Hebrews Chapter 11 has been described as God's Hall of Fame. It has also been called the chapter of "the heroes of faith." In this chapter we have those who took their faith and did something with it. I believe Hebrews 11 records their works of faith when their faith was at a pinnacle.

We live in two worlds - a spiritual kingdom and a natural kingdom. Faith justifies you before God but works justify you before man. What good is faith inside if it can't be seen on the outside? James basically says in chapter 2, "Quit telling me you have faith. I want to see your works. Your works will tell me you have faith.” Our bodies are merely the expression of the spirit man on the inside. My body is very similar to a glove. The glove has no life in itself and therefore, needs a hand inside of it before it can move. My body has no life in itself either. It derives its life from the spirit on the inside of me. Just as you see my body move because of my spirit within, in essence, you see my works because of the faith within. When you see me performing works you know my faith on the inside is operating.

Verses 1 and 2 of Hebrews 11 begin, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence, (or the title deed), of things not seen. For by it, (by faith), the elders obtained a good report." The elders, (or mature ones), of the Old Testament were heroes of faith and they introduce us to the remaining heroes of faith in this chapter. The "good report" mentioned in verse 2 is not only with God, it is also with men. When you step out in faith, both God and men grade you.

The book of Romans describes the faith of Abraham and how he pleased God. The book of James tells us the same man Abraham, by faith offered up Isaac. There was an outward act. God graded Abraham on an inward act of faith, but men could see Abraham meant business with God through the outward act of offering Isaac.

Verse 3 continues, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." The word "worlds" is actually the word "ages" and it refers to dispensations. Hebrews 11 is divided into dispensations. Verses 1-3 actually define the importance of faith. In verses 4-7 we have the heroes of faith before Abraham. Verses 8-22 are the heroes of the patriarchs. These include Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. In verses 23­38 we have the heroes of the Law. Finally, in verse 39 and 40 we have the differences between the heroes of faith of the Old Testament and bring them into our times of the New Testament where verse 1 of Chapter 12 says, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses."

We are not so much to pattern our lives after the heroes discussed in this chapter, as we are to take examples from them. God does not want us to try to imitate Abraham. We are to be imitators of God. However, God is invisible. We see God in those around us. The Bible says we are to be followers of those, who through faith and patience inherit the promises. We are not to be followers of those who grumble, gripe, and miss it all the time. I want to follow those who in faith and patience inherit the promises. That is what God has done for us in Hebrews eleven. He has picked some examples out of the Old Testament to cover the many gamuts and facets of our Christian lives. We can study their lives and find out where they missed it but also, find out where their great successes were. We can learn from studying their lives how to be better imitators of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 3 says again, "Through faith we understand that the ages (or dispensations), were framed by the word of God." The word framed actually means "arranged." Why are the dispensations in the particular order they are? Why is the dispensation of innocence first, followed by the dispensations of conscience, human government, promise, law, the church and finally, the millennial reign? God placed them in proper order. He arranges dispensations and this chapter is arranged chronologically according to dispensations.

Again, verse 3 says, "The ages were framed, (arranged) by the word of God." Rhema is the Greek word for "word" in this verse and actually means "the spoken word of God." The verse continues, "so that things that are seen were not made of things that do appear." The "things that are seen" are the different acts of faith in each of the verses that follow. The fact that Abraham offered Isaac was not because of the things which appear around us. He offered Isaac because of the unseen things, which are the word of God and the Spirit of God who he followed after.

Beginning in verse 4, the first hero of faith mentioned is Abel. It says in verse 4, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained a witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh." Notice verse 13 says, "These all died in faith." My friend, you can live by faith because the just shall live by faith, but when it comes time to die, there is no better way to die than in faith. I wouldn't want to die in fear. Death has no fear. Jesus took the sting out of death, therefore, death has no sting. When it comes time to die the best way to die is in faith.

The book of Jude says in verse 11, "Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah." The three people mentioned in this verse, all left the ways of the Lord. Cain is the one who introduced religion to the world, (Genesis 4). Religion is always Satan's counterfeit for truth. Balaam represents the love of money. Balaam was a prophet and was tempted by money to curse God's people. When Balaam received the money, he was willing to give the Lord some of it. He in essence said, "I'll curse your people Lord, but if you let me have the money I'll tithe off of it," (Numbers 22). Korah represents rebellion against authority. Korah was a cousin of Moses and he rebelled against Moses (Numbers 16).

In chapter 4 of Genesis we come to the time when Adam and Eve have children. It says in verse 1, "And Adam knew, (or had sex), with his wife; and she conceived and bare Cain, and said I have gotten a man from the Lord." The name Cain means “acquired." Eve gave God credit for the child. Verse 2 continues, "and she bore his brother Abel." Abel means "nothing" or "vanity." It is when you consider yourself as nothing that you become useable by God.

Verses 2-4 continue, "And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in the process of time, it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering."

