Hebrews 11
1 “Now faith is the substance (so Authorized Version, with marginal readings,
“or ground, or, confidence”) of things
hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen.” On the senses in which the word ὑπόστασις - hupostasis – substance –
may be used, see under ch.1:2. As to the sense intended
here, views differ. There
are three possible ones, expressed in the
text and margin of the Authorized Version., substance,
ground, and confidence.
The first is understood by the Fathers generally, the idea
being supposed to be that,
inasmuch as things not yet experienced, but only hoped for,
become real to
us by faith, faith is metaphysically their substance, as
substantiating them to
us. Chrysostom illustrates thus: “The resurrection has not yet
taken place, but
faith substantiates (ὑφίστησιν – huphistaesin) it in our souls.” So also Dante,
following St. Thomas Aquinas, in a striking passage quoted
by Delitzsch
(‘
“The things profound
That here
vouch safe to me their apparition
From all
eyes here below are so concealed
That all
their being is in faith alone,
Upon the
which high hope doth base itself:
And
therefore faith assumes the place of substance.”
The rendering ground, which involves only the
simpler idea of faith being
the foundation on which hope is built, has not much support
from the use
of the word elsewhere, nor does it seem suitable here. For
it is not the
things hoped for, but rather our hopes of them that are
grounded on our
faith. The subjective sense, confidence, or assurance,
is most in favor with
modern commentators, principally as being the most usual
one (compare
ch.
3:14; II Corinthians 9:4; 11:17; also Ezekiel 19:5, ἀπώλετο ἡ ὑπόστασις
αυτης –
apoleto hae hupostasis autaes – her
hope was lost - Ruth 1:12, ἔστιν μοι
ὑπόστασις του γενηθῆναί με ἀνδρὶ
- estin moi hupostasis
tou genaethaenai me andri –
I have hope, if I
should even have a husband tonight). One objection to this sense
of the word here is that it is
usually followed,
when so intended, by a genitive of
the person, not of the thing; though Ruth 1:12 is an
instance to the contrary.
But apart from this consideration, the
consensus of the Greek Fathers is a weighty
argument for the retention of the rendering
of the Authorized Version. Either
rendering, be it observed, gives
the same essential meaning, though under different
mental conceptions. Faith is
further said to be the evidence of things not seen;
ἔλεγχος - elegchos – conviction; evidence; reproof - meaning, not as some take it,
inward conviction of their existence, but in itself
a demonstration, serving the
purpose of argument to induce conviction. So Dante, in
continuation of the passage
quoted above:
“And from
this credence it is fit and right
To syllogize, though other sight be none:
Therefore
faith holds the place of argument.”
Is this meant as a definition of faith, or only a
description of its effect and
operation, with especial regard to the subject in hand?
Virtually a
definition, though not in the strict logical form of one.
At any rate, the
constituents and essential characteristics of faith are
here laid down; i.e. of faith
in its most general sense — that of belief in such things,
whether past, present,
or future, as are not known by experience, and cannot be
logically demonstrated.
Faith, in the general sense indicated, is and has ever
been, as the chapter goes
on to show, the very root and inspiring principle of all
true religion. And be it
observed that, if well grounded, it is not irrational; it
would rather be irrational
to disregard it, or suppose it opposed to reason. Even in
ordinary affairs of life,
and in science too, men act, and must act, to a great
extent on faith; it is essential
for success, and certainly for all great achievements —
faith in the testimony and
authority of others whom we can trust, faith in views and
principles not yet
verified by our own experience, faith in the expected
outcome of right proceeding,
faith with respect to a thousand things which we take on
trust, and so make
ventures, on the ground, not of positive proof, but of more
or less assured
conviction.
Religious faith is the same principle, though exercised in a
higher sphere; and it
may be as well grounded as any on which
irreligious
men are acting daily. Various feelings and
considerations may conspire to
induce it: the very
phenomena of the visible universe, which, though
themselves objects of sense, speak to the soul of a
Divinity beyond them
(Psalm
19:1-6); still more, conscience, recognized
as a Divine voice within us,
and implying a Power
above us to whom we are responsible; then all our strange
yearnings after ideals not yet realized, our innate sense
that righteousness
ought to triumph over iniquity, as in our disordered world
it does not yet;
— which things are in themselves prophetic; and, in
addition to all this, the
general human belief in Deity. And when, FURTHER, A REVELATION
HAS BEEN GIVEN, its answering to our already felt needs and
aspirations,
together with the usual considerations on which we give
credence to testimony,
induces faith in it also, and in the things by it revealed;
natural faith is thus
confirmed, and faith in other verities is borne in upon the
soul; which is
further itself confirmed by experience of the effects of
entertaining it. In
some minds, as is well known, and these of the highest
order, such faith
may amount to certitude, rendering the “things unseen” more real
to them
than “the things that do appear.” It
cannot be said that to accept such faith
as evidence is contrary to reason; our not doing so would
be to put aside as
meaning nothing the deepest, the
most spiritual, the most elevating
faculties of our mysterious nature, by means of which, no less than by our
other faculties, we are constituted
so as to apprehend THE TRUTH! And
we may observe, lastly, that even to those who have not
themselves this
“fullness of faith,”
its very existence in others, including so many of the
great and good, may surely be rationally accepted as
evidence of realities
corresponding to it.
2 “For by
it (i.e. faith, ἐν ταύτῃ - en tautae – in this) the elders
obtained
a good report.” literally were witnessed of; i.e. it was in respect of
their faith,
which inspired their deeds, that they were praised. (For a
similar use of the
preposition ἐν, compare I Corinthians 11:22, ἐπαινέσω ἐν τουτῳ
- epaineso
en touto – shall I praise
in this). Thus is introduced the illustrative review of
Old Testament instances, the
purpose of which has been explained above.
It begins from the beginning, Abel being the
first example. But in the Old
Testament the account of the creation
precedes that first recorded instance;
and, therefore, it is in the first place
fittingly referred to, the existence of
an
unseen creative power mentally perceived
beyond things visible, being the
primary article — the very foundation — of all
religious faith (compare v. 6).
3 “Through
faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of
God, so that things which are seen (or, that which is seen) were not made of
things which do appear.” “By the word
of God” has reference to “and
God said,”
of Genesis 1, which chapter enunciates the primary article
of all definite religions
faith, viz. the
existence and operation of God, as the unseen Author of
the visible
universe. Even without a revelation to declare this, faith’s office
is to
apprehend it from observation of the phenomena themselves;
as is
intimated in Romans 1:20, where even to the Greek “the invisible
things of God from the creation of the world” are said to be “clearly seen,
being understood [νοούμενα – nooumena – being understood: compare νοοῦμεν –
nooumen – we
understand - in the passage before us] by the things that are made,
even His eternal power
and Godhead.” The drift of both passages
is the same, viz.
this, and no more — that faith
recognizes an unseen power and Godhead
behind,
and
accounting for, the
seen universe. Commentators, who — taking μὴ ἐκ
φαινομένων – mae ek
phainomenon - no
out of appearing; of being apparent –
as equivalent to ἐκ μὴ φαινομένων
– ek mae phainomenon
- , and hence seeking
to explain what is meant by “nonapparent things” — perceive
here a reference
either to the formless void (Genesis 1:2) out of which the present creation was
made, or to the Platonic conception of eternal ideas in the Divine mind, read
into the text what is not there.
The Nature and Power of Faith (vs. 1-3)
In the close of the previous chapter, the apostle has
spoken of faith as the
principle of spiritual life, and the spring of patient
endurance. He has
quoted a great saying from Habakkuk, “The just shall live by faith;” and he
now proceeds to vindicate its truth in a series of
brilliant biographical
illustrations. First of all, however, the apostle supplies
a theoretic definition
or description of saving faith.
mind. All men exercise it with regard to earthly things. But spiritual faith
has for its objects a
higher class of realities — the truths of religion
revealed in the
Bible. In the text this faith is
looked at in the most general
and comprehensive way. It is
viewed, not so much as an act, but as a state
of mind, and as antithetical to sight.
Ø
Faith is the eye of the soul. It is “the conviction of things not seen” —
the organ by which we look upon
the invisible and the eternal. And,
if faith
is the eye, THE BIBLE IS THE EYE-GLASS through which
faith looks. The objects of
spiritual faith are all supernaturally revealed
truths — “the things of God,” (I Corinthians 2:11), “the things of the
Spirit.” (Ibid. v. 14). These embrace all the
great truths concerning:
o
God,
o
man,
o
the way of
salvation,
o
the Church,
o
the last things.
The believer’s conviction
of these “things not seen” rests upon the
testimony of God, given not only
outwardly — by the lips and pens of
inspired men, but inwardly — by
the witness of the Spirit Himself
within the soul. “Seeing is believing” in the world of sense; but in
the domain of faith this maxim
is reversed, for in spiritual things
“believing is
seeing.” (“Except
a man be born again, he cannot
see the
figuratively and in reality! – CY – 2014)
Ø
Faith is the hand of the soul. It is “the
confidence of things hoped for.”
The universe of the unseen
contains those glorious realities which are the
objects of spiritual hope. And THOSE REALITIES FAITH GRASPS.
Saving faith is appropriating faith. The “things hoped for” are all
involved in the coming of Christ’s kingdom, which shall bring with it
the final triumph
of truth over error, and of good over evil. They
include also, in subordination
to this crowning hope, whatever is
necessary for the spiritual
cleansing and culture and comfort of the
individual believer; as e.g.:
o
the forgiveness
of sins,
o
peace with God,
o
victory over indwelling
evil,
o
growing likeness
to Christ,
o
the communion of
saints, and
o
the prospect of a
blessed immortality.
The man whose heart reposes on
these hopes will be no longer
dominated by the things “which
are seen” and “temporal.”
(II Corinthians 4:18) He will become heavenly-minded.
His faith will make him the
longer the more humble, pure,
laborious, courageous, meek,
long-suffering, forgiving.
“The just shall
live by faith.”
author specifies, as one of the
great objects of faith, what is really the
fundamental truth of all
religion, as it is also the first utterance of
revelation (Genesis 1:1) — the
doctrine of the creation of the world by
THE LIVING
GOD! For
our knowledge of this truth we are indebted
exclusively to the Bible. Human
theories regarding the origin of the
universe have been mere
conjectures. Heathen philosophers have dreamed
of the eternal existence of
matter; or they have taught, in some form or other,
the doctrine “that
what is seen hath been made out of things which do
appear.” UNAIDED REASON has never ascended by the steps of the
design-argument “up to
nature’s God.” (It is still fumblingly
argued
by secularists in the 21st century in their efforts to undermine and
thwart Creationism. (Two passages of scripture come to mind:
o “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall
have them in derision.” (Psalm 2:4)
o “Ever learning, and never coming to the knowledge of
the truth.
Now as Jannes and Jambres
withstood Moses,
so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds,
reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall
proceed no
further: for their folly shall BE MANIFEST TO ALL MEN,
as theirs also was.” II Timothy 3:7-9 – CY – 2014)
Paley’s famous illustration of the watch suggests a conclusive
syllogism
only to the Christian theist.
What, then, does the apostle assert here
regarding creation?
Ø
That all that exists
in time and space was skillfully framed and
finished by a simple fiat
of the Almighty.
Ø
That it follows that
the universe was not formed out of any pre-existing
materials whatsoever, but was CREATED BY GOD OUT OF
NOTHING! The question of the mode in which “the worlds have
been framed” is one, when regarded from the spiritual point of view,
of very slight importance. It
matters little whether “what is seen”
assumed its present form in
connection with a series of creative acts,
or by a process of evolution.
What faith lays stress on is this, that
the universe is in no sense
self-existent, but owes its genesis to the
will of a personal Creator.
Ancient paganism deified the power of
nature, and atheistic evolution
in our own time sees in matter the
“promise and potency” of all
life. But the candid, sober confession of
science still is, that “behind
and above and around the phenomena of
matter and of force, remains the unsolved mystery of the universe.”
Now, revelation explains this
mystery. The doctrine of A PERSONAL
CREATOR is the
foundation-doctrine of FAITH! If this truth
be
accepted, it follows that miracles are
possible, and that a supernatural
revelation is not an unlikely blessing. If God
has made us in Hhis own
image, then surely we are heirs
of immortality;
and, although we have
gone astray from Him,
peradventure He may hear us when we call upon
Him, and may graciously receive
us back into
His favor.
“things not seen” and “hoped for” control the life of the
believer. They
engage his attention. They call
forth his energies. They mold his habits.
They direct his affections. The
conviction and the confidence which make
his character what it is
are grounded, not upon knowledge, but upon
testimony. This truth receives
splendid illustration in the lives of the saints
who lived during the twilight
before the rise of the Sun of
righteousness.
(Malachi 4:2) “The elders” are the Hebrew fathers,
and “the world’s gray
fathers” of antediluvian times. They trusted in a Savior who was yet only
“hoped for,” and in a sacrifice for sin that was “not seen.” Although they
lived so very long ago, and although
the truth which they rested on was
still but imperfectly developed,
yet theirs was saving faith, and it was
vigorous, valiant, victorious.
For, faith is the belief of a Divine testimony,
whatever that testimony may be.
Under every dispensation the believer has
ventured his eternal interests
upon THE BARE WORD OF GOD! “The
elders had witness borne to them,” i.e.
the approving testimony of God and
His Word. And the apostle proceeds,
in the verses which follow, to name
some of these illustrious eiders, and
to show that their excellence of
character
was due to the moral power of their faith.
This chapter, accordingly, may
be said to point out some of the
great constellations which blazed in the
firmament of the Jewish
dispensation. Or it may be compared to a
national
picture gallery of
the soldiers of faith, and their
battles. Or its verses may be
likened to the epitaphs on the
ancient monuments in the fair and venerable
abbey of the Old Testament
Church. In conclusion, have we this faith? The
assent of the intellect to Bible
truth is not enough. Faith for us means
personal trust
in A PERSONAL SAVIOUR! Spiritual faith
is a grace;
it is GOD-GIVEN! Only the
Holy Spirit can enable us to be
guided, in
our whole walk and conduct, by
the unseen and eternal realities.
4 “By
faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by
which i.e.
faith, not sacrifice, “faith” being
the ruling idea of the whole passage)
he obtained witness (literally, was witnessed of) that he was righteous, God
testifying (literally,
witnessing upon, or, in respect to) of his gifts: and by it (faith)
he being dead yet speaketh.” In the traditions
preserved in Genesis of the dim
and distant antediluvian period, three figures stand out prominently as
representing the righteous seed in the midst of
growing evil — Abel,
Enoch, and Noah.
These are, therefore, first adduced with the view of
showing that it is in respect of faith that they are thus
distinguished in the
sacred record. With respect to Abel, it is not necessary to
inquire or
conjecture whether the bloody character of his offering is
to be considered
as constituting its superior excellence. The record in
Genesis simply
represents the two brothers as offering each what he had to
offer in
accordance with his occupation and pursuits, the only
difference being that
Abel is said to, have offered his firstlings and the
fat thereof, while nothing
is said of Cain having brought his first fruits or his best. Then, in the
account of the result, we are only told that unto one the
LORD had
respect, and not to the other, without mention of the
reason why. It is
usual to find a reason in the nature of Abel’s offering as
signifying
atonement, and to suppose his faith manifested in his
recognition of the
need of such atonement, signified to him, as has been
further supposed, by
Divine command. This view of the intention of the narrative
is indeed
suggested by the description of what his offering was,
viewed in the light
of subsequent sacrificial theory; but it is not apparent in
the narrative taken
by itself, or in the reference to it in the passage before
us. The
acceptableness of the offering is here simply attributed,
as of necessity, to
the faith of the offerer, without
any intimation of how that faith had been
evinced. And with this view of the matter agrees the record
itself, where it
is said that “unto Abel and his offering the LORD had
respect;” i.e. to Abel
first, and then to his offering — the offering was accepted
because Abel
was, not Abel on account of his kind of offering. “And
he being dead,” etc.,
refers plainly to Genesis 4:10, “The voice of thy brother’s blood
crieth unto
me from the ground.”
The same voice of innocent blood, which appealed
at the beginning of human history to the God of
righteousness, cries still
through all the ages; it sounds in our own ears now,
telling us that faith
prevails on high, and that “right dear in the sight of the
LORD is the death
of His saints.” (Psalm
116:15) Compare ch.
12:24 for an allusion again to the
cry of the blood of Abel. The word λαλεῖν – lalein – to
speak .is there
also used,
supporting the reading λαλεῖ. – lalei - speaketh,
rather than the λαλειται – laleitai -
speaketh of the Textus Receptus here.
The Sacrifice of Abel (v. 4)
“By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent
sacrifice,” etc. The text
brings before our notice three chief points.
unto God a more
excellent sacrifice than Cain.” This
superiority was
manifest in that Abel selected
the best of his flock for his offering, while
Cain does not appear to have
made any such selection, but to have offered
that which was most readily
obtained. Abel is very particular in the
matter
of his sacrifice; not any of the
flock that comes first to hand, but the firstlings.
Neither did he offer the lean of
them to God, and save the fat for himself,
but gives God the best of the best.
But of Cain’s offering no such care is
recorded to be taken by him.
When the heart is right even the best of our
possessions will seem too poor
to offer unto God.
Ø
In the spirit of the offerer. “By faith Abel offered.”
This is the grand
distinction. Abel had faith in
God, while it is clearly implied that Cain
had not. Abel seems to have been
humble; Cain was manifestly proud
and presumptuous. This is clear from his
anger at the non-acceptance
of his offering, and his
dreadful daring in bandying words with
Jehovah.
How could an offering from such a character be acceptable to
God? In
His sight it is not the
material but the moral and spiritual qualities that
determine the worth or
worthlessness of an offering. “The sacrifices of
God are a broken spirit: a broken and a
contrite heart, O God, thou
wilt not despise.” (Psalm 51:17) “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.”
(Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:6-8; Matthew
9:13; 12:7) “Therefore if thou
bring thy gift to
the altar,”
etc. (Ibid. ch.5:23-24).
he obtained
witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts.”
Ø
The matter of this testimony. “That he was
righteous.” He was a true
believer in God, a sincere and
humble worshipper of Him, an upright
and honorable man. Our Lord spake of him as “Abel the righteous;”
and John says that his works
were righteous. “Jehovah had
respect
unto Abel and to
his offering.”
Ø
The matter of this testimony. (Abel presented an animal from his
flock while Cain offered the work of his hands. Surely there
was some important significance in God clothing Adam and Eve
after their sins with animal skins, intimating a sacrifice of blood.
CY – 2014)
dead yet speaketh.” By
reason of his faith his life is a permanent power for
good to men. He speaks to us
truths of the greatest importance; e.g.:
Ø That God
will graciously accept the worship of sinners when it is
offered in a right spirit.
Ø
That faith is essential to the true spirit of worship. “By faith Abel
offered unto God,”
etc. “Without
faith it is impossible to please Him,”
(v. 6)
Ø
That when the true spirit of worship exists MAN WILL
OFFER
HIS BEST TO GOD! Abel offered “of the firstlings of his flock
and of the fat thereof.” When
we feel aright toward God we shall
humbly and heartily
present unto
Him the best of our thoughts,
affections,
services, and possessions.
through it. The first example of
faith that the writer finds is one where the
believer loses his
life through his faith. Moreover, he
loses his life through
faith that had Divine testimony
borne to it. God makes it plain that He
accepts the true obedience, but
He does not preserve the natural life of him
whom He thus accepts. The path
of faithful obedience may be the path to
natural death.
He did not believe
that a sin offering was needed. Then
came the results of
the unbelief.
Ø
Non-acceptance of what
he did offer.
Ø
Consequent envy and
malice of his brother, who had been witnessed to
as righteous.
Ø
Malice leads to actual
murder.
Ø
Cain, filled with
remorse, looses the links that bind him to his fellow
men. Abel’s faith has to be
looked at, not only in its results to him,
but in contrast with the
results of Cain’s unbelief.
