H
E B R E W S
CHAP. XI.
The
apostle having, in the close of the foregoing chapter, recommended the grace
of faith and a life of faith as the best preservative against apostasy, he now
enlarges upon the nature and fruits of this excellent grace. I. The nature of
it, and the honour it reflects upon all who live in the exercise of it, ver.
1-3. II. The great examples we have in the Old Testament of those who lived by
faith, and died and suffered extraordinary things by the strength of his
grace, ver. 4-38. And, III. The advantages that we have in the gospel for the
exercise of this grace above what those had who lived in the times of the Old
Testament, ver. 39, 40.
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The
Nature of Faith.
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A. D. 62.
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1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders
obtained a good report. 3 Through faith we understand that the
worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not
made of things which do appear.
Here we have, I. A definition or description of the grace of faith in two
parts. 1. It is the substance of things hoped for. Faith and hope go
together; and the same things that are the object of our hope are the object
of our faith. It is a firm persuasion and expectation that God will perform
all that he has promised to us in Christ; and this persuasion is so strong
that it gives the soul a kind of possession and present fruition of those
things, gives them a subsistence in the soul, by the first-fruits and
foretastes of them: so that believers in the exercise of faith are filled
with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Christ dwells in the soul by
faith, and the soul is filled with the fullness of God, as far as his present
measure will admit; he experiences a substantial reality in the objects of
faith. 2. It is the evidence of things not seen. Faith demonstrates to
the eye of the mind the reality of those things that cannot be discerned by
the eye of the body. Faith is the firm assent of the soul to the divine
revelation and every part of it, and sets to its seal that God is true. It is
a full approbation of all that God has revealed as holy, just, and good; it
helps the soul to make application of all to itself with suitable affections
and endeavours; and so it is designed to serve the believer instead of sight,
and to be to the soul all that the senses are to the body. That faith is but
opinion or fancy which does not realize invisible things to the soul, and
excite the soul to act agreeably to the nature and importance of them.
II. An account of the honour it reflects upon all those who have lived in the
exercise of it (v. 2): By it the elders obtained a good report--the
ancient believers, who lived in the first ages of the world. Observe, 1. True
faith is an old grace, and has the best plea to antiquity: it is not a new
invention, a modern fancy; it is a grace that has been planted in the soul of
man ever since the covenant of grace was published in the world; and it has
been practiced from the beginning of the revelation; the eldest and best men
that ever were in the world were believers. 2. Their faith was their honour;
it reflected honour upon them. They were an honour to their faith, and their
faith was an honour to them. It put them upon doing the things that were of
good report, and God has taken care that a record shall be kept and report
made of the excellent things they did in the strength of this grace. The
genuine actings of faith will bear to be reported, deserve to be reported, and
will, when reported, redound to the honour of true believers.
III. We have here one of the first acts and articles of faith, which has a
great influence on all the rest, and which is common to all believers in every
age and part of the world, namely, the creation of the worlds by the word
of God, not out of pre-existent matter, but out of nothing, v. 3.
The grace of faith has a retrospect as well as prospect; it looks not only
forward to the end of the world, but back to the beginning of the world. By
faith we understand much more of the formation of the world than ever could be
understood by the naked eye of natural reason. Faith is not a force upon the
understanding, but a friend and a help to it. Now what does faith give us to
understand concerning the worlds, that is, the upper, middle, and lower
regions of the universe? 1. That these worlds were not eternal, nor did
they produce themselves, but they were made by another. 2. That the maker of
the worlds is god; he is the maker of all things; and whoever is so must be
God. 3. That he made the world with great exactness; it was a framed
work, in every thing duly adapted and disposed to answer its end, and to
express the perfections of the Creator. 4. That God made the world by his
word, that is, by his essential wisdom and eternal Son, and by his active
will, saying, Let it be done, and it was done, Ps. xxxiii. 9. 5. That
the world was thus framed out of nothing, out of no pre-existent matter,
contrary to the received maxim, that "out of nothing nothing can be
made," which, though true of created power, can have no place with God,
who can call things that are not as if they were, and command them into
being. These things we understand by faith. The Bible gives us the truest and
most exact account of the origin of all things, and we are to believe it, and
not to wrest or run down the scripture-account of the creation, because it
does not suit with some fantastic hypotheses of our own, which has been in
some learned but conceited men the first remarkable step towards infidelity,
and has led them into many more.
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Exemplars
of Faith.
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A. D. 62.
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4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more
excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was
righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not
found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this
testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is
impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that
he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as
yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which
he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by
faith. 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a
place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went
out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the
land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with
Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 For he
looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is
God. 11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to
conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she
judged him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore sprang there
even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky
in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen
them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them,
and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a
country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country
from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have
returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is,
an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath
prepared for them a city. 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried,
offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only
begotten son, 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall
thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to
raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a
figure. 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things
to come. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the
sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his
staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the
departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his
bones. 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months
of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were
not afraid of the king's commandment. 24 By faith Moses, when he
was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy
the pleasures of sin for a season; 26 Esteeming the reproach of
Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the
recompence of the reward. 27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not
fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is
invisible. 28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the
sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch
them. 29 By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land:
which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. 30 By faith the
walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.
31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when
she had received the spies with peace.
The apostle, having given us a more general account of the grace of faith, now
proceeds to set before us some illustrious examples of it in the Old-Testament
times, and these may be divided into two classes:-- 1. Those whose names are
mentioned, and the particular exercise and actings of whose faith are
specified. 2. Those whose names are barely mentioned, and an account given in
general of the exploits of their faith, which it is left to the reader to
accommodate, and apply to the particular persons from what he gathers up in
the sacred story. We have here those whose names are not only mentioned, but
the particular trials and actings of their faith are subjoined.
I. The leading instance and example of faith here recorded is that of Abel. It
is observable that the Spirit of God has not thought fit to say any thing here
of the faith of our first parents; and yet the church of God has generally, by
a pious charity, taken it for granted that God gave them repentance and faith
in the promised seed, that he instructed them in the mystery of sacrificing,
that they instructed their children in it, and that they found mercy with God,
after they had ruined themselves and all their posterity. But God has left the
matter still under some doubt, as a warning to all who have great talents
given to them, and a great trust reposed in them, that they do not prove
unfaithful, since God would not enroll our first parents among the number of
believers in this blessed calendar. It begins with Abel, one of the first
saints, and the first martyr for religion, of all the sons of Adam, one who
lived by faith, and died for it, and therefore a fit pattern for the Hebrews
to imitate. Observe,
1. What Abel did by faith: He offered up a more acceptable sacrifice than
Cain, a more full and perfect sacrifice, pleiona
qusian. Hence learn, (1.) That, after the fall, God
opened a new way for the children of men to return to him in religious
worship. This is one of the first instances that is upon record of fallen men
going in to worship God; and it was a wonder of mercy that all intercourse
between God and man was not cut off by the fall. (2.) After the fall, God must
be worshipped by sacrifices, a way of worship which carries in it a confession
of sin, and of the desert of sin, and a profession of faith in a Redeemer, who
was to be a ransom for the souls of men. (3.) That, from the beginning, there
has been a remarkable difference between the worshippers. Here were two
persons, brethren, both of whom went in to worship God, and yet there was a
vast difference. Cain was the elder brother, but Abel has the preference. It
is not seniority of birth, but grace, that makes men truly honourable. The
difference is observable in their persons: Abel was an upright person, a
righteous man, a true believer; Cain was a formalist, had not a principle of
special grace. It is observable in their principles: Abel acted under the
power of faith; Cain only from the force of education, or natural conscience.
There was also a very observable difference in their offerings: Abel brought a
sacrifice of atonement, brought of the firstlings of the flock,
acknowledging himself to be a sinner who deserved to die, and only hoping for
mercy through the great sacrifice; Cain brought only a sacrifice of
acknowledgment, a mere thank-offering, the fruit of the ground, which
might, and perhaps must, have been offered in innocency; here was no
confession of sin, no regard to the ransom; this was an essential defect in
Cain's offering. There will always be a difference between those who worship
the true God; some will compass him about with lies, others will be faithful
with the saints; some, like the Pharisee, will lean to their own
righteousness; others, like the publican, will confess their sin, and cast
themselves upon the mercy of God in Christ.
