Final chapter of 1 John

The Book of 1 John: Stay the Love Course Together

LESSON Five: It’s who you know

 To watch this on video:

https://youtu.be/qdkUJWsKSBg

1. 1. INTRODUCTION 

Thank you to each of you who is joining us in this study of John’s writing which is labelled 1 John. For those on YouTube, if you haven’t yet read this chapter of the book, please pause your playback, read chapter 5, and then re-join us. Thanks. 

Welcome back. 

Today we wrap up our five-week study of this small and powerful letter from the Apostle of Love, the aged Apostle John, who was the youngest of the original 12 disciples whom Yeshua chose back in the days of the Gospels. We have listened to the primary dual declarations of John, God is Light and God is Love. 

2. Faith is the victory

Let’s read this chapter and see what the lines mean.

Verse 1: Whoever believes… John’s continuing thought, in the Gospel that bears his name, in the book of the Revelation and certainly in this first letter of his, is that we should believe. What and what not to believe, that’s significant also, but don’t miss this. FAITH, the summary of our beliefs, is (verse 4) how we win, how we overcome, how we are going to make it. It’s not the academics; it’s not the religious rituals that are salvific. It’s not our yichus (our heritage and our genealogy), but rather how we actively respond, heart to heart, that is, our heart saying “yes” to God’s information and his heart. We respond. And our response is a faith-filled ‘yes’ to the Almighty. 

Paul also linked faith and love with regularity, like in 1 Thes 1 “constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father.” (1 Thes. 1.3)

Of course, the most ‘famous’ if we can use that expression is in 1 Corinthians 13 where Paul says, “Now abide three things, faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love.”

Then John says a ‘what’ we need to believe. Jesus, Messiah, born of God. In other words, striking at the false teachers who taught that Jesus as the Messiah could not have been physically born. What they meant is that the God-part (modern new age folks use the term “The Christ”) of what Jesus became had nothing corporeal about him. He couldn’t be flesh and blood; he was Spirit, they would insist. So this notion of a birth canal birth of the son of God is outrageous to them. If you believe Jesus AS MESSIAH was born, then you are on the team of real faith. If not… good luck.

Now you may be unclear about what John is saying, since he (and James before him) have been teaching about love of neighbour and particularly real relationships with others as evidence of the new birth. What he is saying in verse 1 is that good works alone is not enough; a person has to believe, and to believe correctly. Faith without works is dead. Works without faith is helpful but equally dead to the doer. Faith with works is alive.

One more comment on verse 1, and that is in human terms, a person who says he loves another must, should, will be known by, the love that person has for the other’s child or children. Psychiatrists regularly report the failures of this in the world of step-children who come along with the new partner, but who the new adult in the family does not love. You love a person? Great. Demonstrate that by loving the children of that person. That’s where rubber meets the proverbial road.

Verses 2 and 3, we see the word ‘commandments’ three times. This word causes many to react with worry and fear. That’s exactly not what John wants for us. He is saying that the commandments are not the 10, not the 613, but the two, and they were given by his Messiah to love God and to love your neighbour. End of story. When you read his word, don’t think mitzvot, don’t think Torah or Talmud. Think of Yeshua. It’s about love, not about worry and fear. 

Remember this from last week:

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. (4.18)

I’m not afraid of losing my salvation. I’m not afraid of failing God since I know both of us. Me—regularly and dismally self-centered; He—wonderfully full of love and grace. What is my calling? To ponder me or to ponder him? We love because he first loved us. NO FEAR!

When John tells us “This is the love of God to keep his commandments” I have to remember those two real mitzvot. His love is my morning and my evening. His death and resurrection is my October and my April; his peace is my winter and summer, my rainstorm and my sunshine. “Through all kinds of weather, it doesn’t matter at all, just as long as we’re together, it doesn’t matter at all!” I’m with God, and he is the One about whom I dream and think and live and move and have my being. Amen?

