Hebrews 11:9a
"By faith…"
By faith; by just simply believing what God has said, now I can comprehend that it was probably easier for the man to believe something when he had seen God, Who I’m sure came down in human form, as He did in Genesis 18. I think we’re all acquainted with that chapter. When the Lord and two angels came walking up the path and Abram ran to meet them, what did he do? Killed the fatted calf and they had a meal like you wouldn’t believe. And they ate. That was the Lord Himself in what we call a theophany - God in human form. And that happened periodically in the time of the Patriarchs and before. But to see it we have to be listening carefully to the words and language used also it does require the Holy Spirit in us to open our eyes or understanding.
Many times we have to look at these things logically and ask ourselves, "Why?" Because they didn’t have a written Word. Now just think about that. All the way from Adam until we get to Moses, there was no written Word from God. So how did He communicate with them? He appeared to them from time to time and He instructed them, and so maybe it was a little easier to believe what God said since they saw Him say it. But it’s the same God that speaks through this Book, ie..through His Son, Christ Jesus. And so now we’re under that same set of responsibilities - that we are to believe what God has said.
In fact, go back to Hebrews chapter 1 and this just confirms what I said. Hebrews chapter 1, right up there at verses 1 and 2 - and this is just exactly what we’re saying. And the very first word is what? "God." Remember God never changes. He’s been the same from eternity past and He will be into eternity future. He never changes. But He certainly changes, what is referred to over and over as, His modus operandi - His means of operating. In other words, He deals with us totally differently than He dealt with Adam and Eve, Abraham and Moses, and all the others. In this Age of Grace, under the writings of the Apostle Paul, He deals with us quite differently than all the others, yet still by faith.
All right, so here’s the whole idea. There was no written Word. There was no organized system of worship. Now that makes a big difference. All right, so now you come into the text:
Hebrews 1:1
"God, who at sundry (or various) times and in diverse (different) manners spake in time past unto the fathers (how?) by the prophets."
He come down and speak to the people, face-to-face like he did with Abraham, Adam and Eve or even Jacob. Then after Moses, He spoke through the prophets. Why? Because with Jacob there was a change take place, there from him on there seems to be two classes of people if I may use that language but none the less there were two separate groups of people; those of the world or material in nature and those who were to become spiritual in nature. Now how do we know this? By way of a name change Jacob (Hebrew) equates to the physical realm and Israel to the spiritual as the house which God rules but the Hebrews did not see this and as usual they being natural or carnal in their thinking combined them into one grouping and became the nation of Israel as a partially blinded people because of unbelief. Paul would later equate to them as such in Romans 11:25 at the end of his parenthetical clause which starts with chapter 9 of Romans dealing with Israel. Now verse 2, and here God changes things:
Hebrews 1:2
"Hath in these last days (that is since His first advent and the action of His vicarious death and ascension) spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom (the Son, Christ Jesus) also he made the worlds;"
When God speaks to us through the Son, that’s why the Apostle Paul then tells us that all of his revelations came directly from where? The ascended Lord. So when we read Paul’s Epistles now we realize that God is speaking to us through God the Son, Who in turn is inspiring this Apostle to write what we are to understand and believe for redemption and then our salvation, as He now works out our Salvation within us and it’s that much difference. All right, so these Patriarchs were still believers of what God said and when they responded to it, God in turn responds by calling them righteous. They were in right relationship with Him, they were set apart unto Him. Now in the same manor we're to be set apart to Him, how? Through death why a death because that is what happened in the garden when Adam fell into sin and death (separation from God), rebellion or lawlessness. By faith, ie...trusting God's word we are now made righteous by a living faith through Christ and the operation of the cross. Now back to chapter 11.
Hebrews 11:9
"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:"
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