2. What Abel gained by his faith: the original record is in Gen. iv. 4, God
had respect to Abel, and to his offering; first to his person as gracious,
then to his offering as proceeding from grace, especially from the grace of
faith. In this place we are told that he obtained by his faith some special
advantages; as, (1.) Witness that he was righteous, a justified,
sanctified, and accepted person; this, very probably, was attested by fire
from heaven, kindling and consuming his sacrifice. (2.) God gave witness to
the righteousness of his person, by testifying his acceptance of his gifts.
When the fire, an emblem of God's justice, consumed the offering, it was a
sign that the mercy of God accepted the offerer for the sake of the great
sacrifice. (3.) By it he, being dead, yet speaketh. He had the honour
to leave behind him an instructive speaking case; and what does it speak to
us? What should we learn from it? [1.] That fallen man has leave to go in to
worship God, with hope of acceptance. [2.] That, if our persons and offerings
be accepted, it must be through faith in the Messiah. [3.] That acceptance
with God is a peculiar and distinguishing favour. [4.] That those who obtain
this favour from God must expect the envy and malice of the world. [5.] That
God will not suffer the injuries done to his people to remain unpunished, nor
their sufferings unrewarded. These are very good and useful instructions, and
yet the blood of sprinkling speaketh better things than that of Abel.
[6.] That God would not suffer Abel's faith to die with him, but would raise
up others, who should obtain like precious faith; and so he did in a little
time; for in the next verse we read,
II. Of the faith of Enoch, v. 5. He is the second of those elders that
through faith have a good report. Observe,
1. What is here reported of him. In this place (and in Gen. v. 22, &c.) we
read, (1.) That he walked with God, that is, that he was really,
eminently, actively, progressively, and perseveringly religious in his
conformity to God, communion with God, and complacency in God. (2.) That he
was translated, that he should not see death, nor any part of him be found
upon earth; for God took him, soul and body, into heaven, as he will do those
of the saints who shall be found alive at his second coming. (3.) That
before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. He had
the evidence of it in his own conscience, and the Spirit of God witnessed with
his spirit. Those who by faith walk with God in a sinful world are pleasing to
him, and he will give them marks of his favour, and put honour upon them.
2. What is here said of his faith, v. 6. It is said that without
this faith it is impossible to please God, without such a faith as
helps us to walk with God, an active faith, and that we cannot come to God
unless we believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those that
diligently seek him. (1.) He must believe that God is, and that he is what
he is, what he has revealed himself to be in the scripture, a Being of
infinite perfections, subsisting in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost. Observe, The practical belief of the existence of God, as revealed in
the word, would be a powerful awe-band upon our souls, a bridle of restraint
to keep us from sin, and a spur of constraint to put us upon all manner of
gospel obedience. (2.) That he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek
him. Here observe, [1.] By the fall we have lost God; we have lost the
divine light, life, love, likeness, and communion. [2.] God is again to be
found of us through Christ, the second Adam. [3.] God has prescribed means and
ways wherein he may be found; to with, a strict attention to his oracles,
attendance on his ordinances, and ministers duly discharging their office and
associating with his people, observing his providential guidance, and in all
things humbly waiting his gracious presence. [4.] Those who would find God in
these ways of his must seek him diligently; they must seek early,
earnestly, and perseveringly. Then shall they seek him, and find him, if
they seek him with all their heart; and when once they have found him, as
their reconciled God, they will never repent the pains they have spent in
seeking after him.
III. The faith of Noah, v. 7. Observe,
1. The ground of Noah's faith--a warning he had received from God of things as
yet not seen. He had a divine revelation, whether by voice or vision does not
appear; but it was such as carried in it its own evidence; he was forewarned
of things not seen as yet, that is, of a great and severe judgment, such
as the world had never yet seen, and of which, in the course of second causes,
there was not yet the least sign. This secret warning he was to communicate to
the world, who would be sure to despise both him and his message. God usually
warns sinners before he strikes; and, where his warnings are slighted, the
blow will fall the heavier.
2. The actings of Noah's faith, and the influence it had both upon his mind
and practice. (1.) Upon his mind; it impressed his soul with a fear of God's
judgment: he was moved with fear. Faith first influences our
affections, then our actions; and faith works upon those affections that are
suitable to the matter revealed. If it be some good thing, faith stirs up love
and desire; if some evil thing, faith stirs up fear. (2.) His faith influenced
his practice. His fear, thus excited by believing God's threatening, moved him
to prepare an ark, in which, no doubt, he met with the scorns and reproaches
of a wicked generation. He did not dispute with God why he should make an ark,
nor how it could be capable of containing what was to be lodged in it, nor how
such a vessel could possibly weather out so great a storm. His faith silenced
all objections, and set him to work in earnest.
3. The blessed fruits and rewards of Noah's faith. (1.) Hereby himself and his
house were saved, when a whole world of sinners were perishing about them. God
saved his family for his sake; it was well for them that they were Noah's sons
and daughters; it was well for those women that they married into Noah's
family; perhaps they might have married to great estates in other families,
but then they would have been drowned. We often say, "It is good to be
akin to an estate;" but surely it is good to be akin to the covenant.
(2.) Hereby he judged and condemned the world; his holy fear condemned their
security and vain confidence; his faith condemned their unbelief; his
obedience condemned their contempt and rebellion. Good examples will either
convert sinners or condemn them. There is something very convincing in a life
of strict holiness and regard to God; it commends itself to every man's
conscience in the sight of God, and they are judged by it. This is the best
way the people of God can take to condemn the wicked; not by harsh and
censorious language, but by a holy exemplary conversation. (3.) Hereby he
became an heir of the righteousness which is by faith. [1.] He was
possessed of a true justifying righteousness; he was heir to it: and,
[2.] This his right of inheritance was through faith in Christ, as a member
of Christ, a child of God, and, if a child, then an heir. His
righteousness was relative, resulting from his adoption, through faith in the
promised seed. As ever we expect to be justified and saved in the great and
terrible day of the Lord, let us now prepare an ark, secure an interest in
Christ, and in the ark of the covenant, and do it speedily, before the door be
shut, for there is not salvation in any other.
IV. The faith of Abraham, the friend of God, and father of the faithful, in
whom the Hebrews boasted, and from whom they derived their pedigree and
privileges; and therefore the apostle, that he might both please and profit
them, enlarges more upon the heroic achievements of Abraham's faith than of
that of any other of the patriarchs; and in the midst of his account of the
faith of Abraham he inserts the story of Sarah's faith, whose daughters those
women are that continue to do well. Observe,
1. The ground of Abraham's faith, the call and promise of God, v. 8.
(1.) This call, though it was a very trying call, was the call of God, and
therefore a sufficient ground for faith and rule of obedience. The manner in
which he was called Stephen relates in Acts vii. 2, 3, The God of glory
appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia--And said unto him,
Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land
which I will show thee. This was an effectual call, by which he was
converted from the idolatry of his father's house, Gen. xii. 1. This call was
renewed after his father's death in Charran. Observe, [1.] The grace of God is
absolutely free, in taking some of the worst of men, and making them the best.
[2.] God must come to us before we come to him. [3.] In calling and converting
sinners, God appears as a God of glory, and works a glorious work in the soul.
[4.] This calls us not only to leave sin, but sinful company, and whatever is
inconsistent with our devotedness to him. [5.] We need to be called, not only
to set out well, but to go on well. [6.] He will not have his people take up
that rest any where short of the heavenly Canaan. (2.) The promise of God. God
promised Abraham that the place he was called to he should afterwards receive
for an inheritance, after awhile he should have the heavenly Canaan for his
inheritance, and in process of time his posterity should inherit the earthly
Canaan. Observe here, [1.] God calls his people to an inheritance: by his
effectual call he makes them children, and so heirs. [2.] This inheritance is
not immediately possessed by them; they must wait some time for it: but the
promise is sure, and shall have its seasonable accomplishment. [3.] The faith
of parents often procures blessings for their posterity.
