HEBREWS 13 Living In God

After all this writer has had to say to us in this book, his last chapter starts off with advice for the serious Christian. By all means, if you’re not born again get that taken care of as soon as possible!

 

1 LET LOVE for your fellow believers continue and be a fixed practice with you [never let it fail]. Do not forget or neglect or refuse to extend hospitality to strangers [in the brotherhood—being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for through it some have entertained angels without knowing it.

‘LET LOVE for your fellow believers continue’– Notice the writer is not trying to get them to love. He’s assuming that they already know and possess love because it’s given when these folks became born again. He simply wants it to ‘continue’. It makes me wonder when I consider the modern day church. Seems like love is rare and isn’t displayed very much in the congregations. Something is wrong. Sundays are not the day to look for it either. It’s when we are out of church that the truth really shows.  Examine yourselves as to whether or not you are walking in love. God is love, and we glorify Him when our lives reflect His nature in our relationships and attitudes towards each other.

We are also warned not to neglect being friendly, cordial, and gracious. We are told to let these things be a fixed practice towards our brotherhood. We are not to forget or refuse to extend hospitality to strangers, who are born again, for through it some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Remember those who are in prison as if you were their fellow prisoner, and those who are ill-treated, since you also are liable to bodily sufferings.

Somewhere Jesus said that you were visiting Him when you visited Christians who were in jail. I suppose it’s still true. Someone who is reading this knows that this was meant for you to hear.

Let marriage be held in honor (esteemed worthy, precious, of great price, and especially dear) in all things. And thus let the marriage bed be undefiled (kept undishonored); for God will judge and punish the unchaste [all guilty of sexual vice] and adulterous.

God holds marriage in very high esteem. So be very careful to hold it in high esteem yourself. Don’t let yourself get trapped into adultery, run away from that temptation. It is one of Satan’s top tricks to try and stop you from for filling a strong calling on your life.

You may remember when Abraham told his wife,Sarah, to say she was his sister when they found themselves in someone else’s kingdom. There was no law at that time and sin is not imputed where there is no law. In spite of that fact even the king got very nervous and fearful when he discovered Abraham had lied about Sarah. He had come close to taking Sarah as a wife but realized in time his kingdom would be cursed by God if he had. How close to God’s heart must marriage be- if even this foreign king was so frightened at how close he had come to offending this unknown God of Abraham by committing adultery with Sarah. So God has told us and we had better listen.

Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support.

When you were born again, God placed the seeds of a noble character in you. Like a Father gives a son. Your job is to let Him perfect in you all He’s given. Resist the love of money- walk away from it. Neither allow greed, and things of the world put a demand on your heart. Find satisfaction in your present situation and circumstance. God Himself has said that- He will not in any way fail you- nor give you up- nor leave you without support.

 

[I will] not,                                                                      and again

[I will] not,                                                                      and again

[I will] not                                                                        and again 

in any degree leave you helpless                             moreover

nor forsake                                                                       moreover

nor let [you] down ( relax My hold on you)!      once more 

                                                                                           Assuredly not!  

So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me?

How many times must God say it to us before we remember? Trust Him at His word. Relax. This tribulation comes for His words sake.

Remember your leaders and superiors in authority [for it was they] who brought to you the Word of God. Observe attentively and consider their manner of living (the outcome of their well-spent lives)

Keep your leaders and superiors in authority over you close to your hearts. For they have been busy passing what they have learned from the word to you. If you see a need where you can help them somehow, help them without hesitation with whatever they need. Watch them and the way they handle the various problems life can bring into the life they find themselves presently in. They are there for you to learn.

and imitate their faith ( their conviction that God exists and is the Creator and Ruler of all things, the Provider and Bestower of eternal salvation through Christ, and their leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness). Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is [always] the same, yesterday, today, [yes] and forever (to the ages). Do not be carried about by different and varied and alien teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established and ennobled and strengthened by means of grace (God’s favor and spiritual blessing) and not [to be devoted to] foods [rules of diet and ritualistic meals], which bring no [spiritual] benefit or profit to those who observe them.

