fail.h 0
Exhortation to holdfast the Fuilh IIEBKICWS X. with Patience and ThauLtgiving,
"tasted" a certain measure even of grace of "the Holy Ghost" (the Spirit of truth, John U. 17; ami "the Spirit than man, wlien one does so with fiVM\\ faith in his father's love, Ihiiugh (iod chastises him. "It is fearful" to fall into His hands iis a reprobate and presumptuous sinner doomed to His jusl vengeance as Judge (i>. 27). living God—therefore able to punish for ever (Mallhow 10.28). 32. As previously he has warned them by the awful end of apostates, so here he stirs thon up by the remembrance of their own former faith, patience, and self-sacrificing love. So Revelation 2. 3, 4. call to r<'meml>rance —Iiabitually : so the present tense means, illuuiinated —" enliglitened :" come to "the knowledge of the truth"
Of grace," v. 29) : to fall aivai/(a.s "sin " lu-re means, cli. :i. 12,
17; cf. ch. 0. 6) and apostatize (ch. S. 12) to Ju.hiisni or infidelity, is not a sin of ignorance, or error {"oi// of the iva.i/," Ihe result) of infirmity, ljut a deliOi-rate sinnin;/ against the Spirit (v. 29; ch. 5. 2): siicfi sinning, wliere a couBCiousness of Gospel ohligations not only was, but is present: a sinning presumptuously and perseveringly ayaiust Christ's redemption /or us, and tlie Spirit ofgraee in us. " He only wlio stands high can fall low. A lively reference in the soul to what is good is necessary in order to be thoroughly wicked; hence, man can be more repro-
2()) in connection with baptism {iS'ote, cli. (>. 4). In spiritual bnptism, Christ, who is "the Light,'' is put on. "On the one hand, we are not to sever tlie sign and tlie grace signified where Ihesacrifice truly answers its liesigns ; on liate than the beasts, and the apostate angels than apostate man." [Tholuck.] 1-eiiiaiuetli no more sacrllice
I"or there is but one Sacrifice tlial can alone tor sin ; they, tlie other, the glass is not to be mistaken lor the liquor, nor the sliealh for the swoi d." [liENGEJ>.] liglit of— (. e., consistingof afflictions. 33. The persecutions liere referred to seem to have been endured by the Hebrew Christhins at their first conversion, not only in Palestine, hut also in Rome and elsewhere, the Jews in every city inciting the populace and the Roman authorities against (Christians, gazing-stocli—as in a ?/ieah-e (s(> the Greek): pften used as the place of punishment in tiic presence of the assemliled multitudes. Acts 19. 2>; 1 Corinthians 4. 9, " Made a theatrical spectacle to the world." yc became of your own accord : attesting your Christian sympathy with your suflering bretliren. companions of—sharers a''ter having fully known that sacrifice, deliberately reject
27. a certain—an extraordinary and indescribable. The indefiniteness, as of something peculiar of Us kind, makes the description tlie more terrible (cf. Greek, James
1. IS), looking for—"expectation:" a later sense of the Greek. Alfoud strangely translates, as the Greek usually means elsewhere, "reception." The transition is eas.y frotu "giving a reception to" something or some one, to looking for. Contrast the "expecting" (the very same Greek as here), v. 13, which refutes Afford, fiery in<Ii<;- uation—W., "zeal of fire." Fire is personilieil : glow or ardour of fire, i.e., of Him wlio is "a consuming fire." devour—continually. !48. Cf. ch. 2.2,3; 12. 25. «lcspise<l —"setat naught " [Al-KoKDj: utterly and heinously violated, not merely some minor detail, but the u-liole law and covenant, as ex. gr., by idolatry (Deuteronomy 17. 2-7). So hi>re opos<((«i/ answers to such an ul ter violation of the old covenant, died— G'rccA:, " dies :" tlie noi nial punishment of such transgression, then still in force, ^vitliottt mer< y—lit., mercies: removal out of the pale of mitigation, or a respite of his doom, umler—on the evidenceof. 29. sorer Greek, " worse," viz., " punisliment " {lit., vengeance) tluin any mere temporal punishment of the body, suppose ye—an appeal to the Hebrews' reason and conscience, thoiiglit wortliy—by God at tlie judgment, trodden under foot tite Son of Cod—by "willul " apostasy. So he treads under foot God Himself who "glorified His Son as an high priest" (ch. 5.6; 0'. G). nn iin Holy tiling—?/;., "common," as opposed to " .sanctified." No better than the blooO of a common man, thus involving the consequence that Christ, in claiming to be God, was guilty of blasphemy, and so deserved to <iie ! wJierewitli lie was sanctified-for Clirist died even for him. "Sanctified," in the fullest sense, belongs only to tlie saved elect.. But in some sense it belongs also to those who have gone a far way in Christian experience, and yet fall away at last. The higher such a one's past Christian experiences, the deeper his fall, done despite unto—Ijy repelling in fact: as " blasphemy" is despite in words (Mark 3. 2i)). " Of the Jews who Ijecame Christians and relapsed to Judaism, we And from the history of Ukiel Acosta, thiit they required a blasphemy against Chi'st. Tiiey applied to Him epithets used against Molech the adulterous branch,' "Ac. [Tholuck.] the Spirit ot grace-the Spirit that confers grace. "He who does not accept the lienefit, insults Him •wlio confers it. He hath made thee a son: will thou become a slave 7 He has come to take up His abode with thee; but thou art introducing evil into tliyself." [CiuivsOSTOM.] "It is the cur.se of evil eternally to propagate evil : so, for him who profanes the Christ without him, and blasphemes the Christ within him, there is subjectively no renewal of a change of mind (ch. 6. 6), and objectively no new sacrifice for sins" (ch. 10. 26). [Thoi.uck.] 30. Iiim— God, who enters no empty threats, vengeance Itelongin affliction with. 34. ye had coiiipassiuu on me in my !>onds—Tlie oldest MSS. and versions omit " me," and read, " Ye both sj-mpathized with t/iosc in bonds (answering to the last clause of v. 33; cf. ch. 13. 3, 2:3; 6. 10), and accepted (so the Greek is translated ch. 11. Xi) with JO'/ (James 1.2; Jo.y in tribulations, as exercising faith and other graces, Romans 5.3; and (he pledge of the coming glory, Matthew 5. 12) the plundering of yonr (own) goods "
(answering to the first cliiuse of v. ;i3). in yoursclveis The oldest MSS. omit " in :" translate, " Knowing that ye have for (or to) yourselves." iM'.lter—a heavenly (cli. 11.
