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. 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. 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. 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.

Hebrews 11:4-7 ESV

Genesis 1-11 is one of the most important sections in all of Scripture. Of course, all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable to His people. Yet while 1 Chronicles 1-9 is of more value that gold, even much fine gold, it would be foolish to argue that it is equally as important as Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians. In the same way, the first eleven chapters serve as the prologue for the book of Genesis, the Pentateuch, and the Bible as a whole. Every major theme of the Bible gets its beginning in those opening chapters, and without them, we would be left without a proper orientation for the rest of God’s Word. How and why do we exist? Why is there so much evil in the world? Why does everyone have to die? Why can’t humanity all speak one language? Those are all questions that Genesis 1-11 answers.

In our present passage in Hebrews, the author sets his eyes upon that foundational text and points us toward the examples of three men of God from those days long ago: Abel, Enoch, and Noah. By drawing the faithful witnesses of these three men together, the author builds upon the introduction to faith that he laid in verses 1-3 and gives us a basic blueprint for the life of faith that we are each called into.

BY FAITH ABEL // VERSE 4

After giving us an introduction to faith in the first three verses, the author begins to give us a brief survey of some of our brothers and sisters in the faith who together are a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. Beginning with the beginning, the faith of Abel is first presented:

By faith Abel offered 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.

The story of Cain and Abel is found in Genesis 4 and is generally well known. Verses 3-5 form the core of the account:

In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of this flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.

Of course, even though God warned Cain to get control of his anger, he murdered his brother, staining the earth with Abel’s blood. Thus, the first murder was committed within one generation of mankind’s fall into sin. The slippery slope is real.

One of the great questions then is what exactly made Abel’s sacrifice more acceptable than that of Cain? Yet here the author of Hebrews is giving us a plain answer to that question: Abel’s faith. Abel clearly had a faith in God that Cain did not possess. Both went through the physical actions of making an offering. Both gave of what they had. Yet Abel made his sacrifice by faith, while Cain did not.

Of course, the status of the brothers’ hearts can be somewhat detected in the sacrifices that they chose to give. We are simply told that Cain offered fruit of the ground, that is, produce, while Abel brought the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions, that is, Abel offered the very best of what he had. By faith Abel very likely saw the connection between blood, life, death, and sin and was offering the blood of animals in anticipation of the coming Seed of woman. Yet Abel’s sacrifice of the very best of his flock indicates his high view of God. Conversely, Cain’s anger at God’s disregard for his offering revealed Cain’s low view of God. Abel gave his very best in hopes that God just might somehow be pleased. Cain, however, assumed that it was God’s duty to accept his sacrifice. Do you see the difference?

Abel understood the gravity of a sinner approaching the holy God; whereas Cain presumed to have the right to be accepted by God. Abel’s humble sacrifice made by faith was more acceptable than Cain’s prideful and presumptuous offering, which God rejected. As Martin rightly notes:

The simplest approach to understanding the relevance of Abel’s example is to remember that it illustrates the definition of faith given at Hebrews 11:1. Abel acted as the result of a faith which was “a confident assurance concerning things hoped for, a persuasion concerning things not seen.” He believed the only promise that he possessed–that of the coming of the Seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15). He hoped for his coming and for the accomplishment of all that he would do. He looked for this future blessing but did not yet see the fulfillment of God’s promise. Nonetheless, he had a confident assurance and persuasion that God would be faithful to his word. And thus he believed God–not just in God’s existence but in his promise. And like Abraham, so long after, Abel’s faith was accounted to him as righteousness. In a tangible expression of his faith, Abel worshiped God by a sacrifice which was in spirit and in truth (cf. John 4:23), and for this reason God regarded him and his offering with favor (Gen. 4:4).[1]

Indeed, although Genesis does not tell us specifically that Abel’s faith was counted to him as righteousness, as it does with Abraham, the author’s point is that that is precisely what God’s acceptance of his sacrifice meant. God’s acceptance is His commendation, His approval. And that commendation was Abel’s reward, even though Abel soon afterward became the faith’s first martyr.

From Abel’s witness, we ought first to consider that God is only pleased through faith. If our view of God is too small and our view of ourselves too big, we may very well spend our whole lives “serving” Christ only hear on the last day, “I never knew you; depart from you, you worker of lawlessness.” Rather, like Abel, we must see that our sinfulness is far too great for us to handle ourselves. We must have the humility to place our faith in the work of another, namely, in the once for all sacrifice of Christ but also then to give ourselves as living sacrifices to God our Savior.