Imitate the faith of your leaders and how they trust the concept that God exists and that His promises are real and His gospel is true and worthy of total faith. He never changes so make sure you stay close to Him always with complete trust. Strive to stay in His grace and His love in your heart. Do not let yourself wander away by placing your hope in outward rituals which have no use or profit. 

We have an altar from which those who serve and worship in the tabernacle have no right to eat. For when the blood of animals is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin, the victims’ bodies are burned outside the limits of the camp. Therefore Jesus also suffered and died outside the [city’s] gate in order that He might purify and consecrate the people through [the shedding of] His own blood and set them apart as holy [for God]. Let us then go forth [from all that would prevent us] to Him outside the camp [at Calvary], bearing the contempt and abuse and shame with Him.

The above is a description that is very profitable for all of us to read often, because in spite of whatever we find ourselves in, concerning this world, everything written above is the true reality- even though we can’t see it. But we walk by faith and not by sight for the just shall live by faith. The older we get ‘in God’ the more this is God’s will for us. So in some ways it gets harder as we go unless our heart reacts with overcoming faith. The greater your calling the more this is true. So trust God and realize your faith will win.

For here we have no permanent city, but we are looking for the one which is to come.

Remember, we are waiting for a city and a life that is to come.

Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.

Cultivate an attitude of gratefulness, talk to Him often and praise Him all with thankfulness. Remember most of what God paid for on His Cross can’t be seen except for your attitude and behavior. I would suggest you start every day by talking, praising and listening to Him. Get as intimate as you are able to with Him. You can ask anything you want to. Work on believing and take the time to have a believing state of mind before you talk.  

Do not forget or neglect to do kindness and good, to be generous and distribute and contribute to the needy [of the church as embodiment and proof of fellowship], for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

The only thing you have to glorify this Great God whom you are beginning to know, the only way to speak the truth of His existence and His love to the world around you is the way you live your life. Your attitude toward the people you relate too. Learn to be kind and good and generous. We all know someone in our church who are needy. Find at least one and help them with their need. If you can do it secretly all the better.  

Obey your spiritual leaders and submit to them [continually recognizing their authority over you], for they are constantly keeping watch over your souls and guarding your spiritual welfare, as men who will have to render an account [of their trust]. [Do your part to] let them do this with gladness and not with sighing and groaning, for that would not be profitable to you [either].

Give the respect to your leaders that they deserve and don’t allow yourself to be rebellious. Never speak against them or anybody for that matter, a person who sows strife is offending to God.

Keep praying for us, for we are convinced that we have a good (clear) conscience, that we want to walk uprightly and live a noble life, acting honorably and in complete honesty in all things. And I beg of you [to pray for us] the more earnestly, in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.

Let us all pray for each other, especially considering the direction this world is taking.

Now may the God of peace [Who is the Author and the Giver of peace], Who brought again from among the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood [that sealed, ratified] the everlasting agreement (covenant, testament),

Strengthen (complete, perfect) and make you what you ought to be and equip you with everything good that you may carry out His will; [while He Himself] works in you and accomplishes that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ (the Messiah); to Whom be the glory forever and ever (to the ages of the ages). Amen (so be it).
I call on you, brethren, to listen patiently and bear with this message of exhortation and admonition and encouragement, for I have written to you briefly. Notice that our brother Timothy has been released [from prison]. If he comes here soon, I will see you along with him.
Give our greetings to all of your spiritual leaders and to all of the saints (God’s consecrated believers). The Italian Christians send you their greetings [also].

Grace (God’s favor and spiritual blessing) be with you all. Amen (so be it).