I didn’t like the lyric from a praise song back in the 70s, but with kindness today I don’t mind its particular sentiment: “Let’s forget about ourselves and concentrate on him and worship him…” I still believe we need to have self-care which made me wince when we were singing, “forget about ourselves.” However, I get it; ponder God and not you. Ponder the reality of his love and actions of love and you will concentrate on him and that will lead to worship. Hallelujah!

Verse 4, faith overcomes the world. Faith is the victory. Faith in what? In the love and power of the crucified. And the word ‘overcome’ here is from the Greek word “NIKE” which along with the swoosh and Michael Jordan himself put that word into our sports minds. Clever, and helps me remember who and what wins. 

I’m reminded of the story of a retreating soldier in the 4^th century BCE in the army of Alexander the Great. The general approached this reluctant military man and asked him his name. “Alexander” was the reply of the young and fearful man. The general replied, “Soldier, either get out there and fight, or change your name!”

Winners fight and win. Our victory is in our faith. 

Remember John told us “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3.8)

Our victory is hiding in the shadow of the Crucified and Victorious Saviour. Verse 5 says, ““Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

1. 3. Belief leads to life

Then we move from faith and love to the end game, the end result of our faith and this teaching sermon from the Apostle John. What’s the point of this? Verses 12 and 13, if you believe in the right Yeshua, then you have eternal life. That’s it. Life that started way back when, into which you were placed by faith and by the acceptance of the community, that faith leads to life. To life eternal. Not a maybe about it. Faith is a victory, the championship has been won, the gold medal is in your family trophy room, the pleasure of God is shown in his smile and his extended arms to you… you don’t need to fear. You have life. 

John loves this thought. He taught it through the words of Yeshua in his Gospel. 

During the story of Nicodemus, the rabbi who came to Yeshua by night, John inserts these words of our Master, citing the Torah’s book of Numbers, chapter 21, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.” (John 3.14-15)

Faith leads to life. 

Again John in the Gospel:

“The thief [that’s Satan] comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (10.10)

That’s where God wants you to live today and tomorrow. It’s early morning for some of you; it’s midday in New Zealand, and 6 pm for me in Houston Texas. He wants you to live, both positionally, in the realm of heaven, and practically in the realm of earth. Yes, you sit in heavenly places in messiah, and yes you can live victoriously today in Sydney, in Port Macquarie, in Adelaide and here in Texas. 

Back to verse 6, who is this One? As I stated in chapter 1, I’m not impressed with John’s construction of this sermon or this letter. He wanders a bit much for me, but hey, he’s old and I’ll cut him some slack. In fact, a lot of slack. Who is this One? He’s the One who came in water and blood.

There are many interpretations of course, like baptism and communion, or baptism and the spear when water and blood came flowing from the Crucified, but this from Stephen Smalley, 

“The true identity of Jesus, the writer appears to be saying, is only to be discovered by looking at the whole of his life, including its end. He came by water and, triumphantly, in blood; at this point the essential divinity of the human Jesus is most fully revealed and most fully victorious. Such a disclosure also applies to the work of Christ. He came not only with baptismal water, the timeless symbol of cleansing, but also in the actual, historical means for achieving this, the blood which “purifies us from every sin” (1:7; cf 4:10).”

 Here’s another citation

“Brown (109–123) argues instead that an unbalanced reading of John’s Gospel had led the heretically inclined members of the Johannine circle to believe that the human existence of Jesus, while real, was neither limited nor salvifically significant. Thus, the writer of 1 John accompanies statements implying the preexistence of Jesus with others which stress the earthly career of the incarnate Word; and Christ is presented not only as revealer, but also as redeemer. So here Jesus is found to be truly human (baptized in water and crucified in shed blood); but this “human modality” belongs to the one who, as also truly divine, both reveals and conveys eternal life (1:1–2; 5:20).”

These are important stakes to place in the theological trafficway of lessons countering the false teachers along the path. Yeshua ever was (long before his adult baptism) and ever will be (after the spear, but not communion) in his redemption. The water and blood testify about the One. Don’t get him wrong. Don’t get this information wrong or you will be fearful. If you get him right, you will love one another right. Because you will be inspired (the Spirit in you!) because the Spirit is the Truth. Together Son and Spirit testify of the Father’s love. 

