A Study Of The Apostle Paul’s Letter To The Hebrews

Don’t fall away! Don’t Depart! Don’t neglect your salvation! Don’t cast away your confidence! Don’t harden your heart! Don’t drift away! AStudyOf TheApostlePaul’s LetterTo The Hebrews How can we neglect so greata salvation? ~ Hebrews 2:3

As mentioned in our last installment, we are studying The Hall of Faith—Hebrews 11—wherein (according to 12:1-2) Paul pictured his Jewish-Christian readers as runners in a race within the confines of acoliseum;andwithinthestadiumseats are all the faithful who had run the race before them, cheering them on to final victory.

I see all the faithful from Abel (11:4) to the fulfillment of the promise (11:39-40) as one team running against sin, as it were, but somewhat like a relay race; so, since the brethren Paul was writing to were on the verge of finally reaching the finish line,theywere winning for all who had gone before them. When we look at it this way… 

Wecanseeallthemorehowtremendous- ly important it was that these brethren keep pushing on—it wasn’t just for their salvation as individuals that they were running, but, in a sense, it was for each and every child of God before them … and after them! So… After having studied Abel through Abra-ham (vv. 4-19), let’s continue with Isaac through Rahab. By the way…  

The faith of the next three men (vv. 20-22)—Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph—wasn’t only spoken of when they were facing death, but while facing death when they hadn’t received the things promised as well, something these Hebrews obvi-ously needed to strongly consider. So…

Hebrews 11:20  By faith Isaac [when he was dying] blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

In reference to his faith in the promises of God (10:36), and in reference to his faith in things he hadn’t seen but only hoped for (11:1), Isaac blessed his twin sons. By faith Isaac [when he was dying] blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

This means to sanc-tify orset apart for service;sothisverse means that Isaac sanctified each one of his sons for the individual parts they would fulfill within God’s promises to Abraham about his posterity. By faith Isaac [when he was dying]blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

AlthoughblindIsaac was initially upset that he had blessed Jacob as the leader instead of Esau, he didn’t revoke it, trusting that it hap-pened just as God intended. So…   By faith Isaac [when he was dying] blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

As Isaac blindly trusted that God’s will wouldbeaccomplished(even if he didn’t understand how or why it would be executed differently than he expected), so these brethren needed to trust that God wasincontrol,even of those things they couldn’t see or understand.

Hebrews 11:21  By faith Jacob, when he was dy-ing, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and wor-shipped [God], leaning on the top of his staff.

Like Isaac, Jacob (renamed Israel by God), in reference to his faith in the promises of God handed down to him by his father, and in reference to his faith in things he also didn’t get to see but only hoped for, blessed Ephraim and Manasseh. By faith Jacob, when he was dy-ing, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and wor-shipped [God], leaning on the top of his staff.

Jacob (who was going blind like his father and who, no doubt, re-membering his father at this point) just trusted that he’d bless these boys as God desired them to be blessed, whether he could see them or not. By faith Jacob, when he was dy-ing, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and wor-shipped [God], leaning on the top of his staff.

As in Isaac’s case, the younger was again blessed as being greater than the firstborn. God was in control, so all things worked out just as planned. By faith Jacob, when he was dy-ing, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and wor-shipped [God], leaning on the top of his staff.

This phrase makes me wonder if Paul was thinking about how Jacob gave God praise even though he knew that he himself(likehisfather before him) would die before the pro-mises were realized. By faith Jacob, when he was dy-ing, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and wor-shipped [God], leaning on the top of his staff.

This very likely re-fers to an earlier event (Gen. 47) that transpired when Jacob had Joseph swear that he would bury him in Canaan (the promised land), not in Egypt where he died, for Canaan was where Jacob’s faith held that God’s promises would be fulfilled. Besides… By faith Jacob, when he was dy-ing, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and wor-shipped [God], leaning on the top of his staff. …this interpretation leads perfectly into the next verse.

Hebrews 11:22  By faith Joseph, when he was dy-ing,mademention of the departure (lit.exodus) of the children of Israel and gave instruc-tions concerning his bones.