2. The exercise of Abraham's faith: he yielded an implicit regard to the call
of God. (1.) He went out, not knowing whither he went. He put himself
into the hand of God, to send him whithersoever he pleased. He subscribed to
God's wisdom, as fittest to direct; and submitted to his will, as fittest to
determine every thing that concerned him. Implicit faith and obedience are due
to God, and to him only. All that are effectually called resign up their own
will and wisdom to the will and wisdom of God, and it is their wisdom to do
so; though they know not always their way, yet they know their guide, and this
satisfies them. (2.) He sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange
country. This was an exercise of his faith. Observe, [1.] How Canaan is
called the land of promise, because yet only promised, not possessed. [2.] How
Abraham lived in Canaan, not as heir and proprietor, but as a sojourner only.
He did not serve an ejectment, or raise a war against the old inhabitants, to
dispossess them, but contented himself to live as a stranger, to bear their
unkindnesses patiently, to receive any favours from them thankfully, and to
keep his heart fixed upon his home, the heavenly Canaan. [3.] He dwelt in
tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. He lived
there in an ambulatory moving condition, living in a daily readiness for his
removal: and thus should we all live in this world. He had good company with
him, and they were a great comfort to him in his sojourning state. Abraham
lived till Isaac was seventy-five years old, and Jacob fifteen. Isaac and
Jacob were heirs of the same promise; for the promise was renewed to Isaac
(Gen. xxvi. 3), and to Jacob, Gen. xxviii. 13. All the saints are heirs of the
same promise. The promise is made to believers and their children, and to as
many as the Lord our God shall call. And it is pleasant to see parents and
children sojourning together in this world as heirs of the heavenly
inheritance.
3. The supports of Abraham's faith (v. 10): He looked for a city
that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Observe here, (1.)
The description given of heaven: it is a city, a regular society, well
established, well defended, and well supplied: it is a city that hath
foundations, even the immutable purposes and almighty power of God, the
infinite merits and mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the promises of an
everlasting covenant, its own purity, and the perfection of its inhabitants:
and it is a city whose builder and maker is God. He contrived the model; he
accordingly made it, and he has laid open a new and living way into it, and
prepared it for his people; he puts them into possession of it, prefers them
in it, and is himself the substance and felicity of it. (2.) Observe the due
regard that Abraham had to this heavenly city: he looked for it; he believed
there was such a state; he waited for it, and in the mean time he conversed in
it by faith; he had exalted and rejoicing hopes, that in God's time and way he
should be brought safely to it. (3.) The influence this had upon his present
conversation: it was a support to him under all the trials of his sojourning
state, helped him patiently to bear all the inconveniences of it, and actively
to discharge all the duties of it, persevering therein unto the end.
V. In the midst of the story of Abraham, the apostle inserts an account of the
faith of Sarah. Here observe,
1. The difficulties of Sarah's faith, which were very great. As, (1.) The
prevalency of unbelief for a time: she laughed at the promise, as impossible
to be made good. (2.) She had gone out of the way of her duty through
unbelief, in putting Abraham upon taking Hagar to his bed, that he might have
a posterity. Now this sin of hers would make it more difficult for her to act
by faith afterwards. (3.) The great improbability of the thing promised, that
she should be the mother of a child, when she was of sterile constitution
naturally, and now past the prolific age.
2. The actings of her faith. Her unbelief is pardoned and forgotten, but her
faith prevailed and is recorded: She judged him faithful, who had promised,
v. 11. She received the promise as the promise of God; and, being
convinced of that, she truly judged he both could and would perform it, how
impossible soever it might seem to reason; for the faithfulness of God will
not suffer him to deceive his people.
3. The fruits and rewards of her faith. (1.) She received strength to
conceive seed. The strength of nature, as well as grace, is from God: he
can make the barren soul fruitful, as well as the barren womb. (2.) She was
delivered of a child, a man-child, a child of the promise, and comfort of
his parents' advanced years, and the hope of future ages. (3.) From them, by
this son, sprang a numerous progeny of illustrious persons, as the stars of
the sky (v. 12)-- a great, powerful, and renowned nation, above all
the rest in the world; and a nation of saints, the peculiar church and people
of God; and, which was the highest honour and reward of all, of these,
according to the flesh, the Messiah came, who is over all, God blessed for
evermore.
VI. The apostle proceeds to make mention of the faith of the other patriarchs,
Isaac and Jacob, and the rest of this happy family, v. 13. Here
observe,
1. The trial of their faith in the imperfection of their present state. They
had not received the promises, that is, they had not received the things
promised, they had not yet been put into possession of Canaan, they had not
yet seen their numerous issue, they had not seen Christ in the flesh. Observe,
(1.) Many that are interested in the promises do not presently receive the
things promised. (2.) One imperfection of the present state of the saints on
earth is that their happiness lies more in promise and reversion than in
actual enjoyment and possession. The gospel state is more perfect than the
patriarchal, because more of the promises are now fulfilled. The heavenly
state will be most perfect of all; for there all the promises will have their
full accomplishment.
2. The actings of their faith during this imperfect state of things. Though
they had not received the promises, yet,
(1.) They saw them afar off. Faith has a clear and a strong eye, and can see
promised mercies at a great distance. Abraham saw Christ's day, when it was
afar off, and rejoiced, John viii. 56.
(2.) They were persuaded of them, that they were true and should be fulfilled.
Faith sets to its seal that God is true, and thereby settles and satisfies the
soul.
(3.) They embraced them. Their faith was a faith of consent. Faith has a long
arm, and can lay hold of blessings at a great distance, can make them present,
can love them, and rejoice in them; and thus antedate the enjoyment of them.
(4.) They confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on earth.
Observe, [1.] Their condition: Strangers and pilgrims. They are
strangers as saints, whose home is heaven; they are pilgrims as they are
travelling towards their home, though often meanly and slowly. [2.] Their
acknowledgment of this their condition: they were not ashamed to own it; both
their lips and their lives confessed their present condition. They expected
little from the world. They cared not to engage much in it. They endeavoured
to lay aside every weight, to gird up the loins of their minds to mind their
way, to keep company and pace with their fellow-travellers, looking for
difficulties, and bearing them, and longing to get home.
(5.) Hereby they declared plainly that they sought another country (v.
14), heaven, their own country. For their spiritual birth is thence, there are
their best relations, and there is their inheritance. This country they seek:
their designs are for it; their desires are after it; their discourse is about
it; they diligently endeavour to clear up their title to it, to have their
temper suited to it, to have their conversation in it, and to come to the
enjoyment of it.
(6.) They gave full proof of their sincerity in making such a confession. For,
[1.] They were not mindful of that country whence they came, v. 15.
They did not hanker after the plenty and pleasures of it, nor regret and
repent that they had left it; they had no desire to return to it. Note, Those
that are once effectually and savingly called out of a sinful state have no
mind to return into it again; they now know better things. [2.] They did not
take the opportunity that offered itself for their return. They might have had
such an opportunity. They had time enough to return. They had natural strength
to return. They knew the way. Those with whom they sojourned would have been
willing enough to part with them. Their old friends would have been glad to
receive them. They had sufficient to bear the charges of their journey; and
flesh and blood, a corrupt counsellor, would be sometimes suggesting to them a
return. But they stedfastly adhered to God and duty under all discouragements
and against all temptations to revolt from him. So should we all do. We shall
not want opportunities to revolt from God; but we must show the truth of our
faith and profession by a steady adherence to him to the end of our days.
Their sincerity appeared not only in not returning to their former country,
but in desiring a better country, that is, a heavenly. Observe, First,
The heavenly country is better than any upon earth; it is better situated,
better stored with every thing that is good, better secured from every thing
that is evil; the employments, the enjoyments, the society, and every thing in
it, are better than the best in this world. Secondly, All true
believers desire this better country. True faith draws forth sincere and
fervent desires; and the stronger faith is the more fervent those desires will
be.
(7.) They died in the faith of those promises; not only lived by the faith of
them, but died in the full persuasion that all the promises would be fulfilled
to them and theirs, v. 13. That faith held out to the last. By faith,
when they were dying, they received the atonement; they acquiesced in the will
of God; they quenched all the fiery darts of the devil; they overcame the
terrors of death, disarmed it of its sting, and bade a cheerful farewell to
this world and to all the comforts and crosses of it. These were the actings
of their faith. Now observe,
3. The gracious and great reward of their faith: God is not ashamed to be
their God, for he hath prepared for them a city, v. 16. Note, (1.)