1. 4. The confidence of being his

Knowing what you need to know might help you get through school, and knowing who you need to know leads to a comfort and an assurance that goes beyond anything else you can experience in the world. They say, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know!” And in a way that’s the truth. Knowing God is who he claims to be and knowing Yeshua as God’s answer and fullness is so substantial; it’s hard to put this down. Eight times in chapter 5 the word ‘know’ is used, and it’s the culmination of John’s thoughts in this letter, in which he has used the word a total of 39 times!

And remember it’s not academic. It’s personal. Look at verse 20. “That we may know him who is the truth.” 

Almost finally, God answers prayer. And this is a confidence, John writes. The Greek word we translate ‘confidence’ is another compound word

“παρρησία; parrēsia, parrēsias, hē (pan and rēsis; cf. arrēsia silence, katarrēsis accusation, prorrēsis prediction”

This is not exactly the constitutional phrase ‘freedom of speech’ but rather a freedom that is a release from bondage so that we can speak the truth, to our parents, to our children, to our colleagues at work and others. 

 Let me ask you, what is the confidence you have with your Father in heaven? Do you feel comfortable asking him for a loaf of bread? Do you think he will give you a stone instead? Will you ask for good gifts? Will he instead give you the summary of bad things? Not at all. If you know him, you can ask of him things that are consistent with his good nature and his plans for your uncle and your children. That confidence is in knowing who is who in the Kingdom of God. 

Remember, prayer is not about getting things, but about getting to know the Almighty. Prayer is not shopping lists sent to the supplier to fulfil. Prayer is communication with the God who was, and who is, and who will be in his fullness. What’s he thinking? What does he plan to accomplish in the next few months? I want to hear him and get to know him and be with him in the next scene of life. 

And I want others to stay the course, too, so John reminds us about sins that lead to death, and that we should convey our desire to the Lord that all of us should make it to the end. 

Verse 21 stands out in both its simplicity and its challenge. The first commandment is to love God with everything we have, heart, soul, mind and strength. The first two in the Big 10 are God is, and have no other gods, and certainly then make no idols. Idolatry is so easy of a trap into which to fall; God wants his people to love him pre-eminently. He wants you to know him and to love him. Don’t go for idols, whether a moment with a celebrity or a moment of zest due to thievery or adultery, don’t go for the quick fix with heroin or alcohol now that we have passed Freedom Day. 

You want freedom? Little children, guard yourself from idols. Don’t choose a false flag of the wrong nation to honour. Don’t bow to things that don’t satisfy. Their cisterns are broken; their worth limited. You want life? Follow Yeshua and love one another.  

So God wants us to stay the love course together with one another until Messiah returns. Will you join us? Will you be confident in the Lord? God’s promise is eternal life (Chapter 2: 25). Let’s live in that today. 

INVITATION

Dear friends, if you’d like to have the forgiveness and the fellowship about which I spoke, you can do so today. Just now you can pray and find that the God of love extends his life to you in giving you pardon for all your sins. That forgiveness will usher you into the freedoms of knowing the God of love. Isn’t that a wonderful idea?

If you’d like that, please pray and ask God to forgive you your sins and to make you born again. 

Then let us know you have done this, won’t you? Write to us (admin@jewsforjesus.org.au) and tell us you have prayed for the first time. We want to send you some literature and welcome you to the family.  

And if you have any questions, use that same address, ok?

And join us next week as we look specifically at the 2nd letter of John.  It has a Lot to say to us in the 21^st Century, as Covid and all kinds of other topics stay in our conversation.

Until then, Shabbat shalom.

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Bibliography

Smalley, Stephen, 1 John, Word Biblical Commentary Series, Thomas Nelson, Grand Rapids, 1973. 

Weirsbe, Warren, Be Real, Victor Books, David C. Cook, Colorado Springs, 1972. 