HEBREWS 12 Suffering

 

 

 

I opened this post by saying that it was obviously written to the Hebrews- Born Again Hebrews. Written around A.D.57 it was a bad time for the church of Jesus Christ in many ways. The Romans who had conquered The Holy Lands had setup a puppet government who had been harassing the Christian faith in general. Also, and maybe worst of all, these converted Jews had been ostracized by their old Hebrew friends.because of their faith in Christ. It took an extremely courageous heart to walk away from a religion that was a deep part of your life since your earliest memories. On top of all that, unconverted Jews had infiltrated the church and were telling these Hebrews that their rejection of their  Jewish faith was the cause (God was mad at them) which explained their troubled minds and the troubled lives. All would alright again when they left Jesus. The writer of Hebrews is writing to these churches (to be read out loud to the entire congregations) in order to put these Hebrews back on a sense of stability.

Continuing where we left off- 

1 THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

They have reached a point with God where it is now necessary for them to get serious about their walk with Jesus. He is their high priest who (after He cleansed us and took care of our sin) sat down at the right hand of the Father. Jesus has lived among us, experienced the same temptations we have and certainly knows what it means to suffer. He is always waiting for us to come freely to His throne of grace and listen to what goes on in our lives and offer whatever we need. We really lack nothing except perhaps faith. 

Since, (in the last chapter of Hebrews) we have been shown the power of faith in the lives of such a group of people, who accomplished great things because of the faith they possessed. These Hebrews need to lay aside all their unnecessary weight and the sin they still play around with along with every distraction and look at Jesus. There is no reason for these Hebrews to be lacking in faith. Having a faith in what Jesus has accomplished for them will remove the fear and anxiety the hardships they face bring. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. Remember the man in the Gospels somewhere that when Jesus asked him ‘Do you believe?’ The man replied, ‘I believe but help thou my unbelief’ Can he accomplish that for you?

Just think of Him Who endured from sinners such grievous opposition and bitter hostility against Himself [reckon up and consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you may not grow weary or exhausted, losing heart and relaxing and fainting in your minds. You have not yet struggled and fought agonizingly against sin, nor have you yet resisted and withstood to the point of pouring out your [own] blood.

Comparing their suffering to that of Jesus, he points out that Jesus paid a much higher price for their salvation than they are for their problems with life. Consider these things in order to not grow weary or exhausted, losing heart and relaxing and fainting in their minds. They have not yet struggled and fought agonizing against sin, nor have they yet resisted and withstood to the point of pouring out their own blood.

And have you [completely] forgotten the divine word of appeal and encouragement in which you are reasoned with and addressed as sons? My son, do not think lightly or scorn to submit to the correction and discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage and give up and faint when you are reproved or corrected by Him; For the Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes, even scourges, every son whom He accepts and welcomes to His heart and cherishes. You must submit to and endure [correction] for discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons.

And have you [completely] forgotten the divine word of appeal and encouragement in which you are reasoned with and addressed as sons?  These people had been given a word as sons not to take correction and discipline lightly or scorn to submit to it. Nor lose courage and give up and faint when they are reproved or corrected by Him.

For the Lod corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes, even scourges, every son whom He accepts and welcomes to His heart and cherishes. You must understand and submit to and endure [correction] for discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons

For what son is there whom his father does not [thus] train and correct and discipline? Now if you are exempt from correction and left without discipline in which all [of God’s children] share, then you are illegitimate offspring and not true sons [at all]. Moreover, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we yielded [to them] and respected [them for training us]. Shall we not much more cheerfully submit to the Father of spirits and so [truly] live? For [our earthly fathers] disciplined us for only a short period of time and chastised us as seemed proper and good to them; but He disciplines us for our certain good, that we may become sharers in His own holiness.

We all realize that our fathers dealt with us pretty severely at times, and we all know we probably deserved it. Looking back, most of us would admit that they did the right thing and ultimately kept us out of a lot of trouble. God is the same way except He is perfect and never makes a mistake- and does it for our own good. 

For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful; but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it [a harvest of fruit which consists in righteousness—in conformity to God’s will in purpose, thought, and action, resulting in right living and right standing with God].

