Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el and Mischpachah and welcome to this fifth part of our series, The Way of Faithfulness.

Today we're going to finish a two-part study of Hebrews 11:1. Last week we studied the first part and this week we will look at the second. To refresh your memories, this is the passage we are interested in:

"Now emunah (faith) is the assurance (substance) of things hoped for, the conviction (evidence) of things not seen" (Heb.11:1, RSV).

It's pretty easy to believe in things we can see, but not so easy to believe in the things we cannot see. Yet this is exactly where emunah (faith) operates. We do not need emunah (faith) to operate in the realm of things we can see: it is sight, not emunah (faith), that operates there. I am sure you all know the English phrase, "seeing is believing", but when we stop to examine it we find that, really, it isn't true. Believing is being sure without seeing.

Even scientists start with believing in - or acting in faith on - their ideas - hypotheses which must then be tested using observation before they can be claimed as fact, and hypothesis become theories. But even then it is still possible to falsify a theorem so faith plays its part throughout. As a keen amateur astronomer I have witnessed so many supposedly proven 'facts' turn out to be wrong. (See my article, Can Science Exist Without Faith?)

Emunah (faith) operates in the realm of things the physical eye cannot see, and is able, as the writer to the Hebrews puts it, to "see the invisible". This is not a contradiction, but a paradox, rather like the seeming contradiction between 'Justification by Faith' (Rom.3:28; Gal.2:16; 3:24) and 'Justification by Works' (Jas.2:21-22,25) which we discussed in a recent series of sermons [1].

Another example, taken from George Orwell's Animal Farm, illustrates the true nature of Marxism and Communism: "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others". Now at face value this statement doesn't make logical sense. However, the point of the paradox is to point out a truth, even if the statements contradict each other. Here Orwell is making a political statement. The government claims that everyone is equal when that is clearly false - individuals have skewed perceptions of what it means to be 'equal'. The interpretation is then left to the reader to decide.

Perhaps a better example is one that your mothers may have said to you: "You have to be cruel to be kind", which actually comes from Shakespeare's Hamlet. How can an in individual convey kindness through evil? In this particular case, Hamlet is speaking about how he plans to slay Claudius in order to avenge his father's death. His mother is now married to Claudius, so, of course, this will be a tragedy for her. However, he doesn't want his mother to be the lover of his father's murderer (unbeknown to her, incidentally) any longer, so he believes the murder will be for her own good.

Another example of an apparent contradiction is the "jumbo shrimp". The words 'jumbo' and 'shrimp', representing 'enormous' and 'tiny, respectively, are contradictory yet some shrimps can appear jumbo-sized to others. In this case, we're dealing with an oxymoron, since the term is being used for dramatic effect.

Paradoxes may seem contrary to reason, but they have important implications in the world of literature, because they make statements that often sum up the main ideas of the work. This is as true of the Bible, which is a special kind of literature, namely, divine revelation, as it is of other kinds of literature.

You will find the Bible full of some of the greatest paradoxes in the sphere of human thinking. And as one writer said, "Without paradoxes there is no Christianity" [2]. And the reason there are so many paradoxes is because Yahweh doesn't look at life the way we do. You all know the famous passage in Isaiah:

"'For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways My ways,'
declares Yahweh.
'As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways
and My thoughts than your thoughts'" (Isa.55:8-9, NIV).

When you have the vantage point of Deity then obviously you will see things that mortals cannot see that result in paradoxes. Henry Clay Trumbull once wrote back in the late 1800's:

"The law of the Christian life is a paradox. It is made up of seeming contradictions. All its teachings are contrary to the common opinions of man. According to this law, giving is getting; scattering is gaining; holding is losing; having nothing is possessing all things; dying is living. It is the weak who is strong...Happiness is found when it is no longer sought; the clearest sight is of the invisible; [and] things which are not bring to naught things which are" [3].