God is the God of all true believers; faith gives them an interest in God, and
in all his fullness. (2.) He is called their God. He calls himself so: I am
the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; he gives
them leave to call him so; and he gives them the spirit of adoption, to enable
them to cry, Abba, Father. (3.) Notwithstanding their meanness by
nature, their vileness by sin, and the poverty of their outward condition, God
is not ashamed to be called their God: such is his condescension, such
is his love to them; therefore let them never be ashamed of being called his
people, nor of any of those that are truly so, how much soever despised in the
world. Above all, let them take care that they be not a shame and reproach to
their God, and so provoke him to be ashamed of them; but let them act so as to
be to him for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory. (4.) As the proof of
this, God has prepared for them a city, a happiness suitable to the relation
into which he has taken them. For there is nothing in this world commensurate
to the love of God in being the God of his people; and, if God neither could
nor would give his people anything better than this world affords, he would be
ashamed to be called their God. If he takes them into such a relation to
himself, he will provide for them accordingly. If he takes to himself the
title of their God, he will fully answer it, and act up to it; and he has
prepared that for them in heaven which will fully answer this character and
relation, so that it shall never be said, to the reproach and dishonour of
God, that he has adopted a people to be his own children and then taken no
care to make a suitable provision for them. The consideration of this should
inflame the affections, enlarge the desires, and excite the diligent
endeavours, of the people of God after this city that he has prepared for
them.
VII. Now after the apostle has given this account of the faith of others, with
Abraham, he returns to him again, and gives us an instance of the greatest
trial and act of faith that stands upon record, either in the story of the
father of the faithful or of any of his spiritual seed; and this was his
offering up Isaac: By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac;
and he that had received the promises offered up his only-begotten son, v.
17. In this great example observe,
1. The trial and exercise of Abraham's faith; he was tried indeed. It is said
(Gen. xxii. 1), God in this tempted Abraham; not to sin, for so God
tempteth no man, but only tried his faith and obedience to purpose. God had
before this tempted or tried the faith of Abraham, when he called him away
from his country and father's house,--when by a famine he was forced out of
Canaan into Egypt,--when he was obliged to fight with five kings to rescue
Lot,--when Sarah was taken from him by Abimelech, and in many other instances.
But this trial was greater than all; he was commanded to offer up his son
Isaac. Read the account of it, Gen. xxii. 2. There you will find every word
was a trial: "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest,
and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering
upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. Take thy son, not one
of thy beasts or slaves, thy only son by Sarah, Isaac thy laughter, the child
of thy joy and delight, whom thou lovest as thine own soul; take him away to a
distant place, three days' journey, the land of Moriah; do not only leave him
there, but offer him for a burnt offering." A greater trial was never put
upon any creature. The apostle here mentions some things that very much added
to the greatness of this trial. (1.) He was put upon it after he had received
the promises, that this Isaac should build up his family, that in him his seed
should be called (v. 18), and that he should be one of the progenitors
of the Messiah, and all nations blessed in him; so that, in being called to
offer up his Isaac, he seemed to be called to destroy and cut off his own
family, to cancel the promises of God, to prevent the coming of Christ, to
destroy the whole world, to sacrifice his own soul and his hopes of salvation,
and to cut off the church of God at one blow: a most terrible trial! (2.) That
this Isaac was his only-begotten son by his wife Sarah, the only one he was to
have by her, and the only one that was to be the child and heir of the
promise. Ishmael was to be put off with earthly greatness. The promise of a
posterity, and of the Messiah, must either be fulfilled by means of this son
or not at all; so that, besides his most tender affection to this his son, all
his expectations were bound up in him, and, if he perished, must perish with
him. If Abraham had ever so many sons, this was the only son who could convey
to all nations the promised blessing. A son for whom he waited so long, whom
he received in so extraordinary a manner, upon whom his heart was set--to have
this son offered up as a sacrifice, and that by his own hand; it was a trial
that would have overset the firmest and the strongest mind that ever informed
a human body.
2. The actings of Abraham's faith in so great a trial: he obeyed; he offered
up Isaac; he intentionally gave him up by his submissive soul to God, and was
ready to have done it actually, according to the command of God; he went as
far in it as to the very critical moment, and would have gone through with it
if God had not prevented him. Nothing could be more tender and moving than
those words of Isaac: My father, here is the wood, here is the fire; but
where is the lamb for the burnt-offering? little thinking that he was to
be the lamb; but Abraham knew it, and yet he went on with the great design.
3. The supports of his faith. They must be very great, suitable to the
greatness of the trial: He accounted that God was able to raise him from
the dead, v. 19. His faith was supported by the sense he had of the
mighty power of God, who was able to raise the dead; he reasoned thus with
himself, and so he resolved all his doubts. It does not appear that he had any
expectation of being countermanded, and prevented from offering up his son;
such an expectation would have spoiled the trial, and consequently the
triumph, of his faith; but he knew that God was able to raise him from the
dead, and he believed that God would do so, since such great things depended
upon his son, which must have failed if Isaac had not a further life. Observe,
(1.) God is able to raise the dead, to raise dead bodies, and to raise dead
souls. (2.) The belief of this will carry us through the greatest difficulties
and trials that we can meet with. (3.) It is our duty to be reasoning down our
doubts and fears, by the consideration of the almighty power of God.
4. The reward of his faith in this great trial (v. 19): he received his
son from the dead in a figure, in a parable. (1.) He received his son. He had
parted with him to God, and God gave him back again. The best way to enjoy our
comforts with comfort is to resign them up to God; he will then return them,
if not in kind, yet in kindness. (2.) He received him from the dead, for he
gave him up for dead; he was as a dead child to him, and the return was to him
no less than a resurrection. (3.) This was a figure or parable of something
further. It was a figure of the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ, of whom
Isaac was a type. It was a figure and earnest of the glorious resurrection of
all true believers, whose life is not lost, but hid with Christ in God. We
come now to the faith of other Old-Testament saints, mentioned by name, and by
the particular trials and actings of their faith.
VIII. Of the faith of Isaac, v. 20. Something of him we had before
interwoven with the story of Abraham; here we have something of a distinct
nature--that by faith he blessed his two sons, Jacob and Esau, concerning
things to come. Here observe,
1. The actings of his faith: He blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to
come. He blessed them; that is, he resigned them up to God in covenant; he
recommended God and religion to them; he prayed for them, and prophesied
concerning them, what would be the condition, and the condition of their
descendants: we have the account of this in Gen. xxvii. Observe, (1.) Both
Jacob and Esau were blessed as Isaac's children, at least as to temporal good
things. It is a great privilege to be the offspring of good parents, and often
the wicked children of good parents fare the better in this world for their
parents' sake, for things present are in the covenant; but they are not the
best things, and no man knoweth love or hatred by having or wanting such
things. (2.) Jacob had the precedency and the principal blessing, which shows
that it is grace and the new birth that exalt persons above their fellows and
qualify them for the best blessings, and that it is owing to the sovereign
free grace of God that in the same family one is taken and another left, one
loved and the other hated, since all the race of Adam are by nature hateful to
God--that if one has his portion in this world, and the other in the better
world, it is God who makes the difference; for even the comforts of this life
are more and better than any of the children of men deserve.
2. The difficulties Isaac's faith struggled with. (1.) He seemed to have
forgotten how God had determined the matter at the birth of these his sons,
Gen. xxv. 23. This should have been a rule to him all along, but he was rather
swayed by natural affection, and by general custom, which gives the double
portion of honour, affection, and advantage, to the first-born. (2.) He acted
in this matter with some reluctance. When he came to pronounce the blessing, he
trembled very exceedingly (Gen. xxvii. 33); and he charged Jacob that he
had subtly taken away Esau's blessing, v. 33, 35. But, notwithstanding
all this, Isaac's faith recovered itself, and he ratified the blessing: I
have blessed him yea, and he shall be blessed. Rebecca and Jacob are not
to be justified in the indirect means they used to obtain this blessing, but
God will be justified in overruling even the sins of men to serve the purposes
of his glory. Now, the faith of Isaac thus prevailing over his unbelief, it
has pleased the God of Isaac to pass by the weakness of his faith, to commend
the sincerity of it, and record him among the elders, who through faith
have obtained a good report. We now go on to,
IX. The faith of Jacob (v. 21), who, when he was dying, blessed both
the sons of Joseph, and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.
