1 Peter 2

1 Peter 2:1

He Who Is Coming Will Come

Hebrews 10:28. We are in a section in which we are again warned against falling away. The consequences of falling away are presented in the most horrific way. After all it is not about a detail! It is about rejecting the only offering that God has given in His Son and to which offering the apostate at first consented. That is nothing else than deliberate rebellion against God. Rebelling against God, while knowing His will, was and still is a serious matter to God. Just take a look at the law of Moses. Whosoever rejected that law, in other words: trampled and despised it – so not accidentally transgressed it – died without mercy (cf. Numbers 15:30-36). Death penalty followed “on [the testimony of] two or three witnesses”.

Hebrews 10:29. If God already punished rebellion under the old covenant that severely, how much severer will the punishment be if a person rebels against the new covenant. The severer punishment is the eternal judgment, while in the Old Testament it concerned a corporal punishment. But the severer punishment is fitting for gravity of that sin. It is ultimately about nothing less than trampling the Son of God, the eternal Son, and despising His work.

You may say that transgressing the law was purely disobedience. How serious that might have already been, yet it is more serious to despise the grace of God and what He has done in His Son. It is rejecting the whole counsel of God’s plan of salvation with a contempt that gives no hope for conversion. To trample something under foot indicates a contemptible treatment. This is how one who is only a Christian in name treats the Son of God when he, after having first acknowledged Him as the Son of God, later on exchanges Him for a tangible religion. It is the grossest form of denial that anyone can do to Him. By such a treatment the Lord Jesus is held for liar and His work as meaningless.

The latter appears from the denial of the blood of the covenant. Through this blood the confessor was sanctified, which means: set apart outwardly. It is the same sanctification that also applies to the unbelieving husband whose wife came to faith (1 Corinthians 7:14). He confessed to be hiding behind the blood, like all members of the company he joined, though he didn’t believe in the power of the blood. At a certain moment he accounted it unholy. It is not surprising that such a person also insults “the Spirit of grace”. The Holy Spirit showed him grace when he entered professing Christianity by making him a partaker of His work in the church. But now he ignored the grace with a gesture of contempt.

Hebrews 10:30. By speaking about “we” the writer places himself among those to whom he writes. He sees all of them, including himself, as confessors. They all had the same confession. But there was a chance that there were some among them for whom the confession was only a matter of the lips and not of the heart. With regard to them he speaks these serious words. He wants to appeal to their conscience, so that they still may open up their hearts to receive the truth and that they will not turn to a religion that is rejected by God and which will surely cause them to die in their sins.

They all knew God as the One Who judges. None of them was ignorant about that. God’s vengeance implies that He will righteously measure what a person is worthy of. He will repay and judge in a righteous way.

Hebrews 10:31. He who falls away from the living God (Hebrews 3:12), will surely fall into the hands of the living God. How totally differently does the believer look at the hands of God. He loves to entrust himself to them (2 Samuel 24:14) because he trusts that God is perfectly righteous and full of love.

Hebrews 10:32. After his severe exhortations the writer appeals encouragingly to the readers again from Hebrews 10:32. He has expressed his fear for the falling away of a very few, but for the many of the company he doesn’t have that fear. He saw the fruits of the new life with them. He reminds them of that by taking them back in spirit to the former days. He speaks about them being “enlightened”. By that he meant that they had discovered what Christendom meant more than Judaism. When they discovered that, they accepted the new.

They were prepared to endure “a great conflict of sufferings” that it caused. Suffering goes hand in hand with accepting the Lord Jesus. There is not a single ground for the thought that the church will take possession of everything by a worldwide advancement of the gospel. It is a good thing to think of that always.

Hebrews 10:33. The writer speaks about two forms of suffering. There is a suffering that they individually experienced and a suffering they experienced by sympathizing with the sufferings of others. The suffering they endured by themselves consisted of “reproaches and tribulations” which were caused to them by their unbelieving fellow countrymen. Besides, these fellow countrymen were watching them like “a public spectacle” (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:9). This suffering was visible for their surroundings. The other form of suffering is sharing in the sufferings of others. This is not personally, but it is spiritually sharing with others who endure it personally (Hebrews 13:3; Matthew 25:36; 39). They had encouraged, probably visited, those who were kept in captivity because of their faith.

Hebrews 10:34. They were robbed from their possessions. Resentful Jews did that by plundering or confiscation. But they did not grieve about it. On the contrary, they “accepted joyfully” their loss. Did they still recall how that happened? Because they were convinced that they had a possession, which they could never lose, namely “a better possession and a lasting one”. It is a treasure in heaven where thieves cannot ever come (Matthew 6:20; 1 Peter 1:4). When the eye is focused on that then there is power, courage and perseverance to continue the path of faith till the end. The suffering they endured was simply because they had chosen the right path.

Hebrews 10:35. Because of that, “therefore”, they were not to throw away their confidence with which they were proceeding the path of faith. At the end the reward was surely awaiting them: the eternal inheritance in the promised land.

Hebrews 10:36. It was, and it is for you, a matter of endurance. A lack of endurance results in falling away from faith. Endurance means remaining in the circumstances one finds oneself without escaping them. By endurance you partake of “the promise”: the inheritance.

Therefore “the will of God” has to be done. Always when ‘the will of God’ is spoken about in a letter it is said in relation to the content of the letter. The will of God here has to do with the faith in the testimony concerning Jesus as the Messiah, Who was crucified, Who has died and raised, which caused that the sins are taken away. It is also His will that you look at a High Priest in heaven at the right hand of God, while on earth you possibly have to endure tribulation and persecution. It is God’s will that you endure in that until you will be with Him.

Hebrews 10:37. And that will only last “a very little while”, for Christ is coming soon and will fulfill everything that has been promised. His offering fitted you to partake of the fulfillment of the promises. The reason why you still have to wait and why you were not immediately transferred to heaven right after your conversion is that the faith you are confessing is tested as to its trueness. He is coming and will not delay. If ‘delaying’ becomes a central matter in your life you will become unfaithful to the Lord (Matthew 24:48-50) and from the good servant you are now you will turn into an evil servant.

Hebrews 10:38. To prevent that, it is necessary to live according to the principle of faith. The writer quotes here for the third time in the New Testament a verse from Habakkuk (Habakkuk 2:3-4). In each of the three quotations the emphasis is different. 1. In the first quotation, the emphasis is on ‘righteous’ (Romans 1:17); 2. in the second, it is on ‘faith’ (opposite the law) (Galatians 3:11) and 3. in the third, it is on ‘life’ (opposite to perishing in the wilderness, falling away) (Hebrews 10:38).

As long as the coming of the Lord is delayed, the righteous should live from the power of his faith. He who lives as a righteous one has nothing to fear for and will surely endure. God speaks here of “My just”. This resonates the affection God has for everyone who lives from the faith in Him in a world that is against Him.

Hebrews 10:39. He who is a Christian by name will turn off and be rejected by God. Shrinking back is withdrawing from the path of faith, leaving that path. That can happen for example because of fear for men, which causes the necessary endurance to disappear. It can also happen by ignoring the Word of God and not looking upon the High Priest alone anymore. Such people do not please God. They return to the dead works from which they had turned off under the confession of the power of the blood of Christ. In the next chapter God will present people who do please Him.

The writer does not assume that his readers are such apostates, just as he himself is not, for because of the word “we” he is using, you see that he again includes himself. I suppose that you too are not of the kind that shrinks back and who from fear abandons Christendom and has to meet such a terrible judgment.

I suppose that you belong to those who “have faith to the preserving of the soul”, which means that you live by faith and in that way you preserve your soul until the end of the journey.

Now read Hebrews 10:28-39 again.

Reflection: Do you sometimes fear for falling away from faith or do you know of another person who does? What is your reply to that fear?

1 Peter 2:2

He Who Is Coming Will Come

Hebrews 10:28. We are in a section in which we are again warned against falling away. The consequences of falling away are presented in the most horrific way. After all it is not about a detail! It is about rejecting the only offering that God has given in His Son and to which offering the apostate at first consented. That is nothing else than deliberate rebellion against God. Rebelling against God, while knowing His will, was and still is a serious matter to God. Just take a look at the law of Moses. Whosoever rejected that law, in other words: trampled and despised it – so not accidentally transgressed it – died without mercy (cf. Numbers 15:30-36). Death penalty followed “on [the testimony of] two or three witnesses”.

Hebrews 10:29. If God already punished rebellion under the old covenant that severely, how much severer will the punishment be if a person rebels against the new covenant. The severer punishment is the eternal judgment, while in the Old Testament it concerned a corporal punishment. But the severer punishment is fitting for gravity of that sin. It is ultimately about nothing less than trampling the Son of God, the eternal Son, and despising His work.

You may say that transgressing the law was purely disobedience. How serious that might have already been, yet it is more serious to despise the grace of God and what He has done in His Son. It is rejecting the whole counsel of God’s plan of salvation with a contempt that gives no hope for conversion. To trample something under foot indicates a contemptible treatment. This is how one who is only a Christian in name treats the Son of God when he, after having first acknowledged Him as the Son of God, later on exchanges Him for a tangible religion. It is the grossest form of denial that anyone can do to Him. By such a treatment the Lord Jesus is held for liar and His work as meaningless.

The latter appears from the denial of the blood of the covenant. Through this blood the confessor was sanctified, which means: set apart outwardly. It is the same sanctification that also applies to the unbelieving husband whose wife came to faith (1 Corinthians 7:14). He confessed to be hiding behind the blood, like all members of the company he joined, though he didn’t believe in the power of the blood. At a certain moment he accounted it unholy. It is not surprising that such a person also insults “the Spirit of grace”. The Holy Spirit showed him grace when he entered professing Christianity by making him a partaker of His work in the church. But now he ignored the grace with a gesture of contempt.

Hebrews 10:30. By speaking about “we” the writer places himself among those to whom he writes. He sees all of them, including himself, as confessors. They all had the same confession. But there was a chance that there were some among them for whom the confession was only a matter of the lips and not of the heart. With regard to them he speaks these serious words. He wants to appeal to their conscience, so that they still may open up their hearts to receive the truth and that they will not turn to a religion that is rejected by God and which will surely cause them to die in their sins.

They all knew God as the One Who judges. None of them was ignorant about that. God’s vengeance implies that He will righteously measure what a person is worthy of. He will repay and judge in a righteous way.

Hebrews 10:31. He who falls away from the living God (Hebrews 3:12), will surely fall into the hands of the living God. How totally differently does the believer look at the hands of God. He loves to entrust himself to them (2 Samuel 24:14) because he trusts that God is perfectly righteous and full of love.

Hebrews 10:32. After his severe exhortations the writer appeals encouragingly to the readers again from Hebrews 10:32. He has expressed his fear for the falling away of a very few, but for the many of the company he doesn’t have that fear. He saw the fruits of the new life with them. He reminds them of that by taking them back in spirit to the former days. He speaks about them being “enlightened”. By that he meant that they had discovered what Christendom meant more than Judaism. When they discovered that, they accepted the new.

They were prepared to endure “a great conflict of sufferings” that it caused. Suffering goes hand in hand with accepting the Lord Jesus. There is not a single ground for the thought that the church will take possession of everything by a worldwide advancement of the gospel. It is a good thing to think of that always.

Hebrews 10:33. The writer speaks about two forms of suffering. There is a suffering that they individually experienced and a suffering they experienced by sympathizing with the sufferings of others. The suffering they endured by themselves consisted of “reproaches and tribulations” which were caused to them by their unbelieving fellow countrymen. Besides, these fellow countrymen were watching them like “a public spectacle” (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:9). This suffering was visible for their surroundings. The other form of suffering is sharing in the sufferings of others. This is not personally, but it is spiritually sharing with others who endure it personally (Hebrews 13:3; Matthew 25:36; 39). They had encouraged, probably visited, those who were kept in captivity because of their faith.

Hebrews 10:34. They were robbed from their possessions. Resentful Jews did that by plundering or confiscation. But they did not grieve about it. On the contrary, they “accepted joyfully” their loss. Did they still recall how that happened? Because they were convinced that they had a possession, which they could never lose, namely “a better possession and a lasting one”. It is a treasure in heaven where thieves cannot ever come (Matthew 6:20; 1 Peter 1:4). When the eye is focused on that then there is power, courage and perseverance to continue the path of faith till the end. The suffering they endured was simply because they had chosen the right path.

Hebrews 10:35. Because of that, “therefore”, they were not to throw away their confidence with which they were proceeding the path of faith. At the end the reward was surely awaiting them: the eternal inheritance in the promised land.

Hebrews 10:36. It was, and it is for you, a matter of endurance. A lack of endurance results in falling away from faith. Endurance means remaining in the circumstances one finds oneself without escaping them. By endurance you partake of “the promise”: the inheritance.

Therefore “the will of God” has to be done. Always when ‘the will of God’ is spoken about in a letter it is said in relation to the content of the letter. The will of God here has to do with the faith in the testimony concerning Jesus as the Messiah, Who was crucified, Who has died and raised, which caused that the sins are taken away. It is also His will that you look at a High Priest in heaven at the right hand of God, while on earth you possibly have to endure tribulation and persecution. It is God’s will that you endure in that until you will be with Him.

Hebrews 10:37. And that will only last “a very little while”, for Christ is coming soon and will fulfill everything that has been promised. His offering fitted you to partake of the fulfillment of the promises. The reason why you still have to wait and why you were not immediately transferred to heaven right after your conversion is that the faith you are confessing is tested as to its trueness. He is coming and will not delay. If ‘delaying’ becomes a central matter in your life you will become unfaithful to the Lord (Matthew 24:48-50) and from the good servant you are now you will turn into an evil servant.

Hebrews 10:38. To prevent that, it is necessary to live according to the principle of faith. The writer quotes here for the third time in the New Testament a verse from Habakkuk (Habakkuk 2:3-4). In each of the three quotations the emphasis is different. 1. In the first quotation, the emphasis is on ‘righteous’ (Romans 1:17); 2. in the second, it is on ‘faith’ (opposite the law) (Galatians 3:11) and 3. in the third, it is on ‘life’ (opposite to perishing in the wilderness, falling away) (Hebrews 10:38).

As long as the coming of the Lord is delayed, the righteous should live from the power of his faith. He who lives as a righteous one has nothing to fear for and will surely endure. God speaks here of “My just”. This resonates the affection God has for everyone who lives from the faith in Him in a world that is against Him.

Hebrews 10:39. He who is a Christian by name will turn off and be rejected by God. Shrinking back is withdrawing from the path of faith, leaving that path. That can happen for example because of fear for men, which causes the necessary endurance to disappear. It can also happen by ignoring the Word of God and not looking upon the High Priest alone anymore. Such people do not please God. They return to the dead works from which they had turned off under the confession of the power of the blood of Christ. In the next chapter God will present people who do please Him.

The writer does not assume that his readers are such apostates, just as he himself is not, for because of the word “we” he is using, you see that he again includes himself. I suppose that you too are not of the kind that shrinks back and who from fear abandons Christendom and has to meet such a terrible judgment.

I suppose that you belong to those who “have faith to the preserving of the soul”, which means that you live by faith and in that way you preserve your soul until the end of the journey.

Now read Hebrews 10:28-39 again.

Reflection: Do you sometimes fear for falling away from faith or do you know of another person who does? What is your reply to that fear?

1 Peter 2:3

He Who Is Coming Will Come

Hebrews 10:28. We are in a section in which we are again warned against falling away. The consequences of falling away are presented in the most horrific way. After all it is not about a detail! It is about rejecting the only offering that God has given in His Son and to which offering the apostate at first consented. That is nothing else than deliberate rebellion against God. Rebelling against God, while knowing His will, was and still is a serious matter to God. Just take a look at the law of Moses. Whosoever rejected that law, in other words: trampled and despised it – so not accidentally transgressed it – died without mercy (cf. Numbers 15:30-36). Death penalty followed “on [the testimony of] two or three witnesses”.

Hebrews 10:29. If God already punished rebellion under the old covenant that severely, how much severer will the punishment be if a person rebels against the new covenant. The severer punishment is the eternal judgment, while in the Old Testament it concerned a corporal punishment. But the severer punishment is fitting for gravity of that sin. It is ultimately about nothing less than trampling the Son of God, the eternal Son, and despising His work.

You may say that transgressing the law was purely disobedience. How serious that might have already been, yet it is more serious to despise the grace of God and what He has done in His Son. It is rejecting the whole counsel of God’s plan of salvation with a contempt that gives no hope for conversion. To trample something under foot indicates a contemptible treatment. This is how one who is only a Christian in name treats the Son of God when he, after having first acknowledged Him as the Son of God, later on exchanges Him for a tangible religion. It is the grossest form of denial that anyone can do to Him. By such a treatment the Lord Jesus is held for liar and His work as meaningless.

The latter appears from the denial of the blood of the covenant. Through this blood the confessor was sanctified, which means: set apart outwardly. It is the same sanctification that also applies to the unbelieving husband whose wife came to faith (1 Corinthians 7:14). He confessed to be hiding behind the blood, like all members of the company he joined, though he didn’t believe in the power of the blood. At a certain moment he accounted it unholy. It is not surprising that such a person also insults “the Spirit of grace”. The Holy Spirit showed him grace when he entered professing Christianity by making him a partaker of His work in the church. But now he ignored the grace with a gesture of contempt.

Hebrews 10:30. By speaking about “we” the writer places himself among those to whom he writes. He sees all of them, including himself, as confessors. They all had the same confession. But there was a chance that there were some among them for whom the confession was only a matter of the lips and not of the heart. With regard to them he speaks these serious words. He wants to appeal to their conscience, so that they still may open up their hearts to receive the truth and that they will not turn to a religion that is rejected by God and which will surely cause them to die in their sins.

They all knew God as the One Who judges. None of them was ignorant about that. God’s vengeance implies that He will righteously measure what a person is worthy of. He will repay and judge in a righteous way.

Hebrews 10:31. He who falls away from the living God (Hebrews 3:12), will surely fall into the hands of the living God. How totally differently does the believer look at the hands of God. He loves to entrust himself to them (2 Samuel 24:14) because he trusts that God is perfectly righteous and full of love.

Hebrews 10:32. After his severe exhortations the writer appeals encouragingly to the readers again from Hebrews 10:32. He has expressed his fear for the falling away of a very few, but for the many of the company he doesn’t have that fear. He saw the fruits of the new life with them. He reminds them of that by taking them back in spirit to the former days. He speaks about them being “enlightened”. By that he meant that they had discovered what Christendom meant more than Judaism. When they discovered that, they accepted the new.

They were prepared to endure “a great conflict of sufferings” that it caused. Suffering goes hand in hand with accepting the Lord Jesus. There is not a single ground for the thought that the church will take possession of everything by a worldwide advancement of the gospel. It is a good thing to think of that always.

Hebrews 10:33. The writer speaks about two forms of suffering. There is a suffering that they individually experienced and a suffering they experienced by sympathizing with the sufferings of others. The suffering they endured by themselves consisted of “reproaches and tribulations” which were caused to them by their unbelieving fellow countrymen. Besides, these fellow countrymen were watching them like “a public spectacle” (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:9). This suffering was visible for their surroundings. The other form of suffering is sharing in the sufferings of others. This is not personally, but it is spiritually sharing with others who endure it personally (Hebrews 13:3; Matthew 25:36; 39). They had encouraged, probably visited, those who were kept in captivity because of their faith.

Hebrews 10:34. They were robbed from their possessions. Resentful Jews did that by plundering or confiscation. But they did not grieve about it. On the contrary, they “accepted joyfully” their loss. Did they still recall how that happened? Because they were convinced that they had a possession, which they could never lose, namely “a better possession and a lasting one”. It is a treasure in heaven where thieves cannot ever come (Matthew 6:20; 1 Peter 1:4). When the eye is focused on that then there is power, courage and perseverance to continue the path of faith till the end. The suffering they endured was simply because they had chosen the right path.

Hebrews 10:35. Because of that, “therefore”, they were not to throw away their confidence with which they were proceeding the path of faith. At the end the reward was surely awaiting them: the eternal inheritance in the promised land.

Hebrews 10:36. It was, and it is for you, a matter of endurance. A lack of endurance results in falling away from faith. Endurance means remaining in the circumstances one finds oneself without escaping them. By endurance you partake of “the promise”: the inheritance.

Therefore “the will of God” has to be done. Always when ‘the will of God’ is spoken about in a letter it is said in relation to the content of the letter. The will of God here has to do with the faith in the testimony concerning Jesus as the Messiah, Who was crucified, Who has died and raised, which caused that the sins are taken away. It is also His will that you look at a High Priest in heaven at the right hand of God, while on earth you possibly have to endure tribulation and persecution. It is God’s will that you endure in that until you will be with Him.

Hebrews 10:37. And that will only last “a very little while”, for Christ is coming soon and will fulfill everything that has been promised. His offering fitted you to partake of the fulfillment of the promises. The reason why you still have to wait and why you were not immediately transferred to heaven right after your conversion is that the faith you are confessing is tested as to its trueness. He is coming and will not delay. If ‘delaying’ becomes a central matter in your life you will become unfaithful to the Lord (Matthew 24:48-50) and from the good servant you are now you will turn into an evil servant.

