Being Sure

Hebrews 11

Faith (11:1-3)

From the start, the author of Hebrews has been encouraging our confidence in Christ, that Great High Priest who began in heaven, came to earth to suffer perfection, and returned to majesty where he has gone for us into the Holy of Holies of the true temple, and where he intercedes for us eternally in the very presence of God. The author would also lift us to that height, certain that we will not shrink back.

Knowing his audience, he begins to answer the question that has not been voiced. We are willing to be swept along, persuaded by the power of his argument and of his rhetoric. We would claim the promise of that High Priest. We can almost imagine ourselves with Christ in the Most Holy Presence, but we are people of this world. We live in the shadow of reality. How can we know the Truth?

The answer the author gives us so beautifully, resoundingly, almost unrelentingly, is faith. This answer has, in fact, begun in the previous chapter, where he asserts that we are among “those who believe and are saved.” In our New Testament, the verb “believe” and the noun “faith” are translated from the same Greek word, and so this entire discourse on faith is prefigured by a brief statement on belief (10:39). This discourse begins with the statement that faith is being sure.

We are used to thinking of faith as quite separate from knowledge. Scientific knowledge, in particular, deals with the realm of the observable, where what is known is what can be systematically repeated. In this sense, it is shared knowledge, though we do not all share in it in the same way. Most of us have only an applicative knowledge of electricity, for example, and a minimal one at that, one which deals with switches and bulbs without even the least understanding of theory or operation.

But shared knowledge is not our only form of knowledge. What does the color blue look like? What does salt taste like? What does your mother’s voice sound like? These concepts are all connected with the observable: a spectrum of light, an interaction of chemicals, a composition of sound waves, but the truth of these concepts is more experiential than observable, and therefore more personal. Nonetheless, I know very well what blue looks like, what salt tastes like, what my mother’s voice sounds like, even if that knowledge is of a kind that I can never completely share.

Faith, the author says, is like that. It is knowledge but it is knowledge that is almost completely personal and experiential, and is in no way observable; it is being certain of what we cannot see. While I enjoy as much as anyone the fruit of scientific knowledge, it is ultimately not through that knowledge but through faith that we will understand the universe, as this observable universe was formed from that which cannot be observed (Genesis 1:1-2).

Abel, Enoch, Noah (11:4-7)

Having dispatched this idea of faith much more quickly than I have, the author goes on to a roll call of the faithful which even he has not sufficient time to complete. We will take time to consider some individual details of the passage and will not have time for the whole. Read it to yourself and experience it as excellent writing. Read it aloud to yourself and experience it as excellent preaching.

The story of Able has always been enigmatic. We have no record of a single word he spoke, but that his blood cried out from the ground and does so even today. What was it that made his sacrifice more acceptable than his brother’s? According to the author, Able knew by faith what his brother did not: the Lord requires mercy, not sacrifice (Micah 6:6-8).

Of Enoch we know that he walked with God and was no more (Genesis 5:24). The author uses this second enigmatic story to further emphasize the idea that it is only by faith that we are able to please God, that we are able to come to him (Romans 5:1-2).

This idea is further exemplified by Noah, who by faith found favor with God (Genesis 6:8). But the story of Noah also further illustrates the differences between knowledge by faith and other forms of knowledge. I still remember my first telephone number. You could test me and, with the right records, verify independently that it is knowledge by the common understanding of that term. But this knowledge just lies there in my brain; it has no other use than for me to declare its existence.

Faith is not that sort of knowledge at all. By faith, Noah came to know of the impending flood and this knowledge was not the sort that could live a quiet life, slowly burning brain cells. We do not know what Noah’s life was like before he found favor with God, but we know what his life became through faith: building the ark, collecting the animals, living in the ark with the animals, and rebuilding civilization. Faith is not a quiet thing.

Abraham (11:8-19)

Let us notice two things from this account of the story of Abraham. First, the author says that when God called Abraham out of his country to an unknown place, Abraham obeyed by faith. Knowledge, we are told, is power, and the author tells us that faith empowers us. When the disciples were not able to cure a child of his epilepsy, Jesus chided them for their lack of faith, telling them that with faith even the size of a mustard seed, they would be able to do astounding things (Matthew 17:14-21).

The second thing we should notice is that amidst his faith, when he was called to sacrifice his son, Abraham reasoned what the outcome might be. Just as we tend to think of faith and knowledge as different things, we sometimes think of them as being completely separate, as if one had nothing to do with the other. Jesus expects us to allow the Spirit of God within us to lead us into knowledge (John 16:12-13). This knowledge is not consistent with the wisdom of this world, but is of the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:12-16).

What More Shall I Say? (11:20-38)

The author continues with a cast of Old Testament characters which are all to be recognized for their faith. Some of these are not as familiar to us as the others. There is Barak, who during the time of the judges was the commander of the army when the Prophetess Deborah ruled over Israel. And there is Jepthah, who is recorded as a man filled with the Spirit of the Lord, but who is remembered for making a rash promise to the Lord and causing his daughter to suffer for it (Judges 11:29-40).

By the inclusion of the likes of Moses, one of the most important of the Patriarchs, and Rahab, the righteous prostitute, the author points out that those lead by faith are not superhuman. David himself – a man after God’s own heart – was also an adulterer and murderer.

God Had Planned Something Better (11:39-40)

Even the most faithful remain human, and the most lauded of the Old Testament characters did not receive what was promised. The gift is given, not achieved, even by the most righteous means. Through faith, God blesses us in our imperfect state, but God has planned something better. By faith we will participate in God’s redemption of all of humanity, indeed, all of creation (Romans 8:22-23). By faith we will come to know the mystery of the unseen things of the universe, for faith itself is the the essence of things unseen.