There were a great many instances of the faith of Jacob; his life was a life
of faith, and his faith met with great exercise. But it has pleased God to
single two instances out of many of the faith of this patriarch, besides what
has been already mentioned in the account of Abraham. Here observe,
1. The actings of his faith here mentioned, and they are two:--
(1.) He blessed both the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh; he
adopted them into the number of his own sons, and so into the congregation of
Israel, though they were born in Egypt. It is doubtless a great blessing to be
joined to the visible church of God in profession and privilege, but more to
be so in spirit and truth. [1.] He made them both heads of different tribes,
as if they had been his own immediate sons. [2.] He prayed for them, that they
might both be blessed of God. [3.] He prophesied that they should be blessed;
but, as Isaac did before, so now Jacob prefers the younger, Ephraim; and
though Joseph had placed them so, that the right hand of his father should be
laid on Manasseh, the elder, Jacob wittingly laid it on Ephraim, and this by
divine direction, for he could not see, to show that the Gentile church, the
younger, should have a more abundant blessing than the Jewish church, the
elder.
(2.) He worshipped, leaning on his staff; that is, he praised God for
what he had done for him, and for the prospect he had of approaching
blessedness; and he prayed for those he was leaving behind him, that religion
might live in his family when he was gone. He did this leaning on the top
of his staff; not as the papists dream, that he worshipped some image of
God engraven on the head of his staff, but intimating to us his great natural
weakness, that he was not able to support himself so far as to sit up in his
bed without a staff, and yet that he would not make this an excuse for
neglecting the worshipping of God; he would do it as well as he could with his
body, as well as with his spirit, though he could not do it as well as he
would. He showed thereby his dependence upon God, and testified his condition
here as a pilgrim with his staff, and his weariness of the world, and
willingness to be at rest.
2. The time and season when Jacob thus acted his faith: when he was dying. He
lived by faith, and he died by faith and in faith. Observe, Though the grace
of faith is of universal use throughout our whole lives, yet it is especially
so when we come to die. Faith has its greatest work to do at last, to help
believers to finish well, to die to the Lord, so as to honour him, by
patience, hope, and joy--so as to leave a witness behind them of the truth of
God's word and the excellency of his ways, for the conviction and
establishment of all who attend them in their dying moments. The best way in
which parents can finish their course is blessing their families and
worshipping their God. We have now come to,
X. The faith of Joseph, v. 22. And here also we consider,
1. What he did by his faith: He made mention of the departing of the
children of Israel, and gave commandment concerning his bones. The passage
is out of Gen. l. 24, 25. Joseph was eminent for his faith, though he had not
enjoyed the helps for it which the rest of his brethren had. He was sold into
Egypt. He was tried by temptations, by sin, by persecution, for retaining his
integrity. He was tried by preferment and power in the court of Pharaoh, and
yet his faith held out and carried him through to the last. (1.) He made
mention by faith of the departing of the children of Israel, that the time
should come when they should be delivered out of Egypt; and he did this both
that he might caution them against the thoughts of settling in Egypt, which
was now a place of plenty and ease to them; and also that he might keep them
from sinking under the calamities and distresses which he foresaw were coming
upon them there; and he does it to comfort himself, that though he should not
live to see their deliverance, yet he could die in the faith of it. (2.) He
gave commandment concerning his bones, that they should preserve them unburied
in Egypt, till God should deliver them out of that house of bondage, and that
then they should carry his bones along with them into Canaan and deposit them
there. Though believers are chiefly concerned for their souls, yet they cannot
wholly neglect their bodies, as being members of Christ and parts of
themselves, which shall at length be raised up, and be the happy companions of
their glorified souls to all eternity. Now Joseph gave this order, not that he
thought his being buried in Egypt would either prejudice his soul or prevent
the resurrection of his body (as some of the rabbis fancied that all the Jews
who were buried out of Canaan must be conveyed underground to Canaan before
they could rise again), but to testify, [1.] That though he had lived and died
in Egypt, yet he did not live and die an Egyptian, but an Israelite. [2.] That
he preferred a significant burial in Canaan before a magnificent one in Egypt.
[3.] That he would go as far with his people as he could, though he could not
go as far as he would. [4.] That he believed the resurrection of the body, and
the communion that his soul should presently have with departed saints, as his
body had with their dead bodies. [5.] To assure them that God would be with
them in Egypt, and deliver them out of it in his own time and way.
2. When it was that the faith of Joseph acted after this manner; namely, as in
the case of Jacob, when he was dying. God often gives his people living
comforts in dying moments; and when he does it is their duty, as they can, to
communicate them to those about them, for the glory of God, for the honour of
religion, and for the good of their brethren and friends. We go on now to,
XI. The faith of the parents of Moses, which is cited from Exod. ii. 3,
&c. Here observe, 1. The acting of their faith: they hid this their son
three months. Though only the mother of Moses is mentioned in the history,
yet, by what is here said, it seems his father not only consented to it, but
consulted about it. It is a happy thing where yoke-fellows draw together in
the yoke of faith, as heirs of the grace of God; and when they do this in a
religious concern for the good of their children, to preserve them not only
from those who would destroy their lives, but from those who would corrupt
their minds. Observe, Moses was persecuted betimes, and forced to be
concealed; in this he was a type of Christ, who was persecuted almost as soon
as he was born, and his parents were obliged to flee with him into Egypt for
his preservation. It is a great mercy to be free from wicked laws and edicts;
but, when we are not, we must use all lawful means for our security. In this
faith of Moses's parents there was a mixture of unbelief, but God was pleased
to overlook it. 2. The reasons of their thus acting. No doubt, natural
affection could not but move them; but there was something further. They saw
he was a proper child, a goodly child (Exod. ii. 2), exceedingly fair,
as in Acts vii. 20, asteioV tw Qew--venustus
Deo--fair to God. There appeared in him something uncommon; the
beauty of the Lord sat upon him, as a presage that he was born to great
things, and that by conversing with God his face should shine (Exod. xxxiv.
29), what bright and illustrious actions he should do for the deliverance of
Israel, and how his name should shine in the sacred records. Sometimes, not
always, the countenance is the index of the mind. 3. The prevalency of their
faith over their fear. They were not afraid of the king's commandment, Exod. i.
22. That was a wicked and a cruel edict, that all the males of the Israelites
should be destroyed in their infancy, and so the name of Israel must be
destroyed out of the earth. But they did not so fear as presently to give up
their child; they considered that, if none of the males were preserved, there
would be an end and utter ruin of the church of God and the true religion, and
that though in their present state of servitude and oppression one would
praise the dead rather than the living, yet they believed that God would
preserve his people, and that the time was coming when it would be worth while
for an Israelite to live. Some must hazard their own lives to preserve their
children, and they were resolved to do it; they knew the king's commandment
was evil in itself, contrary to the laws of God and nature, and therefore of
no authority nor obligation. Faith is a great preservative against the sinful
slavish fear of men, as it sets God before the soul, and shows the vanity of
the creature and its subordination to the will and power of God. The apostle
next proceeds to,
XII. The faith of Moses himself (v. 24, 25, &c.), here observe,
1. An instance of his faith in conquering the world.
(1.) He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, whose
foundling he was, and her fondling too; she had adopted him for his son, and
he refused it. Observe, [1.] How great a temptation Moses was under. Pharaoh's
daughter is said to have been his only child, and was herself childless; and
having found Moses, and saved him as she did, she resolved to take him and
bring him up as her son; and so he stood fair to be in time king of Egypt, and
he might thereby have been serviceable to Israel. He owed his life to this
princess; and to refuse such kindness from her would look not only like
ingratitude to her, but a neglect of Providence, that seemed to intend his
advancement and his brethren's advantage. [2.] How glorious was the triumph of
his faith in so great a trial. He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter lest he should undervalue the truer honour of being a son of
Abraham, the father of the faithful; he refused to be called the son of
Pharaoh's daughter lest it should look like renouncing his religion as
well as his relation to Israel; and no doubt both these he must have done if
he had accepted this honour; he therefore nobly refused it.
