Expected End

It’s easy to see that the thing that is most important in our establishing and maintaining a proper and full relationship with God, is that we have faith in Him. It was for faith and complete trust that God commended certain great men and women of the bible. A stirring list of men and women of faith is found in Hebrews chapter 11.

Abraham is the archetype of the man of faith. His faith was demonstrated by his actions. Abraham trusted God and moved from Chaldea to the promised land. He circumcised himself and the males of his household. He believed God for a son, Isaac, and for heirs more numerous than the stars

Hebrew 11:1 is the scripture most widely quoted by Christians -both clergy and laity – as an explanation of what exactly faith is.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. King James Version

Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen. American Standard Version

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. New International Version

Now emunah is the bittachon of things for which we have tikvah. Emunah is the conviction of things not seen. Orthodox Jewish Brit Chadasha

And faith is of things hoped for a confidence, of matters not seen a conviction, Young’s Literal Translation

For years now I have had the wrong understanding of this verse I believed that Hebrews 11:1 was a definition of the word faith. I have since learned that it is not a definition, but rather a description of faith. Think of the word cat. Here is how one dictionary defines the word cat:

cat n a small, domesticated feline mammal kept as a pet: a wild animal related to this; lions, tigers, etc; (inf) a spiteful woman; (sl) a man.

I would describe a cat thus: a small, not too bright, four-legged, meat-eating mammal with whiskers, sharp claws, and a long tail.

A good dictionary definition of a cat would tend towards the Platonic Ideal, but if this is all I had to go on, I would probably not recognize a cat if one bit me on the rear. Similarly, the author of Hebrews is describing faith in such a way that the average man or woman would recognize it if he/she saw it.

So the Bethea translation of Hebrews 11:1 is:

Faith is our confidence that God hears us,  the conviction that He wants to give us the desires of our heart, and the gratitude we express for His answers to our prayers.