Many of us are familiar with Hebrews 11, often called the “hall of faith.” But there is one verse immediately afterward which I find particularly intriguing. What could it possibly mean?
All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised and for God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.
Hebrews 11:39-40 NLT
From the beginning of the chapter, we know other saints are watching our faith. And we are given a partial list of the onlooking crowd. But the question I’m asking is, why are they so curious, almost cheering us on?
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2
The grouping of faithful people in chapter eleven is not an exhaustive list but rather a selection of important examples that can guide our spiritual journey. These Old Testament saints are a sampling of those who have already run their leg of the race. They have completed their course and handed the baton to us. As we run our race of faith, they are watching, pulling for us, hopeful and expectant that we will finish our course faithfully. But that is not the best part of this message.
The very last sentence in chapter eleven contains a very surprising phrase … “so that they would not reach perfection without us.” Let’s try to understand what is happening here. As we know, God’s plan of redemption began after the fall and is being accomplished throughout the last six thousand years or so. His plan continues to build on, complete, and fulfill everything that went before. In the same way, so does our faith. The faith journey begun by Abel, Enoch, Noah, and countless others is still alive. It is alive and at work in you and me. We are completing the faith of the great patriarchs and saints of old. How can this be? Consider an example with me.
The faith chapter highlights individuals through whom God’s plan was carried out. None of these notable mentions completed God’s plan on their own; they built on the faith of their predecessors. Before each of these people, we find the definitive phrase ”by faith”. For example, “by faith Abel,” then “by faith Enoch,” followed by Noah, Abraham and Sara, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses’s parents, Moses, the people of Israel, and then Rahab.
God was initiating the restoration of Eden through people of faith. And his plan is continuing through the people of faith today. Abel, by his faith, expressed that it is possible to be made acceptable by God. Rahab hid the spies, showing her belief in the promised land for the Lord’s people; her home (Jericho) was the first city in Canaan to be conquered. All had unique faith journeys that fit into the larger whole. How might the others in the “hall of faith” have contributed their faith to the larger pattern God was developing?
The fullness of God’s plan was not complete with Rahab or even Moses, for we are in that chain of saints as we look ahead to the full restoration of God’s kingdom. This explains why they did not receive all that God had promised (yet), because it is only with us that they will be perfected.
What a joyous day that will be when our faith journey is complete, when the kingdom of God is made manifest, and all the saints have completed their journeys. Then we will celebrate with the saints of old as “we reach perfection together.”
~~ be blessed!
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