Stranger Faith
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Hebrews 11:13-16 English Standard Version
Hebrews 11:13
1. These all died in faith,
a. All: Abel (v.4), Noah (v.7), Abraham (v.8), Sarah (v.11), Isaac (v.9), Jacob (v.9)
i. Enoch was taken/translated (v.5)
b. Died in faith, not byfaith
i. In - in accordance with, in relation to.[1]
ii. The words in faith (kata pistin) could more literally be translated ‘according to faith’, which shows faith to be the rule by which they lived and died.[2]
1. Noah delivered throughthe storm
2. Enoch delivered fromthe storm
3. Abel died in the storm - because of his faith
2. not having received the things promised,
a. Immediate promise
i. Noah – family saved
ii. Abraham and Sarah – descendant, land
1. Hebrews 11:33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
b. Ultimate promise
i. Savior
1. Hebrews 11:39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
2. Hebrews 11:40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
3. It is crucial that one identify the content of these “promises.” The following verses make it clear that the heavenly “City” is the main promised but not-yet-received reality under immediate consideration. Elsewhere, however, when the pastor speaks of the final hope of believers he uses the singular “promise” (4:1; 6:17; 9:15; 10:36; 11:9, 39). He normally reserves the plural to describe situations in which the multiple nature of what was promised is clear: Abraham received the “promises” of land, a son, posterity, and blessing (7:6; 11:17).[3]
1. Stranger Faith sees and embraces the promise by faith (Hebrews 11:13).
a. Hebrews 11:13 but having seen them and greeted them from afar,
i. Perhaps it will help us to see something of what is meant if we recall Moses’ view of the Promised Land. He prayed that God would let him enter the land (Deut 3:23–25), but the most God would permit was for him only to see it (Deut 3:26–28; 34:1–4). The patriarchs did no more than “see” their equivalent of the Promised Land. “See” can be used of various kinds of sight. Here it is plainly an operation of faith that is in mind, and the word points to an inner awareness of what the promises meant.[4]
1. Deuteronomy 3:25 Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’
2. Deuteronomy 3:26 But the Lordwas angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again.
3. Deuteronomy 3:27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan.
ii. They had seen it … from afar, as men who saw the objective on the horizon, but never actually reached it in this life. This is a remarkable example of the statement in verse 1 that ‘faith is the conviction of things not seen’, except that the conviction has now become so strong that the ‘not seen’ has become seen.[5]
1. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
iii. “From afar” includes, but must not be limited to, mere temporal distance.[6]
1. John 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”
2. Stranger Faith acknowledges that we are strangers in this world (Hebrews 11:13).
a. Hebrews 11:13 and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
i. Acknowledged
1. Their speech is a “confession” (homologein), just as the author’s listeners have a “confession” to which they must hold. The patriarchs’ statement that they are not at home in this place “makes clear” (emphanizein; see Acts 24:1) that they are “seeking a homeland.”[7]
ii. Strangers and exiles
1. The combination “aliens and strangers” reminds us of Abraham’s description of himself as “an alien and a stranger” (Gen 23:4) and Jacob’s words to Pharaoh (Gen 47:9). The psalmist could also describe himself as “an alien, a stranger,” and add, “as all my fathers were” (Ps 39:12). [8]
2. The pastor is referring to Abraham’s description of himself in Gen 23:4 as a “resident alien and transient.”46 The term used by the LXX of Gen 23:4 for “resident alien” is related to the verb translated “sojourn” in v. 9 above and was a technical term for those who lived in a country without the rights of citizenship.47 If anything, the alternate word used by Hebrews, which we have translated simply as “aliens,” is even more forceful.48The second term, “transients,” found in both Hebrews and Gen 23:4 (LXX), is closely related to both “resident alien” and “alien.” It describes those whose stay in a place is temporary.49 Abraham and his descendants were ready to confess both that “this world” was “not [their] home” and that they were “just passing through.”[9]
iii. On the earth ≠ in the land
1. “On earth” represents the same Greek word used for the “land” of promise in v. 9. However, the contrast with “heavenly” (v. 16) suggests that “on earth” is more appropriate here.[10]
2. They were actually confessing that they were exiles anywhere on earth (the Greek noun gēincludes both “land” and “earth”).[11]