IG). enduring—not liable to spoiling. subj,tance—possession : peculiarly our own, if we will not cast aivay our birth-right. 35-37. Consequent exhortation to confidence and endurance, as Christ is soon coming. Cast not away—Implying that they now have "confidence," and that it will not withdraw of itself, unless they "cast it away" wilfully (cf. cli. 3. 14). -wMcU — Greek, "the which:" inasmucli as being sucli as. liafU— present tense : it is as certain as if you had it in your hand {v. 37) It hath in reversion, recompense of rewi««d—of grace not of debt: a reward of a kind whicli no mercenary sellseeker would seek : holiness will be its own reward ; selldevoting unselfishness for Christ's sake will be its own rich recompense {Note, ch. 2. 2; 11. 2(i). 3f;. patience— Greek, "waiting endurance," or "enduring perseverance :" the kindred Greek verb in the LXX., Habakkuk
2,3, is translated, ''Wail for it" (cf. James 5. 7). after ye have done the will of God—"that whereas ye have done the will of God" hitherto {v. 32-35), ye ma.v now shoiv also jiatient, per.^evering endurance, and so "receive tl.e promise," i. e., the promised reward: eternal life aLd bliss commensurate with our work of faith and love (ch.
G. 10-12). We must not only do, but also suffer (1 Peter 1.
19). God first uses the active talents of His servants ; the Q polishes the other side of the stone, making the passioe graces shine, patience, meekness, Ac. It ma.v be also translated, "That ye may do the will of God, and receive," &o. [Ai.ford]: "patience" itsellisa furtlier and a persevering doing of " God's will ;" otherwise it would be profitless and no real grace (Matthew 7. 21). We should lo< k, not merely for individual bliss now and at death, but for the great and general consummation of liliss of all saints, both in body and soul. 37, 38. Kneonragement to patient enduriuice by consideration of the shortness of the time till Clirist shall come, and God's rejection of him etli unto me— Greek, "To me belongelh vengeance:" exactly according with Paul's quotation, Romans 12. 19, of the same text. Lord shall Judge his people— in grace, or else anger, according as eadi deserves: here, "juilge," BO a.s to punish the reprobate aiiostate ; there, "judge," so aa to interpose In behalf of, and save His peojile (Deuteronomy 32. STi). 31. fearful . . . to fall Into llkr liand», &c. —It le good like David to fall into the hands of God, rather tliat draws back, t.-ilcen from Habakkuk 2. 3, 4. a little while—(John IG. IG.) he that shall come — lit., " tlia Comer." In Habakkuk, it is the vision that is said to be about to come. Christ, being tlie grand and ultimate snb«
4G9
Dcjiriilion of the Faith HEBREWS XI. junl Fpoken of hy Paid, tUlngs not seen — the whole invisible and spiritual world ; not merely tilings future and things pleasant, as the " things hoped for," but also the past and present, and those the reverse of pleasant. "Eternal life is promised to us, but it is when we are dead; .we are told of a blessed resurrection, l)ut meanwhile we moulder in the dust; we are declared to be justitied, and sin dwells in us; we hear that we are blessed, meantime we are overwhelmed in endless miseries; we are promised abundance of all goods, but we still endure hunger and thirst
Jpcl of all prophetical vision, is liere niado by r;ml. nn Jer inspiriilioii, llicsulijoc-tol tlu' spirit's propliccy by Ilali.iljkiik, ill ilN fiiiril and exliiinsiive fiilfilnu'nt. 38. just—Tlie okU-st AiSS.jind Va/rj(Uc read, "my just man." God is the speaker: "He who is just in niy sisht." Benkei traiisliifcx. '•The just sliall live by my faith:" answering to the ncbrrn; Halialikuli ^. 4., /(7., "tlie just shall live hy tlie fail.h 0/ Him," viz.. C/irist, the final subject of " the vision," who "will not lie," i. e., disappoint. Here not merely the first beginning, as in Galalians 8. 11, but the coi Uiiiuarirc, of the spiritual life of the justified man is referred to, as opposed to declension and apostasy. As the justitied man receives his first spiritual life by faith, so it is b,i/ faith that he shall continue to live (Luke 4. -1). The faith meant here is that fully developed livins; trust in the unseen (ch. 11. 1) Saviour, which can keep men steadfast amidst persecutions and temptations (v. HI-SI), bstt— Greek, "and." if anij num draw buck—So the (,'rce7c admits: though it might also be tran.tlaled, as Ai.r''OitD approves, "if /te(the just man) draw back." Even so, it would not disprove the final perseverance of saints. For "the just man" in this latter clause would mean one Beemingly, and in part really, though not savingly, "just" or justified: as in Ezekiel 18. 24, 2(i. In the Ifrbreu-, this latter half of the vefse stands first, and is, "Behold, his soul which is lifted up, is not upright in him." Habakkuk states the cause of drawing back : a soul lifted up, and In self-inflated unbelief setting itself np against God, Paul, tiy the Spirit, states the effect, it drmcx back. Also, what in Habakkuk is, " His soul is not upright in him,"