Also, to see the whole book in one short graphic and wonderful summary, watch this video:

Actual text

1John 5:1   Whoever believes that Jesus is the Messiah is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. ² By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. ³ For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. ⁴ For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.

1John 5:5   Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Yeshua is the Son of God? ⁶ This is the One who came by water and blood, Yeshua the Messiah; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷ For there are three that testify: ⁸ the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. ⁹ If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. ¹⁰ The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. ¹¹ And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. ¹² He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

1John 5:13   These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. ¹⁴ This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.

1John 5:16   If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. ¹⁷ All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.

1John 5:18   We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. ¹⁹ We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. ²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

1John 5:21   Little children, guard yourselves from idols.

Woody Allen and what's true

Over the years I've written in this blog about famous people including Woody Allen. Maybe my favourite is this one.  He and I were in a barber shop in New York City and my shirt spoke to him, but I didn't. Lately HBO in the USA and Fox Showcase here in Australia have been airing a mini-series titled "Allen v. Farrow." The series features the relevant events circa 1992, when a child sex scandal involving Dylan Farrow, their adopted daughter, and Woody became national and international news.

The producers have done a marvellous job in blending history and interviews, information sourced from hundreds of boxes formerly hidden the last 2+ decades and the music of Orlando Perez Rosso, Miguel Bezanilla and David Das. It's a captivating series so far.

What prompts my writing today before the series finale next week is a line I heard in episode 3. Mia looks into the camera and quotes Woody. 

"It doesn't matter what is true; what matters is what's believed." - attributed to Woody Allen.

If that's a direct quote, that's significant to the writer/ director/ actor's case. Even if it's not a direct quote, it made me think today about matters of faith and religion as well as epistemology. 

Two XIX century authors said this about truth--

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all

    Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."  (John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn, 1820).  

And this one, "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." (Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, 1813)

Whatever these two romantics inferred, consider this from The Bard. 

"When my love swears that she is made of truth, 

I do believe her, though I know she lies."

In this 138th Sonnet, Shakespeare preferred the deception of his lover's lie to the truth. And he uses the term "I do believe her." 

What is it about 'faith' and 'belief' that is considered a trump card to truth? Why do we choose to believe a falsehood when we know better?

The following is from Sociology of Religion, Volume 38, Issue 4, Winter 1977, Pages 368–388, Actually only the Abstract. I do not have access to the article itself.

"The accommodation between social science and religion of recent decades depended in part on the widespread conviction that there is no scientific basis for determining whether religious beliefs are true and whether religious practices are good. This conviction is based on dubious assumptions that have blinded sociologists to the judgments concerning religious beliefs and practice that are implicit in their theories. Put simply, general theory has implied that although there is much in religion that is good, religious beliefs are not true."

I guess the Allen v Farrow series triggered a lot of emotions in me.  Truth really does matter. What actually happened or didn't happen matters. What people say matters. And then, if we are honest, honest to what we perceive to be true, or what the truth-tellers say about truth, then we should believe those truths. 

Sociologist Ron McGivern wrote in a Soc 101 book printed in Canada this about religion/ belief systems:

"What is religion? Pioneer sociologist Émile Durkheim described it with the ethereal statement that it consists of “things that surpass the limits of our knowledge” (1915). He went on to elaborate: Religion is “a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say set apart and forbidden, beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community, called a church, all those who adhere to them” (1915). Some people associate religion with places of worship (a synagogue or church), others with a practice (confession or meditation), and still others with a concept that guides their daily lives (like dharma or sin). All of these people can agree that religion is a system of beliefs, values, and practices concerning what a person holds sacred or considers to be spiritually significant."(https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology/chapter/chapter-15-religion/) 

Children are taught about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny in some circles. And the 'oh, just let them have their imagination and beliefs' dismissal of the narrative doesn't sit well with some truth-tellers. Here's the problem. Faith or belief should follow truth. 

I don't believe and thus a thought is true. I find truth and thus I should believe it. 

