An Overview of Hebrews Chapter 11: The Faith Chapter

Hebrews chapter 11 is one of the most famous and treasured portions of Scripture.  While there is so much that can be mined from this chapter, I want to give you a few of the major features that will get you well-situated for diving into it yourself. 

First, chapter eleven is not about faith…in general.  It is about a certain feature of faith. Chapter eleven is about the faith that produces endurance.  To really see this you need to read the bookends to chapter eleven for the context. You enter into chapter eleven by way of 10:32-35 which sets the context of the suffering of some in this particular local church.  We find out some had been publically mocked in some way, some stood alongside those who were being mocked, others were imprisoned, and still others had their property seized. And they bore it all with joy…for a while.  With pressure mounting, knees were growing weak. What did they need? Verse 36 says they needed endurance. Where does endurance come from? The author quotes primarily from Habakkuk 2:3-4 to give the answer. Endurance is produced by true faith.  

The other bookend is the first three verses of chapter twelve.  There we find that this cloud of witnesses from chapter eleven encourages us to “run with endurance” as we fix our eyes on Jesus who “endured the cross” and who “endured such hostility by sinners.” Verse seven of chapter 12 tells us that “it is for discipline that you endure” which transitions us into the next related issue of fatherly discipline.  And just for good measure, we find a few explicit verses about endurance nestled into chapter eleven when it says Moses “endured ill-treatment with the people of God” (v.25) and did not fear the wrath of the king “for he endured.” (v. 27) 

So why the focus on endurance in the faith chapter?  Because enduring faith is faith that is real, so real it survives whatever is thrown at it.  How do you know if something is truly trusted? When trust holds out through every kind of assault and through every passing year.   As verse 1 says, there is an “assurance” and a “conviction” at play in this faith. These words are different expressions of trust. This enduring faith is what chapter eleven puts on display.  

Second, chapter eleven shows us that faith is about promises.  The word “promise” occurs seven times in chapter eleven (primarily connected to Abraham in vs. 9-17) and once in the lead-up context (10:36).  Closely related to this is the word “reward,” which is one of the things promised. This word is found in the lead-up context (10:35) and twice in chapter eleven (6, 26).  This is another proof that faith is Word-dependent. Trust in God is made concrete when you operate according to what God says. Promises are the clearest handlebars for trust to grab a hold of.  We should not be surprised to find God’s words of promise in the faith chapter.  

Third, faith is about promises not yet received.  This is where the nature of endurance really begins to be highlighted.  Since this chapter is showing us the faith that produces endurance, the author makes a point to say that God’s people did not always receive what was promised.  In fact, he does this twice, first with Abraham and Sarah in verse 13, and second with an unnamed host to end the chapter in verse 39. How did these people handle yet unfulfilled promises?  How did faith endure when it seems that even God failed them? An explanation is given in verse 13. “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.”  God’s people realize that God is outside of time and stands over it all as the God of all history. Some promises are bigger than the microscopic sliver of time you live in. Don’t be chronologically myopic. Your life goes beyond the grave. If you can get that, then you can get comfortable with exile status for the time being.

Fourth, faith is about enduring victory and defeat.  Victory and defeat have equal status in the faith hall of fame.  It really is an amazing thing to see these paired up so closely and so shockingly.  There is a seamless transition right in the middle of verses 29-40. Without blinking an eye, in verse 35 the author moves from a detailed list of glorious exploits to gut-wrenching descriptions of subjugation and painful death.  All of this is put under the heading of living by faith. Living by faith means you will never know whether victory or defeat will be yours or what combination of the two you will have. But that is alright, because you can please God in both of them.  He gets the glory in the breathtaking victories of faith as well as the sustained sacrifices of enduring faith.