Goil declares He will immediately come to our help, but He seems deaf to our cries. What should we do if we had not faith and hope to lean on, and if our mind did not emerge amidst the darkness above the world by the shining of the Word and .Spirit of God ?" [Calvin.] Faith is an assent unto truths credible upon the testimony of God [not on the reasonableness of the thing revealed, though by this we may judge as to whether it be what it professes, a genuine revelation], delivered unto us in the writings of the apostles and prophets. Thus Christ's ascension is the cause, and His absence the crown, of our faith: because He ascended, we the more believe, and because we believe in Him who hath ascended, our faith is the more .accepted. [Bishop Pe.vrson.] Faith believes wliat it sees not ; for if thou seest there is no faith: the Lord has g(nie away so as not to be seen: He is hidden that He may be believed; the yearning desire by faith after Him who is unseen is the preparation of a heavenly mansion for us ; when He shall be seen it shall be givea to us as the i-eward of faith, [.\ugustine.] As Revelation deals with spiritual and invisible things exclusively, faith is the faculty needed by us, since it is the evidence of things not seen. By faith we venture our eternal interests on the hare word of God, and this is altogether reasonable. 2. For—So high a description of faith is not undeserved; for, Ac. [.Vlford.] by— O'recfc,. " in :"
Is in Paul,"Jfy soul shall have no pleasure in him." Habakkuk states the cause, Paul the effect: He who is not right in his own soul, does not stand right with God ; God has no pleasure in him. Bengei. translates Habakkuk, "His soul is not upright in respect to him," viz., Christ, the subject of "the vision," i. e., Christ has no pleasure in him (cf. ch. 12. 2.)). Every flower in spring is not a fruit in autumn. 39. A Pauline elegant turning-ol Mroin denunciatory warnings to charitable hopes of his n-a<lers (Romans 8. 12). sivvln;; of tlie so«l— "acquisition (or obtuining) of the soul." The kindred Greek,\eYh is applied to Christ's acquiring the Church as tlie purchase of His blood (Acts 20. 28). ]f we acquire or obtain our soul's salvation, it Is through Him who has obtained it for us by his blood-shedding. " The unbelieving man loses his soul: for not being God's, neither is he his own fcf. .Matthew 16. 20 with Luke 9. 'Si]: faifh saves the soul by linklug it to God." [Delitzscii in Alford.]
in respect to . . . in the matter of, " it," or, as Greek more emphatically, "this."' tbe elders—as though still living and giving their powerful testimony to the reasonableness and excellence of faith (ch. 12. 1). Not merely the ancients, ai though they were people solely of the past; nay, they belong to the one and the same blessed family as ourselves (v. 39, 40). "'J'he elilers," wliom we all revere so highly. "Paul shows how we ought to seek in all its fulness, under the veil of history, the essential substance of the doctrine sometimes briefly indicated." [Bengei..] "The elders," as "the fathers," is a title of lionour given on tlie ground of their bright faith and practice, obtnincd n good rei>ort Greek, " were testified
CII AFTER Xr.
of," viz., favoural)ly (cf. ch. 7. K). It is a phrase of Luke, Paul's companion. Not only men, but God, gave testimony to their faith {v. 4, 5, 39). Thus they being testified of themselves have become " witnesses" to all others (ch.
Ver. 1-40. Definition of the Faith .iust Spoken of
(ch. 10. 39): Examplf;s fijom the Old Covenant fou OUR Persevekance im Faith. 1. Description of the great things which faith, (in its widest sense : not here restricted io faith in the Gospel sense) does for us. Not a
12.1). The earlier elders had their patience exercised for a long period of life: those later, in sharper afflictions. Many things which they hoped for and did not see, subs<'(]uently came to pass and were conspicuously seen, the event confirming faith. [Benoel.] 3. we understand we perceive witli our spiritual intelligence the fact of the worlil's creation by God, though.we see neither Him nor the act of creation as descrilied. Genesis 1. The natural world could not, without revelation, teach us this truth, though it confirms the truth when aviprehended by faith (Romans 1. '20). Adam is passed over in silence here as to his faith, perhaps as being the first who fell and brought sin on us all; though It docs not follow that he did not repent and lielieve the promise, worlds—///., "ages:" all that e.\ists In time and spaire, visible and invisible, present and eternal, frnincd—"fitly formed and consolidated;" Including the creation of the single parts and the harmonious organiza! Ion of t he whole, and the continual providence which maintains the whole thronghcrit a)l ages. As creation Is the foundation and a speclrr.en of the whole Divine economy, so faith in creation is th« foundation and a specimen of all faith. [Bknoeu] by full defiuition of faitli in its whole nature, but a desci Mptlon of its great characteristics in relation to tlie subject of Paul's exhortation here, viz., to perseverance, substance, Ac— It substantiates promises of God which we hope for, as future in fulfilment, m.aking them present realities to us. Howe ver, the Greek is translated in ch. .'i.
