Everyone loves an underdog! The idea of a smaller and outnumbered person or group defeating a more powerful opponent fits well with our study of the next section of the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. In the previous section (vv. 8-22), the author described the faithful lives of the patriarchs of the Jewish faith as they faced persistent disappointment at not possessing the promised earthly inheritance. Now, as we move into the next section, we read of the exploits of Moses and individuals of the Exodus generation. During Moses' lifetime, God was ready to deliver his people out of Egypt just as the patriarchs anticipated. Instead of dealing with disappointment, this generation dealt with perpetual conflict with unbelievers. Both examples are beneficial to the readers of this letter. Just as the patriarchs' belief in the face of unseen promises would have been helpful to the original readers also clinging to God's Word, so would reading of others standing strong in the face of great oppression and persecution.

As the author of Hebrews moves on in chapter eleven by giving examples of faithful men and women in the history of the Israelites, he comes to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. To be sure, these men exhibited remarkable faith - particularly Abraham - without the benefit of ever seeing the promises of God fulfilled in their lives. In the middle of the passage we will study in this chapter, the author writes, "These all died in faith, not having received the things promised." Some might say that it is easy to live by faith when God always answers your prayers. On the other hand, there is no doubt that to live a life of consistent faith is even more difficult when that life is lived with no answers to prayer or eventual possession of things promised. The author of Hebrews writes to his readers to reinforce within them the biblical perspective needed to survive as a believer in a world that hates God and his followers (see 1 John 3:13 - "Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you"). The men mentioned in this next section of chapter eleven lived their lives with an eternal perspective. They had their eyes on a greater prize than temporal comfort and acceptance. This faith-filled perspective is possible and necessary for any believer in any age to live a life of faith.

The men and women described in Hebrews 11 are used as illustrations for the type of saving faith that actually perseveres. Christians often study this chapter and come to the conclusion that the faith of these men and women has nothing to do with them and their ordinary, everyday lives. This is a seriously misguided and misinformed understanding of what the author of Hebrews is attempting to do at this point in his letter. The author understands what is at stake and he has warned them multiple times of the spiritual dangers of forsaking faith in Christ for faith in the old covenant laws and sacrifices. To fail to endure in the Christian faith is not to travel some less desirable path to God but to travel on a path that does not lead to God at all. The author knows that his readers must press on because the only solid evidence of authentic saving faith is in its pressing on. The examples presented in chapter eleven are therefore given for this very purpose. Each of the individuals presented in the chapter persevered and endured through some period of tribulation in their life. The original readers were being called upon to examine and emulate that type of faith. In the exact same way, modern readers are also called to imitate this type of faith so that they will persevere and walk boldly with Christ through all that that life may throw their way. He begins his chronological march through the Old Testament with three men who lived before the flood: Abel, Enoch, and Noah.

Chapter and verse divisions were inserted into our Bibles about 500 years ago. These relatively recent additions do provide a certain level of convenience. However, because of these numbers, many believers now view the Bible not as a continuous flow of thought but as a collection of sentences that we can cobble together or break apart according to our own whims. It is far too easy for Christians to focus on a single verse within a book of the Bible with no thought of the context for that verse. Though not as frequent as reading a single verse out of context, some entire chapters are divorced from their contexts. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews is a prime example. There is no doubt that this chapter is able to stand alone but the reader does miss something in divorcing the words from their surrounding context. Hebrews 11 is often called the "faith chapter" or the Bible's "Hall of Faith" and rightly so. The chapter is famous for its list of great men and women of faith from the pages of Scripture. However, readers must never forget that this list of heroes of the faith is not disconnected from what has just been written and what follows. To be sure, we can profit from reading this chapter in isolation from the book of Hebrews but we profit even more from understanding the intent of the author in writing these words at this particular point in the letter.