Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of Hebrews Chapter 11
Metaphysically Interpreting Hebrews 11:1-3
11:1Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen. 11:2For therein the elders had witness borne to them. 11:3By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear.
Metaphysically Interpreting Hebrews 11:4-7
11:4By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness in respect of his gifts: and through it he being dead yet speaketh. 11:5By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God translated him: for he hath had witness borne to him that before his translation he had been well-pleasing unto God: 11:6And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him. 11:7By faith Noah, being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Metaphysically Interpreting Hebrews 11:8-22
11:8By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 11:9By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 11:10for he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11:11By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive seed when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised: 11:12wherefore also there sprang of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the sand, which is by the sea-shore, innumerable. 11:13These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 11:14For they that say such things make it manifest that they are seeking after a country of their own. 11:15And if indeed they had been mindful of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. 11:16But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city. 11:17By faith Abraham, being tried, offered up Isaac: yea, he that had gladly received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; 11:18even he to whom it was said, In Isaac shall thy seed be called: 11:19accounting that God is able to raise up, even from the dead; from whence he did also in a figure receive him back. 11:20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come. 11:21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. 11:22By faith Joseph, when his end was nigh, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.
June 1, 1919: Heb. 11:1-10
What is "faith"? "Faith" is the spiritual foundation of that which man is to bring forth.
How does man become conscious of and increase his faith? Man becomes conscious of and increases his faith through prayer and acting upon the deepest impulses of his soul.
What is the result if man fails to exercise the faith he has? If man fails to exercise the faith he has, he becomes bound by fear and belief in inefficiency. He falls short of his capacity to use God-given faculties and powers, and he seemingly stands still, which amounts to stagnation, death.
What is the "word of God"? The "word of God" is the creative action of divine Mind.
How is the "word of God" made active in man? The "word of God" is made active in man through faith in and affirmation of divine sonship. Man must stand upon his faith (spiritual foundation) that he is one with God, and that it is his privilege and power to show forth the perfection of Christ.
Do the senses or the intellect always give testimony that one is following the right course, when acting upon faith? No. Faith often causes one to act in direct opposition to sense testimony and intellectual reasoning.
What is the difference between what is called "blind faith" and what the Truth student knows as "understanding faith"? "Blind faith" is the action of the faith faculty without the balancing and strengthening influence of other spiritual faculties. "Understanding faith" is the sure knowledge that all the powers of being are working together for the attainment of the desired good.
April 8, 1923: Heb. 11:8-10
Should this story of Abraham be taken as history? No. Paul refers to this in Galatians 4:24, where he says: “Which things contain an allegory.” In our lesson today from the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, Paul treats Abraham as a type of faith.
What is the city “which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God”? The spiritual body is here typified as a “city.” Its foundation is the ideal body created by divine mind. By faith we bring this ideal body into manifestation.
How is spiritual faith used by Christian healers or restoring the body to health? Christian healers find that they can restore to perfection the most interior functions of the body by realizing in faith that in divine mind these functions are already perfect.
What is the meaning of the statement that Abraham, by faith, “when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went”? This statement is another form of that definition of faith, which Paul gives in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews: “Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.” This means that we inherit or come into possession of the ideals that we firmly hold to in Spirit.
July 6, 1930: Heb. 11:8-10
How is spiritual faith used by Christian healers in restoring the body to health? Christian healers find that they can restore to perfection the most interior parts of the body by realizing in faith that in Divine Mind these parts are already perfect.
What is the meaning of the statement that “by faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out not knowing whither he went"? This statement is another form of the definition of faith that is given in the 11th chunter of Hebrews: Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.” This means that we inherit or come into possession of the ideals that we firmly hold to in Spirit.
June 26, 1937: Heb. 11:3-10
“What is the theme of this lesson?” “The lesson today is devoted to faith: what it is and what it enables men to do.