14, "confidence;" and it also here may mean "sure confidence." Ho Ai,FOHT> translates. Thomas MAOisrEU supports Kiiglish Version, " The whole thing that follows is virtuallyontalned In the first principle; now the commencement of the things hoped for is in us tlirough the assent of faith, which virtually contains all the things hoped for." Cf. Note, ch. 6. 5, " tasted . . . powers of the world to come." Through I'alth, the future object of Christian hope, in its beginning, is already present. True faith infers the reality of the objects believed in and noped for (v. fi). Hugo de St. Victor distinguished faith from hofie. By faith alone we are sure of eternal things that they are ; but l)y Jiope we are confident I ha t wesh A i.L HAVE them. All hope presupposes faith (Romans K. 2.')). evidence—" demonstration :" convincing proof to the believer; tS.^ Roul thereby seeing what the eye cannot see.
tln) word of God—not the personal word {Greek, logos,.lolin 1. 1) here, hut the spoken word {Greek, rhema); though by the Instrumentality of (lie personal word (ch. 1. 2),
The Nature of FuUh, and HEBREWS XI. its Acccptahleness with God, not made, <fec. translate as Greei:, " so that not out of things which appear hath that which is seen been made;" not as in the case of all things which we see reproduced from previously existing and visible materials, as, for in-
God. G. -without— G)'(fe/c, "apart from faith:" if one be destitute of faith (cf. Romans 11. 23). to plvase—translate, as Alford does, the Greek aorist, "It is impossible to please God at all" (Romans 8. 8). Natural amiabilities and "works done before the grace of Clirist are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith In Jesus Christ; yea, ratlier, for that they are not done as God hath willed them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin." [Article XIII., Book of Common Prayer.'] "Works not rooted in God are splendid sins. [Augustine.] he tliat cometu to God—as a worshipper stance, the plant from the seed, the animal from the parent, Ac, has the visible world sprung into being from apparent materials. So also it is implied in the first clause of the verse that the invisible spiritual worlds were framed not from previously existing materials. Besgel explains it by distinguishing "appear," i. e., begin to he seen {viz., at creation), from that, which is seen as already in existence, not merely beginning to be seen
(ch. 7, 19). must believe once for all: G7-eeA aorist. that God is—is: is the true self-existing Jehovah (as contrasted with all so-called gods, not gods, Galatians 4.8), the source of all being, though he sees Him not (v. 1) as being "invisible" (v. 27). So Enoch : this passage implies that he had not been favoured with visible appearances of God, yet he believed in God's being, and in God's mnraX government, as the Rewarder of His diligent worshippers, in opposition to antediluvian skepticism. Also Moses was not so favoured before he left Egypt the first time, v.
so that the things seen were not made of the things which appear," i. e., which begin to be seen by us in Vie act of creation. We were not spectators of creation; it is by faith we perceive it. 4. more excellent sacrifice—because ofl Tered in faith. Now faith must have some revelation of God on which it fastens. The revelation in this case was doubtless God's command to sacrifice animals ("the firstlings of the flock") in token of the forfeiture of men's life by sin, and as a type of the promised bruiser of the serpent's head (Genesis 3. 15), the one coming sacri-
27, still he believed, and is—a different Greek verb from the former " is." Translate, " is eventually :" proves to be; fice; this command is implied in God's having made coats of skin for Adam and Eve (Genesis 3. 21): for these Bkins must have been taken from animals slain in sacrilit., becomes, rewarder—renderer of reward. [Alford.] So God proved to be to Enoch. The reward is God Himfice; inasmuch as it was not for food they were slain, animal food not being permitted till after the flood; nor for mere clothing, as, were it so, clothes might have been made of the fleeces without the needless cruelty of killing the animal; but a coat of skin put on Adam from a sacriself diligently "souglit" and "walked with" in partial communion here, and to be fully enjoyed hereafter. Cf. Genesis 15. 1, "I am thy exceeding great reward." of them—and them only. diligenHy seek Greek, "seek out" God. Cf. "seek early," Provei-bs 8. 17. Not only "ask" and "seek," but "knock," jMatthew7. 7; cf. ch. 11.
ficed animal typified the covering or atonement (the J{ebrew for atone means to cover) resulting from Christ's
12; Luke 13. 21, "Strive" as in an agony of contest. 7. warned of God—The same Greek, ch. 8. 5, "admonished of God." moved with fear—not mere slavish fear, but as in Note, ch. 5. 7; Greek, reverential fear : opposed to the world's sneering disbelief of the revelation, and self-deceiving security. .Join "by failli" with "prepared an ark" sacrifice. The Greek is more lit. rendered [Kennicott] by "WlCKLlFFE, "a muclimore sacrifice;" and by Queen Elizabeth's version "a greater sacrifice." A fuller, more ample sacrifice, that which partook more largely and essentially of the true nature and virtue of sacrifice. [Archbishop Magee.] It wa-s not any intrinsic merit in 'tlie
(I Peter 3.20). by tlie which—faith, condemned the world—for since he believed and was saved, so might they have believed and l)een saved, so that their condemnation by God is by liis case shown to be just, righteonsness wlilch Is by (aM\— Greek. " according to faith." A Pauline thought. Noah is first called " righteous" In Genesis 6. 9. Christ calls Abel so, Matthew 23. .35. Cf. aa to Noah's righteousness, Ezekiel 14. 14, 20; 2 Peter 2.5, "a preacher of righteousness." Paul liere makes faith the principle and ground of his righteousness, heir—the consequence of sonship whicU flows from faith. 8. From the antediluvian saints he passes to the patriarchs of Israel, to whom " the promises" belonged, called—by God (Genfirstling of the flock'' above "the fruit of the ground."
