Hebrews 11c Commentary
We understand faith as “asking and becoming sure of receiving”. It is always a benefit or some object deemed beneficial to the worshipper. The burden of receipt rests squarely on the worshipper. We learn something different from Chapter 11.
By faith, we understand that God created all things. By faith, Abel’s sacrifice was acceptable to the LORD. Faith has nothing to do with requests, results, benefits, or miracles. Faith is in the relationship!
Try to associate faith with requests and results and see the confusion! “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised”. Verse 13a throws our definition of faith off the rails! The end product of the so-called faith becomes a lie.
The birth of Isaac is great news but as a lone son, the blessing of multitudes (as numerous as the sand) becomes a joke. As confirmed by scripture, these men lived by faith right up to the point of death! Our definition of faith would tick this box as a failure.
Faith admits that this life isn’t exactly as planned by the Master. Saints living by faith know they are foreign objects in this life. They long for a connection to real life under the rule of the Creator God. They constantly seek the “relationship”.
Money is never enough but there comes a point when ‘more’ becomes an option. It is at this point that a man feels the real emptiness. The items we normally associate faith with no longer matter. A man at this stage is in the hunt for real faith – a relationship with the Creator God. Interestingly, even a poor man is looking for the same but hunger may confuse his search parameters.
It is always a blessing to understand that you are looking for God and not for a wife, food, water, or pleasure. It is even a greater blessing to know that God is the answer we seek in whatever search operation we embark on.
Faith brings the saints where they consider God as their top priority. He must be pleased at all times. If they love another man, it’s because their God has so demanded. They don’t flip life; they don’t love or do charity work as a way to God.
Faith could be a place of madness, as the world has often concluded. Pleasing the unseen God at the expense of your ‘happiness’ confuses the world. They remain confused until they notice that what they call happiness isn’t happiness at all! They multiply wickedness to achieve happiness. But multiplying nothing countless times never gives you something. Add nothing to nothing, or multiplying zero a million times still gives you zero. Jeremiah called it a “seeking water in empty cisterns”!
By faith, you can move mountains. A statement like this underlines the scandal of humanity. Check the scripture (here reproduced) to understand the key to this operation. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.” Mark 11 verse 23. One little statement at the end of this famous verse unlocks everything. It is in the relationship.
The God with whom our heroes of faith walked worked wonders in their lives. These wonders would include saying no to idol worship at the expense of their lives. Then you know it has nothing to do with perceived benefits!
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