A story is told of a king who had everything he needed to be happy. Yet, he was anything but happy. So, he decided to travel around the world to search for happiness.
One day, as he was walking through the woods, depressed and discouraged, he heard a man singing. The singing filled the king’s heart with joy. He reasoned to himself that if the song filled him with joy, then the singer’s own heart must be filled with joy, too. Quietly, the king moved toward the singing man and then hid behind a bush to watch him, unobserved. Indeed, the man seemed to be happy. The king was intrigued by the man’s happiness and wondered what made him so happy. The king decided to approach the man to find out.
The king asked, “What do you have?”
The man was startled and did not know how to respond. He stuttered, “What do I have?”
“Yes, what do you have?” repeated the king. “What do you have that makes you so happy?”
The man responded: “This shirt is the only thing I have.”
The king proposed a deal: “Give me your shirt, and in exchange I will make you rich.”
The man agreed. He gave his shirt to the king in exchange for a pouch of gold and then left.
The king wore the shirt and walked a few steps, touching his new shirt again and again. Nothing had changed. He still was not happy.
The moral of this story is that happiness is not based on what we have or anything intrinsically within us. As we will learn from the testimony of God’s people, as recorded in Hebrews 11 and in the time of the end (Rev. 14:12), faith is not based on anything within us either.
Part II: Commentary
Introduction: How does the process of faith work? To answer, we will consult three fundamental texts on faith. The first text provides the only biblical definition of “faith” (Heb. 11:1), a definition that will be confirmed by the patriarchs and heroes of faith in the Old Testament (Heb. 11:4–40). The second text provides an explanation of the mechanism of faith through the testimony of Abraham, who is the father of righteousness by faith (Gen. 15:6). The third text is the testimony of “faith” by God’s people (the “saints”) at the time of the end (Rev. 14:12).
The Definition of Faith (Heb. 11:1).Hebrews 11:1 is the only biblical text that defines what faith is (Heb. 11:1). For Paul, the author of Hebrews, faith is made of two components. The first component, “the substance of things hoped for” (Heb. 11:1), refers to the last event of human history, the “Advent,” or the coming of God’s kingdom at the end of time, which is also “the promise” that the “elders” of the Old Testament “did not receive” (Heb. 11:39, NKJV).
The second component of faith is “the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). This aspect refers to the first event in human history, the Creation of the world. Note that the word “seen,” blepomenon of Hebrews 11:1, points to the “seen,” blepomenon of Hebrews 11:3, which refers to the Creation of the world. In other words, the foundation of faith concerns two events that are fully under divine control: God’s Creation of the world and the Second Coming. Faith calls us to believe in the nonvisible process of Creation and to hope in the nonvisible, not-yet event of Christ’s second coming. Thus, the fundamental understanding of faith is based upon these two events: Creation and the hope of the Second Advent. It certainly is no accident that this pattern of events is clearly visible in the canonical structure of Scripture itself. The Bible begins with Creation (Gen. 1:1–2:1) and ends with the coming of the Lord (Rev. 22:20). The Old Testament Scriptures attest to this same canonical structure, beginning with Creation and ending with either the coming of the day of the Lord (Mal. 4:5) or the hope of the return from Babylonian exile during the Sabbatical year (2 Chron. 36:21–23).
It is worth noting that this structural pattern is attested to elsewhere in Scripture, as shown in the following examples. (1) The book of Genesis begins with Creation and ends with the perspective of the Promised Land, and, ultimately, the hope in the resurrection, as implied by Joseph’s request to have his bones carried out of Egypt at the time of Israel’s deliverance (Gen. 50:24–26). (2) Likewise, the Pentateuch begins with Creation and ends with the same perspective of the Promised Land and the hope of the resurrection (Deut. 34:4–6). (3) The book of Isaiah begins with God’s call to the heavens and the earth to witness His grievance against His people and ends with the creation of new heavens and a new earth and with the prospect of redeemed humanity’s eternal worship of the Lord from Sabbath to Sabbath (Isa. 66:22, 23). (4) The book of Ecclesiastes begins with Creation (Eccles. 1:1–11) and ends with eschatological judgment (Eccles. 12:14). (5) The book of Daniel begins with the food test, which alludes to the dietary principles given at Creation (Dan. 1:12; compare with Gen. 1:29) and ends with the Second Coming, the day of resurrection “at the end of the days” (Dan. 12:13). (6) The Gospel of John begins with Creation (John 1:1–10) and ends with the promise of the Second Coming (John 21:22, 23).
