We often call ourselves “people of faith,” but do we truly understand what faith means?… Many of us might think of faith as positive thinking, agreeing with Biblical truths, or simply just believing that God exists. However, the author of Hebrews dedicates an entire chapter to show us that faith is something much deeper and more beautiful.
But we are not among the timid ones on the path to destruction, but among the faithful ones on the path to the preservation of the soul.
Hebrews 10:39 TLV
Why Faith Matters
Faith isn’t just a feeling—it’s about taking what we know and holding on till the end.
Think about the Children of Israel. God brought them out of their hardship in Egypt with amazing miracles and spoke to them directly at Mount Sinai, but then came their real test: Could they continue trusting even when God seemed silent?
This is the heart of faith—continuing the journey even when we can’t hear God’s voice as clearly…
The Formula for Faith
Faith = Substance/Assurance (things hoped for) + Evidence/Conviction (things not seen)
Here’s our struggle: We want the substance to be tangible and the evidence to be visible, but as Paul reminds us in Romans 8:24-25:
For in hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, then we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
When the writer of Hebrews said that faith is the substance and evidence, he was telling us that it is 100% real even if we cannot find it!
We think of our physical world as real and the spiritual world as imaginary because with our five senses we can experience the physical world around us, but the spiritual world is not experienced with those five senses.
Just because we cannot sensually experience faith does not mean that heaven is a distant realm though. The spiritual realm isn’t accessed through our five senses, it is accessed through stillness and quietness. Yeshua adds another layer in Luke 17:20-21:
Now when Yeshua was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with signs to be seen. Nor will they say, ‘Look here!’ or ‘There!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
The word used there for “midst” is the Greek word “ἐντὸς ENTOS”. This word ENTOS literally means within or inside. So, a better translation is that the Kingdom of G-d is within you. Our flesh is the veil. The body of the Messiah was the veil.
Think of it this way: Your flesh is the veil between the physical and spiritual worlds. We access the spiritual when we’re still and quiet, when we shut down the physical noise and truly seek Him.
The Four Stages of Faith
The author of Hebrews in chapter 11 shows us how faith develops through four stages, using Biblical heroes as examples.
Stage 1: Inner Awareness
By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen did not come from anything visible.
Hebrews 11:3 TLV
This is where the faith journey begins—with an inner knowing that there’s a Creator. This can’t be proven or disproven–it’s simply just accepted that the universe didn’t create itself.
Without this foundation, the rest of the faith journey can’t begin. We must first believe there is God and that He is the Creator of all things.
Stage 2: Action of Response
The first stage of faith: Inner awareness, demands a response…this passage gives us two examples:
By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain. Through faith he was commended as righteous when God approved of his gifts. And through faith he still speaks, although he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken so as not to see death, and he was not found because God took him. For before he was taken, he was commended as pleasing to God.
Hebrews 11:4-5 TLV
Abel brought one sacrifice pleasing to God and was killed for it, and Enoch lived his entire life pleasing to God and was taken up by Him. Both gave testimony through their response, but in completely different ways.
We all fall somewhere between Abel and Enoch. Maybe you’ve done one or two significant acts of faith like Abel, or maybe you’re striving to live a lifestyle of faithfulness like Enoch. Both gave testimony through their response—that’s what matters.
Faith demands a heartfelt response. Whether it’s one act or a lifestyle, your faith needs to move from your heart to your hands.
Stage 3: Faith for Personal Benefit
By faith Noah, when warned about events not yet seen, in holy fear prepared an ark for the safety of his household. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Hebrews 11:7 TLV
Noah received direct instructions from God about coming judgment. But here’s what’s fascinating, Noah was motivated by fear and self-preservation! The word “reverence” here means “to act cautiously” or “to beware.”
Noah is mentioned a total of fifty-five times in the Scriptures, but interestingly there is no mention of obedience even once in relation to his name. We think of Noah as obedient, but the Bible does not say that when it comes to him building the ark. He whole-heartedly believed in what God said, but was so scared, and proceeded to build the boat over several decades as a result of that fear! Even though he was motivated by self-preservation, God still counted it as righteousness.
“–Noah was a righteous man. He was blameless among his generation. Noah continually walked with God.” – Genesis 6:9 TLV
This is encouraging to us because even when our faith is mixed with fear or motivated by personal benefit, God still views it as righteousness and having faith.
Stage 4: Following God in Obedience
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he was to receive as an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he was going.
hebrews 11:8 TLV
Interestingly, Abel, Enoch, and Noah each get one verse, while Abraham gets a total of twelve verses—nearly half the chapter! Verses 8-19 are all about this one amazing man. In Abraham we see faith that produced a righteous response, his faith acted upon the Words of God!
Abraham is the first person in the Bible described as “believing”:
“Then he believed in Adonai and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.” – Genesis 15:6 TLV
But why then and not earlier? Because this was the first time God promised him something he truly couldn’t accomplish himself. His name changed from Avram (“Exalted Father”) to Abraham (“Father of Many Nations”), yet he still had no children. However, when God promised him descendants as numerous as the stars, he decided to believe in something he couldn’t accomplish himself.This is mature faith: trusting in God for what only He can do. Paul calls Abraham “the father of all those who believe” (Romans 4:16) because he learned to depend on God’s faithfulness rather than his own ability!
Faith as Action, Not Just Thought
It is often believed that faith is something that happens in your head—a thought process, a mental exercise, however, this passage from Hebrews reveals that faith is truly all about action. Every single example involves someone doing something in response to their awareness of God. Even the word “faithfulness” describes ongoing action, not just mental agreement.
Faith is more than believing the right things—it’s actively responding to our inner awareness of God with outward faithfulness.
This is what it means to walk in the Spirit: obeying God’s Word, guided by the Spirit of truth. It’s not enough to know what the truth is in our minds; we must live out that truth in our daily life, with what we say and do!
Where Are You on the Journey?
As we conclude this journey through the first several verses of Hebrews 11, please ask yourself: “Where am I on the faith journey?”
Are you at the stage of inner awareness, recognizing that there is a Creator? Have you moved to an active response, doing something in response to your awareness of the Lord and that Yeshua is the Messiah? Are you trusting in the plan that God has for your life, even when it is not lining up with the plan you had in mind? Or are you walking in the fullness of faith, following God in obedience even when you can’t see the outcome?
One piece of encouragement in this journey is that we have a “host of witnesses” as examples for us. Countless men and women of faith faced the same struggles we face—times when God seemed silent, when the path ahead was uncertain, when their only option was to trust what they had already seen and heard from God.
Remember Hebrews 10:39: “But we are not among the timid ones on the path to destruction, but among the faithful ones on the path to the preservation of the soul.”
We’re not called to be timid—we’re called to move forward in faith.
God has spoken. He may be quiet at times, but we can trust what He has already revealed. Faith is the bridge between what God has said and what we are still waiting to see.
Your faith journey matters. Every step of response, every act of obedience, every moment of trusting when you can’t see—it all matters. Keep walking. Keep responding. Keep holding onto your testimony.
For a deeper study of this topic, watch our full sermon on faith found in Hebrews 11 from our recent Shabbat service!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more upcoming messages on the book of Hebrews.
You must be logged in to post a comment.