Hebrews 11 - Will the Old Testament Saints Be In Heaven?

 Click Here to Read or Listen to Hebrews 11

Faith in Action

11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. 5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

In the first 10 chapters, the focus was on the Old Testament sacrificial system, and how Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was far superior. Jesus was the once and for all sacrifice. Now the author the important topic faith. Though Jesus' sacrifice for us purchased for us the forgivness of our sin, we are still called to exercise faith in Him. 

The first verse of the chapter provides for us what I believe is the best definition of "faith". Faith is confidence of what we hope for and assurance of what we do not see. Faith is not blind. Faith is best expressed as confidence in God's promises. We are confident in our faith not because of our own merits or works, but because of what Jesus did on the cross and his subsequent resurrection. We can be assured of our faith because Jesus rose from the dead proving that everything he said aboiut himself was true. We can trust everything Jesus said, because He was fully God and fully man. 

Verse 6 is also very important. The author says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God" This means, "With faith we can please God". Why does faith please God? Because it shows God we trust in Him. When someone puts their faith in you it feels good. It gives you confidence to know someone believes in you. Although God doesn't need our faith in this way, it is the basis of any relationship. 

Faith is trust in God's promises, but it is expressed in action. All of the examples of faith in chapter 11 are based on people who not only trusted in God's promises, but acted on them. These actions were not based on what the people could see, or it would not be faith. Faith is trust in action. 

8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[b] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

Abraham expressed faith in many ways. He was called the, "Father of faith".  He left his homeland to go to a place he knew nothing about. Though Abram and Sarai had no children at an old age, they trusted in God's promises that there descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. I would be like, "God we would just take 1 star please!" 

13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

These Old Testament heroes lived in faith and acted in faith, until they died. Though they received aspects of God's promises on earth, they were looking foward to the ultimate promise of heaven. 

17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

Abraham's greatest test of faith was when God asked him to sacrifice his only son, Issac. This was the son Abraham had waited for for so long, and then God asked him to give him back. Abraham had so much faith that Issac was chosen to be the promised child, he even believed God could raise him from the dead. 

20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones. 23 By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. 29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.

Then the writer of Hebrews goes through a litany of Old Testament heroes of faith. Every person is part of the salvation story, which led to Jesus' birth. The stories all contain an image and foretaste of the Christ story. Ie. The blood of the Passover applied on the doorframes of the Israelites' homes, which saved them from death. They were saved by the blood of the Lamb. 

31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. 32 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, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 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. 35 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. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning;[e] they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

It is amazing to read about all of these stories of faith, especially when you realize that they did not have the example of Jesus to rely on, or the Holy Spirit living in them. One prophet, probably Isaiah, was sawed in two for preaching the words God had told him to preach. Not many of us a faced a faith decision like that one. 

But I trust all of these Old Testament heroes of the faith will be with us one day when we go to heaven. They were saved by faith in God's promises, which were eventually fulfilled in Jesus. They trusted in what God had revealed to them and acted on it as a show of their faith. Though their faith looked forward to faith in a Messiah, their trust and obedience pleased God greatly. They continually intercede for us with all the saints and will welcome us when we go to our heavenly home!