Second, though Abel’s life was apparently short lived, as is the account of his life, it was not wasted. From a worldly perspective, Abel is nothing more than a tragic victim. He made a sacrifice and was murdered. But that is not the heavenly perspective. From God’s view, which is what ultimately matters, Abel lived by faith, was martyred for his faith, and though he died, he still speaks. His true faith in God stood as a witness against Cain’s superficial faith, and rather than repent, Cain sought to silence his brother’s testimony. Yet here we are still speaking of Abel’s faith and Cain’s pride thousands of years later. Take this to heart, brothers and sisters, no life lived by faith is ever wasted. Of course, the converse is also true, no life lived apart from faith ever ultimately matters.

Third, with persecution looming over the horizon of the original readers, imagine the example and hope that Abel’s martyrdom set. Some who originally received this letter were very likely martyred themselves for their confession of Christ; however, like Abel, death did not silence their confession. Indeed, with the benefit of historical hindsight, we know that the Roman Empire largely became Christianized because of the continual and cumulative testimony of those who were martyred for Christ.

BY FAITH ENOCH // VERSES 5-6

As every preacher knows, every sermon must leave countless stones unturned; thus, the author moves his own sermon along, presenting the faith of Enoch to us:

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.

Rather like the very brief account of Melchizedek in Genesis, the full text regarding Enoch can be easily and quickly read:

When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

Genesis 5:21-24

Enoch’s bypassing of death is emphasized by the lack of the phrase “and he died” that thunders throughout Genesis 5’s genealogy from Adam to Noah. Indeed, Enoch and Elijah are the only two humans to have been taken directly into heaven. I do not say that they are the only two humans who have bypassed a physical death because, in Numbers 16, all who participated in Korah’s rebellion “went down alive to Sheol” (v. 33).

Enoch’s experience was the counterpoint to Abel’s: he did “not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him.” Our author follows the lead of the LXX, which interpreted the Hebrew metaphor “walked with God” (twice in Gen. 5:21-24) as “was well-pleasing to God.” This description shows that Enoch fit Habakkuk’s description of the righteous one who lives by faith (Hab. 2:4; cf. Heb. 10:37-38). Since God’s soul “has no pleasure” in anyone who pulls back in unbelief (10:38), the opposite is true of one with persevering faith: God “has pleasure” in such a believer. Even though the Genesis accounts of Abel and Enoch do not contain the word “faith,” reading their stories through the lens of Habakkuk 2:3-4 makes their faith visible.[2]

Enoch’s life of faith was pleasing to God. Indeed, he had fellowship and communion with God. He tasted by faith what humanity had lost through the fall into sin. He walked with God, and, as Genesis 6:5 notes, he did so surrounded by a world where wickedness reigned over all the earth. We ought to look at the example of Enoch and ask how we may have a similar faith. How can we also please God and walk with God as Enoch did?

Verse 6 is the answer: 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.

For the increasingly large number of people who attempt to live moral lives yet want nothing to do with religion, dismissing the whole thing by saying that God will understand and forgive them, this verse stands a warning, much like the warning that God gave to Cain. “You thought that I was one like yourself” (Psalm 50:21) will be God’s charge against the wicked on the day of judgment. To think little of God is a rejection of Him. As Paul notes in Romans 1-2, there are no true atheists. Deep, deep down everyone knows that God exists. The fool represses that knowledge because he despises wisdom and instruction, especially from the Creator Almighty. But that rejection does not need to be verbal, only practical. Phillips explains:

Faith must turn to God as the One who saves; it must come to him seeking reward, seeking favor, seeking his grace. The alternative is to ignore him, to think that it doesn’t matter what God thinks of us, what he intends for our future. This is what unbelief is all about. Few people deny the existence of God, but many deny the relevance of God, the need to seek him for salvation. This is demonstrably true in our own day. The vast majority of people agree that God must exist, yet they are not seeking him. Instead, they are serving other worldly gods as the source of the rewards they so highly covet.[3]

Of course, as only those who live by faith know, the great reward for those who seek God is finding Him! Our reward is the pleasure of the inferior in having pleased the superior. It is entering into the joy of our Master by knowing Him ever more and more for all eternity. Indeed, to so seek after God will give us taste of our heavenly communion with God to come here and now. We will have the reward of walking with God by faith now in anticipation of walking with Him by sight in the world to come.

BY FAITH NOAH // VERSE 7

Lastly, the author presents the testimony of Noah’s faith:

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.

The account of Noah in Genesis is significantly longer than either Abel or Enoch, encompassing chapters 6-9. As the author recounts, Noah was given a command by God to build an ark for the salvation of Noah’s household against the literal flood of God’s wrath that would destroy and remake the entire world. In a marvelous display of godly fear, Noah obeyed God and built the ark. Indeed, he trusted that God’s wisdom rather than his own, and his family alone was saved.

