Hebrews 11.4
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July 13th 2014
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And when we come back, we’ll pick it up at Hebrews chapter 11 verses 1-6.
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Okay, so we’ve talked about faith, let’s read our text for today – verses 1-6:
Hebrew 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.
3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Okay, back to verse 1:
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.
That is, by that faith, which we mentioned two weeks ago “gives reality to things hoped for” and “serves as confidence of those things which are not seen,” the “elders,” the writer says, (meaning the ancient Hebrew patriarchs and fathers,) “obtained a good report.”
This very passage brings us to an interesting situation – how to understand the Bible.
See, the RSV translates this passage like this, “For by it (faith) the men of old received divine approval.”
It sounds like anciently it was by faith that the elders of God found approval in the sight of God. This is how we would read the King James if we took it literally.
By faith we receive a good report card from God. And in light of the context of the chapter it seems to make sense.
The problem is with the Greek.
I would suggest that the better understanding of the passage taken from the Greek is this reading:
By faith the men of Old were testified to,” meaning, it was faith that swore to them or proved or confirmed to them that what they did not see was true and NOT that they had pleased God by and through their faith.
This is not to say we don’t please God by faith (as the King James and the RSV seems to intimate here) but I do not think this is the meaning of the passage here.
It is the meaning of the passage in verse 6 (just four passages away) but not here.
For you Greek scholars out there (of whom I am not one) the word used “emarturêthêsan” is in the first aorist passive of martureô and means “were testified to,” by faith the ancients were testified too.”
The idea is, that their acting (under the influence of faith and in the circumstances in which they were) was the ground of the testimony and trust they had.
And from this point the writer begins to give examples.
And he begins with a doosie – I mean, the way I am going to explain this one is going to end up being very different from probably anything you have been taught about this verse.
So the writer goes on and says:
3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
It appears that the writer has decided to start at the beginning of things and sort of lays out a timeline for the presence of faith and faithful people.
So before moving on to Cain and Abel, he appears to first speak of creation. And, again, he says:
3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
The Greek words themselves are important here – far more important than the King James English – because they help us comprehend what is actually being said.
Listen carefully because I think you will recognized some terms.
“Through faith
Reading the English King James and some other translations we could EASILY teach this passage this way:
It is actually through faith that we understand that the worlds (the planets and stars) were framed by the word of God (by Jesus, the Word) so that things which are seen (by us) were not made of things which do appear (not made of material things).
This sounds right and good and logical and everything but it would be wrong.
Let’s break it down.
The writer has been talking of course about faith. Then he says:
By faith we understand . . . it is clear to us, we apprehend, we “perceive” – we understand, “By faith . . . it is clear that the “worlds.”
Now it would be really easy to think this is referencing earth and other planets, but it doesn’t. The Greek word is aion NOT kosmos and so it has nothing to do with individual planets.
Better put it would read:
“By faith it is clear to us that the ages . . .” “the order of events” . . . “the chronology of every epoch of time and timelessness . . .”
“ . . . were “framed” (fixed, came into being, were prepared by . . .”).
The Greek word for framed or fixed or prepared “katartizo” and it means a number of different things.
It might mean “to thoroughly fix or complete,” it might mean “to repair
or to adjust by fitting or framing or mending or restoring.”
It really does not mean created out of nothing but better means joined everything together in perfect unity.
The scripture uses katartizo toward believers in faith, fishing nets of the apostles and a few other ways – all of which echo this understanding.
Thus far, I think the longer (but clearer) way to understand verse three is:
“By faith it is clear to us that the ages . . .” “the order of events” . . . “the chronology of every epoch of time and timelessness . . . was perfectly jointed together by the . . .?
The word of God (says the King James).
But note the lower case w. Why? This is not speaking of Jesus. The word the writer uses is rhema (not logos) so it would be better to say . . .
“By faith it is clear to us that the ages were fixed together by the words (“the instructions” or “the bidding,” or “the commands or the sayings) of God.”
The verbal utterances of God.
Now, the Pentecostal movements over the years have attempted to distinguish between rhema and logos.
Typically (and generally) they say that the rhema is the spoken word of God and the logos is the written word.
Biblically speaking they BOTH are used either way. Remember this when someone tries to make a mountain out of this molehill.
Why are there two different words?
Like all synonyms, they mean the same thing but the individual words can convey slightly altered meanings when used by themselves.
For instance fire and flame might be considered synonymous but individually they could also mean slightly different things.
I say this because entire platforms have been built on the supposed differences between rhema and logos (usually by charismaniacs) but in the end they are essentially synonyms.
If this is the case I would suggest that when God speaks (rhema) Jesus is fully and completely present in every word. And when Jesus spoke God was fully present too.
Let’s move on in our discussion of verse three then.
“By faith it is clear to us that the ages were fixed together by the words (“the instructions” or “the bidding,” or “the commands or the sayings) of God.”
(Hang with me)
. . . so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”
Let me read some other translations of this passage to sort of show I am not off my rocker on where we have come relative to verse three. Ready?
The Bible in Basic English says:
Hebrews 11:3 (BBE) By faith it is clear to us that the order of events was fixed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made from things which only seem to be.
