Carried by Faith, part 2
An expository study of the book of Hebrews
Chapter 11, Part II:
21. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
22. By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.
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.
27. By faith he 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.
Faith saw the invisible One
In verse 20, we saw God turn the will of Isaac, so that he performed the Lord’s purpose by faith. I am insisting that God gives faith in order to accomplish His purposes through people on the earth. Jacob learned that lesson well and when it came time to bless the sons of Joseph, he did it against Joseph’s expectations.
Carried by Faith, Part I
“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.” Habakkuk 2:4, quoted in Heb.10:38, Ro.1:17, and Ga.3:11
Chapter 11
1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
3. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
The substance and evidence of godly faith
The prophet, Habakkuk, contrasts the just soul with the soul of the puffed up… literal Hebrew, swollen: Here, I will mention leaven, which is always negative in biblical symbolism, because it swells beyond the substance, into which it is mixed. Therefore it fitly symbolizes pride, hypocrisy and deception. The unbeliever is self-righteous and self-sufficient. The soul, which is justified by faith, is one which is simple and truthful, humbly casting himself on God. That means that he believes or trusts in Him.
In verse 1, we have a definition for faith. Faith is that, which gives substance to the invisible things, for which the believer hopes. It is all the evidence needed for the unseen things. The New Testament deals with spiritual things, which are invisible, and faith is needed to provide substance and evidence to them. Intellect and scientific proof will fall short in the search for them and thereby, the ones, who try to build a religion on these two foundations, will never achieve their goal. Countless millions have made the attempt.
It’s The Real Thing
(an expository study of the book of Hebrews)
1. For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.
2. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.
3. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.
4. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.
5. Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a Body You have prepared for Me.
6. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.
7. Then I said, ‘Behold I have come – in the volume of the book it is written of Me – to do Your will, O God.’”
8. Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law),
9. then He said, “Behold, I have come to do your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second.
10. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
The eternal will of God
New Testament teaching is very clear concerning God’s intentions in giving the ceremonial law and to go beyond God’s intentions is folly. God gave the law for a shadow to foresee an image, which is to come. The law has no abiding substance. It points to a reality to come, which will do an effective and eternal work for those who approach (1).
When Jesus offered the Samaritan woman living water, so that she would never again thirst, she expressed her weariness in taking the daily walk to the well. It was, perhaps, ¼ mile, after which she would return with the full jar: “Sir, give me this water, that I may not… come here to draw.” There is drudgery in work that must be repeated continually, but God does a work that is perfect and doesn’t ever need to be repeated. The people came and the priests offered sacrifices continually, while the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies every year. They never found relief for their wounded conscience. The work was unending, until Jesus came (2).
Intense Desire
I promised last September that there would be two articles accompanying the first, titled "How Deep the Love of God". I had combined these three messages in a series called "Food for Sheep." After a few months delay, here is the second article.
(re-posted from July 12, 2015)
In the article entitled, How Deep the Father’s Love for Us, I tried to show the depth of His love basically through the apostle John’s statement, “Jesus knowing that His Hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (John 13:1). We noticed that the Greek phrase “to the end” implied something more than an end to a time element, in which he expressed His love. In fact, it described the unending extent of His love, which had no limits.
“I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Luke 22:15
The Heavenly Sanctuary
1. Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary.
2. For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary;
3. and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All,
4. which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;
5. and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
The earthly sanctuary
One of the reasons that I believe that every Christian should study the entire Bible, Old Testament and New, is because through it, God is revealed to us. That is its main purpose and nowhere outside the Bible is there a reliable revelation of Him. There is only one God and He does not change; The God of the Old Testament is the same God, who is manifested through Jesus in the Gospels. A. W. Tozer said that the most important issue in the life of the individual and the church is the concept of God.
While we study, we learn to know the ways of God, which will seem very strange to us in the beginning, because His ways are totally different from the ways we have learned in the world. No secular school offers a course on the ways of God and even Jesus’ closest disciples had great difficulty in understanding His ways. In order to function as a Christian, each one of us must learn to walk in them. One of my favorite verses is Psalms 77:19, because it shows the complex nature and impossibility of finding His ways by natural means: “Your way was in the sea, Your path in the great waters, and Your footsteps were not known.” Spiritual insight is required.
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