In Hebrews 12, the author will note that another cataclysmic event has been promised but is also as yet unseen. At the return of Christ, all creation will be shaken away, and all that will remain unshaken will be the kingdom of God, those who belong to Christ. Indeed, 2 Peter 3 explicitly compares that day of judgment to God’s judgment through the flood. Jesus also directly compared His return to “the days of Noah” (Matthew 24:37-39). Indeed, there is no other event in history that can properly be compared to that great and awful day. When the earth is consumed with fire and the heavens are melting over our heads, what refuge, what ark will outlast the erasure of the universe itself? Christ alone. Just as only those within the ark were saved, so only those who are in Christ will be saved. Such a thought ought to nurture in us the same reverent fear that marked Noah. As Lloyd-Jones writes:

Noah was given a glimpse of the terrible nature of the judgment that was coming to the people of that day, and he trembled. That was what the apostle Paul meant when he said that when he went to Corinth he went “in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling” (1 Cor. 2:3); he had a heart that trembled at the approach of sin. We are told about the early Christians in Acts 9:31, “Then had the churches rest…walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.” “Walking in the fear of the Lord.” That is Christianity. Or listen to Paul again, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Cor. 5:11). The apostle knew God is the righteous Judge and that he will have to stand before him and give an account of the deeds done in the body; he knew that we all will. John tells us that he was given a vision of Jesus Christ, and “His eyes were as a flame of fire… And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead” (Rev. 1:14, 17). Why? Because of the glory, the majesty, the holiness, the brightness of our Savior and Lord. Have we seen this? It is not surprising that the world is as it is when the church is lighthearted and superficial and back-slapping and confident and assured in a false and carnal sense. We must know something of the fear of the Lord and the horror of the fate that is awaiting those who are in sin.[4]

We should also note Noah’s faith did not simply save himself and his household; he also bore witness to the wicked world around him. 2 Peter 2:5 calls Noah “a herald of righteousness.” That means that Noah declared God’s message to the world, for heralds are messengers. Perhaps Noah verbally called for people to repent of their sins and be saved from the flood to come, or maybe his building of the ark was the message that he made known. Either way, through Noah, God’s path of righteousness and faith was made known, and it was fully rejected.

Indeed, though the call to repent is a cry for salvation, it is first necessarily a condemnation against sin and against the world. God offers salvation. Amen! But receiving His salvation comes at the cost of acknowledging our sins as sins, and that is a bitter medicine that many refuse to swallow. Our present day’s binding together of love with affirmation is only making the proclamation of repent and salvation even more offensive. We would do well to remember the necessary condemnation that proclaiming the gospel brings, yet like Noah we must not shrink away from being heralds of God’s righteousness.

A PATTERN OF FAITH

While the author is simply making his way chronologically through faith of the saints of old, by the providential hand of God I believe there is a pattern of faith to be discerned, especially from these three men of faith. With Abel, we find a sacrificial and justifying faith. With Enoch, we see a living and abiding faith. With Noah, we glimpse a working and witnessing faith.

Which of these three men are we intended to imitate? All three of them.

First, like Abel, we ought to, by faith, offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God, while trusting only in Christ’s once for all sacrifice to cleanse us of our sins and reconcile us to God. Let us flee from the pride and presumption of Cain that God owes us acceptance and approval. He alone is the Creator and Judge of all the earth and will do all that He pleases. Once we acknowledge that reality the life of faith begins with us coming to Him naked and empty-handed, pleading mercy through the blood of Christ.

Next, as with Enoch, Christ has reconciled us to God so that we may now walk with Him. Salvation is not simply a get-out-of-hell card. We are certainly rescued from the eternal penalties of our sins; however, we are also restored to fellowship with the Giver and Sustainer of life. To have no desire for such communion with God indicates a lack of saving faith. If God’s Spirit dwells within us, as He does within every child of God, how can we not long to know Him more and more?

Finally, like Noah, the evidence that our faith is alive is the obedience that it produces in us. Noah was saved by God’s grace alone, yet his faith in God’s word was displayed through his obedience in actually building the ark. That is why Ephesians 2 and James 2 are not contradictory. We are not saved by our good works, but a saving faith will bring forth the fruit of good works. And such obedience is a testimony of God’s faithfulness to those within the household of faith and a witness of condemnation against the world. Or as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 2:14-16:

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, as we come to the Lord’s Table, with an Abel-like faith, let us set our eyes back upon the perfect sacrifice of Christ to fully cleanse us of all our sins. With an Enoch-like faith, let us rejoice that through Christ’s shed blood we now have restored communion with God and are actually commanded to draw near to Him. With a Noah-like faith, let us hold fast to Christ the true and greater ark as we await His return to judge the living and dead.

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[1] Robert Paul Martin, Hebrews, 561.

[2] ESV Expository Commentary Vol 12, 163.

[3] Richard Phillips, Hebrews, 419.

[4] Martyn Lloyd-Jones, A Merciful and Faithful High Priest: Studies in the Book of Hebrews, 189-190.