Hebrews 11:2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. I. THE TERM BY WHICH THEY ARE INDICATED. The elders. Those spoken of are these who had lived the life of the flesh centuries before, but the term is not used merely to indicate this fact. We know from the subsequent illustrations that the men of long ago are meant; but there is a much more comprehensive meaning in their being spoken of as πρεσβύτεροι. Πρεσβύτερος is a relative word, its correlative being νεώτερος (see 1 Peter 5:5). The elder and the younger are to be taken together - as part of one community, and the younger are to be in subordination to the elder. These elders are to be thought of, not as the dead, but as the still living. Abraham and Isaac and Jacob are among these elders, and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God, not of the dead, but of the living. Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob, or any other of the glorified believers, could have appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration as easily as Moses or Elijah, had this been the necessary thing. And these elders, who have received a good report through faith, are not to be made perfect without us. II. THEIR RELATION TO FAITH. They received a good report. They had witness borne to them. Surely there is great inclusiveness in this word. 1. Their faith stood to them in the place of evidence from experience or observation. They were at the beginning of things. They had no histories, traditions, and customs to fall back on. They had to trust the deepest impulses of their own hearts. We are the inheritors of discoveries and benefits which, in the beginnings of them, can have had little ground but faith. 2. Their faith is the great element which makes them memorable. The good men among them were better men because they were believers. Indeed, the only goodness that can be anything more than a matter of fashion and convention must come through faith. Take faith out of the lives of Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and you have nothing that should lift these men out of the common multitude. Testimony could be borne as to their faith; but we know that testimony could not be borne to other very desirable qualities in human character. Abraham had no very great regard for truth, and Jacob was utterly disingenuous. But they were believers, and in this one fact was sufficient leverage to secure their ultimate salvation, and make them adequate agents for the Divine purposes. 3. In their faith they become witnesses to us. We see plain results of their faith up to a certain point. We see Noah justified in building the ark. We see Abraham justified in leaving his own country. We see Joseph justified in giving commandment concerning his bones. We do see that he who sows in bare faith reaps a harvest corresponding to his faith. And so we must take heed lest these elders, now being witnesses to us, may one day become witnesses against us. - Y. Parallel Verses KJV: For by it the elders obtained a good report. |
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