Darby’s translation
Hebrews 11:3 (DBY) By faith we apprehend that the worlds were framed by [the] word of God, so that that which is seen should not take its origin from things which appear.
The Modern King James says:
Hebrews 11:3 (MKJV) Through faith we understand that the ages were framed by a word of God, so that the things seen [should] not have come into being out of the things that appear.
The RSV says “so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear.”
Interestingly, the Twentieth Century New Testament says:
Hebrews 11:3 (TCNT) Faith enables us to perceive that the universe was created at the bidding of God–so that we know that what we see was not made out of visible things.
Hebrews 11:3 (WNT) Through faith we understand that the worlds came into being, and still exist, at the command of God, so that what is seen does not owe its existence to that which is visible.
Hebrews 11:3 (YLT) by faith we understand the ages to have been prepared by a saying of God, in regard to the things seen not having come out of things appearing.
In the end, this passage is perhaps one of the best verses to suggest that God organized and patterned all ages according to unseen, immaterial properties. And that it is faith that allows us to have confidence in such a position.
Alright, the writer now moves on in his chronology and he speaks of Adam and Eve.
No? No, he speaks of Abel and Cain.
Since we believe all scripture is God breathed I would suggest we learn as much about faith from who the writer DOESN’T include in the chapter as we do from who is listed.
There is some question and debate about our first parents amidst believers.
Not to get into it but I have my reasons to believe that Eve, after the Fall, continued on and learned to live by faith but that Adam never recovered.
Could be wrong, just a thought – but it is a thought based on biblical information and not just pure supposition.
Anyway, neither Adam nor Eve are included but Abel (and his brother by comparison) is.
I would suggest (before leaving the topic of Adam and Eve and since we are talking about faith and who is included in the chapter as pillars of faith) that if anyone had failed to live by faith it was them.
Not judging – really. I probably would have ran to the tree and eaten of the fruit out of rebellion alone – so no condemnation.
But they had every reason under the sun to believe God (including His very presence with them).
They only had one thing point of faith to live by – don’t eat of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil or you will die.
And they failed.
For this reason alone I think they are not mentioned here.
Anyway, verse 4:
4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Now, most of the references the writer appeals to here in chapter 11 as exampled of faith there aren’t references to faith associated in the narratives where we read about them.
Abel and Cain story is told in Genesis 4.
Eight verses and faith is not mentioned.
Let’s read them just for the heck of it, shall we?
1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. (This verse serves as one – of a few – that I believe supports the notion that Eve continued in a faith-based relationship to God. We have no record of Adam giving the Lord credit for anything. Anyway . . .)
2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
Now, from this account we have no mention of faith. We have action taken by both Cain and Abel.
All Genesis tells us is that Abel “brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering.”
We have made all sorts of speculations about the offerings of Cain and Abel – most completely unfounded by the Bible – but due to the presence of the story here in Hebrews 11 all we can say definitively is in the case of Abel there was faith and in the Cain there wasn’t.
It could not have been because an offering of the fruits of the ground was not pleasing to God.
We know from the Mosaic Law that God actually commanded for such offerings.
So giving the ground fruits was not the problem.
It seems that both of the brothers selected to offer up the things which were part of their lives, what they had reared and worked with, and probably what they regarded as most valuable.
Scripture tells us that Cain was a cultivator of the ground so I think he naturally brought what had grown under his care.
And because Abel kept a flock, he naturally brought what he had raised.
I get all the connections to the offering of an animal by Abel as a type of Christ and all that comes with that but I think we jump the gun on saying this is why Cain’s offering was rejected.
I think it was the motive in Cain’s heart, or should we say, the lack of faith, rather than the items that were offered.
Now certainly, the fact that Cain offered vegetables instead of an animal COULD have been due to his faithlessness but the fact remains it was his faithlessness (and not the product offered) that was being rejected by God.
I think this is an important distinction.
In the end, one had faith and the other didn’t – but how the writer knew this is up to debate.
Could have been inspired, could have read it in other reliable histories or texts of ancient Israel and if the writer was Paul he could have been taught by Jesus Himself for all we know.
It is equally impossible to tell (with any real certainty) what the nature of the faith was that Abel possessed.
Some suggest that it was a faith in the Messiah to come and they take it so far as to suggest that Abel offered up a lamb (the firstlings of the flock) as a sign of faith that he believed he was coming and
That He would be sacrificed.
Possible – since God did make coats of skins for his parents and the shedding of blood (and therefore the loss of life) was enacted as a result of their sin.
Maybe Abel and Cain were instructed by their parents that when they offer sacrifice it had to be a living thing which typified the loss of life through the shedding of blood and maybe Cain mocked the whole ordeal early on – and brought vegetables instead.
Based on the contents of verse 24 in the next chapter it may be so.
Sacrifice, we must admit, which was a type of the Redeemer’s life-offering, was instituted early in the history of the world.
I’m not sure there are many other reasons to offer up living sacrifices that are killed except to say they point to a future atonement of some kind. I would think that this might be one of the first lessons Adam and Eve passed on to their two sons.