Apparently, Adam and Eve had taught their two sons about sacrificing unto the Lord because it was the first thing they learned in the garden. After they sinned they made clothes out of fig leaves and wrapped them around themselves, but this was not pleasing to the Lord. First, it was their own human works, and secondly, it was not a blood sacrifice. God shed the blood of animals to put skins around Adam and Eve. The blood reminded Him of the fact there would come a day when His only Son would go to the cross and take away the sins of the world by His blood. It seems Adam and Eve had learned about offering proper sacrifices unto the Lord and had taught this to their sons. One son took heed to their teaching and another son did not. One son remembered how to offer sacrifices unto the Lord, and the other went his own way.

Cain brought the finest of fruits and vegetables to the Lord, that which he had worked hard to produce, that which by the sweat of his brow he had produced. He brought them to the Lord, laid them before Him and expected the Lord to be happy with the offerings. But what was missing? Blood. Cain brought a bloodless sacrifice to the Lord. Cain is a type of religion - full of pomp and circumstance, full of all types of things, but missing what God is looking for - the blood of Jesus. I want you to notice the first thing Cain overlooked - he knew it but overlooked it. Genesis 3:17 says, "cursed is the ground for thy sake." The ground was cursed and yet Cain brought the fruit of the ground. He wanted to overlook the fact that the ground was cursed. He was so proud of all the sweat and toil he had put into it, but my friend, we are not to bring to the Lord what we are proud of. We are to bring to the Lord what He is proud of. Cain is like the religious people of today who work, work, work; then bring their works before the Lord, and expect a pat on the back. If God was pleased with the works of men, why did Jesus have to go to the cross? If God received your works then who would get all the glory? You would. When God does all of the work and gives it to you freely, then who gets the credit? God.

Verse 4 says again, "And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof." "Firstlings" means the finest and "the fat thereof" means the richest part. Not only did Abel bring the finest meat to the Lord, he also cut them up and brought the finest parts of the finest sheep to the Lord. Verse 4 continues, "And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering." The Lord always respects obedience. Verse 5 says, "But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell." This is the attitude of religious people. They get mad when they find out God is not pleased with their selfish works. Not only was Cain wroth, but his countenance had also fallen. In other words, the smile had gone off his face. He began to pout and thought God was unfair and unjust. Cain was guilty of judging God.

Verse 6 and 7 continue, "And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?" Notice, God gave him another chance. God is telling him, "Look, you've heard from your own parents how to offer. They've taught you how to offer. Abel's sacrifice was accepted. Why don't you take your example from Abel? If you will do well, you will be accepted." Why did Abel offer a more excellent sacrifice? It was because the sacrifice showed the attitude of his heart. He was already a believer of the Lord Jesus Christ and he offered that sacrifice as a sacrifice unto the Lord because he knew what that sacrifice meant.

Abel also had faith. We know this from the book of Hebrews, Chapter 11 which again says, "By faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice." What we have in Genesis 4 is a sacrifice of a believer and a sacrifice of an unbeliever. The unbeliever, Cain, offered the Lord the works of his hands, which is a type of religion.

Verse 7 says again, "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door." Wrong. The Hebrew says, "offering lieth at the door." God is saying to Cain. "If you will do well, there is a sin offering lying outside the door and sin offering is the way into My presence." Verse 7 continues, "And unto thee shalt be his desire,and thou shalt rule over him. The Hebrew is actually saying, You will rule over sin."

The next verse says, "And Cain talked with Abel, his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him." First John 3:11 and 12 says, "For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." Verse 12 mentions the word "slew" two times. There are about 4 or 5 Greek words for the word "slay." This particular word is not used often. It means "to slay with a sacrificial knife."

Genesis, Chapter 4, verse 8, describes how Cain slew his brother. "And Cain talked, (argued) with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him." Apparently, Cain did it with his brother’s sacrificial knife. My friend, he had never witnessed a murder before. He didn't know you could murder people. This was the first case of murder. He had however seen his brother come and offer a sacrifice unto the Lord. He had heard his parents talk about sacrifices. He stood there while he offered his fruits and vegetables to the Lord and watched his brother take an animal, strap it down and cut the throat of that animal. As he watched the animal die, it came to his mind that the knife Abel had in his hand could kill things. So he took his brother's knife in the field and slit Abel's throat. The blood of Abel spilled into the ground. In fact, verses 9-12 say, "And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper. And he said, "What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield thee her strength: a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." In other words, "Because you shed your brother's blood into this ground and he was righteous, now the ground will not bring forth for you anymore. It is cursed and you are going to be a vagabond and a fugitive. Now you will have to find a new way to make a living."

The next verse says, "And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bare." Notice, the mind of a criminal is more concerned about his punishment than about what he did to the victim. Cain killed his brother and all he is concerned about is what is going to happen to him. In Hebrews, Chapter 12, Verse 24, Paul compares Jesus to Abel. He says, "And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of the sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." Both Jesus and Abel were righteous before the Lord. Both of them offered proper sacrifice unto the Lord. Religion killed both of them and their blood began to cry before the Lord. The blood speaks. God is going to vindicate the blood of Jesus one of these days. Thank God we are in the blood of Jesus and will be vindicated too.

Bob Yandian

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Copyright 2001 by Bob Yandian Ministries.
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