Faith

Through faith we patiently await the promise, and hold

Steadfast fully confident the perfect time keeper has our

Interest at large.

Hebrews Chapter 11 Faith is the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld. ² For by means of this the men of old times had witness borne to them.

³ By faith we perceive that the systems of things were put in order by God’s word, so that what is beheld has come to be out of things that do not appear.

⁴ By faith Abel offered God a sacrifice of greater worth than Cain, through which [faith] he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness respecting his gifts; and through it he, although he died, yet speaks.

⁵ By faith E′noch was transferred so as not to see death, and he was nowhere to be found because God had transferred him; for before his transference he had the witness that he had pleased God well. ⁶ Moreover, without faith it is impossible to please [him] well, for he that approaches God must believe that he is and that he becomes the rewarder of those earnestly seeking him.

⁷ By faith Noah, after being given divine warning of things not yet beheld, showed godly fear and constructed an ark for the saving of his household; and through this [faith] he condemned the world, and he became an heir of the righteousness that is according to faith.

⁸ By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed in going out into a place he was destined to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, although not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he resided as an alien in the land of the promise as in a foreign land, and dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the very same promise. ¹⁰ For he was awaiting the city having real foundations, the builder and maker of which [city] is God.

¹¹ By faith also Sarah herself received power to conceive seed, even when she was past the age limit, since she esteemed him faithful who had promised. ¹² Hence also from one [man], and him as good as dead, there were born [children] just as the stars of heaven for multitude and as the sands that are by the seaside, innumerable.

¹³ In faith all these died, although they did not get the [fulfillment of the] promises, but they saw them afar off and welcomed them and publicly declared that they were strangers and temporary residents in the land. ¹⁴ For those who say such things give evidence that they are earnestly seeking a place of their own. ¹⁵ And yet, if they had indeed kept remembering that [place] from which they had gone forth, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But now they are reaching out for a better [place], that is, one belonging to heaven. Hence God is not ashamed of them, to be called upon as their God, for he has made a city ready for them.

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, as good as offered up Isaac, and the man that had gladly received the promises attempted to offer up [his] only-begotten [son], ¹⁸ although it had been said to him: “What will be called ‘your seed’ will be through Isaac.” ¹⁹ But he reckoned that God was able to raise him up even from the dead; and from there he did receive him also in an illustrative way.

²⁰ By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and E′sau concerning things to come.

²¹ By faith Jacob, when about to die, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped leaning upon the top of his staff.

²² By faith Joseph, nearing his end, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel; and he gave a command concerning his bones.

²³ By faith Moses was hid for three months by his parents after his birth, because they saw the young child was beautiful and they did not fear the order of the king. ²⁴ By faith Moses, when grown up, refused to be called the son of the daughter of Phar′aoh, ²⁵ choosing to be ill-treated with the people of God rather than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin, ²⁶ because he esteemed the reproach of the Christ as riches greater than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked intently toward the payment of the reward. ²⁷ By faith he left Egypt, but not fearing the anger of the king, for he continued steadfast as seeing the One who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith he had celebrated the passover and the splashing of the blood, that the destroyer might not touch their firstborn ones.

²⁹ By faith they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land, but on venturing out upon it the Egyptians were swallowed up.

³⁰ By faith the walls of Jer′i·cho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. ³¹ By faith Ra′hab the harlot did not perish with those who acted disobediently, because she received the spies in a peaceable way.

³² And what more shall I say? For the time will fail me if I go on to relate about Gid′e·on, Ba′rak, Samson, Jeph′thah, David as well as Samuel and the [other] prophets, ³³ who through faith defeated kingdoms in conflict, effected righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴ stayed the force of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from a weak state were made powerful, became valiant in war, routed the armies of foreigners. ³⁵ Women received their dead by resurrection; but other [men] were tortured because they would not accept release by some ransom, in order that they might attain a better resurrection. ³⁶ Yes, others received their trial by mockings and scourgings, indeed, more than that, by bonds and prisons. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were tried, they were sawn asunder, they died by slaughter with the sword, they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, while they were in want, in tribulation, under ill-treatment; ³⁸ and the world was not worthy of them. They wandered about in deserts and mountains and caves and dens of the earth.

³⁹ And yet all these, although they had witness borne to them through their faith, did not get the [fulfillment of the] promise, ⁴⁰ as God foresaw something better for us, in order that they might not be made perfect apart from us.