It was God's appointment that gave it all its excellency as a sacrifice; if it had not been so, it would have been a presumptuous act of will-worship (Colossians 2. 23), and taking of a life which man had no riglit over before the flood (Genesis 9). The sacrifice seems to have been a holocaust, and the sign of tlie Divine acceptance of it was probably the consumption of it by fire from heaven (Genesis 15. 17). Hence, " to accept" a burnt sacrifice is in Hebrew "to turn it to ashes" {Margin, I'salm 20. 3). A flame seems to have issued from the Shekinah, or flaming cherubim, east of Eden ("the presence of the Lord," Genesis 12.1). The oldest MSS. and Vulgate read, "He tliat was called Abraham," his name being changed from Abram to Aliraham, on the occasion of God's making with him and his seed a covenant sealed liy circumcision, many years after his call out of Ur. "By faitli, he who was (afterwards) called Abraham {father of nations, Genesis 17. 5, In order to become whi<'h was the design of God's bringing him out of Ur) ol)pycd (the command of God : to be understood in this reading), so as to go out," which he shonld after receive—He had not fully received even esis 4. 16), where the first sacrifices were offered. Cain, in tmbelieving self-righteousness, presented merely a thank offering, not like Abel feeling his need of the propitiatory sacrifice appointed on account of sin. God"liad respect
(first) unto Abel, and (then) to his ottering" (Genesis 4. 4). Faith causes the believer's person to be accepted, and then his ottering. Even an animal sacrifice, though of God's appointment, would not have been accepted, had it not been off'ered in faith, he obfalnetl \vitnei>s God by fire attesting His acceptance of him as "righteous by faith." his gifts—the common term for sacrifices, implying that they must be freely given, by it—by faith exhibited in his animal sacrifice, dead, yet spenketh—His blood crying from Die ground to God, sliows how precious, because of his "faitli," he was still In God's sight, even when dead. So he becomes a witness to us of the blessed tills promise when he went out, for it was not explicitly given him till he had reached Canaan (Genesis 12. 1, C, 7). When the promise of tlie land was given him tlie Canaan ite was still in the land, and himself a si ranger; it is In the new heaven and new eai th tliat he sliall receive his personal inheritance promised liim ; so helievcrs sojourn on earth as strangers, whilst the ungodly and Satan lord It oyer the earth ; but at Clirlst's coming that same earth which was the scene of the In-liever's conflict shall be the inheritance of Christ and His saints, y. ^lojoiirned —.as a "stranger and pilgrim." in Greek, " into, " i. e,, lie went i7ilo It and sojourned there, as in a straK{;e country—a country not belonging to liim, but to others (so the (^eek). Acta 7.5,0. dwellln;; in tabernacles — (cji?.- aa strangers nnd sojourners do: moving from place to place, effects of faith. 5. Faith was tlie ground of his x>teasing God; and his pleasing God was the ground of his translation, translated—(Genesis o. 22, 21.) Implying a sudden removal Cthe same Greek as In Galalians 1. 6; from mortality without death to immortality: such a change as shall pass over the living at Christ's coming (1 Corinthians 15. 51, 5'2). had this testimony viz., of .Scripture; the Greek perfect implies that this testimony continues
Still: "he has been testified of." plenned God—The Scripture testimony virtually expresses that he plfnsed a-s having no fixed possession ol' tlieir own. In contrast
Crcd, vi2., "Knocli walked with God." LXX. translates the Hebrew for "walked with God," Genesis Q. V, pleased to the abiding "city" {v. 10). wllli—Tlieir kind ol dwelling being the same is a proof that tlieir faith was the same
The WorlJiy Fruits of Faith HEBREWS XI. in the Fathers cf Old Tims, from his fatherland." [Luther.] "Like ships in seas,
Tliey all alike were content to wait for their sno.l tilings hereafter (LulJe l(i. i5). Jacol) was fifteen years old at the aeath of Abraham, lielrs wltli liim of the sniiie promtse—Isaac did not inherit it from Abraham, nor Jacob from Isaac, but they all inherited it from God directly as "fellow-heirs." In ch. 6. 12, 15, 17, "the promise" means wliile'/i, above the world." li. For—Proof that "faith"
(v. 13) was their actuating principle, declare plainly— make it plainly evident. seeW— Greek, "seek after:" implying the direction towards which their desires ever tend, a country—rather as Greek, "a fatherland." In confessing tliemselves strangers here, they evidently imply that they regard not this as their home or fatherland, but seek after another and a better. 15. As Abraham, had he desired to le.ave his pilgrim life in Canaan, and resume his former fixed habitation in Ur, among the carnal and worldly, had in his long life ample opportunities to have done so; and so spirituall}', as to all believers who came out from the world to become God's people, they might, if they had been so minded, have easily gone back. 10. Proving the truth that the old fathers did not, as some assert, "look only for transitory promises" (Article VII., Book
