This is an article I wrote for an upcoming issue of my church’s newspaper. It’s the first of what I hope will be a series of articles on Hebrews 11. I’ve edited it slightly.
We’ve lost so much over the past two years — easy travel, lively celebrations, crowded church services, uninterrupted schooling, and more. Some have become estranged from friends or family, and some have lost friends or family without being able to say goodbye. Life has been hard. Maybe it’s beginning to return to something like normal, but we’ve hoped before only to be disappointed. And now we’re troubled by horrifying daily images of war in Ukraine. We’ve moved from one world crisis to another, it seems. Is there anyone who isn’t at least a bit discouraged by all these difficult circumstances?
The author of Hebrews wrote his epistle to people who were discouraged by their trials, too. Life as a believer in Jesus was difficult, and the Hebrews anticipated worse days to come. A few may have considered leaving the Christian faith altogether to avoid future trials. The author saw their despair and called them to the same kind of enduring faith the Old Testament saints possessed.
And so, tucked into this New Testament book is what some call a “hall of faith.” Hebrews 11 is a running account of faithful people whose stories are told in the Old Testament and Jewish tradition. The author encouraged the original readers to follow the examples of these ancient men and women by trusting God even when the future seemed bleak.
But right before he began his list of faithful ancients, the author defined faith. It’s not exactly a dictionary definition, but more a description of the kind of faith that will endure when life is hard. Here’s how Hebrews 11 starts:
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible (Hebrews 11:1-3 NIV).
The author uses strong words to describe faith, doesn’t he? Faith is confidence and assurance. The kind of faith that endures is not a weak, “I so hope this is true!” but a firm conviction that something is true.
And what is it that enduring faith is convinced of? It is sure, for one, of “things hoped for.” Or to put it another way, faith is sure that God will keep his promises. God made promises to the Old Testament saints, and they were certain he would fulfill them. He has made promises to us, too. He has promised, for instance, to always be with us. He has promised that he will make everything right in the end. He has promised that his people will live with him forever in a heavenly country, something the author focuses on later in chapter 11. By faith, we are sure he will keep these promises.
Enduring faith is also sure of “things unseen.” These unseen things include God’s promises (the things hoped for), but also past realities we didn’t see and present realities we can’t see. These things are as real as the mountains surrounding Whitehorse, and as real as the chair I am sitting on as I write, but they can’t be known through our five senses. The author gives an example of an unseen but real thing in the last sentence of these verses. None of us witnessed God creating the universe, but we know he made it because he told us so. The list of other unseen things we can be sure of is long. We know that God exists, for instance, and that he is faithful. We know that he parted the Red Sea and that Jesus died on the cross. We believe these things and more, not because we see (or saw) them, but because we take God at his word. We know these unseen things are real by faith.
God approved of all the men and women listed in the hall of faith because they were convinced of the unseen realities God had revealed to them. They believed that God existed, and that he was faithful. They believed his power, the same power with which he created the universe, would ensure that he kept his promises to them. In coming posts, as we go through the stories of these faithful ancients, we will see that their faith wasn’t always strong. Some seem hardly deserving of their place in the hall of faith in Hebrews. But ultimately, they fought their doubts and believed what God said. Even when God’s promises must have seemed impossible for him to keep, they believed him, and acted on his promises. They believed God, trusted him with their future, and did not lose hope. And by their faith, they pleased him.
The original readers of Hebrews were tempted to turn away from Jesus as their lives became more difficult. The writer encouraged them to stay faithful by pointing them to a few unseen realities. The key to their enduring faithfulness was being convinced that Jesus was a perfect priest and complete Saviour, and that because of his work, they too would one day dwell in the heavenly country with all the Old Testament people who were commended for their faith. Through Jesus, all their suffering would pale in the light of their final glory.
We don’t know what our next year will bring. It may be better than the past one (and we pray that it is), but it could also be worse. Our trials, past and future, may be different than the trials the first readers of Hebrews faced, but the key to our faithfulness is the same as theirs. Like them, and like the Old Testament saints, we look by faith beyond the years to come to our eternal future when we will dwell with God in the heavenly country, a country in which everything has been set right. No more disagreements; no more war. No more sickness; no more death. No more masks, either, for we will see Jesus and all the saints who went before us face to face. Our assurance of this unseen reality which God has promised us will keep us faithful throughout our lives, both during difficult trials and when life is trouble-free. And like the ancients and all believers throughout the ages, we will please God by our faith.