3. Stranger Faith focuses on the future, not the past (Hebrews 11:14-15).
a. Hebrews 11:14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
i. Seeking - The pastor uses the same word for “diligently seeking” that he used for the pursuit of God in v. 6. It is a strong word reserved until the end of the Greek sentence for emphasis.[12]
1. Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
ii. A life banished from one’s city was considered by many to be hardly worth living. Thus, the pastor’s hearers feel what he says when he speaks of the people who live “by faith” and are thus self-confessed aliens in this world, “diligently seeking” the place where they are citizens and natives.[13]
iii. Homeland – fatherland
1. They might have returned to Mesopotamia, the country, kindred, and father’s house that God had called Abraham to leave behind (Gen. 12:1).[14]
a. Genesis 12:1 Now the Lordsaid to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
2. It is precisely this last nuance that the author exploits. If they were aliens in the land of Canaan, even though it was theirs by promise, where was their real homeland (patris)?[15]
3. Both indicate that someone is not a full participant in civic rights in this place, and suggest that they do have such rights elsewhere.[16]
b. Hebrews 11:15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.
i. Thinking - to keep on recalling and thinking about again and again—‘to keep thinking about, to think about again and again.’[17]
ii. There is some difficulty in translating the verb mnēmoneuō (NIV, “thinking”). The usual meaning is “remember.” Some, however, point out that in v. 22 it must mean something like “make mention of,” “speak about.” So they think that a similar meaning will suit this passage.[18]
1. Hebrews 11:22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
iii. The patriarchs could have gone back had they so chosen, whether we understand this to mean “going back to Mesopotamia” or “going back to the things of this world.”[19]
c. Hebrews 10:32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,
d. Hebrews 10:33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.
e. Hebrews 10:34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.
f. Hebrews 10:35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
g. Hebrews 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
h. Hebrews 10:37 For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay;
i. Hebrews 10:38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
j. Hebrews 10:39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
4. Stranger Faith desires better (Hebrews 11:16a).
a. Hebrews 11:16a But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.
i. They desire a better homeland, a heavenly one. The verb oregomai means literally “to stretch out for something” (Homer, Il. 15.371; Od. 17.366), and figuratively “to strive for something” (Plato, Republic 439B; 1 Tim 3:1; 6:10).[20]
5. Stranger Faith pleases God (Hebrews 11:16b).
a. Hebrews 11:16b Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God,
i. Another link to the Christian experience is made by the author’s next statement: because of their confession, God “is not ashamed to be called their God.” The allusion is to the way in which God is self-designated by the names of “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (see Gen 28:13; Exod 3:6). Within the honor-shame glossary of Hebrews, the litotes “not ashamed” is equivalent to “is honored” (cf. Rom 1:16). Since they honored God by claiming him as their God, God is honored to be associated with them. The language of “not ashamed,” moreover, creates a deliberate connection to the author’s earlier statement with respect to the “seed of Abraham,” namely, that the Son “is not ashamed to call them brothers” (2:11).[21]
ii. Yet, despite their sin and sometimes shaky faith, the Lord engaged them in covenant love, identifying himself as their sovereign protector: “I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you” (Gen. 17:7–8; cf. Gen. 15:1). The Lord identified himself as “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Ex. 3:6; cf. Gen. 28:13; 1 Kings 18:36). [22]
1. Exodus 3:6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
6. Stranger Faith finds rest in an eternal home (Hebrews 11:16c).
a. Hebrews 11:16c for he has prepared for them a city.
i. Finally, this passage serves the author as another example of how God is the rewarder of those who seek him (11:6). God has, in fact, “prepared a city” for the patriarchs. The use of the verb “prepare” (hētoimazein) echoes scriptural language for God’s care of the people (Pss 22:5; 64:9; 77:20; 88:4; 118:73; 131:17) that is continued in New Testament passages speaking of eschatological realities (Matt 25:34, 41; 1 Cor 2:9; Rev 12:6; 19:7; 21:2).[23]
ii. Hebrews 11:9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
iii. Hebrews 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
iv. Hebrews 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,
v. Hebrews 12:23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
vi. Hebrews 12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
[1] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 777.