The Faith of Abram. A Messianic vision of God inspires Abram with faith in his future. Having seen the stars in the sky as an illustration of the divine promise, Abram believed. The Hebrew verb he’emin, “believed,” describes more than a sentimental or intellectual process, as expressed in our English verb “to believe.” Equally, “believed” means more than a mere assent to a creed or religious “belief.” In Hebrew, “to believe” is historical and relational, as implied by the root ’aman, “firm,” or “reliable,” especially with the use of the preposition be (“in,” “on”) with the object. Relying on God, Abram “believed” that he would have descendants. This kind of belief—this faith—God “accounted” as “righteousness.” God is the subject of the verb “accounted” as its most immediate antecedent. This reading is confirmed by the use of the divine passive (niphal) of the same verb yekḥasheb, “accounted,” “imputed,” in the same idiom elsewhere (Lev. 7:18; compare with Ps. 106:31), which also have God as the subject. This use means that God “counted” (Ps. 106:31, ESV) Abram’s faith as having the same quality as righteousness.
Such faith is righteousness. Human effort and works do not produce righteousness; instead, righteousness is a gift from God. Genesis 15:6 makes sense against the backdrop of the ancient Egyptian beliefs prevalent in Abram’s day. In both systems, “counting” and “righteousness” belong to judicial language, and counting is used for the evaluation of righteousness. Yet, the two perspectives are fundamentally different. In ancient Egypt, the weight of human righteousness was evaluated on the basis of the counting of human works against the weight of the Maat, the divine righteousness. In this system, divine righteousness was demanded of humans, and the possession, or lack thereof, was counted for or against them. By contrast, Abram’s righteousness is evaluated on the basis of the divine works for him. In the biblical perspective, “righteousness” (tsedaqah) is a specific divine quality (Isa. 45:24, Dan. 9:7), and, as such, righteousness can only be God’s gift to humanity (Deut. 6:25, Deut. 24:13, Isa. 45:24, Ps. 24:5). What makes Abram righteous is not the sum of his deeds but his willingness to rely on God’s deeds for him (Rom. 4:2–4).
The Faith of the Saints of the End. The most immediate application of the canonical integration of the Old and New Testaments is the association of “the law and the gospel,” which Ellen G. White uses to explain our “distinctive” name (Selected Messages, book 2, p. 385). It is also significant that it is on the basis of this association that the name “Seventh-day Adventist” has been legally adopted to found the historical creation of the Seventh-day Adventist Church: “We, the undersigned, hereby associate ourselves together, as a church, taking the name, Seventh-day Adventists, covenanting to keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus Christ” (The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Oct. 8, 1861).
Obviously, this confession of faith is also found in the apocalyptic text of Revelation, interpreted as a prophetic reference to the last-day witnesses of biblical truth (Rev. 14:12). In this verse, “the saints” are identified as “those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (NKJV). The law and “the faith of Jesus” mean more than just the concrete action of obedience, along with abstract and spiritual faith. The syntax of the phrase suggests, in fact, that the two actions belong to the same truth, with two possible nuances: the obedience to the law is the faith of Jesus; that is, Jesus’ faith. For, in biblical thought, faith is righteousness (see Gen. 15:6). This reconciliation between “the law of Moses” with the faith in Jesus’ coming characterizes the message of the eschatological Elijah (Mal. 4:4–6) and constitutes the mission of the two witnesses who represent the testimony of the Old and New Testaments (Rev. 11:3–6).
Part III: Life Application
Teacher’s Tip: Below are some strategies to share with your students for building their faith and nurturing their prayer life. Ask for a volunteer to read the Scripture and the principles that follow. Then discuss the principles and questions with your class.
Faith Training (read Matt. 15:21–28)
Principle 1: Pray and behave as if God has heard your prayer and has responded or will respond.
Principle 2: Stop worrying about the “status” of your faith or about your current situation. Just move forward, trusting in God.
Principle 3: Learn to walk with God and obey His commandments, even (especially) if this obedience creates troubles (loss of position, friends, etc.).
Questions for Discussion:
What does it mean to have true, humble faith in God?
What does such humble faith look like?