When one of God’s children is disciplined by God it never feels good or right while it’s happening. If you are the one God is dealing with right now, no matter who you are in your own sight you will feel grievous and painful- but wait, and when God is finished, afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it [a harvest of fruit which consists in righteousness—in conformity to God’s will in purpose, thought, and action, resulting in right living and right standing with God].

So then, brace up and reinvigorate and set right your slackened and weakened and drooping hands and strengthen your feeble and palsied and tottering knees, And cut through and make firm and plain and smooth, straight paths for your feet [yes, make them safe and upright and happy paths that go in the right direction], so that the lame and halting [limbs] may not be put out of joint, but rather may be cured. Strive to live in peace with everybody and pursue that consecration and holiness without which no one will [ever] see the Lord. Exercise foresight and be on the watch to look [after one another], to see that no one falls back from and fails to secure God’s grace (His unmerited favor and spiritual blessing), in order that no root of resentment (rancor, bitterness, or hatred) shoots forth and causes trouble and bitter torment, and the many become contaminated and defiled by it—

Wake up! cut through and make plain and smooth, straight paths for your feet [yes, make them safe and upright and happy paths that go in the right direction], so that the lame and halting [limbs] may not be put out of joint, but rather may be cured. Strive to live in peace with everybody and pursue that consecration and holiness without which no one will [ever] see the Lord. Exercise foresight and be on the watch to look [after one another], to see that no one falls back from and fails to secure God’s grace (His unmerited favor and spiritual blessing), in order that no root of resentment (rancor, bitterness, or hatred) shoots forth and causes trouble and bitter torment, and the many become contaminated and defiled by it—

See too it that absolutely no one takes their situation to mean that God’s grace has departed from their life. If you let this happen a root of bitterness will spring up and contaminate many and defile many. Anyway, the truth is: God’s grace has not departed or changed in any way towards any of His children. Make sure the church is grounded in God’s love.  

That no one may become guilty of sexual vice, or become a profane (godless and sacrilegious) person as Esau did, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you understand that later on, when he wanted [to regain title to] his inheritance of the blessing, he was rejected (disqualified and set aside), for he could find no opportunity to repair by repentance [what he had done, no chance to recall the choice he had made], although he sought for it carefully with [bitter] tears.

Do not let anyone become so discouraged as to resort to some form of sexual vice or become a profane- godless and sacrilegious person becoming as Esau did. And later finding no room for repentance, although he sought it carefully with bitter tears. 

For you have not come [as did the Israelites in the wilderness] to a [material] mountain that can be touched, [a mountain] that is ablaze with fire, and to gloom and darkness and a raging storm, And to the blast of a trumpet and a voice whose words make the listeners beg that nothing more be said to them. For they could not bear the command that was given: If even a wild animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death. In fact, so awful and terrifying was the [phenomenal] sight that Moses said, I am terrified (aghast and trembling with fear).

How terrifying Gid coming down Mount Sinai must have  been. filled with gloom and darkness and a raging storm. Even Moses was trembling and aghast with fear. A blast of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the listeners yhat nothing more be said to them. The mountain itself was ablaze with fire and even if a wild animal should touch the mountain it should be stoned.

In order for us to get some understanding in what follows, we’ll need a little basic spiritual explanation.

First thing I want you to see is that we are spiritual beings. Like Jesus, we are a spirit that put on flesh in order to walk on the earth. When we became born again, our spirit (which was us, however, we were born dead in our spirit and therefore we were dead since we are an uncreated spirit in a created body made of the dust of the ground. Christ is also a Spirit. When He put on flesh (as we did) He became the man Jesus (who was the) Christ. He died on the cross and was resurrected so that our spirit may become alive as His was. His Spirit came to live in us, and our spirit became alive in Him. When He sat down at the right hand of the Father, so did we since we are now ‘in Christ. Being ‘in Christ’ takes a lot of maturity to be aware of. We also ‘Walk by faith and not by sight’ so  here are heavenly things that are already ours because we are in Christ yet we can’t se them. 