The Experience exchanged

The Stephen and Paul Speech

"Stephen" recounts the sacred history of the Jews from Abraham, through Moses, to Solomon and finishes by using the words of the prophets to denounce "the Jews". "Paul" complements Stephen's story by adding in the conquest of Canaan, the period of Judges, the preparation of John, and the coming of Jesus. He, too, finishes with a warning from the prophets. The original text has been cut and pasted into two separate chapters of Acts of the Apostles, in both places where a "warning to the Jews" was required. And where did it come from? "The speech of Stephen is closely modelled on the 'Deuteronomic' psalms." – G. Lampe, Peake's Commentary on the Bible, p884. Both Greek-speaking Jews, Stephen and Paul are stoned for their trouble. However Paul, unlike the less fortunate Stephen, is required to keep the story running so he makes an instant recovery, despite being "dumped for dead". Paul being stoned at Lystra (from a 5th-century ivory casket). The stoning of Stephen. Inspiration from Josephus? Jewish historian Josephus also reports on a Stephen and an execution in Wars 2.12.2. "For at the public road at Beth-boron, one Stephen, a servant of Caesar, carried some furniture, which the robbers fell upon and seized." In the same paragraph Josephus continues " ... a certain soldier, finding the sacred book of the law, tore it to pieces, and threw it into the fire." To placate the incensed Jews "... perceiving that the multitude would not be quiet unless they had a comfortable answer from him, gave order that the soldier should be brought ... to execution, which being done, the Jews went their ways." A Stephen, an offence against the Law, an execution ...

Stephen's Speech to the Sanhedrin (Acts 7.2-53) "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. 'Leave your country and your people,' God said, 'and go to the land I will show you.' So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. God spoke to him in this way: 'Your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,' God said, 'and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.' Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs. Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace. Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our fathers could not find food. When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit. On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph's family. After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died. Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money. As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. Then another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt. He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die. At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for in his father's house. When he was placed outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action. When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, 'Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?' But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, 'Who made you ruler and judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons. After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to look more closely, he heard the Lord's voice: 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.' Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, 'Take off your sandals; the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.' This is the same Moses whom they had rejected with the words, 'Who made you ruler and judge?' He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He led them out of Egypt and did wonders and miraculous signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the desert. This is that Moses who told the Israelites, 'God will send you a prophet like me from your own people.' He was in the assembly in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us. But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. They told Aaron, 'Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt — we don't know what has happened to him!' That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and held a celebration in honor of what their hands had made. But God turned away and gave them over to the worship of the heavenly bodies. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets: 'Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings Forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? You have lifted up the shrine of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile' beyond Babylon. Our forefathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the desert. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. Having received the tabernacle, our fathers under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, who enjoyed God's favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built the house for him. However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says: 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things?' You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him — you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it." Paul continues the story (Acts 13.16-41) “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen: The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He brought them out of it. Now for a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness. And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land to them by allotment. After that He gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior — Jesus — after John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, there comes One after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.’ Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent. For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death. Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead. He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. And we declare to you glad tidings — that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the sure mercies of David.’ Therefore He also says in another Psalm: ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’ For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; but He whom God raised up saw no corruption. Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you: ‘Behold, you despisers, Marvel and perish! For I work a work in your days, A work which you will by no means believe, Though one were to declare it to you.’ Copyright © 2008 by Kenneth Humphreys.

*The great Paradox*

The great Paradox

If we were to observe the creatures that fly in mid heavens, the creatures down below and never take into account the microscopic activities of the simplest form below where commonly tread, than we have missed knowledge that cries out for understanding. As we become too busy and occupied with life anxieties, we somehow by-pass real meaning that ushers forth it's paradox.

We become trapped in a web, complex and entangling, so we have little insight of what is really unfolding before our eyes. This deceptive cycle never seem to exhaust or burn out, very persistent and unscrupulous in its behavior, timeless and infinite like space itself. We become subjects of a conspiracy so ancient yet real, it begs the question of why? Then wonder of with little to give or return to the question that becomes dependent of our very existence!

There is meaning to life and so death, have we accepted both to the point we no longer care? Is there a higher power in which we demean or boast of the little accomplished in our life time? When we rest and when we rise, also does the day and the night, when we energize throughout the day so does the large circle that sustains life, with laws beyond my reach! Have you notice anything lately that caused tremors in yourself? Why do you put hope in the efforts of mankind?

Has he done anything of worth and value? Look again and observe from the smallest of life form does creation not speak in silence? And if you could hear or capture its revelation, whom would you call to your banquet table and release the silence? Knowledge disguises like a prudent chameleon making available its true intentions to which it pleases and have the right heart condition.

Here I’m again calls the howling winds of change shifting from place to place like a nomad in search of oasis, like the rainy season timely yet unaccomplished to the stumbling eyes. There are hard times ahead I see what you have missed from long ago, I’m he whom you need…but cannot tolerate, because truth does not reside in you and love is remotely found. My calling has come, there to abide in the square box below in the cool resting place if there is a resurrection? I hope and wish my desire is manifest in the simplest of all life form, maybe it’s not so difficult after all.

BY: Raphael G
  ©