Personal Study of Hebrews 11 - Part 1

Hi ya’ll! I spent some time over the last few weeks reading through the book of Hebrews with a very close friend of mine. As we approached chapter 11, I felt as though I needed to study each verse more in depth, through referring to scriptures based on the specific biblical character's story presented... So I did. 

The following is simply a breakdown of the first 6 verses of Hebrews 11. Each verse will be stated from the ESV, followed by connecting scripture references, word studies or other personal thoughts. I plan on doing the rest of Hebrews this way over the month of January 2018, but in the meantime I hope you find this resource useful, insightful and perhaps even encouraging. Because faith, as I’ve heard it said, is the currency of heaven.

Faith: 

complete trust 

or confidence 

in someone 

or something.

 ~~~

Hebrews 11: Part 1 – Verses 1-6

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 

Assurance: a positive declaration intended to give confidence

Conviction:  evidence

2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 

Commendation = praise. I’ve heard it used as receiving recognition for having faith.

3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

I’ve underlined “not seen” in verse one, it relates to how everything God has made was not made by what we as humans can see. And it requires faith to believe and truly understand this. However, there is much more that can be dissected from this verse, but I haven’t spent much time studying the creation of the universe by the word of God. It’s a very cool subject to look into, but my heart was set on studying the other people mentioned in this chapter.

Additional resource relating to verses 1-3: https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/what-faith-knows-and-hopes-for

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 

Who is Abel? In Genesis 4 we meet Abel, he was the second son of Adam and Eve, and had an elder brother named Cain. God commended Abel by accepting his gifts because he was obedient to God in his offerings (see Genesis 4:4-5).

You may have heard that Cain killed Abel? This was the first murder in the entire existence of human life. Abel’s blood was shed when he was murdered. When Jesus died on the cross his blood was shed for us. Abel was commended as righteous, and in Matthew 23:25, his blood is referred to as “righteous blood”.

How much more righteous is the blood of Christ than that of Abel’s? Jesus’ blood > Abel’s blood. Hebrews 12:24 says “and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” While the blood of Abel still speaks, Jesus’ blood speaks a better word as our mediator between us and God under the new covenant!  

5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 

Who is Enoch? There isn’t much mentioned about Enoch in the bible. He appears in Genesis 5:18-24, and that’s the extent of Enoch’s story. Yet he’s mentioned again in Hebrews!  What we do know about Enoch is that he had a child, a son, at age 65 and afterwards Enoch walked with God for 300 years... then God took him. Simple as that, Enoch was no more (see Genesis 5:24).

(Cain actually has a descendent named “Enoch” as well, found in Genesis 4:17; however, this Enoch is not the Enoch in which Hebrews 11:5 speaks.)

Enoch was commended (as we read in verse 2: “praised”) as having pleased God, which Enoch did by walking with God all his days (more about this in the next verse).

Related scripture:

Genesis 5:24 – “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.”

Psalm 73:24 – “You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.”

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 

People often quote this verse as a standalone verse... I was thinking to myself, “whom does this scripture relate to?” As in, what example do we have which precedes the “and” at the beginning of verse 6?

Turns out, Enoch, as simple and short as his bible-clip is, walked with God all his days and this is all we’re told about what he did to be “commended as having pleased God”.

Breaking down the actual verse now...

Draw near to God:

James 4:8 – “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Opposite of drawing near to God is rebellion (aka our sinful nature) – and “woe” to those who are rebellious...

Zephaniah 3:1-2 NKJV – “Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, to the oppressing city! She has not obeyed His voice, She has not received correction; She has not trusted in the Lord, She has not drawn near to her God.”

Must believe that he [God] exists:

Acts 17:24-25 – “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”

1 Corinthians 8:6 – “yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”

Rewards:

Hebrews 10:35 – “So do not throw away your confidence, it will be richly rewarded.”

Seek Him:

Matthew 6:33 – “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Lamentations 3:25 – “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.”

Psalm 119:2 – “Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart.”

Psalm 53:2 – “God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see is there is any who understand, who seek after God.”

~~~

And this concludes the first six verses of Hebrews 11, and this is my official last blog post of 2017. Thank YOU, dear reader, so much for being a part of this journey with me. I am hoping here will be may more blog posts to come. Perhaps even a book one day. God knows. :)

Happy soon-to-be 2018!