But rather, you have come to Mount Zion, even to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless multitudes of angels in festal gathering,

Instead of coming to an earthly mountain we, being spiritual, in the spirit came to a spiritual mountain called Mount Zion and to God’s city, the Heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless multitudes of angels in festal gathering.

And to the church (assembly) of the Firstborn who are registered [as citizens] in heaven, and to the God Who is Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous

We  have also come to the church of the firstborn who are registered as citizens in heaven, and to the God who is Judge of all, and to the spirits (this all occurs while we walk in our body on the earth- this is happening to our spirit who is in the Spirit of Christ- His Spirit is also in us- on the earth) of the redeemed in heaven. (Our spirit was made righteous during our new birth). Who have been made perfect, and to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks of mercy, a better and nobler and more gracious message than the blood of Abel, which cried out for vengeance.As we’re told below

(the redeemed in heaven) who have been made perfect, And to Jesus, the Mediator (Go-between, Agent) of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks [of mercy], a better and nobler and more gracious message than the blood of Abel [which cried out for vengeance].

So see to it that you do not reject Him or refuse to listen to and heed Him Who is speaking [to you now]. For if they [the Israelites] did not escape when they refused to listen and heed Him Who warned and divinely instructed them [here] on earth [revealing with heavenly warnings His will], how much less shall we escape if we reject  and turn our backs on Him Who cautions and admonishes [us] from heaven? Then [at Mount Sinai] His voice shook the earth, but now He has given a promise:

He has been talking and warning you right now and maybe for quite a while. Do not refuse Him or turn our backs to Him when He cautions us or admonishes us. For if Israel did not escape when they refused Him here on earth, how much less shall we escape. His voice shook the earth at Mount Sinai, but now He has  promised-

Yet once more I will shake and make tremble not only the earth but also the [starry] heavens. Now this expression, Yet once more, indicates the final removal and transformation of all [that can be] shaken—that is, of that which has been created—in order that what cannot be shaken may remain and continue. Let us therefore, receiving a kingdom that is firm and stable and cannot be shaken, offer to God pleasing service and acceptable worship, with modesty and pious care and godly fear

and awe; For our God [is indeed] a consuming fire.

Strong words to end up this chapter.

God bless you- chapter 13 next<!–

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HEBREWS 11 Continued

Hebrews has a path to show us:

Chap 1: Who Christ is   Chap 2:Trust your salvation  Chap 3: How superior Christ is to everything Chap 4:The Rest of God  Chap 5: Christ has been made a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek  Chap 6: Time for us to grow up  Chap 7: Melchizedek  Chap 8: The High Priest Office  Chap 9: Entrance of  the new covenant  Chap 10: Old and New Covenant compared  Chapter 11: Your faith and the value of keeping it.   

I would like to recap regarding Christ being a Priest after the ‘order’ of Melchizedek forever. Let’s talk what is meant when we use the word ‘order’ in this statement.

First of all, it is good for us to become acquainted with the Old Testament understanding of Israel and it’s temple service and rules because they are all a picture of Christ and what He fulfilled.

When it came to the Priests here on earth, it was required that every priest must be able to trace his ancestry back to Levi, who was a brother of Moses. If a man of Israel could prove that his linage started with Moses’s brother Levi, he could become a priest of the temple, belonging to the The ‘order’ of Levi.

Melchizedek was the Priest that met Abraham long before either Moses or Levi were born. Hundreds of  years before. The Levitical ‘order’ (decedents of Levi) didn’t exist then. So Melchizedek belonged to the true heavenly ‘order’ that Levi when he was born, would  be used by God, here on the earth,  to present only a type and shadow of the true Priesthood ‘order’ that existed forever in the Heavens. This is the ‘order’ of Priesthood that Melchizedek belonged to and the ‘order‘ that Christ became the High Priest of forever.