5 “By faith Enoch was
translated that he should not see death;
and was not found, because God had translated him: for
before his
translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” literally, hath
been witnessed of that he had been well-pleasing to God. The allusion is,
of course, to the testimony in Genesis (5:24), the Septuagint
being closely
followed, which has, καί εὐηρέστησεν
Ἐνώχ τῳ
θεῷ καί
οὐκ ηὑρίσκετο
διότι
μετέθηκεν αὐτὸν ὁ
θεός – kai euaerestaesen Enoch to Theo kai ouk haeurisketo
dioti
metethaeken auton ho Theos – Enoch
was very pleasing to God, and was
not found, because God
took him away whereas
the literal translation of our
Hebrew text is, “Enoch walked with God; and he was
not, because God
took him.”
The Character and the Translation of Enoch
(v. 5)
“By faith
Enoch was translated that he should not see death,” etc. That
Enoch should immediately succeed Abel in this record of the
ancient
heroes of faith is not a little significant. How remarkable
is “the contrast
between the fate of Abel and Enoch! The one was crushed to
the earth by
the hand of a brutal and ferocious murderer; the other was
conveyed to
heaven, most likely by the ministry of some benevolent
intelligence. The
one met death in its most repulsive form, and will probably
be the longest
tenant in the sepulcher; the other entirely escaped it, and was the first to
possess the happiness of perfect and immortal humanity. There is
something instructive in these characters being placed side
by side on the
page of revelation. The contrast seems to furnish an
illustration of the
mysterious diversities of fact and circumstance, which are
perpetually
occurring in the moral government of God.” Our
text brings before us:
translation he had
this testimony, that he pleased God.”
It is a great and
blessed thing that it is possible for man to please God. We know that we
have grieved Him by our many and
heinous sins; and it is a fact full of
encouragement that we may so
live as to yield him positive satisfaction. In
His infinite condescension He is
so interested in us that our character and
conduct are viewed by Him either
with delight or with sorrow. That man
should please God implies:
Ø
A revelation of His will. Enoch had no portion
of the sacred Scriptures.
His revelation of God was small
and dim as compared with ours. But
evidently he believed in the
existence of the Supreme Being, was
convinced “that He is,” and
he knew something of His holy will.
We live in the
clear and full light of DIVINE REVELATION!
“God hath spoken unto us in His Son.” We know without any
uncertainty what
to do and what not to do, if we would please God.
Ø
Personal sympathy with Him. The moral separation
which sin causes
between the soul and God had
been removed in the case of Enoch.
The consciousness of the Divine presence
was not painful to him,
but blessed. “Enoch walked with God.” The will of
God must have
appeared to him not tyrannical
or harsh, but reasonable and gracious;
for otherwise his life could not
have been brought into such relations
with it as would please God. And
still moral sympathy with Him is an
indispensable condition of
pleasing Him. While we regard
Him with
suspicion or
distrust, while we esteem His commandments as grievous,
our lives cannot
be viewed by Him with complacency. As
a first step
towards pleasing God we must
heartily “receive
the reconciliation”
which He offers
to us IN JESUS CHRIST!
(Romans 5:10-11).
Ø
Sincere effort to do His will. To know and approve
the will of God
without cordial and continuous
effort to conform to it cannot be
pleasing to God. Enoch embodied his religious knowledge in his
practical life;
he translated his convictions into actions. And so must
every one who would please God (compare John 14:21-24; James 1:25).
It was by faith that Enoch pleased
God. He
walked by faith, not by
sight. (This contemporary Christianity seems to have trouble with? –
CY – 2014) The Lord Jesus
Christ presents to us the supreme and
perfect example of pleasing God. “I do always those things that
please Him.” (John
8:29) His joy was to do the will of Him who sent
Him. Twice the Father testified
of Him
from heaven, “This is my
beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased: hear ye Him.” (Matthew
3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 9:35 – at
His baptism and at His Transfiguration)
Him the Father ever viewed with
infinite complacency, He is also the
Reconciler of man unto God.
Moreover, “He giveth power to the faint,
and to them that have no might He increaseth strength” (Isaiah 40:29),
that they may please
God in their lives. Let us trust Him, accept Him,
and imitate Him.
Enoch was
translated that he should not see death; and he was not found,
because God had
translated him.” Notice two points.
Ø
The nature of this translation. We have no means of
satisfying all the
inquiries which curiosity may
make as to how this man of God was
translated; but we may bring
together a little of the light which the
Scriptures shed upon it. It is
certain that he did not pass from earth
by the same way as other men;
that he entered heaven without passing
through “the gates of death.”
But his body must have undergone
some great change; for “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom
of heaven.” (I Corinthians
15:50) This change was probably similar
to that which is reserved for those who are alive at the coming of
our Lord. “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,” etc.
(Ibid.
vs.50-54). Paul says, “There is a natural body, and there is
a spiritual body.” What the properties and
characteristics of the spiritual
body are we know not as yet. But we think
that the body of Enoch was
spiritualized by God. Its vital relations with
earth were severed; it underwent
an essential change or changes.
Previously it
was mortal and corruptible; then it became immortal and
incorruptible. Previously it was of
the earth, earthy; then it became of
heaven, heavenly. So changed was it that Enoch was no longer fit for
earth; his body, as well as his
spirit, unable to find its true sphere on earth,
rose heavenward, Godward. His body was so refined and purified by
God as to be capable of the
blessedness and glory of heaven. And thus
“he was not; for
God took him.” (Genesis 5:24) “He was not found,
because God
translated him.”
Ø
The design of this translation. Why was Enoch thus
removed from
earth?
o
His translation was a
distinguished honor and reward to Enoch
himself. By it he was
taken from that dark wickedness and
daring blasphemy (Jude 14-15) which must have been so
painful to a soul in
sympathy with God, as was Enoch’s. But
two men of all the departed
myriads have been honored by God
with a triumphant entrance
into
through the gloomy portals of
death. Of these, Enoch was one.
(Elijah the other – CY –
2014) His character was
extraordinary,
and extraordinary was his reward.
There is a beautiful propriety in
such a reward for such a life.
It is remarkable that the only two
men who passed from this world
without tasting of death were
distinguished as prophets fearless in rebuking evil-doers and
asserting the
Divine claims, and each in an age of
dominant
wickedness.
And it would seem
that their translation was a
decided testimony
from Heaven that he who stands unmoved,
though alone, for God, is the man whom the
King delights
to honor.
o
His translation was
fitted to impress beneficially the men of
that age. Enoch was a prophet to a race of daring sinners.
His serene and holy walk
had failed to benefit them; his
prophetic exhortations and
rebukes had embittered them
against him; and now
perhaps his sudden and strange
removal from them will give new
and additional emphasis
and energy to the words which he
had spoken, and the life
which he had lived amongst them.
They were living in the
material and temporal alone;
this translation was suited to
impress them with the reality and importance of the spiritual
and eternal. They were atheistic, some of them anti-theistic;
but this extraordinary removal
of the holy prophet of God from
sublunary scenes would perhaps
force upon them, at least for a
time, the conviction of the
existence and presence of a Power
unacknowledged by them
heretofore. Let
us, through
Jesus Christ, seek in this life
to please God, and then,
through Jesus
Christ, death will prove our introduction to
an everlasting, ever-increasing,
and ever-brightening life.
(“The
righteous perisheth, and no man layeth
it to heart: and merciful men
are
taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from THE
EVIL TO COME.” - Isaiah 57:1)
The Faith of Enoch (v. 5)
Of Enoch we know next to nothing in one sense. We are
ignorant of the
details of his life; not even one great striking event is
preserved to us. But
of the great principle and result of his life we are not
ignorant, and it is
quite permissible for us to make conjectures by way of
illustration. In
considering what is here said, we must notice the order of
the argument.
death. This must have happened in some way manifest to his
neighbors, so
that they might take knowledge
of the event and profit by it. The
translation is to be looked on
in the light of a reward; but, after all, this
may not be its chief
significance. It may have been for the sake of others, to
whom God’s approval of Enoch had
to be made manifest. It is no slur upon
Enoch to imagine that men as
holy as he have been on the earth, yet they
have had to die; perhaps live in
privation, and die in pain. Therefore we can
hardly be wrong in assuming that
Enoch’s translation was in such a public
way as to teach those willing to be taught, and act as a rebuke to
the
unbelieving. There is something eminently evangelical in such an
operation
of God. He would draw men to
faith in Him by showing what can happen
to his believing ones. He shows
the way of blessing before He shows the
way of cursing. The translation of the holy, righteous man comes before
THE DROWNING OF AN
IMPENITENT RACE!
TRANSLATION POSSIBLE. “He pleased God.” Long
before his
translation he had had proof of
this. God does not defer the signs of his
pleasure. He has made us so that
the way of obedience is the way of
pleasantness, even while we walk in it. But all that God had thus given
Enoch by the way was for his own
sake. The common unheeding world
knew nothing of the joys coming
to Enoch through his religion. Now at
last, in his translation,
something shall be given for a joy to Enoch, and at
the same time an instruction to
the world. Enoch might have pleased God
and yet not been translated; but
he could not have been translated unless he
had pleased God. Then from this
inference the writer proceeds to yet
another — that Enoch must have lived a life of faith. To please God certain
conditions are requisite, and in
the very front of these is faith. We cannot
please God unconsciously, as the
heavenly bodies do in their movements,
or a plant in its growth. We
must do such things as the will of the Invisible
requires. He will not be pleased
with anything we do simply because we do
our best according to the light
of nature. But this is a matter which may be
dealt with in a homily by
itself.
follow that Enoch expected to be
translated. All that Enoch could be sure
of was that a good present would be followed by a better future. Enoch left
this world by a gate that has
been very rarely opened — a gate the mode of
whose opening we can hardly
comprehend. It may never be opened again
till that day which is hinted at
in I Thessalonians 4:17, when Christ’s
people
then living will
be caught up to meet their Lord in the air. If Enoch had
expected translation without the
pains of death, he would not have been
showing the spirit of true
faith. True faith will go on humbly serving God
on earth, and feeling that entrance to heaven will come in God’s good time.
6 “But without faith it is
impossible to please Him: for he that
cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek Him.” The purpose of this verse, in connection
with the conclusion of the last, is to show that the
Scripture record does
imply faith in Enoch, though there is no mention of it
there by name: it is of
necessity involved in the phrase, εὐηρέστησεν … τῳ θεῷ above. The expression
in the Hebrew, “walked with God” (be it observed),
involves it equally; so
that the argument is not affected by the quotation being
from the Septuagint.
The Impossibility of Pleasing God Without
Faith (v. 6)
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he
that cometh unto God
must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
Him.” The fact that Enoch walked by faith, and
that his life was well pleasing
to God, suggested to the writer this general axiom on THE INDISPENS-
ABLENESS OF FAITH in order to secure
the Divine complacency. Two
principal observations will bring before us the chief
teaching of our text.
PLEASING HIM. “Without
faith it is impossible to please him: for he that
cometh to God ,” etc. Having asserted that apart from faith man cannot
please God, the writer proceeds
to show this by affirming that he who
comes to God must believe
certain truths concerning Him, thus clearly
implying that we cannot please God without coming
to Him.
Ø
Coming to God implies distance from him. The unrenewed soul is far
from God by
sin. Sin against Him generates suspicions concerning Him,
dread of Him, and so banishes the
soul far away from Him. Like the
prodigal son, the sinner wanders
away from the gracious Father
“into a far
country.” (Luke 15:13) The expression, “them that seek
Him,” also suggests that the seekers have not the consciousness
of
His presence and favor; they do
not always realize His nearness
unto them, or they would not
need to seek after Him. (See
Romans 10:6-10)
Ø
Coming to God is the approach of the soul unto Him. As the implied
distance from Him is not local but moral, so
the coming to Him is not
physical but spiritual. It is the soul drawing near to Him in thought
and
desire, in affection and devotion.
o
The penitent thus
comes to Him with confession and prayer
for pardon.
o
The poor and needy,
with petitions for succor and supply.
o
The thankful, with
warm tributes of gratitude and praise.
o
The pious, with lowly
loving adoration.
Ø
This approach of the soul to God is gratifying unto Him. That His
creatures,
created in His image and for fellowship with Himself,
should stand
aloof from Him in distrust, or suspicion, or
indifference, or by reason of absorption in
other things, is painful
to Him. His fatherly
heart yearns for the confidence and love of
His
children. He welcomes the first approach
of
the penitent sinner to
Him, even as the father of the returning prodigal saw him “while he
was yet afar off,
and was moved with compassion, and ran,
and fell on his
neck, and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20)
He is pleased
when His children regard Him
with assured confidence and warm
affection, and come to Him in their necessities and satisfactions,
their sorrows and
joys, etc.
APPROACH TO HIM. “For
he that cometh to God must believe that He
is,” - Precisely the faith that there is a God, and One
who will reward those
who seek after Him, found place
in Enoch, and could find place in him. Far
front intending to ascribe to
Enoch the New Testament faith, the author
defines the faith here in its
general form as it applied to the time of Enoch.
The faith which is essential to
the approach of the soul to him is:
Ø
Faith in His Being. “Must believe that
He is.” And we have the amplest
and firmest ground upon which to
base this article of our faith. The Bible
says “THAT HE IS;” the universe witnesses to the same great truth;
and human consciousness confirms
the testimony.
Ø
Faith in His entreatableness. “That He is a Rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him.”
This implies faith in His
accessibility; the belief
that we may approach unto Him;
that our prayers will reach His ear.
He hears:
o
the sigh of
sorrow,
o
the moan of misery,
and
o
the
whispered aspiration of the pious heart.
He is perfectly
acquainted with the godly soul’s sincere desire,
uttered
or unexpressed. (“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities:
for we know not what we should pray for as
we ought: but the Spirit
Himself maketh
intercession for us with groanings which cannot be
uttered.
And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind
of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according
to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27) He not only hears
prayer, but
HE ALSO ANSWERS
IT! The teaching of the
sacred Scriptures on
this point is both full and explicit
(Psalm 37:4; 50:15; Matthew 7:7-11;
18:19; 21:22; John 15:7;
16:23-24; James 1:5-6; 5:16-18; I John 5:14-15).
The testimony of the godly is no
less clear and decisive. “He is a
Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” This means more than that
the exercise of prayer to God in
itself exalts and enriches, calms and
cleanses the praying soul. The reflex
benefits of prayer are undoubtedly
very great and precious, but their
existence depends upon the belief
that God hears and answers prayer. Prayer
would lose its reality and
become a mere pretence,
offensive to
all honest souls, if we had not
faith in God as “a Rewarder of
them that diligently seek Him.” But the
seeker must be diligent; he must
be earnest. “Then
shall ye call upon
me, and ye shall
go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
Ye shall seek me,
and find me, WHEN YE SHALL SEARCH FOR
ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART.” (Jeremiah
29:12-13) The prayer
must be fervent and persevering,
or it may fail of its reward. When
prayer mounts upon
the wing of fervor to God, then answers come
down like
lightning from God. Thus we see that “without faith it is
impossible to please God.” Our subject shows:
o
The necessity of
cultivating and exercising faith in God.
o
The advantages of
believing prayer to God.
Faith Needed to Please God (v. 6)
nothing whether He be pleased or
not. God’s
will, God’s delight in the
obedience of men,
never enters into their thoughts. They live to please
themselves. They can even understand that some object may be served by
trying to please other men. And
yet those who live for self-pleasure are
sure to be disappointed. God has
meant our pleasure to come through first
of all pleasing him. (“Seek
ye first the
righteousness and
all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)
The great law of man’s being is
that he should serve the
purposes of God, and he can only
serve those purposes by finding out what
they are, and taking God’s means
to carry them into effect. If, then, it is
God’s will that we should please
Him, He will surely show us what to do
and how to do it. There ought to be in our hearts a desire to please God.
We are not without the wish to
stand well with our fellow men, to have
their good word. How much more,
then, we should desire to become
acceptable to Him who is perfect goodness! If Enoch pleased God, we may
do it. And the first thing to be
considered is, not whether it be difficult or
easy to do it, but whether it be
possible.
writings of apostles and
evangelists, when God is spoken of Jehovah is
meant, Jehovah as over against
the gods of heathendom. Their priests
taught that it was possible to
please them, and showed how the thing was
to be done, by offerings of all
sorts, and by adding constantly to the wealth
of their shrines. The offerings
in themselves were reckoned good; and well
they might be, for they made
many priests rich. Jehovah also received
offerings, but to Him the
offerings had no value except as expressive of
intelligent obedience. The
offerings were for the sake of men rather than of
God Himself. He must be pleased
by something different from mere gifts of
what He has Himself created. And
here the writer gives us one of the
essentials towards pleasing God.
Apart from FAITH we cannot please Him.
There are many elements in the
character that is pleasing to God, and one
element is made prominent at one
time, another at another. We know that
Enoch must surely have been a
loving man, for without love it is impossible
to please God. Here the
important thing was to insist on his being a
believer. Idols could be
approached without faith, for they were really not
approached at all; no heart of
man ever came into living contact with them.
But of God there was no image; the worshipper had to believe that there
was a real
existence all unseen. Suppose for a
moment that we had set
before us for search and
discovery an object perceptible by the senses.
Before beginning the search,
should we not be wise in assuring ourselves
on the following points?
Ø
The real existence of
the object.
Ø
The probability of
finding it.
Ø
A corresponding reward
for the possible toil of the search.
There has been faith on these
points which has had no rational basis, and of
course has ended in
disappointment; e.g. the enthusiastic searching for the
philosopher’s stone. But here is
an object, the object supreme of all —
God, the Fountain
of being and blessedness; and this
object cannot be
known by the senses. There are
many so-called arguments for the existence
of a God, but men who think that
they therefore really believe in the
existence of a God are
self-deceived. Believing in the existence of a Being
to whom this name of God is
given must be an act of pure faith. Men must
say, “I cannot believe
otherwise; I cannot believe the contrary.” Then to
this must be added the practical
impulse to come in contact with Him. Note
here exactly what is demanded,
as the ordinary version fails to give us quite
the meaning. He that comes to God must believe in God’s existence, and
that when men
seek him out and come to know Him in actual
experience
and service, He
gives them most real, substantial rewards. For the seeking
out diligence is of course
required, but diligence is not the quality primarily
referred to. “Seek out” is only
a more suggestive way of saying “find.”
7 “By faith Noah, being
warned of God of things not seen as
yet, moved with fear (εὐλαβηθεὶς – eulabaetheis – moved
with fear; being
pious),
prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by which (i.e. faith)
he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness
which is by
faith (κατὰ πίστιν
– kata pistin – by faith). The “things not seen as yet” were the
divinely predicted events of the Deluge. The word εὐλαβηθεὶς (translated as above
in the Authorized Version) is taken by many
commentators as implying godly fear,
a sentiment of piety, with reference to the previous
χρηματισθεὶς – chraematistheis –
being
warned - since the noun εὐλαβηία – eulabaeia – fear - seems to have this special
sense in ch.12:28, μετὰ αἰδοῦς καὶ
εὐλαβείας
- meta aidous kai eulabeias – with
reverence and godly
fear - (see what was said under ver. 7, where the word occurred);
so too the
adjective, εὐλαβής – eulabaes – devout;
pious (Luke 2:25; Acts 2:5; 8:2).
Hence the emendation, “moved
with godly fear,” in the recent “Revised Version.”
But, inasmuch as the verb εὐλαβεὶσθαι - eulabeisthai - has in
the New Testament, as
elsewhere, only its original import of caution or circumspection,
there is no
need to suppose here a further meaning (compare Acts 23:10,
the only other
passage in the New Testament where the verb occurs). We may take only
prudent forethought to be expressed which enlarges on the
lesson thus conveyed
to the effect that he who acts
on simple faith, regardless of the world’s
opinion or of ridicule,
is the one who is truly prudent. And
we may add
that such prudence legitimately comes in as a motive in the
religious life.