(2.) He chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, v. 25. He was willing to
take his lot with the people of God here, though it was a suffering lot, that
he might have his portion with them hereafter, rather than to enjoy all the
sensual sinful pleasures of Pharaoh's court, which would be but for a season,
and would then be punished with everlasting misery. Herein he acted rationally
as well as religiously, and conquered the temptation to worldly pleasure as he
had done before to worldly preferment. Here observe, [1.] The pleasures of sin
are and will be but short; they must end in speedy repentance or in speedy
ruin. [2.] The pleasures of this world, and especially those of a court, are
too often the pleasures of sin; and they are always so when we cannot enjoy
them without deserting God and his people. A true believer will despise them
when they are offered upon such terms. [3.] Suffering is to be chosen rather
than sin, there being more evil in the least sin than there can be in the
greatest suffering. [4.] It greatly alleviates the evil of suffering when we
suffer with the people of God, embarked in the same interest and animated by
the same Spirit.
(3.) He accounted the reproaches of Christ greater riches than the
treasures of Egypt, v. 26. See how Moses weighed matters: in one
scale he put the worst of religion--the reproaches of Christ, in the
other scale the best of the world--the treasures of Egypt; and in his
judgment, directed by faith, the worst of religion weighed down the best of
the world. The reproaches of the church of God are the reproaches of
Christ, who is, and has ever been, the head of the church. Now here Moses
conquered the riches of the world, as before he had conquered its honours and
pleasures. God's people are, and always have been, a reproached people. Christ
accounts himself reproached in their reproaches; and, while he thus interests
himself in their reproaches, they become riches, and greater riches than the
treasures of the richest empire in the world; for Christ will reward them with
a crown of glory that fades not away. Faith discerns this, and determines and
acts accordingly.
2. The circumstance of time is taken notice of, when Moses by his faith gained
this victory over the world, in all its honours, pleasures, and treasures: When
he had come to years (v. 24); not only to years of discretion, but
of experience, to the age of forty years--when he was great, or had come to
maturity. Some would take this as detracting from his victory, that he gained
it so late, that he did not make this choice sooner; but it is rather an
enhancement of the honour of his self-denial and victory over the world that
he made this choice when he had grown ripe for judgment and enjoyment, able to
know what he did and why he did it. It was not the act of a child, that
prefers counters to gold, but it proceeded from mature deliberation. It is an
excellent thing for persons to be seriously religious when in the midst of
worldly business and enjoyments, to despise the world when they are most
capable of relishing and enjoying it.
3. What it was that supported and strengthened the faith of Moses to such a
degree as to enable him to gain such a victory over the world: He had
respect unto the recompense of reward, that is, say some, the deliverance
out of Egypt; but doubtless it means much more--the glorious reward of faith
and fidelity in the other world. Observe here, (1.) Heaven is a great reward,
surpassing not only all our deservings, but all our conceptions. It is a
reward suitable to the price paid for it--the blood of Christ; suitable to the
perfections of God, and fully answering to all his promises. It is a
recompense of reward, because given by a righteous Judge for the righteousness
of Christ to righteous persons, according to the righteous rule of the
covenant of grace. (2.) Believers may and ought to have respect to this
recompense of reward; they should acquaint themselves with it, approve of it,
and live in the daily and delightful expectation of it. Thus it will prove a
land-mark to direct their course, a load-stone to draw their hearts, a sword
to conquer their enemies, a spur to quicken them to duty, and a cordial to
refresh them under all the difficulties of doing and suffering work.
4. We have another instance of the faith of Moses, namely, in forsaking Egypt:
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, v.
27. Observe here, (1.) The product of his faith: He forsook Egypt, and
all its power and pleasures, and undertook the conduct of Israel out of it.
Twice Moses forsook Egypt: [1.] As a supposed criminal, when the king's wrath
was incensed against him for killing the Egyptian (Exod. ii. 14, 15), where it
is said he feared, not with a fear of despondency, but of discretion, to save
his life. [2.] As a commander and ruler in Jeshurun, after God had employed
him to humble Pharaoh and make him willing to let Israel go. (2.) The
prevalency of his faith. It raised him above the fear of the king's wrath.
Though he knew that it was great, and levelled at him in particular, and that
it marched at the head of a numerous host to pursue him, yet he was not
dismayed, and he said to Israel, Fear not, Exod. xiv. 13. Those who
forsook Egypt must expect the wrath of men; but they need not fear it, for
they are under the conduct of that God who is able to make the wrath of man to
praise him, and restrain the remainder of it. (3.) The principle upon which
his faith acted in these his motions: He endured, as seeing him that was
invisible. He bore up with invincible courage under all danger, and
endured all the fatigue of his employment, which was very great; and this by
seeing the invisible God. Observe, [1.] The God with whom we have to do is an
invisible God: he is so to our senses, to the eye of the body; and this shows
the folly of those who pretend to make images of God, whom no man hath seen,
nor can see. [2.] By faith we may see this invisible God. We may be fully
assured of his existence, of his providence, and of his gracious and powerful
presence with us. [3.] Such a sight of God will enable believers to endure to
the end whatever they may meet with in the way.
5. We have yet another instance of the faith of Moses, in keeping the
passover and sprinkling of blood, v. 28. The account of this we
have in Exod. xii. 13-23. Though all Israel kept this passover, yet it was by
Moses that God delivered the institution of it; and, though it was a great
mystery, Moses by faith both delivered it to the people and kept it that night
in the house where he lodged. The passover was one of the most solemn
institutions of the Old Testament, and a very significant type of Christ. The
occasion of its first observance was extraordinary: it was in the same night
that God slew the first-born of the Egyptians; but, though the Israelites
lived among them, the destroying angel passed over their houses, and spared
them and theirs. Now, to entitle them to this distinguishing favour, and to
mark them out for it, a lamb must be slain; the blood of it must be sprinkled
with a bunch of hyssop upon the lintel of the door, and on the two side-posts;
the flesh of the lamb must be roasted with fire; and it must be all of it
eaten that very night with bitter herbs, in a travelling posture, their loins
girt, their shoes on their feet, and their staff in their hand. This was
accordingly done, and the destroying angel passed over them, and slew the
first-born of the Egyptians. This opened a way for the return of Abraham's
posterity into the land of promise. The accommodation of this type is not
difficult. (1.) Christ is that Lamb, he is our Passover, he was sacrificed for
us. (2.) His blood must be sprinkled; it must be applied to those who have the
saving benefit of it. (3.) It is applied effectually only to the Israelites,
the chosen people of God. (4.) It is not owing to our inherent righteousness
or best performances that we are saved from the wrath of God, but to the blood
of Christ and his imputed righteousness. If any of the families of Israel had
neglected the sprinkling of this blood upon their doors, though they should
have spent all the night in prayer, the destroying angel would have broken in
upon them, and slain their first-born. (5.) Wherever this blood is applied,
the soul receives a whole Christ by faith, and lives upon him. (6.) This true
faith makes sin bitter to the soul, even while it receives the pardon and
atonement. (7.) All our spiritual privileges on earth should quicken us to set
out early, and get forward, in our way to heaven. (8.) Those who have been
marked out must ever remember and acknowledge free and distinguishing grace.
XIII. The next instance of faith is that of the Israelites passing through the
Red Sea under the conduct of Moses their leader, v. 29. The story we
have in Exodus, ch. xiv. Observe,
1. The preservation and safe passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea,
when there was no other way to escape from Pharaoh and his host, who were
closely pursuing them. Here we may observe, (1.) Israel's danger was very
great; an enraged enemy with chariots and horsemen behind them; steep rocks
and mountains on either hand, and the Red Sea before them. (2.) Their
deliverance was very glorious. By faith they passed through the Red Sea as on
dry land; the grace of faith will help us through all the dangers we meet with
in our way to heaven.
2. The destruction of the Egyptians. They, presumptuously attempting to follow
Israel through the Red Sea, being thus blinded and hardened to their ruin,
were all drowned. Their rashness was great, and their ruin was grievous. When
God judges, he will overcome; and it is plain that the destruction of sinners
is of themselves.
XIV. The next instance of faith is that of the Israelites, under Joshua their
leader, before the walls of Jericho. The story we have Josh. vi. 5, &c.
Here observe, 1. The means prescribed to God to bring down the walls of
Jericho. It was ordered that they should compass the walls about once a day
for seven days together and seven times the last day, that the priests should
carry the ark when they compassed the walls about, and should blow with
trumpets made of rams' horns, and sound a longer blast than before, and then
all the people should shout, and the walls of Jericho should fall before them.