Continuing where we left off,

 

Because of faith also Sarah herself received physical power to conceive a child, even when she was long past the age for it, because she considered [God] Who had given her the promise to be reliable and trustworthy and true to His word.

God has given us many promises. Have you found that no matter how you deal with them, you can’t make them happen? Perhaps you (like me) need to remind yourself of Sarah and remember that God is reliable and  trustworthy and true to what He says.

So from one man, though he was physically as good as dead, there have sprung descendants whose number is as the stars of heaven and as countless as the innumerable sands on the seashore.

Because God is faithful to His promises Israel was created because of God’s promise to Abram and you and I are His promised children because of God’s promise to Abraham.

These people all died controlled and sustained by their faith, but not having received the tangible fulfillment of [God’s] promises, only having seen it and greeted it from a great distance by faith, and all the while acknowledging and confessing that they were strangers and temporary residents and exiles upon the earth.

No matter what you were in the world before you were born again, as you grow older in the Lord the more apparent it becomes to you that you really are in the world but you are not of it. It’s funny but it seems to me harder and harder to find Christian friends who have lost the appeal of the world. (It’s probably just me and the situation I presently find myself in).

Now those people who talk as they did show plainly that they are in search of a fatherland (their own country). If they had been thinking with [homesick] remembrance of that country from which they were emigrants, they would have found constant opportunity to return to it. But the truth is that they were yearning for and aspiring to a better and more desirable country, that is, a heavenly [one]. For that reason God is not ashamed to be called their God [even to be surnamed their God—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob], for He has prepared a city for them. 

This is not our home. And, we are aware of it. To return to the world would be easy- it’s all around us if we wanted to be part of it. But the world we belong to remains unseen to this earthly world. For ours exists in the heavens and in our hearts at the same time and we can say ‘Abba Father’ and we are aware of His presence. And God is not ashamed to be called your God.

By faith Abraham, when he was put to the test [while the testing of his faith was still in progress], had already brought Isaac for an offering; he who had gladly received and welcomed [God’s] promises was ready to sacrifice his only son, Of whom it was said, Through Isaac shall your descendants be reckoned. For he reasoned that God was able to raise [him] up even from among the dead. Indeed in the sense that Isaac was figuratively dead [potentially sacrificed], he did [actually] receive him back from the dead.

Abraham had heard God make the promises to him personally (Faith comes by hearing) so he knew that somehow God would keep His promises. More was being said here however. For in Abraham we see the Father and His loving will, In Isaac we see Jesus the only begotten Son, Isaac who was figuratively dead- potentially sacrificed, clearly a type and shadow of the death and resurrection of Christ. Just as an Israelite must be born through the linage of Isaac, God’s children must be born again through Jesus. Jacob shows us the work of the Holy Spirit that Jesus sends and changes the hearts of men producing a new person. God worked with Jacob until he became Israel. Hence, He is the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob.

[With eyes of] faith Isaac, looking far into the future, invoked blessings upon Jacob and Esau.

Isaac, even though He was tricked into believing Jacob was Esau pronounced the blessing due to the first born on Jacob the second born. Jacob had already tricked Esau out of his birthright over a pot of porridge. So Jacob isn’t displaying the caricature that God would bless in such a way. But in Romans we’re told that God declared (before either child had done anything, in fact when they were in the womb- God declared that Jacob I have loved and Esau I have hated. So, God’s will was worked through the entire situation. But Isaac, even though he  blessed the wrong brother had the faith in his blessing that Jacob was indeed blessed. Esau’s blessing was weak compared to the blessing Isaac gave to Jacob. 

[Prompted] by faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in prayer over the top of his staff.

Motivated by his faith in God Jacob blessed his son Joseph’s sons and bowed in prayer over his staff while he was dying.

[Actuated] by faith Joseph, when nearing the end of his life, referred to [the promise of God for] the departure of the Israelites out of Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his own bones.

