December 13 A READ HEBREWS 11–13
Christ, Supreme Example of Faith
OVERVIEW
The letter to the Hebrews closes with an appeal to not grow weary and give up but to look to Jesus as we run with endurance the race of faith that’s been displayed for us. Through steadfast hope and faith it is possible to have a firm assurance of those eternal truths that are invisible to the outward eye. Such forward-looking faith characterized the Old Testament saints who gained God’s approval. They lived their lives on the basis of God’s promises—promises whose fulfillment came centuries later—and it is their example and Christ’s that we are called to follow.
MY DAILY WALK
In Cooperstown, New York, stands a monument to the great men who have excelled at the game of baseball. They are all there—Ruth, DiMaggio, Cobb—men who helped make baseball a household word, filling the Baseball Hall of Fame and providing encouragement for those who would seek to follow in their steps. If you have any doubts that some of the game’s greatest records could have been accomplished, you have only to visit Cooperstown to remove your doubts. We know what can be done because they have done it.
Are you discouraged in your walk with God? Have you almost concluded that the Christian life is a hopeless assignment, that walking by faith in a godless society is impossible? Then spend some long moments in the Believers’ Hall of Fame—Hebrews 11. There you’ll find those who triumphed in the life of faith: Enoch, Abraham, Joseph, and many others. If you have any doubts that it is really possible to walk by faith, just study their lives.
Then seek to join their ranks by writing a short paragraph about yourself as you’d want it to appear in Hebrews 11: “By faith [your name] walked with God by obediently [doing what?].”
LIVE YOUR LIFE IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT WOULD NOT MAKE SENSE IF GOD DID NOT EXIST.
INSIGHT
Faith at Work in a Workaday World | Heb. 11:1-40
Hebrews 11 describes the faith-inspired steps of a shepherd, prophet, shipbuilder, itinerant rancher, and prince-turned-deliverer. Try to match up each profession with the right person.
INSIGHT
A Huge Crowd of Witnesses | Heb. 12:1
The writer of Hebrews reminded the persecuted Christians who were reading his letter that a huge crowd of others who had already run the race with faith and perseverance had experienced ultimate victory (12:1). These witnesses knew the suffering and the reward—and were cheering for these Jewish Christians to complete the race faithfully.
Great Examples of Faith
1Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. 2Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.
3By 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.
4It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith.
5It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him.”* For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God. 6And 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.
7It 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.
8It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. 9And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. 10Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.
11It 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. 12And so a whole nation came from this one man 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.
13All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. 14Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. 15If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. 16But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
17It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, 18even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.”* 19Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.
20It was by faith that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau.
21It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.
22It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones with them when they left.
23It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s command.
24It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward. 27It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. 28It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.
29It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned.
30It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days, and the walls came crashing down.
31It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
32How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. 33By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. 35Women received their loved ones back again from death.
But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. 36Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. 37Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half,* and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. 38They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.
39All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. 40For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.