Here was a great trial of their faith. The method prescribed seemed very
improbable to answer such an end, and would doubtless expose them to the daily
contempt of their enemies; the ark of God would seem to be in danger. But this
was the way God commanded them to take, and he loves to do great things by
small and contemptible means, that his own arm may be made bare. 2. The
powerful success of the prescribed means. The walls of Jericho fell before
them. This was a frontier town in the land of Canaan, the first that stood out
against the Israelites. God was pleased in this extraordinary manner to slight
and dismantle it, in order to magnify himself, to terrify the Canaanites, to
strengthen the faith of the Israelites, and to exclude all boasting. God can
and will in his own time and way cause all the powerful opposition that is
made to his interest and glory to fall down, and the grace of faith is mighty
through God for the pulling down of strong-holds; he will make Babylon fall
before the faith of his people, and, when he has some great thing to do for
them, he raises up great and strong faith in them.
XV. The next instance is the faith of Rahab, v. 31. Among the noble
army of believing worthies, bravely marshalled by the apostle, Rahab comes in
the rear, to show that God is no respecter of persons. Here consider,
1. Who this Rahab was. (1.) She was a Canaanite, a stranger to the
commonwealth of Israel, and had but little help for faith, and yet she was
a believer; the power of divine grace greatly appears when it works without
the usual means of grace. (2.) She was a harlot, and lived in a way of sin;
she was not only a keeper of a public house, but a common woman of the town,
and yet she believed that the greatness of sin, if truly repented of, shall be
no bar to the pardoning mercy of God. Christ has saved the chief of sinners. Where
sin has abounded, grace has superabounded.
2. What she did by her faith: She received the spies in peace, the men
that Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho, Josh. ii. 6, 7. She not only bade
them welcome, but she concealed them from their enemies who sought to cut them
off, and she made a noble confession of her faith, v. 9-11. She engaged
them to covenant with her to show favour to her and hers, when God should show
kindness to them, and that they would give her a sign, which they did, a line
of scarlet, which she was to hang forth out of the window; she sent them away
with prudent and friendly advice. Learn here, (1.) True faith will show itself
in good works, especially towards the people of God. (2.) Faith will venture
all hazards in the cause of God and his people; a true believer will sooner
expose his own person than God's interest and people. (3.) A true believer is
desirous, not only to be in covenant with God, but in communion with the
people of God, and is willing to cast in his lot with them, and to fare as
they fare.
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Exemplars
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A. D. 62.
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32 And what shall I more say? for the time
would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson,
and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the
prophets: 33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought
righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34
Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness
were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the
aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and
others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a
better resurrection: 36 And others had trial of cruel
mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the
sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute,
afflicted, tormented; 38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they
wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of
the earth. 39 And these all, having obtained a good report through
faith, received not the promise: 40 God having provided some
better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
The apostle having given us a classis of many eminent believers, whose names
are mentioned and the particular trials and actings of their faith recorded,
now concludes his narrative with a more summary account of another set of
believers, where the particular acts are not ascribed to particular persons by
name, but left to be applied by those who are well acquainted with the sacred
story; and, like a divine orator, he prefaces his part of the narrative with
an elegant expostulation: What shall I say more? Time would fail me; as
if he had said, "It is in vain to attempt to exhaust this subject; should
I not restrain my pen, it would soon run beyond the bounds of an epistle; and
therefore I shall but just mention a few more, and leave you to enlarge upon
them." Observe, 1. After all our researches into the scripture, there is
still more to be learned from them. 2. We must well consider in divine matters
what we should say, and suit it as well as we can to the time. 3. We should be
pleased to think how great the number of believers was under the Old
Testament, and how strong their faith, though the objects thereof were not
then so fully revealed. And, 4. We should lament it, that now, in gospel
times, when the rule of faith is more clear and perfect, the number of
believers should be so small and their faith so weak.
I. In this summary account the apostle mentions,
1. Gideon, whose story we have in Judges vi. 11, &c. He was an eminent
instrument raised up of God to deliver his people from the oppression of the
Midianites; he was a person of mean tribe and family, called from a mean
employment (threshing wheat), and saluted by an angel of God in this
surprising manner, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of war.
Gideon could not at first receive such honours, but humbly expostulates with
the angel about their low and distressed state. The angel of the Lord delivers
him his commission, and assures him of success, confirming the assurance by
fire out of the rock. Gideon is directed to offer sacrifice, and, instructed
in his duty, goes forth against the Midianites, when his army is reduced from
thirty-two thousand to three hundred; yet by these, with their lamps and
pitchers, God put the whole army of the Midianites to confusion and ruin: and
the same faith that gave Gideon so much courage and honour enabled him to act
with great meekness and modesty towards his brethren afterwards. It is the
excellency of the grace of faith that, while it helps men to do great things,
it keeps them from having high and great thoughts of themselves.
2. Barak, another instrument raised up to deliver Israel out of the hand of
Jabin, king of Canaan, Judges 4, where we read, (1.) Though he was a soldier,
yet he received his commission and instructions from Deborah, a prophetess
of the Lord; and he insisted upon having this divine oracle with him in
his expedition. (2.) He obtained a great victory by his faith over all the
host of Sisera. (3.) His faith taught him to return all the praise and glory
to God: this is the nature of faith; it has recourse unto God in all dangers
and difficulties, and then makes grateful returns to God for all mercies and
deliverances.
3. Samson, another instrument that God raised up to deliver Israel from the
Philistines: his story we have in Judges xiii., xiv., xv., and xvi., and from
it we learn that the grace of faith is the strength of the soul for great
service. If Samson had not had a strong faith as well as a strong arm, he had
never performed such exploits. Observe, (1.) By faith the servants of God
shall overcome even the roaring lion. (2.) True faith is acknowledged and
accepted, even when mingled with many failings. (3.) The believer's faith
endures to the end, and, in dying, gives him victory over death and all his
deadly enemies; his greatest conquest he gains by dying.
4. Jephthah, whose story we have, Judg. xi., before that of Samson. He was
raised up to deliver Israel from the Ammonites. As various and new enemies
rise up against the people of God, various and new deliverers are raised up
for them. In the story of Jephthah observe, (1.) The grace of God often finds
out, and fastens upon, the most undeserving and ill-deserving persons, to do
great things for them and by them. Jephthah was the son of a harlot. (2.) The
grace of faith, wherever it is, will put men upon acknowledging God in all
their ways (ch. xi. 11): Jephthah rehearsed all his words before the
Lord in Mizpeh. (3.) The grace of faith will make men bold and venturous
in a good cause. (4.) Faith will not only put men upon making their vows to
God, but paying their vows after the mercy received; yea, though they have
vowed to their own great grief, hurt, and loss, as in the case of Jephthah and
his daughter.
5. David, that great man after God's own heart. Few ever met with greater
trials, and few ever discovered a more lively faith. His first appearance on
the stage of the world was a great evidence of his faith. Having, when young,
slain the lion and the bear, his faith in God encouraged him to
encounter the great Goliath, and helped him to triumph over him. The same
faith enabled him to bear patiently the ungrateful malice of Saul and his
favourites, and to wait till God should put him into possession of the
promised power and dignity. The same faith made him a very successful and
victorious prince, and, after a long life of virtue and honour (though not
without some foul stains of sin), he died in faith, relying upon the
everlasting covenant that God had made with him and his, ordered in all things
and sure; and he has left behind him such excellent memoirs of the trials and
acts of faith in the book of Psalms as will ever be of great esteem and use,
among the people of God.
6. Samuel, raised up to be a most eminent prophet of the Lord to Israel, as
well as a ruler over them. God revealed himself to Samuel when he was but a
child, and continued to do so till his death. In his story observe, (1.) Those
are likely to grow up to some eminency in faith who begin betimes in the
exercise of it. (2.) Those whose business it is to reveal the mind and will of
God to others had need to be well established in the belief of it themselves.
7. To Samuel he adds, and of the prophets, who were extraordinary
ministers of the Old-Testament church, employed of God sometimes to denounce
judgment, sometimes to promise mercy, always to reprove sin; sometimes to
foretell remarkable events, known only to God; and chiefly to give notice of
the Messiah, his coming, person, and offices; for in him the prophets as well
as the law centre. Now a true and strong faith was very requisite for the
right discharge of such an office as this.