Hebrews 10:38. To prevent that, it is necessary to live according to the principle of faith. The writer quotes here for the third time in the New Testament a verse from Habakkuk (Habakkuk 2:3-4). In each of the three quotations the emphasis is different. 1. In the first quotation, the emphasis is on ‘righteous’ (Romans 1:17); 2. in the second, it is on ‘faith’ (opposite the law) (Galatians 3:11) and 3. in the third, it is on ‘life’ (opposite to perishing in the wilderness, falling away) (Hebrews 10:38).

As long as the coming of the Lord is delayed, the righteous should live from the power of his faith. He who lives as a righteous one has nothing to fear for and will surely endure. God speaks here of “My just”. This resonates the affection God has for everyone who lives from the faith in Him in a world that is against Him.

Hebrews 10:39. He who is a Christian by name will turn off and be rejected by God. Shrinking back is withdrawing from the path of faith, leaving that path. That can happen for example because of fear for men, which causes the necessary endurance to disappear. It can also happen by ignoring the Word of God and not looking upon the High Priest alone anymore. Such people do not please God. They return to the dead works from which they had turned off under the confession of the power of the blood of Christ. In the next chapter God will present people who do please Him.

The writer does not assume that his readers are such apostates, just as he himself is not, for because of the word “we” he is using, you see that he again includes himself. I suppose that you too are not of the kind that shrinks back and who from fear abandons Christendom and has to meet such a terrible judgment.

I suppose that you belong to those who “have faith to the preserving of the soul”, which means that you live by faith and in that way you preserve your soul until the end of the journey.

Now read Hebrews 10:28-39 again.

Reflection: Do you sometimes fear for falling away from faith or do you know of another person who does? What is your reply to that fear?

1 Peter 2:4

He Who Is Coming Will Come

Hebrews 10:28. We are in a section in which we are again warned against falling away. The consequences of falling away are presented in the most horrific way. After all it is not about a detail! It is about rejecting the only offering that God has given in His Son and to which offering the apostate at first consented. That is nothing else than deliberate rebellion against God. Rebelling against God, while knowing His will, was and still is a serious matter to God. Just take a look at the law of Moses. Whosoever rejected that law, in other words: trampled and despised it – so not accidentally transgressed it – died without mercy (cf. Numbers 15:30-36). Death penalty followed “on [the testimony of] two or three witnesses”.

Hebrews 10:29. If God already punished rebellion under the old covenant that severely, how much severer will the punishment be if a person rebels against the new covenant. The severer punishment is the eternal judgment, while in the Old Testament it concerned a corporal punishment. But the severer punishment is fitting for gravity of that sin. It is ultimately about nothing less than trampling the Son of God, the eternal Son, and despising His work.

You may say that transgressing the law was purely disobedience. How serious that might have already been, yet it is more serious to despise the grace of God and what He has done in His Son. It is rejecting the whole counsel of God’s plan of salvation with a contempt that gives no hope for conversion. To trample something under foot indicates a contemptible treatment. This is how one who is only a Christian in name treats the Son of God when he, after having first acknowledged Him as the Son of God, later on exchanges Him for a tangible religion. It is the grossest form of denial that anyone can do to Him. By such a treatment the Lord Jesus is held for liar and His work as meaningless.

The latter appears from the denial of the blood of the covenant. Through this blood the confessor was sanctified, which means: set apart outwardly. It is the same sanctification that also applies to the unbelieving husband whose wife came to faith (1 Corinthians 7:14). He confessed to be hiding behind the blood, like all members of the company he joined, though he didn’t believe in the power of the blood. At a certain moment he accounted it unholy. It is not surprising that such a person also insults “the Spirit of grace”. The Holy Spirit showed him grace when he entered professing Christianity by making him a partaker of His work in the church. But now he ignored the grace with a gesture of contempt.

Hebrews 10:30. By speaking about “we” the writer places himself among those to whom he writes. He sees all of them, including himself, as confessors. They all had the same confession. But there was a chance that there were some among them for whom the confession was only a matter of the lips and not of the heart. With regard to them he speaks these serious words. He wants to appeal to their conscience, so that they still may open up their hearts to receive the truth and that they will not turn to a religion that is rejected by God and which will surely cause them to die in their sins.

They all knew God as the One Who judges. None of them was ignorant about that. God’s vengeance implies that He will righteously measure what a person is worthy of. He will repay and judge in a righteous way.

Hebrews 10:31. He who falls away from the living God (Hebrews 3:12), will surely fall into the hands of the living God. How totally differently does the believer look at the hands of God. He loves to entrust himself to them (2 Samuel 24:14) because he trusts that God is perfectly righteous and full of love.

Hebrews 10:32. After his severe exhortations the writer appeals encouragingly to the readers again from Hebrews 10:32. He has expressed his fear for the falling away of a very few, but for the many of the company he doesn’t have that fear. He saw the fruits of the new life with them. He reminds them of that by taking them back in spirit to the former days. He speaks about them being “enlightened”. By that he meant that they had discovered what Christendom meant more than Judaism. When they discovered that, they accepted the new.

They were prepared to endure “a great conflict of sufferings” that it caused. Suffering goes hand in hand with accepting the Lord Jesus. There is not a single ground for the thought that the church will take possession of everything by a worldwide advancement of the gospel. It is a good thing to think of that always.

Hebrews 10:33. The writer speaks about two forms of suffering. There is a suffering that they individually experienced and a suffering they experienced by sympathizing with the sufferings of others. The suffering they endured by themselves consisted of “reproaches and tribulations” which were caused to them by their unbelieving fellow countrymen. Besides, these fellow countrymen were watching them like “a public spectacle” (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:9). This suffering was visible for their surroundings. The other form of suffering is sharing in the sufferings of others. This is not personally, but it is spiritually sharing with others who endure it personally (Hebrews 13:3; Matthew 25:36; 39). They had encouraged, probably visited, those who were kept in captivity because of their faith.

Hebrews 10:34. They were robbed from their possessions. Resentful Jews did that by plundering or confiscation. But they did not grieve about it. On the contrary, they “accepted joyfully” their loss. Did they still recall how that happened? Because they were convinced that they had a possession, which they could never lose, namely “a better possession and a lasting one”. It is a treasure in heaven where thieves cannot ever come (Matthew 6:20; 1 Peter 1:4). When the eye is focused on that then there is power, courage and perseverance to continue the path of faith till the end. The suffering they endured was simply because they had chosen the right path.

Hebrews 10:35. Because of that, “therefore”, they were not to throw away their confidence with which they were proceeding the path of faith. At the end the reward was surely awaiting them: the eternal inheritance in the promised land.

Hebrews 10:36. It was, and it is for you, a matter of endurance. A lack of endurance results in falling away from faith. Endurance means remaining in the circumstances one finds oneself without escaping them. By endurance you partake of “the promise”: the inheritance.

Therefore “the will of God” has to be done. Always when ‘the will of God’ is spoken about in a letter it is said in relation to the content of the letter. The will of God here has to do with the faith in the testimony concerning Jesus as the Messiah, Who was crucified, Who has died and raised, which caused that the sins are taken away. It is also His will that you look at a High Priest in heaven at the right hand of God, while on earth you possibly have to endure tribulation and persecution. It is God’s will that you endure in that until you will be with Him.

Hebrews 10:37. And that will only last “a very little while”, for Christ is coming soon and will fulfill everything that has been promised. His offering fitted you to partake of the fulfillment of the promises. The reason why you still have to wait and why you were not immediately transferred to heaven right after your conversion is that the faith you are confessing is tested as to its trueness. He is coming and will not delay. If ‘delaying’ becomes a central matter in your life you will become unfaithful to the Lord (Matthew 24:48-50) and from the good servant you are now you will turn into an evil servant.

Hebrews 10:38. To prevent that, it is necessary to live according to the principle of faith. The writer quotes here for the third time in the New Testament a verse from Habakkuk (Habakkuk 2:3-4). In each of the three quotations the emphasis is different. 1. In the first quotation, the emphasis is on ‘righteous’ (Romans 1:17); 2. in the second, it is on ‘faith’ (opposite the law) (Galatians 3:11) and 3. in the third, it is on ‘life’ (opposite to perishing in the wilderness, falling away) (Hebrews 10:38).

As long as the coming of the Lord is delayed, the righteous should live from the power of his faith. He who lives as a righteous one has nothing to fear for and will surely endure. God speaks here of “My just”. This resonates the affection God has for everyone who lives from the faith in Him in a world that is against Him.

Hebrews 10:39. He who is a Christian by name will turn off and be rejected by God. Shrinking back is withdrawing from the path of faith, leaving that path. That can happen for example because of fear for men, which causes the necessary endurance to disappear. It can also happen by ignoring the Word of God and not looking upon the High Priest alone anymore. Such people do not please God. They return to the dead works from which they had turned off under the confession of the power of the blood of Christ. In the next chapter God will present people who do please Him.

The writer does not assume that his readers are such apostates, just as he himself is not, for because of the word “we” he is using, you see that he again includes himself. I suppose that you too are not of the kind that shrinks back and who from fear abandons Christendom and has to meet such a terrible judgment.

I suppose that you belong to those who “have faith to the preserving of the soul”, which means that you live by faith and in that way you preserve your soul until the end of the journey.

Now read Hebrews 10:28-39 again.

Reflection: Do you sometimes fear for falling away from faith or do you know of another person who does? What is your reply to that fear?

1 Peter 2:5

He Who Is Coming Will Come

Hebrews 10:28. We are in a section in which we are again warned against falling away. The consequences of falling away are presented in the most horrific way. After all it is not about a detail! It is about rejecting the only offering that God has given in His Son and to which offering the apostate at first consented. That is nothing else than deliberate rebellion against God. Rebelling against God, while knowing His will, was and still is a serious matter to God. Just take a look at the law of Moses. Whosoever rejected that law, in other words: trampled and despised it – so not accidentally transgressed it – died without mercy (cf. Numbers 15:30-36). Death penalty followed “on [the testimony of] two or three witnesses”.

Hebrews 10:29. If God already punished rebellion under the old covenant that severely, how much severer will the punishment be if a person rebels against the new covenant. The severer punishment is the eternal judgment, while in the Old Testament it concerned a corporal punishment. But the severer punishment is fitting for gravity of that sin. It is ultimately about nothing less than trampling the Son of God, the eternal Son, and despising His work.

You may say that transgressing the law was purely disobedience. How serious that might have already been, yet it is more serious to despise the grace of God and what He has done in His Son. It is rejecting the whole counsel of God’s plan of salvation with a contempt that gives no hope for conversion. To trample something under foot indicates a contemptible treatment. This is how one who is only a Christian in name treats the Son of God when he, after having first acknowledged Him as the Son of God, later on exchanges Him for a tangible religion. It is the grossest form of denial that anyone can do to Him. By such a treatment the Lord Jesus is held for liar and His work as meaningless.

The latter appears from the denial of the blood of the covenant. Through this blood the confessor was sanctified, which means: set apart outwardly. It is the same sanctification that also applies to the unbelieving husband whose wife came to faith (1 Corinthians 7:14). He confessed to be hiding behind the blood, like all members of the company he joined, though he didn’t believe in the power of the blood. At a certain moment he accounted it unholy. It is not surprising that such a person also insults “the Spirit of grace”. The Holy Spirit showed him grace when he entered professing Christianity by making him a partaker of His work in the church. But now he ignored the grace with a gesture of contempt.

Hebrews 10:30. By speaking about “we” the writer places himself among those to whom he writes. He sees all of them, including himself, as confessors. They all had the same confession. But there was a chance that there were some among them for whom the confession was only a matter of the lips and not of the heart. With regard to them he speaks these serious words. He wants to appeal to their conscience, so that they still may open up their hearts to receive the truth and that they will not turn to a religion that is rejected by God and which will surely cause them to die in their sins.

They all knew God as the One Who judges. None of them was ignorant about that. God’s vengeance implies that He will righteously measure what a person is worthy of. He will repay and judge in a righteous way.

Hebrews 10:31. He who falls away from the living God (Hebrews 3:12), will surely fall into the hands of the living God. How totally differently does the believer look at the hands of God. He loves to entrust himself to them (2 Samuel 24:14) because he trusts that God is perfectly righteous and full of love.

Hebrews 10:32. After his severe exhortations the writer appeals encouragingly to the readers again from Hebrews 10:32. He has expressed his fear for the falling away of a very few, but for the many of the company he doesn’t have that fear. He saw the fruits of the new life with them. He reminds them of that by taking them back in spirit to the former days. He speaks about them being “enlightened”. By that he meant that they had discovered what Christendom meant more than Judaism. When they discovered that, they accepted the new.

They were prepared to endure “a great conflict of sufferings” that it caused. Suffering goes hand in hand with accepting the Lord Jesus. There is not a single ground for the thought that the church will take possession of everything by a worldwide advancement of the gospel. It is a good thing to think of that always.

Hebrews 10:33. The writer speaks about two forms of suffering. There is a suffering that they individually experienced and a suffering they experienced by sympathizing with the sufferings of others. The suffering they endured by themselves consisted of “reproaches and tribulations” which were caused to them by their unbelieving fellow countrymen. Besides, these fellow countrymen were watching them like “a public spectacle” (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:9). This suffering was visible for their surroundings. The other form of suffering is sharing in the sufferings of others. This is not personally, but it is spiritually sharing with others who endure it personally (Hebrews 13:3; Matthew 25:36; 39). They had encouraged, probably visited, those who were kept in captivity because of their faith.

Hebrews 10:34. They were robbed from their possessions. Resentful Jews did that by plundering or confiscation. But they did not grieve about it. On the contrary, they “accepted joyfully” their loss. Did they still recall how that happened? Because they were convinced that they had a possession, which they could never lose, namely “a better possession and a lasting one”. It is a treasure in heaven where thieves cannot ever come (Matthew 6:20; 1 Peter 1:4). When the eye is focused on that then there is power, courage and perseverance to continue the path of faith till the end. The suffering they endured was simply because they had chosen the right path.

Hebrews 10:35. Because of that, “therefore”, they were not to throw away their confidence with which they were proceeding the path of faith. At the end the reward was surely awaiting them: the eternal inheritance in the promised land.

Hebrews 10:36. It was, and it is for you, a matter of endurance. A lack of endurance results in falling away from faith. Endurance means remaining in the circumstances one finds oneself without escaping them. By endurance you partake of “the promise”: the inheritance.

Therefore “the will of God” has to be done. Always when ‘the will of God’ is spoken about in a letter it is said in relation to the content of the letter. The will of God here has to do with the faith in the testimony concerning Jesus as the Messiah, Who was crucified, Who has died and raised, which caused that the sins are taken away. It is also His will that you look at a High Priest in heaven at the right hand of God, while on earth you possibly have to endure tribulation and persecution. It is God’s will that you endure in that until you will be with Him.

Hebrews 10:37. And that will only last “a very little while”, for Christ is coming soon and will fulfill everything that has been promised. His offering fitted you to partake of the fulfillment of the promises. The reason why you still have to wait and why you were not immediately transferred to heaven right after your conversion is that the faith you are confessing is tested as to its trueness. He is coming and will not delay. If ‘delaying’ becomes a central matter in your life you will become unfaithful to the Lord (Matthew 24:48-50) and from the good servant you are now you will turn into an evil servant.

Hebrews 10:38. To prevent that, it is necessary to live according to the principle of faith. The writer quotes here for the third time in the New Testament a verse from Habakkuk (Habakkuk 2:3-4). In each of the three quotations the emphasis is different. 1. In the first quotation, the emphasis is on ‘righteous’ (Romans 1:17); 2. in the second, it is on ‘faith’ (opposite the law) (Galatians 3:11) and 3. in the third, it is on ‘life’ (opposite to perishing in the wilderness, falling away) (Hebrews 10:38).

As long as the coming of the Lord is delayed, the righteous should live from the power of his faith. He who lives as a righteous one has nothing to fear for and will surely endure. God speaks here of “My just”. This resonates the affection God has for everyone who lives from the faith in Him in a world that is against Him.

Hebrews 10:39. He who is a Christian by name will turn off and be rejected by God. Shrinking back is withdrawing from the path of faith, leaving that path. That can happen for example because of fear for men, which causes the necessary endurance to disappear. It can also happen by ignoring the Word of God and not looking upon the High Priest alone anymore. Such people do not please God. They return to the dead works from which they had turned off under the confession of the power of the blood of Christ. In the next chapter God will present people who do please Him.

The writer does not assume that his readers are such apostates, just as he himself is not, for because of the word “we” he is using, you see that he again includes himself. I suppose that you too are not of the kind that shrinks back and who from fear abandons Christendom and has to meet such a terrible judgment.

I suppose that you belong to those who “have faith to the preserving of the soul”, which means that you live by faith and in that way you preserve your soul until the end of the journey.

Now read Hebrews 10:28-39 again.

Reflection: Do you sometimes fear for falling away from faith or do you know of another person who does? What is your reply to that fear?

1 Peter 2:6

He Who Is Coming Will Come

Hebrews 10:28. We are in a section in which we are again warned against falling away. The consequences of falling away are presented in the most horrific way. After all it is not about a detail! It is about rejecting the only offering that God has given in His Son and to which offering the apostate at first consented. That is nothing else than deliberate rebellion against God. Rebelling against God, while knowing His will, was and still is a serious matter to God. Just take a look at the law of Moses. Whosoever rejected that law, in other words: trampled and despised it – so not accidentally transgressed it – died without mercy (cf. Numbers 15:30-36). Death penalty followed “on [the testimony of] two or three witnesses”.

Hebrews 10:29. If God already punished rebellion under the old covenant that severely, how much severer will the punishment be if a person rebels against the new covenant. The severer punishment is the eternal judgment, while in the Old Testament it concerned a corporal punishment. But the severer punishment is fitting for gravity of that sin. It is ultimately about nothing less than trampling the Son of God, the eternal Son, and despising His work.

You may say that transgressing the law was purely disobedience. How serious that might have already been, yet it is more serious to despise the grace of God and what He has done in His Son. It is rejecting the whole counsel of God’s plan of salvation with a contempt that gives no hope for conversion. To trample something under foot indicates a contemptible treatment. This is how one who is only a Christian in name treats the Son of God when he, after having first acknowledged Him as the Son of God, later on exchanges Him for a tangible religion. It is the grossest form of denial that anyone can do to Him. By such a treatment the Lord Jesus is held for liar and His work as meaningless.

The latter appears from the denial of the blood of the covenant. Through this blood the confessor was sanctified, which means: set apart outwardly. It is the same sanctification that also applies to the unbelieving husband whose wife came to faith (1 Corinthians 7:14). He confessed to be hiding behind the blood, like all members of the company he joined, though he didn’t believe in the power of the blood. At a certain moment he accounted it unholy. It is not surprising that such a person also insults “the Spirit of grace”. The Holy Spirit showed him grace when he entered professing Christianity by making him a partaker of His work in the church. But now he ignored the grace with a gesture of contempt.

Hebrews 10:30. By speaking about “we” the writer places himself among those to whom he writes. He sees all of them, including himself, as confessors. They all had the same confession. But there was a chance that there were some among them for whom the confession was only a matter of the lips and not of the heart. With regard to them he speaks these serious words. He wants to appeal to their conscience, so that they still may open up their hearts to receive the truth and that they will not turn to a religion that is rejected by God and which will surely cause them to die in their sins.

They all knew God as the One Who judges. None of them was ignorant about that. God’s vengeance implies that He will righteously measure what a person is worthy of. He will repay and judge in a righteous way.

Hebrews 10:31. He who falls away from the living God (Hebrews 3:12), will surely fall into the hands of the living God. How totally differently does the believer look at the hands of God. He loves to entrust himself to them (2 Samuel 24:14) because he trusts that God is perfectly righteous and full of love.

Hebrews 10:32. After his severe exhortations the writer appeals encouragingly to the readers again from Hebrews 10:32. He has expressed his fear for the falling away of a very few, but for the many of the company he doesn’t have that fear. He saw the fruits of the new life with them. He reminds them of that by taking them back in spirit to the former days. He speaks about them being “enlightened”. By that he meant that they had discovered what Christendom meant more than Judaism. When they discovered that, they accepted the new.

They were prepared to endure “a great conflict of sufferings” that it caused. Suffering goes hand in hand with accepting the Lord Jesus. There is not a single ground for the thought that the church will take possession of everything by a worldwide advancement of the gospel. It is a good thing to think of that always.

Hebrews 10:33. The writer speaks about two forms of suffering. There is a suffering that they individually experienced and a suffering they experienced by sympathizing with the sufferings of others. The suffering they endured by themselves consisted of “reproaches and tribulations” which were caused to them by their unbelieving fellow countrymen. Besides, these fellow countrymen were watching them like “a public spectacle” (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:9). This suffering was visible for their surroundings. The other form of suffering is sharing in the sufferings of others. This is not personally, but it is spiritually sharing with others who endure it personally (Hebrews 13:3; Matthew 25:36; 39). They had encouraged, probably visited, those who were kept in captivity because of their faith.

Hebrews 10:34. They were robbed from their possessions. Resentful Jews did that by plundering or confiscation. But they did not grieve about it. On the contrary, they “accepted joyfully” their loss. Did they still recall how that happened? Because they were convinced that they had a possession, which they could never lose, namely “a better possession and a lasting one”. It is a treasure in heaven where thieves cannot ever come (Matthew 6:20; 1 Peter 1:4). When the eye is focused on that then there is power, courage and perseverance to continue the path of faith till the end. The suffering they endured was simply because they had chosen the right path.

Hebrews 10:35. Because of that, “therefore”, they were not to throw away their confidence with which they were proceeding the path of faith. At the end the reward was surely awaiting them: the eternal inheritance in the promised land.