Explain the verse “by faith we understand that the “worlds have been framed by the word of god, so that, what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear.” Faith makes clear to us what science has lately proved, namely that the manifest creation has come into being from the realm of the unmanifest or invisible. The universal life energy or “word of God” is the motive power or divine will that causes all manifestation.
In what way was Abel's sacrifice more excellent than Cain's? Abel believed that God is worshipped most truly in the highest realm of man's consciousness. The animal kingdom, since it is composed of sentient creatures endowed with the faculties of sensation and perception, is higher than the nonsentient plants of the vegetable kingdom. Abel therefore offered to God in symbolic form a higher consciousness than did Cain.
What did Enoch prove through faith? Enoch, the grandson of Adam, proved through faithfully living in God consciousness that the curse pronounced upon Adam “Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return” is not a universal law to which all men are subject, but that it applies only to the disobedient. Enoch translated his body from flesh to Spirit, and did not return to dust.
How did Noah make use of faith? Noah rested in faith, using it as a guide to future conduct, and through relying upon the divine assurance so gained, developed foresight and foreknowledge of things to come. He was therefore able to survive the flood, when all those without such foresight perished.
August 2, 1942: Heb. 11:8-12
What is our chief debt to Abraham? We owe to him our first clear knowledge of the true God, His spiritual and holy nature, and the undivided devotion that we are to render Him.
How was Abraham made great? First he was great in faith in God. Next, he was great in patience, in working toward the realization of his hopes and desires. He lived at peace with the Canaanites, among whom he was a stranger. He built up a Godlike character and realized the joy of achievement in the spiritual realm. These attainments all fitted him to become the founder and the inspiration of an enduring people.
October 19, 1947: Heb. 11:1-8
Is faith always well founded? Faith is a conviction that what we believe in exists, even though we have no direct proof of its existence. So long as our faith is in the eternal Truth of God, it is well founded; but if it is in lesser or transitory things, it is not well founded.
Can unseen reality be brought into expression through the exercise of faith? It can be and has been done countless times. The bringing of unseen reality into expression is the legitimate work of faith.
How is it done? When we steadfastly hold in mind a conviction that what we believe in exists and is to become visible, we attract unseen energized substance to us and give it the form of our conviction. Conviction is the mold in which unseen substance crystallizes and becomes visible.
What spirit does prayer probe to be real and helpful to us in time of need? The Holy Spirit moving within our heart.
How is the cumulative effect of faith shown in the text of this lesson? By a résumé of what Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham accomplished through faith. All these men represent states or conditions that are higher in the scale than the purely material or fleshly. Through faith they all made connection with the abiding realities of Truth.
Which is nearer to spiritual consciousness, the mental realm or the physical realm? The mental realm. The record of a person's mental work lives after him, so that "he being dead yet speaketh," whereas the memory of his physical activities is short-lived. Abel represents man in the mental realm; Cain, man in the physical realm.
What difference does faith or unbelief make in the life of anyone? The same difference that exists between peace and satisfaction on the one hand, and defeat and disillusionment on the other hand. Through faith we create our destiny and determine what life is to mean to us. Faith in God helps us meet life's daily demands with high courage, instead of with shrinking despair.
June 27, 1937: Heb. 11:17-22
Why is Abraham a type of faith? Abraham's faith was counted righteousness in him because he employed it so habitually that he identified himself with this faculty. He called the Father of the Faithful because he remembered to use his faith when it was needed. Faith saved him from offering a human sacrifice in the person of Isaac, a son of promise.
How did Isaac and Jacob develop faith? Both these men used faith to steady and clarify their vision of character and were able to discern what their sons and grandsons would become in later years.
How did Joseph's gift of foreknowledge come to him? Joseph developed the faculty of imaginative insight and perception through his unshakable faith in God and his vivid consciousness of omnipresence and omniscience. Throughout his long period of preparation for his life work in Egypt, Joseph held fast to his faith in God, and through that faith gained wisdom and understanding.
