Hebrews 11:1-2, 20-31
v. 1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony” – This proverb is followed by catalog of such people of faith. Rather than begin with Adam, it begins with the congregation. Seventeen examples are given from ve stages of the story of God’s people. It gives three examples from three primeval types of Christ, four cases from the life of Abraham as a type of God’s people, three cases from the patriarchs as typical heirs of God’s blessing, four cases from Moses again as a type of Christ, and three cases from the journey as types of deliverance. Abraham and Moses are the two great examples of men of faith in the OT. Also, the preacher/teacher o ers reasons for an act of faith, its purpose, and the result of it. Note also the language of “seeing” connected to faith. “Faith” here is understood in two complimentary ways. “Faith” is both what is believed ( des quae creditur), what God has promised and now provides through His Word, and believing in what God says ( des qua creditur). What is believed is the “basis” for hope, the thing on which it rests, as wells as the assurance that what believers hope for has a sure foundation. What is believed not only provides “the evidence,” the proof of what is unseen, but it also generates the conviction that these things are in fact reliable and real. The examples do not just bear witness through their faith; God himself bore witness to them as people of faith by giving what they hoped for from Him. Faith is con dence in God and His promises. It depends on God’s faithfulness in ful lling His promises through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It thus provides the foundation for the hope that God’s people have in Him, not just for present providence but future provisions. Faith in God’s promises provides reliable evidence of thing that are unseen, revealed by His Word (See TLH 586:1). v. 20 Isaac – See Gen. 27:26–40. Isaac, descendent of Abraham, is the rst of three archetypal heirs. According to Jacob’s words, Isaac was well-pleasing to God: “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked.” (Gen 48:15) The blessing that Isaac gives isn’t just the earthly inheritance of…
