Hebrews

Faith Triumphant

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Conversations, Panels, and Sermons

Lesson: 29-33

Genre: Lecture

Track: 29

Dictation Name: RR198Q29

Location/Venue:

Year:

Let us worship God. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the Beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thy heart. Wait I say, on the Lord. Let us pray.

Our Lord and our God we come into Thy presence once again, mindful that all that we are is of thine ordination. All that we hope for depends upon Thee. That all our days are numbered and known to Thee, but unknown to us. Give us grace therefore our father, to know how great Thou art and how foolish we often are, so that we may put our entire trust in Thee, that we may rejoice, that our today’s and our tomorrows depend not upon us but upon Thee. Bless us this morning by Thy word and by Thy spirit, and teach us to trust and obey. In Christ’s name, amen.

Our scripture is the 11th chapter of Hebrews, verses 30-40, and our subject: Faith Triumphant. Hebrews 11:30-40.

“30By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.

 31By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

 32And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

 33Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.

 34Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

 35Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

 36And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

 37They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

 38(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

 39And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

 40God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”

It should be apparent by now that faith is much more than man’s act of believing. As James 2:19 makes clear, the devils in hell believe in God and tremble, but mere belief is nothing. That faith which is God’s gift manifest is trust. In the face of all adverse circumstances, its trust in God remains unshaken. It requires no physical evidence, no physical assurances of God care, but rests wholly in His word.

We have a bold statement in verse 30: “By Faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were encompassed about 7 days.” It was God who brought down the walls of Jericho, the people had no idea what God would do, except that He had promised to bring down Jericho’s walls. They simply obeyed Him when he ordered the marches around the city. For this act of obedient faith, God would destroy Jericho, links it to the faith of the people.

Next, Rahab is cited. Some commentators, I’m sorry to say more than a few, have tried to make an innkeeper of Rahab. But we are plainly told that she was a harlot, but that she believed and was greatly rewarded for her faith. She became also an ancestress of Jesus Christ. We read this in Matthew 1:5. Also of King David. Hebrews then tells us that the men of faith are too many to cite, some are mentioned in passing, from the era of Judges we have Barak, Sampson, Jephthae and Samuel. After that we have David and the prophets. Kingdoms were subdued, justice embraced, men gained promises, and stopped the mouths of lions.

The latter is a reference to Daniel 6:22. All kinds of amazing deliverances occurred, the violence of fire was quenched. Again this is a reference to Daniel, Daniel 3:25. Men escaped death by the sword, the weak were made strong in battle, and invading armies were put to flight.

Verse 35 tells us: “Women received their dead raised to life again.” This refers to episodes in the life of Elijah first of all, through whom the son of the widow of Sarepta regained life, and to Elisha’s restoring the son of the Shunamite woman to life.

Lest we think that faith has an entitlement to supernatural deliverances, we are at once told that others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Their deliverance was in the resurrection of the dead, not in a rescue. So Hebrews makes it clear; faith does lead to great and marvelous deliverances, but also to fearful deaths. According to Hebrew accounts, one of those deaths, being sawn asunder, was the fate of the prophet Isaiah.

Then in verses 36 and 37 we are told of some of the suffering saints of old have endured, stoning, killed by the sword, destitute, tormented. They wandered about homeless, in animal skins for clothing. Their wanderings were in deserts, and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth; Our faith and our perseverance in faith is no entitlement to an earthly reward for us, however much it might serve the kingdom. At the same time Hebrews says of these suffering saints: “That the world was not worthy of them.” In spite of all their sufferings however, these saints did not receive the promise, that is, the kingdom of God.

However much they suffered for Christ the messiah king, the kingdom was not realized in their day. In verse 40 we are told that a fullness, perfection or maturity of the kingdom requires that faith be made manifest in all its richness in us as well as in them. They went through their trials, in the Christian era we or some of us at least will go through our trials. We must grow strong in faith. We must embody that trust in God that leads us to develop and apply the meaning of his kingdom, His salvation, His justice, to all of life.

To some, then and now as well as in the day’s to come, this can mean suffering and persecution as it has in the past. For others of us, this means applying God’s law to all of life. For still others it means expanding in the works of charity and mercy as Christ requires us.

Hebrews tells us what things we must believe as Christians. Jesus Christ is not only our king, but our savior, our redeemer, who by His atonement makes us righteous before God. But it makes clear that faith is not only creedal, but a mandate for action. The conquest for all things for Jesus Christ is required for faith. Hebrews begins this section, chapter 11 by telling us first that faith is a supernatural gift from God which becomes our life and our new being in Him. Second it tells us that faith means the belief that God is the fiat create of all things. So a belief in creationism is a mark of faith. 3rd faith means that we must believe that He, God, is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Fourth we are told that faith is not merely assent to articles of faith, but the faithful service to God’s kingdom and the needs of His people. Faith is not man centered. Too often when we believe, we think: “Alright Lord, we believe. Now you bail us out of everything.” And it doesn’t happen. Faith is not man centered or self centered. We cannot assess faith as a human asset, but rather as a calling from God to serve Him with all our heart, mind and being, and our neighbor as ourselves. Faith replaces man as his own center and focus, to make God the center. This tells us how out of line the churches are today. “Believe in Jesus and all your problems will be over.” Oh? Hardly true. Faith is a draft notice to man, that he has been summoned into the service of his maker and redeemer, and he has no option but to serve. Hebrews is thus a mandate for Christian action, and to see it merely as a theological treatise on atonement is to limit the book of Hebrews seriously. The atonement must be the stimulus towards a new life and a new world. One radically governed by Christ as king and High priest, and His law word as our mandate for conquest.

Faith is a mandate for action. Faith without works is dead. And that’s why as I pointed out some time ago, it is fitting that Hebrews precedes the book of James; and of course we shall continue our study of the subject from Hebrews into James; the books have a very close connection in meaning and in spirit. Let us pray.

Our Father, we give thanks unto Thee that Thou hast summoned us to serve Thee. Thou hast made known in Thy word, in the scripture we read, the terms of our enlistment. Make us ever mindful that we have been called not to be served but to serve, and give us the grace to be in all things patient and trusting, knowing that Thou art God. In Christ’s name we pray, amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson?

As you can see, the 11th chapter, it is a logical conclusion to the discussion about atonement, and the 12th chapter which we will take up next time is quite a stinging rebuke to those who want to stop with Hebrews 10, the last verse of Hebrews 10, and separate Hebrews 11 as ‘what happened to people long ago, but of course doesn’t apply to us.’ Well, chapter 12 helps correct that.

Well, if there are no questions, let us conclude with prayer.

Our Father, it has been good for us to be here, Thy word is truth; and thy word arms us against the world we live in, against the world we face daily, against the evil of ungodly men. Give us grace day by day to move in faith. To trust and obey. For there is no other way for happiness in our Lord than to trust and obey.

And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, Amen.