The antecedent of “which” (δι. ἧς – di haes
– through which), though the
ancients generally understand κιβωτὸν – kiboton – ark - is taken as above by
most moderns; the reason being, not only that faith (see
in v. 4) is the ruling idea
of the whole passage, but also that it suits better the
expressed results, especially
the second, “became heir,” etc. For to say that
he became heir of the righteousness
which is according to faith through the ark, as being the
evidence of his
faith, or as being the means of his preservation, is less
intelligible than to
say that through faith he became so. The sense in which
Noah “condemned
the world” is
illustrated by Matthew 12:41-42, “The men of
etc., “The queen of the South,” etc. (compare Romans 2:27). His becoming
“heir,” etc.,
rests on the view of the fulfillment of primeval promise being
transmitted as an inheritance to the faithful. Noah, as he
appears in
Genesis, was eminently heir in this sense, as alone in his
day appropriating
it and as transmitting it to his seed. In like manner
Abraham, who is next
mentioned, was the prominent heir among the subsequent
patriarchs (compare
Romans 4:13). The idea running through the whole Old
Testament is
that, in the midst of a sinful world, an inheritance of salvation was
transmitted through a chosen seed, till the Christ should
come as the “Heir
of all things,” the perfected Head and Representative of all redeemed
humanity. The word δικαιοσύνης - dikaiosunaes – righteousness - as that of
which Noah was heir, may have been suggested with reference
to him by his
being the first who is called δίκαιος – dikaios – just - in Genesis 6:9, and by this
being his usual designation (Ezekiel
14:14, 20; Eccliesiasticus. 44:17; Wisdom
of Solomon 10:4, 6; compare II Peter 2:5, δικαιοσύνης κήρυκα
– dikaiosunaes
kaeruka – preacher of righteousness). The whole phrase, τῆς κατὰ πίστιν
δικαιοσύνης – taes kata
pistin dikaiosunaes – of
the righteousness which is by
faith - may be taken to imply the Pauline doctrine of justification
by faith, which may be supposed to have been familiar to
the readers of this
Epistle, having been already fully enunciated by Paul, and
dwelt on by
him as especially exemplified in Abraham. Paul, indeed,
does not use
this exact phrase, but δικαιοσύνης πίστεως
– dikaiosunaes pisteos – righteousness
of faith (Romans 4:11, 13); ἐκ πίστεως
– ek pisteos – out of faith – (Ibid. ch.10:6);
ἐπὶ τῇ πίστει
– epi tae pistei – on the
faith - (Philippians 3:9); but still the meaning
may be the same. The
correspondence is an instance of Pauline thought in this
Epistle, while the difference of
phrase affords a presumption, though by no
means in itself conclusive,
against Pauline authorship.
The Faith of Noah (v. 7)
“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as
yet, moved with
fear, prepared an ark” etc. Very
exalted was the character of Noah as briefly
described in Genesis 6:8-9. And his purity and piety are
the more conspicuous
and commendable by reason of the
terrible corruption and violence which were
universal in his age (Ibid.
vs.5-7, 11-13). Our text leads us to look at the faith
of Noah in three aspects.
His faith rested upon a Divine
communication (Ibid. vs.13-21).
Ø
This basis was exclusive. Noah had nothing else
upon which to
ground his faith — nothing
which could serve as an auxiliary
support to it. On the other
hand, matters were not lacking which
were calculated sorely to
test his confidence; e.g.:
o
The entire absence of any precedent of an event corresponding
to that which had
been announced to him. (We are in the same
situation in reference to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ – CY
– 2014) The world had existed long, but no such devastating
flood had ever
occurred. (Jesus has never broken the eastern sky
before! CY – 2014)
o
The uniformity of the
courses and operations of nature. It surely
would not have been strange
if he had reasoned thus with himself:
“Not
but by a miracle
Can this
thing be. The fashion of the world
We
heretofore have never known to change;
And will
God change it now?”
(See II Peter 3:4)
o
His own soul might
have suggested serious doubts. Would God
destroy all His human
creatures — the creatures whom He had
created in His own
likeness? True, the race had
become terribly
depraved, men were great sinners; but could He not save them?
Would He destroy the
innocent child as well as the hardened
rebel? And would He wreck
the beautiful and fertile earth which
He had made and embellished?
Or the question may have arisen
— Why should he and his family
alone be spared in the universal
destruction? He was conscious of
imperfections and sins, his
family too were sinners; then
why should the Almighty bestow
His mercy upon them, and upon
them only? To meet doubts and
questionings of this or any
other kind, Noah had simply THE
WORD OF GOD which had been
made known unto him, and
his faith rested
upon THAT WORD!
Ø
This basis was sufficient for Noah. He founded his faith
upon the
communication which he had
received from God, as upon a rock; and
his faith remained firm and
steadfast throughout its protracted and
severe trials. God had spoken to
him, and that was enough for him.
the saving of his
house.” He manifested his belief in
the Divine
communication by his obedience
to the directions therein conveyed
(Genesis 6:14-16). His faith was
expressed in an appropriate and very
remarkable course of action.
That we may the more fully realize the
strength of his conviction, let
us notice that the work in which it found
expression was:
Ø
A work of great magnitude. The dimensions of
the ark are stated in
(Ibid. v. 15. If we take the
cubit to be twenty-one inches, “the ark
would be five hundred and
twenty-five feet in length, eighty-seven
feet six inches in breadth, and
fifty-two feet six inches in height.
This is very considerably larger
than the largest British man-of-war.
Ø
A work of long duration. From (Ibid. v.3, some
have concluded
that one hundred and twenty
years intervened between the
commencement of the ark and the
coming of the Deluge. But the
interpretation of that verse on
which this conclusion is based is
doubtful. Yet the work of preparing the materials for and
constructing the ark must have
been a very long one — a work
of many years. And through all those years he was
nerved and sustained by faith,
and faith
alone.
Ø
A work involving very great expenditure. The building of such an ark in
any age and in any circumstances
would have been utterly impossible
apart from great expense of time
and toil and wealth. But to these
demands also the faith of Noah
was equal.
Ø
A work prosecuted despite of derision. There were probably
men of
science and philosophy who
pronounced the predicted deluge an
impossibility, and pitied the
prophet as a deluded fanatic. And there
were men of a lower type who
would greet him with scoffs and jeers,
and make him the butt of their
scornful laughter and contemptuous
sarcasm. Yet the faith of the
man of God failed not. The great work
was steadily prosecuted, and in due time was fully accomplished.
heir of the
righteousness which is by faith.”
Ø
The condemnation of the unbelieving world.
o
His holy fear
condemned their security and vain confidence;
o
his faith condemned
their unbelief; and
o
his obedience
condemned their contempt and rebellion.
Good examples will either
convert sinners or condemn them!
Ø
The acquisition of a character eminent for righteousness. “Became heir
of the
righteousness which is according to faith.” “Noah was a just man
and upright” (Genesis 6:9)
before he was commanded to build the ark;
but in that work his faith was
splendidly exemplified and his righteousness
greatly increased. His righteousness was great as his faith. It
is important
to observe that the faith of
Noah which was manifested in such an
extraordinary and exemplary
manner, and by reason of which and in the
measure of which he was regarded
as righteous, was not fixed upon
the coming Messiah as its
special object, but upon the communication
which he had received from God
concerning the Flood. He fully
accepted the
Divine testimony and nobly acted upon it, and as a
consequence God accepted him as
righteous. “Even as Abraham
believed God, and
it was reckoned unto him for righteousness.”
(Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3;
Galatians 3:6) And he who believes in
God now will
accept His Son whom He hath sent. “This is the work
of God, that ye
believe on Him whom Hhe hath sent.” (John 6:29)
Ø
The salvation of himself and his family. While all other human beings
were destroyed by
the flood, he and his wife, his three
sons and their
wives, were saved in the ark
which he had built. Many are the lessons
which our subject suggests. We
mention a few of them:
o That there is
justice as well as mercy, severity as well as
kindness, in God.
o That it is
foolish, and it may be ruinous, to refuse to believe
a thing because it seems to us improbable, or is to us
incomprehensible.
o The sacred
Scriptures announce the coming of events of
stupendous importance and solemnity:
§
the destruction of the world,
§
the judgment of mankind, etc.
Let us believe the announcement.
o A secure
Refuge is provided for man in view
of these coming
trials, and it is adequate
for all, open to all, and free for all —
even JESUS CHRIST! Let us enter in
by faith, and
eternal security and blessedness will be ours.
The Faith of Noah 2 (v. 7)
Going from Enoch to Noah, we pass from a mere hint as to
character into
the greatest fullness of detail. Enoch’s faith we have to
take upon trust, for
no act of his life is recorded from which we could infer
his faith. Noah’s
faith, on the other hand, we can see for ourselves. It is
set before us in a
great and notable action, and not to see it would argue
great spiritual
blindness on our part. Note:
the Deluge that we cannot
understand, never shall understand. Its mode, its
details, its extent, we shall
have to leave unsettled questions. Difficulties
inherent in the record we must
confess. But at the same time, our
ignorance and perplexity will be
a small matter if only we take care not to
lose the spiritual significance
of the record. We have in the Deluge great
illustration of human faith on the one side, human unbelief on
the other.
Noah had a revelation, an
intimation of impending destruction, which he
believed to be from God and to
be the truth. Straightway he began to show
his faith by his works, thus
becoming by his very action a prophet to his
neighbors and a test of their
disposition. Noah, the believer, is the great
central figure in connection
with the Flood, and the narrative of it is given,
not for the sake of recording a
stupendous physical change, but for the
sake of illustrating how the
character of one man may influence the destiny
of a whole race.
Everything in the way of human
experience and ordinary probability was
against him. He was not guarding
against any of those things which men
take trouble to guard against.
Possibly the certainty of a greater evil led
him, comparatively speaking, to
neglect smaller ones. It would seem to the
world that he might have
employed his time more profitably, and also his
substance. He could not make his
work appear a prudent or a rational one;
as he went on with the work and
felt his loneliness, he would often be
compelled to ask whether he was
deluding himself, or was really in the
path of duty.
PROFESSED FAITH. It
does not appear that he went about proclaiming
destruction. The revelation was
made to him to secure his own safety. His
real belief in the Deluge was
shown in the most convincing way by his
building of the
ark. Many
beliefs are only in word; they do not at all
influence life; nay, more, the
stress of necessity may bring action that
contradicts them. We have to watch what a man does if we would know
what he really
believes.
the ark, he condemned the world.
The believer cannot help condemning the
unbeliever. He does not wish to
condemn, but his very action is a censure;
and the more full
of spirituality the action, the more does it look like a
censure of
others. And in the case of Noah the
condemnation was
unusually manifest. For if he
was right, then all round him, on every side,
ark-building ought to have
begun. The condemnation indeed was mutual,
and only time could show which
condemnation was grounded in right and
authority.
house. To neglect the Divine demand for faith will not only ruin
us, but
may bring suffering to others.
Noah had his family to think of. Blessing and
security came to his children
through his obedience. The highest things can,
of course, only come by
individual faith and submission, but something will
come to others if only we
believe. The believer, while he serves
himself,
cannot but be of
service to others.
Faith of the Antediluvian Saints (vs. 4-7)
The apostle, having gone to the first page of the Bible for
the foundation doctrine
of faith, has only to turn the leaf to find his first
historical illustrations.
sacrifice “more excellent” than
Cain’s?
Ø
Some answer — Because
its materials were more valuable, and also
more carefully selected. Cain
presented an oblation of vegetables,
taking the first that came to
hand; while Abel offered an animal
sacrifice, and the choicest
which his flock could supply. (“firstlings”
Genesis 4:4)
Ø
Others judge that
Abel’s sacrifice was “more excellent” because of the
living faith of which it was the
expression. He worshipped in spirit and
in truth; whereas Cain’s offering
was that of a formalist and a hypocrite.
Ø
But the true view, we
apprehend, must go deeper than either of these.
Abel’s sacrifice was better, not
merely because he brought it in faith, but
because his faith led him to select
an offering which was in itself more
appropriate than that of Cain. “The
Lord had respect unto Abel” for
what he himself was, as
reflected in what he gave (Ibid.). His offering,
we may presume, was an act of
faith resting upon the Divine testimony
regarding “the seed of the woman”
(Ibid. ch. 3:15) and the necessity of
atonement by blood. But Cain, in
presenting only fruit, declared thereby
his disbelief in the gospel
promise, and his repudiation of the appointed
way of salvation. So, God bore visible witness to Abel “that
he was
righteous” (Ibid. vs.4-12); and the first martyr has in consequence
become distinguished as “righteous
Abel” (Matthew 23:35; I John 3:12).
Indeed, Abel still speaks to the whole Church by his faith. He
teaches
us that we can only approach God THROUGH
THE PROPITIATION
OF CHRIST and that in pleading
the one propitiation we must bring
also the sacrifice of “a
broken spirit.” (Psalm 51:7)
the end of Abel’s earthly life
and that of Enoch! And what a pleasant break
in the melancholy monotone of
Genesis 5., “And he died,” are the sweet
words used regarding Enoch’s
removal: “He was not, for God took him”
(v. 24)! Here we have:
Ø
A statement regarding Enoch’s translation.
(v. 5.) His faith is
represented as the reason on
account of which he was transported to
heaven without tasting of death.
His wonderful removal was the reward
of his singularly holy life; and
that, in turn, was the fruit of his faith.
Ø An argument in
support of this statement.
o
Such is the
representation of the Old Testament (v. 5). Enoch’s
translation is there said
(Genesis 5:24) to have taken place in
consequence of the peculiar
favor of God. Scripture bears witness
to him “that he had been well-pleasing
unto God” before it
informs us of his glorification.
o
It is self-evident
that none but a believer can obtain the Divine
favor (v. 6). The spring of
holiness is always faith. Enoch, like
Abel, had met with the
unseen Jehovah over a bleeding sacrifice.
He had lived under a sense of the Divine presence, He had
confided in God, and
cultivated congeniality with Him. He had
been a witness for Him to a
sensuous and ungodly world. The
apostle mentions in this
connection two indispensable articles of
faith regarding God. First, His being. To believe in God is to be
convinced of a truth “not
seen,” and made evident only by
revelation. Secondly, his benevolence. To believe
in God
as
“a Rewarder” is to cherish “the confidence of things hoped for.”
But the gospel revelation alone
assures us of Jehovah’s
accessibility,
and of the principles of His
moral administration. Yet Enoch, albeit
he lived in the scanty twilight
of the patriarchal economy, firmly
grasped these great doctrines;
and the faith of them led him on,
step by step, until he found
himself in the glorious presence of
God in heaven.
associated with a stupendous
catastrophe, the faith of which, while it was
“not seen as yet,
“brought deliverance to himself and his family, and
constituted him the second
father of the human race.
Ø
Noah’s faith was
severely tried. The Deluge, of which he was
forewarned, was an unprecedented event, (so the Second
Coming of Jesus
Christ – Matthew 24:36-39 – CY – 2014)
and
could only take place by a miracle.
Then, for more than a century
after the warning was given, and
indeed until the very day when it
began to be fulfilled, there
were no premonitions of its fulfillment.
During all that time, too, Noah
had to labor at the gigantic task
of constructing the ark, amid the jeers of an ungodly world.
Ø
His faith bravely triumphed. The victory is seen
in his “godly fear,”
and his unquestioning
obedience. It appears in his invincible
perseverance as the builder
of the ark, and. as “a preacher of
righteousness.” It is
reflected in the confidence with which he
obeyed the Divine summons
to enter the ark while the sky was
yet cloudless. And Noah’s
triumphant faith “condemned the world;”
for the event showed that THE
DOOM OF ITS UNBELIEF was just.
Ø
His faith was richly rewarded. It brought him the
highest honor. It was
the means of confirming his
already eminent piety, and of certifying his
possession of “righteousness.”
It made him an “heir of God.”
Ø
In Abel, we see faith
as the condition of acceptable worship;
Abel’s faith condemns the
spirit which denies the necessity of
an expiatory atonement.
Ø
In Enoch, as the root
of godliness; Enoch’s faith condemns
the spirit of secularism,
positivism, agnosticism
Ø
In Noah, as the
principle of separation from the life and destiny
of the ungodly. Noah’s faith condemns the spirit which
stumbles at the possibility
of miracles.
8 “By
faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which
he should after receive for an inheritance,
obeyed (literally, when called,
obeyed to go out, etc.); and he went out, not knowing whither he
went.”
The reference is to the first call of Abraham (Genesis
12:1), his obedience to
which is the first
instance of the faith which the whole life of the father of
the faithful so eminently exemplifies. The
fact of the place he was to go to
being so far unrevealed (intimated only as “a
land that I will show thee”)
enhances the faith displayed, He followed
the Divine voice as it were blindly,
not seeing whither it was leading him, knowing only that
it was right to follow it.
So to those who walk by faith now the future may be unknown or dim.
“Lead
thou me on.
... I
do not ask to see
The
distant scene; one step enough for me.”
The Faith of Abraham Going Forth into the Unknown
(v. 8)
We have to notice what Abraham’s faith rested on:
ambition, not in discontent, not
in self-will, did he go forth. Nor was it a
suggestion from some other human
being. The voice came from above,
speaking to what was inmost in
him. Jehovah had chosen him for a purpose
of His own, and therefore made the authority of the summons
indisputably
clear. It is the fact of this
Divine call at the beginning which makes the
observation of Abraham’s
subsequent course so interesting. We desire to
see what God will make out of a
man to whom He gives a special
summons. It is a great deal when any of us can be quite sure, amid
the
difficulties and perplexities
of life, that we are where God has put us.
for faith than any projects of
our own. God had said definitely to
Abraham that there was a land of
inheritance for him. Abraham, so far from
going out on the great journey
of life with nothing better than a
peradventure, really had the best of prospects. All he had to do was to
show the
obedience of faith. God always
presents us with a hope when He
calls us to a duty. He sets
before us great ends corresponding to our nature
and to His interest in us.
which would try Abraham most, that he knew not where he was going.
This would expose him to the
wonder and the ridicule of his neighbors.
Human prudence seems such an
excellent principle of action, seems to
keep men out of so many
troubles, seems to achieve such satisfactory
results, that men can hardly
think of a higher and a better one. But then
human prudence has its value
only in a certain path. We cannot begin by
choosing our path according to
God’s directions and then going on in
it
according to our own
judgment. Everything must be:
Ø
begun,
Ø
continued, and
Ø
ended in God.
9 “By
faith he sojourned in (rather, went to sojourn
in) the land of promise,
as in a strange country (literally, as one belonging to others; i.e. not
his own;
“As in an alien land” (
sojourner with you”),
dwelling in tabernacles with
Isaac and Jacob, the heirs
with him of the same promise: 10 For he
looked for a city which hath
foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Of course, here, “with Isaac
and Jacob” means “as did also Isaac and
Jacob.” The three successive
patriarchs are presented in Scripture as representing the period of nomadic
life in the land of promise, not yet possessed; alike supported by faith in the
Divine word; and hence they are ever grouped together (compare Genesis
28:13; 32:9; 48:15; 50:24; Exodus 3:6; Deuteronomy 9:5;
I Kings 18:36, etc.;
also Matthew 22:32; Luke 13:28). The meaning of their
history to us, and
the object of their common hope, are further set forth in vs.
13-17, and
will be under them considered. In the mean time an instance
of Abraham’s
faith, peculiar to himself, is adduced.
The Faith of Abraham (vs. 8-10)
“By faith
Abraham, when he was called,…..obeyed; and he went out, not
knowing
whither he went!” Abraham was a good and a great man. “He was
called the friend of God.” (James 2:23) Even
amongst the heroes of
religious faith he is conspicuous as a believer in God.
Paul speaks of
him as “the father of all” (Romans
4:16) the faithful. Let us consider the
exhibition of his faith which our text presents. We
discover it:
when he was called
to go out into a place which he should after receive for
an inheritance,
obeyed,” etc. The summons here
mentioned is recorded in
Genesis 12:1-5. This call was:
Ø
of Divine
origination. It was not solicited from
God by Abraham, but
addressed by God to Abraham. The
initiative was Divine, not human.