Vte thiiuj promised as a thing in part already attained; but
In this cli. " the promise" is of something; still See, however. Note, ch. 6. 12. 10. looked tor— Greek, " he was expecting :" waiting for with eager expectation (Romans
8.19). a.— Greek, "the city," &c., already alluded to. Worldly Enoch, son of the murderer Cain, was the first to build his city here: the godly patriarchs waited for their city hereafter (v. 16 ; ch. 12. 22 ; 13. U). foiuidations— G'reeA, "the foundations" which the tents had not, nor even men's present cities have. iv Uose builder and lualter Greek, "designer [Ephesians 1. i, 11] and master-builder," or exeof Commoyi Prai/er). now—as the case is. is not ashamed — Greek, " is not ashamed of them." Not merely once did God call himself ^/ifi'r God, but He is now not ashamed to have Himself called so, they being alive and abiding with Him where He is. For, by the law, God cannot come into contact with anything dead. None remained dead in Clirist's presence (Luke 20. 37,38). He who is Lord and Jlaker of heaven and earth, and all things therein, when asked. What is thy name? said, omitting all His other cutor o/ the design. The city is worthy of its Kramer and Builder (cf. v. IB; ch. S. 2). Cf. "found," Xote, ch. 12. 11. also Sara lierself—though being the weaker vessel, and though at first she doubted, was delivered of a cltild Omitted in the oldest MSS. : then translate, "and that when she was past age" (Romans 4. 19). s!ic judged Him faHUfiil wlio liad promised—after she had ceased to d,oubt, being instructed by the angel that it was no jest, but a matter in serious earnest. I'^i. as good as dead— /i7., "deadened:" no longer having, as in youth, energetic titles, " I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." [Theodoret.] Not only is He not a.ihamed, but glories in the name and relation to His people. The " wherefore" does not mean that God's good jjleasure is the meritorious, but the gracious, consequence vital powers, stars . . . sand— (Genesis 22. IT.) 13-16. Summary of the characteristic excellencies of the patriarchs' faith, died in faitli—died as believers, waiting for, not actually seeing as yet their good things iiromised to them. They were true to this principle of/iii Wieven unto, and especially in, their dying hour (cf. v. 20). These all beginning with "Abraham" (u. 8), to whom tite promises of their obedience (that obedience being the result of His Spirit's work in them in the first Instance). He first so "called" Himself, then they so called Him. for—proof of His being "their God," viz., "He hath prepared (in His eternal counsels, Matthew 20. 23 ; 2.3. 34, and by the progressive acts of redemption, John 14. 2) for them a city," the city in which He Himself reigns, so that their yearning desires shall not be disappointed (v. 14, 16). a city—on ti'e?-e )((«(/e (Galatians 3. 10), and who is alluded to in the end of I'. 13 and iu i). 13. [Bengel and Alfokd.J But the "all" can hardly but include Abel, Enocii, and Noali. Now as these did not receive the promise of entering literal Canaan, some other promise made in the first ages, and often repealed, must be that meant, viz., the promise of n coming Redeemer made to Adam, I'iz., "the seed of tlie woman shall l)ruise the serpent's head." Thus the promits garniture by God (cf. Revelation 21. 10-27). 17. offered up— "hath offered up," as if the work and its praise were yet enduring. [Alford.] As far as His intention was concerned, he did sacri Uce Isaac; and in actual fact " he oirered him," as far as the presentation of him on the altar ns an offering to God is concerned, tried— Cre**, "tempted," as in Genesis 22. 1. Put to the proof of his ises cannot have been merely temporal, for Abel and Enoch mentioned here received no temporal promise. [Archbishop Magee.] This promise of eternal redemption is the inner essence of the promises made to Abrahan\ (Galatians 3. lOi. not having received—It was this that constituted their "faith." If.they had "received" the THING I'KOMisKi) (so "the promises" here mean: the plural is used because of the frequent renewal of the promfailli. Not that God "tempts" to sin, but God "tempts"' in the sense of proving or trying (James 1. 13-15. and—and so. he tlint Und received—rather as Grfe/t, "accepted," i. e., ireleomed and embraced by I'alth, not merely "had the promises," as in ch. 7. 6. This added to the dilflculty in the way of his faith, that it was in Isaac's posterity the promises were to he fulfilled ; how then could they be fulise to the patriarchs: verse 17 says he did receive the promises, but not the thing promised), it would have been sight, unt faith, seen them afar off—(.John 8.
.')().) Christ, as the Word, was preached to the Old Testament befilled if Isaac were sacrificed? offered np—rather as Greek, " was offering up ;" he was in the act of offering, his only-l>esotten son—Cf. Genesis 22. 2, "Take now thy son, thine only son." EtiSEBlus, Prfpparatio Evn7igelica, 1. 10, and 4. 16, has preserved a fragment of a Greek tratislation of Sanchonlatho, which mentions a mystical sacrifice of the Phoenicians, wher<'in a prince In royal robes was the lievers, and so became the seed of life to their souls, as lb?