Gravity is true and always was true, long before Sir Isaac Newton discovered and clarified much scientific data about it. That people believe in gravity or not is irrelevant. If you don't believe it exists, please don't walk off the top of a roof of a skyscraper. Your 'faith' will not save you; you will die. 

Faith therefore should follow substantiated truth claims. 

We love the stories of heroes who rise in the midst of overwhelming odds and win battles against oppressors or who defeat much larger enemies in the boxing ring or the football field or in a land far away. The reason those hero-stories are so vivid is that they are so rarely found. Most of the time the lesser is ruled by the dominant. Most of the time the weaker team loses to the stronger. Most of the time the house wins in Las Vegas to the disappointment of the 'believing' jackpot loser.  Faith doesn't make things happen in most of those stories. 

In real life, in your life, in my life today, let's let truth dominate. Things like facts matter. Truth matters. Sorry, Woody Allen, the truth does matter. There really is no Easter Bunny. There really is gravity. 

Here's another set of truths that I discovered long after my birth. Jesus really did exist. He really did live in what we now call Israel. He really did die at the hands of Roman soldiers. They really did bury him in a sealed tomb. After three days, over 500 Jews really saw him alive; many ate with him and talked with him after his death. 

What you believe about those facts...that's where you make your religion. That's when you either dismiss or take this on board. Faith really should follow substantiated truth claims. Amen?

The Hall of Faith (Hebrews chapter 11)

 “Listen up: this is better” -- A study on the Bible book of Hebrews A 13-week series given in 2020

To watch this given live on 9 October 2020, click this link  

Lesson Eleven: The Hall of Faith

Shalom to each of you here on the Zoom call and those who will watch this class lecture on YouTube later. I hope you will feel welcome and when this section ends in about 20-25 minutes, that you will be a participant in the rest of the questions and discussion time. This letter to messianic Jews was written before the destruction of the Temple in AD 70.  Today we study chapter 11, and if you haven’t yet read it, please, those of you on YouTube, pause the playback, read the chapter, and then press play again to re-join us. Thanks.

Today we will look at historical celebrities whose roles were significant in their days, and who are being called, almost to a witness stand, to help the messianic Jews in the First Century, and dare I say, those of us 2 millennia later, to be encouraged to stay the course. It’s not a surprise that the list is like a Hall of Fame of biblical characters. And it’s also not a surprise that it’s introduced by the theme of ‘faith.’

In modern days, faith is often used as a synonym for religion, as in a common question we receive, “What is your faith?” And then there are others who use the term ‘believe’ much like the idea of wishing or hoping. When Peter Pan’s little fairy “Tinker Bell” was dying, Peter turns to the audience and begs us to “believe” so that Tink can live again. On the side-lines of many sporting teams will be a sign “Believe” so that the crowd gets onside with the team and prevents loss. But neither Tinker Bell nor the footy chant is in view here. Faith is taking God at his word. It’s not making something out of nothing. It’s letting God make what he wants in a world which is more often than not hostile to him. 

So, the chapter divides into two sections. Even though it’s 39 verses, it’s only two sections. One is the definition or practical understanding of faith and the other is examples of those who lived as people of faith. Those Older Testament saints are models for us in these days.

I like that. I’m a fairly analytical person so I like the first part. Explanations and definitions help me to get along in life. And then I’m also a people person who enjoys being with people and bringing people together. So, I like the way narratives explain and give deeper sense to the definitions of the first part. 

Let’s unpack the chapter now that we see the overarching themes again and see what it has to say to us as 21^st Century believers. If you are not yet a believer, it’s good for you to see what’s ahead for you, so you can make wise decisions and know with whom to walk.

A.    The definition of faith

Verse one: Faith is… the term is defined.  I told you I’m a fairly analytical person. Most of the time, therefore, when I’m reading the Scriptures, I’m frustrated. The Bible rarely defines things, at least, not with such clarity as we see here. We usually have to read between the lines if we want to get it, but here in chapter 11, verse 1, faith is defined. Sweet.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence or conviction of things not seen. It is a sure thing, in other words. 