Metaphysically Interpreting Hebrews 11:23-28
11:23By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw he was a goodly child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. 11:24By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 11:25choosing rather to share ill treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 11:26accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he looked unto the recompense of reward. 11:27By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 11:28By faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them.
June 13, 1909: Heb.11:17-29
GOLDEN TEXT: Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen (Heb. 11:1).
The mind is a strange and wonderful thing. The more we investigate it, the more we are fascinated with its mysteries. The wonders of Alladin's lamp are child's play compared with the producing ability of the mind. Who can listen to the classical notes of a finished tenor issuing accurately from a simple mechanical contrivance called a phonograph, and not be astonished at the faith and audacity of the mind that conceived it? When, a few years ago, a phonograph was exhibited before the most noted body of scientists in France, several of them protested that it was not what it claimed to be, a mere mechanical device, but that by some trick of ventriloquism the voices were reflected into it. And they could not be convinced, although its simple construction was fully explained to them. The most of us confess to like incredulity — the mechanical explanation does not seem to cover the evidence of intelligence.
What quality of mind in the inventor gave him the boldness of conception of such a possibility? Was it anything less than faith in the very substance of sounds? The mathematical achievements of astronomy have caused us to marvel, and when Leverrier computed the location of the planet Neptune before its discovery, it was said that the mind of man had reached the climax of scientific prophecy. Yet more daring things are being achieved without even the algebraic X as an invisible mathematical surety.
What quality in the mind causes men to persist in doing that which to the sense perception seems impossible? A short name for it is faith. Faith is the assurance of hope. Columbus began with hope, which gradually strengthened in his mind, until it became substance, which is the ultimate of every idea one firmly believes in and assiduously cultivates.
Faith, then, is not confined to religion, but has to do with every department of life. Faith is one of the fundamental ideas in Divine Mind and is made active in man's consciousness in whatsoever place he may elect to put it. It works in small things as well as great — take your choice. If you want to remove mountains, you must have the faith of God. A very small quantity of that kind of faith will do it, according to the teaching of Jesus.
“Lord, increase our faith.” Faith grows in the mind—rather it expands. This expansion is most rapid when associated with other mental qualities, such as judgment and love. Peter represented Faith, in the mind of Jesus, and he was associated with John (love ) and James (judgment). All things are possible to those who believe in the One Supreme Mind, working through them in love and righteousness.
– UNITY magazine
Metaphysically Interpreting Hebrews 11:29-40
11:29By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were swallowed up. 11:30By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been compassed about for seven days. 11:31By faith Rahab the harlot perished not with them that were disobedient, having received the spies with peace.
11:32And what shall I more say? for the time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah; of David and Samuel and the prophets: 11:33who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 11:34quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens. 11:35Women received their dead by a resurrection: and others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:11:36and others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 11:37they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword: they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated11:38(of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and the holes of the earth.
11:39And these all, having had witness borne to them through their faith, received not the promise, 11:40God having provided some better thing concerning us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
December 27, 1936: Heb. 11:32-40
In whom is the power of the Christ resurrection made manifest? This power is made manifest in those who observe the principle of prayer and praise under adverse as well as favorable circumstances.
What is the “secret place of the Most High”? It is the deep inner consciousness of man, where, through exaltation of thought and feeling, he is able to form his highest conception of God and have unshakable faith in Him.
What is the basis of a temperate life? The basis of a temperate life is the love of what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and of good report.
October 19, 1947: Heb. 11:39-40
What “advantage has the believer in God over the materialist or the unbeliever? The believer is convinced that all creation rests on a spiritual foundation and that the manifest comes out of the unmanifest—that invisible realm of causation, which is completely charged with the creative principle of life or “word of God.” The materialist, or unbeliever, having no such faith on which to stand, lacks understanding of the source or first cause of life. He rejects the firm foundation of faith.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 10-26-2013