[2] Donald Guthrie, Hebrews: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1983), 235.
[3] Gareth Lee Cockerill, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012), 548.
[4] Leon Morris, “Hebrews,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews through Revelation, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 12 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), 120.
[5] Donald Guthrie, Hebrews: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1983), 235.
[6] Gareth Lee Cockerill, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012), 549.
[7] Luke Timothy Johnson, Hebrews: A Commentary, ed. C. Clifton Black, M. Eugene Boring, and John T. Carroll, 1st ed., The New Testament Library (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012), 293.
[8] Leon Morris, “Hebrews,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews through Revelation, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 12 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), 120.
46 Compare the ξένοι καὶ παρεπίδημοι (“aliens and transients”) of Hebrews with the πάροικος καὶ παρεπίδημος (“resident alien and transient”) of Gen 23:4 (LXX). For the translation of παρεπίδημοι as “transients” see Koester, 489.
LXX Septuagint (Old Greek Old Testament)
47 BDAG, 779.
48 In T. Levi 6:9 Abraham is called an “alien” (ξένος). Attridge, 330, thinks ξένοι (“alien”) may be a bit stronger than πάροικος (“resident alien”). For ξένος as the opposite of πολίτης (“citizen”) see Philo, Posterity 109; Josephus, Ant. 11.159; Life 372 (cf. συμπολίτηςin Eph 2:19). The close relationships between all three of these words, ξένος (“alien”), πάροικος (“resident alien”), and παρεπίδημος (“transient”), is demonstrated by the way they are often combined. Thus, with ξένοι καὶ παρεπίδημοι here (cf. Acts 17:21) compare ξένοι καὶ πάροικοι in Eph 2:19 and παροίκους καὶ παρεπιδήμους in 1 Pet 2:11 (Gen 23:4 [LXX]). See additional references for these combinations in BDAG, 684, 2a; 779, 2.
LXX Septuagint (Old Greek Old Testament)
49 Cf. 1 Pet 1:1–2; MM, 493.
[9] Gareth Lee Cockerill, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012), 550.
[10] Gareth Lee Cockerill, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012), 551.
[11] Dennis E. Johnson, “Hebrews,” in Hebrews–Revelation, ed. Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar, vol. XII, ESV Expository Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), 169.
[12] Gareth Lee Cockerill, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012), 552.
[13] Gareth Lee Cockerill, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012), 551–552.
[14] Dennis E. Johnson, “Hebrews,” in Hebrews–Revelation, ed. Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar, vol. XII, ESV Expository Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), 169.
[15] Luke Timothy Johnson, Hebrews: A Commentary, ed. C. Clifton Black, M. Eugene Boring, and John T. Carroll, 1st ed., The New Testament Library (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012), 293.
[16] Luke Timothy Johnson, Hebrews: A Commentary, ed. C. Clifton Black, M. Eugene Boring, and John T. Carroll, 1st ed., The New Testament Library (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012), 292.
[17] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 346.
NIV The New International Version
[18] Leon Morris, “Hebrews,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews through Revelation, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 12 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), 121.
[19] Leon Morris, “Hebrews,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews through Revelation, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 12 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), 121.
[20] Luke Timothy Johnson, Hebrews: A Commentary, ed. C. Clifton Black, M. Eugene Boring, and John T. Carroll, 1st ed., The New Testament Library (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012), 293.
[21] Luke Timothy Johnson, Hebrews: A Commentary, ed. C. Clifton Black, M. Eugene Boring, and John T. Carroll, 1st ed., The New Testament Library (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012), 293.
cf. confer, compare, see
cf. confer, compare, see
[22] Dennis E. Johnson, “Hebrews,” in Hebrews–Revelation, ed. Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar, vol. XII, ESV Expository Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), 170.
[23] Luke Timothy Johnson, Hebrews: A Commentary, ed. C. Clifton Black, M. Eugene Boring, and John T. Carroll, 1st ed., The New Testament Library (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012), 293.