“It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith. It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—’he disappeared, because God took him.’ For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God. And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.”
We may have to look up some of these stories in the Old Testament — see Genesis 4, Genesis 5:21-24, and Genesis 6-7 — but the Jewish readers of this letter would not have had any trouble referencing these stories. Hebrews 11 is like an ancient Hebrew hall of fame, celebrating the “greats” of Jewish history. Recall that this chapter opened with the concept that faith shows us the reality of what we hope for. Here the author is helping Jewish readers see that this concept has been with them throughout their entire history.
There is a theme throughout the Old Testament showing that God works through acts of great obedience and incredible faith. In these verses we see the theme more clearly: God is pleased when we have faith. He can use our faith to do miraculous things. One tiny, mysterious verse in the Bible holds Enoch among the greats because apparently he did not die the normal way. He’s held as an example of how God rewards those who sincerely seek him. Noah’s whole family was saved because he prepared for rain when it had never rained in recorded history prior to that time.
If you are not kind of freaked out by just these few stories referenced in today’s passage, you might not be paying attention. Suppose your next-door neighbor came up to you and started telling you about her ancestor that — as legend would have it — never actually died… Or maybe she chats your ear off about her great-great-great grandfather who built a boat in the middle of a desert and then there just so happened to be a great flood that year. Come on. If I’m being honest, I’d nod my head, smile politely, and write her off as an unreliable historian. And truthfully, that’s what many people do with the Bible. They turn what is presented as fact into fiction, allegory, or myth. As legend would have it. The Bible forces you to do something with it. How will you understand it? Will you sincerely seek the truth, wherever that may lead? I have taken that approach throughout my life and I keep coming back to one conclusion: there is room for the miraculous. I guess that’s faith.