
Most of the time, God expects faith and complete devotion first, then He will move.
Noah waited 100 years to see the flood waters rise.
Abraham waited 100 years and Sarah 90 years to see the promise of a son.
How long have you waited for what God has promised you?
Countless other faithful people in Scripture and in the generations to follow have died before seeing their promise come to fruition. But that’s where faith must remain steadfast and strong… we must believe that the promises God say will happen, will come to pass and it’s this kind of faith that produces hope. Noah, Abraham and Sarah each saw their promise from God come to be, but there will be a lot of us who will not see our promises come true in this life. We must remain faithful…
Hebrews 11:39…
39 All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised.”
Will your faith in the Lord stand the test of time? Will you continue to hope for the future? Will you keep your faith focused on what God is doing behind the scenes as you wait?
Just keep in mind what the Lord said in Genesis 18:14…
“Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
~AMEN~