What prompted this definition is the ending of chapter 10. Let’s look there for a moment to see the catalyst.

³⁸ “BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM. ³⁹ But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”

 

We see the author quoting Habakkuk chapter 2, a central watchword in Jewish life. It’s also quoted in Romans (1.17) and in Galatians (3.11). Paul knew it to be a central tenet of the Jewish religion and would become a basis of much of his theology. 

In fact, when asked what the major themes are, or what can one boil all of Judaism down to, most would say the Ten Commandments. That’s true. Then those 10 can boil down to three. Micah 6.8. Those three down to two: love God and love your neighbour. But when the rabbis are asked to bring all of Judaism down to one theme or one thought, it’s this: The just or righteous shall live by faith.

The author of Hebrews in chapter 10 verses 38 and 39 brings that verse to the courtroom to say that if you shrink back, that is, into messiah-less Judaism, you give God no pleasure. And the result is destruction, but, and that but shouts loudly, but we are of those, who have faith to the preserving of the soul. That’s what prompts the author to unpack faith itself. What it is that we hold so dear? What others have experienced that gave them hope, no matter what, and what can we learn from them to help us in the preserving of our soul? That’s what chapter 11 is for.

Back to verse one. Faith is the assurance. Faith is the evidence. Really? Yes. Some things just don’t have a clear empirical, scientific explanation. In fact, if scientists are honest, they will always admit that much of what we see is unknown and may never be known in their lifetime. Science, the Latin word for knowledge, is ever limited. We know only so much. We strive to know more, even ache to know more. And the more we know, the more we know we don’t know. That’s why we keep studying. That’s why we keep asking questions. And the honest answer we can usually give to those who seek answers from us, when we don’t know, is to say, “I don’t know.” That is, there are some things that are just beyond us. 

In terms of religion, we have to admit ignorance about many things, many concepts, many people, many theological conclusions. Our answer might sound like a cop-out to those who want to paint us into a corner, but reality is that in terms of philosophies and theologies, no one has a corner on the market of knowledge. My answer is often, I trust the Lord. I don’t know, but I know the One who does know, and when He wants to unveil things to me or to us, then we will know. This is not laziness at all; this is active and participatory faith. 

Faith itself tells me that God created the world. (verse 3) Science in its limitations tells me that the creation of the world is itself a bad term. Science tells me that the world always was, which doesn’t explain anything. Science tells me that there was a Big Bang which started the world, but doesn’t explain, nor can it, from where the elements came that pounded together into the Black Hole which exploded and bang, out came the expanding universes in which we travel. Science, meaning knowledge, is limited. Then all honest scientists have to find an explanation, or evidence, or something that convinces them of what they do not know. That is their faith. It’s actually guesswork, and based on good information, hopefully. But for us, ‘faith’ is itself the evidence and conviction. 

People have lived in faith, in this kind of faith, since the beginning, and the author is going to highlight 19 folks particularly who represent. 

B. The people of faith: Older Testament

Abel is contrasted with his brother Cain in verse 4. It was not what they learned in Sunday School or at cheder. It was not who played what instruments or whom they married. It was a single contrast of a double incident that is recorded in Genesis 4.1-8. There we see two men, two offerings, and two reactions by the Almighty. And the summary here in verse 4 of Hebrews 11. 

Abel “obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.”

Abel brought an offering as did Cain, but God accepted the offering of Abel and that acceptance speaks. The death that followed, that is, Cain killing his brother Abel, is the angry response of Cain in being dissed by the Eternal One. 

The point in this list is this… there will be suffering and consequences to your faith. The first consequence is that God will accept you. The 2^nd is that others won’t accept you.

Enoch (verse 5) is found in Genesis (5.22-24)

Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. ²³ So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

The author of Hebrews tells us 

“Enoch obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.”

Two consequences happen usually to each of these folks listed. 1) God is pleased, rather than (10.38) God not having or taking pleasure in us and 2) others will despise or reject us.