is to ours, and were persuaded of them—The olil(>sl MSS. omit this clause, embraced tliem—as though they were not "afar off," but within rearh, so as to draw them to themselves and clasp them in their embrace. Trench denies that the Old Testament believers onhmccfM hem, for they only saw them afar off: lie translates, "saluted them," as the homeward-bound mariner, recognizing from afar the well-known promontories of his native land. ALFOun translates, "greeted tliem." .Jacob's e.\clajnatlon, "I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord" ((Jenofferer, .and his only son was to be the victim: this evidently was a tradition derived from Abraham's offering, aiul handed down through Esau or Edom, Isaac's son. Isaac was Abraham's "only-begotten son" In resjicct of Sarah and the promises: he sent away his other sons, by other wives (Genesis 2.3. 6). Abraham is a type of the Father not sparing His only-begotten .Son to fulfil the Divine purpose of love. God nowhere in the Mosaic law allowed human sacrifices, Hiough Ho claimed the first-- born of Israel as His. 18. Of whom—rather as Greek "Me (Al>raiia.m, not Isaac) TO whom it was said." [Al-
49. IS), is such a greeting of salvation from afar(I)EHrzscH]. eonfessed . . . were 8tran{j;ers—sn Al)raliam to thechildren of lleth (Genesis 2.'!. 4) ; an<l .Jacob to Pharaoh (Genesis 47. 9; I'salm 119. 19). Worldly men hold fast the world ; believers sit loose to It. Citizens of the 7vorld do not conless thenisclvi's " strangers on the earth." pilgrims —Greek, " tciiipfirary (lit., l>i/ the ica,!/) sojourners." on the enrtli—contrasted with "an heavenly" (u. hi): "our eitnenship Is In heaven" (Greek: ch. 10.31; I'salm 119.54;
FOKT).] Benoel sujiports /?/i,f//i.'.7t Version. So ch. 1. 7 u.ses the same Greek preposition, "unto," for "In respect to." or "of." This verse gives a definition of the "only-bogotten Son" (v. 17). in Isaac ohall thy seed be called— lMil)i ppians 20). "Whosoever professes that he has a Father In heaven, conf(^s8es himself a stranger on earth ; hence there is In the heart an ardent longing, like that
((ienesis 21. 12.) The posterity of Isaac alone shall be aocountcd as the seed of Abraham, which Is the heir of tlia promises (Romans 9. 7). 1«. Faith answered the objoo-
Of a child living among strangers, m want and grief, far
ITJ.
I7i: TVVAy FruUs of Faith HEEKEWS XT. in the Fallars of Old Time.
ttopa which reason broi Tght against God's command to looked to God's promise of Canaan being fulfilled, and desired tliat his bones should rest there: testifying thus (1.) that he had no doulit of his posterity obtaining the promised land, and (2.) that he believed in the resurrection of the body, and the enjoyment in it of the lieavenly Canaan. His wisli was fulfilled (.Joshua 24 . 32
to ot Ter Isaac, by siisjiesting Miat wliat God hu'i promised He l)Oth could and would perl'oi rn, however irnpoi.Kible the perl'orniance might seem (Romans 4. 20, yi;. able to rnUe /am—rather, in feneral, "alile to raise from tlie dead.'' Cf. Romans i. 17, "God wlio quickeneth ihe dead." The quickening of Sarah's dead wonil) suggested the tliouglil of God's power to raise even tlie dead,
Acts 4. 1(5). >i3. parents—So the LXX. have tlie plural, viz., Anira-m and Jochebed (Numbers 2i;.r)9) ; but Exodus 2.
2, the mother alone is mentioned ; but doubtless Amrain sanctioned all she did, and secresy being their object, he did not appear prominent in what was done, a proper child— Greek, "a comely child." Acts 7.20, "exceeding fair," Greek, "fair to God." Tlie "faith" of his parents in saving the child must have had some Divine revelation to rest on (probably at the time of his birth), which marked tlieir "exceeding fair" babe as one whom God designed to do a great work by. His beauty was probably "the sign " appointed by God to assure their faitli. tlie king's commandment— to slay all the males (Exodus 1. 22). 34. So far tromfait/i being opposed to Moses, he was an eminent example of it. [Bengei,.] refused—in believing self-denial, when he might possibly have succeeded at last to the throne of Egypt. Thermutis, Pharaoh's daughter, according to the tradition which Paul under the Spirit sanctions, adopted him, as Josephus says, with the consent of the king. Joseplins states that when a child, he threw on the ground the diadem puton him in jest, a pres.age of his subsequent formal rejection of Thermutis' adoption of him. Faith made him to prefer the adoption of the King of kings, unseen, and so to choose (v. 25, 26) things, the very last which flesh and blood relish. 35. He balanced the best of the world witli the worst of religion, and decidedly chose tlie latter. "Choosing" implies a deliberate resolution, not a hasty impulse. He was forty years old, a time when the judgment is matured, for a season—If the world has " pleasure " {Greek, "enjoyment") to of Ter, it is but /or a season. If religion bring with it "affliction," it too is but for a season ; whereas its " pleasures are for evermore." 36. Kstceming—Inasmuch as he esteemed, thereproacli of Christ— (. e., the reproach wliicli fulls on the Church, and which Christ regard.s as His own reproach. He being the Head, and the Church (both of the Old and New Testament) His body. Israel typified Christ ; Israel's suf Terlngs were Christ's suf Terings t'nougli no instance of it had as yet occurred, lie received lilin—" received him back." [Alfokd.] In a figure— Greek, "in a parable." Alford explains, "Received him hack, risen liom that death which he liad undergone in, under, the figure of the ram." I prefer with Bishop PeauSON, EsTius, and Gkegokv of Nyssa, understanding tlie figure to be the representation wliich the wliole Kcene gave to Abraham of Christ in His death (typified liy Isaac's of Tering in intention, and the ram's actual snl)- Btltution answering to Christ's vicarious deatli), and in His resurrection (typified by Al)raham's receiving liini back alive from the jaws of deatli, cf. 2 Corinthians 1. it,
