Heb 11:17-31 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Heb 11:17-31: 11:17-31 Great examples of faith take the reader from Abraham’s family to Rahab. These examples build up evidence that faith is the only appropriate response to God. Summary for Heb 11:17-19: 11:17-19 Abraham offered Isaac: See Gen 22:1-18 . God never intended for Abraham to offer his son but was testing Abraham’s faith, which he expressed through his obedience.

Summary for Heb 11:17-31: 11:17-31 ^a Great examples of faith take the reader from Abraham’s family to Rahab. These examples build up evidence that faith is the only appropriate response to God.
Summary for Heb 11:17-19: 11:17-19 ^b Abraham offered Isaac: See Gen 22:1-18 ^c. God never intended for Abraham to offer his son but was testing Abraham’s faith, which he expressed through his obedience.
11:19 ^d Abraham reasoned: The resurrection of Isaac was the only answer to Abraham’s dilemma. In Gen 22:5 ^e, Abraham expressed confidence that Isaac would return with him.
11:20 ^f Isaac promised blessings: See Gen 27:27-40 ^g; the only part of the story that can be considered a blessing for Esau is that he would eventually shake off his subservience to his brother. Esau was later blessed by Jacob’s riches (Gen 33:8-11 ^h).
11:21 ⁱ Jacob passed the ritual blessing on to Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen 48:8-22 ^j).

• bowed in worship: Gen 47:31 ^k. The phrase as he leaned on his staff comes from the Greek translation of the Old Testament.
11:22 ^l Joseph’s prophecy and command (see Gen 50:24-25 ^m) showed faith that God would keep his promises.
11:23 ⁿ Moses’ parents: See Exod 2:1-2 ^o.

• unusual (or attractive, or beautiful): This word refers to something of superior quality. Their insight that Moses was extraordinary led them to act by faith in God.

• the king’s command: Exod 1:22 ^p.
Summary for Heb 11:24-25: 11:24-25 ^q Moses, when he grew up: See Exod 2:11-15 ^r. Moses took a public stand with the people of Israel rather than continuing to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, who had adopted him (Exod 2:3-10 ^s). Therefore, he chose to share the oppression of God’s people, as the readers of this letter were being called to do (see Heb 10:32-34 ^t).
11:26 ^u the treasures of Egypt: The New Kingdom of Egypt (about 1550–1069 BC) was an era of phenomenal wealth and political power. Moses evidently had a greater reward in mind.
11:27 ^v Like his forefather Abraham, Moses acted in faith by leaving the land of Egypt, with which he was familiar, and walked into an unknown future (Exod 2:15 ^w).

• not fearing the king’s anger: Rather than watching the king, he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible—God.
11:28 ^x Moses commanded ... the Passover: See Exod 12:1-27 ^y. The first Passover (Exod 12:28-30 ^z) initiated the Exodus (Exod 12:31-42 ^aa, 50-51 ^ab) and instituted the annual Passover observance as a memorial (Exod 12:43-49 ^ac; 13:1-16 ^ad).

• to sprinkle blood: The sprinkling of the blood of sacrifices under the old covenant was parallel to the sprinkling of Christ’s blood (see Heb 9:12-14 ^ae, 18-22 ^af).
11:29 ^ag The rescue through the Red Sea (see Exod 13:17–14:21 ^ah) constitutes the greatest moment of deliverance in Israel’s history. The people’s fear and accusation at the time (Exod 14:10-12 ^ai) do not obviously exemplify faith, but the people went forward when told to do so despite their fear. The episode demonstrates that obedience is central to faith.
11:30 ^aj The conquest of Jericho (Josh 5:13–6:27 ^ak) offers another example of great faith, as the people acted in obedience to God’s unusual instructions.
11:31 ^al Rahab the prostitute (Josh 2 ^am; 6:25 ^an) showed faith in the power of the God of Israel by protecting the spies who came to her home (cp. Jas 2:25 ^ao). As a result, she and her family were not destroyed but joined the community of Israel. In fact, Rahab was an ancestor of Jesus (Matt 1:5 ^ap).