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Key Text: Hebrews 11:1
Study Focus: Hebrews 11, Gen. 15:6, Rev. 14:6.
A story is told of a king who had everything he needed to be happy. Yet, he was anything but happy. So, he decided to travel around the world to search for happiness.
One day, as he was walking through the woods, depressed and discouraged, he heard a man singing. The singing filled the king’s heart with joy. He reasoned to himself that if the song filled him with joy, then the singer’s own heart must be filled with joy, too. Quietly, the king moved toward the singing man and then hid behind a bush to watch him, unobserved. Indeed, the man seemed to be happy. The king was intrigued by the man’s happiness and wondered what made him so happy. The king decided to approach the man to find out.
The king asked, “What do you have?”
The man was startled and did not know how to respond. He stuttered, “What do I have?”
“Yes, what do you have?” repeated the king. “What do you have that makes you so happy?”
The man responded: “This shirt is the only thing I have.”
The king proposed a deal: “Give me your shirt, and in exchange I will make you rich.”
The man agreed. He gave his shirt to the king in exchange for a pouch of gold and then left.
The king wore the shirt and walked a few steps, touching his new shirt again and again. Nothing had changed. He still was not happy.
The moral of this story is that happiness is not based on what we have or anything intrinsically within us. As we will learn from the testimony of God’s people, as recorded in Hebrews 11 and in the time of the end (Rev. 14:12), faith is not based on anything within us either.
Part II: Commentary
Introduction: How does the process of faith work? To answer, we will consult three fundamental texts on faith. The first text provides the only biblical definition of “faith” (Heb. 11:1), a definition that will be confirmed by the patriarchs and heroes of faith in the Old Testament (Heb. 11:4–40). The second text provides an explanation of the mechanism of faith through the testimony of Abraham, who is the father of righteousness by faith (Gen. 15:6). The third text is the testimony of “faith” by God’s people (the “saints”) at the time of the end (Rev. 14:12).
The Definition of Faith (Heb. 11:1). Hebrews 11:1 is the only biblical text that defines what faith is (Heb. 11:1). For Paul, the author of Hebrews, faith is made of two components. The first component, “the substance of things hoped for” (Heb. 11:1), refers to the last event of human history, the “Advent,” or the coming of God’s kingdom at the end of time, which is also “the promise” that the “elders” of the Old Testament “did not receive” (Heb. 11:39, NKJV).
The second component of faith is “the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). This aspect refers to the first event in human history, the Creation of the world. Note that the word “seen,” blepomenon of Hebrews 11:1, points to the “seen,” blepomenon of Hebrews 11:3, which refers to the Creation of the world. In other words, the foundation of faith concerns two events that are fully under divine control: God’s Creation of the world and the Second Coming. Faith calls us to believe in the nonvisible process of Creation and to hope in the nonvisible, not-yet event of Christ’s second coming. Thus, the fundamental understanding of faith is based upon these two events: Creation and the hope of the Second Advent. It certainly is no accident that this pattern of events is clearly visible in the canonical structure of Scripture itself. The Bible begins with Creation (Gen. 1:1–2:1) and ends with the coming of the Lord (Rev. 22:20). The Old Testament Scriptures attest to this same canonical structure, beginning with Creation and ending with either the coming of the day of the Lord (Mal. 4:5) or the hope of the return from Babylonian exile during the Sabbatical year (2 Chron. 36:21–23).
It is worth noting that this structural pattern is attested to elsewhere in Scripture, as shown in the following examples. (1) The book of Genesis begins with Creation and ends with the perspective of the Promised Land, and, ultimately, the hope in the resurrection, as implied by Joseph’s request to have his bones carried out of Egypt at the time of Israel’s deliverance (Gen. 50:24–26). (2) Likewise, the Pentateuch begins with Creation and ends with the same perspective of the Promised Land and the hope of the resurrection (Deut. 34:4–6). (3) The book of Isaiah begins with God’s call to the heavens and the earth to witness His grievance against His people and ends with the creation of new heavens and a new earth and with the prospect of redeemed humanity’s eternal worship of the Lord from Sabbath to Sabbath (Isa. 66:22, 23). (4) The book of Ecclesiastes begins with Creation (Eccles. 1:1–11) and ends with eschatological judgment (Eccles. 12:14). (5) The book of Daniel begins with the food test, which alludes to the dietary principles given at Creation (Dan. 1:12; compare with Gen. 1:29) and ends with the Second Coming, the day of resurrection “at the end of the days” (Dan. 12:13). (6) The Gospel of John begins with Creation (John 1:1–10) and ends with the promise of the Second Coming (John 21:22, 23).