Enoch walked with God and God was pleased with him. 

In fact, the author shouts in verse 6, and you should memorize this one, if you can. 

“Without faith… and he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.” You want to please anyone? Please God. How? By faith in what he has said and in who he is.

Verse 7 is Noah, who trusted God with the building of an ark, and he condemned the world by that same faith. He chose his friends; he chose his enemies well. 

Verse 8 introduces us to Abraham (#4). The Father of Faith. He demonstrated his faith when 1) he was called (Gen. 12), when he lived as an alien with Isaac and Jacob, looking for a city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God (not humans). His being an alien is key, his having family is also key. We are called to wear the same troubles of misidentification, or being a foreigner, dwelling not in lavish palaces, but in tents, looking for something better than what the ‘world’ can give us. 

Verse 11 brings in Sarah (#5). What is highlighted is GOD who is faithful and helps Sarah at 90 years old to conceive and help fulfill the promises of the Lord to Abram, decades later. 

Verse 13-16 helps like a rest in music, like Selah in the Hebrew in Psalms, to give us time to reflect before we get back to Genesis and Abraham. 

In this rest period of 13-16, the author shows that all these are faith-filled believers who are looking to God’s fulfillment of his own promises and that they (that is, WE) can continue their work of faith, in looking for a city or country that is above, that is not what the world gives us. Let me make this clear. God wants us to have a desire to live in heaven, not Bega or Vaucluse. Not St Kilda or Mission Hills. Heaven. Another place where nothing damages the reality of eternity and peace.  

Verse 17 brings us back to faithful Abraham (#4) and the scene of the Akedah. Many in synagogues worldwide just heard that story on Rosh Hashanah and will hear it again in a few weeks’ time in the ordinary reading of the Torah. Here the author highlights the binding as a statement of faith, and uses the one Hebrew letter, the “noon” of Genesis 22.5 (I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.)That’s why here in Hebrews 11 we read in verse 19, “God is able to raise people from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.” (Parable)

Verse 20 we see Isaac. (#6) And the scene of choice that highlights the faith of Isaac is the blessing of Jacob and Esau. (Genesis 27.26-40) That was a moment in their history of selection and thus deselection. Faith in what was to take place and the cost for Esau of not being chosen. That same choice is yours, the author is saying, in following Yeshua today.

In verse 21 we see Jacob (#7) in a similar blessing situation (Genesis 47-48) where he chose to bless Ephraim over Menashe, the “sons of Joseph” and made tradition to bow to God’s sovereignty. And those two boys would represent the same situation for the people of the author’s days in the first Century, and for us in our days, too. 

In verse 22, another, the third of three blessing-when-dying scenes takes place with Joseph (#8) giving orders for his bones and such. 

Verse 23 introduces one we have already seen in this letter, and that’s Moses (#9), but really, it’s the faith of Amram and Yocheved which is highlighted. They chose to go against government in Egypt and to trust the Lord.

#10 is Moses himself in verse 24 and following. He chose to trust God and to go against the flow in killing the Egyptian, but it was the choice he made in verse 25 which is key. 

“choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin” That’s the theme in a nutshell. Choose with whom you are going to walk. Heaven is filled with people of faith. So should your life be today.

Verse 27, another episode in Moses’ life evidenced his faith, and he did it by seeing the Invisible one, and in verse 28 by keeping Passover and the Red Sea drama. 

Verse 30 shows us Joshua’s faith (#11) in the falling of the walls of Jericho. Do you see it’s almost always two consequences for the faithful? 

Verse 31 brings up Rahab (#12) who welcomed the spies. And lost her job in the city of Jericho as a result.

The summaries finish with verse 32 and following. We meet Gideon (#13), Barak (14), Samson (15), Jephthah (16), David (17), Samuel (18) and then the final summary the prophets (19) which of course would make many more than just 19 which are highlighted. 

Verses 33 to the end shows activities of the faithful, but the summary is in verse 39 and 40:

Heb. 11:39   And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive ²what was promised, ⁴⁰ because God had ¹provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.

