Hebrews is indeed the book of faith with the only general definition in the whole of the New Testament. However, we need to be wary not to take the definition out of context. Faith is about trusting God on a daily basis. It is not a formula for getting rich and wealthy in the material sense. Anyhow Later on in the book of Hebrews Apollos writes:
Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,” Hebrews 13:5
Using Hebrews 11.1 as a pretext for material gain is out of the question!
Having said that Christ has lavished us with spiritual riches that this world cannot have except the Church. In Christ by the Holy Spirit, He furnishes us with what we need in our onward walk to perfect holiness and to be in God’s presence for all eternity. Even as Abraham had mountain and valley experiences, he stayed faithful to God to the very end, and we too ought to follow his example.
So let us press forward in understanding the message of Hebrews. I really didn’t know how to contextualize this powerful message in chapter 11, so I did some background reading and I found this:
“Each example in Heb 11:3-31 is united by means of anaphoric repetition of πιστει(at to the definition of faith in 11:1, which is also connected preceding exhortation to faithfulness in 10:19-39 by repetition of πιστις 10:39 and 11:1. To the definition of faith is added an assertion in 11:2 that people of old won God’s approval by their faith, and all of the examples 11:3-38 serve as proofs of the truth of this statement. Thus, the faith exhorted in 10:19-39 is the faith defined in 11:1 and the faith illustrated in 11:3-persuasiveness of this approach is increased by the implementation rhetorical techniques” (from JSTOR; JBL 107/2 (1988); pages 257-273; By Michael R Cosby)
Anaphora can be found in speeches and poems. This example is from Martin Luther King’s speech:
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride, From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.” (From the I have a dream speech; https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm)
So, the example above shows Martin Luther King using anaphoric style in his speech. Apollos the writer used anaphoric style 2000 years earlier by using ‘By Faith…’ 18 times! It is a rhetorical device to capture the listeners’ ear. So to get a real feel for this chapter it would be a good thing to read it out loud and to put the stress on the first two words ‘by faith’.
We can also think about the context of Hebrews 11 as Cosby says in our first quote by Cosby:
“Thus, the faith exhorted in 10:19-39 is the faith defined in 11:1 and the faith illustrated in 11:3-persuasiveness of this approach is increased by the implementation rhetorical techniques”
(From; JSTOR; JBL 107/2 (1988); pages 257-273; By Michael R Cosby)”
As we were writing our commentary, we found out that Apollos wanted to encourage the believers who were suffering to stay true to Christ. We then hit the definition and now Apollos illustrates the way of faith. This is a powerful illustration to these Jewish Christians. I can imagine being in the meeting where this letter was being read… ‘By faith…’. There are 18 ‘by faith’ sayings in this chapter and I am not planning to go through every single one. However, it is important to get the main flavour of what Apollos is talking about. Perhaps Hebrews 11 should be read like this to take into account the anaphoric use!
By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.
By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. Hebrews 11:3-7
When we start to understand the text, we then start to realize how beautiful this text was for the original readers.
Reflection
My main aim this week was to answer the question of why Apollos would use ‘by faith’ in a single chapter eighteen times! If you have read this blog today, then you can see how brilliant Apollos was with language. We have also learned that the book of Hebrews was meant to be read out loud to the whole congregation. So then even after 2000 years anaphoria is still being used in poetry. Sometimes we hear great men such as Martin Luther King read their speeches but we don’t always see the brilliance they have in getting their message across.
Living by faith is also about persevering in the faith. These Jewish Christian believers were suffering but they persevered to the end. How do we compare to these saints of old?
Fun Activity
Have a go at writing three verses of a poem using anaphora! 😊
Weaver1has's Blog 
September 18, 2021 at 3:24 pm |
Thank you for your faithfulness in writing this blog Hasan. I am interested in what Martin Luther King said in his speech beyond the first line. It is very different from what is touted by BLM which their leaders admit is Marxism.
September 18, 2021 at 3:29 pm |
Socialism only focus on social problems using a secular ethics. There are areas of agreement between Christian socialism but there is a whole area that goes against Christian teaching. We follow the teachings that Christ laid down and because of this persecution of Christians in the West will statistically rise.