Hey all,
There’s a lot going on in this post, so here’s a breakdown.
I’ve decided to try doing the podcast as a video pod instead (or as well, I really am just figuring it out as I go).
Today we have the 8th song of 2024 and we’re kickstarting a brand new 5-song series: Hebrews 11 + Hebrews 12:1-4.
In today’s podcast episode I give 4 reasons you should make every effort to learn and to love these precious verses.
Listen to today’s song:
Hebrews 11:1-7
11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.2 For by it the people of old received their commendation.3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Why Hebrews 11?
Hebrews 11 is one of the most famous chapters of the bible. It’s well known to many as the chapter with the ‘definition’ of faith (“the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” as it says in the KJV).
My reason for choosing it however was personal.
This is the first series of songs I finished once I started making scripture songs in 2023.
I finished this series BEFORE the Psalm 119 Collection I shared last year.
That wasn’t accidental. I wanted to do Psalm 119 more than anything, but I was very worried I would become overwhelmed.
I knew I would need a lot of motivation to get through it.
I needed a settled confidence that the work would be worth it. That’s why I turned to Hebrews 11 and it hasn’t disappointed.
Today I want to share this four reasons you should give yourself to learning this amazing chapter and to loving it.
1. Many models to consider.
There are 16 people of faith plus the people of Israel in the chapter who model faith for us in unique ways.
I saw a great breakdown in the ESV Study Bible, which you can access for free on their website.
Each has a unique faith story which teaches us in some way how to trust God.
2. Major messages from minor characters
Some of the characters mentioned are people we don’t often talk about, like Barak and Jephthah. Many of us have heard of the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea, but have you considered the faith of Rahab the prostitute? How she went from someone in that time with that history to being in the line from which Jesus Christ would be born?
3. Motivation to move
Hebrews 12 builds on chapter 11. It argues that because we have all these examples in Hebrews 11, (“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses”), we should do the work needed to turn our walk into a run and keep on to the end (“let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”)
4. Much about God’s way with his people to make us to marvel at Him
As you read Hebrews 11 and study the lives of the people listed there you are forced to thank God for his grace. Why? Because the chapter mentions people, like Sarah, Abraham’s wife as a hero of the faith but when you look back at the story you see imperfection. She laughed at the news that she would become a mother in her old age and then lied about it when God challenged her.
See Genesis 18:11–14:
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” 13 The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
This isn’t the record of a candidate for a hero of the faith yet we see her here among the titans. It is a great encouragement to me to have faith, though it may be faltering sometimes. To trust that God will be gracious to me.
Series Breakdown
I have tried to organize the songs according to themes and also according to what I find most enjoyable to sing.
I think enjoyment is one of the MOST overlooked aspects of learning.
The more I enjoy a song, the more I want to keep singing it and since repetition is key to memorization, the more I want to sing, the more effective the song for memorization.
So here’s the breakdown:
Hebrews 11: 1 – 7 | Without Faith
We’ll start with a general discussion of what faith is. We will then be introduced to the first three icons of faith, Abel, Enoch and Noah.
Hebrews 11: 8 – 22 | Abraham Obeyed
Then we hear the story of the Patriarchs, starting with Abraham the father of faith.
It goes on to mention how Sarah, Issac, Jacob, and Joseph, all connected to the promise made to Abraham, also had to act in faith.
Hebrews 11: 12 -16 | Strangers & Exiles
In the middle of Abraham’s story we have this 5 verse commentary. It’s point is worth considering on it’s own, so I have taken the unusual step of breaking the flow of how I present the verse.
You have to pay attention as you learn the verses to know where these verse come in.
Hebrews 11: 23 – 40 | What More Shall I Say?
In this last song, perhaps my favorite, we tackle that long, rapid-fire list of people who had faith and the things they did in faith.
We start with Moses’s parents (though they aren’t named) all the way to the end. Its the climax of all the writer is saying about faith and he has laid out his case so thoroughly that he must ask, what more shall I say?
Hebrews 12:1-4 | Run
Hebrews 11 isn’t just a celebrate of the lives of some saints from long ago. It’s an argument. It’s meant to move us to do something. Hebrews 12 starts with a “Therefore,” and tells us what God expects from us in light of Hebrews 11.
My challenge to you
Commit to learning one verse a week.
Do not be deterred by how long or how complex the songs are.
If you only learn the chorus of each song, you’ll hit that goal and it will put you ahead of where you would have been if you did nothing at all.
4 Reasons to learn & to love Hebrews 11 (+ New Song)