‘By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible’ (Hebrews 11:3).

I’m a complete sucker when it comes to all things historical. The reason I love history is there are a great many lessons to be learnt from it. Consequently, when it came to my theological studies, and my church history lecturer mentioned the church is still grappling with the same issues and heresies as it had in the past, I didn’t need any persuading to study it!  Consequently by the time we get to Chapter 11 of letter to the Hebrews the writer is telling his readers they can benefit from a little excursion into their religious history, but in this case it’s for their encouragement!

This is the chapter you are likely to know even if you do not know much about the rest of the book. My brother, when he first started at his church in Middlesbrough, realizing that they had not had much Old Testament teaching, did a sermon series based on this chapter to introduce them to some of the great characters of the Old Testament. Preached as such it can work very well! However, it is basically one example, and we should not forget that! It illustrates what the writer is determined that his hearers and readers should understand, and that is aspects and examples of faith!

So, why such a monumental example? A major theme of the letter has been that there is now a great high priest in the person of Jesus. Not just that, he has provided the perfect sacrifice that has not got to be constantly repeated as it fully satisfies God because after Jesus had made it, by his death on the cross, he sat down at the right hand of God, that part of his work finished. Because of this, the old covenant, had been superseded and there was now a new covenant.

But some of these Jewish Christians were considering going back to their previous faith. After all, they knew that there was a temple in Jerusalem where sacrifices were being offered each day. The problem with believing in Jesus’ sacrifice and priesthood was that they had only heard of the first and could not see the latter!  The writer of the letter realizes that his theological arguments, as good as they are, might have trouble competing with that sort of mind-set!  So what he is saying in this chapter is simply: “what I’m asking you to do in accepting Jesus’ sacrifice and priesthood, even though you can’t see it and have only heard of it is take the promises of the new covenant by faith. After all, this is how people you most respect from your religious heritage acted. Their situation was really no different from yours.”

Verse 1-2 sets out the agenda for the rest of the chapter. Whether verse 1 actually constitutes an accurate definition of faith (which is often how it is often portrayed) is not the aim of the writer here. John Calvin notes that the writer: ‘is not discussing the nature of faith as a whole but he selects that part which fits his purpose, namely that it is always joined to patience.’[1]  So it covers certain aspects of what faith is, but more importantly it defines the faith and the actions of those who are often called the ‘Heroes of Faith’ rather than the nature of faith itself. That being the case, words like: ‘assurance’ and: ‘conviction’ are brought to our attention as they typify the actions of these Old Testament figures. But it is the phrase: ‘hoped for’ coupled with the phrase: ‘things not seen’ which is particularly important as it alerts us to the sentiment motivating these people of past times. This is especially important as this is what they were commended for. The fact that they were hoping for things that were promised is something we will be reminded of throughout this chapter.

 But before he goes any further, the writer makes a statement which illustrates something the receivers of this letter would have taken as unquestionable. The statement in verse 3 that: ‘the universe was created by the word of God so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible’ would have presented the readers and hearers of this letter with very little problem.  But that is the writer’s point!  They accepted it, based on their faith in God despite the nature of the not having witnessed it.  So was that really so different from the faith of those in their religious heritage who they so looked up to and respected?  The writer of the letter pretty much says to them: “well let’s have a look and see.”

[1] John Calvin, The Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews and the First and Second Epistle’s of St Peter, Calvin’s Commentaries, (Edinburgh, Oliver and Boyd, 1963) 157.