The bloody offering of Abel is the first of the kind which is definitely mentioned in the Scriptures, but we do know that Genesis 3:21 says
“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”
And from this maybe Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened to violence and death and blood and the like – all a result of their sin.
Consequently, it may be that Abel became kind of the head of the whole typical system in place from the beginning (of which Christ was the antitype and the fulfilment when He offered up His own life.
I mean as long as we are going to wonder outloud, maybe, just maybe, Adam and Eve, having watched God take and kill an animal and create for them coats of skins took animal sacrifice seriously.
And maybe Abel, the younger, did too – and that’s why he became a shepherd of the flocks.
The ways brothers and families work, maybe Cain resented Abel, and his devotion to this “religion” and maybe his offering of vegetables, while acceptable if it had been done from the heart, was more of a mockery?
I mean, Cain seems to have been somewhat gifted with an ability to be sarcastic because when God asked him where his brother was he replied (to God Himself) the famous line:
“Am I my brother’s keeper?”
I sometimes wonder if Cain, sarcastic and brutish, was sort of saying to (at least his Mother) and younger brother who apparently were of faith and shedding the blood of animals in anticipation of true atonement –
“You guys like to shed blood – fine. Oh, Abel?”
Who knows.
In any case, Cain was without faith in his offering in some way or another (making it unacceptable) and God called him on it.
But the writer of Hebrews tells us that . . .
4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Now, admittedly, it seems (from what the writer says here) that Cain’s sacrifice was not so bad but that Abel’s was better, “more excellent,” the text says.
We could read this as “more acceptable” too. I think we need to remind ourselves that this does not mean that Cain’s was acceptable but because Abel’s was better (or more acceptable than Cain’s) Cain’s was rejected.
Not at all. When the writer says that Abel’s offering was more acceptable (or more excellent) it simply means, Abel’s sacrifice was accepted and Cain’s was not.
Again, admittedly, the way Tyndale and Wicliffe translate “pleiona yusain” it sounds like Abel’s was a giant lamb with red ribbons and Cain’s was a puny little carrot.
Again, it couldn’t have been the quanity or the quality in and of themselves but the heart behind the quantity and quality that made the offerings different.
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous . . .
“By which,” or, “by or through the sacrifice offered as it was tied to his faith, Abel “obtained witness that he was righteous.”
In other words, Abel’s offering, made in faith, was the means of him getting Divine testimony that he was a righteous man.
This is why Genesis 4:4 says:
“And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering;” meaning, his offering was offered by the hands and heart of a man who was genuine and true. “It was the offering of a righteous man,” so to speak.
We have to note here that we are speaking of faith.
And that both Cain and Abel acted – chose to move, chose to act.
Cain could have just refused to participate, but he took action and offered up something, didn’t he?
But it was the heart of Cain that caused the Lord to not respect his action, to say, in effect – “I don’t know you.”
4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
When it says “by which Abel obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts,”
We, of course do not know how God testified that He was pleased or respected Abel’s offering.
Many commentators suggest (with no small amount of biblical support in types and pictures) that it was by fire that descended out from heaven and consumed the sacrifice.
I could buy this because it happens thereafter, and when we think about it, the same fire fills our hearts when they have been offered up to God by faith.
So, this would be a perfect type, wouldn’t it?
And the verse wraps up with, “And by it (his faith – referring to the first words of the passage) by his faith Abel, being dead, yet speaketh or continues to speak.”
Why was Able mentioned here in the Hall of Fame of Faith? What made His faith SO impressive?
Think on this.
It was manifested after the Fall. We aren’t sure of the attitude of his Father, and we get an insight into the temperament of his older brother Cain (don’t we?) but despite some trying times Abel apparently chose the better part, and was a man of Faith, a man who acted in faith – thousands of years before the promise of the Messiah would be seen.
Instead of getting bitter and sarcastic, Abel, like Jacob thereafter in the presence of Esau, would chose to believe.
Additionally, Abel had very little to go by (from all appearances). His parents were kicked out of the garden and he was there trying to get by on a cursed earth.
Add in Cain and his attitude and with so little truth revealed, so little history, so little in terms of culture, Abel believed.
Moses does tell us (in Genesis 3:5) that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent, but whether Abel was aware of this is unknown and if he was aware of it the phrase is so enigmatic and obscure we have to wonder if it was completely understood.
And then notwithstanding the infidelity of his elder brother, Abel adhered to God insofar that God respected his offering and so powerful of an offering it was it continues to speak to the world (the writer of Hebrews says).
This is a pregnant part of the passage when we think about it.
What is remembered most about Abel? Yes, by his faith He certainly offered up a better sacrifice.
But what we remember most about Cain is his brother killed him for it (or as a result of it, or in the wake of it).
The writer of Hebrews here says that Abel continues to speak, though he himself is dead.
There is another place in scripture where Abel (or part of Abel) is said to be speaking or making noise. Do you remember?
After Cain kills him God comes to Cain and says in Genesis 4:10
“What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.”
The Hebrew word means to proclaim.
Abel was faithful and his blood was shed. That shed blood continues to proclaim or speak, even to this day, “though Abel is dead.”