The Faith of Abram. A Messianic vision of God inspires Abram with faith in his future. Having seen the stars in the sky as an illustration of the divine promise, Abram believed. The Hebrew verb he’emin, “believed,” describes more than a sentimental or intellectual process, as expressed in our English verb “to believe.” Equally, “believed” means more than a mere assent to a creed or religious “belief.” In Hebrew, “to believe” is historical and relational, as implied by the root ’aman, “firm,” or “reliable,” especially with the use of the preposition be (“in,” “on”) with the object. Relying on God, Abram “believed” that he would have descendants. This kind of belief—this faith—God “accounted” as “righteousness.” God is the subject of the verb “accounted” as its most immediate antecedent. This reading is confirmed by the use of the divine passive (niphal) of the same verb yekḥasheb, “accounted,” “imputed,” in the same idiom elsewhere (Lev. 7:18; compare with Ps. 106:31), which also have God as the subject. This use means that God “counted” (Ps. 106:31, ESV) Abram’s faith as having the same quality as righteousness.
Such faith is righteousness. Human effort and works do not produce righteousness; instead, righteousness is a gift from God. Genesis 15:6 makes sense against the backdrop of the ancient Egyptian beliefs prevalent in Abram’s day. In both systems, “counting” and “righteousness” belong to judicial language, and counting is used for the evaluation of righteousness. Yet, the two perspectives are fundamentally different. In ancient Egypt, the weight of human righteousness was evaluated on the basis of the counting of human works against the weight of the Maat, the divine righteousness. In this system, divine righteousness was demanded of humans, and the possession, or lack thereof, was counted for or against them. By contrast, Abram’s righteousness is evaluated on the basis of the divine works for him. In the biblical perspective, “righteousness” (tsedaqah) is a specific divine quality (Isa. 45:24, Dan. 9:7), and, as such, righteousness can only be God’s gift to humanity (Deut. 6:25, Deut. 24:13, Isa. 45:24, Ps. 24:5). What makes Abram righteous is not the sum of his deeds but his willingness to rely on God’s deeds for him (Rom. 4:2–4).
The Faith of the Saints of the End. The most immediate application of the canonical integration of the Old and New Testaments is the association of “the law and the gospel,” which Ellen G. White uses to explain our “distinctive” name (Selected Messages, book 2, p. 385). It is also significant that it is on the basis of this association that the name “Seventh-day Adventist” has been legally adopted to found the historical creation of the Seventh-day Adventist Church: “We, the undersigned, hereby associate ourselves together, as a church, taking the name, Seventh-day Adventists, covenanting to keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus Christ” (The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Oct. 8, 1861).
Obviously, this confession of faith is also found in the apocalyptic text of Revelation, interpreted as a prophetic reference to the last-day witnesses of biblical truth (Rev. 14:12). In this verse, “the saints” are identified as “those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (NKJV). The law and “the faith of Jesus” mean more than just the concrete action of obedience, along with abstract and spiritual faith. The syntax of the phrase suggests, in fact, that the two actions belong to the same truth, with two possible nuances: the obedience to the law is the faith of Jesus; that is, Jesus’ faith. For, in biblical thought, faith is righteousness (see Gen. 15:6). This reconciliation between “the law of Moses” with the faith in Jesus’ coming characterizes the message of the eschatological Elijah (Mal. 4:4–6) and constitutes the mission of the two witnesses who represent the testimony of the Old and New Testaments (Rev. 11:3–6).
Part III: Life Application
Teacher’s Tip: Below are some strategies to share with your students for building their faith and nurturing their prayer life. Ask for a volunteer to read the Scripture and the principles that follow. Then discuss the principles and questions with your class.
Faith Training (read Matt. 15:21–28)
Principle 1: Pray and behave as if God has heard your prayer and has responded or will respond.
Principle 2: Stop worrying about the “status” of your faith or about your current situation. Just move forward, trusting in God.
Principle 3: Learn to walk with God and obey His commandments, even (especially) if this obedience creates troubles (loss of position, friends, etc.).
Questions for Discussion: