Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1 NKJV
This scripture does not give us what Faith is but what Faith does.
We need to understand 3 words/phrases: “Faith”, “Substance”, and “Things Hoped For”
Faith:
- Strong’s Concordance definition: “God’s divine persuasion”
πιστός, pistis, pis’-tis; from G3982/peithô, “persuade, be persuaded” – properly, persuasion, faith - Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary definition: “firm persuasion, conviction based upon hearing.”
- Thayer’s Lexicon definition: “conviction of the truth of anything.”
- Pastor Will’s Definition: simply what you believe
The words for “Faith” and “Believe” are used interchangeably and are the noun form and the adjective form of the same word
G4102 pístis – belief
G4103 pistós – To believe
Substance :
- Strong’s Concordance definition: “a support, substance, steadiness, assurance”
ὑπόστασις hypóstasis, hoop-os’-tas-is; from G5259 /hypó, “under” and G2476 /hístēmi, “to stand”; a setting under (support) - Thayer’s Lexicon Definition: “a setting or placing under; thing put under, substructure, foundation”
- Legal definition: “grounds”
- Pastor Will definition: “basis”
“The Greek word translated substance literally means “a standing under,” and was used in the technical sense of “title deed.” The root idea is that of standing under the claim to the property to support its validity.”
[Hayford, Jack. “Hebrews,” in NKJV, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible. 1818. Thomas Nelson, 2018]
Things Hoped For:
- Strong’s Concordance definition: to expect, to hope (for)
ἐλπίζω elpízō, el-pid’-zo; from G1680; to expect - Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary definition: “favorable and confident expectation”; “It has to do with the unseen and the future”
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6 NKJV
Review
Genesis: (Period of the Patriarchs) – Adam to Joseph
Exodus: Moses
Joshua: (Conquest of Canaan) Joshua
Two Lessons Learned:
-
-
- Judgement
- God’s judgement is never a vindictive vendetta towards people
- The Lord comes to deal with evil, NOT people
- As people retain their attachment to evil, they become victims of the reward of evil
- Faith Trumps Frailty
- Faith works in spite of human frailty because faith is based on grace
- Judgement
-
Intro to Judges
And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:
Hebrews 11:32 NKJV
“The Book of Judges covers the period between Joshua’s death and the rise of the monarchy in Israel.” “…a chaotic period in Israel’s history from about 1380 to 1050 B.C. Under the leadership of Joshua, Israel had generally conquered and occupied the land of Canaan, but large areas remained yet to be possessed by the individual tribes.”
[Hayford, Jack. “Judges,” in NKJV, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible. 314. Thomas Nelson, 2018]
- We see a pattern of God’s prophetic dealings with his people
- Reproof, repentance , restoration
So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full— then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you (for the Lord your God is a jealous God among you), lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.
Deuteronomy 6:10-15 NKJV
For the Lord will not cast off forever. Though He causes grief, Yet He will show compassion According to the multitude of His mercies. For He does not afflict willingly, Nor grieve the children of men.
Lamentations 3:31-33 NKJV
Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJV
“Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord continually.”
[Hayford, Jack. “Judges,” in NKJV, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible. 314. Thomas Nelson, 2018]
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Judges 17:6 NKJV
“By deliberately serving foreign gods, the people of Israel broke their covenant with the Lord. As a result, the Lord delivered them into the hands of various oppressors. Each time the people cried out to the Lord, He faithfully raised up a judge to bring deliverance to His people. These judges whom the Lord chose and anointed with His Spirit were “military and civil leaders. The Book of Judges not only looks back to the conquest of Canaan led by Joshua and records the conditions in Canaan during the period of the judges but it also anticipates the establishment of the monarchy in Israel.”
[Hayford, Jack. “Judges,” in NKJV, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible. 314. Thomas Nelson, 2018]
Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,
Judges 6:1 NKJV
Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Gideon said to Him, “O my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.” Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me. Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.” And He said, “I will wait until you come back.” So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them. The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so. Then the Angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the Lord. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.” Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.” So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. Now it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.” So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the Lord had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.
Judges 6:11-27 NKJV
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”
I Corinthians 1:27-31 NKJV