Hebrews 10:36. It was, and it is for you, a matter of endurance. A lack of endurance results in falling away from faith. Endurance means remaining in the circumstances one finds oneself without escaping them. By endurance you partake of “the promise”: the inheritance.

Therefore “the will of God” has to be done. Always when ‘the will of God’ is spoken about in a letter it is said in relation to the content of the letter. The will of God here has to do with the faith in the testimony concerning Jesus as the Messiah, Who was crucified, Who has died and raised, which caused that the sins are taken away. It is also His will that you look at a High Priest in heaven at the right hand of God, while on earth you possibly have to endure tribulation and persecution. It is God’s will that you endure in that until you will be with Him.

Hebrews 10:37. And that will only last “a very little while”, for Christ is coming soon and will fulfill everything that has been promised. His offering fitted you to partake of the fulfillment of the promises. The reason why you still have to wait and why you were not immediately transferred to heaven right after your conversion is that the faith you are confessing is tested as to its trueness. He is coming and will not delay. If ‘delaying’ becomes a central matter in your life you will become unfaithful to the Lord (Matthew 24:48-50) and from the good servant you are now you will turn into an evil servant.

Hebrews 10:38. To prevent that, it is necessary to live according to the principle of faith. The writer quotes here for the third time in the New Testament a verse from Habakkuk (Habakkuk 2:3-4). In each of the three quotations the emphasis is different. 1. In the first quotation, the emphasis is on ‘righteous’ (Romans 1:17); 2. in the second, it is on ‘faith’ (opposite the law) (Galatians 3:11) and 3. in the third, it is on ‘life’ (opposite to perishing in the wilderness, falling away) (Hebrews 10:38).

As long as the coming of the Lord is delayed, the righteous should live from the power of his faith. He who lives as a righteous one has nothing to fear for and will surely endure. God speaks here of “My just”. This resonates the affection God has for everyone who lives from the faith in Him in a world that is against Him.

Hebrews 10:39. He who is a Christian by name will turn off and be rejected by God. Shrinking back is withdrawing from the path of faith, leaving that path. That can happen for example because of fear for men, which causes the necessary endurance to disappear. It can also happen by ignoring the Word of God and not looking upon the High Priest alone anymore. Such people do not please God. They return to the dead works from which they had turned off under the confession of the power of the blood of Christ. In the next chapter God will present people who do please Him.

The writer does not assume that his readers are such apostates, just as he himself is not, for because of the word “we” he is using, you see that he again includes himself. I suppose that you too are not of the kind that shrinks back and who from fear abandons Christendom and has to meet such a terrible judgment.

I suppose that you belong to those who “have faith to the preserving of the soul”, which means that you live by faith and in that way you preserve your soul until the end of the journey.

Now read Hebrews 10:28-39 again.

Reflection: Do you sometimes fear for falling away from faith or do you know of another person who does? What is your reply to that fear?

1 Peter 2:7

He Who Is Coming Will Come

Hebrews 10:28. We are in a section in which we are again warned against falling away. The consequences of falling away are presented in the most horrific way. After all it is not about a detail! It is about rejecting the only offering that God has given in His Son and to which offering the apostate at first consented. That is nothing else than deliberate rebellion against God. Rebelling against God, while knowing His will, was and still is a serious matter to God. Just take a look at the law of Moses. Whosoever rejected that law, in other words: trampled and despised it – so not accidentally transgressed it – died without mercy (cf. Numbers 15:30-36). Death penalty followed “on [the testimony of] two or three witnesses”.

Hebrews 10:29. If God already punished rebellion under the old covenant that severely, how much severer will the punishment be if a person rebels against the new covenant. The severer punishment is the eternal judgment, while in the Old Testament it concerned a corporal punishment. But the severer punishment is fitting for gravity of that sin. It is ultimately about nothing less than trampling the Son of God, the eternal Son, and despising His work.

You may say that transgressing the law was purely disobedience. How serious that might have already been, yet it is more serious to despise the grace of God and what He has done in His Son. It is rejecting the whole counsel of God’s plan of salvation with a contempt that gives no hope for conversion. To trample something under foot indicates a contemptible treatment. This is how one who is only a Christian in name treats the Son of God when he, after having first acknowledged Him as the Son of God, later on exchanges Him for a tangible religion. It is the grossest form of denial that anyone can do to Him. By such a treatment the Lord Jesus is held for liar and His work as meaningless.

The latter appears from the denial of the blood of the covenant. Through this blood the confessor was sanctified, which means: set apart outwardly. It is the same sanctification that also applies to the unbelieving husband whose wife came to faith (1 Corinthians 7:14). He confessed to be hiding behind the blood, like all members of the company he joined, though he didn’t believe in the power of the blood. At a certain moment he accounted it unholy. It is not surprising that such a person also insults “the Spirit of grace”. The Holy Spirit showed him grace when he entered professing Christianity by making him a partaker of His work in the church. But now he ignored the grace with a gesture of contempt.

Hebrews 10:30. By speaking about “we” the writer places himself among those to whom he writes. He sees all of them, including himself, as confessors. They all had the same confession. But there was a chance that there were some among them for whom the confession was only a matter of the lips and not of the heart. With regard to them he speaks these serious words. He wants to appeal to their conscience, so that they still may open up their hearts to receive the truth and that they will not turn to a religion that is rejected by God and which will surely cause them to die in their sins.

They all knew God as the One Who judges. None of them was ignorant about that. God’s vengeance implies that He will righteously measure what a person is worthy of. He will repay and judge in a righteous way.

Hebrews 10:31. He who falls away from the living God (Hebrews 3:12), will surely fall into the hands of the living God. How totally differently does the believer look at the hands of God. He loves to entrust himself to them (2 Samuel 24:14) because he trusts that God is perfectly righteous and full of love.

Hebrews 10:32. After his severe exhortations the writer appeals encouragingly to the readers again from Hebrews 10:32. He has expressed his fear for the falling away of a very few, but for the many of the company he doesn’t have that fear. He saw the fruits of the new life with them. He reminds them of that by taking them back in spirit to the former days. He speaks about them being “enlightened”. By that he meant that they had discovered what Christendom meant more than Judaism. When they discovered that, they accepted the new.

They were prepared to endure “a great conflict of sufferings” that it caused. Suffering goes hand in hand with accepting the Lord Jesus. There is not a single ground for the thought that the church will take possession of everything by a worldwide advancement of the gospel. It is a good thing to think of that always.

Hebrews 10:33. The writer speaks about two forms of suffering. There is a suffering that they individually experienced and a suffering they experienced by sympathizing with the sufferings of others. The suffering they endured by themselves consisted of “reproaches and tribulations” which were caused to them by their unbelieving fellow countrymen. Besides, these fellow countrymen were watching them like “a public spectacle” (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:9). This suffering was visible for their surroundings. The other form of suffering is sharing in the sufferings of others. This is not personally, but it is spiritually sharing with others who endure it personally (Hebrews 13:3; Matthew 25:36; 39). They had encouraged, probably visited, those who were kept in captivity because of their faith.

Hebrews 10:34. They were robbed from their possessions. Resentful Jews did that by plundering or confiscation. But they did not grieve about it. On the contrary, they “accepted joyfully” their loss. Did they still recall how that happened? Because they were convinced that they had a possession, which they could never lose, namely “a better possession and a lasting one”. It is a treasure in heaven where thieves cannot ever come (Matthew 6:20; 1 Peter 1:4). When the eye is focused on that then there is power, courage and perseverance to continue the path of faith till the end. The suffering they endured was simply because they had chosen the right path.

Hebrews 10:35. Because of that, “therefore”, they were not to throw away their confidence with which they were proceeding the path of faith. At the end the reward was surely awaiting them: the eternal inheritance in the promised land.

Hebrews 10:36. It was, and it is for you, a matter of endurance. A lack of endurance results in falling away from faith. Endurance means remaining in the circumstances one finds oneself without escaping them. By endurance you partake of “the promise”: the inheritance.

Therefore “the will of God” has to be done. Always when ‘the will of God’ is spoken about in a letter it is said in relation to the content of the letter. The will of God here has to do with the faith in the testimony concerning Jesus as the Messiah, Who was crucified, Who has died and raised, which caused that the sins are taken away. It is also His will that you look at a High Priest in heaven at the right hand of God, while on earth you possibly have to endure tribulation and persecution. It is God’s will that you endure in that until you will be with Him.

Hebrews 10:37. And that will only last “a very little while”, for Christ is coming soon and will fulfill everything that has been promised. His offering fitted you to partake of the fulfillment of the promises. The reason why you still have to wait and why you were not immediately transferred to heaven right after your conversion is that the faith you are confessing is tested as to its trueness. He is coming and will not delay. If ‘delaying’ becomes a central matter in your life you will become unfaithful to the Lord (Matthew 24:48-50) and from the good servant you are now you will turn into an evil servant.

Hebrews 10:38. To prevent that, it is necessary to live according to the principle of faith. The writer quotes here for the third time in the New Testament a verse from Habakkuk (Habakkuk 2:3-4). In each of the three quotations the emphasis is different. 1. In the first quotation, the emphasis is on ‘righteous’ (Romans 1:17); 2. in the second, it is on ‘faith’ (opposite the law) (Galatians 3:11) and 3. in the third, it is on ‘life’ (opposite to perishing in the wilderness, falling away) (Hebrews 10:38).

As long as the coming of the Lord is delayed, the righteous should live from the power of his faith. He who lives as a righteous one has nothing to fear for and will surely endure. God speaks here of “My just”. This resonates the affection God has for everyone who lives from the faith in Him in a world that is against Him.

Hebrews 10:39. He who is a Christian by name will turn off and be rejected by God. Shrinking back is withdrawing from the path of faith, leaving that path. That can happen for example because of fear for men, which causes the necessary endurance to disappear. It can also happen by ignoring the Word of God and not looking upon the High Priest alone anymore. Such people do not please God. They return to the dead works from which they had turned off under the confession of the power of the blood of Christ. In the next chapter God will present people who do please Him.

The writer does not assume that his readers are such apostates, just as he himself is not, for because of the word “we” he is using, you see that he again includes himself. I suppose that you too are not of the kind that shrinks back and who from fear abandons Christendom and has to meet such a terrible judgment.

I suppose that you belong to those who “have faith to the preserving of the soul”, which means that you live by faith and in that way you preserve your soul until the end of the journey.

Now read Hebrews 10:28-39 again.

Reflection: Do you sometimes fear for falling away from faith or do you know of another person who does? What is your reply to that fear?

1 Peter 2:8

He Who Is Coming Will Come

Hebrews 10:28. We are in a section in which we are again warned against falling away. The consequences of falling away are presented in the most horrific way. After all it is not about a detail! It is about rejecting the only offering that God has given in His Son and to which offering the apostate at first consented. That is nothing else than deliberate rebellion against God. Rebelling against God, while knowing His will, was and still is a serious matter to God. Just take a look at the law of Moses. Whosoever rejected that law, in other words: trampled and despised it – so not accidentally transgressed it – died without mercy (cf. Numbers 15:30-36). Death penalty followed “on [the testimony of] two or three witnesses”.

Hebrews 10:29. If God already punished rebellion under the old covenant that severely, how much severer will the punishment be if a person rebels against the new covenant. The severer punishment is the eternal judgment, while in the Old Testament it concerned a corporal punishment. But the severer punishment is fitting for gravity of that sin. It is ultimately about nothing less than trampling the Son of God, the eternal Son, and despising His work.

You may say that transgressing the law was purely disobedience. How serious that might have already been, yet it is more serious to despise the grace of God and what He has done in His Son. It is rejecting the whole counsel of God’s plan of salvation with a contempt that gives no hope for conversion. To trample something under foot indicates a contemptible treatment. This is how one who is only a Christian in name treats the Son of God when he, after having first acknowledged Him as the Son of God, later on exchanges Him for a tangible religion. It is the grossest form of denial that anyone can do to Him. By such a treatment the Lord Jesus is held for liar and His work as meaningless.

The latter appears from the denial of the blood of the covenant. Through this blood the confessor was sanctified, which means: set apart outwardly. It is the same sanctification that also applies to the unbelieving husband whose wife came to faith (1 Corinthians 7:14). He confessed to be hiding behind the blood, like all members of the company he joined, though he didn’t believe in the power of the blood. At a certain moment he accounted it unholy. It is not surprising that such a person also insults “the Spirit of grace”. The Holy Spirit showed him grace when he entered professing Christianity by making him a partaker of His work in the church. But now he ignored the grace with a gesture of contempt.

Hebrews 10:30. By speaking about “we” the writer places himself among those to whom he writes. He sees all of them, including himself, as confessors. They all had the same confession. But there was a chance that there were some among them for whom the confession was only a matter of the lips and not of the heart. With regard to them he speaks these serious words. He wants to appeal to their conscience, so that they still may open up their hearts to receive the truth and that they will not turn to a religion that is rejected by God and which will surely cause them to die in their sins.

They all knew God as the One Who judges. None of them was ignorant about that. God’s vengeance implies that He will righteously measure what a person is worthy of. He will repay and judge in a righteous way.

Hebrews 10:31. He who falls away from the living God (Hebrews 3:12), will surely fall into the hands of the living God. How totally differently does the believer look at the hands of God. He loves to entrust himself to them (2 Samuel 24:14) because he trusts that God is perfectly righteous and full of love.

Hebrews 10:32. After his severe exhortations the writer appeals encouragingly to the readers again from Hebrews 10:32. He has expressed his fear for the falling away of a very few, but for the many of the company he doesn’t have that fear. He saw the fruits of the new life with them. He reminds them of that by taking them back in spirit to the former days. He speaks about them being “enlightened”. By that he meant that they had discovered what Christendom meant more than Judaism. When they discovered that, they accepted the new.

They were prepared to endure “a great conflict of sufferings” that it caused. Suffering goes hand in hand with accepting the Lord Jesus. There is not a single ground for the thought that the church will take possession of everything by a worldwide advancement of the gospel. It is a good thing to think of that always.

Hebrews 10:33. The writer speaks about two forms of suffering. There is a suffering that they individually experienced and a suffering they experienced by sympathizing with the sufferings of others. The suffering they endured by themselves consisted of “reproaches and tribulations” which were caused to them by their unbelieving fellow countrymen. Besides, these fellow countrymen were watching them like “a public spectacle” (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:9). This suffering was visible for their surroundings. The other form of suffering is sharing in the sufferings of others. This is not personally, but it is spiritually sharing with others who endure it personally (Hebrews 13:3; Matthew 25:36; 39). They had encouraged, probably visited, those who were kept in captivity because of their faith.

Hebrews 10:34. They were robbed from their possessions. Resentful Jews did that by plundering or confiscation. But they did not grieve about it. On the contrary, they “accepted joyfully” their loss. Did they still recall how that happened? Because they were convinced that they had a possession, which they could never lose, namely “a better possession and a lasting one”. It is a treasure in heaven where thieves cannot ever come (Matthew 6:20; 1 Peter 1:4). When the eye is focused on that then there is power, courage and perseverance to continue the path of faith till the end. The suffering they endured was simply because they had chosen the right path.

Hebrews 10:35. Because of that, “therefore”, they were not to throw away their confidence with which they were proceeding the path of faith. At the end the reward was surely awaiting them: the eternal inheritance in the promised land.

Hebrews 10:36. It was, and it is for you, a matter of endurance. A lack of endurance results in falling away from faith. Endurance means remaining in the circumstances one finds oneself without escaping them. By endurance you partake of “the promise”: the inheritance.

Therefore “the will of God” has to be done. Always when ‘the will of God’ is spoken about in a letter it is said in relation to the content of the letter. The will of God here has to do with the faith in the testimony concerning Jesus as the Messiah, Who was crucified, Who has died and raised, which caused that the sins are taken away. It is also His will that you look at a High Priest in heaven at the right hand of God, while on earth you possibly have to endure tribulation and persecution. It is God’s will that you endure in that until you will be with Him.

Hebrews 10:37. And that will only last “a very little while”, for Christ is coming soon and will fulfill everything that has been promised. His offering fitted you to partake of the fulfillment of the promises. The reason why you still have to wait and why you were not immediately transferred to heaven right after your conversion is that the faith you are confessing is tested as to its trueness. He is coming and will not delay. If ‘delaying’ becomes a central matter in your life you will become unfaithful to the Lord (Matthew 24:48-50) and from the good servant you are now you will turn into an evil servant.

Hebrews 10:38. To prevent that, it is necessary to live according to the principle of faith. The writer quotes here for the third time in the New Testament a verse from Habakkuk (Habakkuk 2:3-4). In each of the three quotations the emphasis is different. 1. In the first quotation, the emphasis is on ‘righteous’ (Romans 1:17); 2. in the second, it is on ‘faith’ (opposite the law) (Galatians 3:11) and 3. in the third, it is on ‘life’ (opposite to perishing in the wilderness, falling away) (Hebrews 10:38).

As long as the coming of the Lord is delayed, the righteous should live from the power of his faith. He who lives as a righteous one has nothing to fear for and will surely endure. God speaks here of “My just”. This resonates the affection God has for everyone who lives from the faith in Him in a world that is against Him.

Hebrews 10:39. He who is a Christian by name will turn off and be rejected by God. Shrinking back is withdrawing from the path of faith, leaving that path. That can happen for example because of fear for men, which causes the necessary endurance to disappear. It can also happen by ignoring the Word of God and not looking upon the High Priest alone anymore. Such people do not please God. They return to the dead works from which they had turned off under the confession of the power of the blood of Christ. In the next chapter God will present people who do please Him.

The writer does not assume that his readers are such apostates, just as he himself is not, for because of the word “we” he is using, you see that he again includes himself. I suppose that you too are not of the kind that shrinks back and who from fear abandons Christendom and has to meet such a terrible judgment.

I suppose that you belong to those who “have faith to the preserving of the soul”, which means that you live by faith and in that way you preserve your soul until the end of the journey.

Now read Hebrews 10:28-39 again.

Reflection: Do you sometimes fear for falling away from faith or do you know of another person who does? What is your reply to that fear?

1 Peter 2:10

Living by Faith (I)

You’re at the beginning of a wonderful and an enormously encouraging chapter. It is full of examples of persons, who lived by faith. Their lives have proven the power and the working of faith. Therefore the whole chapter speaks about nothing else than faith. All these examples are quoted by the writer to show the Hebrews, and also you, what a person who lives by faith, is capable of.

This faith is not different from the faith that brought you to God and with which you put your confidence in God for the forgiveness of your sins. That was the beginning of your faith. But faith always remains active. Faith in God is: trusting Him, regarding Him as faithful, having the assurance that He helps and that He does what He says. The future becomes present by faith and in that way what is invisible becomes visible. And the difficulties you are faced with are the challenges for faith. Difficulties are, as it were, food for faith, difficulties are the very causes for faith to prove itself.

Hebrews 11:1. This verse has also been called the definition of faith, but this is not correct. Faith cannot be defined. Faith is the effective power in view of the future and in view of the present. Faith fixes the eye forward, to what has been promised and is absolutely sure that it will be achieved: it “is the assurance of [things] hoped for”. Faith fixes the eye upward, to God and Christ: it is “the conviction of things not seen”. Faith looks forward and upward.

In Hebrews 11:1-7 you see that faith is the most important thing in the relationship between man and God and indeed from the beginning till the end. It is about creation, sin and offering, life and walking to the pleasure of God, the testimony toward the world, the judgment on the world and finally the millennial kingdom of peace. In all these aspects the Son is central. Creation shows the Son as Creator. The offering shows the Son as Redeemer. A life and a walk to the pleasure of God is perfectly seen in the Son. When He was in the world He has given a perfect testimony of Who God is. The Son will judge the world and He will also establish the millennial kingdom of peace.

Furthermore, creation points forward to the recreation of which the Son is the Heir. On the basis of the offering all things will once be subjected to the Son. In the taking up of Enoch (Hebrews 11:5) you see a picture of the rapture of the church, the heavenly people of God. The church is connected to the Son and shares in all that belongs to the Son and what He will receive in the kingdom of peace. Noah (Hebrews 11:7) is a type of the earthly people in the millennial kingdom, of the believers who will inherit the world through judgments.

The common thread through everything is faith. This theme connects everything together. If you summarize Hebrews 11:1-7, you can say the following. Faith sees 1. that the visible things came from what is not visible; 2. that the sacrifice is the only ground to exist before God; 3. that a walk to the pleasure of God is possible by believing that He is (looking upward); 4. that a new world is awaiting (looking forward).

Hebrews 11:2. This is the faith that “the men of old”, men and women of faith from the Old Testament, the former generations of Israel, had. They demonstrated again and again that they were sure of what they hoped for and were convinced of what they did not see. Therefore they gained approval from God. God gave in their conscience His approval. God still does that in everyone who lives in daily trust in Him whatever circumstance he is in.

Hebrews 11:3. After the two introductory verses you get examples of the effect of faith. The first example implies that only by faith you are able to understand how the worlds were prepared, namely by the word of God. There is here no mention yet of men and women of faith from the Old Testament. Here it is about you, about your insight in the preparation of the worlds. Everything you see, is not made of something else that is seen, but emerged from the Invisible. This principle goes for everything that has to do with the practice of faith. In the life of faith nothing emerges from something that is seen around us, but only emerges from the unseen God Who also prepared the worlds.

God has spoken and as a result all that is visible came into being. That’s how it works when God speaks. His speaking is full of authority and effect. He speaks and it is done (Genesis 1:3; Psalms 33:9). In that way He “prepared” the worlds (the world of the stars, the world of angels, the world of men), which means that He has put them in order, classified them; He put everything in its right place. The only way you can “understand” or inwardly, spiritually see this, is by faith. Faith determines that God placed everything exactly there where He wanted it to be (Revelation 4:11). There is no gradual development, evolution, in creation.

In this third verse all the erroneous arguments of the human spirit, who have endlessly looked for and are still looking for the existence of things, are judged and eliminated in one phrase. The one invented system is still more foolish than the other to explain the things that become perfectly simple when faith acknowledges God. The universe is not a cause that is creating. It has been created itself and it functions through a law which God has imposed on it.

Hebrews 11:4. God uses His creation as a platform on which the working of faith is displayed. Then He created man on that platform. With that man He wanted to have fellowship, contact. Through sin that has entered the world, this fellowship is cruelly disturbed. Due to this man was not able anymore to draw near to God. But even worse: man who fell into sin could not exist before God.

God should remove him from this platform. But in His love and mercy God gave a way. He made a Lamb available as a sacrifice for fallen man, so that on this righteous ground he could still exist before God. In Abel the example of the power of faith in the sacrifice is presented.

Abel had the insight of someone with a conscience that was taught by God. He acknowledges God’s judgment over sin. He goes to God and confesses to be a sinner. But he comes with a substitute, an offering which he, as it were, places between himself and God. In this way he obtains the testimony that he was righteous. This testimony is in accordance with the righteous judgment of God. God had to execute judgment. He judged the offering and due to that Abel could go free. Not only the offering is accepted, but Able himself too who came with the sacrifice.

If you draw near to God through the offering of the Lord Jesus, God testifies to the offering that it is righteous and He also testifies to you that you are righteous. Your righteousness has the value and the perfection of the offering, which means of Christ Who offered Himself to God. To God you are now according to the perfection of the work of Christ. What that means you already have read comprehensively in this letter.

So the first man of faith is Abel. In him you see a believer who actively presents himself to God on the ground of a substitutionary offering. Also his brother Cain is mentioned. He also brought an offering, but the offering of Abel was better or more than that of Cain. Abel’s offering had added value. The added value was the fact that Abel killed an offering according to the example that God had given after the fall of man (Genesis 3:21), while Cain came with his own good works that also came from a cursed earth.

Abel’s sacrifice was, as it seems, not because of a special sin, but he offered it because of the awareness that man could only exist before God on that ground. The sacrifice of Abel was accepted. Possibly the fire from God fell on it, visibly, like what happened at the tabernacle (Leviticus 9:24), at the temple (2 Chronicles 7:1) and with the offerings of David and Elijah (1 Chronicles 21:26; 1 Kings 18:38).

Cain acknowledged the existence of God and desired to gain His favor, but he did not acknowledge to be a sinner. He turned his back to God. The difference between the persons who brought the sacrifices is faith. Abel’s faith and his sacrifice made God declare him righteous.

Abel had to pay his life of faith with his death by the hand of a murderer. His testimony on earth was ended that way, but the message that was sent through it did not. That echoes through the ages in a way that was not possible in another way. God uses the work of satan entirely against the will of satan to the greater glory of His Name.

Now read Hebrews 11:1-4 again.

Reflection: What do you do with faith? How does that affect you?

1 Peter 2:11

Living by Faith (I)

You’re at the beginning of a wonderful and an enormously encouraging chapter. It is full of examples of persons, who lived by faith. Their lives have proven the power and the working of faith. Therefore the whole chapter speaks about nothing else than faith. All these examples are quoted by the writer to show the Hebrews, and also you, what a person who lives by faith, is capable of.

This faith is not different from the faith that brought you to God and with which you put your confidence in God for the forgiveness of your sins. That was the beginning of your faith. But faith always remains active. Faith in God is: trusting Him, regarding Him as faithful, having the assurance that He helps and that He does what He says. The future becomes present by faith and in that way what is invisible becomes visible. And the difficulties you are faced with are the challenges for faith. Difficulties are, as it were, food for faith, difficulties are the very causes for faith to prove itself.

Hebrews 11:1. This verse has also been called the definition of faith, but this is not correct. Faith cannot be defined. Faith is the effective power in view of the future and in view of the present. Faith fixes the eye forward, to what has been promised and is absolutely sure that it will be achieved: it “is the assurance of [things] hoped for”. Faith fixes the eye upward, to God and Christ: it is “the conviction of things not seen”. Faith looks forward and upward.

In Hebrews 11:1-7 you see that faith is the most important thing in the relationship between man and God and indeed from the beginning till the end. It is about creation, sin and offering, life and walking to the pleasure of God, the testimony toward the world, the judgment on the world and finally the millennial kingdom of peace. In all these aspects the Son is central. Creation shows the Son as Creator. The offering shows the Son as Redeemer. A life and a walk to the pleasure of God is perfectly seen in the Son. When He was in the world He has given a perfect testimony of Who God is. The Son will judge the world and He will also establish the millennial kingdom of peace.

Furthermore, creation points forward to the recreation of which the Son is the Heir. On the basis of the offering all things will once be subjected to the Son. In the taking up of Enoch (Hebrews 11:5) you see a picture of the rapture of the church, the heavenly people of God. The church is connected to the Son and shares in all that belongs to the Son and what He will receive in the kingdom of peace. Noah (Hebrews 11:7) is a type of the earthly people in the millennial kingdom, of the believers who will inherit the world through judgments.

The common thread through everything is faith. This theme connects everything together. If you summarize Hebrews 11:1-7, you can say the following. Faith sees 1. that the visible things came from what is not visible; 2. that the sacrifice is the only ground to exist before God; 3. that a walk to the pleasure of God is possible by believing that He is (looking upward); 4. that a new world is awaiting (looking forward).

Hebrews 11:2. This is the faith that “the men of old”, men and women of faith from the Old Testament, the former generations of Israel, had. They demonstrated again and again that they were sure of what they hoped for and were convinced of what they did not see. Therefore they gained approval from God. God gave in their conscience His approval. God still does that in everyone who lives in daily trust in Him whatever circumstance he is in.

Hebrews 11:3. After the two introductory verses you get examples of the effect of faith. The first example implies that only by faith you are able to understand how the worlds were prepared, namely by the word of God. There is here no mention yet of men and women of faith from the Old Testament. Here it is about you, about your insight in the preparation of the worlds. Everything you see, is not made of something else that is seen, but emerged from the Invisible. This principle goes for everything that has to do with the practice of faith. In the life of faith nothing emerges from something that is seen around us, but only emerges from the unseen God Who also prepared the worlds.

God has spoken and as a result all that is visible came into being. That’s how it works when God speaks. His speaking is full of authority and effect. He speaks and it is done (Genesis 1:3; Psalms 33:9). In that way He “prepared” the worlds (the world of the stars, the world of angels, the world of men), which means that He has put them in order, classified them; He put everything in its right place. The only way you can “understand” or inwardly, spiritually see this, is by faith. Faith determines that God placed everything exactly there where He wanted it to be (Revelation 4:11). There is no gradual development, evolution, in creation.

In this third verse all the erroneous arguments of the human spirit, who have endlessly looked for and are still looking for the existence of things, are judged and eliminated in one phrase. The one invented system is still more foolish than the other to explain the things that become perfectly simple when faith acknowledges God. The universe is not a cause that is creating. It has been created itself and it functions through a law which God has imposed on it.

Hebrews 11:4. God uses His creation as a platform on which the working of faith is displayed. Then He created man on that platform. With that man He wanted to have fellowship, contact. Through sin that has entered the world, this fellowship is cruelly disturbed. Due to this man was not able anymore to draw near to God. But even worse: man who fell into sin could not exist before God.

God should remove him from this platform. But in His love and mercy God gave a way. He made a Lamb available as a sacrifice for fallen man, so that on this righteous ground he could still exist before God. In Abel the example of the power of faith in the sacrifice is presented.

Abel had the insight of someone with a conscience that was taught by God. He acknowledges God’s judgment over sin. He goes to God and confesses to be a sinner. But he comes with a substitute, an offering which he, as it were, places between himself and God. In this way he obtains the testimony that he was righteous. This testimony is in accordance with the righteous judgment of God. God had to execute judgment. He judged the offering and due to that Abel could go free. Not only the offering is accepted, but Able himself too who came with the sacrifice.

If you draw near to God through the offering of the Lord Jesus, God testifies to the offering that it is righteous and He also testifies to you that you are righteous. Your righteousness has the value and the perfection of the offering, which means of Christ Who offered Himself to God. To God you are now according to the perfection of the work of Christ. What that means you already have read comprehensively in this letter.

So the first man of faith is Abel. In him you see a believer who actively presents himself to God on the ground of a substitutionary offering. Also his brother Cain is mentioned. He also brought an offering, but the offering of Abel was better or more than that of Cain. Abel’s offering had added value. The added value was the fact that Abel killed an offering according to the example that God had given after the fall of man (Genesis 3:21), while Cain came with his own good works that also came from a cursed earth.

Abel’s sacrifice was, as it seems, not because of a special sin, but he offered it because of the awareness that man could only exist before God on that ground. The sacrifice of Abel was accepted. Possibly the fire from God fell on it, visibly, like what happened at the tabernacle (Leviticus 9:24), at the temple (2 Chronicles 7:1) and with the offerings of David and Elijah (1 Chronicles 21:26; 1 Kings 18:38).

Cain acknowledged the existence of God and desired to gain His favor, but he did not acknowledge to be a sinner. He turned his back to God. The difference between the persons who brought the sacrifices is faith. Abel’s faith and his sacrifice made God declare him righteous.

Abel had to pay his life of faith with his death by the hand of a murderer. His testimony on earth was ended that way, but the message that was sent through it did not. That echoes through the ages in a way that was not possible in another way. God uses the work of satan entirely against the will of satan to the greater glory of His Name.

Now read Hebrews 11:1-4 again.

Reflection: What do you do with faith? How does that affect you?

1 Peter 2:12

Living by Faith (I)

You’re at the beginning of a wonderful and an enormously encouraging chapter. It is full of examples of persons, who lived by faith. Their lives have proven the power and the working of faith. Therefore the whole chapter speaks about nothing else than faith. All these examples are quoted by the writer to show the Hebrews, and also you, what a person who lives by faith, is capable of.

This faith is not different from the faith that brought you to God and with which you put your confidence in God for the forgiveness of your sins. That was the beginning of your faith. But faith always remains active. Faith in God is: trusting Him, regarding Him as faithful, having the assurance that He helps and that He does what He says. The future becomes present by faith and in that way what is invisible becomes visible. And the difficulties you are faced with are the challenges for faith. Difficulties are, as it were, food for faith, difficulties are the very causes for faith to prove itself.

Hebrews 11:1. This verse has also been called the definition of faith, but this is not correct. Faith cannot be defined. Faith is the effective power in view of the future and in view of the present. Faith fixes the eye forward, to what has been promised and is absolutely sure that it will be achieved: it “is the assurance of [things] hoped for”. Faith fixes the eye upward, to God and Christ: it is “the conviction of things not seen”. Faith looks forward and upward.

In Hebrews 11:1-7 you see that faith is the most important thing in the relationship between man and God and indeed from the beginning till the end. It is about creation, sin and offering, life and walking to the pleasure of God, the testimony toward the world, the judgment on the world and finally the millennial kingdom of peace. In all these aspects the Son is central. Creation shows the Son as Creator. The offering shows the Son as Redeemer. A life and a walk to the pleasure of God is perfectly seen in the Son. When He was in the world He has given a perfect testimony of Who God is. The Son will judge the world and He will also establish the millennial kingdom of peace.

Furthermore, creation points forward to the recreation of which the Son is the Heir. On the basis of the offering all things will once be subjected to the Son. In the taking up of Enoch (Hebrews 11:5) you see a picture of the rapture of the church, the heavenly people of God. The church is connected to the Son and shares in all that belongs to the Son and what He will receive in the kingdom of peace. Noah (Hebrews 11:7) is a type of the earthly people in the millennial kingdom, of the believers who will inherit the world through judgments.

The common thread through everything is faith. This theme connects everything together. If you summarize Hebrews 11:1-7, you can say the following. Faith sees 1. that the visible things came from what is not visible; 2. that the sacrifice is the only ground to exist before God; 3. that a walk to the pleasure of God is possible by believing that He is (looking upward); 4. that a new world is awaiting (looking forward).

Hebrews 11:2. This is the faith that “the men of old”, men and women of faith from the Old Testament, the former generations of Israel, had. They demonstrated again and again that they were sure of what they hoped for and were convinced of what they did not see. Therefore they gained approval from God. God gave in their conscience His approval. God still does that in everyone who lives in daily trust in Him whatever circumstance he is in.

Hebrews 11:3. After the two introductory verses you get examples of the effect of faith. The first example implies that only by faith you are able to understand how the worlds were prepared, namely by the word of God. There is here no mention yet of men and women of faith from the Old Testament. Here it is about you, about your insight in the preparation of the worlds. Everything you see, is not made of something else that is seen, but emerged from the Invisible. This principle goes for everything that has to do with the practice of faith. In the life of faith nothing emerges from something that is seen around us, but only emerges from the unseen God Who also prepared the worlds.

God has spoken and as a result all that is visible came into being. That’s how it works when God speaks. His speaking is full of authority and effect. He speaks and it is done (Genesis 1:3; Psalms 33:9). In that way He “prepared” the worlds (the world of the stars, the world of angels, the world of men), which means that He has put them in order, classified them; He put everything in its right place. The only way you can “understand” or inwardly, spiritually see this, is by faith. Faith determines that God placed everything exactly there where He wanted it to be (Revelation 4:11). There is no gradual development, evolution, in creation.

In this third verse all the erroneous arguments of the human spirit, who have endlessly looked for and are still looking for the existence of things, are judged and eliminated in one phrase. The one invented system is still more foolish than the other to explain the things that become perfectly simple when faith acknowledges God. The universe is not a cause that is creating. It has been created itself and it functions through a law which God has imposed on it.

Hebrews 11:4. God uses His creation as a platform on which the working of faith is displayed. Then He created man on that platform. With that man He wanted to have fellowship, contact. Through sin that has entered the world, this fellowship is cruelly disturbed. Due to this man was not able anymore to draw near to God. But even worse: man who fell into sin could not exist before God.

God should remove him from this platform. But in His love and mercy God gave a way. He made a Lamb available as a sacrifice for fallen man, so that on this righteous ground he could still exist before God. In Abel the example of the power of faith in the sacrifice is presented.

Abel had the insight of someone with a conscience that was taught by God. He acknowledges God’s judgment over sin. He goes to God and confesses to be a sinner. But he comes with a substitute, an offering which he, as it were, places between himself and God. In this way he obtains the testimony that he was righteous. This testimony is in accordance with the righteous judgment of God. God had to execute judgment. He judged the offering and due to that Abel could go free. Not only the offering is accepted, but Able himself too who came with the sacrifice.

If you draw near to God through the offering of the Lord Jesus, God testifies to the offering that it is righteous and He also testifies to you that you are righteous. Your righteousness has the value and the perfection of the offering, which means of Christ Who offered Himself to God. To God you are now according to the perfection of the work of Christ. What that means you already have read comprehensively in this letter.

So the first man of faith is Abel. In him you see a believer who actively presents himself to God on the ground of a substitutionary offering. Also his brother Cain is mentioned. He also brought an offering, but the offering of Abel was better or more than that of Cain. Abel’s offering had added value. The added value was the fact that Abel killed an offering according to the example that God had given after the fall of man (Genesis 3:21), while Cain came with his own good works that also came from a cursed earth.

Abel’s sacrifice was, as it seems, not because of a special sin, but he offered it because of the awareness that man could only exist before God on that ground. The sacrifice of Abel was accepted. Possibly the fire from God fell on it, visibly, like what happened at the tabernacle (Leviticus 9:24), at the temple (2 Chronicles 7:1) and with the offerings of David and Elijah (1 Chronicles 21:26; 1 Kings 18:38).

Cain acknowledged the existence of God and desired to gain His favor, but he did not acknowledge to be a sinner. He turned his back to God. The difference between the persons who brought the sacrifices is faith. Abel’s faith and his sacrifice made God declare him righteous.

Abel had to pay his life of faith with his death by the hand of a murderer. His testimony on earth was ended that way, but the message that was sent through it did not. That echoes through the ages in a way that was not possible in another way. God uses the work of satan entirely against the will of satan to the greater glory of His Name.

Now read Hebrews 11:1-4 again.

Reflection: What do you do with faith? How does that affect you?

1 Peter 2:13

Living by Faith (I)

You’re at the beginning of a wonderful and an enormously encouraging chapter. It is full of examples of persons, who lived by faith. Their lives have proven the power and the working of faith. Therefore the whole chapter speaks about nothing else than faith. All these examples are quoted by the writer to show the Hebrews, and also you, what a person who lives by faith, is capable of.

This faith is not different from the faith that brought you to God and with which you put your confidence in God for the forgiveness of your sins. That was the beginning of your faith. But faith always remains active. Faith in God is: trusting Him, regarding Him as faithful, having the assurance that He helps and that He does what He says. The future becomes present by faith and in that way what is invisible becomes visible. And the difficulties you are faced with are the challenges for faith. Difficulties are, as it were, food for faith, difficulties are the very causes for faith to prove itself.

Hebrews 11:1. This verse has also been called the definition of faith, but this is not correct. Faith cannot be defined. Faith is the effective power in view of the future and in view of the present. Faith fixes the eye forward, to what has been promised and is absolutely sure that it will be achieved: it “is the assurance of [things] hoped for”. Faith fixes the eye upward, to God and Christ: it is “the conviction of things not seen”. Faith looks forward and upward.

In Hebrews 11:1-7 you see that faith is the most important thing in the relationship between man and God and indeed from the beginning till the end. It is about creation, sin and offering, life and walking to the pleasure of God, the testimony toward the world, the judgment on the world and finally the millennial kingdom of peace. In all these aspects the Son is central. Creation shows the Son as Creator. The offering shows the Son as Redeemer. A life and a walk to the pleasure of God is perfectly seen in the Son. When He was in the world He has given a perfect testimony of Who God is. The Son will judge the world and He will also establish the millennial kingdom of peace.

Furthermore, creation points forward to the recreation of which the Son is the Heir. On the basis of the offering all things will once be subjected to the Son. In the taking up of Enoch (Hebrews 11:5) you see a picture of the rapture of the church, the heavenly people of God. The church is connected to the Son and shares in all that belongs to the Son and what He will receive in the kingdom of peace. Noah (Hebrews 11:7) is a type of the earthly people in the millennial kingdom, of the believers who will inherit the world through judgments.

The common thread through everything is faith. This theme connects everything together. If you summarize Hebrews 11:1-7, you can say the following. Faith sees 1. that the visible things came from what is not visible; 2. that the sacrifice is the only ground to exist before God; 3. that a walk to the pleasure of God is possible by believing that He is (looking upward); 4. that a new world is awaiting (looking forward).

Hebrews 11:2. This is the faith that “the men of old”, men and women of faith from the Old Testament, the former generations of Israel, had. They demonstrated again and again that they were sure of what they hoped for and were convinced of what they did not see. Therefore they gained approval from God. God gave in their conscience His approval. God still does that in everyone who lives in daily trust in Him whatever circumstance he is in.

Hebrews 11:3. After the two introductory verses you get examples of the effect of faith. The first example implies that only by faith you are able to understand how the worlds were prepared, namely by the word of God. There is here no mention yet of men and women of faith from the Old Testament. Here it is about you, about your insight in the preparation of the worlds. Everything you see, is not made of something else that is seen, but emerged from the Invisible. This principle goes for everything that has to do with the practice of faith. In the life of faith nothing emerges from something that is seen around us, but only emerges from the unseen God Who also prepared the worlds.

God has spoken and as a result all that is visible came into being. That’s how it works when God speaks. His speaking is full of authority and effect. He speaks and it is done (Genesis 1:3; Psalms 33:9). In that way He “prepared” the worlds (the world of the stars, the world of angels, the world of men), which means that He has put them in order, classified them; He put everything in its right place. The only way you can “understand” or inwardly, spiritually see this, is by faith. Faith determines that God placed everything exactly there where He wanted it to be (Revelation 4:11). There is no gradual development, evolution, in creation.

In this third verse all the erroneous arguments of the human spirit, who have endlessly looked for and are still looking for the existence of things, are judged and eliminated in one phrase. The one invented system is still more foolish than the other to explain the things that become perfectly simple when faith acknowledges God. The universe is not a cause that is creating. It has been created itself and it functions through a law which God has imposed on it.

Hebrews 11:4. God uses His creation as a platform on which the working of faith is displayed. Then He created man on that platform. With that man He wanted to have fellowship, contact. Through sin that has entered the world, this fellowship is cruelly disturbed. Due to this man was not able anymore to draw near to God. But even worse: man who fell into sin could not exist before God.

God should remove him from this platform. But in His love and mercy God gave a way. He made a Lamb available as a sacrifice for fallen man, so that on this righteous ground he could still exist before God. In Abel the example of the power of faith in the sacrifice is presented.

Abel had the insight of someone with a conscience that was taught by God. He acknowledges God’s judgment over sin. He goes to God and confesses to be a sinner. But he comes with a substitute, an offering which he, as it were, places between himself and God. In this way he obtains the testimony that he was righteous. This testimony is in accordance with the righteous judgment of God. God had to execute judgment. He judged the offering and due to that Abel could go free. Not only the offering is accepted, but Able himself too who came with the sacrifice.

If you draw near to God through the offering of the Lord Jesus, God testifies to the offering that it is righteous and He also testifies to you that you are righteous. Your righteousness has the value and the perfection of the offering, which means of Christ Who offered Himself to God. To God you are now according to the perfection of the work of Christ. What that means you already have read comprehensively in this letter.

So the first man of faith is Abel. In him you see a believer who actively presents himself to God on the ground of a substitutionary offering. Also his brother Cain is mentioned. He also brought an offering, but the offering of Abel was better or more than that of Cain. Abel’s offering had added value. The added value was the fact that Abel killed an offering according to the example that God had given after the fall of man (Genesis 3:21), while Cain came with his own good works that also came from a cursed earth.

Abel’s sacrifice was, as it seems, not because of a special sin, but he offered it because of the awareness that man could only exist before God on that ground. The sacrifice of Abel was accepted. Possibly the fire from God fell on it, visibly, like what happened at the tabernacle (Leviticus 9:24), at the temple (2 Chronicles 7:1) and with the offerings of David and Elijah (1 Chronicles 21:26; 1 Kings 18:38).

Cain acknowledged the existence of God and desired to gain His favor, but he did not acknowledge to be a sinner. He turned his back to God. The difference between the persons who brought the sacrifices is faith. Abel’s faith and his sacrifice made God declare him righteous.

Abel had to pay his life of faith with his death by the hand of a murderer. His testimony on earth was ended that way, but the message that was sent through it did not. That echoes through the ages in a way that was not possible in another way. God uses the work of satan entirely against the will of satan to the greater glory of His Name.

Now read Hebrews 11:1-4 again.

Reflection: What do you do with faith? How does that affect you?

1 Peter 2:14

Living by Faith (II)

Hebrews 11:5. In the example of Abel you have seen that the death of an innocent substitute was the means that God accepted you. With Enoch you see a next step. He who is declared righteous, walks in faith. The name Enoch means ‘taught’. He who is taught in the value of the offering, learns how to walk by faith and is taken up by that same faith. As a principle you are freed from the power of death through the offering of the Lord Jesus. Everything that belongs to the old man, is taken away by that offering (Romans 6:6). The devil, who had the power of death, is rendered powerless (Hebrews 2:14). The victory over death is that perfect that if it pleases God you can go to heaven without passing through death.

That happened to Enoch and that’s what will happen to the church at the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). Elijah also went to heaven without dying (2 Kings 2:1; 11). Enoch and Elijah both lived in a time of great wickedness. Like Elijah Enoch was a prophet of judgment (Jude 1:14-15). In the first place this judgment came by the flood. But its prophecy extends to the end of time, the return of Christ. A person who lives with God, obtains understanding of the future where Christ is the Center.

Now it is said of Enoch here “that he was pleasing God”. When you read in Genesis 5 what is said about Enoch, you read that He walked with God (Genesis 5:24). As the writer does more often in this letter he quotes from the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint. In the Septuagint ‘walking with God’ is translated into ‘pleasing God’. The writer takes that over here under the guidance of God’s Spirit. That implies that ‘walking with God’ is identical to ‘pleasing God’.

If you think of walking you should think of the whole way of living. Enoch involved God in all aspects of his life. God was the object of his walk. It also has been presented in such a way that Enoch in his walk with God had come that close to heaven that God said: ‘Come in.’ I believe that we should also be like that as members of the church. The rapture of the church should not surprise or overwhelm us, but should be in continuation of a walk with God. A walk with God can only bring you closer to heaven.

Enoch obtained the witness of God that he was pleasing to Him “before his being taken up”. His faith was revealed during his life that preceded his being taken up.

Hebrews 11:6. Without faith a walk like that of Enoch is impossible. A person who does not believe is absolutely incapable of walking in a way that God looks at with joy. The walk of Enoch pleased God because that walk reminded Him of the walk of the Lord Jesus when He was on earth. To God the future is present. He looked ahead to the walk of the Lord Jesus. Therefore He reports it. This is how it ought to be with every believer (1 Thessalonians 4:1).

You can only walk with God if you believe “that He is”. That is something different and goes much further than believing that He is there. Demons also believe that God is there, that He exists (James 2:19), but that doesn’t affect their evil resistance against God at all. To believe ‘that God is’, means that you really experience His presence in your life and that His presence is the main thing in your life. It means that you believe that He is interested in your walk and knows about your walk. You draw near to Him and you seek Him because you trust Him and know that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. Seeking fellowship with the Lord is abundantly rewarded.

Hebrews 11:7. The characteristic of the faith of Enoch is that he had a hidden relationship with God. With Noah you see how his faith made him a public witness of God toward the world. God gave Noah an indication about things he couldn’t yet observe with his natural eyes. God told him about the flood He had to bring on the world because of the incorrigible and evil conduct of man. When Noah heard that, he became a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5; 1 Peter 3:19). At the same time he continued to listen to God.

The result of that was that he not only preached, but he indeed took action. His testimony existed of a deed of obedience. On God’s command he built an ark. That was a remarkable testimony that he didn’t expect anything from this world anymore, for it was going to perish by the waters of judgment. By building the ark he also showed that he fixed his hope on a new world. He could see both the judgment and the new world only by faith. That made him “an heir of the righteousness” that is characteristic for a world that is purified from evil through the judgment of God. He was going to inherit the world as a truly righteous man (Psalms 37:29).

This example serves to encourage the Hebrew believer (Hebrews 2:5) and us. The Hebrews were possibly asking themselves why they were a minority if they were right. The example of Noah was meant to encourage them. Only eight people were saved (1 Peter 3:20), while the rest of the world perished. Noah and his family are therefore a picture of the Jewish remnant. They represent the remnant of Israel that will go through the great tribulation (presented in the flood) and with the coming of the Lord Jesus will enter the millennial kingdom of peace. These events will follow in the history of salvation after the rapture of the church that is presented in Enoch.

It was not fear and anguish that led Noah to build the ark, but his respect for God’s Word. In the same way your walk in faith should also be the result of the respect that you have for what God has said. From your walk it will be apparent how you respond to what God says to you in His Word.

Another remarkable thing is that Noah does not only prepare an ark for himself, but for his household. This implies that God wants to save a person and his household. That is an extra responsibility for the head of the family.

This particular verse about Noah delivers a number of aspects of faith that are worthy of being mentioned: 1. First there is the ground of his faith: he is warned by God. 2. Then you read about the territory on which his faith is focused: things that were not yet seen. 3. Then you notice the practice of his faith: he was moved with reverence for God. 4. Then you see the work of his faith: he prepared an ark for himself and his household. 5. Then the result of his faith follows: he saved his household. 6. His whole conduct was a witness of faith: he was judging the world. 6. Finally he received a reward of faith: he became an heir of righteousness.

You could say that in Hebrews 11:1-7 in the several events and people the general principles of faith are presented. In the section that now follows, Hebrews 11:8-22, the main point is the perseverance of faith. The examples show believers who walk as pilgrims in the power of faith that God will fulfill His promises, even though that fulfillment still seems to be so far away.

You read in this section seven times the expression “by faith”. The examples that the writer brings forward are the patriarchs who were so familiar to the Hebrews. Concerning Abraham you read four times about faith. That was 1. with his call and obedience (Hebrews 11:8), 2. in connection with his sojourning (Hebrews 11:9-10), 3. when it comes to life from death (Hebrews 11:11-12) and – after a parenthesis in Hebrews 11:13-16 – 4. when he is tested (Hebrews 11:17-19).

The other three times are 1. about the faith of Isaac who by faith proves his knowledge of God’s ways (Hebrews 11:20), 2. about the faith of Jacob at the end of his path of faith, which was full of experiences (Hebrews 11:21) and 3. about the faith of Joseph who looks forward to the redemption of God’s people (Hebrews 11:22).

The application to the Hebrews and also to you, is clear. Each man or woman of faith of the past illustrates certain aspects of faith that should also characterize the Hebrews. It altogether refers to the future age and particularly to the heavenly side of it.

Hebrews 11:8. The previous men of faith were not called to abandon anything, but Abraham has to do that. When God calls him, he goes, even though he doesn’t know where he will end up. The faith of Abraham shows a full trust in God. He had nothing to focus on, he knew nothing nor a name of anything or any particularities of the land he was guided to. God was sufficient for him. He did not ask: ‘Where do I go?’ His faith was not mixed with his own calculations. He trusted in the word of the God Who cannot deceive.

The life of Abraham is the great example of the New Testament believer (Romans 4:11) who is also called (Romans 8:30; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Peter 2:9). The crucial point of the calling is the promise. To obtain the promise you have to give up everything. You only do that if you trust that He Who calls you, is everything and that He has a better world for you: a world filled with His glory in Christ.

The obedience of Abraham was immediate. It was not motivated by the attractiveness of what was presented to him, but by the glory of Him Who spoke (Acts 7:2).

Now read Hebrews 11:5-8 again.

Reflection: Which aspects of faith do you encounter in this section and which of them are of importance to you?

1 Peter 2:15

Living by Faith (II)

Hebrews 11:5. In the example of Abel you have seen that the death of an innocent substitute was the means that God accepted you. With Enoch you see a next step. He who is declared righteous, walks in faith. The name Enoch means ‘taught’. He who is taught in the value of the offering, learns how to walk by faith and is taken up by that same faith. As a principle you are freed from the power of death through the offering of the Lord Jesus. Everything that belongs to the old man, is taken away by that offering (Romans 6:6). The devil, who had the power of death, is rendered powerless (Hebrews 2:14). The victory over death is that perfect that if it pleases God you can go to heaven without passing through death.

That happened to Enoch and that’s what will happen to the church at the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). Elijah also went to heaven without dying (2 Kings 2:1; 11). Enoch and Elijah both lived in a time of great wickedness. Like Elijah Enoch was a prophet of judgment (Jude 1:14-15). In the first place this judgment came by the flood. But its prophecy extends to the end of time, the return of Christ. A person who lives with God, obtains understanding of the future where Christ is the Center.

Now it is said of Enoch here “that he was pleasing God”. When you read in Genesis 5 what is said about Enoch, you read that He walked with God (Genesis 5:24). As the writer does more often in this letter he quotes from the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint. In the Septuagint ‘walking with God’ is translated into ‘pleasing God’. The writer takes that over here under the guidance of God’s Spirit. That implies that ‘walking with God’ is identical to ‘pleasing God’.

If you think of walking you should think of the whole way of living. Enoch involved God in all aspects of his life. God was the object of his walk. It also has been presented in such a way that Enoch in his walk with God had come that close to heaven that God said: ‘Come in.’ I believe that we should also be like that as members of the church. The rapture of the church should not surprise or overwhelm us, but should be in continuation of a walk with God. A walk with God can only bring you closer to heaven.

Enoch obtained the witness of God that he was pleasing to Him “before his being taken up”. His faith was revealed during his life that preceded his being taken up.

Hebrews 11:6. Without faith a walk like that of Enoch is impossible. A person who does not believe is absolutely incapable of walking in a way that God looks at with joy. The walk of Enoch pleased God because that walk reminded Him of the walk of the Lord Jesus when He was on earth. To God the future is present. He looked ahead to the walk of the Lord Jesus. Therefore He reports it. This is how it ought to be with every believer (1 Thessalonians 4:1).

You can only walk with God if you believe “that He is”. That is something different and goes much further than believing that He is there. Demons also believe that God is there, that He exists (James 2:19), but that doesn’t affect their evil resistance against God at all. To believe ‘that God is’, means that you really experience His presence in your life and that His presence is the main thing in your life. It means that you believe that He is interested in your walk and knows about your walk. You draw near to Him and you seek Him because you trust Him and know that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. Seeking fellowship with the Lord is abundantly rewarded.

Hebrews 11:7. The characteristic of the faith of Enoch is that he had a hidden relationship with God. With Noah you see how his faith made him a public witness of God toward the world. God gave Noah an indication about things he couldn’t yet observe with his natural eyes. God told him about the flood He had to bring on the world because of the incorrigible and evil conduct of man. When Noah heard that, he became a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5; 1 Peter 3:19). At the same time he continued to listen to God.

The result of that was that he not only preached, but he indeed took action. His testimony existed of a deed of obedience. On God’s command he built an ark. That was a remarkable testimony that he didn’t expect anything from this world anymore, for it was going to perish by the waters of judgment. By building the ark he also showed that he fixed his hope on a new world. He could see both the judgment and the new world only by faith. That made him “an heir of the righteousness” that is characteristic for a world that is purified from evil through the judgment of God. He was going to inherit the world as a truly righteous man (Psalms 37:29).

This example serves to encourage the Hebrew believer (Hebrews 2:5) and us. The Hebrews were possibly asking themselves why they were a minority if they were right. The example of Noah was meant to encourage them. Only eight people were saved (1 Peter 3:20), while the rest of the world perished. Noah and his family are therefore a picture of the Jewish remnant. They represent the remnant of Israel that will go through the great tribulation (presented in the flood) and with the coming of the Lord Jesus will enter the millennial kingdom of peace. These events will follow in the history of salvation after the rapture of the church that is presented in Enoch.

It was not fear and anguish that led Noah to build the ark, but his respect for God’s Word. In the same way your walk in faith should also be the result of the respect that you have for what God has said. From your walk it will be apparent how you respond to what God says to you in His Word.

Another remarkable thing is that Noah does not only prepare an ark for himself, but for his household. This implies that God wants to save a person and his household. That is an extra responsibility for the head of the family.

This particular verse about Noah delivers a number of aspects of faith that are worthy of being mentioned: 1. First there is the ground of his faith: he is warned by God. 2. Then you read about the territory on which his faith is focused: things that were not yet seen. 3. Then you notice the practice of his faith: he was moved with reverence for God. 4. Then you see the work of his faith: he prepared an ark for himself and his household. 5. Then the result of his faith follows: he saved his household. 6. His whole conduct was a witness of faith: he was judging the world. 6. Finally he received a reward of faith: he became an heir of righteousness.

You could say that in Hebrews 11:1-7 in the several events and people the general principles of faith are presented. In the section that now follows, Hebrews 11:8-22, the main point is the perseverance of faith. The examples show believers who walk as pilgrims in the power of faith that God will fulfill His promises, even though that fulfillment still seems to be so far away.

You read in this section seven times the expression “by faith”. The examples that the writer brings forward are the patriarchs who were so familiar to the Hebrews. Concerning Abraham you read four times about faith. That was 1. with his call and obedience (Hebrews 11:8), 2. in connection with his sojourning (Hebrews 11:9-10), 3. when it comes to life from death (Hebrews 11:11-12) and – after a parenthesis in Hebrews 11:13-16 – 4. when he is tested (Hebrews 11:17-19).

The other three times are 1. about the faith of Isaac who by faith proves his knowledge of God’s ways (Hebrews 11:20), 2. about the faith of Jacob at the end of his path of faith, which was full of experiences (Hebrews 11:21) and 3. about the faith of Joseph who looks forward to the redemption of God’s people (Hebrews 11:22).

The application to the Hebrews and also to you, is clear. Each man or woman of faith of the past illustrates certain aspects of faith that should also characterize the Hebrews. It altogether refers to the future age and particularly to the heavenly side of it.

Hebrews 11:8. The previous men of faith were not called to abandon anything, but Abraham has to do that. When God calls him, he goes, even though he doesn’t know where he will end up. The faith of Abraham shows a full trust in God. He had nothing to focus on, he knew nothing nor a name of anything or any particularities of the land he was guided to. God was sufficient for him. He did not ask: ‘Where do I go?’ His faith was not mixed with his own calculations. He trusted in the word of the God Who cannot deceive.

The life of Abraham is the great example of the New Testament believer (Romans 4:11) who is also called (Romans 8:30; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Peter 2:9). The crucial point of the calling is the promise. To obtain the promise you have to give up everything. You only do that if you trust that He Who calls you, is everything and that He has a better world for you: a world filled with His glory in Christ.

The obedience of Abraham was immediate. It was not motivated by the attractiveness of what was presented to him, but by the glory of Him Who spoke (Acts 7:2).

Now read Hebrews 11:5-8 again.

Reflection: Which aspects of faith do you encounter in this section and which of them are of importance to you?

1 Peter 2:16

Living by Faith (II)

Hebrews 11:5. In the example of Abel you have seen that the death of an innocent substitute was the means that God accepted you. With Enoch you see a next step. He who is declared righteous, walks in faith. The name Enoch means ‘taught’. He who is taught in the value of the offering, learns how to walk by faith and is taken up by that same faith. As a principle you are freed from the power of death through the offering of the Lord Jesus. Everything that belongs to the old man, is taken away by that offering (Romans 6:6). The devil, who had the power of death, is rendered powerless (Hebrews 2:14). The victory over death is that perfect that if it pleases God you can go to heaven without passing through death.

That happened to Enoch and that’s what will happen to the church at the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). Elijah also went to heaven without dying (2 Kings 2:1; 11). Enoch and Elijah both lived in a time of great wickedness. Like Elijah Enoch was a prophet of judgment (Jude 1:14-15). In the first place this judgment came by the flood. But its prophecy extends to the end of time, the return of Christ. A person who lives with God, obtains understanding of the future where Christ is the Center.

Now it is said of Enoch here “that he was pleasing God”. When you read in Genesis 5 what is said about Enoch, you read that He walked with God (Genesis 5:24). As the writer does more often in this letter he quotes from the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint. In the Septuagint ‘walking with God’ is translated into ‘pleasing God’. The writer takes that over here under the guidance of God’s Spirit. That implies that ‘walking with God’ is identical to ‘pleasing God’.

If you think of walking you should think of the whole way of living. Enoch involved God in all aspects of his life. God was the object of his walk. It also has been presented in such a way that Enoch in his walk with God had come that close to heaven that God said: ‘Come in.’ I believe that we should also be like that as members of the church. The rapture of the church should not surprise or overwhelm us, but should be in continuation of a walk with God. A walk with God can only bring you closer to heaven.

Enoch obtained the witness of God that he was pleasing to Him “before his being taken up”. His faith was revealed during his life that preceded his being taken up.

Hebrews 11:6. Without faith a walk like that of Enoch is impossible. A person who does not believe is absolutely incapable of walking in a way that God looks at with joy. The walk of Enoch pleased God because that walk reminded Him of the walk of the Lord Jesus when He was on earth. To God the future is present. He looked ahead to the walk of the Lord Jesus. Therefore He reports it. This is how it ought to be with every believer (1 Thessalonians 4:1).

You can only walk with God if you believe “that He is”. That is something different and goes much further than believing that He is there. Demons also believe that God is there, that He exists (James 2:19), but that doesn’t affect their evil resistance against God at all. To believe ‘that God is’, means that you really experience His presence in your life and that His presence is the main thing in your life. It means that you believe that He is interested in your walk and knows about your walk. You draw near to Him and you seek Him because you trust Him and know that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. Seeking fellowship with the Lord is abundantly rewarded.

Hebrews 11:7. The characteristic of the faith of Enoch is that he had a hidden relationship with God. With Noah you see how his faith made him a public witness of God toward the world. God gave Noah an indication about things he couldn’t yet observe with his natural eyes. God told him about the flood He had to bring on the world because of the incorrigible and evil conduct of man. When Noah heard that, he became a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5; 1 Peter 3:19). At the same time he continued to listen to God.

The result of that was that he not only preached, but he indeed took action. His testimony existed of a deed of obedience. On God’s command he built an ark. That was a remarkable testimony that he didn’t expect anything from this world anymore, for it was going to perish by the waters of judgment. By building the ark he also showed that he fixed his hope on a new world. He could see both the judgment and the new world only by faith. That made him “an heir of the righteousness” that is characteristic for a world that is purified from evil through the judgment of God. He was going to inherit the world as a truly righteous man (Psalms 37:29).

This example serves to encourage the Hebrew believer (Hebrews 2:5) and us. The Hebrews were possibly asking themselves why they were a minority if they were right. The example of Noah was meant to encourage them. Only eight people were saved (1 Peter 3:20), while the rest of the world perished. Noah and his family are therefore a picture of the Jewish remnant. They represent the remnant of Israel that will go through the great tribulation (presented in the flood) and with the coming of the Lord Jesus will enter the millennial kingdom of peace. These events will follow in the history of salvation after the rapture of the church that is presented in Enoch.

It was not fear and anguish that led Noah to build the ark, but his respect for God’s Word. In the same way your walk in faith should also be the result of the respect that you have for what God has said. From your walk it will be apparent how you respond to what God says to you in His Word.

Another remarkable thing is that Noah does not only prepare an ark for himself, but for his household. This implies that God wants to save a person and his household. That is an extra responsibility for the head of the family.

This particular verse about Noah delivers a number of aspects of faith that are worthy of being mentioned: 1. First there is the ground of his faith: he is warned by God. 2. Then you read about the territory on which his faith is focused: things that were not yet seen. 3. Then you notice the practice of his faith: he was moved with reverence for God. 4. Then you see the work of his faith: he prepared an ark for himself and his household. 5. Then the result of his faith follows: he saved his household. 6. His whole conduct was a witness of faith: he was judging the world. 6. Finally he received a reward of faith: he became an heir of righteousness.

You could say that in Hebrews 11:1-7 in the several events and people the general principles of faith are presented. In the section that now follows, Hebrews 11:8-22, the main point is the perseverance of faith. The examples show believers who walk as pilgrims in the power of faith that God will fulfill His promises, even though that fulfillment still seems to be so far away.

You read in this section seven times the expression “by faith”. The examples that the writer brings forward are the patriarchs who were so familiar to the Hebrews. Concerning Abraham you read four times about faith. That was 1. with his call and obedience (Hebrews 11:8), 2. in connection with his sojourning (Hebrews 11:9-10), 3. when it comes to life from death (Hebrews 11:11-12) and – after a parenthesis in Hebrews 11:13-16 – 4. when he is tested (Hebrews 11:17-19).

The other three times are 1. about the faith of Isaac who by faith proves his knowledge of God’s ways (Hebrews 11:20), 2. about the faith of Jacob at the end of his path of faith, which was full of experiences (Hebrews 11:21) and 3. about the faith of Joseph who looks forward to the redemption of God’s people (Hebrews 11:22).

The application to the Hebrews and also to you, is clear. Each man or woman of faith of the past illustrates certain aspects of faith that should also characterize the Hebrews. It altogether refers to the future age and particularly to the heavenly side of it.

Hebrews 11:8. The previous men of faith were not called to abandon anything, but Abraham has to do that. When God calls him, he goes, even though he doesn’t know where he will end up. The faith of Abraham shows a full trust in God. He had nothing to focus on, he knew nothing nor a name of anything or any particularities of the land he was guided to. God was sufficient for him. He did not ask: ‘Where do I go?’ His faith was not mixed with his own calculations. He trusted in the word of the God Who cannot deceive.

The life of Abraham is the great example of the New Testament believer (Romans 4:11) who is also called (Romans 8:30; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Peter 2:9). The crucial point of the calling is the promise. To obtain the promise you have to give up everything. You only do that if you trust that He Who calls you, is everything and that He has a better world for you: a world filled with His glory in Christ.

The obedience of Abraham was immediate. It was not motivated by the attractiveness of what was presented to him, but by the glory of Him Who spoke (Acts 7:2).

Now read Hebrews 11:5-8 again.

Reflection: Which aspects of faith do you encounter in this section and which of them are of importance to you?

1 Peter 2:17

Living by Faith (II)

Hebrews 11:5. In the example of Abel you have seen that the death of an innocent substitute was the means that God accepted you. With Enoch you see a next step. He who is declared righteous, walks in faith. The name Enoch means ‘taught’. He who is taught in the value of the offering, learns how to walk by faith and is taken up by that same faith. As a principle you are freed from the power of death through the offering of the Lord Jesus. Everything that belongs to the old man, is taken away by that offering (Romans 6:6). The devil, who had the power of death, is rendered powerless (Hebrews 2:14). The victory over death is that perfect that if it pleases God you can go to heaven without passing through death.

That happened to Enoch and that’s what will happen to the church at the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). Elijah also went to heaven without dying (2 Kings 2:1; 11). Enoch and Elijah both lived in a time of great wickedness. Like Elijah Enoch was a prophet of judgment (Jude 1:14-15). In the first place this judgment came by the flood. But its prophecy extends to the end of time, the return of Christ. A person who lives with God, obtains understanding of the future where Christ is the Center.

Now it is said of Enoch here “that he was pleasing God”. When you read in Genesis 5 what is said about Enoch, you read that He walked with God (Genesis 5:24). As the writer does more often in this letter he quotes from the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint. In the Septuagint ‘walking with God’ is translated into ‘pleasing God’. The writer takes that over here under the guidance of God’s Spirit. That implies that ‘walking with God’ is identical to ‘pleasing God’.

If you think of walking you should think of the whole way of living. Enoch involved God in all aspects of his life. God was the object of his walk. It also has been presented in such a way that Enoch in his walk with God had come that close to heaven that God said: ‘Come in.’ I believe that we should also be like that as members of the church. The rapture of the church should not surprise or overwhelm us, but should be in continuation of a walk with God. A walk with God can only bring you closer to heaven.

Enoch obtained the witness of God that he was pleasing to Him “before his being taken up”. His faith was revealed during his life that preceded his being taken up.

Hebrews 11:6. Without faith a walk like that of Enoch is impossible. A person who does not believe is absolutely incapable of walking in a way that God looks at with joy. The walk of Enoch pleased God because that walk reminded Him of the walk of the Lord Jesus when He was on earth. To God the future is present. He looked ahead to the walk of the Lord Jesus. Therefore He reports it. This is how it ought to be with every believer (1 Thessalonians 4:1).

You can only walk with God if you believe “that He is”. That is something different and goes much further than believing that He is there. Demons also believe that God is there, that He exists (James 2:19), but that doesn’t affect their evil resistance against God at all. To believe ‘that God is’, means that you really experience His presence in your life and that His presence is the main thing in your life. It means that you believe that He is interested in your walk and knows about your walk. You draw near to Him and you seek Him because you trust Him and know that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. Seeking fellowship with the Lord is abundantly rewarded.

Hebrews 11:7. The characteristic of the faith of Enoch is that he had a hidden relationship with God. With Noah you see how his faith made him a public witness of God toward the world. God gave Noah an indication about things he couldn’t yet observe with his natural eyes. God told him about the flood He had to bring on the world because of the incorrigible and evil conduct of man. When Noah heard that, he became a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5; 1 Peter 3:19). At the same time he continued to listen to God.

The result of that was that he not only preached, but he indeed took action. His testimony existed of a deed of obedience. On God’s command he built an ark. That was a remarkable testimony that he didn’t expect anything from this world anymore, for it was going to perish by the waters of judgment. By building the ark he also showed that he fixed his hope on a new world. He could see both the judgment and the new world only by faith. That made him “an heir of the righteousness” that is characteristic for a world that is purified from evil through the judgment of God. He was going to inherit the world as a truly righteous man (Psalms 37:29).

This example serves to encourage the Hebrew believer (Hebrews 2:5) and us. The Hebrews were possibly asking themselves why they were a minority if they were right. The example of Noah was meant to encourage them. Only eight people were saved (1 Peter 3:20), while the rest of the world perished. Noah and his family are therefore a picture of the Jewish remnant. They represent the remnant of Israel that will go through the great tribulation (presented in the flood) and with the coming of the Lord Jesus will enter the millennial kingdom of peace. These events will follow in the history of salvation after the rapture of the church that is presented in Enoch.

It was not fear and anguish that led Noah to build the ark, but his respect for God’s Word. In the same way your walk in faith should also be the result of the respect that you have for what God has said. From your walk it will be apparent how you respond to what God says to you in His Word.

Another remarkable thing is that Noah does not only prepare an ark for himself, but for his household. This implies that God wants to save a person and his household. That is an extra responsibility for the head of the family.

This particular verse about Noah delivers a number of aspects of faith that are worthy of being mentioned: 1. First there is the ground of his faith: he is warned by God. 2. Then you read about the territory on which his faith is focused: things that were not yet seen. 3. Then you notice the practice of his faith: he was moved with reverence for God. 4. Then you see the work of his faith: he prepared an ark for himself and his household. 5. Then the result of his faith follows: he saved his household. 6. His whole conduct was a witness of faith: he was judging the world. 6. Finally he received a reward of faith: he became an heir of righteousness.

You could say that in Hebrews 11:1-7 in the several events and people the general principles of faith are presented. In the section that now follows, Hebrews 11:8-22, the main point is the perseverance of faith. The examples show believers who walk as pilgrims in the power of faith that God will fulfill His promises, even though that fulfillment still seems to be so far away.

You read in this section seven times the expression “by faith”. The examples that the writer brings forward are the patriarchs who were so familiar to the Hebrews. Concerning Abraham you read four times about faith. That was 1. with his call and obedience (Hebrews 11:8), 2. in connection with his sojourning (Hebrews 11:9-10), 3. when it comes to life from death (Hebrews 11:11-12) and – after a parenthesis in Hebrews 11:13-16 – 4. when he is tested (Hebrews 11:17-19).

The other three times are 1. about the faith of Isaac who by faith proves his knowledge of God’s ways (Hebrews 11:20), 2. about the faith of Jacob at the end of his path of faith, which was full of experiences (Hebrews 11:21) and 3. about the faith of Joseph who looks forward to the redemption of God’s people (Hebrews 11:22).

The application to the Hebrews and also to you, is clear. Each man or woman of faith of the past illustrates certain aspects of faith that should also characterize the Hebrews. It altogether refers to the future age and particularly to the heavenly side of it.

Hebrews 11:8. The previous men of faith were not called to abandon anything, but Abraham has to do that. When God calls him, he goes, even though he doesn’t know where he will end up. The faith of Abraham shows a full trust in God. He had nothing to focus on, he knew nothing nor a name of anything or any particularities of the land he was guided to. God was sufficient for him. He did not ask: ‘Where do I go?’ His faith was not mixed with his own calculations. He trusted in the word of the God Who cannot deceive.

The life of Abraham is the great example of the New Testament believer (Romans 4:11) who is also called (Romans 8:30; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Peter 2:9). The crucial point of the calling is the promise. To obtain the promise you have to give up everything. You only do that if you trust that He Who calls you, is everything and that He has a better world for you: a world filled with His glory in Christ.

The obedience of Abraham was immediate. It was not motivated by the attractiveness of what was presented to him, but by the glory of Him Who spoke (Acts 7:2).

Now read Hebrews 11:5-8 again.

Reflection: Which aspects of faith do you encounter in this section and which of them are of importance to you?

1 Peter 2:18

Living by Faith (III)

Hebrews 11:9. When Abraham comes to the place where God has led him, he doesn’t receive anything (Acts 7:5). That is a new exercise of faith. That same exercise you have too. You have been converted and know that it implies that you belong to the Lord Jesus Who has all power in heaven and on earth. But what do you see of that at this moment? At this moment you are a stranger on earth without civil rights. This is not your home. An English song we often have sung with young people says it well: ‘This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.’ However, you may look forward to soon, when the Lord Jesus will take possession of the world. Then you will possess the world together with Him.

Until that time the promise of that possession gives you the strength to live here as a stranger. The sojourning of Abraham is underlined by the fact that he dwelt in tents. A house is the symbol of a permanent residence, while a tent indicates the temporary character of a dwelling place. Also his son Isaac and his grandchild Jacob were living like that. They also, as fellow heirs of the same promise, have not received what was promised. In case Abraham expected that they would then at least receive the fulfillment, it would then be a new exercise of faith.

Hebrews 11:10. Abraham is not discouraged by that. He remains focused on what the Lord has promised. Although he has nothing, his affections have a firm character. He longs for a better land and clings directly and completely to God. If you trust in God and give up everything for His sake you will always gain more and you will learn more from the ways of His might.

Abraham has learnt by faith to look for something beyond a fulfillment in his days that is better than a possession on earth. Hadn’t he seen the God of glory (Acts 7:2)? That caused an unprecedented, and in the Old Testament not revealed, extent to his faith. That’s what you see here. Abraham looked higher than an earthly people and an earthly land. He saw a heavenly city, that is the heavenly center of the future age, the millennial kingdom of peace.

It is a “city which has foundations”. This stands opposite to dwelling in tents on earth. Of that city God is both the “architect” – or technician, artist, designer, someone who designs building plans – and the “builder”. Then it must be a perfect city. This cannot be other than that every grandiosity of nowadays cities, designed by imperfect people, pales in comparison and loses any appeal. It must be a joy too to live in God’s city. Every citizen will feel at home there. All things of and in that city bears the character of its Architect and Builder.

Hebrews 11:11. Here the question is whether it is about the faith of Abraham or about that of Sarah. For a long time there has been the thought that it is about Sarah, though it seems not impossible that it is about Abraham. Because I find it difficult to make a well-founded choice, I would like to say something of both.

When Sarah heard the message that she was going to give birth to a child, she did not immediately prove to have faith in the promise (Genesis 18:12). After all, she was ninety years old (Genesis 17:17) and therefore too old to even be able to become pregnant. But in the description of the birth of Isaac you read that is was Yahweh Who took care of Sarah and He did for her as He had promised (Genesis 21:1-2). It therefore also looks like Sarah after all indeed had faith in the promise of God. In his first letter Peter supports that thought by presenting her as a woman who trusted in God (1 Peter 3:5-6). Her faith drew its strength from the faithfulness of God to His promise. Therefore she gained ability to become pregnant.

But from this occasion also the faith of Abraham becomes apparent. Of him you don’t read that he had any doubt about God’s promise. In fact you read that he did not doubt the promise of God (Romans 4:19-21). He himself was well aware that conceiving a child was impossible. After all, he was a hundred years old (Genesis 17:17; Genesis 21:5). However, for his faith it was not a hindrance at all to trust God that He was able to provide him with descendants. No, on the contrary, because the fulfillment of the promise of descendants was physically impossible, he focused himself on God alone. Abraham considered God faithful and able, for He had promised it.

Hebrews 11:12. Therefore this one man received innumerable descendants. Of this one man it is also underlined that he was “as good as dead”. That emphasizes that God gives life from death. The son of Abraham, the son of the promise, comes, as it were, from the death and by that therefore also all his descendants.

This points forward to what God has done with the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Christ is the beginning of an entirely new situation, the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promises altogether that will find their accomplishment in the millennial kingdom of peace. Then the descendants that are in the heavens, “the stars”, and on earth, “the sand”, will enjoy God’s blessings in full measure.

Hebrews 11:13. As it is said, the writer interrupts his argument in Hebrews 11:13 to continue that in Hebrews 11:17. In this interruption he makes some remarks about the faith of life of the patriarchs. They not only lived in faith, they died in faith too. During their life they did not receive what was promised to them. Nevertheless they did not lose what was promised when they died. They took that along with them into their graves. “Having seen them … from a distance.” Their faith saw forward and they embraced in faith what they saw in faith. They also witnessed to that. They “confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth”, which means that they openly testified to this faith; they did not keep it for themselves (Genesis 23:4; Psalms 119:19).

In their way of life you see that they had no home on earth, but that they were strangers and exiles on it. They did not demand their rights, for they didn’t have any and they neither pretend to have any. This is different with many Christians.

Hebrews 11:14. The confession of those who died in faith was not a lip confession which was contradicted by their practice. In their practice you saw what they confessed with their mouth. They clearly showed what they were looking for, which means that they were longing for, a country of their own. You only do that if you’re sure that you haven’t come there yet.

Hebrews 11:15. Their pursuit did not make them think of returning to the country they had left. The lusts of the flesh, the attractions of the world, the obligations of family relationships, the daily business worries of life, could have altogether been in different ways and on different times enough reason for them to return, but they did not.

The difference between Lot and Abraham is a good example of this. Lot went on the journey with Abraham to the land that was promised by God. But he had no desire for it. Once he has come there and then sees another beautiful area, he chooses that one (Genesis 13:10-11). Abraham could have returned, for he was not thrown off his country. He freely departed from there. Nevertheless, Abraham remains longing for the city of God.

Hebrews 11:16. The patriarchs did not desire to go back to their old country, but they were looking forward to a heavenly country, that is a better country. By longing for that, they honored God. He offered them a better prospect and they believed what He said. Their faith was that great that they became aware that His promises meant more than the literal description indicated. Behind the description of the wonderful promises they saw Him Who will fulfill them and Who is at the same time the center of it.

Many things in Christendom are ‘better’ than in Judaism, to which now also ‘a better country’ is added. This country is not heaven. It is about the resurrection. It is the place where the risen and glorified saints will live forever and ever. Within the framework of this letter this heavenly country is the ‘future world’, or ‘the future age’, and then the heavenly side of it. This is the millennial kingdom of peace, the day of the Lord Jesus, to which the patriarchs have been looking forward (John 8:56). The faith of the patriarchs saw the reality, not just something vague.

God is not ashamed of such believers. He joyfully bears their name as ‘family name’, so to speak. It is after all true when you read that He is the ‘God of Abraham’. Do you think that He would joyfully bear your name as ‘family name’ also? He surely would if you also see the reality of that heavenly country and heavenly city and if you live up to that. His city is ready to welcome you. God took care of that. It is the inheritance that is prepared in the heavens and that is well reserved for you there (1 Peter 1:4).

Now read Hebrews 11:9-16 again.

Reflection: Which characteristics of faith are reflected in Abraham’s life and what can you learn from that?

1 Peter 2:19

Living by Faith (III)

Hebrews 11:9. When Abraham comes to the place where God has led him, he doesn’t receive anything (Acts 7:5). That is a new exercise of faith. That same exercise you have too. You have been converted and know that it implies that you belong to the Lord Jesus Who has all power in heaven and on earth. But what do you see of that at this moment? At this moment you are a stranger on earth without civil rights. This is not your home. An English song we often have sung with young people says it well: ‘This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.’ However, you may look forward to soon, when the Lord Jesus will take possession of the world. Then you will possess the world together with Him.

Until that time the promise of that possession gives you the strength to live here as a stranger. The sojourning of Abraham is underlined by the fact that he dwelt in tents. A house is the symbol of a permanent residence, while a tent indicates the temporary character of a dwelling place. Also his son Isaac and his grandchild Jacob were living like that. They also, as fellow heirs of the same promise, have not received what was promised. In case Abraham expected that they would then at least receive the fulfillment, it would then be a new exercise of faith.

Hebrews 11:10. Abraham is not discouraged by that. He remains focused on what the Lord has promised. Although he has nothing, his affections have a firm character. He longs for a better land and clings directly and completely to God. If you trust in God and give up everything for His sake you will always gain more and you will learn more from the ways of His might.

Abraham has learnt by faith to look for something beyond a fulfillment in his days that is better than a possession on earth. Hadn’t he seen the God of glory (Acts 7:2)? That caused an unprecedented, and in the Old Testament not revealed, extent to his faith. That’s what you see here. Abraham looked higher than an earthly people and an earthly land. He saw a heavenly city, that is the heavenly center of the future age, the millennial kingdom of peace.

It is a “city which has foundations”. This stands opposite to dwelling in tents on earth. Of that city God is both the “architect” – or technician, artist, designer, someone who designs building plans – and the “builder”. Then it must be a perfect city. This cannot be other than that every grandiosity of nowadays cities, designed by imperfect people, pales in comparison and loses any appeal. It must be a joy too to live in God’s city. Every citizen will feel at home there. All things of and in that city bears the character of its Architect and Builder.

Hebrews 11:11. Here the question is whether it is about the faith of Abraham or about that of Sarah. For a long time there has been the thought that it is about Sarah, though it seems not impossible that it is about Abraham. Because I find it difficult to make a well-founded choice, I would like to say something of both.

When Sarah heard the message that she was going to give birth to a child, she did not immediately prove to have faith in the promise (Genesis 18:12). After all, she was ninety years old (Genesis 17:17) and therefore too old to even be able to become pregnant. But in the description of the birth of Isaac you read that is was Yahweh Who took care of Sarah and He did for her as He had promised (Genesis 21:1-2). It therefore also looks like Sarah after all indeed had faith in the promise of God. In his first letter Peter supports that thought by presenting her as a woman who trusted in God (1 Peter 3:5-6). Her faith drew its strength from the faithfulness of God to His promise. Therefore she gained ability to become pregnant.

But from this occasion also the faith of Abraham becomes apparent. Of him you don’t read that he had any doubt about God’s promise. In fact you read that he did not doubt the promise of God (Romans 4:19-21). He himself was well aware that conceiving a child was impossible. After all, he was a hundred years old (Genesis 17:17; Genesis 21:5). However, for his faith it was not a hindrance at all to trust God that He was able to provide him with descendants. No, on the contrary, because the fulfillment of the promise of descendants was physically impossible, he focused himself on God alone. Abraham considered God faithful and able, for He had promised it.

Hebrews 11:12. Therefore this one man received innumerable descendants. Of this one man it is also underlined that he was “as good as dead”. That emphasizes that God gives life from death. The son of Abraham, the son of the promise, comes, as it were, from the death and by that therefore also all his descendants.

This points forward to what God has done with the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Christ is the beginning of an entirely new situation, the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promises altogether that will find their accomplishment in the millennial kingdom of peace. Then the descendants that are in the heavens, “the stars”, and on earth, “the sand”, will enjoy God’s blessings in full measure.

Hebrews 11:13. As it is said, the writer interrupts his argument in Hebrews 11:13 to continue that in Hebrews 11:17. In this interruption he makes some remarks about the faith of life of the patriarchs. They not only lived in faith, they died in faith too. During their life they did not receive what was promised to them. Nevertheless they did not lose what was promised when they died. They took that along with them into their graves. “Having seen them … from a distance.” Their faith saw forward and they embraced in faith what they saw in faith. They also witnessed to that. They “confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth”, which means that they openly testified to this faith; they did not keep it for themselves (Genesis 23:4; Psalms 119:19).

In their way of life you see that they had no home on earth, but that they were strangers and exiles on it. They did not demand their rights, for they didn’t have any and they neither pretend to have any. This is different with many Christians.

Hebrews 11:14. The confession of those who died in faith was not a lip confession which was contradicted by their practice. In their practice you saw what they confessed with their mouth. They clearly showed what they were looking for, which means that they were longing for, a country of their own. You only do that if you’re sure that you haven’t come there yet.

Hebrews 11:15. Their pursuit did not make them think of returning to the country they had left. The lusts of the flesh, the attractions of the world, the obligations of family relationships, the daily business worries of life, could have altogether been in different ways and on different times enough reason for them to return, but they did not.

