A Cloud of Witnesses

Prayer

Heavenly Father, the entrance of Your Word gives light!

We ask that You will shine the light of Your Word into our hearts,

so that it may be reflected in our lives and illuminate the world around us.

Amen

Greeting

Good Morning! My name is Andrew Daw and I am Efford’s Indigenous Theologian.

Background

During the last quarter of the 1st century a letter was sent from the Roman Church to Corinth written by Clement of Rome (c. AD 95). This Christian leader evidently knew the Letter to the Hebrews and made reference to it in his letter.

Mention of the Letter to the Hebrews was also found in other letters from the Church Fathers such as the Epistle of Barnabas (c.AD 100) and 2 Clement (c. AD 140-160). It was also used by other early Christian writers. It was used by Justin Martyr (mid 2nd cent), and in the Shepherd of Hermas (pre AD 175), and by Tertullian [ICC].

The letter to the Hebrews is well attested in our most authoritative codices (books) from the 4th and 5th centuries, such as Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, Vaticanus and Ephraemi. Some of our oldest manuscripts of the Letter to the Hebrews are papyri (scrolls) from the the 3rd century (p12, p13, p14, p17), but p46 may date a little earlier around AD 200 [WBC 47a].

The position of Hebrews in the NT manuscripts can vary. Uncertainty about its authorship may have contributed to this situation [TCGNTSE].

Traditionally, the Letter to the Hebrews is ascribed to Paul, but we are not completely sure who wrote it, or who it was addressed to. Ancient tradition identifies the intended recipients as believers of Jewish ethnicity. Some think that the author may have been Barnabas the prophet, a companion of Pauls (Acts 13:1).

This letter has a very high very high Christology. It illustrates the preeminence of the New Covenant both in contrast to the Old Covenant and as a new expression of the Old Covenant, built firmly upon its foundations.

Introduction

Hebrews 11 focuses our attention on faith.

The Western World is currently suffering from a crisis of faith. Faith in God. Faith in Christianity. Loss of confidence in traditional morality. We have lost faith in ourselves, our traditions, and the great achievements of the past.

One of the great challenges facing the modern Christian is to remind people from Western countries of the rich heritage of Christian faith that we have inherited that has changed the world for the better in past and could do so again.

Hebrews 11 presents us with a list of heroes of faith that Christians are encouraged to revere. Modern Western Christians often characterise themselves in contrast to their OT Jewish forebears in faith, but here and elsewhere we are encouraged to follow their example and learn from them.

Modern Western Christians sometimes feel a disconnect from the great heros of the OT, but the first Christians did not have this problem. We would do well to learn from them and from the author of the letter to the Hebrews.

There is enough material in Hebrews 11 for a whole series of sermons, but we are going to content ourselves with looking at the the heroes of faith in our reading and looking to Jesus.

If I was to summarise the point of this chapter in one sentence I would say that Hebrews 11 is about the power of faith. Men and women of God have accomplished great things in the service of God by exercising their faith in God.

It seems unlikely to me that the evil of slavery would have gone into such swift decline without the resilient Christian faith of William Wilberforce and others like him.

Recent sermons have reminded us that faith can only be considered real when it shows up in what we do and how we behave.

This chapter about faith is not as an introspective exercise in self-examination, it is a list of men and women who lived committed lives and accomplished great things in the service of God and their people.

This chapter reminds us that faith endures through challenges and hardships. We often interpret difficulty as something that is contrary to God’s plan, but sometimes God’s plan comes to fruition through those who endure and overcome difficulty.

Not much was accomplish by resting upon a flowery bed of ease, or by those whose faith was entirely private and purely theoretical.

The Red (Reed) Sea

Hebrews 11:29 NIV

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

Down the centuries many nations have tried to put an end to Israel, but Israel still exists. The first nation to attempt to destroy Israel was the Egyptians. Since then many attempts have been made to destroy the people and the land without success.

After Israel fled the cruel slavery of Egypt, the Egyptians pursued them. But God parted the waves of the Red Sea so that the children of Israel could cross on dry land. When the Egyptians tried to follow, they drowned in the waters.

Down the centuries many have tried to put an end to the Christian Church, but it continues today. In a number of countries around the world Christians are persecuted, the Church is suppressed and vilified but it still continues.

I regularly pray for our suffering brothers and sisters in Muslim lands. I continue pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the safety of Israel, and for a just peace for Israel.

The Walls of Jericho

Hebrews 11:30 NIV

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.

Today in our less religious climate, God’s call to Israel to inherit the promised land is unpopular and unwelcome, yet we are reminded of it in the New Testament. We are invited to respect Israel’s past defenders and to applaud the tenacity of their faith.

