Hebrews Chapter Eleven, When Faith Manifests

 

Hebrews 11:28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. [29] By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

 

Verse 28 recalls the final judgment on Egypt’s gods from Exodus chapter 12. “Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment,” Exodus 12:12. The gods of Egypt’s pantheon were diverse. This final judgment might have been directed at Osiris, who was reverenced for, among other things, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, and life.

Hebrews Chapter Eleven, Moses' Flight

 

Hebrews 11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

 

This passage appears to contradict Exodus 2:14, 15, where we have Moses himself admitting, “So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!” Verse 15 informs us that Pharaoh became aware of the murder and sought to kill Moses, prompting him to flee to Midian.

Hebrews Chapter Eleven, Material Or Spiritual Riches?

 

Hebrews 11:24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, [25] choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, [26] esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

 

Verse 24 relates the events that begin in Exodus 2:11. The verse, in part, states, “Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens.” Moses had grown up the son of pharaoh’s daughter, indulging in the riches and learning of ancient Egypt. One need only look to the paragons of architectural genius to glimpse what the brilliance of the Egyptian mind was capable of. The Egyptian culture aided in pioneering mummification, medicine, agriculture, architecture, and advanced mathematics. The Egyptians used astronomy to predict the flooding of the Nile, and to align the pyramids to the polestar.

Hebrews Chapter Eleven, Preserving Moses' Life

 

Hebrews 11:23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.

 

It ought to be noted that this verse technically isn’t about Moses, but his parents. This episode took place in Exodus, chapter 2. Little is written about Moses’ mother and father. His father was of the tribe of Levi, as was his mother, verse 1. We know in verse 4 that the infant Moses had an older sister, who would later be revealed as Miriam, who would become a prophetess, Exodus 15:20.

Hebrews Chapter Eleven, Joseph's Bones

 

Hebrews 11:22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.

 

This event occurs at the very end of the Genesis account. In Genesis 50:24, 25, it is written, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob…God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” Joseph attested that God spoke with all three of Israel’s founding fathers, promising them that He would give them the land of Canaan, but not until the iniquity of the Amorites was complete. Until then the Jews would remain segregated in Egypt, isolated from the moral disintegration that would spell the end for the seven nations Israel would later expel.

Hebrews Chapter Eleven, Jacob's Benediction

 

Hebrews 11:21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

 

I find it very interesting how the author avoided the benediction Israel gave his sons on his deathbed, and focused instead on Joseph’s children, or Jacob’s grandsons. Once again, as it was with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Joseph’s sons are reversed. Ephraim the younger supplanted Manasseh the elder. Both would become tribes in Israel, and both would remain ethnically intact and accounted for, even during the Great Tribulation, Revelation 7:6, 8. Although Joseph’s name is employed rather than Ephraim’s in that list, we find both tribes alive and well during the Millennial reign of Jesus, as described by the prophet Ezekiel, Ezekiel 48: 4, 5.

Hebrews Chapter Eleven, Isaac's Blessings

 

Hebrews 11:20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

 

This account is taken from Genesis chapter 27. Isaac’s wife Rebekah gave birth to twin sons, Esau and Jacob, later to be renamed Israel by God. Esau was a rugged man that loved the outdoors and hunting and was, by all accounts, carnal in his thinking. 

Hebrews Chapter Eleven, Abraham's Test Of Faith

 

Hebrews 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who received the promises offered up his only begotten son, [18] of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” [19] concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

 

The writer turns to Genesis chapter 22, which details the account of God’s command to sacrifice Isaac on an altar. Focusing on verse 2, we read, “Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

Hebrews Chapter Eleven, A Glimpse Of The Heavenly City

 

The better, the heavenly country they seek only permits heavenly citizens. When the Old Testament saints perished, they waited in Abraham’s Bosom until the time of Christ, when He led captivity captive after His triumphant death on the cross. Now, after the cross, the saints enter directly and consciously into the presence of their Lord upon death. 

Hebrews Chapter Eleven, Seeking A Better Country

 

Hebrews 11:16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

 

In the midst of discussing Abraham and Sarah with his Hebrew Christian audience, the author pauses to discuss how the patriarchs died in faith. The beginning of verse 16 contrasts with the opportunity each had in verse 15 of returning from whence they came. They rejected earthly delight and practiced patience, waiting for the fullness of God’s promises.

Hebrews Chapter Eleven, Seeking A Homeland

 

Hebrews 11:14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. [15] And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.

 

Later, the author under inspiration of the Holy Spirit relates that the world is unworthy of such people, Hebrews 11:38. Such people, of whom we are a part if we have confessed Jesus as the Christ and believed on Him for eternal life, do not want this present evil world as our home. Instead, we acknowledge that this life, in which we tent, is transient and evil, and we seek a country with foundations, and a kingdom wherein righteousness dwells.

Hebrews Chapter Eleven, Pilgrims

 

Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

 

“These all,” compasses the panorama of the faithful from Abel to Abraham and Sarah thus far, for a total of 2184 years of human history from the inception of man to the death of Abraham at 175, using the Biblical chronology found in Genesis, NKJV.