These folks gained approval, not by what they did, but that they believed in the One who would preserve them, no matter what, and now with us, and really Yeshua, coming along, those promises made will see their fulfillment. 

The author here uses these words “mocking” and “scourging” (verse 36) and in chapter 12 adds other words of rejection which are the pains and suffering that the author is highlighting. Lions, fire, edge of sword, tortured… you get it. There are reasons to shrink or drift back. There are troubles in this world. There is significant tsuris that might cause you to wonder if this is worth it all. 

Let me say to you as simply and directly as possible. 

Nothing the world gives us, in either pleasure or pain, is worth the walking away from the Lord of glory. 

“Destitute, tempted, afflicted ill-treated wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.” (verse 37-38)

Dear friends, the point today is to help you see that we are not the first and won’t be the last of Jewish followers of Jesus. We saw several of our biblical ancestors who survived and in a single defining moment evidenced their faith. Therefore, you are not alone and it’s because the Messiah has settled the situation with God once for all. This whole arrangement is better. Our job is to receive his love and grace. And to stay the course…to keep meeting together. Some of you are wrong to think you can make it on your own. None of us is an island. Sorry John Donne. None of us is alone on an island. We need others to survive and to thrive. Maybe that’s one of the great lessons of COVID-19. We thought we could make it on our own. Not true. You cannot. And thank God for zoom and other online methods of sharing life. Our own D-Groups highlight that weekly. 

If you’ve never received Yeshua as your Lord and Saviour, I invite you to do so now. Right where you are. Receive him who gave his life for you. Say a prayer of thanks. Say a prayer like “I need you, Lord Yeshua” … he loves to give to you of his life. 

If you want to write to me with a question, I’m happy to try to answer. Just write to me at the address on the screen, it’s bob@jewsforjesus.org.au and I’ll give it a go.

Until next week, when we will meet again to share about chapter 12, the disciplined life of the believers who have come to the New Mountain, until then, chag sukkot s’meach and Shabbat shalom.

 

 

Actual text:

Heb. 11:1   Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ² For by it the men of old gained approval.

 

Heb. 11:3   By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. ⁴ By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. ⁵ By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. ⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. ⁷ By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

 

Heb. 11:8   By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; ¹⁰ for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ¹¹ By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. ¹² Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN IN NUMBER, AND INNUMERABLE AS THE SAND WHICH IS BY THE SEASHORE.

 

Heb. 11:13   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. ¹⁴For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. ¹⁵ And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.

 

Heb. 11:17   By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; ¹⁸ it was he to whom it was said, “IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED.” ¹⁹ He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type. ²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come. ²¹ By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. ²² By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones.

 

Heb. 11:23   By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. ²⁴ By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. ²⁷ By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them. ²⁹ By faith they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land; and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were ¹drowned.

 

Heb. 11:30   By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. ³¹ By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.

 

Heb. 11:32   And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, ³³ who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. ³⁵ Women receivedback their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; ³⁶ and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated ³⁸ (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

 

Heb. 11:39   And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.

 

 

 

Bibliography

Allen, Ronald, Lord of Song, Multnomah Press, Portland, 1985.

Jacob, Alex, The case for Enlargement Theology, Glory to Glory, Walden, UK, 2010.

Ladd, George E., A Theology of the New Testament, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1974. (Pages 571 – 587)

Lane, William L, Word Biblical Commentary Series, Hebrews.

Vine, W.E., An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Revell, Old Tappan, NJ, 1966.

Weirsbe, Warren. Be Confident. David C. Cook Publishing, Colorado Springs,1982.

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D-Groups for this week

1)             Tuesday 11 am Sydney time. Led by James Howse

2)             Monday 10 am Sydney time, led by Rebekah Bronn

3)             Thursday 7 pm, Sydney time, led by James White

(Contact our office for zoom details)

 

If you’d like to host a D-Group either online or in person, please contact bob@jewsforjesus.org.au for further details.