Believers immersed in Western thinking often trip up over such paradoxes because their rational minds cannot wrap themselves around them. That is one of the major reasons we have so much division in the Body of Messiah. And yet the Bible teaches us that we:

• 1. Conquer by yielding (Rom.8:37);
• 2. Find rest under a yoke (Mt.11:29-30);
• 3. Reign by serving (2 Tim.2:12);
• 4. Are made great by becoming small (Lk.9:48);
• 5. Are exalted when we are humble (Mt.23:12);
• 6. Become wise by being fools for Messiah's sake (1 Cor.4:10);
• 7. Are made free by becoming bondservants (1 Cor.7:22);
• 8. Gain strength when we are weak (2 Cor.12:9);
• 9. Triumph through defeat (2 Cor.6:8-10);
• 10. Find victory by glorying in our infirmities (2 Cor.11:30);
• 11. Live by dying (Mt.10:39); and
• 12. See unseen things (Heb.1:11). [4]

The reason we experience paradoxes is because we live in two very different worlds simultaneously:

• 1. The invisible spiritual world; and
• 2. The visible physical world.

Some of the greatest paradoxes were taught by Yah'shua (Jesus) in the Beattitudes. Is it any wonder that we are all walking paradoxes? So it should come as no surprise to us that emunah (faith) is a paradox. Emunah (faith) sees the invisible, touches the intangible - fights in chains, and rests in conflict. Contradictory? No - paradoxical. And therefore true.

Now I could never write a theological textbook on emunah (faith) for you because it is impossible. The great Maltese psychologist, Edward de Bono, tried to do just that and wrote a number of books, most famous of which are The Use of Lateral Thinking and Po: Beyond Yes and No. You may have heard me mention him to you before. They're fascinating intellectual journeys but they inevitably reached no definite conclusion. And the reason they ultimately failed is because they never really grappled with faith.

This emunah, as it is called in Hebrew, or faith, isn't really something you can dissect intellectually anyway - it is a living entity, what some Bible translators call a "substance" in our passage (KJV, NKJV)...Hebrews 11:1 is really hard to translate! Inside this thing the Bible calls emunah which we call 'faith', is a dazzling potential that can only be appreciated in the invisible realm of the spirit, even if it inevitably ripples outwards and impacts our physical reality too, particularly in the sphere of miracles. It works only by our being 'stretched' which is why Yahweh stretches us continually! This is all a part of what it means to be a talmid or disciple.

So, I hope we can at least be agreed that emunah (faith) is a paradox - a statement that appears contradictory, but is nevertheless true. By 'faith' we see the unseen. We are as conscious, if not more so, of the reality of the spiritual world around us as we are of the material objects which we handle day by day. A lot of you have 'seen' the invisible world many times, so much so that is has become familiar and has long since lost its initial 'strangeness'. We should pursue that familiarity with vigour!

Now the unbeliever puzzles over this and dismisses it as simply 'crazy'. These last days, as I have struggled with the reality of the risks of my operation which I shall be having in a little under two day's time, has brought the spiritual dimension into sharp focus again. But I suspect that is what Yahweh intended all along, especially when we start wandering away from Him because of a preoccupation with the material dimension, which in this fallen form is only temporary and will one day completely vanish away to be replaced by an entirely new resurrection world. This physical reality is not the 'ultimate reality' - it is a pale imitation of it but necessary for our spiritual development.

Emunah (faith) puts you in touch with this Ultimate Reality which the Bible calls the 'Kingdom of Elohim (God)' or the 'Kingdom of Heaven' (which are one-and-the-same). These realities - these unseen forces - which cannot be seen with the physical eyes, or measured, or analysed with scientific equipment, or touched with earthy hands, ought to be the chayim or life of the believer, even more important, in some ways, than the air we breathe! To be without them now would, for me and all of you, I hope, not be life, but mere existence. And unfortunately the bulk of humanity is doing little more than existing in a shadowy world with little hope.