10); just as on the day of atonement the slain goat and tlie scape-goat together formed one joint rite representing Christ's death and resurrection. It was tlien tliat Abraham saw Christ's day (John 8. oK): accounting God was able to raise even from the dead : from which state of the dead he received him back as a type of Die resurrection in
Christ, 20. Jacob is put before Esau, as lieir of tlie cliief, viz., the spiritual blessing, concerning things to come— Greek, "even concerning things to come:" not only concerning things present. Isaac, by faith, assigned to his sons things future, as if they were present. 2i. both the Bons Greek, "each of the sons" (Genesis 47. 29; 4S. 8-'20). He knew not Joseph's sons, and could not distinguish them by sight, yet lie did distinyuish them by faith, transposing his hands intentionally, so as to lay his riglit hand on the younger, Epliraim, wliose posterity was to be greater than tliat of Manasseli : he also adopted tliese gi-andchildren as his own sons, after having transferred tlie right of primogeniture to Josepli (Genesis 48. 11). and worshipped, >Stc.—This did not take place in immediate connection with the foregoing, but before it, when Jacob made Joseph .swear that he would bury him witli his fathers in Canaan, not in Egypt. Tlie assurance tliat Joseph would do so filled him with pious gratitude to God, which he expressed by raising himself on liis bed
(cf. 2 Corinthians 1. 5; Colossians 1. 24). As uncircumcision was Egypt's reproach, so circumcision was the badge of Israel's expectation of Clirist, which Moses especially cherished, and which the Gentiles reproached Israel on account of. Christ's people's reproach will ere long bo their great glory, had respect anto— Greek, "tiirnijig his cf« «!ca,!//»-om other considerations, Ae fixed them on the (eternal) recompense" (v. 30, 40). 37. not fearing tlie wrath of the king—But in Exodus 2. 14 it is said, "Moses feared, and fled from the face of Pliaraoh." He was afraid, to an attitude oi worship. His faith, as Josepli's (v. 22), consisted in his so confidentially aiiticip:iting tlie fulfilment of God's promise of Canaan to his de.sceiulants, as to desire to be buried there jus his proper possession, leaning upon the top of his st.tir—Genesis 47. 31, Hfbrew and English Version, " upon the bed's head." LXX. trans-
IrUe as Paul here. jEKOMEjnstly reprobates the notion of modern Rome, that Jacob worshipped the top of Joseph's ttaff, having on it an image of Josepli's power, to whicli Jacob bowed in recognition of tlie future sovereignty of his son's tribe, the father bowing to the son! The Hebrew, as translated In English Version, sets it aside: the bed is alluded to afterwards (Genesis 48. 2; 49. ."8), and it is likely that Jacob turned himself In his bed so as to liave his face toward the pillow, Isaiah ;58. 2 (there are no bedsteads \n the East). Paul by adopting the LXX. version, brings out, under the Spirit, an additional fact, viz., that the aged patriarch used his oion (not Joseph's) staff to lean on in worshipping on his bed. The staff, too, was the emblem of his pilgrim stale here on his way to his heavenly city (v. 13, 14), wherein God had so wonderfully supported him. Genesis 32. 10, "With my staff I passed over Jordan, and now I am become," &c. fcf. E.xodus 12.
and fled from the danger where no duty called him to stay (to have stayed without call of duty would have been to tempt Providence, and to sacrifice fiis hopeofbeing Israel's future deliverer according to the Divine intimations ; his great aim, iVo<e, I'. '23). He did not fear the king so as to neglect his duty and not return when God called him. It was in spite of the king's prohibition lie left Egypt, not fearing the con-soquences which were likely to overtake him if he should be caught, after having. In defiance of the king, left Egypt. If he had stayed and resumed his position as adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter, his slaughter of the Egyptian would doubtless have been connived at; but his resolution to take his portion with oppressed Israel, which he could not have done had he stayed, was the motive of his fiight, and constituted the " faith " of tliisact, according to the express statement here. The exodus of Moses with Israel cannotbe meant here, for it was made, not in defiance, but by the desire, of the king. Besides, tlie chronological order would be broken thus, the next particular specified here, viz., the institution of tlie Passover, having taken place before tlie exodus. Besides, it Is Moses' /vrsona, history and faith wliich are here described. The faith of the people ("thev passed") Is not introduced till u. 29. endured—steadfast in faith amidst trials. He had lied, 473
11; Mark 6. 8). In 1 Kings 1. 47, the same tiling is said of David's " bowing on his bed," an a<'t of adoring tlianltsglvlng to God for God's favour to his son before death. He omits the more leading blessing of the twelve sons of Jacob; because "he plucks only the flowers which stand by his way, and leaves the whole meadow full to his readers." (Df-LITZSCH m Ai-fokd.] 2!4. \vl»en l»e died—"when dying." the departing — " the e.xoilus" (Genesis 50. 24, 2.'>). Joseph's emineni position in Egypt did not make him regaid it as liis home: in faith Ue