Made mention is fromatermmeaningto remember or re-mind; so as he was dying, Joseph not only remembered God’s promises and reminded Israel of them, but he also informed them of God’s prophecy concerning their deliver- ancefrombondage. By faith Joseph, when he was dy-ing,mademention of the departure(lit.exodus)of the children of Israel and gave instruc-tions concerning his bones.

And when they left Egypt, Joseph, like his father, wanted them to take his body with them so he could also be buried in the pro-mised land, which they did (Jsh. 24:32). By faith Joseph, when he was dy-ing,mademention of the departure (lit.exodus) of the children of Israel and gave instruc-tions concerning his bones.

Joseph, a great example of unwavering faith(fulness) in the midst of terrible trials, said at the end of his life that God meant it all for good (Gen. 50:20); so Jo-seph, like all those Paul had already mentioned, not only livedin faith, but also died in faith (v. 13). Would these Hebrews follow in his footsteps?

Hebrews 11:23  By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraidoftheking’s command.

This is from a term that means comely. Who was Moses comely to? To God: Stephen, using the same original term, said of Moses that he was well pleas-ing (comely) to God (Acts 7:20). By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraidoftheking’s command.

God evidently re-vealed to Amram and Jochebed that Moses was import-ant toHimas wellas to Israel; so, know-ing by faith that God was with them, they (his parents) hid Moses. By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraidoftheking’s command.

As Moses’ parents weren’t afraid of Pharaoh (God being on their side), so these brethren shouldn’t be afraid of political leaders like Nero or the great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem. By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraidoftheking’s command.

Hebrews 11:24-25    By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choos-ing rather to suf-fer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin…

This refers to, as Stephen said, when he was forty years old (Acts 7:23); i.e., whenMosesbecame old enough so that he could fully exert his faith, he—by his own free will—re-fused royalty and riches, joining him-self to his native people, the poor and suffering Israelites. By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choos-ing rather to suf-fer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin…

Plenty of opportuni-ty for the pleasures ofsincouldbefound in Pharaoh’s court and in Egypt, espe-cially when power and wealth were possessed. But…  By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choos-ing rather to suf-fer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin…

Moses was wise enough to know that these pleasures were fleeting in nature, while the promises of His God (about which his mother, no doubt, informed him, Exo. 2:1-10)were everlasting in nature.Like-wise, these Hebrew brethren, like Paul, needed the attitude of Moses: Paul’s attitude said, I consider that the suffer-ings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed in us (Rom. 8:18).

One reason I believe that Paul used Moses as an example was to show that there’s no middle ground: just as Moses sided with the Hebrews by slaying the Egyptian guard, so there was no middle ground for these Hebrews; i.e., they couldn’t return to Judaism and be neutral about Jesus at the same time. They either truly believed in Him and His soon coming to fulfill God’s promis-es, or they didn’t. It was that simple.

Hebrews 11:26  …esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in E-gypt;forhelooked to the reward.

Many, perhaps even most, of the suffer-ings that Abraham’s posterity or God’s people endured were due to who they were. I.e….   …esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in E-gypt;forhelooked to the reward.

BecausetheywereGod’speoplethrough whomwouldcomethepromisedMessiah, they likely experienced more captivities andsuchlikethananyothernationfrom the time of Abraham to Israel’s demise in AD 70. Was it because the other nations knew they were God’s favored people and were jealous? I think not. I believe… 

God Himself was behind their negative (as well as their positive) situations for one grand purpose—to successfully bring His promises to fruition through Jesus. In other words… Not only did God arrange things so that the secular world would be in existence in a certain form when Christ came (Dan. 2:21), butHealsoarrangedthingssothat thereligiousworldof the Jews would be inexistenceinacertain form when Christ came (cf. 11:3); everything had to be ar-ranged and timed perfectly (Eph. 1:10).

