“By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.” -Hebrews 11:4-7
In the first section of chapter 11, we learned about what faith is – “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (verse 1). That introduction was necessary so that all of these stories that follow will make sense. In today’s passage, we look at the first few of those stories, which demonstrate the faith of those who lived before the Flood.
The first example of faith that the author of Hebrews chooses is Abel. You can read more of Abel’s story in Genesis 4. The highlight of Abel’s faith was that he brought a different offering to God than his brother Cain did. Abel, who kept the flocks, brought the best portions from some of his firstborn. Cain was a farmer, and he just brought some of his harvest as an offering to God, not necessarily the best parts as Abel did. God was pleased with Abel’s offering because he offered up the best, but God was not pleased with Cain’s offering. This made Cain jealous, so he killed his brother – the first recorded murder, and in only the second generation since the perfection of the Garden of Eden.
The author of Hebrews reports that God commended Abel as righteous (verse 4) because of his faith. Abel believed that God deserved his best, and it was that attitude that showed his faith in God. Even though Abel has long been dead, his faith is still important for us to consider today. We, too, must have the right motivation when bringing our offerings to God, whether they be offerings of our time, money, or talents.
The next example that the author of Hebrews gives in verses 5-6 is Enoch. We don’t know a lot about Enoch from the Biblical account, but what we do know about him can be found in Genesis 5:18-24. He is also mentioned in Luke 3:37 and Jude 14. The important fact about Enoch is that he was “taken away” from this life. The author of Hebrews believes this means that he did not experience physical death. Why did God not let Enoch die? We know that God was pleased with him and he walked faithfully with God, but other than that, it’s a mystery to us.
The author of Hebrews elaborates a bit on this concept of pleasing God by telling us that it’s only possible by faith. We have to have faith in God in order to believe in Him and seek Him, and when we seek God we will be rewarded by Him. That doesn’t mean that we’ll all be simply taken away from this world rather than experience physical death, as rewards from God can come in many forms. But it is impossible to please God without faith, so faith is essential!
The next example we see is that of Noah (verse 7). Noah’s story can be found in Genesis 6-9. Noah was warned about the coming flood that would bring God’s judgment to the whole world, but God also gave Noah instructions about how to save himself and his family. Noah had no way of knowing about the coming flood other than God’s warning, so he had to take it all on faith that he needed to build the ark. Noah’s faith in God led to the salvation of his family.
Noah’s building of the ark was an outward sign of his internal faith in God to keep His promises. Noah was obedient to God, and in that respect, he condemned those who were disobedient to God. Even if God didn’t give the command to others, they would have seen what Noah was doing and had the opportunity to ask him about it so Noah could have shared his faith with them. But when the wicked people of that time didn’t listen to Noah, they were condemned to die in the judgment of the flood.
Because of Noah’s faith, he was called righteous. In fact, he is the first person in the Bible to be referred to as righteous (Genesis 6:9). He believed what God said, and he acted on it, which made him right in God’s eyes.
What can we learn from the examples of Abel, Enoch, and Noah? We need to have the right motivation when giving back to God. We need to be faithful to God in all that we do, and to have faith in God even when we can’t see Him or understand what He’s doing. When God tells us to do something, we need to act on it to live out our faith. Our faith is not just an attitude, but it’s a way of life – being obedient to God in all that we do, to the best of our abilities.
This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration. All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved. Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.
0 comments:
Post a Comment