The difference between Lot and Abraham is a good example of this. Lot went on the journey with Abraham to the land that was promised by God. But he had no desire for it. Once he has come there and then sees another beautiful area, he chooses that one (Genesis 13:10-11). Abraham could have returned, for he was not thrown off his country. He freely departed from there. Nevertheless, Abraham remains longing for the city of God.

Hebrews 11:16. The patriarchs did not desire to go back to their old country, but they were looking forward to a heavenly country, that is a better country. By longing for that, they honored God. He offered them a better prospect and they believed what He said. Their faith was that great that they became aware that His promises meant more than the literal description indicated. Behind the description of the wonderful promises they saw Him Who will fulfill them and Who is at the same time the center of it.

Many things in Christendom are ‘better’ than in Judaism, to which now also ‘a better country’ is added. This country is not heaven. It is about the resurrection. It is the place where the risen and glorified saints will live forever and ever. Within the framework of this letter this heavenly country is the ‘future world’, or ‘the future age’, and then the heavenly side of it. This is the millennial kingdom of peace, the day of the Lord Jesus, to which the patriarchs have been looking forward (John 8:56). The faith of the patriarchs saw the reality, not just something vague.

God is not ashamed of such believers. He joyfully bears their name as ‘family name’, so to speak. It is after all true when you read that He is the ‘God of Abraham’. Do you think that He would joyfully bear your name as ‘family name’ also? He surely would if you also see the reality of that heavenly country and heavenly city and if you live up to that. His city is ready to welcome you. God took care of that. It is the inheritance that is prepared in the heavens and that is well reserved for you there (1 Peter 1:4).

Now read Hebrews 11:9-16 again.

Reflection: Which characteristics of faith are reflected in Abraham’s life and what can you learn from that?

1 Peter 2:20

Living by Faith (III)

Hebrews 11:9. When Abraham comes to the place where God has led him, he doesn’t receive anything (Acts 7:5). That is a new exercise of faith. That same exercise you have too. You have been converted and know that it implies that you belong to the Lord Jesus Who has all power in heaven and on earth. But what do you see of that at this moment? At this moment you are a stranger on earth without civil rights. This is not your home. An English song we often have sung with young people says it well: ‘This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.’ However, you may look forward to soon, when the Lord Jesus will take possession of the world. Then you will possess the world together with Him.

Until that time the promise of that possession gives you the strength to live here as a stranger. The sojourning of Abraham is underlined by the fact that he dwelt in tents. A house is the symbol of a permanent residence, while a tent indicates the temporary character of a dwelling place. Also his son Isaac and his grandchild Jacob were living like that. They also, as fellow heirs of the same promise, have not received what was promised. In case Abraham expected that they would then at least receive the fulfillment, it would then be a new exercise of faith.

Hebrews 11:10. Abraham is not discouraged by that. He remains focused on what the Lord has promised. Although he has nothing, his affections have a firm character. He longs for a better land and clings directly and completely to God. If you trust in God and give up everything for His sake you will always gain more and you will learn more from the ways of His might.

Abraham has learnt by faith to look for something beyond a fulfillment in his days that is better than a possession on earth. Hadn’t he seen the God of glory (Acts 7:2)? That caused an unprecedented, and in the Old Testament not revealed, extent to his faith. That’s what you see here. Abraham looked higher than an earthly people and an earthly land. He saw a heavenly city, that is the heavenly center of the future age, the millennial kingdom of peace.

It is a “city which has foundations”. This stands opposite to dwelling in tents on earth. Of that city God is both the “architect” – or technician, artist, designer, someone who designs building plans – and the “builder”. Then it must be a perfect city. This cannot be other than that every grandiosity of nowadays cities, designed by imperfect people, pales in comparison and loses any appeal. It must be a joy too to live in God’s city. Every citizen will feel at home there. All things of and in that city bears the character of its Architect and Builder.

Hebrews 11:11. Here the question is whether it is about the faith of Abraham or about that of Sarah. For a long time there has been the thought that it is about Sarah, though it seems not impossible that it is about Abraham. Because I find it difficult to make a well-founded choice, I would like to say something of both.

When Sarah heard the message that she was going to give birth to a child, she did not immediately prove to have faith in the promise (Genesis 18:12). After all, she was ninety years old (Genesis 17:17) and therefore too old to even be able to become pregnant. But in the description of the birth of Isaac you read that is was Yahweh Who took care of Sarah and He did for her as He had promised (Genesis 21:1-2). It therefore also looks like Sarah after all indeed had faith in the promise of God. In his first letter Peter supports that thought by presenting her as a woman who trusted in God (1 Peter 3:5-6). Her faith drew its strength from the faithfulness of God to His promise. Therefore she gained ability to become pregnant.

But from this occasion also the faith of Abraham becomes apparent. Of him you don’t read that he had any doubt about God’s promise. In fact you read that he did not doubt the promise of God (Romans 4:19-21). He himself was well aware that conceiving a child was impossible. After all, he was a hundred years old (Genesis 17:17; Genesis 21:5). However, for his faith it was not a hindrance at all to trust God that He was able to provide him with descendants. No, on the contrary, because the fulfillment of the promise of descendants was physically impossible, he focused himself on God alone. Abraham considered God faithful and able, for He had promised it.

Hebrews 11:12. Therefore this one man received innumerable descendants. Of this one man it is also underlined that he was “as good as dead”. That emphasizes that God gives life from death. The son of Abraham, the son of the promise, comes, as it were, from the death and by that therefore also all his descendants.

This points forward to what God has done with the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Christ is the beginning of an entirely new situation, the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promises altogether that will find their accomplishment in the millennial kingdom of peace. Then the descendants that are in the heavens, “the stars”, and on earth, “the sand”, will enjoy God’s blessings in full measure.

Hebrews 11:13. As it is said, the writer interrupts his argument in Hebrews 11:13 to continue that in Hebrews 11:17. In this interruption he makes some remarks about the faith of life of the patriarchs. They not only lived in faith, they died in faith too. During their life they did not receive what was promised to them. Nevertheless they did not lose what was promised when they died. They took that along with them into their graves. “Having seen them … from a distance.” Their faith saw forward and they embraced in faith what they saw in faith. They also witnessed to that. They “confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth”, which means that they openly testified to this faith; they did not keep it for themselves (Genesis 23:4; Psalms 119:19).

In their way of life you see that they had no home on earth, but that they were strangers and exiles on it. They did not demand their rights, for they didn’t have any and they neither pretend to have any. This is different with many Christians.

Hebrews 11:14. The confession of those who died in faith was not a lip confession which was contradicted by their practice. In their practice you saw what they confessed with their mouth. They clearly showed what they were looking for, which means that they were longing for, a country of their own. You only do that if you’re sure that you haven’t come there yet.

Hebrews 11:15. Their pursuit did not make them think of returning to the country they had left. The lusts of the flesh, the attractions of the world, the obligations of family relationships, the daily business worries of life, could have altogether been in different ways and on different times enough reason for them to return, but they did not.

The difference between Lot and Abraham is a good example of this. Lot went on the journey with Abraham to the land that was promised by God. But he had no desire for it. Once he has come there and then sees another beautiful area, he chooses that one (Genesis 13:10-11). Abraham could have returned, for he was not thrown off his country. He freely departed from there. Nevertheless, Abraham remains longing for the city of God.

Hebrews 11:16. The patriarchs did not desire to go back to their old country, but they were looking forward to a heavenly country, that is a better country. By longing for that, they honored God. He offered them a better prospect and they believed what He said. Their faith was that great that they became aware that His promises meant more than the literal description indicated. Behind the description of the wonderful promises they saw Him Who will fulfill them and Who is at the same time the center of it.

Many things in Christendom are ‘better’ than in Judaism, to which now also ‘a better country’ is added. This country is not heaven. It is about the resurrection. It is the place where the risen and glorified saints will live forever and ever. Within the framework of this letter this heavenly country is the ‘future world’, or ‘the future age’, and then the heavenly side of it. This is the millennial kingdom of peace, the day of the Lord Jesus, to which the patriarchs have been looking forward (John 8:56). The faith of the patriarchs saw the reality, not just something vague.

God is not ashamed of such believers. He joyfully bears their name as ‘family name’, so to speak. It is after all true when you read that He is the ‘God of Abraham’. Do you think that He would joyfully bear your name as ‘family name’ also? He surely would if you also see the reality of that heavenly country and heavenly city and if you live up to that. His city is ready to welcome you. God took care of that. It is the inheritance that is prepared in the heavens and that is well reserved for you there (1 Peter 1:4).

Now read Hebrews 11:9-16 again.

Reflection: Which characteristics of faith are reflected in Abraham’s life and what can you learn from that?

1 Peter 2:21

Living by Faith (III)

Hebrews 11:9. When Abraham comes to the place where God has led him, he doesn’t receive anything (Acts 7:5). That is a new exercise of faith. That same exercise you have too. You have been converted and know that it implies that you belong to the Lord Jesus Who has all power in heaven and on earth. But what do you see of that at this moment? At this moment you are a stranger on earth without civil rights. This is not your home. An English song we often have sung with young people says it well: ‘This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.’ However, you may look forward to soon, when the Lord Jesus will take possession of the world. Then you will possess the world together with Him.

Until that time the promise of that possession gives you the strength to live here as a stranger. The sojourning of Abraham is underlined by the fact that he dwelt in tents. A house is the symbol of a permanent residence, while a tent indicates the temporary character of a dwelling place. Also his son Isaac and his grandchild Jacob were living like that. They also, as fellow heirs of the same promise, have not received what was promised. In case Abraham expected that they would then at least receive the fulfillment, it would then be a new exercise of faith.

Hebrews 11:10. Abraham is not discouraged by that. He remains focused on what the Lord has promised. Although he has nothing, his affections have a firm character. He longs for a better land and clings directly and completely to God. If you trust in God and give up everything for His sake you will always gain more and you will learn more from the ways of His might.

Abraham has learnt by faith to look for something beyond a fulfillment in his days that is better than a possession on earth. Hadn’t he seen the God of glory (Acts 7:2)? That caused an unprecedented, and in the Old Testament not revealed, extent to his faith. That’s what you see here. Abraham looked higher than an earthly people and an earthly land. He saw a heavenly city, that is the heavenly center of the future age, the millennial kingdom of peace.

It is a “city which has foundations”. This stands opposite to dwelling in tents on earth. Of that city God is both the “architect” – or technician, artist, designer, someone who designs building plans – and the “builder”. Then it must be a perfect city. This cannot be other than that every grandiosity of nowadays cities, designed by imperfect people, pales in comparison and loses any appeal. It must be a joy too to live in God’s city. Every citizen will feel at home there. All things of and in that city bears the character of its Architect and Builder.

Hebrews 11:11. Here the question is whether it is about the faith of Abraham or about that of Sarah. For a long time there has been the thought that it is about Sarah, though it seems not impossible that it is about Abraham. Because I find it difficult to make a well-founded choice, I would like to say something of both.

When Sarah heard the message that she was going to give birth to a child, she did not immediately prove to have faith in the promise (Genesis 18:12). After all, she was ninety years old (Genesis 17:17) and therefore too old to even be able to become pregnant. But in the description of the birth of Isaac you read that is was Yahweh Who took care of Sarah and He did for her as He had promised (Genesis 21:1-2). It therefore also looks like Sarah after all indeed had faith in the promise of God. In his first letter Peter supports that thought by presenting her as a woman who trusted in God (1 Peter 3:5-6). Her faith drew its strength from the faithfulness of God to His promise. Therefore she gained ability to become pregnant.

But from this occasion also the faith of Abraham becomes apparent. Of him you don’t read that he had any doubt about God’s promise. In fact you read that he did not doubt the promise of God (Romans 4:19-21). He himself was well aware that conceiving a child was impossible. After all, he was a hundred years old (Genesis 17:17; Genesis 21:5). However, for his faith it was not a hindrance at all to trust God that He was able to provide him with descendants. No, on the contrary, because the fulfillment of the promise of descendants was physically impossible, he focused himself on God alone. Abraham considered God faithful and able, for He had promised it.

Hebrews 11:12. Therefore this one man received innumerable descendants. Of this one man it is also underlined that he was “as good as dead”. That emphasizes that God gives life from death. The son of Abraham, the son of the promise, comes, as it were, from the death and by that therefore also all his descendants.

This points forward to what God has done with the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Christ is the beginning of an entirely new situation, the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promises altogether that will find their accomplishment in the millennial kingdom of peace. Then the descendants that are in the heavens, “the stars”, and on earth, “the sand”, will enjoy God’s blessings in full measure.

Hebrews 11:13. As it is said, the writer interrupts his argument in Hebrews 11:13 to continue that in Hebrews 11:17. In this interruption he makes some remarks about the faith of life of the patriarchs. They not only lived in faith, they died in faith too. During their life they did not receive what was promised to them. Nevertheless they did not lose what was promised when they died. They took that along with them into their graves. “Having seen them … from a distance.” Their faith saw forward and they embraced in faith what they saw in faith. They also witnessed to that. They “confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth”, which means that they openly testified to this faith; they did not keep it for themselves (Genesis 23:4; Psalms 119:19).

In their way of life you see that they had no home on earth, but that they were strangers and exiles on it. They did not demand their rights, for they didn’t have any and they neither pretend to have any. This is different with many Christians.

Hebrews 11:14. The confession of those who died in faith was not a lip confession which was contradicted by their practice. In their practice you saw what they confessed with their mouth. They clearly showed what they were looking for, which means that they were longing for, a country of their own. You only do that if you’re sure that you haven’t come there yet.

Hebrews 11:15. Their pursuit did not make them think of returning to the country they had left. The lusts of the flesh, the attractions of the world, the obligations of family relationships, the daily business worries of life, could have altogether been in different ways and on different times enough reason for them to return, but they did not.

The difference between Lot and Abraham is a good example of this. Lot went on the journey with Abraham to the land that was promised by God. But he had no desire for it. Once he has come there and then sees another beautiful area, he chooses that one (Genesis 13:10-11). Abraham could have returned, for he was not thrown off his country. He freely departed from there. Nevertheless, Abraham remains longing for the city of God.

Hebrews 11:16. The patriarchs did not desire to go back to their old country, but they were looking forward to a heavenly country, that is a better country. By longing for that, they honored God. He offered them a better prospect and they believed what He said. Their faith was that great that they became aware that His promises meant more than the literal description indicated. Behind the description of the wonderful promises they saw Him Who will fulfill them and Who is at the same time the center of it.

Many things in Christendom are ‘better’ than in Judaism, to which now also ‘a better country’ is added. This country is not heaven. It is about the resurrection. It is the place where the risen and glorified saints will live forever and ever. Within the framework of this letter this heavenly country is the ‘future world’, or ‘the future age’, and then the heavenly side of it. This is the millennial kingdom of peace, the day of the Lord Jesus, to which the patriarchs have been looking forward (John 8:56). The faith of the patriarchs saw the reality, not just something vague.

God is not ashamed of such believers. He joyfully bears their name as ‘family name’, so to speak. It is after all true when you read that He is the ‘God of Abraham’. Do you think that He would joyfully bear your name as ‘family name’ also? He surely would if you also see the reality of that heavenly country and heavenly city and if you live up to that. His city is ready to welcome you. God took care of that. It is the inheritance that is prepared in the heavens and that is well reserved for you there (1 Peter 1:4).

Now read Hebrews 11:9-16 again.

Reflection: Which characteristics of faith are reflected in Abraham’s life and what can you learn from that?

1 Peter 2:22

Living by Faith (III)

Hebrews 11:9. When Abraham comes to the place where God has led him, he doesn’t receive anything (Acts 7:5). That is a new exercise of faith. That same exercise you have too. You have been converted and know that it implies that you belong to the Lord Jesus Who has all power in heaven and on earth. But what do you see of that at this moment? At this moment you are a stranger on earth without civil rights. This is not your home. An English song we often have sung with young people says it well: ‘This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.’ However, you may look forward to soon, when the Lord Jesus will take possession of the world. Then you will possess the world together with Him.

Until that time the promise of that possession gives you the strength to live here as a stranger. The sojourning of Abraham is underlined by the fact that he dwelt in tents. A house is the symbol of a permanent residence, while a tent indicates the temporary character of a dwelling place. Also his son Isaac and his grandchild Jacob were living like that. They also, as fellow heirs of the same promise, have not received what was promised. In case Abraham expected that they would then at least receive the fulfillment, it would then be a new exercise of faith.

Hebrews 11:10. Abraham is not discouraged by that. He remains focused on what the Lord has promised. Although he has nothing, his affections have a firm character. He longs for a better land and clings directly and completely to God. If you trust in God and give up everything for His sake you will always gain more and you will learn more from the ways of His might.

Abraham has learnt by faith to look for something beyond a fulfillment in his days that is better than a possession on earth. Hadn’t he seen the God of glory (Acts 7:2)? That caused an unprecedented, and in the Old Testament not revealed, extent to his faith. That’s what you see here. Abraham looked higher than an earthly people and an earthly land. He saw a heavenly city, that is the heavenly center of the future age, the millennial kingdom of peace.

It is a “city which has foundations”. This stands opposite to dwelling in tents on earth. Of that city God is both the “architect” – or technician, artist, designer, someone who designs building plans – and the “builder”. Then it must be a perfect city. This cannot be other than that every grandiosity of nowadays cities, designed by imperfect people, pales in comparison and loses any appeal. It must be a joy too to live in God’s city. Every citizen will feel at home there. All things of and in that city bears the character of its Architect and Builder.

Hebrews 11:11. Here the question is whether it is about the faith of Abraham or about that of Sarah. For a long time there has been the thought that it is about Sarah, though it seems not impossible that it is about Abraham. Because I find it difficult to make a well-founded choice, I would like to say something of both.

When Sarah heard the message that she was going to give birth to a child, she did not immediately prove to have faith in the promise (Genesis 18:12). After all, she was ninety years old (Genesis 17:17) and therefore too old to even be able to become pregnant. But in the description of the birth of Isaac you read that is was Yahweh Who took care of Sarah and He did for her as He had promised (Genesis 21:1-2). It therefore also looks like Sarah after all indeed had faith in the promise of God. In his first letter Peter supports that thought by presenting her as a woman who trusted in God (1 Peter 3:5-6). Her faith drew its strength from the faithfulness of God to His promise. Therefore she gained ability to become pregnant.

But from this occasion also the faith of Abraham becomes apparent. Of him you don’t read that he had any doubt about God’s promise. In fact you read that he did not doubt the promise of God (Romans 4:19-21). He himself was well aware that conceiving a child was impossible. After all, he was a hundred years old (Genesis 17:17; Genesis 21:5). However, for his faith it was not a hindrance at all to trust God that He was able to provide him with descendants. No, on the contrary, because the fulfillment of the promise of descendants was physically impossible, he focused himself on God alone. Abraham considered God faithful and able, for He had promised it.

Hebrews 11:12. Therefore this one man received innumerable descendants. Of this one man it is also underlined that he was “as good as dead”. That emphasizes that God gives life from death. The son of Abraham, the son of the promise, comes, as it were, from the death and by that therefore also all his descendants.

This points forward to what God has done with the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Christ is the beginning of an entirely new situation, the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promises altogether that will find their accomplishment in the millennial kingdom of peace. Then the descendants that are in the heavens, “the stars”, and on earth, “the sand”, will enjoy God’s blessings in full measure.

Hebrews 11:13. As it is said, the writer interrupts his argument in Hebrews 11:13 to continue that in Hebrews 11:17. In this interruption he makes some remarks about the faith of life of the patriarchs. They not only lived in faith, they died in faith too. During their life they did not receive what was promised to them. Nevertheless they did not lose what was promised when they died. They took that along with them into their graves. “Having seen them … from a distance.” Their faith saw forward and they embraced in faith what they saw in faith. They also witnessed to that. They “confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth”, which means that they openly testified to this faith; they did not keep it for themselves (Genesis 23:4; Psalms 119:19).

In their way of life you see that they had no home on earth, but that they were strangers and exiles on it. They did not demand their rights, for they didn’t have any and they neither pretend to have any. This is different with many Christians.

Hebrews 11:14. The confession of those who died in faith was not a lip confession which was contradicted by their practice. In their practice you saw what they confessed with their mouth. They clearly showed what they were looking for, which means that they were longing for, a country of their own. You only do that if you’re sure that you haven’t come there yet.

Hebrews 11:15. Their pursuit did not make them think of returning to the country they had left. The lusts of the flesh, the attractions of the world, the obligations of family relationships, the daily business worries of life, could have altogether been in different ways and on different times enough reason for them to return, but they did not.

The difference between Lot and Abraham is a good example of this. Lot went on the journey with Abraham to the land that was promised by God. But he had no desire for it. Once he has come there and then sees another beautiful area, he chooses that one (Genesis 13:10-11). Abraham could have returned, for he was not thrown off his country. He freely departed from there. Nevertheless, Abraham remains longing for the city of God.

Hebrews 11:16. The patriarchs did not desire to go back to their old country, but they were looking forward to a heavenly country, that is a better country. By longing for that, they honored God. He offered them a better prospect and they believed what He said. Their faith was that great that they became aware that His promises meant more than the literal description indicated. Behind the description of the wonderful promises they saw Him Who will fulfill them and Who is at the same time the center of it.

