The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Faith” it comes from the Greek Word “pistis” which means “faith.”
The writer celebrates faith through an extended roll call of Old Testament heroes who trusted God. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Hebrews 11.
The writer declares that “faith,” “pistis” in Greek, is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, for by it the elders obtained a good report, describing how through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. The writer recounts an extensive roll call of faithful Old Testament figures, Abel offering a more excellent sacrifice, Enoch being translated that he should not see death, Noah building an ark to the saving of his house, Abraham obeying and going out, not knowing where he went, sojourning in the land of promise as in a strange country, looking for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God, Sarah receiving strength to conceive seed, Abraham offering up Isaac, believing God was able to raise him up even from the dead, describing how these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, confessing they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
The writer continues through Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, who chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, describing the parting of the Red Sea, the fall of Jericho’s walls, and Rahab the harlot who did not perish, along with judges, kings, and prophets who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, and others who were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection, of whom the world was not worthy, closing with the observation that these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, since God had provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
This chapter’s extensive roll call of faithful believers, spanning from Abel through the prophets, demonstrates that genuine faith has always meant trusting God’s promises despite not yet seeing their complete fulfillment, sometimes even dying without receiving what was promised. Its closing observation, that these faithful ones would not be made perfect without us, reveals a beautiful connection binding every generation of believers together into one continuous, unfolding story of faith.
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