This was obviously used here in refer-ence to any perse-cution that anyone suffered who was connected with the promise of God; i.e., the suffering of the people of God (v. 25) = the reproach of(or due to the coming)Christ. …esteeming the reproach of Christgreater riches than the treasures in E-gypt;forhelooked to the reward.

Unlike many of these Hebrews, Moses considered that his maltreatment for God would only result in greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. Paul once wrote, Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which arenot seen.For the things which are seen [such as our afflictions] are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Cor. 4:17-18).

In Hebrews 13:13, Paul, probably with Moses in mind again, said, Let us go forth … bearing Christ’s reproach; i.e., Paul was saying, If our ancestorscould do it for Christ so long before He even arrived, surely we can do it now so soon after His first coming and so near His next coming (cf. 9:28 & 10:37).

Milligan made a very interesting point when he wrote, It may be truly said that all reproach suffered for righteous-ness’ sake since the world began has been suffered for Christ’s sake. The reason I find this intriguing is because it makes me wonder if Jesus thought to Himself, How can I NOT do whatever it takes to save those who wish to be saved after all the suffering men have endured through the centuries in order to bring Me here for this very purpose?

This literally means that he looked away from the pleasures of sin and the trea-sures of Egyptand intently toward the greater riches or the reward to be had by bearing up under Christ’s reproach. …esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in E-gypt;forhelooked to the reward.

This reward is an obvious reference to theeternalone(not thetemporalonein the Canaan-inheritance)that wasfinallyabout to be realized (cf. Rev. 22:12); i.e., Moses exchanged an earthly possession for a heavenly one. Speaking of the reward… It’s very likely that Paul was thinking about how these Hebrews were suffer-ing the loss of material things because of Christianity (cf. 10:34 & Rev. 13:16-17), so they needed just this sort of en-couragement from the life of Moses.

Hebrews 11:27  Byfaithheforsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king (cf. v. 23b); for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

There’s a lot of de-bateastowhichfor-saking of Egypt Paul was talking about, whether it was when Moses left the first time at the age of 40 after killing the Egyptian task-master or when he left the last time at the age of 80 with theIsraelitesintow. Byfaithheforsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king (cf. v. 23b); for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

As in verse 23, this has reference to the Pharaoh; as far as which Pharaoh Paul hadinminddepends on which forsaking of Egypt he had in mind. Byfaithheforsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king(cf. v. 23b); for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

This is clearly an al-lusion to God as op-posed to the many visible idols of Egypt, besides the fact that Paul emphasized faith in the invisible various times al-ready since 11:1. So…    Byfaithheforsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king (cf. v. 23b); for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

Paul’s point to these brethren was that faith, not fear, is what should prevail. Whether they were afraid or not was much less important than whether they obeyed or not. Thesebelievers needed to learn to see or to focus on seeing what un-believers couldn’t see. Byfaithheforsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king (cf. v. 23b); for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. After all, that’s been Paul’s point all along —faith is seeing what can’t be seen.

Hebrews 11:28  By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

This is from a term that actually means to make, therefore meaning that Moses instituted the Pass-over with its attend-ing blood-sprinkling ritual on Israel. So…    By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

Although no one had ever heard of such a thing before, and although none of the previous nine plagues had worked, Moses still had faith in God, a faith that provoked him to establish and observe thePassoverwiththesprinklingofblood in order to keep the death angel from killing any of the firstborn of Israel. And guess what? IfanyIsraeliteswereslain, there isn’t a word about it. Hmmm…

Since this letter concerns the things these Jerusalem Christians were facing that led up to the destruction of AD 70, and since history claims that no Chris-tians were killed in Jerusalem’s demise, it makes me wonder if Paul was again indicating that if they would just have faith and obey like their ancestors, they too would escape the wrath of God(cf. Rev. 3:12, 14:1, & 22:4).

Hebrews 11:29  By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

As with verses11 & 23, I believe this verse refers to the unwavering faith of Moses, not the so-called “faith” of the Israelites(cf.Exo.14: 11-14). However… By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

A Study Of The Apostle Paul’s Letter To The Hebrews