A list of the "Faithful" persons of Hebrews 11 and the demonstration of that faith 543 - 4 - 5

Hebrew 11:1-3, “1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3 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 list of faithful persons in Hebrews 11 include Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David also, Samuel and the prophets. A few examples of their demonstration of faith.

Hebrew 11:4, “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.” Cain offered God the works of his hands as a farmer while Abel offered the blood of a lamb. Abel’s sacrifice was acceptable to God and Cain’s was not. While Leviticus has a provision for offering grains as a sacrifice, Cain’s offering was not in accordance with it.

Genesis 5:21-24, "And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." Although Enoch pleased God, few of his descendants survived the flood, only Noah his three sons.

For 120 years Noah follow the dictates of God and built the ark. One can only imagine the ridicule he and his family endured building an Ark in a dry climate that had never known rain.

God appeared to Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia and said, “Leave your country and your people, and go to the land I will show you.” Abraham settled in Harran and stayed there until after his father died and then obeyed God commend to “go to the land I will show you.”

When God told Abraham to take his only son and sacrifice him he did not hesitate. Abraham Left the next day to fulfill God’s command. This was not the moral equivalency to the sacrificing of children to pagan gods. Abraham knew that Isaac was the son of promise and through him he would be the father of nations.

Hebrew 11:11, “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.” Although Sarah laughed at the prophecy she would have a son in an another year, she still was rewarded with the child of promise.

Hebrew 11:26, “Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.” Moses fled Egypt and discovered God in the wilderness. Through faith, he led God's people out of Egypt and to the edge of the promised land.

The Prophets, Hebrew 11:36-38, “36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”

Paul end this chapter with a promise to us, the Holy Spirit? Hebrew 11:39, “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”

Esau loses his birthright and blessing 542 - 13 - 4

Esau was not justified in his anger towards Jacob!

The conflict between Jacob and Esau began in the womb of Rebecca. Esau was actually first in leaving the birth canal, however, Jacob was holding Esau’s heel. Interestingly enough, Jacob means heel catcher, i.e. supplanter, Strong’s H3290 .
Genesis 25:22-23, “And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord. And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.”

Years later as Esau returned from the field he was very hungry and asked Jacob for his bowl of pottage. Jacob did so on the condition that Esau would sell him his birthright. Esau was more concerned with things of the flesh and said, “I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?” Thus in God’s eye, “Esau despised his birthright;” analogous to spiritual fornication.

Esau was a successful hunter and would prepare a “savoury meat dish” that his father Isaac craved, again of the flesh. While Esau was hunting Rebecca and Jacob tricked the blind Isaac with a savoury meat dish that Rebecca had prepared. As a result Jacob received the blessing that normally would have belonged to the firstborn.

Carnal nature came into play both with Isaac's desire for Esau’s stew and with Esau’s selling his birthright for a bowl of pottage. 

Hebrews 12:15 Looking diligently (G1983) lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
16 Lest there be any fornicator (G4205), or profane person (G952), as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance (G3341), though he sought it carefully with tears.

Common opinion seemed to be that Jacob was deceitful and stole the blessing that should have belonged to Esau. However, God allowed (orchestrated?) Jacob to receive the blessing. And so God’s covenant with Abraham that had passed from Abraham to Isaac now passed to Jacob. This is just one of several examples of God bypassing the firstborn and favoring a younger brother. As a profane person Esau had crossed a line drawn in the sand by God and there was no repentance possible. A profane person (G952) comes from the base of G939 and βηλός bēlos (a threshold); accessible (as by crossing the door way), that is, (by implication of Jewish notions) heathenish, wicked: - profane (person). And Esau did indeed cross over a threshold!

Contrast Jacob and Esau. How is God's sovereign choice NOT due to His omniscience? 534-2 - 13-3

With thanks to Wikipedia, “Omniscience (pron.: /ɒmˈnɪʃəns/[1]), mainly in religion, is the capacity to know everything that there is to know. In particular, Hinduism and the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) believe that there is a divine being who is omniscient. An omniscient point-of-view, in writing, is to know everything that can be known about a character, including past history, thoughts, feelings, etc. In Latin, omnis means "all" and sciens means "knowing".

I came across this gem as I was reviewing the Book of Daniel for another class, Daniel 2:20-22, "Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.”

When Jacob and Esau’s mother Rebecca was pregnant God told Rebecca Genesis 25:23 “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” Jacob earned his name which means heel grabber; as Rebecca was delivering her son Esau Jacob had a hold of his heel trying to pass him as they exited the womb. Esau (red) became a skillful hunter and a favorite of his father while Jacob stayed closer to home and was favored by his mother.

Romans 9:13, “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” God is not confined to our lineal sense of time as he stands outside of it. He knows the beginning from the ending and the ending from the beginning. Add to that God is sovereign and it is up to him who he loves and who he hates. That said, I don’t belief that we serve a capricious God who loves and/or hates without reason. God knew that Esau would value his birthright so little that he would sell it for a bowl of porridge to gratify his carnal appetite of hunger. When Esau cried that he wanted his birthright restored it was too late. Herein lays a lesson for those preferring subsidence for the flesh rather than for the spirit.

Later, Isaac wanted Esau to make him a savory stew and bring it to him and he would give Esau his blessing. Rebecca and Jacob tricked Isaac into giving his blessing to Jacob. Jacob fled his home fearing revenge from Esau. Rebecca told Jacob to go to her brother Lehman where he was in turn tricked by Lehman. Finally Jacob earned Lehman’s daughters Rachel and Leah and between them and two concubines Jacob had 12 sons and one daughter.

Were Rebecca and Jacob really devious or just doing God’s will (election)? IMO, God always intended that His Covenant would pass to Jacob.