Many things in Christendom are ‘better’ than in Judaism, to which now also ‘a better country’ is added. This country is not heaven. It is about the resurrection. It is the place where the risen and glorified saints will live forever and ever. Within the framework of this letter this heavenly country is the ‘future world’, or ‘the future age’, and then the heavenly side of it. This is the millennial kingdom of peace, the day of the Lord Jesus, to which the patriarchs have been looking forward (John 8:56). The faith of the patriarchs saw the reality, not just something vague.

God is not ashamed of such believers. He joyfully bears their name as ‘family name’, so to speak. It is after all true when you read that He is the ‘God of Abraham’. Do you think that He would joyfully bear your name as ‘family name’ also? He surely would if you also see the reality of that heavenly country and heavenly city and if you live up to that. His city is ready to welcome you. God took care of that. It is the inheritance that is prepared in the heavens and that is well reserved for you there (1 Peter 1:4).

Now read Hebrews 11:9-16 again.

Reflection: Which characteristics of faith are reflected in Abraham’s life and what can you learn from that?

1 Peter 2:23

Living by Faith (III)

Hebrews 11:9. When Abraham comes to the place where God has led him, he doesn’t receive anything (Acts 7:5). That is a new exercise of faith. That same exercise you have too. You have been converted and know that it implies that you belong to the Lord Jesus Who has all power in heaven and on earth. But what do you see of that at this moment? At this moment you are a stranger on earth without civil rights. This is not your home. An English song we often have sung with young people says it well: ‘This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.’ However, you may look forward to soon, when the Lord Jesus will take possession of the world. Then you will possess the world together with Him.

Until that time the promise of that possession gives you the strength to live here as a stranger. The sojourning of Abraham is underlined by the fact that he dwelt in tents. A house is the symbol of a permanent residence, while a tent indicates the temporary character of a dwelling place. Also his son Isaac and his grandchild Jacob were living like that. They also, as fellow heirs of the same promise, have not received what was promised. In case Abraham expected that they would then at least receive the fulfillment, it would then be a new exercise of faith.

Hebrews 11:10. Abraham is not discouraged by that. He remains focused on what the Lord has promised. Although he has nothing, his affections have a firm character. He longs for a better land and clings directly and completely to God. If you trust in God and give up everything for His sake you will always gain more and you will learn more from the ways of His might.

Abraham has learnt by faith to look for something beyond a fulfillment in his days that is better than a possession on earth. Hadn’t he seen the God of glory (Acts 7:2)? That caused an unprecedented, and in the Old Testament not revealed, extent to his faith. That’s what you see here. Abraham looked higher than an earthly people and an earthly land. He saw a heavenly city, that is the heavenly center of the future age, the millennial kingdom of peace.

It is a “city which has foundations”. This stands opposite to dwelling in tents on earth. Of that city God is both the “architect” – or technician, artist, designer, someone who designs building plans – and the “builder”. Then it must be a perfect city. This cannot be other than that every grandiosity of nowadays cities, designed by imperfect people, pales in comparison and loses any appeal. It must be a joy too to live in God’s city. Every citizen will feel at home there. All things of and in that city bears the character of its Architect and Builder.

Hebrews 11:11. Here the question is whether it is about the faith of Abraham or about that of Sarah. For a long time there has been the thought that it is about Sarah, though it seems not impossible that it is about Abraham. Because I find it difficult to make a well-founded choice, I would like to say something of both.

When Sarah heard the message that she was going to give birth to a child, she did not immediately prove to have faith in the promise (Genesis 18:12). After all, she was ninety years old (Genesis 17:17) and therefore too old to even be able to become pregnant. But in the description of the birth of Isaac you read that is was Yahweh Who took care of Sarah and He did for her as He had promised (Genesis 21:1-2). It therefore also looks like Sarah after all indeed had faith in the promise of God. In his first letter Peter supports that thought by presenting her as a woman who trusted in God (1 Peter 3:5-6). Her faith drew its strength from the faithfulness of God to His promise. Therefore she gained ability to become pregnant.

But from this occasion also the faith of Abraham becomes apparent. Of him you don’t read that he had any doubt about God’s promise. In fact you read that he did not doubt the promise of God (Romans 4:19-21). He himself was well aware that conceiving a child was impossible. After all, he was a hundred years old (Genesis 17:17; Genesis 21:5). However, for his faith it was not a hindrance at all to trust God that He was able to provide him with descendants. No, on the contrary, because the fulfillment of the promise of descendants was physically impossible, he focused himself on God alone. Abraham considered God faithful and able, for He had promised it.

Hebrews 11:12. Therefore this one man received innumerable descendants. Of this one man it is also underlined that he was “as good as dead”. That emphasizes that God gives life from death. The son of Abraham, the son of the promise, comes, as it were, from the death and by that therefore also all his descendants.

This points forward to what God has done with the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Christ is the beginning of an entirely new situation, the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promises altogether that will find their accomplishment in the millennial kingdom of peace. Then the descendants that are in the heavens, “the stars”, and on earth, “the sand”, will enjoy God’s blessings in full measure.

Hebrews 11:13. As it is said, the writer interrupts his argument in Hebrews 11:13 to continue that in Hebrews 11:17. In this interruption he makes some remarks about the faith of life of the patriarchs. They not only lived in faith, they died in faith too. During their life they did not receive what was promised to them. Nevertheless they did not lose what was promised when they died. They took that along with them into their graves. “Having seen them … from a distance.” Their faith saw forward and they embraced in faith what they saw in faith. They also witnessed to that. They “confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth”, which means that they openly testified to this faith; they did not keep it for themselves (Genesis 23:4; Psalms 119:19).

In their way of life you see that they had no home on earth, but that they were strangers and exiles on it. They did not demand their rights, for they didn’t have any and they neither pretend to have any. This is different with many Christians.

Hebrews 11:14. The confession of those who died in faith was not a lip confession which was contradicted by their practice. In their practice you saw what they confessed with their mouth. They clearly showed what they were looking for, which means that they were longing for, a country of their own. You only do that if you’re sure that you haven’t come there yet.

Hebrews 11:15. Their pursuit did not make them think of returning to the country they had left. The lusts of the flesh, the attractions of the world, the obligations of family relationships, the daily business worries of life, could have altogether been in different ways and on different times enough reason for them to return, but they did not.

The difference between Lot and Abraham is a good example of this. Lot went on the journey with Abraham to the land that was promised by God. But he had no desire for it. Once he has come there and then sees another beautiful area, he chooses that one (Genesis 13:10-11). Abraham could have returned, for he was not thrown off his country. He freely departed from there. Nevertheless, Abraham remains longing for the city of God.

Hebrews 11:16. The patriarchs did not desire to go back to their old country, but they were looking forward to a heavenly country, that is a better country. By longing for that, they honored God. He offered them a better prospect and they believed what He said. Their faith was that great that they became aware that His promises meant more than the literal description indicated. Behind the description of the wonderful promises they saw Him Who will fulfill them and Who is at the same time the center of it.

Many things in Christendom are ‘better’ than in Judaism, to which now also ‘a better country’ is added. This country is not heaven. It is about the resurrection. It is the place where the risen and glorified saints will live forever and ever. Within the framework of this letter this heavenly country is the ‘future world’, or ‘the future age’, and then the heavenly side of it. This is the millennial kingdom of peace, the day of the Lord Jesus, to which the patriarchs have been looking forward (John 8:56). The faith of the patriarchs saw the reality, not just something vague.

God is not ashamed of such believers. He joyfully bears their name as ‘family name’, so to speak. It is after all true when you read that He is the ‘God of Abraham’. Do you think that He would joyfully bear your name as ‘family name’ also? He surely would if you also see the reality of that heavenly country and heavenly city and if you live up to that. His city is ready to welcome you. God took care of that. It is the inheritance that is prepared in the heavens and that is well reserved for you there (1 Peter 1:4).

Now read Hebrews 11:9-16 again.

Reflection: Which characteristics of faith are reflected in Abraham’s life and what can you learn from that?

1 Peter 2:24

Living by Faith (III)

Hebrews 11:9. When Abraham comes to the place where God has led him, he doesn’t receive anything (Acts 7:5). That is a new exercise of faith. That same exercise you have too. You have been converted and know that it implies that you belong to the Lord Jesus Who has all power in heaven and on earth. But what do you see of that at this moment? At this moment you are a stranger on earth without civil rights. This is not your home. An English song we often have sung with young people says it well: ‘This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.’ However, you may look forward to soon, when the Lord Jesus will take possession of the world. Then you will possess the world together with Him.

Until that time the promise of that possession gives you the strength to live here as a stranger. The sojourning of Abraham is underlined by the fact that he dwelt in tents. A house is the symbol of a permanent residence, while a tent indicates the temporary character of a dwelling place. Also his son Isaac and his grandchild Jacob were living like that. They also, as fellow heirs of the same promise, have not received what was promised. In case Abraham expected that they would then at least receive the fulfillment, it would then be a new exercise of faith.

Hebrews 11:10. Abraham is not discouraged by that. He remains focused on what the Lord has promised. Although he has nothing, his affections have a firm character. He longs for a better land and clings directly and completely to God. If you trust in God and give up everything for His sake you will always gain more and you will learn more from the ways of His might.

Abraham has learnt by faith to look for something beyond a fulfillment in his days that is better than a possession on earth. Hadn’t he seen the God of glory (Acts 7:2)? That caused an unprecedented, and in the Old Testament not revealed, extent to his faith. That’s what you see here. Abraham looked higher than an earthly people and an earthly land. He saw a heavenly city, that is the heavenly center of the future age, the millennial kingdom of peace.

It is a “city which has foundations”. This stands opposite to dwelling in tents on earth. Of that city God is both the “architect” – or technician, artist, designer, someone who designs building plans – and the “builder”. Then it must be a perfect city. This cannot be other than that every grandiosity of nowadays cities, designed by imperfect people, pales in comparison and loses any appeal. It must be a joy too to live in God’s city. Every citizen will feel at home there. All things of and in that city bears the character of its Architect and Builder.

Hebrews 11:11. Here the question is whether it is about the faith of Abraham or about that of Sarah. For a long time there has been the thought that it is about Sarah, though it seems not impossible that it is about Abraham. Because I find it difficult to make a well-founded choice, I would like to say something of both.

When Sarah heard the message that she was going to give birth to a child, she did not immediately prove to have faith in the promise (Genesis 18:12). After all, she was ninety years old (Genesis 17:17) and therefore too old to even be able to become pregnant. But in the description of the birth of Isaac you read that is was Yahweh Who took care of Sarah and He did for her as He had promised (Genesis 21:1-2). It therefore also looks like Sarah after all indeed had faith in the promise of God. In his first letter Peter supports that thought by presenting her as a woman who trusted in God (1 Peter 3:5-6). Her faith drew its strength from the faithfulness of God to His promise. Therefore she gained ability to become pregnant.

But from this occasion also the faith of Abraham becomes apparent. Of him you don’t read that he had any doubt about God’s promise. In fact you read that he did not doubt the promise of God (Romans 4:19-21). He himself was well aware that conceiving a child was impossible. After all, he was a hundred years old (Genesis 17:17; Genesis 21:5). However, for his faith it was not a hindrance at all to trust God that He was able to provide him with descendants. No, on the contrary, because the fulfillment of the promise of descendants was physically impossible, he focused himself on God alone. Abraham considered God faithful and able, for He had promised it.

Hebrews 11:12. Therefore this one man received innumerable descendants. Of this one man it is also underlined that he was “as good as dead”. That emphasizes that God gives life from death. The son of Abraham, the son of the promise, comes, as it were, from the death and by that therefore also all his descendants.

This points forward to what God has done with the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Christ is the beginning of an entirely new situation, the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promises altogether that will find their accomplishment in the millennial kingdom of peace. Then the descendants that are in the heavens, “the stars”, and on earth, “the sand”, will enjoy God’s blessings in full measure.

Hebrews 11:13. As it is said, the writer interrupts his argument in Hebrews 11:13 to continue that in Hebrews 11:17. In this interruption he makes some remarks about the faith of life of the patriarchs. They not only lived in faith, they died in faith too. During their life they did not receive what was promised to them. Nevertheless they did not lose what was promised when they died. They took that along with them into their graves. “Having seen them … from a distance.” Their faith saw forward and they embraced in faith what they saw in faith. They also witnessed to that. They “confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth”, which means that they openly testified to this faith; they did not keep it for themselves (Genesis 23:4; Psalms 119:19).

In their way of life you see that they had no home on earth, but that they were strangers and exiles on it. They did not demand their rights, for they didn’t have any and they neither pretend to have any. This is different with many Christians.

Hebrews 11:14. The confession of those who died in faith was not a lip confession which was contradicted by their practice. In their practice you saw what they confessed with their mouth. They clearly showed what they were looking for, which means that they were longing for, a country of their own. You only do that if you’re sure that you haven’t come there yet.

Hebrews 11:15. Their pursuit did not make them think of returning to the country they had left. The lusts of the flesh, the attractions of the world, the obligations of family relationships, the daily business worries of life, could have altogether been in different ways and on different times enough reason for them to return, but they did not.

The difference between Lot and Abraham is a good example of this. Lot went on the journey with Abraham to the land that was promised by God. But he had no desire for it. Once he has come there and then sees another beautiful area, he chooses that one (Genesis 13:10-11). Abraham could have returned, for he was not thrown off his country. He freely departed from there. Nevertheless, Abraham remains longing for the city of God.

Hebrews 11:16. The patriarchs did not desire to go back to their old country, but they were looking forward to a heavenly country, that is a better country. By longing for that, they honored God. He offered them a better prospect and they believed what He said. Their faith was that great that they became aware that His promises meant more than the literal description indicated. Behind the description of the wonderful promises they saw Him Who will fulfill them and Who is at the same time the center of it.

Many things in Christendom are ‘better’ than in Judaism, to which now also ‘a better country’ is added. This country is not heaven. It is about the resurrection. It is the place where the risen and glorified saints will live forever and ever. Within the framework of this letter this heavenly country is the ‘future world’, or ‘the future age’, and then the heavenly side of it. This is the millennial kingdom of peace, the day of the Lord Jesus, to which the patriarchs have been looking forward (John 8:56). The faith of the patriarchs saw the reality, not just something vague.

God is not ashamed of such believers. He joyfully bears their name as ‘family name’, so to speak. It is after all true when you read that He is the ‘God of Abraham’. Do you think that He would joyfully bear your name as ‘family name’ also? He surely would if you also see the reality of that heavenly country and heavenly city and if you live up to that. His city is ready to welcome you. God took care of that. It is the inheritance that is prepared in the heavens and that is well reserved for you there (1 Peter 1:4).

Now read Hebrews 11:9-16 again.

Reflection: Which characteristics of faith are reflected in Abraham’s life and what can you learn from that?

1 Peter 2:25

Living by Faith (III)

Hebrews 11:9. When Abraham comes to the place where God has led him, he doesn’t receive anything (Acts 7:5). That is a new exercise of faith. That same exercise you have too. You have been converted and know that it implies that you belong to the Lord Jesus Who has all power in heaven and on earth. But what do you see of that at this moment? At this moment you are a stranger on earth without civil rights. This is not your home. An English song we often have sung with young people says it well: ‘This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.’ However, you may look forward to soon, when the Lord Jesus will take possession of the world. Then you will possess the world together with Him.

Until that time the promise of that possession gives you the strength to live here as a stranger. The sojourning of Abraham is underlined by the fact that he dwelt in tents. A house is the symbol of a permanent residence, while a tent indicates the temporary character of a dwelling place. Also his son Isaac and his grandchild Jacob were living like that. They also, as fellow heirs of the same promise, have not received what was promised. In case Abraham expected that they would then at least receive the fulfillment, it would then be a new exercise of faith.

Hebrews 11:10. Abraham is not discouraged by that. He remains focused on what the Lord has promised. Although he has nothing, his affections have a firm character. He longs for a better land and clings directly and completely to God. If you trust in God and give up everything for His sake you will always gain more and you will learn more from the ways of His might.

Abraham has learnt by faith to look for something beyond a fulfillment in his days that is better than a possession on earth. Hadn’t he seen the God of glory (Acts 7:2)? That caused an unprecedented, and in the Old Testament not revealed, extent to his faith. That’s what you see here. Abraham looked higher than an earthly people and an earthly land. He saw a heavenly city, that is the heavenly center of the future age, the millennial kingdom of peace.

It is a “city which has foundations”. This stands opposite to dwelling in tents on earth. Of that city God is both the “architect” – or technician, artist, designer, someone who designs building plans – and the “builder”. Then it must be a perfect city. This cannot be other than that every grandiosity of nowadays cities, designed by imperfect people, pales in comparison and loses any appeal. It must be a joy too to live in God’s city. Every citizen will feel at home there. All things of and in that city bears the character of its Architect and Builder.

Hebrews 11:11. Here the question is whether it is about the faith of Abraham or about that of Sarah. For a long time there has been the thought that it is about Sarah, though it seems not impossible that it is about Abraham. Because I find it difficult to make a well-founded choice, I would like to say something of both.

When Sarah heard the message that she was going to give birth to a child, she did not immediately prove to have faith in the promise (Genesis 18:12). After all, she was ninety years old (Genesis 17:17) and therefore too old to even be able to become pregnant. But in the description of the birth of Isaac you read that is was Yahweh Who took care of Sarah and He did for her as He had promised (Genesis 21:1-2). It therefore also looks like Sarah after all indeed had faith in the promise of God. In his first letter Peter supports that thought by presenting her as a woman who trusted in God (1 Peter 3:5-6). Her faith drew its strength from the faithfulness of God to His promise. Therefore she gained ability to become pregnant.

But from this occasion also the faith of Abraham becomes apparent. Of him you don’t read that he had any doubt about God’s promise. In fact you read that he did not doubt the promise of God (Romans 4:19-21). He himself was well aware that conceiving a child was impossible. After all, he was a hundred years old (Genesis 17:17; Genesis 21:5). However, for his faith it was not a hindrance at all to trust God that He was able to provide him with descendants. No, on the contrary, because the fulfillment of the promise of descendants was physically impossible, he focused himself on God alone. Abraham considered God faithful and able, for He had promised it.

Hebrews 11:12. Therefore this one man received innumerable descendants. Of this one man it is also underlined that he was “as good as dead”. That emphasizes that God gives life from death. The son of Abraham, the son of the promise, comes, as it were, from the death and by that therefore also all his descendants.

This points forward to what God has done with the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Christ is the beginning of an entirely new situation, the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promises altogether that will find their accomplishment in the millennial kingdom of peace. Then the descendants that are in the heavens, “the stars”, and on earth, “the sand”, will enjoy God’s blessings in full measure.

Hebrews 11:13. As it is said, the writer interrupts his argument in Hebrews 11:13 to continue that in Hebrews 11:17. In this interruption he makes some remarks about the faith of life of the patriarchs. They not only lived in faith, they died in faith too. During their life they did not receive what was promised to them. Nevertheless they did not lose what was promised when they died. They took that along with them into their graves. “Having seen them … from a distance.” Their faith saw forward and they embraced in faith what they saw in faith. They also witnessed to that. They “confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth”, which means that they openly testified to this faith; they did not keep it for themselves (Genesis 23:4; Psalms 119:19).

In their way of life you see that they had no home on earth, but that they were strangers and exiles on it. They did not demand their rights, for they didn’t have any and they neither pretend to have any. This is different with many Christians.

Hebrews 11:14. The confession of those who died in faith was not a lip confession which was contradicted by their practice. In their practice you saw what they confessed with their mouth. They clearly showed what they were looking for, which means that they were longing for, a country of their own. You only do that if you’re sure that you haven’t come there yet.

Hebrews 11:15. Their pursuit did not make them think of returning to the country they had left. The lusts of the flesh, the attractions of the world, the obligations of family relationships, the daily business worries of life, could have altogether been in different ways and on different times enough reason for them to return, but they did not.

The difference between Lot and Abraham is a good example of this. Lot went on the journey with Abraham to the land that was promised by God. But he had no desire for it. Once he has come there and then sees another beautiful area, he chooses that one (Genesis 13:10-11). Abraham could have returned, for he was not thrown off his country. He freely departed from there. Nevertheless, Abraham remains longing for the city of God.

Hebrews 11:16. The patriarchs did not desire to go back to their old country, but they were looking forward to a heavenly country, that is a better country. By longing for that, they honored God. He offered them a better prospect and they believed what He said. Their faith was that great that they became aware that His promises meant more than the literal description indicated. Behind the description of the wonderful promises they saw Him Who will fulfill them and Who is at the same time the center of it.

Many things in Christendom are ‘better’ than in Judaism, to which now also ‘a better country’ is added. This country is not heaven. It is about the resurrection. It is the place where the risen and glorified saints will live forever and ever. Within the framework of this letter this heavenly country is the ‘future world’, or ‘the future age’, and then the heavenly side of it. This is the millennial kingdom of peace, the day of the Lord Jesus, to which the patriarchs have been looking forward (John 8:56). The faith of the patriarchs saw the reality, not just something vague.

God is not ashamed of such believers. He joyfully bears their name as ‘family name’, so to speak. It is after all true when you read that He is the ‘God of Abraham’. Do you think that He would joyfully bear your name as ‘family name’ also? He surely would if you also see the reality of that heavenly country and heavenly city and if you live up to that. His city is ready to welcome you. God took care of that. It is the inheritance that is prepared in the heavens and that is well reserved for you there (1 Peter 1:4).

Now read Hebrews 11:9-16 again.

Reflection: Which characteristics of faith are reflected in Abraham’s life and what can you learn from that?