Rahab

Hebrews 11:31 NIV

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

The nations around Israel were hostile to them, and certainly did not respect their divine call to inherit the promised land. But there was just one lone voice, a woman of ill repute. She was saved because of her obedience to the word of God.

We do not know what happened to Rahab after this, but James portrays her as a woman of faith (James 2:25). Matthew’s Gospel gives us reason to believe that she may have been an ancestor of Jesus (Matthew 1:5).

Sometimes those who seem to be furthest away from the path of faith can surprise us and disturb us in our complacency.

The Role of Honour

Hebrews 11:32–34 NIV

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

The Philistines that lived to the south of Israel were determined to overrun and control Israel, but God sent a long line of deliverers to save Israel from her enemies.

Many of the heroes of faith were great warriors, who accomplished the impossible by faith. I don’t want to skip over that point because we have recently commemorated VJ day, and owe a great debt of gratitude to the brave men and women who fought during the World Wars for the cause of freedom. There is no shame in fighting a just war.

As we read these stories we sometimes struggle to accept that God is the Supreme Judge whose justice is final. But sometimes evil must fall so that good can rise, and sometimes that means conflict, suffering, and war. However, peace is always the preferred option.

The Christian faith is a community faith which may require us to accept insult and even to turn the other cheek, or it may require us to stand up and combat evil as an act of devotion to our Lord.

The Martyrs

Hebrews 11:35–39 NIV

Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,

Israel survived the ruthless cruelty of the Assyrians, conquest and occupation by the Persians and Greeks. Rome tried to remove Israeli and Jewish identity entirely, but the people of Israel continued to exist.

The Jewish people were scattered, and persecuted by Muslims and Christians, and more recently pressured by Secular Governments, but Israel still exists.

The Jewish people have returned to their ancestral homeland, and still face opposition, but the miracle of Israel and the Jewish people persists to this very day as promised by the prophets of old (Jeremiah 31:35-37).

Many ancient nations have disappeared into the sands of time without a trace under a fraction of the problems that Israel has faced, and yet Israel is still with us.

Hebrews 11 is not just a role of honour for the men and women of faith that have preceded us in the service of God and their people. It is Israel’s living testimony that God has been faithful to his promises, and has preserved them and restored them against all the odds.

But more than this it is a testimony that God is faithful to the promises in His word.

The Supreme Example (What Does All This Mean To Us Today?

Hebrews 12:1–2 NIV

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The author of this letter gathers together a cloud of witnesses to the faithfulness of God to encourage perseverance and faithfulness in believers.

The Christian life is portrayed as a race where participants must cast aside their burdens and anything that would slow them down and go for it. Athletes might train for years so that they would be ready for the great race. A bit like the Olympics.

In the Roman games there would usually be a patron and other dignitaries that the participants might look to, and there were spectators (or witnesses) who were present to observe the race, to spur on participants with their support [ICC].

The author of Hebrews invites us to commit to 1) Preparation, 2) Participation, and 3) Perseverance [Barton Hebrews 1997].

We must cast off those things that will impede our progress in the race so that we can function at our best. We must follow through in our commitment to run the race and not be ‘all talk’, and we need to endure to the end.

The author pointed to the history of Israel for our spiritual ancestry. It seems unlikely to that the split between Judaism and Christianity had taken place when this letter was written.

The author uses these examples to encourage believers to put away those things that they know to be wrong, and anything that might get in the way of participation in the race.

If we accept the judgement of an unbelieving and sceptical world, then we would despair of faith and could not endure hardship like those who have gone before us. But if we accept the judgement of our Lord and those with whom we serve, then we will be better equipped to stand firm in the faith of Christ.

The author encourages us to fix our eyes upon Jesus who endured suffering and shame though He was not at fault. But now He is exalted and seated at the right hand of God, and we should remember His example.

Don’t lose heart! Jesus has gone before you. You are part of a long line of believers that stretches back to Jesus and the apostles, back to Moses and the children of Israel, back to Abraham, Noah, and righteous Abel.

We have a spiritual heritage to be proud of, and spiritual forerunners who changed the world forever because they were willing to run the race and pay the price. Let us represent Christ with distinction so that only together with us our spiritual forebears may be made perfect.

Moses and his generation received the promises given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but it was only when the Joshua generation went forth to conquer and inherited the promised land that the cycle was fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God began to take shape.

Within the pages of the New Testament we see the fulfilment of the ancient Old Testament prophecies and promises, so that the cycle may be complete and the Kingdom of God may take shape upon the earth.

Jesus our Lord endured hardship and is now seated at the right hand of God (Ps.110). One day we hope that He may say to us, Well Done!

Hebrews 11:39–40 NIV

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

AMEN