We are now at Hebrews 10:32. The author is reminding the readers of earlier days when they had "received the light" and stood their ground "in a great contest in the face of suffering." They were publicly insulted and persecuted, and supported others who were similarly treated. They sympathized with those in prison and "joyfully accepted the confiscation of their property." (What do you want to bet they weren't as joyful as the author makes out.) They did all this because they had "better and lasting possessions." You know, those perfect heavenly things of which earthly things are only a shadow: shadow furniture, shadow clothes, shadow food.
The readers need to remember their perseverance in doing the will of god will be richly rewarded, after they are dead, or maybe even sooner. After all, Habbakuk 2:3-4 says, "He who is coming will come and not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him."
As usual there is a problem with the author quoting the passage from Habakkuk. It's not a person, but a thing, that will come without delay, specifically a revelation about "the end." Also, the author left out a couple of words and phrases that don't fit his narrative. He also completely makes up that bit at the end about not pleasing god if you shrink back. It's not in Habbakuk. That doesn't stop him from making it important though. He goes on to say, "We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed but of those who believe and are saved." He's got that kind of backward, hasn't he? The believers often ended up being destroyed. Those who recanted were saved. At least in this shadow world.
We are now in chapter eleven, the most famous chapter of this book. It is all about faith. The author has been leading us to this point so that he can make the case for faith. He believes that if you haven't got faith, you haven't got anything. He defines faith as: "Being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." That's the NIV version. You may be more familiar with the KJV, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The NIV version sounds almost like a definition of extreme optimism. The KJV version sounds delusional. What do tangible thing do you actually have when you have faith? No-thing! There is no substance to faith, so it can't be actual evidence of the invisible.
This author is playing fast and loose with reality. He's making bald assertions that make no sense. He's basically saying that having faith in something is what makes it true. People have faith in all kinds of things. Is all faith in unseen things equal evidence for those things' existence? The author continues to play on the theme of faith and the unseen by telling the reader that it is by faith that they "understand the universe was made at god's command (nothing but faith), so that what us seen was not made out of what was visible." Don't tell me...God made something out of nothing! How clever of him to do just what christians claim can't be done. God himself doesn't have substance. So, if we don't have faith in this assertion, how was the universe made? Good question. We've got top minds working on it. In the meantime, you can get the general idea from here. You might also try reading A Universe From Nothing? by Sean Carrol.
Till next time.
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