Every summons to the true and
good is from above. Every aspiration
and effort after holiness and
usefulness is the result of Divine
influence. This call was:
Ø
a Divine
communication. How it was addressed to
Abraham, whether
through his bodily senses or
direct to his spiritual consciousness, we
know not. But we know the fact
that the summons came to him, and
was felt by him to be a sacred and Divine command. A mysterious and
mighty impulse came upon him,
and he felt that it was from God. The
call was to depart from his
country and kindred to a land whither God
would lead him. And it seems
that either then or formerly he was called
to a truer and higher life. Whether he was ever an idolater we cannot
tell; but if such were the case,
he was summoned from polytheism to
monotheism. Most glorious and
animating was the destiny which was
set forth for him and his
posterity (Genesis 12:2-3). But at present we
have to do with his call to
leave his home in
to follow
whithersoever the unseen hand might lead him. In his prompt
and pious obedience to that call
we have an impressive illustration of
his faith.
o He obeyed,
notwithstanding the fact that his obedience involved
considerable sacrifices. Unto a man like
Abraham it could not
have been a light thing to
depart “from his country, and from
his kindred, and
from his father’s house.” (Ibid. v.
1) It
must
have been a trial to him to go
forth from places which were
hallowed by precious and sacred
memories, to sever many
close and tender social
associations, and without any prospect
of returning to these cherished
friends and familiar scenes again.
Yet he obeyed
the heavenly call. His faith in God
was mightier
than his strongest human feelings.
o He obeyed,
notwithstanding his ignorance of his destination
and of the way by which it was to be reached. Abraham must,
we think, have had some idea as to the direction
and destination
of his journey. But he was called, not to any country
which is
named in the call, but “unto a land that I
will show thee.”
(Ibid.) “And he went out, not knowing whither he went.”
(v. 8) The distance he might have
to travel, the difficulties
and dangers he might have
to encounter, the scene and
circumstances in which his
journey would end, he knew not.
Yet he went out,
obedient to the voice which faith alone
could hear, and guided by the hand which faith alone could
see. The
Divine call is addressed at some time or other
to every
man. (Titus
2:11) The
summons from carnal existence to
spiritual life, from selfish pursuits to generous sympathies and
services, from the local and
temporal to the universal and
eternal, from sin to holiness,
— the
call to God by Christ Jesus
sounds at some time in
the soul of every man. It is addressed
by
various voices and at different times; to some it
comes again and
again; and it is variously
treated by
those who hear it. Be it ours
like Abraham to:
§
attentively
hear,
§
heartily
believe, and
§
promptly obey the heavenly mandate.
If we have believing]y
received the summons, let us not hesitate
to go forward, though the
way be unknown to us. Complying
with the Divine
command, the Divine conduct will never fail us.
LONG-DELAYED FULFILMENT OF THE PROMISE. “By faith he
sojourned in the
land of promise, as in a strange country,” etc. When
Abraham arrived in Canaan
Jehovah appeared unto him, and promised to
give that land to him and to his
seed (Genesis 12:7; 13:15, 17; 15:18);
yet he never possessed that
land. Very forcibly is this fact stated by
Stephen: “And he gave him none inheritance
in it, no, not so much as to set
his foot on: and
he promised that he would give it to him for a possession,
and to his seed
after him, when as yet he had no child.” (Acts 7:5)
Once in
the life of Abraham the fact
that he had no actual possession in that land
was very forcibly and feelingly
expressed. In his great and sacred sorrow
by reason of the death of his
beloved wife, he had to purchase a place in
which to bury her mortal
remains. “And Abraham stood up from before his
dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth,
saying, I am a stranger and a
sojourner with
you: give me a possession of a burying-place with you,
that I may bury my
dead out of my sight.” And he paid
four hundred
shekels of silver for
the field and the
of a burying-place (Genesis
23.). The points which we wish to bring out
as taught in v. 9 are
these:
Ø
Though the land was promised to him, yet he never possessed
it.
“He sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange
country;”
or, “as in a land not his
own.”
Ø
Though he dwelt in the land, it was as a stranger. He became a
sojourner there, not a settler
or a citizen. He had no home there.
He did not attempt to build a
fixed dwelling-place, but took up
his abode in tents, which could
easily and speedily be removed
from place to place.
Ø Yet he
believed God — lived “by faith” in God and in His promise.
The surprising point is that
Abraham, deceived, as you might almost
say, did not complain of it as a
deception; he was even grateful for
the non-fulfillment of the
promise; he does not even seem to
have expected its fulfillment;
he did not look for
‘for a city which
had foundations;’ his faith appears to
have
consisted in disbelieving the letter, almost
as much as in believing
the spirit of the promise.. Abraham’s life in
in the ninth verse may be
viewed:
o
as a picture of
our life upon earth. There is no
abiding-place
for man in this world; and
the Christian’s treasure is in heaven,
not upon earth; his
inheritance also is not here, but is “reserved
in heaven for” him. (I Peter 1:4)
This part of Abraham’s life
may be viewed:
o
as a pattern for
our life upon earth. We should emulate
the
spirit of the illustrious
patriarch. “Seek the things that are
above,” etc. (Colossians 3:1-2).
for the city which
hath the foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God.”
We must not attribute to Abraham
views of the future state as full and
clear as those which are
unfolded in the New Testament. Yet it is evident
that the writer of this Epistle
intended to teach that he and the other
patriarchs expected the
fulfillment of the promise of
higher than any earthly city. Abraham believed God’s promise; but by faith
he looked for even more than its
literal fulfillment. His faith hoped for and
anticipated a more glorious inheritance than the earthly
fairer, firmer, and
diviner city than was ever designed by
human skill or
constructed by human strength.
He looked forward to:
Ø
A state of social blessedness. “He looked for the
city.” A city is
suggestive of society. In Canaan
Abraham was a sojourner amongst
strangers; he anticipated being
a citizen of the heavenly
and at home in congenial
society. Heaven is a scene of the most
DELIGHTFUL
FELLOWSHIPS!
Ø
A state of permanent blessedness. “The city which hath the
foundations.” The
inhabitants of the heavenly world are immortal;
and their “inheritance is incorruptible, undefiled, and fadeth not
away.” (I Peter 1:4) The
crowns which the faithful wear in that
high realm are “crowns of glory that fade not away.” (Ibid. ch. 5:4)
Its holy enjoyments are EVERLASTING!.
Ø A state of
Divine blessedness. “Whose Builder,” or
Architect, “and
Maker is God.” As an edifice illustrates the mind of the architect and
the character of the builder; so
in the new Jerusalem will be specially
displayed the skill and the strength,
the goodness and the glory, of
the great God. (Having seen this wonderful earth which He
hath made,
we have no other reference with
which to compare! I Corinthians 2:9
says “Eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the
things which God hath prepared for them that
love Him!” “He hath
prepared for” His people this city.
Its securities
and sanctities, its occupations
and enjoyments, are ALL FROM HIM!
“And He shall
dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and
GOD HIMSELF shall
be with them, their God.” (Revelation 21:3)
This state Abraham was eagerly
expecting. The sublime hope
of it sustained him in his earthly sojourn. TO US a fuller,
clearer,
brighter
revelation of the future is given. If we have obeyed the Divine
call and are following the
Divine guidance, let us hold fast and cherish
the inspiring hope of perfect holiness and perpetual blessedness, in
“the city which
hath the foundations, whose Builder and Maker
is God.”
11 “Through
faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed,
and was delivered of a child when she was
past age, because she
judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore
sprang there even
of one, and him as good as dead, so many as
the stars of the sky in multitude,
and as the sand which is by the sea shore
innumerable.” The vitality of
Abraham’s faith
is represented as evinced by its surviving and
triumphing
over a succession of trials, over apparent impossibilities. One such peculiar
trial was the long delay of the birth of a legitimate heir
through whom the
promise of an innumerable seed might be fulfilled, and this
till it seemed out
of the question in the natural course of things. Yet “he
staggered not at the
promise of God through unbelief… being fully persuaded that
what he had
promised he was able to perform” (see Romans 4:17-23, which is a
fuller statement of the idea of this verse, including the
use of the words
νενεκρωμένον – nenekromenon - having been dead - and νέκρωσιν – nekrosin –
deadness - to express effeteness, and ἐνεδυναμώθη – enedunamothae – was
strong; he was
invigorated - corresponding to δύναμιν ….ἔλαβεν
– dunamin …
elaben – strength, power, ability…..obtained
- here.
This is a further instance
of Pauline thought in this Epistle — ideas
already enlarged on by Paul
being taken for granted as understood.) In Romans Abraham’s
faith in this
regard is treated as typifying Christian faith in the
resurrection from the
dead (v. 24), as is also, in the chapter before us (v. 19),
his faith
displayed on the occasion of the offering of Isaac. For to
us also our
inability to conceive the mode of accomplishment of what
well-grounded
faith assures us of is no
just cause for staggering. “How are the dead raised
up? and with what kind of body do they come?” was asked by the
Corinthian doubters (I Corinthians 15:35). Paul directs
them, in reply, to faith in
“the power of God”
(compare Mark 12:24) to accomplish His purposes and fulfill
His promises in ways unknown to us, transcending, though
analogous to, the
mysterious processes of nature that we see before our eyes.
For “with
God
all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26) Sarah
is here joined with Abraham,
as also “receiving
power” by faith, i.e. her own
faith, as the structure of v. 11
seems evidently to imply. But how is this consistent with
the account of her
in Genesis, where she is nowhere held up as an example of
faith; nay, is
censured for incredulity (Genesis 18:12-16) with respect to
the promise
of offspring? The answer may be that her temporary unbelief
is concluded
to have been succeeded by faith, as proved by the result,
viz. that she
“received power.” And, indeed, her laughter recorded in Genesis 18, does
not seem intended to imply any permanent “heart of
unbelief;” for even
Abraham had laughed as she did when the same announcement
had been
previously made to him (Genesis 17:17), and the “laughter”
associated
with her memory has quite a different meaning given it when
that of
temporary incredulity was
changed into that of joy on the birth of the
promised son, who
was consequently called Isaac (equivalent to
“laughter”). It is, however, Abraham himself who is
put prominently before
us as the great example of faith; Sarah is only introduced
by his side (with
the words καὶ αὐτὴ - kai autae – also herself) as sharing it and cooperating
to the result. To him singly the writer returns
in v. 12, διὸ καὶ ἀφ. ἑνὸς –
dio kai aph. enos
- wherefore
also from one etc.
13 “These
all (i.e. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the
nomadic patriarchs, not including
the antediluvian heroes, to whom what is further said does
not apply) died in faith
(literally, according to faith, κατὰ πίστιν, as in ver. 7), not
having received the
promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of
them, and
embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the
earth.”
The reference is to the confession of Abraham
to the sons of Heth
(Genesis 23. 4), “I am a stranger and a sojourner with you,”
together with
Jacob’s words to Pharaoh (Ibid. ch. 47:9), “The days of the years of my
pilgrimage,” etc. The import of such confession, intimated in
the preceding
part of the verse, is now educed.
14 “For they that say such
things declare plainly (or, make manifest
) that they
seek a country (i.e.
a native country, πατρίδα – patrida – own country;
fatherland).
15 And truly if they had
been mindful of that country from whence they came
out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now (i.e. as
it is)
they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly:
wherefore God is not
ashamed to be called their God (see reference under v. 9): for He hath
prepared for them a city. In consideration of the drift of the whole of this
interesting and suggestive passage (vs. 9-10,
13-17), the question arises whether
the patriarchs are represented as actually
themselves looking forward to a
heavenly inheritance. In their history as given in
Genesis, as, indeed, in the Old
Testament generally (at any rate, in the earlier books), there
is, as is well
known, no distinct recognition of the life to come. The
promise to
Abraham seems to imply only an innumerable seed, its
possession as a
great nation of the earthly land of promise, and through it
some undefined
blessing to all the families of the earth. Nor are the
patriarchs represented
as looking forward to a fulfillment of the promise beyond
the limits of the
present world. Even so their history is singularly
instructive. They lived in
hope of things not seen through faith in THE DIVINE PROMISE!
The very
fact that they were content to die without themselves
attaining, if so God’s
purpose might be accomplished to their seed, invests them
with a peculiar
grandeur of unselfishness. Their faith was
essentially the same principle as
that of Christians, even though the final object of
Christian hope were
hidden from their eyes; while their dwelling in tents as
strangers, and the
home and city seen afar off, are apt emblems of the present
life and the
heavenly citizenship of Christians. It may be that this is
all that is intended
in the Epistle, the history being allegorized, as that of
Isaac and Ishmael is
in the Epistle to the Galatians. If so, the apparent
attribution of a heavenly
hope to the patriarchs themselves must be accounted for by
a blending of
the actual history with its ideal meaning, such as was
observed in the
chapter about Melchizedek. But it is difficult to
understand the expressions
used as implying no more than this. Abraham is said to have
himself looked
for the “city that hath the foundations,” of which GOD IS THE
BUILDER –
a description which cannot but denote the “heavenly
the city whose foundations were on the holy hills below is
regarded
elsewhere as but a type and emblem (compare ch.12:22;
13:14; Galatians 4:26;
Revelation 21:14; also infra, ch. 8:2, where ἣν ἔπηξεν
ὁ κύριος – haen epaexen
ho Kurios – which the
Lord pitched - is said of the heavenly tabernacle).
This
interpretation is further supported by our finding in Philo
similar views of a
heavenly counterpart to
Again, the country desired by the patriarchs is, in v. 16,
distinctly called a
heavenly one. Nor is the view at all untenable that,
notwithstanding the
silence of the ancient record on the subject, they did look
forward to a life
after death with God, seeing in the promised earthly
inheritance an emblem
and earnest of a heavenly one. Well known is Bishop
Warburton’s
argument that a belief in a future state, which was so
ancient and universal,
and so prominent especially in the religion of
necessity have been shared in by the race of Abraham, and
hence that the
silence about it in the Mosaic record must be due, not to
its absence from
the creed of
Worthy of attention also are Dean Stanley’s words (Lect. 7. on ‘Jewish
Church’) “Not from want of religion, but (if one might use
the expression)
from excess of religion, was this void left. The future
life was not denied or
contradicted, but it was overlooked, set aside, overshadowed,
by the
consciousness of the living, actual presence of God Himself.” But though
such void there is, however to be accounted for, there are
still, even in the
Pentateuch (as certainly in the Psalms and prophets),
occasional glimpses
of the hope of immortality. (This Christ
brought to light – II Timothy
1:10 – CY – 2014) The mystic tree of life in the midst of
the
garden, the predicted bruising, of the serpent’s head, the
mystery of
Enoch’s departure from the world, and notably (as our Lord Himself
points
out) God still calling Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob (“the
God of the living” –
Mark 12:27 – CY - 2014) after they had
been long ago
gathered to their fathers, are intimations, even in the
Pentateuch, of a belief in
man’s immortal hopes. And it may be added, with reference
to the history
immediately before us, that Jacob’s application of the idea
of his being a
“sojourner “ —
used by Abraham with reference to the abode in
to the whole course of his life upon the earth, in itself
suggests the meaning
attached to such language in the Epistle. Hence no violence
is done to the
meaning of the history rather it may be that its deeper
meaning is brought out, if
the patriarchs are regarded as entertaining a hope of a heavenly
inheritance to
themselves, and seeing beyond the earthly types. But even f
we suppose such
immortal hopes as having been in them at the most but vague
and dim, still their
faith in and longing for a fulfillment of the promise in
any sense was really a
longing and reaching after the eternal realities which the
first fulfillment
typified. Compare the view taken in ch.4. of the meaning of
“God’s
rest.” Delitzsch thus enunciates this view of the passage before
us: “The
promise given to the patriarchs was a Divine assurance of a
future rest.
That rest was connected, in the first instance, with the
future possession of
an earthly home; but their desire for that home was at the
same time a
longing and a seeking after Him who had given the promise
of it, whoso
presence and blessing alone made it for them an object of
desire, and
whose presence and blessing, however vouchsafed, makes the
place of its
manifestation to be indeed a heaven. The shell of their
longing might thus
be of earth; its kernel was heavenly and Divine, and as
such God Himself
vouchsafed to honor and reward it.” (It is God, Himself, who has
“set the world [eternity] in
their heart” – Ecclesiastes 3:11 – CY – 2014)
From the general mode of life of the patriarchs the review
now passes to
particular acts of faith, beginning with Abraham’s
memorable one, the
offering of Isaac.
The Christian’s Condition in this World (vs.
13-14)
“These all died in faith, not having received the
promises,” etc. By “these
all” we understand
Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Jacob. They died in
faith. Their faith, though at times it was sorely tried,
continued unto death.
And their death was according to or consistent with their
faith. They
departed this life still
believing in the promises, and anticipating their
fulfillment in the life beyond. We take what is said of the patriarchs in these
two verses as descriptive of the Christian’s condition in
this world.
HERE, BUT ANTICIPATES THEIR REALIZATION HEREAFTER.
The patriarchs “all
died in faith, not having received the promises, but
having seen them
and greeted them from afar.” They did
not inherit
hopes which those promises
awakened were not realized when they died.
But our text teaches:
Ø
That they firmly
believed in the blessings promised to them. By
faith they saw them from
afar.
Ø
They anticipated
the possession of these blessings.
They “greeted
them.”
From afar they saw the promises
in the reality of their fulfillment; from
afar they greeted them as the
wanderer greets his longed-for home, even
when he only comes in sight of
it at a distance, drawing to himself as it
were magnetically and embracing
with inward love that which
is yet afar off. The
exclamation, “I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord”
(Genesis 49:18), is such a
greeting of salvation from afar. The image
is that of sailors who, catching
a glimpse of the shores they wish to reach,
salute them from a distance.”
Cowper expresses the idea. He speaks of:
“The savage rock,…
That hides
the seamew in his hollow clefts
Above the
reach of man. His hoary head,
Conspicuous
many a league, the mariner,
Bound
homeward, and in hope already there,
Greets
with three cheers exulting.”
Such was the attitude of the
patriarchs to the blessings promised
unto them by the Lord. And in
this respect Christians to some extent
resemble them. The highest and
brightest hopes of the Christian are
not attained here. This world is
the scene of the pursuit rather than
the attainment of the divinest satisfactions.
Is there any one whose
brightest and best hopes have
been realized in this world? Is our life
as good and glad
and great a thing as we pictured it in our early days?
Are we as true and
pure, as brave and noble, as we hoped and
expected to be? Verily, we have not
attained; we are not
satisfied; we have not received
the promised blessings. But these
blessings still
beckon us onward. We long and hope for
the realization
of them. So far as we are religious, we are in a state
of aspiration and
unsatisfied desire. In disappointment ever renewed, in thoughts
and
affections ever transcending all
our possibilities, consist all
the noble unrest, the progressive goodness, the immortal capacities
of our nature, rendering it the
creator of poetry and the moral creature
of God.” We anticipate the
fruition of our hopes hereafter. “As
for me,
I will behold thy
face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I
awake, with thy likeness.” (Psalm 17:15)
SOJOURNER — A PILGRIM.
“Confessed
that they were pilgrims on the
earth” (compare Genesis 23:4; 47:9), All
men are pilgrims in this world.
David, in the height of his
power, confessed this (I Chronicles 29:15).
Whether they will or not, every
man is moving ever onward from the
seen
TO THE UNSEEN, from the temporal to the eternal.
Some are unwilling
pilgrims. If they could they
would be citizens here, not sojourners. But if
they attempt to settle down,
some sharp shock soon reminds them that
their condition here is not
stationary, but itinerant and changeable. The
Christian
cheerfully recognizes the fact that he has no continuing city here;
he confesses
that he is a pilgrim on the earth.
Mark some of the features of
this pilgrimage.
Ø
It is irretraceable. There is no
opportunity of going back to past scenes
and experiences. The
movement is invariably onward.
Ø
It is continuous.
There are no stoppages on this journey.
Life never
pauses in its motion.
Ø
It is rapid. Compared with the work to be done in it, and with the
boundless and solemn future
to which it leads, how brief is life!
(“We spend our years as a tale
that is told!” – Psalm 90:9 – And
to think that I am blessed
in my 71st year through God’s great
grace! – CY – 2014)
SEEKING HIS HOME ELSEWHERE. “Confessed that they were
strangers and
pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare
plainly that they
seek after a country of their own.”
They seek a fatherland,
a home. There is much in this
world which is uncongenial to the true
Christian. He has desires which this world cannot satisfy. He does not want
to stay here permanently, He
does not feel at home here. But he is seeking
his home in heaven; he is pressing onward to his Father’s house. There
many of his best and dearest
friends have already entered; there many of his
spiritual kinsfolk dwell; there the elder Brother and the heavenly Father are
at home; and as he journeys
thither he sings:
“There
is my house and portion fair,
My
treasure and my heart are there,
And
my abiding home.”
While on the journey let the
Christian pilgrim rejoice:
Ø
In the excellence of the way on which he travels. “A highway shall
be
there, and a
way, and it shall be called The way of holiness,” (Isaiah
35:8)
Ø In the
attractiveness of the prospects which beckon him forward.
Ø
In the delightfulness of the companionships of the
journey. “He himself
shall be with them, walking
in the way the redeemed shall walk in it.”
(Ibid. v. 9)
Ø
In the blessedness of the destination to which He travels. They “shall
come to
The Christian’s Attitude in this World (vs.
15-16)
“And truly if they had been mindful of that country from
whence they came
out” etc. These words,
telling us how the patriarchs regarded the country which
they had left and the country for which they looked,
suggest to us that the Christian’s
attitude in this world is that of :
BEHIND. And truly if
the patriarchs “had been mindful of that country
from whence they
came out, they might have had opportunity to return.”
Though having no possession in
return to their old home to seek
for friendships there; for had they wished
to do so, opportunities were not
lacking for the realization of such a wish.
There are at least two senses in
which the Christian has renounced the
things which are behind.
Ø
He has no desire to return to a life of worldliness or of
sin. He could do
so if he wished, but he is not
disposed to do so. He has no relish for those
pursuits and pleasures of this
world, which
are followed without any
thought of the life and the world which lie beyond. And a life of sin is
abhorrent to him. To go back to
the old life would be to pass from light
into darkness, from liberty into
bondage, from noble unrest to seek for
ignoble satisfactions, and the
true Christian will not entertain such an
idea.
Ø He has no
desire to return to the past seasons and experiences of life.
There may be times when he has a
brief and unhealthy longing for the
lost innocence of childhood, or
for the too-fleeting enjoyments of youth,
or for the recurrence of past opportunities
which were neglected or only
partially improved. There are,
we conceive, few persons but at times have
painfully felt such longings.
But the calm, considerate desire of the
Christian is not
to go back to any of these things. His
judgment
assures him that if he could
return to the past, or recall departed
seasons and opportunities, he
would probably make no better use
of them than he has already done
(or even worse – CY – 2014).
Hence, like Paul, he endeavors
to “forget
those things which are
behind and
reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the
mark of the prize of the high calling of God
in Jesus Christ.” (Philippians
3:13-14)
now they desire a
better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not
ashamed to be
called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city.”
Ø
The object of their desire. “They desire a
better country, that is, a
heavenly.” Heaven is better than the best of earthly countries or
homes. It is better:
o
In its society. The Christian will not feel himself a stranger
there; for he will be with
kindred spirits. Good people here
are not always agreeable;
but in heaven the society is always
genial and refreshing.
o
In its services. The service of God is delightful at present,
though that which we render
is very imperfect in its character,
and often interrupted in
its exercise, and very contracted in
its sphere. But hereafter we shall consecrate our perfected
powers to Him, and “serve him day and
night in
His temple,” without weariness and with joy unspeakable.
o
In its enjoyments. “In thy presence
is fullness of joy; at thy
right hand there
are pleasures for evermore.” (Psalm
16:11)
The heavenly
enjoyments are distinguished for:
§
their purity,
§
their plenitude,
and
§
their perpetuity.
§
o
In its security. Sickness, sorrow, death, and sin, the prolific
parent of suffering, cannot enter heaven. (It is a place
“wherein dwelleth righteousness.”
- II Peter 3:13 – CY –
2014)
Verily, the heavenly is a better country.
Ø
The propriety of their desire. They who have
received the Divine call, as
the patriarchs had and the
sincere Christian has, should aim at the end of
their calling; they should seek
to realize it, and endeavor to act up to it. In
seeking the better country
Christians are doing so; “wherefore God is not
ashamed of them,
to be called their God.” (v. 16) It is fitting that the
children should
long for their Father’s house; “wherefore
God is not
ashamed of them,” etc.
Ø
The blessedness of their desire. It will end in full
fruition. The longing
which is never satisfied is only
a protracted pain. The longing for what is
worthy, and which is lost in its
fulfillment, issues in blessedness. Such
is the desire of the Christian. “God
is not ashamed of them, to be
called their God;
for He hath prepared for them a city.”
If God by
His promises had kindled
their hopes only to disappoint them, He
might be “ashamed to be called
their God.” If He was their God
and Father, yet provided no home for
His children, He might be
“ashamed to be called their
God.” But He has provided for the
satisfaction of
the hopes which He has awakened; and the
home for which
they long He has established. “He
hath prepared
for them a city.” Since
we are journeying homeward:
o Let us not be much concerned for either
the pleasures or the
possessions
of this world.
o Let us not count it a strange thing if
we have some discomforts
on the way.
o Let us not
dread death, for it is the gate of admission into the
city which God hath prepared for his people. (A passing
from death
into life – John 5:24)
17 “By faith Abraham, when
he was tried, offered up (literally, hath
offered up,
denoting an accomplished act of which the significance
continues) Isaac: and he
that had received (rather,
accepted, implying his own assent and belief) the
promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 Of whom it was said,
That
in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was
able to raise
him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received
him in a figure.”
The above rendering varies slightly from the
Authorized Version in vs. 18-19.
For, in v. 18, πρὸς ὃν – pros hon – of whom – is more
naturally connected with
the immediate antecedent, ὁ.…ἀναδεξάμενος, - ho anadexamenos
– he received;
the one receiving - than with
μονογενῆ - monogenae – only
begotten: and, in
v. 19, there is no need to supply
“him” after ἐγείρειν – egeirein – to raise:
the Greek seems obviously to
express belief in GOD’S GENERAL
POWER
TO RAISE THE DEAD, not His power in that instance only. The offering
of Isaac (specially instanced also
by James, James 2:21), stands out as the
crowning instance of Abraham’s faith. The very son, so long expected, and
at length, as it were, supernaturally given, — he in whose single life was
bound up all hope of fulfillment
of the promise, was to be sacrificed after all,
and so seemingly all hope cut off.
Yet Abraham
is represented as not hesitating
for a moment to do in simple faith what
seemed God’s will, and still not wavering
in his hope of a fulfillment somehow. Such faith is here regarded as virtually faith
in God’s power EVEN TO RAISE THE DEAD! . (For a similar view of Abraham’s
faith as representing “the hope and resurrection of the dead,” compare Romans
4:17, 24.) The expression, “In Isaac shall thy seed be
called” (literally, “In
Isaac shall be called to thee a seed”), quoted from Genesis
21:12, means, not that
the seed should be called after the name of Isaac, but that
the seed to be called
Abraham’s should be in Isaac, i.e. his issue. The concluding
phrase, “Whence also
he received him in a figure” (ἐν παραβολῇ
- parabolae - in a parable), has been
variously interpreted.
Notwithstanding the authority of many modern
commentators, we may
certainly reject the view of παραβολῇ carrying here the
sense borne by the verb παραβἀλλεσθαὶ - paraballesthai - that of venturing or
exposing one’s
self to risk,
or that of the adverb παραβόλως – parabolos –
unexpectedly. Even if the noun παραβολῇ could be shown by any instance to
bear such senses, its ordinary use in the New Testament as
well as in the
Septuagint must surely be understood here. It expresses
(under the idea of
comparison, or setting one thing by the side of another) an
illustration,
representation, or figure of something. Its use in this
sense in the Gospels is
familiar to us all; elsewhere in the New Testament it
occurs only in this Epistle,
ch.
9:9, where the “first tabernacle”
is spoken of as a παραβολῇ. Still, the
question remains of the exact drift of this expression, ἐν παραβολῇ. It
surely is, that, though Isaac did not really die, but only
the ram in his stead,
yet the transaction represented to Abraham an actual
winning of his son
from the dead; he did so win him in the way of an acted
parable, which
confirmed his faith in God’s power to raise the dead as
much as if the lad
had died. For such use of the preposition ἐν we may compare I Corinthians
13:12, Βλέπομεν δι’ ἐσόπτρου
ἐν αἰνίγματι – Blepomen di’ esoptrou
en ainigmati –
we see through a
glass; mirror; darkly, which may mean (notwithstanding the
different view of it given
doubtfully by the distinguished commentator on the
Epistle in the ‘Speaker’s
Commentary’), “We see, not actually, but in the way
of an enigmatical representation,
as through
a mirror.” The above seems a mere
natural meaning of the phrase, ἐν παραβολῇ, than that of the commentators
who interpret it “in such sort as to be
a parable or type of something else to
come,” viz. of the death and resurrection
of Christ. It does not, of course,
follow that the transaction
was not typical of Christ, or that the writer does
not so regard it; we are
only considering what his language in itself implies.
Rendered literally,
and with retention of the order of the words, the sentence
runs: “From whence [i.e. from the dead]
him [i.e. Isaac, αὐτὸν - auton – him –
being slightly emphatic, as
is shown by its position in the sentence, equivalent
to illum, not eum; and this suitably after the general proposition
preceding] he
did too in a parable win [ἐκομίσαντο – ekomisanto – received; requited -
compare v. 39, οὐκ ἐκομίσαντο
τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν
– ouk ekomisanto taen
epangelian – received not the promise].” With regard to what we may call
the moral aspect of this peculiar trial of Abraham’s faith,
a few words may
be said, since a difficulty naturally suggests itself on
the subject. How, it
may be asked, is it consistent with our ideas of Divine
righteousness, that
even readiness to slay his son should be required of
Abraham as a duty?
How are we to account for this apparent sanction of the
principle of human
sacrifices? To the latter question we may reply, in the
first place, that the
narrative in Genesis, taken as a whole, affords no such
sanction, but very
much the contrary. All we are told is that the great
patriarch, in the course
of his religious training, was once divinely led to suppose
such a sacrifice
to be required of him. The offering of sons was not unusual
in the ancient
races among where Abraham lived; and, however shocking such
a practice
might be, and however condemned in later Scripture, it was due,
we may
say to the perversion only of a true instinct of humanity —
that which
suggests the need of some great atonement, and the claim of
the Giver of
all to our best and dearest, if demanded from us. That
Abraham should be
even divinely led to suppose for a time that his God
required him to
express his acknowledgment of this need and this claim by
not withholding
from him as much as even the heathen were accustomed to
offer to their
gods, is consistent with God’s general way of educating men
to a full
knowledge of the truth. But the sacrifice was in the end
emphatically
forbidden by a voice from heaven; to Abraham thenceforth,
and to his seed
for ever, it was made dearly known that, though God does
require
atonement for sin and entire submission to His will, He does not require
violence to be done to tender human feeling, or any cruel
rites.
Faith of the Hebrew Pilgrim Fathers (vs.
8-19)
What American on could look without emotion on the granite
boulder at
New
Pilgrim Fathers of New England stepped ashore from the Mayflower?
And,
in like manner, what Jew can think but with enthusiasm of
those three
glorious names — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? The verses
before us were
well fitted to stir the hearts’ blood of the Hebrews to
whom this treatise
was addressed. And they should stir ours too; for these patriarchs are the
Pilgrim Fathers of all the men of faith. We shall consider the passage
chiefly in connection with Abraham, the father of the
faithful. In his
spiritual life there were at least four great crises — four
occasions upon
which his faith was severely tried, and came forth
victorious. The apostle
introduces his reference to each of these with the
expression which is the
refrain of the whole chapter — “ By faith” (vs. 8-9, 11,
17).
It was a hard command which
he received, to leave his native country,
and to cast himself upon the bare promise of God for another home. He
had to break the ties which
bound him to the scenes of his youth. He was
at first ignorant as to what
country he was going. His long journey would
expose him to hardships and
dangers. Yet Abraham did not hesitate to
obey. He gathered his flocks
together, and set out with his household
caravan. It was impossible that
he could have comprehended the large plan
of Providence, of which only one little corner was unfolded in his call;
but
the precept and the promise were
sufficient to determine his action. So he
put his hand trustfully into the
great hand of God, and allowed Him to
guide his feet. Abraham’s emigration was the first link in the golden chain
of the triumphs of his
faith. It teaches us such lessons as
these — that
personal religion:
Ø
takes its rise in
God;
Ø
is the fruit of a
Divine revelation; and
Ø
is the product of an
earnest
faith.
PILGRIMAGE. (vs. 9-10,
13-16.) When he arrived in Canaan, the
patriarch found that he was not
to receive immediate possession of the
land. Indeed, while he lived, it
remained still but “the land of
promise.” He
dwelt in tents. He did not build
any walled city. The only piece of ground
which he ever acquired was a burying-place. But his view of the meaning
of the covenant expanded with
his spiritual experience. Abraham and
Sarah, Isaac and Jacob,
gradually learned that the promise of an inheritance
in the literal Canaan was in
their own case an illusion. Yet they did not
conclude that it had been a
delusion. They learned to understand the
promises spiritually, and were
persuaded that God would fulfill
His word
even to
themselves, in a deeper way than at first they
had dreamed. So they
steadfastly maintained their
faith; and, viewing Canaan as a type of heaven,
“confessed that
they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” Abraham
was content to feel always from home in this world. Although he became
immensely wealthy, he continued
spiritually a pilgrim. His maxim was not
that of sense, “A bird in the
hand is worth two in the bush; “rather, as a
prince of the men of faith,” he looked for the city which hath the
foundations.” The fatherland for which he longed was not the place of
his
birth, else he could easily have
re-crossed the Euphrates (v. 15). “The
heirs of the promise”
sought their home in heaven. And so, “These
all died
in faith,” is the epitaph common to all the monuments in Patriarchs’
Corner of the abbey church of the Old Testament. And because they
so
died, God condescended to take
one of his great Bible-names from those
Hebrew Pilgrim Fathers — “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
PROTRACTED CHILDLESSNESS. (vs. 11-12.) This severe trial
Sarah shared with
him. If
the faith of Abraham forms, as it were, the
magnificent frontispiece of the
volume of Jewish history, Sarah’s faith
occupies the positron of the
vignette upon the title-page (Isaiah 51:2).
The time came when the birth of
a child to them was, humanly speaking,
doubly impossible; and yet God
said that the covenant would not be
fulfilled in the line of
Ishmael. Had it not been for their faith, accordingly,
Sarah’s son Isaac would never
have been born; and the promise could not
have been realized that Abraham
should have a posterity — both natural
and spiritual — numerous as the
stars in the Eastern sky, or as the sand
grains upon the shore of
ocean. (Genesis 22:17)
Ø
ABRAHAM’S FAITH WAS SHOWN IN THE SACRIFICE OF HIS
SON. (vs. 17-19.)
This extraordinary event was the final strain to
which
his faith was
subjected. It was a dreadful ordeal,
and one from which even
most good men would have
recoiled with horror. The patriarch was
commanded to offer up the most
precious of all sacrifices. He was to
perform a deed abhorrent to the
most sacred human affection. He was
required to put to
death the heir of the Divine promise,
and thus appear to
destroy the hopes which clustered
round him. Yet by faith Abraham
sustained this last and crowning
trial. His submission was entire. His
obedience was perfect. The
apostle says definitely that he “offered up
Isaac;” for the sacrifice was completely accomplished in the
patriarch’s will
before the angel stayed his
hand. And what was the faith which comforted
his heart and nerved his arm, at
this unparalleled crisis of his spiritual life?
Abraham accounted that “God is able to raise up, even from the dead.” He
was sure that Isaac would be
restored to life again, rather than that the
promise should fail. Isaac’s resurrection
would not be a greater miracle
than his birth had been. And, the apostle adds, the patriarch really did
receive Isaac from the dead,
figuratively speaking (v. 19). An
achievement so sublime evinced
that complete self-consecration and
submission to
God’s will which belongs only to
perfect faith, and thus
certifies Abraham’s right to the
lofty title of “father of the faithful.”
Ø
Are we ready to obey
any call of God, whether relating to our outer life
or to our soul-life?
Ø
Do we feel ourselves
to be “strangers and pilgrims
on the earth,” or
could we take an eternity of our
present life, provided our material
circumstances were comfortable?
(This seems to be what we
erroneously desire at
times? CY – 2014)
Ø
Have we the faith
which can laugh at impossibilities rather than
disbelieve the Divine promise?
Ø
Have we unreservedly
consecrated to God our soul, our life, our all?
Happy is each heart that can “make melody to the
Lord” in the words of
the hymn:
“The
God of Abraham praise,
At whose supreme command
From earth I rise, and seek the joys
At His right hand.
I all on earth forsake, —
Its wisdom, fame, and power;
And Him my only Portion make,
My Shield and Tower.”
(Olivers.)
The Christian’s Attitude in this World (vs.
15-16)
“And truly if they had been mindful of that country from
whence they came
out” etc. These
words, telling us how the patriarchs regarded the country which
they had left and the country for which they looked,
suggest to us that the Christian’s
attitude in this world is that of :
BEHIND. And truly if
the patriarchs “had been mindful of that country
from whence they
came out, they might have had opportunity to return.”
Though having no possession in
return to their old home to seek
for friendships there; for had they wished
to do so, opportunities were not
lacking for the realization of such a wish.
There are at least two senses in
which the Christian has renounced the
things which are behind.
Ø
He has no desire to return to a life of worldliness or of
sin. He could do
so if he wished, but he is not
disposed to do so. He has no relish for those
pursuits and pleasures of this
world, which
are followed without any
thought of the life and the world which lie beyond. And a life of sin is
abhorrent to him. To go back to
the old life would be to pass from light
into darkness, from liberty into
bondage, from noble unrest to seek for
ignoble satisfactions, and the
true Christian will not entertain such an
idea.
Ø He has no
desire to return to the past seasons and experiences of life.
There may be times when he has a
brief and unhealthy longing for the
lost innocence of childhood, or
for the too-fleeting enjoyments of youth,
or for the recurrence of past
opportunities which were neglected or only
partially improved. There are,
we conceive, few persons but at times have
painfully felt such longings.
But the calm, considerate desire of the
Christian is not
to go back to any of these things. His
judgment
assures him that if he could
return to the past, or recall departed
seasons and opportunities, he
would probably make no better use
of them than he has already done
(or even worse – CY – 2014).
Hence, like Paul, he endeavors
to “forget
those things which are
behind and
reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the
mark of the prize of the high calling of God
in Jesus Christ.” (Philippians
3:13-14)
now they desire a
better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not
ashamed to be
called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city.”
Ø
The object of their desire. “They desire a
better country, that is, a
heavenly.” Heaven is better than the best of earthly countries or
homes. It is better:
o
In its society. The Christian will not feel himself a stranger
there; for he will be with
kindred spirits. Good people here
are not always agreeable;
but in heaven the society is always
genial and refreshing.
o
In its services. The service of God is delightful at present,
though that which we render
is very imperfect in its character,
and often interrupted in
its exercise, and very contracted in
its sphere. But hereafter we shall consecrate our perfected
powers to Him, and “serve him day and
night in
His temple,” without weariness and with joy unspeakable.
o
In its enjoyments. “In thy presence
is fullness of joy; at thy
right hand there
are pleasures for evermore.” (Psalm
16:11)
The heavenly
enjoyments are distinguished for:
§
their purity,
§
their plenitude,
and
§
their perpetuity.
§
o
In its security. Sickness, sorrow, death, and sin, the prolific
parent of suffering, cannot enter heaven. (It is a place
“wherein dwelleth righteousness.”
- II Peter 3:13 – CY –
2014)
Verily, the heavenly is a better country.
Ø
The propriety of their desire. They who have
received the Divine call, as
the patriarchs had and the
sincere Christian has, should aim at the end of
their calling; they should seek
to realize it, and endeavor to act up to it. In
seeking the better country
Christians are doing so; “wherefore God is not
ashamed of them,
to be called their God.” (v. 16) It is fitting that the
children should
long for their Father’s house; “wherefore
God is not
ashamed of them,” etc.
Ø
The blessedness of their desire. It will end in full
fruition. The longing
which is never satisfied is only
a protracted pain. The longing for what is
worthy, and which is lost in its
fulfillment, issues in blessedness. Such
is the desire of the Christian. “God
is not ashamed of them, to be
called their God;
for He hath prepared for them a city.”
If God by
His promises had kindled
their hopes only to disappoint them, He
might be “ashamed to be called
their God.” If He was their God
and Father, yet provided no home for
His children, He might be
“ashamed to be called their
God.” But He has provided for the
satisfaction of
the hopes which He has awakened; and the
home for which
they long He has established. “He
hath prepared
for them a city.” Since
we are journeying homeward:
o Let us not be much concerned for either
the pleasures or the
possessions
of this world.
o Let us not count it a strange thing if
we have some discomforts
on the way.
o Let us not
dread death, for it is the gate of admission into the
city which God hath prepared for his people. (A passing
from death
into life – John 5:24)
Abraham’s Faith in Offering Isaac (vs.
17-19)
This is to be considered here as an illustration of faith.
All our modern
difficulties as to the right and wrong of Abraham’s conduct
never occurred
to the writer of this Epistle. A human sacrifice was not
abhorrent to
Abraham’s views of religious necessity. Here we have simply
to look at the
faith a father showed when called to give up his only son.
See:
natural affections; for Abraham,
having loved his son, loved him to the end.
The very depth and intensity of
his natural affection make his faith appear
the stronger. We must not for a
moment admit that natural affection could
be even deadened in his heart to
allow him to do such a thing. But
assuredly his natural inclinations must have had a struggle with his
faith
before they
surrendered. It is an almost universal
tendency among parents
to wish that their children
should have the rewards and comforts of life.
Wherever failure and suffering
may come, they are not to come to them.
The mother of James and John
showed this feeling very strongly.
(Matthew 20:21) This is the way in which natural affection gets spoiled and
made a hideous thing through selfishness. This is the way in
which natural
affection often defeats itself, and instead of doing the best thing for
children
does the worst. Here surely is an example for parents in dealing with
their
children. Let them try to find
out what God would have them do, what
is really best upon a large view
of the future, and not what seems best, not
what is easiest and most
comfortable. God called both Abraham and his
son to self-sacrifice, and his
view was far better than any inclination
or judgment of their own.
there ever a finer chance for
the tempter to make the worse appear the
better reason, to strengthen
natural inclination by plausible representations
as to what was the Divine will?
It seems most reasonable to say, “Isaac is
the child of promise: the
future for generations depends on his life;
whatever else may happen to
him, it is clear he is not to die now.” And
only too often in life plausible
reasons for what turns out in the end an
utterly wrong course are found with very little ingenuity. It is not enough
that a way should seem right to
love and prudence. Opportunities may
come seeming on the surface of
them to have signs of
all the time the real pointing of
gets led away with unconscious
sophistries. Now, it is in view of just such
circumstances that God comes in
with His clear authority to take the place
of our plausible views and
arguments. There are times when distinct,
impressive intimations are not
needed, when ordinary common sense and
right feeling are quite enough.
But also there are times when one clear,
significant word
from above will settle everything to the
humble and
docile mind.
God did not come in with this
trial of faith at the beginning of His dealings
with Abraham. He showed him
first of all much of His power and His
guiding hand. The child whom He asked in sacrifice had first of all been
given in miracle. Divine demands are always proportioned to strength and
to previous experiences. And so,
however hard the trial might be to the
feelings of the father, yet it
had its eminently reasonable side when it
appealed to the experience of
the believer. God was putting honor upon
Abraham in judging him fit for
such a demand as this.
20 “By faith Isaac blessed
Jacob and Esau concerning things to
come.”
Here the word καὶ
- kai – and - gives force
to what is meant; words uttered
by the patriarchs in the spirit of prophecy being now
adduced as further
evidence of their faith.
To those inspired by this spirit even the distant future
is realized as present; and faith is not only a condition
of such prophetic visions
being granted to them, but is also evinced by their trusting the visions as
Divine revelations, and speaking with confidence accordingly. The prophet
seems as though able himself to control the future by giving or withholding
blessing (compare Jeremiah 1:10); but it is really that his mind and will are at
one with THE MIND AND
WILL OF GOD, a Divine voice speaks within
him, and through faith he is receptive of it and gives it
utterance. Thus it was
that even the future characters, and changing relations to
each other, of the
yet unborn races of
foreshadowed in the blessings of that dying patriarch.
21 “By faith Jacob, when he
was a dying, blessed both the
sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his
staff.”
Here two distinct incidents are referred to, both at the
close of Jacob’s life.
That first mentioned, the blessing of the sons of Joseph
(Genesis 48:2),
closely resembles the dying act of Isaac already spoken of,
and has a
similar significance. In both cases, too, human intention
is overruled, in that
the younger son obtains the higher blessing; and each
patriarch accepts
alike the Divine intimation to this effect, thus further
evincing faith in a
power and a will above his own. The latter part of the
verse, “and
worshipped,” etc.,
is quoted from Ibid. ch. 47:31, and refers to a
previous instance of the dying Jacob’s faith, in his charge
to Joseph to bury
him with his fathers in the land of promise. The reversal
in the text of the
historical order of the two instances may be because the
one referred to
first is cognate with the instance of Isaac’s faith which
has gone before, the
other with that of Joseph’s which follows. For the
benedictions of Isaac
and Jacob, when a-dying, expressed faith in revelations
made to them
about the several races of their future seed; the deathbed
charges of Jacob
and Joseph expressed faith in the chosen seed’s inheritance
of the Promised
Land. Though in the verse before us Jacob’s charge to
Joseph, with a view
to this inheritance, is not mentioned, yet the quotation
from the account of
it in Genesis, “and
worshipped,” etc., would be sufficient, in this concise
summary of instances, to recall it to the mind of readers,
and so intimate
the writer’s meaning. The variation of the Septuagint,
which is here followed as
usual, from the Massoretic text,
in reading “staff” instead of “bed,” is due
to the ambiguity of the Hebrew word, which has one meaning
or the other
according to its pointing. “Bed” seems more likely to have
been intended,
inasmuch as the bed on which the patriarch lay is twice
again mentioned
(Ibid. ch. 48:2; 49:33) in the
account of the closing scene; and we find
also a similar expression used of David in his old age (I
Kings 1:47).
But the variation is unimportant, the essence of the
passage being in the
word translated “bowed himself,” which in the Hebrew
as well as the
Greek certainly expresses an act of worship. The only
difference is that,
according to one rendering, this worship was expressed by
his bowing over
the staff on which he leaned as he sat upon the bed (Ibid.
ch.48:2);
according to the other, by his turning round to prostrate
himself with his
head upon the pillow.
Faith Giving Serenity and Magnanimity in
Death (v. 21)
“By faith Jacob, when he was a-dying,” etc. Let us notice:
and in any case death is an
important and solemn event. It is so for several
reasons.
Ø
Think of the mysteriousness of death. There is the mystery
of the
dissolution of the soul from the
body. There are the mysteries of Hades.
Where is Hades? What is it? What
is the mode of human existence
there? There is no authoritative
response to our inquiries.
Ø
Think of what death terminates. It ends our visible
association with
earthly scenes, circumstances,
and societies; it writes “finis” upon all
the privileges of this life; it
concludes our opportunities for the
discharge of the duties of this
life.
Ø
Think of what it inaugurates. It introduces us to
the retributionary
and eternal state. Yes,
death is important and solemn. Jacob’s death
is worthy of study; it is
interesting, instructive, and sublime.
staff.” Some things of little worth in themselves are yet very
precious by
reason of their associations.
Such in all probability was this staff. It was
rich in associations, fruitful
in suggestions. It was, perhaps, the same one
that is mentioned in a former
portion of his life: “With my staff I passed
over this
left his home and his parents
with a guilty and sorrowful spirit; with him,
perhaps in his hand, at Luz when
he slept with the stones for his pillow,
and dreamed, etc.; with him that
other night, when “there wrestled a man
with him until the
breaking of the day.” (Ibid. v.
24) It supported his feeble
frame when he met his long-lost Joseph
at
the “last scene of all,” as he worships leaning upon the old staff. What
associations clustered round it!
What emotions it would evoke! what
gratitude! trust! etc.
engaged:
Ø
In blessing men.
“Blessed each of the sons of Joseph.” The meaning of
this may be ascertained by
referring to Genesis 48:15-20. The blessing
comprised petition, benediction,
and prediction of good. A bequest like
this is better than proud titles
or vast domains. The richest human bequest
is the blessing of a holy man.
Parents, bestow upon your children this.
Children, prize this.
“My boast is not that I deduce my birth
From loins enthroned, and rulers of the earth;
But higher far my proud pretensions rise —
The son of parents
passed into the skies.”
(Cowper.)
Now turn to the staff for a
minute. In blessing the lads Jacob thought
and spake
of God’s goodness to himself. Would not the staff inspire
him with confidence in assuring
that goodness to others? As it reminded
him of that sad departure from
home, and of other trials, and of the way
in which God had led him and
sustained him and prospered him, it
would fill him with assurance
and hope for these two grandchildren.
Observe how self-forgetful and
magnanimous the patriarch was in this.
He has not a thought or
purpose for himself. He does not seek to be
ministered unto, but he ministers unto others. Such is his attitude
towards men in dying. He passes from this world pronouncing
benedictions
upon men.
Ø
In worshipping God. “And worshipped.” In this also the staff
would stimulate the aged
saint, as it revived his recollections of:
o
the fidelity and
forbearance,
o
the mercy and
munificence,
of the dealings of God
with him. Towards God his dying attitude
was religious and reverent.
He died devoutly
adoring Him. How
different is the death of the impenitent! and of those who, although
penitent, have to seek God
on the bed of death! “Let me die the
death of the
righteous,” (Numbers 23:10) But how may we do so?
faith.” This is true as regards:
Ø
The blessing. Unbelievers would pronounce his blessing an absurd
superstition, empty sentiment,
wasted breath. The patriarch believed
in the power of intercessory
prayer, and so he prayed for the sons of
Joseph. He believed that God
often conveys His blessing to men
through men, that He blesses man
by man. So he utters words of
blessing on the lads. Do you
think they were vain? I am sure they
were not. The memory of them
would be a mighty influence for good
in their lives. And as their
father would tell them in after days of their
grandfather and his blessing, high and holy purposes would kindle
within them.
Ø
The worship. Jacob believed in the Being of God. God was a reality to
him, or he would not have
worshipped. He believed in the holiness and
spiritual beauty of God or he
could not have worshipped Him.
Ø
The dying. That by faith the aged saint worshipped God and blessed
men “when he was a-dying” is a point of importance. Life
and
immortality were not
brought to light then as they are now. The revelation
as to the departed was very
dim. Yet by faith
victoriously. It was by
faith in God rather than in immortality. He
could
trust all his
interests and all his being TO GOD! He
was confident
that He would do well and
wisely and kindly with him and for him;
and so he fell asleep in
the everlasting arms. Faith in God is the secret
of victory BOTH
IN LIFE and in DEATH! Let us cultivate it.
22 “By faith Joseph, when
he died, made mention of the
departing (Exodus)
of the children of
concerning his bones.” The
reference is to Genesis 50:24-25, which,
after what has been said above, requires no further
comment.
The Faith of Joseph; or, Assured Confidence
in the Close of Life (v. 22)
“By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the
departing of the children
of
FULFILMENT OF THE PROMISES OF GOD TO HIS PEOPLE, The
end of Joseph’s life upon earth
was at hand, and he was well aware that
such was the case. Very
extraordinary had been his career — remarkably
checkered and eventful, now dark
and anon dazzling, now full of trial and
anon full of triumph, useful
beyond any other in that age, and very
illustrious; yet it is
now nearly ended. It reminds us that
the most
distinguished and powerful,
the most holy and useful life, must come to an
end here. At this time Joseph’s
glances were not cast back regretfully to
the greatness and grandeur
which he was about to leave, but forward
hopefully to a
splendid future. He had a firm
assurance that a great future
awaited his family, and this
faith rested upon that God who in His
providence had so wonderfully
led him and so richly blessed him. By faith
Joseph, when his end was nigh,
made mention of the departure of the
children of
surely visit you,
and bring you out of this land unto the land which he
sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” (Genesis
50:24)
Ø This
assurance forms a fitting conclusion to a life of distinguished
piety. The faith which had sustained him in the changeable and
often
trying experiences of
life is clear and vigorous in its closing scenes.
In Joseph’s case the testimony
of his active and public life, and the
testimony of his last hours,
beautifully harmonize.
Ø This assurance
was suited to the needs of his kinsfolk at this time.
o
As a caution against
entertaining the notion that
their home. The Israelites
at this time were peaceful and very
prosperous in the land. They were in danger of losing sight of the
destiny to which God had
called them, and of endeavoring to find
a final settlement in the
land of their temporary sojourn. The word
of Joseph was fitted to
guard them against
this peril. It is in worldly
comfort and
prosperity that men are most prone to be unmindful
of their heavenly
calling.
o
As a comfort to them
under the loss of his protection. It would not
have been strange if the
Israelites had feared for their peace and
safety when their kind brother
and powerful patron was removed
by death. But Joseph’s calm
assurance would encourage them to
believe in God’s continued
interest in them, in His providential
care over them, and in the fulfillment of the promises which He
made to their fathers. When friends die, when great and good
men are summoned home, let this
be our encouragement, that
God ever lives to
save His people and to carry on His work.
CONTINUED IDENTIFICATION WITH THE PEOPLE OF GOD.
Joseph was a great man in
his genius and the success of
his plans, his prosperity and power, had all
been won and enjoyed in
marriage with an Egyptian
princess. Pharaoh “gave him to wife Asenath
the daughter of Potipherah priest of On.” (Genesis 41:45) In
“the priestly caste was the
royal caste also.” In authority and rank, in state
and splendor, in greatness and
power, Joseph was inferior only to the king
himself. Yet he wished both in
life and in death to be numbered amongst
the Israelites. Hence he “gave
commandment concerning his bones.”
“And Joseph took an
oath of the children of
surely visit you,
and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.” (Ibid.
ch. 50:25) We discover
in this an evidence of:
Ø
His warm affection for his family. For some years of his
life, for more
than seven years of his
prosperity and power, we have no evidence
of any interest taken by Joseph
in his father and brothers; but now
he manifests a tender and
tenacious attachment to them. This is the
more worthy of commendation when
we call to mind the grievous
injury which his brothers had
done him aforetime. Joseph loves his
kindred who had treated him so
ill more than the Egyptians who
had treated him so well. “Love
as brethren.”
Ø
His unwavering fidelity to his God. Joseph’s faith
in Jehovah had not
been undermined
or shaken by his residence in idolatrous
Through life and in death he was
faithful to the God of his fathers,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. “Be
thou faithful unto death,”
(Revelation 2:10)
OF THE HOPE OF IMMORTALITY. Joseph “gave commandment
concerning his
bones.” He “took an oath of the children of
would carry his dead body with
them, when God should lead them into the
land which He had promised unto
their fathers. Why should so wise and
good a man be so concerned
concerning his body? Such concern in such a
man is inexplicable apart from the craving of the human heart for
IMMORTALITY and not for a
vague, shadowy existence after death,
but for immortality associated
with a distinct and recognizable form.
The same craving found
expression amongst the Egyptians in their embalming
of their dead. Joseph must have
had some measure of faith in such an
immortality. This craving is met in Christianity. “Our Savior
Jesus Christ
hath brought life
and immortality to light through the gospel.” (II Timothy
1:10) “There shall
be a resurrection both of the just and the unjust.”
(Acts 24:15) “The hour
cometh, in which ALL THAT ARE IN THE
TOMBS SHALL HEAR HIS VOICE AND SHALL COME FORTH,
shall hear His voice, and shall come forth,
they that have done good,
unto the
RESURRECTION OF LIFE; and they which have done
evil,
untothe RESURRECTION OF DAMNATION.”
(Matthew 5:28-29)
Both the immortality of the soul and the
resurrection of the body are
revealed to us as facts in the
Christian Scriptures. Therefore, with our
clearer
revelation and richer privileges, as the end of our earthly life draws
nigh we may
realize a fuller and firmer assurance than he did whose faith
we have been
considering. “For we know that if the earthly house
of
our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not
made
with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (II Corinthians 5:1)
Faith of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph (vs.
20-22)
Each of these patriarchs died in the firm confidence of “things
hoped for,”
and pronounced prophetic blessings upon his descendants
accordingly. The
patriarchal benedictions were the expressions of a faith in
the promises of
the covenant, which was strong
enough to bear the test of a death-bed.
divinely inspired. It was not
the utterance merely of parental love. The
Holy Spirit revealed to Isaac
the fortunes of his two sons; and, believing
the revelation, he felt himself
impelled by an irresistible impulse to declare
it. The sin of Rebekah and Jacob in intercepting for the latter what his
father had intended for Esau did
not make the promise of none effect. Had
Isaac been announcing only his
own pleasure, he would most certainly have
recalled the words which Jacob
had appropriated so treacherously; but the
patriarch felt that he dared not
do so. He was persuaded that he had been
made only the mouthpiece of
the Divine will respecting the person who
stood before him at the time. He saw that the blessing of the firstborn had
been providentially directed
towards his younger son, and he confessed his
inability to reverse it (Genesis
27:33). Isaac blessed his sons “by
faith”
in the
revelation regarding them of
which he was the recipient.
made in turn to Jacob that
caused him (Genesis 48:5, 15-20) both to
predict that Joseph should have
a double portion in
sons, and to bestow the larger
blessing upon Ephraim, the younger. The
patriarch knew that it would be
a greater honor to these two young men to
become each the head of a little
Israelitish clan, than even to take rank
through their mother as Egyptian
princes. And behind this benediction of
his grandsons there lay also
Jacob’s firm faith in that provision of the
covenant which gave the
from Joseph a promise upon oath
that he should not be buried in
from the graves of his kindred;
and he devoutly thanked God, “leaning
upon the top of his
staff,” for the assurance that his
body should rest in the
land of promise (Ibid.
ch.47:29-31). All this shows Jacob’s faith in the
future return of the Hebrews to
And his faith looked also, we
are persuaded, to the “heavenly
country” of
which the land promised to
Abraham was only the type.
dying hour, the illustrious
Joseph evinced the same bright and strong faith
which had distinguished his
father and his grandfather. It had never
counted for much to him that he
was Pharaoh’s prime minister. He had
always been at heart a Hebrew,
not an Egyptian. His hope was in
the
covenant
promises. So, foreseeing the
affliction of his people in Egypt, and
their eventual exodus, he
resolved that his body should not be buried in
that land. His embalmed remains
must be made useful, during the whole
period of their bitter bondage, as a witness to
the God of
Abraham. And the tribes must carry his
bones with them when
they go to take possession of
their inheritance. Joseph’s faith is so great
that he is content that his
coffined clay should meanwhile remain unburied.
So he died, leaving with his
brethren this blessing: “God will surely visit
you” (Genesis 50:24-25). His tender farewell shows us how
steadfastly
the eye of his faith was gazing
upon the unseen.
precious faith” (II Peter 1:1) with
these three patriarchs, to enable them to
discharge the duties and endure
the sufferings to which they were called in
connection with their Christian
discipleship. And so also do we
Gentile
believers of these
last times. Only faith in “things to come” —
confidence
in the life
and immortality which have been brought to light through the
gospel (II Timothy 1:10) enable us to live obediently and to die triumphantly.
23 “By
faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his
parents, because they saw he was a proper (ἀστεῖον – asterion – proper;
beautiful; handsome – the word
used of the child in Exodus 2:2, there translated
“goodly,” and in Acts 7:20, “fair”)
child; and they were not afraid of
the king’s
commandment.” Here the usual following of the Septuagint again appears in the
hiding being attributed to both parents (this is certainly
the meaning of
πατέρων – pateron – parents - not as some
interpret because of the masculine form -
father and grandfather). In the Hebrew it is the mother
only that is spoken
of as hiding him; whereas in the
Septuagint the verbs are in the plural, ἰδόντες δέ -
when she saw - though with no expressed nominative. It is not necessary
to
understand a special faith in the fulfillment of the
promises through the
child thus hidden to be implied, though it may be so
intended. But the mere
fearlessness in obeying the dictates of heart and
conscience in the face of
danger, and the mere reliance on
faith.
The Faith of the Parents of Moses (v. 23)
“By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid,” etc. The writer now passes
from Joseph to Moses; from the time of the peace and
prosperity of the
Israelites in
persecution. This persecution culminated in the terrible
edict that all their
male children that should be born should be cast into the
time that Moses was born. Hence the Jewish proverb, “When
the tale of
bricks is doubled then comes Moses.” Some of our own
proverbs set forth
the same truth. “Man’s extremity is God’s
opportunity.” “The darkest hour
of the night is that which precedes the dawn.” Our text tells how by faith
the parents of Moses protected their child from the fate
decreed by
Pharaoh, and preserved his life in infancy. We notice:
Moses, when he was born, was hid
three months of his parents, because
they saw he was a goodly child.”
They seem to have believed that their
lovely child was the gift of
God, and that He was not unmindful of the gift
which He had bestowed. Moses was
distinguished for his beauty. “He was a
goodly child” (Exodus 2:2). “He
was exceeding fair,” or “fair unto
God” (Acts 7:20). Josephus tells
that when the daughter of Pharaoh
saw the babe, “she was greatly
in love with it, on account of its largeness
and beauty.” He also tells that
when he was three years old every one who
saw him was “greatly surprised
at the beauty of his countenance: nay, it
happened frequently that those
who met him as he was carried along the
road were obliged to turn again
upon seeing the child; that they left what
they were about, and stood still
a great while to look on him; for the
beauty of the child was so
remarkable and natural to him on many
accounts, that it detained the
spectators, and made them stay longer to
look upon him.” Probably
his parents believed that so strikingly beautiful
a child was destined by God for
some great and good end. They may have
had a presentiment that God
designed him for the accomplishment of some
important work. His beauty was
to them a presage of his illustrious career.
It awakened or strengthened
their confidence in the Divine interest in the
life of the child. A truth of
unspeakable preciousness is this. God is
interested deeply
and graciously in every human life. He cares not only for
the young life
before which a great career extends, but for the obscurest
and feeblest
human creature. “The Lord is good to all; and His
tender
mercies are over
all His works.” (Psalm 145:9) There is not a
sparrow which
“is forgotten in the sight of God.
But the
very hairs of your head are all
numbered.” (Luke 12:6-7) “He careth for you.” (I Peter 5:7)
AUTHORITY AND MIGHT OF HUMAN SOVEREIGNS. The parents
of Moses believed that God could
protect their child notwithstanding the
cruel edict of the mighty Pharaoh.
They showed their faith by concealing
their cherished treasure in
their house for three months. They showed it yet
more clearly and impressively
when they placed that treasure in its frail
little vessel amongst the flags
on the brink of the
their beloved child, not to the
margin of the river and its flags, but to the
ever-observant
and almighty providence of God. Their
faith was as
reasonable as it was strong. God
can either preserve from danger or deliver
out of the very midst of it. The
most determined edicts of the mightiest
monarchs are utterly powerless
against His counsels. “He shall cut off the
spirit of princes;
he is terrible to the kings of the earth.”(Psalm 76:12)
“He poureth contempt
upon princes.” (Ibid. ch. 107:40) “God is the Judge;
He putteth down one, and setteth up
another.” (Ibid. 75:7) He is able to guard
His faithful servants against
the
wrath and the power of fierce sovereigns.
He can preserve His people unhurt
in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:19-27); or
can make even hungry lions
to be unto them as gentle companions (Ibid.
ch.6:16-23). Trust in Him is, therefore, the highest wisdom for His
gracious interest
in humanity is infinite, and His power to defend
and
save is almighty.
COURAGE. It did so
in the parents of Moses. Notice:
Ø
Their ingenuity.
For three months they successfully
concealed their
beloved babe. They managed to
hide the infant from Egyptian eyes,
and to prevent his cries from
reaching Egyptian ears. They skillfully
constructed the ark, and
judiciously selected a refuge for it. They
did these things
by faith. Faith stimulates ingenuity;
it quickens the
inventive faculties. And when,
as in the case before us, love is engaged
as well as faith, and the object
of affection is in danger, then the
inventive faculties are stirred
to their highest and utmost exercise.
Great inventions and
discoveries are impossible apart from great faith.
Ø
Their courage.
“They were not afraid of the king’s commandment.”
It
has been well said that “faith
has an eagle’s eye and a lion’s heart. It has a
lion’s heart to” confront the
difficulties and dangers of the present, and it
has an eagle’s eye to descry the
success and blessing of the future. The
servant of Elisha
was terrified when he saw the Syrian army surrounding
hosts of his heavenly guardians. (II Kings 6:15-17) Faith nerves the
soul with invincible
courage. The most earnest believers are the
greatest heroes. The
ancient religious believers “through faith
subdued kingdoms,
wrought righteousness,” etc.
(vs. 33-38).
How splendidly was the faith of
the parents of Moses
vindicated! God kept the infant
in safety during the three months
in which it was concealed in the
house. His eye was fixed on that
little ark of bulrushes on the
brink of the
than if it had been enclosed by
castle walls or guarded by hosts of
mailed warriors. His hand,
unseen and unsuspected, led Pharaoh’s
daughter to that part of the
river where the frail ark with its
priceless treasure floated. And
in His providence He ordered all things
for the protection and education
of the life of that Hebrew child, and
for the fulfillment of his great
destiny. Therefore,“trust in the Lord
with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine
own understanding.
In all thy ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy
paths.”
(Proverbs 3:5-6)
24 “By faith Moses, when
he was come to years, 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
pleasures of sin for
a season; 26 Esteeming the reproach
of Christ greater riches than the
treasures in (or, of)
away to) the
recompense of the reward.” As in the speech of Stephen (Acts
7.), so here, the narrative in Exodus is supplemented from
tradition, such
as is found also in Philo. Moses’ refusal to be called the
son of Pharaoh’s
daughter, i.e. his renunciation of his position in
the court in order to
associate himself with his oppressed fellow-countrymen, is
not mentioned
in the original history, though it is consistent with it,
and indeed implied.
Stephen further regards his taking the part of the
Israelite against the
Egyptian Exodus 2:11-13) as a sign that he was already
conscious of
his mission, and hoped even then to rouse his countrymen to
make a
struggle for freedom. The reproach he subjected himself to
by thus
preferring the patriot’s to the courtier’s life is here
called “the reproach of
Christ.” How so? Chrysostom takes the expression to mean only the same
kind of reproach as Christ was afterwards subjected to, in
respect of his
being scouted, and his Divine mission disbelieved, by those
whom He came
to save. But, if the expression had been used with respect
to Christian’s
suffering for the faith (as it is below, ch.13:13), it
would certainly imply
more than this; viz. a participation in Christ’s own reproach,
not merely a
reproach like His. (Compare II
Corinthians 1:5, τὰ παθήματα
τοῦ χριστοῦ
-
ta pathaemata tou
Christou – the sufferings of Christ and Colossians 1:24,
τῶν θλίψεων τοῦ χριστοῦ - ton thlipseon tou Christou – of the
afflictions
of the Christ - where there is the further idea expressed of Christ Himself
suffering in His members.) And such being the idea which
the phrase in
itself would at once convey to Christian readers, and
especially as the very
same is used below (ch. 13:13)
with reference to Christians, it
must surely be somehow involved in this passage. But how
so, we ask
again, in the case of Moses? To get at the idea of the
phrase we must bear
in mind the view of the Old and New Testaments being but two parts of
ONE DIVINE DISPENSATION!
The Exodus was thus not only typical of
the deliverance through Christ, but also a step towards it,
a preparation for it,
a link in the divinely ordered chain of events leading up
to THE GREAT
REDEMPTION! Hence, in the first
place, the reproach endured by Moses in
furtherance of the Exodus may be regarded as endured at any
rate for the
sake of Christ, i.e.
in His cause whose coming was the end and purpose of
the whole dispensation. And further, inasmuch as Christ is
elsewhere
spoken of as the Head of the whole mystical body of His
people in all ages
— all to be gathered together at last in Him — He may be
regarded, even
before His incarnation, as Himself reproached in the
reproach of His servant
Moses. Compare the view, presented in ch.3., of the Son
being Lord
of the “house” in
which Moses was a servant, and the comprehensive sense
of “God’s house” implied in that passage. Nor should we leave out of
consideration the identification, maintained by the Fathers
generally (see
Bull, ‘Def. Fid. Nic.,’
revealed Himself to Moses as I AM
from the bush, with the Second Person
of the holy Trinity, the Word who became incarnate in
Christ. (Compare John
1:1-15; also Ibid. ch. 8:58, read
in connection with Exodus 3:14; and
I Corinthians 10:4, where the spiritual rock that followed
the children
of
be the exact import of the expression, “reproach of Christ,” in its
application to Moses, it is evidently selected here with
the view of bringing
his example home to the readers of the Epistle, by thus
intimating that his
faith’s trial was essentially the same as theirs.
Moses Relinquishing Earthly Advantages (vs.
24-25)
come to manhood, has passed
through all the perils of infancy and
childhood, perils in which the
prudence and courage of others count for the
effective safeguards, to find
himself at last face to face with the worst perils
that can beset a human life. The
edict of a tyrant is not so dreadful an evil
as the
temptations to self-advancement. The
hour of temptation is the hour
when all available considerations of duty and interest should
be gathered
together to fortify the heart. The peril to Moses as an infant was practically
nothing; Jehovah’s miraculous
intervention could come in any moment to
shield him. But the peril to Moses as a man was very great when the
prospect of high
rank in the Egyptian court stood right before his eyes.
Nay, more; from Moses we may
pass to Jesus. Jesus was in no real peril
when Herod sent out his band of
destroyers to Bethlehem; but in those
after years, when he had to face
the prospect of toil and suffering, there
was a real peril to His inner
man — the pressure of considerations which
only the peculiar strength of His
nature enabled him to resist.
spirit of the world says, “Look
at the position which you at present occupy
— a position thousands would
give anything to attain.” Moses is the son of
Pharaoh’s daughter, and what
more can he have but the kingdom? If he
gives up his position, what has
he left? Nothing, truly, unless he has had
the revelations given to faith.
And these revelations we are sure Moses
must have had in abundance. If Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, had
revelations of the
coming inheritance and glory of their
people, is it
credible Moses would not also
have revelations such as would effectually
strip the aspect of the court
wherein he lived of all its glitter? When we
have the spirit of faith in us,
the discouragements of the present are
dwarfed before the attractions
of the future. It is seen that the life of faith
has joys beside which the joys
of the life of sight are poor indeed. What are
the Pharaohs of Egypt compared
with Moses? Mere names. Whereas
Moses has contributed to the
coming of Christ, that is, to the uplifting
and
purifying of the
whole world. When the critical moment
came, the eye of
Moses was so purged that he saw
where his own real interest lay. He saw
which was the better thing for
him to choose for his own sake. He saw
that, in choosing affliction
with the people of God, he was choosing an
exceeding great
reward, which would more and more manifest itself as
such.
OF FAITH. We know not when the critical moment may come, therefore
we must be ever
ready for it. Men must not leave the
making of weapons
for the day of battle. The
experience of a lifetime makes the physician wise
and successful in the hour of
disease. We must be assiduous in laying up
treasures of faith against the
day when the persuasions of this world will try
us.
The Great Choice of Moses (vs. 24-26)
“By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be
called the son of
Pharaoh’s daughter, Choosing rather to suffer affliction
with the people of
God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” In the providence of
God the adoption of the infant Moses by the daughter of
Pharaoh was the
means by which he received the education and training
necessary for the
great work for which God had destined him. To the human
mind, taking
into consideration the condition of the Israelites at that
time, there does not
seem to have been any other means by which he could have
obtained
instruction so complete and discipline so thorough. “By
means of this
princely education, he became a person most accomplished in
his temper, demeanor, and intellect; he was also trained in
that largeness of
view and generosity of spirit which are supposed to result
from such
relations, and which qualified him to sustain with dignity
and authority the
offices of ruler of a people and general of armies, which
eventually
devolved upon him. This education, also — involving, as it
must have
done, an intimacy with the highest science and philosophy
of Egyptian
sages — was well calculated to secure for him the attention
and respect of
the Egyptians when he stood forth to demand justice for an
oppressed
race. “Moses
was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and he
was mighty in his words and works” (Acts 7:22). The choice of which
our text speaks was his calm and deliberate decision to
separate himself
from the Egyptians among whom he had hitherto lived, and to
identify
himself with the Israelites to whom he belonged by descent
and parentage.
He freely chose the oppressed people of God as his people.
This involved
the great avowal that their God was his God; that he rejected the gods of
Sovereign of his being and his Supreme Good. But brought up in the
Egyptian court, instructed by Egyptian teachers, how would
Moses
become acquainted with his connection with the Israelites,
with their
history and their hopes, and with the sublime character of
the God whom
they acknowledged? In
the providence of God it was so ordered that his
own godly mother was his nurse, and she would instill
these things into his
active and receptive mind, and teach him the simple and
holy faith of their
religion. Moreover,
when we call to mind the place which, in the Divine
purposes, he was to occupy and the work he was to do, we
cannot but
conclude that God communicated
directly with his mind and. spirit, and he
received immediate enlightenment and impulse from Him. And thus
prepared, in due season he makes the great decision actual,
and openly
chooses the living and true God for his own and only God,
and the down
trodden people of God for his people. Several aspects of
this choice are
mentioned in the text.
was grown up.”
“When he was full forty years old”
(Acts 7:23). Moses
made the great choice neither in
the heat and impulsiveness of youth, when
the judgment is immature and the
decisions hasty, nor in the decadence of
age, when the faculties are
failing, and the mind no longer perceives with
its former clearness or
considers with its former comprehensiveness and
force. He came to the great
decision at a time when his mental faculties
may reasonably be held to have
been in full maturity and vigor, and when
he was able correctly to
estimate the significance and importance of that
decision. Moreover, the choice
was made at a time when it would require
an effort to break away from old
associations and modes of life. Generally
speaking, a person’s habits are formed and fixed at forty
years old; and he
does not easily take to new circumstances and associations
and customs.
But Moses did
so. These considerations point to the
conclusion that the
choice was made intelligently,
deliberately, and with entire decision.
Ø
Eminent position and brilliant prospects. “Moses… refused to
be called
the son of
Pharaoh’s daughter.” He was the
adopted son of the king’s
daughter; but he sacrificed
that princely position. If Jewish
traditions are
atall reliable, he occupied a position of great eminence and
influence
amongst the Egyptians. His
prospects also were dazzling. Some say that
he would probably have succeeded
to the throne. All
these things he
renounced in
making his great choice.
Ø
The pleasures of the world. Moses declined “to enjoy the pleasures of
sin for a season.” What are these?
o
The gratifications which are
prohibited by God: “The lust
of the flesh, and
the lust of the eyes, and the vain-glory of life,
is not of the
Father, but is of the world.” (I John 2:16)
o
The pursuits which
are condemned by conscience. “To him
who esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.”
“He that doubteth is condemned if he eat, because he eateth
not of faith: and
whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Romans
14:14, 23).
o
Anything which
diminishes spiritual susceptibility or strength,
or retards spiritual progress. There is pleasure in some of the
things which are divinely
prohibited. There are gratifications
connected with sin. It were
folly to deny it. But they are only
“for a season.” (Afterward they bear bitter fruit, even death!
CY – 2014) They will not bear reflection even in this present
life. They will have no existence in
the future life. (There
will be something better
and purer! - CY – 2014) All these
pleasures Moses cast aside.
Ø
The treasures of the world. Moses turned away
from “the
treasures of
prospects of great
wealth for his own portion. How strong
the
fascination of riches is for
many persons! And this fascination is
more fully realized when men
have reached the age of Moses than
in earlier days. At the age when he made his great decision it costs
no small effort to
relinquish voluntarily the almost certain prospect
of great wealth. Yet Moses did
so.
Ø
The endurance of evil treatment. Moses was well aware
that by reason
of his choice he would very likely
have “to
suffer affliction with the
people of God.” The Israelites were treated by the Egyptians as slaves;
they were an oppressed, a cruelly
ill-used people. Moses knew this
when he determined to cast in
his lot with them. “To be evil entreated”
was almost certain to be his
portion; but it would be “with the people
of God.” An important fact that. They were:
o
a people of a
pure faith,
o
sustained by a
mighty hand, and
o
inspired by a
glorious destiny.
Ø
The endurance of bitter reproach Moses looked forward
to “the
reproach of
Christ” as a probable result of his
choice. He would be
exposed to ridicule for his
folly in leaving his brilliant prospects at
court to become identified with
an oppressed and despised people.
The writer calls the reproach which
Moses suffered the reproach of
Christ, as Paul (II Corinthians 1:5; Colossians 1:24) calls the
sufferings of Christians the
sufferings of Christ, i.e. of Christ dwelling,
striving, suffering, in His
Church as in His body; to which this reproach
is referred according to the
idea of the unity of the Old and New
Testaments, and of the eternal
Christ (the Logos) already living and
reigning in the former.”
Reproaches do not strip a man of his worldly
goods or break his bones; but to
some they are even harder to bear than
these things. They enter
terribly into the soul. Thus David cried,
“Reproach hath broken my heart.” (Psalm 69:20)
“had respect unto
the recompense of reward.” He looked
forward to the
fulfillment of the promises made
unto their fathers — that they should
possess the
nation, and that in them all
nations should be blessed. And beyond earth
and time he looked
for a great reward and an eternal. He had yearnings for
immortality. And his hopes reached beyond the bounds of time and space
to a
perfection heavenly, everlasting, and Divine. This was not the grand
motive for his great choice. He
did not consecrate himself to the true God
because of the rewards of his
service. Higher and purer were the motives
which determined his choice. But
the prospect of these rewards
encouraged him in making the
choice. And as to ourselves, we should
choose to believe
the true, do the right, love the beautiful, and reverence
the holy, even if no advantage accrued to us by so doing. But there
is an
advantage in godliness, there is
a peerless prize for the faithful servant; and
we may take encouragement in the
duties and difficulties, the sufferings
and crosses of life, by the
contemplation thereof.
been guided by his senses, Moses
would have viewed these matters in an
entirely different light, and
have made the directly opposite choice. He
was
guided by his
soul. He listened to the higher
voices of his being, and
complied with them. He looked
at things with the eye of faith. By faith he
saw the vanity and transitoriness
of the things he was renouncing, the
reality and
righteousness, the essential and abiding worth of the things he
was embracing, and he made the choice — the true, the wise, the blessed
choice. Let those who are not yet decidedly religious copy the example of
Moses. To be guided simply by sight and sense in making the great
election
is irrational and ruinous. Let
faith and reason be brought into exercise, and
then your choice will be hearty
and earnest for the service of THE LORD
JESUS CHRIST!
27 “By faith he forsook
king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible.” This forsaking of
being mentioned, be his flight related in Exodus 2:15, not
the final
Exodus. The only seeming difficulty is in the expression, “not
fearing the
wrath of the king,”
whereas in the history Moses is represented as flying in
fear from the face of Pharaoh, who sought to slay him. But
the two views
of his attitude of mind are reconcilable. The assertion of
his fearlessness
applies to his whole course of action from the time when he
elected to
brave the king in behalf of
necessary for him to leave
there was danger; for the king might pursue him: he might,
perhaps, have
secured his own safety by returning to the court and giving
up his project;
but he persevered at all hazards. And thus the apprehension
of immediate
danger under which he fled the country with a view to final
success, was in
no contradiction to his general fearlessness. Further, his
being content to
leave
his design, was an additional evidence of faith, as is
expressed by the word
ἐκαρτέρησεν – ekarteraesen - . he endured.” The vision
through faith of the
unseen heavenly King kept alive his hope through those
long years of exile:
what was any possible wrath even of the terrible Pharaoh to one
supported by
that continual vision?
Seeing the Invisible One (v. 27)
“He endured, as seeing Him who is invisible.” These words suggest the
following observations.
the invisible One. “God is a Spirit;” and
the physical eye cannot behold
pure spirit. Organs of sense
have no fitness for immediate dealing with the
great verities of the spiritual
realm. Truth, holiness, love, cannot be
perceived by the senses; for
they have neither material form nor visible
color, Neither can the Infinite
Spirit be seen by our finite sense. When He is
represented as manifesting
Himself to man (Genesis 12:7; 17:1; 18:1), it
does not mean that the essence
or substance of God was seen by human
eye, but that He assumed some
visible form in which He communicated with
man. When Jacob is said to “have
seen God face to face” (Ibid.
ch.32:30),
and a statement of similar
import is made of Moses (Exodus 33:11), we
must understand thereby that He
drew near to them in a very
remarkable theophany,
that He granted to them some full and clear
manifestation of the Divine, and
at the same time admitted them to intimate
spiritual communion with Him. To
Moses himself the Lord said,” Thou
canst not see my
face: for there shall no man see me, and live” (Exodus
33:20). “No man hath seen God at any
time,” etc. (John 1:18). He is
“the King
eternal, immortal, invisible”; “dwelling
in the light which no
man can approach
unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see”
(I Timothy 1:17; 6:16). We infer the
unlawfulness of any attempt to
represent God to the senses. “Thou
shalt not make unto thee any graven
image,” etc. (Exodus 20:4-5); “To whom will ye liken God? or what
likeness will
ye compare unto him?” (Isaiah 40:18).
“endured as seeing
Him who is invisible.” The Infinite Spirit
cannot be
sensuously
apprehended, but He may be spiritually
apprehended. “Blessed
are the pure in
heart: for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)
The pure heart
is the organ by which the
invisible One may be seen. There is another vision
beside the vision of the body;
faith itself is sight; and where faith is complete,
there is a consciousness of
God’s presence throughout our life and service
which amounts to a distinct
vision of God’s personal presence and
government. Thus
may we blessedly realize His presence in our hearts and
lives. Thus did Enoch, as he
“walked
with God.” (Genesis 5:24) And
David,
“I have set the
Lord always
before me: because he is at my right hand, I
shall not be
moved.” (Psalm 16:8) “I will fear no evil: for
thou art with me.”
(Ibid. ch.
23:4) And Paul, “The Lord stood with me, and strengthened
me.”
(II Timothy 4:17)
STRONGEST AND SUBLIMEST INSPIRATIONS. “He endured, as
seeing him who is
invisible.” This realization of the
Divine presence:
Ø
Raises the soul above the fear of man. By faith Moses did “not fear the
wrath of the king;
for he endured,” etc. This enabled the
psalmist to
utter the triumphant challenge,
“The
Lord is on my side; I will not fear;
what can man do unto me?” (see also Daniel 3:13-18; Acts 4:18-20;
5:27- 29).
Ø
Inspires the soul with patience in the trials of life. It enables the
Christian to say even of severe
sufferings “Our light affliction, which
is for the moment,
worketh for us more and more exceedingly an
eternal weight of
glory; while we look not at the things which
are
seen but at the
things which
are not seen,” etc. (II Corinthians
4:17-18).
Ø Inspires the
soul with energy and perseverance for the difficult duties of
life. Sometimes the sympathetic presence of a friend is very
encouraging
and helpful in arduous and
dispiriting labor. But the consciousness
of
God’s presence
and approbation always imparts courage to the heart,
resolution to the
will, and energy to the arm of his faithful servants.
Ø
Exalts the tone and spirit of the entire life. “Seeing Him who is
invisible,” a life of unworthy aims or sinful practices will be
impossible.
Realizing His presence, both
character and conduct must grow in purity
and power, in piety and
usefulness.
29 “Through faith he kept (literally, hath kept, πεποίηκεν – pepoiaeken - , the
perfect being used rather than the historical aorist, as
denoting an
accomplished act, with continuing effect and significance
(compare
προσενήνοχεν – prosenaenochen – he kept; he has made - v. 17). But
πεποίηκεν does not mean, as some suppose, “hath instituted,” ποιεῖν τὸ πάσχα -
poiein to pascha - being the
usual expression for the celebration) the Passover,
and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch
them. 29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea, as by dry land; which
the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.” The faith of Moses himself is
still mainly intended here, though the conjunction of πίστει – pistei
– by faith –
with διέβησαν
– diebaesan – they passed; they crossed - seems to imply faith in
the people too. Nor is this inconsistent with the
narrative; for, though they
are represented as having cried out in their sore fear, and
even reproached
their leader for bringing them out of
his exhortation, “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the
salvation of the
LORD” (Exodus
14:13), they may be supposed to
have trusted him, and
caught something of the inspiration of his faith. Moses,
indeed, stands out
as a prominent example (and this is one point in the moral
teaching of his history)
of the strong faith of one great man, not only availing in
behalf of others, but
also in some degree infecting a whole community, little
disposed at first to
make heroic ventures.
The Faith of Moses (vs. 23-29)
These verses exhibit specimen deeds of faith done in
connection with the
redemption of
illustrious roll is more eminent than Moses, and no other
biography is more
dramatic. He shines amongst the constellations of “the
elders” as a star of
the first magnitude. Consider:
(v. 23.) Had it not been for their piety, the child would
have perished. The
preservation of his infant life
was due to an act of faith in the covenant God
of their fathers. On what
revelation did this faith rest? It may be that
Amram and Jochebed saw in the
pre-eminent beauty of the child a forecast
of the Divine favor. More
probably, however, they had received a
revelation from heaven
respecting him, and had been taught to regard his
beauty as a sign for the
confirmation of their faith. So their confidence in
the God of Abraham, and in the
promise of deliverance from bondage, and
in the testimony regarding the
part which their newly born son was to act
in the emancipation, led them to
disregard Pharaoh’s cruel edict. Jochebed
was quite consciously resting
the floating cradle of papyrus in the hollow
of God’s hand when she left it
among the reeds on the brink of the
She believed that he would protect
the child, although she herself could do
so no longer. And the romantic rescue of Moses, and his adoption by
Pharaoh’s daughter, were the
reward which God gave to his parents’ faith.
24-26.) Being himself the only
free Hebrew of his time, he occupied the
unique position of having it
within his power to make a life-choice. And he
did this “when he was grown up;” i.e.
after his judgment had ripened, and
as the result of sober and manly deliberation. Moses elected to
acknowledge Jehovah as his God,
and to claim kindred with the Hebrews
as God’s peculiar people. His
choice was purely voluntary, and in making it
he was actuated by principle and
impelled by conscience. Notice:
Ø
His choice involved him in tremendous sacrifices. (v. 24.) Moses’
prospects in
genius and of extraordinary
attainments (Acts 7:22). Wealth,
refinement, ease, pleasure,
power, were within his reach. He might
have become a great statesman —
perhaps Pharaoh’s grand vizier.
Josephus says that he was
destined for the throne itself; and in
those days
without any misgiving, he forsook the court, and renounced
forever these
dazzling prospects.
Ø
His choice exposed him to sore afflictions. (v. 25.) It involved
his
identifying himself with a
nation of wretched slaves, who were
oppressed by a grinding tyranny.
It brought him into close contact
and companionship with hordes of
ignorant bondmen. It called him
to undergo persecution as the
leader of the movement for their
emancipation. Moses made his
choice at the risk of his life; for,
when he had avowed it in act, by
killing the Egyptian slave-driver,
“Pharaoh sought to
slay” him (Exodus 2:15).
Ø
It was a heavenly-minded choice. (vs. 25-26.) It was
not patriotism
alone that dictated it, although
Moses was passionately patriotic.
Neither was it mere sympathy
with his distressed countrymen,
although he had a tender and
feeling heart. His choice was
determined by his faith in Christ, in the future of his people, and
in the realities of
the unseen and eternal world. Moses
chose
o
“reproach on account of Christ.” He was, so to speak, a
Christian before
Christianity. He knew about the promised
Messiah, although he might
not know Him by that name.
He believed on Him as the
Deliverer that was to come; as
the “Prophet” who was
to be “raised up;” as the seed of
Abraham, in whom all nations
were to be blessed. And he
resolved, through grace, to
adhere to the cause of Christ,
however greatly it might be
despised. He chose:
o
to join “the people of God.” Moses had
learned from his
mother-nurse of the
glorious destiny of the Israelitish nation;
and had become persuaded
that to belong to that nation,
even in its miserable
exile, was a greater honor than to stand
upon the topmost step of
the Egyptian throne. So, when he
took God for his Portion,
he allied himself with the people of
God, whose were “the
adoption” and “the promises.”
(Romans 9:4) He chose:
o
“the recompense of reward.” Moses’ faith looked beyond
the grave. His eye searched the eternal future until it
rested
upon the heavenly
abiding
possession,” he felt that he could not
remain a prince
of the house of Pharaoh. To
him even those pleasures of the
court which were in
themselves innocent would be “the
pleasures of sin;” and these, such as they were, he could enjoy
only for a few short-lived
years. So, after comparing the best
of the world with the worst of
religion, Moses decisively
resolved to choose Jehovah as
his God and heaven as his
final home. And this
life-choice, from whatever point of
view we regard it, is thus seen
to have been determined
by his faith.
For he not only took
Jehovah for his Portion; he served Him courageously,
and to the end.
Ø
His faith inspired the Exodus. (v. 27.) “He
forsook
reference being, as we judge, to
his final departure at the head. of the
Hebrew nation. Moses believed
the Divine promise regarding Israel’s
redemption. His confidence in
God nerved him for the unparalleled
enterprise. He felt that he
could not seriously be afraid of Pharaoh,
for his faith saw always the
approving smile of the invisible Lord.
Had it not been, however, for
his trust in Jehovah, the great leader
could not for forty years have
sustained so nobly his onerous offices.
It was this humble confidence in
the I
AM who had sent him, that
kept Moses from either
developing into a despot or degenerating
into a demagogue.
Ø
His faith prompted to the celebration of the Passover. (v. 28.) Moses
believed the Divine threatening
respecting the destruction of the
firstborn of the Egyptians, and
the promise of exemption for every
blood besprinkled Hebrew
dwelling. His trust in God was the root
of his fearless courage in
observing the Passover feast amidst the
bustle and. excitement of that
last eventful night in
Ø His faith,
together with that of the Israelites, led to the passage of the
faith of the mass of the host,
when they stood before the waters
through which they were to
march. Still, the fact of their obedience to
the command to “go
forward” (Exodus 14:15) did evince some faith
on their part. The confidence of
Moses, however, never wavered. And
it was his faith and theirs that
moved the arm of the Almighty to
prepare a pathway for them
through the bed of the sea. The Egyptians,
pursuing them, sank in the sands
and waves; for Pharaoh had received
no revelation and no promise,
and his pursuit was not an act of faith,
but of presumption. (I recommend arkdiscovery.com and the section
on the
Moses. It requires faith still
to enable one to make the right
life-choice; for
worldly advantage does not always
seem to be on the side of godliness.
The question is sometimes asked,
“Is it possible to make the best of both
worlds?” And from the point of
view of sense the answer is — No. Moses
certainly did not make the best
of this world, according to a worldly
estimate of his life. He did not
follow the principle of self-help, in
the
secular way in
which unspiritual men do. Rather, his
choice led him
“to be evil-entreated,” and to endure “reproach.” But from faith’s point
of view the unhesitating answer
to the same question is — Yes. “Godliness
is profitable for
all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of
that which is to
come” (I Timothy 4:8), although the benefit of it in
“the life which now is” consists almost certainly in the profit of affliction
and tribulation, the profit
of taking up the cross, and of treading in the
footsteps of the
MAN OF SORROWS!
30 “By faith the walls of
seven days.” (see
Joshua 6:1-21). The capture of
mention, not only because of its extraordinary character,
but also as being the
beginning of the campaign in
the way to the rest. The history is not further
pursued in detail, this being
sufficient to suggest it all. Only, for a special
reason, the case of Rahab has
attention drawn to it.
Unquestioning Faith Expressed and Vindicated
(v. 30)
“By faith the
walls of Jericho fell down,” etc. Let us
endeavor to exhibit
the principal features of this example of the exercise of
faith.
Directions were given by the
Lord to Joshua for the taking of
the promise that on their
fulfillment the wails of that city should fall to the
ground (Joshua 6:2-5). This
communication Joshua conveyed to the
people; and they believed it,
they received it as a message from God. They
exercised faith:
Ø
in His righteous
authority over them;
Ø
in His power to
fulfill His promises; and
Ø
in His fidelity
to His word.
In these respects their faith is
exemplary;
Ø
for His authority
is supreme,
Ø
His power is
almighty, and
Ø
His faithfulness
infinite.
NECESSARY RELATION BETWEEN THE DIRECTIONS GIVEN
AND THE RESULT PROMISED. Generally speaking, in the Divine
arrangements the means ordained
are wisely adapted to accomplish the
ends for which they are
employed. But it is quite the opposite in the case
now before us. The course of
action prescribed and the consequence
promised cannot possibly be
regarded as cause and effect. The marching
round the city, the blowing of
rams’ horns, and the uttering of great shouts,
cannot by any stretch of
imagination be looked upon even as means for
leveling strong city walls to
the ground. Such proceedings have no
necessary relation with such a
result. If related at all, the relation is
altogether arbitrary. The things
enjoined upon the Israelites were simply
conditions with which they were
to comply — tests of faith and obedience;
and the Lord guaranteed a
certain result upon the fulfillment of the
conditions. And without raising
any objections or proposing any questions
they believed His
word.
“Theirs
not to make reply,
Theirs
not to reason why.”
And if we are assured of His
will in any matter, we should follow it
irrespective of appearances and
of probabilities as they present themselves
to our minds. When He commands,
it is ours to obey. When He promises, it
is ours to accept the promise, leaving the method of its fulfillment to Him.
Israelites proved the reality of
their faith in the Divine communication by
complying with its requirements.
“It
came to pass, when Joshua had
spoken to the
people, that the seven priests,” etc.
(Joshua 6:8-20).
Genuine faith always leads to a
course of conduct in harmony with its own
character (compare James
2:14-26).
WHEN NO APPARENT EFFECT WAS PRODUCED BY THEIR
ACTION. The Israelites
went round the city as they were directed, but
not a brick of the walls fell;
and they went round a second time, and a
third, fourth, fifth, and sixth
time, and still all the bricks were there, firmly
cemented, and the walls stood.
The defenders of
those wonderful walkers, and one
can imagine them saying, ‘It is a new
mode of assault you are
adopting. We wonder how long you will have to
walk before the walls fall;
taken by walking.’ Nevertheless,
the Israelites held in their
hands the
promise, and they
felt it in their hearts, and they
persevered in their
obedience notwithstanding the
utter absence of any sign of success. They
completed the prescribed
process, and then their obedience was rewarded
with success. And in our case, faith and obedience must be persistent,
though our discouragements be
great. We are called to be “imitators of
them who through
faith and patience inherit the promises.” (ch. 6:12)
“Ye have need of
patience, that, having done the will of God, ye may
receive the
promise” (ch.
10:36 - compare Matthew 10:22; Romans 2:7;
Revelation 2:10).
of Jericho fell
down.” When the Israelites had
completely carried out the
directions which the Lord had given
them, “the wall fell down fiat, so that
the people went up
into the city, every man straight before him, and they
took the city.” (Joshua 6:20) Thus the result fully justified their
confidence
and their conduct. And NO ONE EVER TRUSTED GOD IN VAIN!
Faith, resting upon God’s word
or character, honors Him and gratifies Him;
and He
will not, He cannot, fail the soul that trusts Him. If we honor Him
with our hearty
confidence, He will honor us with His glorious salvation.
31 “By faith Rahab the harlot perished not with them that believed not
(were disobedient), when she had received the spies with peace.” Rahab is
instanced also by James (James 2:25) as having shown her
faith by
works. Such special notice of her is accounted for by her being so
remarkable an instance of a heathen, an alien, one of the
very doomed
Canaanite race, being through faith adopted into the commonwealth of
1:5). Faith is thus exhibited as the acceptable principle
of religious action,
not in
omnipotence and supremacy of the God of Israel, induced by
evidence of
which she could not resist the force (Joshua 2:9-12). Her
consequent
action was to protect the spies, of course with great risk
to herself, lest she
should oppose the Divine will as she believed it. Her fellow-countrymen
had the same evidence before them; but it caused them
only to lose
courage and faint, not to act on faith at all, either in their own gods or in
the LORD; hence they are here called (τοῖς ἀπειθήσασιν
– tois apeithaesasin –
them that belived
not; those who were disobedient; the ones being
stubborn),”
i.e. resisted God’s will — the same expression as is
used of the Israelites who
fell in the wilderness (ch.3:18),
and of the contemporaries
of Noah (I Peter 3:20;
compae Acts 19:9). That Rahab was, at the time when she
thus evinced her faith,
a harlot (such is certainly the meaning of πόρνη – pornae - prostitute); that she
lied to the King of Jericho’s messengers (Joshua 2:4-5); and that
she treacherously
aided the invaders of her country; — have been felt as difficulties with regard to
the position assigned her among the faithful. In reply to such
aspersions on her
character, it is usual to allege as follows: As to her
harlotry, there is no
reason to suppose that her profession was held in any
disrepute among the
Canaanites, or that she was aware of there being any harm
in it; and that, at
any rate after her
conversion, she became the honorable wife of a chief in
to be known to her as a necessary virtue; Michal, not to mention others,
lied to Saul’s messengers in order to save David’s live,
and even some
Christian casuists allow falsehood in such cases. As to her
treachery, what
she held to be her religious duty properly took
precedence of any sentiment
of hopeless patriotism; and, after all, what she did was
only to save the
spies from a cruel death, not to correspond with the enemy
or open the
gates of her city to them. Such excuses for what might seem
amiss in her
are valid. But the main point to be observed is this —
that, whatever her
enlightenment, as a heathen, in principles of morality
familiar to us
Christians, she stands out
in the sacred record as having been saved and
admitted into
in accordance with her faith. What is said of Jael may be
still more said of
her: (Judges
5:24) They who serve Him honestly up to
the measure of their
knowledge are according to the general course of His
providence encouraged
and blessed; they whose eyes and hearts are still fixed
upwards, on duty,
not on self, are precisely that smoking flax which He will
not quench, but
cherish rather, till the smoke be blown into a flame.” (Isaiah
42:3; Matthew
12:20) Be it
observed, however, that Jael’s murderous deed — much
less
easily defensible than Rahab’s
conduct — is nowhere adduced in the
New Testament as an instance of faith. Among the names that
follow here
Barak is mentioned, but not Jael. The
only ground for supposing her to be
approved in Scripture is her being called “blessed”in Deborah’s triumphal
song, uttered in
the flush of victory. But we are not bound to accept that
“prophetess,” however inspired for her peculiar mission, as an oracle on
questions of morality.
The Faith of a Heathen Woman (v. 31)
“By faith the harlot Rahab
perished not with them that believed not.” What did
Rahab believe? What does the Bible teach us concerning her
faith? She exercised:
1. Faith in Jehovah as the true and supreme God. She believed in Him
not
simply as a superior and powerful local or national deity,
but as supreme
over all beings universally. This is her confession, “Jehovah
your God, he is
God in heaven above, and in earth beneath” (Joshua 2:11).
2. Faith in the fidelity and power of Jehovah to fulfill His
purposes in
relation to His
people. “She said unto the men, I know that Jehovah hath
given you the land”
(Ibid. v.:9); and therefore she was confident that
they would actually come into possession of it.
3. Faith in the fidelity of the worshippers of Jehovah. She showed
kindness to the spies, entered into an important agreement
with them, and
fulfilled her part of the agreement, evidently expecting
them to fulfill their
part (Ibid. vs.12, 13, 21). Three aspects of the faith of Rahab are
suggested by our text.
Ø
Rahab was an idolatrous Canaanite. She had not been blessed with
parental instructions and home
influences inclining her heart to faith
in the true and holy God; but
the reverse. She was the daughter of
heathen parents, instructed in a
loathsome and degrading idolatry, and
belonged to a people whose “abominations
and iniquities had become
full, so that the land
spued out its inhabitants, and the Lord could
deal with them
only in sheer destruction.” Yet she
believed sincerely