II. Having done naming particular persons, he proceeds to tell us what things
were done by their faith. He mentions some things that easily apply themselves
to one or other of the persons named; but he mentions other things that are
not so easy to be accommodated to any here named, but must be left to general
conjecture or accommodation.
1. By faith they subdued kingdoms, v. 33. Thus did David,
Joshua, and many of the judges. Learn hence, (1.) The interests and powers of
kings and kingdoms are often set up in opposition to God and his people. (2.)
God can easily subdue all those kings and kingdoms that set themselves to
oppose him. (3.) Faith is a suitable and excellent qualification of those who
fight in the ways of the Lord; it makes them just, bold, and wise.
2. They wrought righteousness, both in their public and personal
capacities; they turned many from idolatry to the ways of righteousness; they
believed God, and it was imputed to them for righteousness; they walked and
acted righteously towards God and man. It is a greater honour and happiness to
work righteousness than to work miracles; faith is an active principle of
universal righteousness.
3. They obtained promises, both general and special. It is faith that
gives us an interest in the promises; it is by faith that we have the comfort
of the promises; and it is by faith that we are prepared to wait for the
promises, and in due time to receive them.
4. They stopped the mouths of lions; so did Samson, Judg. xiv. 5, 6,
and David, 1 Sam. xvii. 34, 35, and Daniel, 6:22. Here learn, (1.) The power
of God is above the power of the creature. (2.) Faith engages the power of God
for his people, whenever it shall be for his glory, to overcome brute beasts
and brutish men.
5. They quenched the violence of the fire, v. 34. So Moses, by
the prayer of faith, quenched the fire of God's wrath that was kindled against
the people of Israel, Num. xi. 1, 2. So did the three children, or rather
mighty champions, Dan. iii. 17-27. Their faith in God, refusing to worship the
golden image, exposed them to the fiery furnace which Nebuchadnezzar had
prepared for them, and their faith engaged for them that power and presence of
God in the furnace which quenched the violence of the fire, so that not so
much as the smell thereof passed on them. Never was the grace of faith more
severely tried, never more nobly exerted, nor ever more gloriously rewarded,
than theirs was.
6. They escaped the edge of the sword. Thus David escaped the sword of
Goliath and of Saul; and Mordecai and the Jews escaped the sword of Haman. The
swords of men are held in the hand of God, and he can blunt the edge of the
sword, and turn it away from his people against their enemies when he pleases.
Faith takes hold of that hand of God which has hold of the swords of men; and
God has often suffered himself to be prevailed upon by the faith of his
people.
7. Out of weakness they were made strong. From national weakness, into
which the Jews often fell by their unbelief; upon the revival of their faith,
all their interest and affairs revived and flourished. From bodily weakness;
thus Hezekiah, believing the word of God, recovered out of a mortal distemper,
and he ascribed his recovery to the promise and power of God (Isa. xxxviii.
15, 16), What shall I say? He hath spoken it, and he hath also done it.
Lord by these things men live, and in these is the life of my spirit. And
it is the same grace of faith that from spiritual weakness helps men to
recover and renew their strength.
8. They grew valiant in fight. So did Joshua, the judges, and David.
True faith gives truest courage and patience, as it discerns the strength of
God, and thereby the weakness of all his enemies. And they were not only
valiant, but successful. God, as a reward and encouragement of their faith, put
to flight the armies of the aliens, of those who were aliens to their
commonwealth, and enemies to their religion; God made them flee and fall
before his faithful servants. Believing and praying commanders, at the head of
believing and praying armies, have been so owned and honoured of God that
nothing could stand before them.
9. Women received their dead raised to life again, v. 35. So did
the widow of Zarepath (1 Kings xvii. 23), and the Shunamite, 2 Kings iv. 36.
(1.) In Christ there is neither male nor female; many of the weaker sex
have been strong in faith. (2.) Though the covenant of grace takes in the
children of believers, yet it leaves them subject to natural death. (3.) Poor
mothers are loth to resign up their interest in their children, though death
has taken them away. (4.) God has sometimes yielded so far to the tender
affections of sorrowful women as to restore their dead children to life again.
Thus Christ had compassion on the widow of Nain, Luke vii. 12, &c. (5.)
This should confirm our faith in the general resurrection.
III. The apostle tells us what these believers endured by faith. 1. They were
tortured, not accepting deliverance, v. 35. They were put upon the
rack, to make them renounce their God, their Saviour, and their religion. They
bore the torture, and would not accept of deliverance upon such vile terms;
and that which animated them thus to suffer was the hope they had of obtaining
a better resurrection, and deliverance upon more honourable terms. This is
thought to refer to that memorable story, 2 Macc. ch. vii., &c. 2.
They endured trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, and bonds and
imprisonment, v. 36. They were persecuted in their reputation by mockings,
which are cruel to an ingenuous mind; in their persons by scourging,
the punishment of slaves; in their liberty by bonds and imprisonment.
Observe how inveterate is the malice that wicked men have towards the
righteous, how far it will go, and what a variety of cruelties it will invent
and exercise upon those against whom they have no cause of quarrel, except in
the matters of their God. 3. They were put to death in the most cruel manner;
some were stoned, as Zechariah (2 Chron. xxiv. 21), sawn asunder,
as Isaiah by Manasseh. They were tempted; some read it, burnt, 2
Macc. vii. 5. They were slain with the sword. All sorts of deaths were
prepared for them; their enemies clothed death in all the array of cruelty and
terror, and yet they boldly met it and endured it. 4. Those who escaped death
were used so ill that death might seem more eligible than such a life. Their
enemies spared them, only to prolong their misery, and wear out all their
patience; for they were forced to wander about in sheep-skins and
goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented; they wandered
about in deserts, and on mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth, v.
37, 38. They were stripped of the conveniences of life, and turned out of
house and harbour. They had not raiment to put on, but were forced to cover
themselves with the skins of slain beasts. They were driven out of all human
society, and forced to converse with the beasts of the field, to hide
themselves in dens and caves, and make their complaint to rocks and rivers,
not more obdurate than their enemies. Such sufferings as these they endured
then for their faith; and such they endured through the power of the grace of
faith: and which shall we most admire, the wickedness of human nature, that is
capable of perpetrating such cruelties on fellow creatures, or the excellency
of divine grace, that is able to bear up the faithful under such cruelties,
and to carry them safely through all?
IV. What they obtained by their faith. 1. A most honourable character and
commendation from God, the true Judge and fountain of honour--that the
world was not worthy of such men; the world did not deserve such
blessings; they did not know how to value them, nor how to use them. Wicked
men! The righteous are not worthy to live in the world, and God declares the
world is not worthy of them; and, though they widely differ in their judgment,
they agree in this, that it is not fit that good men should have their rest in
this world; and therefore God receives them out of it, to that world that is
suitable to them, and yet far beyond the merit of all their services and
sufferings. 2. They obtained a good report (v. 39) of all good
men, and of the truth itself, and have the honour to be enrolled in this
sacred calendar of the Old-Testament worthies, God's witnesses; yea, they had
a witness for them in the consciences of their enemies, who, while they thus
abused them, were condemned by their own consciences, as persecuting those who
were more righteous than themselves. 3. They obtained an interest in the
promises, though not the full possession of them. They had a title to the
promises, though they received not the great things promised. This is not
meant of the felicity of the heavenly state, for this they did receive, when
they died, in the measure of a part, in one constituent part of their persons,
and the much better part; but it is meant of the felicity of the gospel-state:
they had types, but not the antitype; they had shadows, but had not seen the
substance; and yet, under this imperfect dispensation, they discovered this
precious faith. This the apostle insists upon to render the faith more
illustrious, and to provoke Christians to a holy jealousy and emulation; that
they should not suffer themselves to be outdone in the exercise of faith by
those who came so short of them in all the helps and advantages for believing.
He tells the Hebrews that God had provided some better things for them
(v. 40), and therefore they might be assured that he expected at least
as good things from them; and that since the gospel is the end and perfection
of the Old Testament, which had no excellency but in its reference to Christ
and the gospel, it was expected that their faith should be as much more
perfect than the faith of the Old-Testament saints; for their state and
dispensation were more perfect than the former, and were indeed the perfection
and completion of the former, for without the gospel-church the Jewish church
must have remained in an incomplete and imperfect state. This reasoning is
strong, and should be effectually prevalent with us all.
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