By faith in what God had shown him that Israel would  one day be delivered from Egypt gave instructions for the removal of his bones and reburied which was what happened.

[Prompted] by faith Moses, after his birth, was kept concealed for three months by his parents, because they saw how comely the child was; and they were not overawed and terrified by the king’s decree.

It was Moses parents faith in God that caused them to not fear the king decree and hide the child till he was three months old and place him in the small ark which saved his life.

[Aroused] by faith Moses, when he had grown to maturity and become great, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,  Because he preferred to share the oppression [suffer the hardships] and bear the shame of the people of God rather than to have the fleeting enjoyment of a sinful life. He considered the contempt and abuse and shame [borne for] the Christ (the Messiah Who was to come) to be greater wealth than all the treasures of Egypt, for he looked forward and away to the reward (recompense).

Moses had a strong revelation from God which generated the faith that caused him to see himself as part of the people of God and suffer because of it. He rejected a sinful life and bore the shame of his people. He considered all he had to endure was worth it for the Christ he knew by faith was to come. He looked and expected by faith the reward to come.

[Motivated] by faith he left Egypt behind him, being unawed and undismayed by the wrath of the king; for he never flinched but held staunchly to his purpose and endured steadfastly as one who gazed on Him Who is invisible.

Because he knew that he knew, by faith the kings wrath was a small thing to him and he didn’t fear but stayed to what he knew by faith was his purpose. He took whatever he had too and it was evident that could see the God who is invisible.

 

By faith (simple trust and confidence in God) he instituted and carried out the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood [on the doorposts], so that the destroyer of the firstborn (the angel) might not touch those [of the children of Israel].

As the Amplified bible puts it ‘By faith, simple trust and confidence in God Moses instructed his people to obey the first and real Passover and gave Israel the leadership to sprinkle the blood on the doorposts so that the destroyer of the firstborn did not touch the children of Israel. God told him and he heard.

[Urged on] by faith the people crossed the Red Sea as [though] on dry land, but when the Egyptians tried to do the same thing they were swallowed up [by the sea].

Moses heard God and because of the the resulting faith in God the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land- The Egyptians didn’t make it being swallowed up by the Sea- 

Because of faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encompassed for seven days [by the Israelites].  

Again, Joshua heard the Word of the Lord instructing him what to do. When Joshua by faith followed what he was told the walls came down.

[Prompted] by faith Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed along with those who refused to believe and obey, because she had received the spies in peace [without enmity].

God spoke or touched Rahab and she knew it was God so by Faith she had feelings of respect, fear of Israel or whatever it took and she hid Israel’s spy’s, saving herself and her family.

And what shall I say further? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, Who by [the help of] faith subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promised blessings, closed the mouths of lions, Extinguished the power of raging fire, escaped the devourings of the sword, out of frailty and weakness won strength and became stalwart, even mighty and resistless in battle, routing alien hosts. [Some] women received again their dead by a resurrection. Others were tortured to death with clubs, refusing to accept release [offered on the terms of denying their faith], so that they might be resurrected to a better life. Others had to suffer the trial of mocking and scourging and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death; they were lured with tempting offers [to renounce their faith]; they were sawn asunder; they were slaughtered by the sword; [while they were alive] they had to go about wrapped in the skins of sheep and goats, utterly destitute, oppressed, cruelly treated—  [Men] of whom the world was not worthy—roaming over the desolate places and the mountains, and [living] in caves and caverns and holes of the earth.

And all of these, though they won divine approval by [means of] their faith, did not receive the fulfillment of what was promised,

 Because God had us in mind and had something better and greater in view for us, so that they [these heroes and heroines of faith] should not come to perfection apart from us [before we could join them].

As I said in the beginning, this book was mainly written to ex-Jews who were being tempted to return to their ex-faith. In this chapter the writer exhorts to  them the power of faith to take them through the good and the bad.

A very interesting chapter next- chapter 12-

God Bless in the meantime’