As we begin to look into the people of faith listed in Hebrews 11 we will notice something common with them all. We will notice that they all faced adversity in life that could have easily led them down a path of unbelief. But when God gives to a person faith to believe then that faith will continue even through the adversity of trials and suffering. We will notice as well that not every situation is the same so there is no cookie cutter formula for success in life. Our success is not determined upon what we have in this life but it is determined on how we live our life by faith in God. Of course none of what we face can be lived out by faith except by the power and strength of God in us. This will be seen over and over again as we look at each of these people in this chapter.
In this study we will look at 2 people, Abel and Enoch. We will see that the faith they had is what pleased God and it was not based off of the way they wanted to live their life. They both lived in a time that brought many problems that led to them being taken from this world, even though their exits were very different. As we look into this study and all that we will look at in this chapter we will visit as much of the original story from the Old Testament accounts. Let’s look now at our first point.
1.The faith of Abel.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:4 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.
We will look at the original account of what happened but before we do I want to mention that there is always questions surrounding why Abel’s sacrifice was acceptable and why Cain’s was not. I think what we will see in this part of the study will make that clear. Let’s look at the account as we see it in Genesis 4:3-5 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.
Clearly just as we see in our Hebrews text, we see here as well that God did not accept or have respect for Cain’s offering. People may wonder why is it that God would not accept an offering that Cain brought? Some people may say that at least he brought something, or they may say that he was doing his best. The thing is we can speculate at so many things that we don’t see in the text. Some people may say that Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock and Cain just brought what he wanted of the fruit of the ground but I don’t believe that is completely clear here. Also people may say that they were both to bring an offering of the sheep as a sin offering but we do not have a clear indication of that either, even though I think that is a valid argument. We do not have in the Scripture the exact command to what they were to bring but I do believe they had a command that we just don’t have in the Bible. I believe they had a clear command on what to bring and when to bring it because we know that God always gives to us commands and laws to live by. But again we do not know what they were told exactly concerning this offering.
So what was Cain told concerning his rejected offering? We see in Genesis 4:6-7 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
I think we see in verse 7 here what the real problem was and it is summed up in what God says when He says If you do well, will you not be accepted? The word for the phrase you do well is the Hebrew word yatab (yaw-tab’) that means pleasing. It is this pleasing that really serves as the theme for this study. It brings to us what is it that pleases God. If we jump a couple of verse in Hebrews we will see in Hebrews 11:6 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.
So as we put both of these accounts together we see that Cain’s offering was clearly not accepted because he did not have faith. It may be in what he brought but more importantly I believe it is in the attitude in which he brought it. Cain did not bring his offering in faith but dependent on the works of his own hands. I mean we do see that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground in which he was a worker of the ground according to Genesis 4:2. On the other hand we do know that Abel was a keeper of sheep but this offering of Abel’s was not based off of his own work by as we see in Hebrews 11:4a By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain.
So to answer the question is to say that Cain offered with a lack of faith and Abel offered by faith. It was this faith that Abel had which he was commended as righteous. It was not in the work of self righteousness and pride that made Abel righteous, it was not just the act of offering but it was faith that made Abel righteous. Abel is righteous the same way every other person becomes righteous and it is not by our own works. Listen to what Romans 4:13-16 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
We know that faith has been the way that any person is made righteous from all time. That faith is a result of the grace that God gives to us. Unfortunately we know that this acceptance of Abel’s gift angered Cain to the point of killing his brother. Hebrews 11:4c says And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
How does Abel still speak and what about? His testimony to us is that living by faith is to be done in spite of the opposition you may face. You may face difficulties in life, you may even face the possibility of death because of your faith but we are to remain faithful in pleasing God by living by faith. This all leads us to our next person that will not have as much content to look at in our second point.
2.The faith of Enoch.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:5 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.
We do not have a lot to build up to concerning Enoch because the mention of Enoch is very little in the whole of Scripture. But Enoch always has a sense of mystery because of what we see in Scripture concerning him. Let’s look at what the Bible says in Genesis 5:21-24 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
Of course the mystery is that Enoch was just taken from the Earth one day. He did not die as we see in our Hebrews text but was taken from the Earth. Some people speculate that he was taken for a specific reason and purpose that is in connection to the 2 prophets of God mentioned in Revelation 11. Of course we have no indication in Scripture that would point us in that direction. I do not want to take to much time to speculate but just notice how he lived in the time he was alive. Our Hebrews text says in Hebrews 11:5a By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death. So for purposes that have never been revealed before God took Enoch from this Earth so that he should not see death. I think it is clear and we need to be okay with not knowing why this happened for sure.
Now we see in Hebrews 11:5b Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. Just like we made clear with Abel, we make sure for us to understand that Enoch was not just doing things that were pleasing to God from a ritualistic type of service to God but as it states at the beginning of Hebrews 11:5 By faith. This is the way Enoch lived his life, by faith in God. This faith that he had showed up in the way he lived that is why we saw in Genesis 5:22 and 24 that Enoch walked with God. This walking with God was not something that every person did in the early stages of mankind just like most do not today either. At the end of Genesis 4 we do see in Genesis 4:26 To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.
So we do see that people began to call upon the Lord but this would not be the flow of life for most people. In fact just 3 generations from the time that Enoch was taken we have the account of the flood. It is said of the condition of mankind in Genesis 6:5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
So we know that Enoch lived in a world of wickedness just as we do and just as every person that has ever lived. But there is something that sets Enoch apart from the rest. It isn’t his translation from this Earth, even though that is pretty amazing, but it is what we have already mention what we see in Hebrews 11:5b Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. The Greek word for pleased here is the word euarestēkenai or euaresteó (yoo-ar-es-teh’-o) that means to please by giving what is acceptable. Nothing in Enoch’s life would show that he did things to earn salvation or favor with God but only that he lived by faith. We get a little glimpse by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to what Enoch would have been up against as we look at Jude verses 14-15 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
Jude is speaking of the false prophets and false teachers that would be rampant throughout history. It was these that Enoch spoke against in his time as well. He lived in a time of rebellion and evil. Just like in our time there will be those that live a vile and wretched life and yet profess to be true followers. It is these that Enoch would have been preaching against and would most likely be threatened by with his life. We don’t know if this is why God took Enoch but what we do know is that Enoch was a man of faith that pleased God, not by his own works but as we a have already seen by faith. Remember as we have already pointed out that Hebrews 11:6 says 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.
It is true faith that changes a person’s action from living for self to living for God. It is by faith that a person can live a life that is pleasing to God, it is by faith that brings a person to a place of obedience that pleases God. Only faith and nothing else can show up this way in the life of a person and as we have seen both Abel and Enoch lived by this faith.
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