Week 50 Hebrews
I think Hebrews 11 is a good argument for reading the OT because it names a bunch of OT people. If I haven’t read the OT at all then reading Hebrews 11 is a bit like reading, for example, Ezra chapter two. It’s just another long list of unknown names.
But if I have read the OT then I’m thinking, yeah, I recognize him, or, I remember her story.
Of course chapter eleven isn’t really meant to be an OT Highlight Reel. It misses too many important people. It’s really a selective list of OT people who exercised faith.
Which is pretty interesting because when I think about the OT there are obvious big-ticket practices like civil regulations, sacrifices, religious ceremonies and like that. But the writer of Hebrews is saying that faith was part of that OT mix too. I notice that it’s thirty-one verses before the writer even gets to Mount Sinai and the Law. Which means that in all the time before-the-Law some people had faith. And even in the after-the-Law time of verses 32-39 people were still acting by faith. In fact they all: gained approval through their faith.
So I’ve got to be careful to not breakdown the bible like this: the OT = law, and the NT = faith. According to chapter eleven there was faith all the way back to Abel. So it’s more like this: the OT = faith, and the NT = faith. Faith in all of it.
Note: quote from Hebrews 11:39 (NASB)