How aware are you of the reality of the 'unseen'? Can you reach by emunah (faith) and become so conscious of the unseen spiritual dimension around you that all your fears are dispelled? Speaking personally, and truthfully, I have been in and out of this higher realm these last weeks - sometimes enjoying wonderful communion with Yah'shua (Jesus), sometimes feeling despair as I have succumbed to the fleshy nature and allowed doubt to undermine me.

If you are not yet conscious of this unseen spiritual realm, I pray that what happened to Elisha's servant will happen to you today:

"When the servant of the man of Elohim (God) got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. 'Oh, my master, what shall we do?' the servant asked. 'Don't be afraid,' the navi (prophet) answered. 'Those who are with us are more [numerous] than those who are with them.' And Elisha prayed, 'O Yahweh, open his eyes so he may see.' Then Yahweh opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha'" (2 Kings 6:15-17, NIV).

As soon as Elisha prayed, "O Yahweh, open his eyes", instantly the prayer was answered. How do we know? "He looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha." If you knew - really knew - what spiritual forces are available to you through emunah (faith), you would never be afraid again. Remember how Wesley put it:

"Lo to faith's enlightened sight,
All the mountains flames with light;
Hell is nigh but God is nigher,
Circling us with hosts of fire."

And I have seen similar things, from the time I saw that my bed in Oxford was surrounded by malakim (angels) praying over me, to the time some years ago here, at Kadesh-biyqeh, to see thousands of malakim (angels) surrounding this place in a vast circle protecting it against the enemy's attacks. We are surrounded by such heavenly legions when we are in need of them. But first you must believe. Pray for a deeper awareness of the reality of the unseen world on every hand. Ask Yahweh to open your eyes so that you might see - really see!

Let's try and draw together all the things we have learned since last week. It is important to keep in mind that this definition of emunah (faith) - "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (RSV) - is basic and fundamental, and although we have a lot more to learn about emunah (faith) as we continue in this series later on, we shall never properly understand it unless we comprehend its intrinsic principles.

What, then, are the basic principles of emunah (faith)? There are two - the first being tiqveh or hope. The word 'hope' in Scripture, as we saw, is not something speculative, but something that is sure and certain. It is an unshakeable confidence that the promises of Elohim (God) - "things hoped for" - whether they be for the distant future, or for the hours and days that lie immediately ahead - will be realised.

The second ingredient of emunah (faith) is awareness - the sentient knowledge that within this physical universe there is something else present. And what is that 'something else'? It is a spiritual world that is as real, if not more so, than the world which we relate to with our physical senses.

Emunah (faith) always operates in the world of the unseen, for when we cease to believe in unseen things, hope dies. Putting these two basic ingredients together - and we must resist any temptation to go further than this at the moment - we come up with this as a working conclusion:

Emunah (faith) is the inner conviction that banks (depends) on the bona fide (genuine, real) promises of Yahweh. It reaches out to the unseen, focuses upon it, grasps its reality and then acts upon it in the confidence that what Elohim (God) has said will inevitably come to pass.

My prayer, then, on the eve before I must leave you for a while, is that in the presence of such a challenging definition of emunah (faith) which Yahweh gives us in Hebrews 11:1, we can echo the words of the unnamed man in the Gospel of Mark who once said, "Master, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief" (Mark 9:24, KJV). Until we meet again, may Yahweh bless you all here in this congregation, and those following abroad, in Yah'shua's (Jesus) Name, Amen.

Endnotes

[1] See The Kingdom Road Series, Parts 1-5
[2] Herbert W. Howell, The Joy of Christ in the Record of Christian Work, ed. William Revell Moody) (W.R.Moody, Northfield, Mass.: 1901), p.493
[3] Henry Clay Trumbull, Practical Paradoxes (John D.Wattles, Philadelphia: 1889), p.9
[4] Richard Hansen, Making the Most of Biblical Paradoxes