A Great Cloud of Witnesses: EnochSample

Have you ever watched the 100-meter hurdles? Runners line up as if running a 100-meter dash, but every ten meters or so there is a structure that the sprinters must jump over. I know this particular sporting event well because I used to compete in it. I loved it. I was agile and flexible—able to glide over the hurdles well. But every now and then, I’d hit a hurdle with one of my legs, messing up my rhythm and sometimes tumbling to the ground. I’d get myself together and finish the race. I never quit, no matter how tough it got.

When I think about the Christian walk of faith, it feels like a hurdle event. You start sprinting and running hard and then you have to jump over some obstacle. You find your rhythm and jump again and again...over and over again, stumbling at times, but never stopping. You and I run that same race. And according to Hebrews 12:1, we don’t run it alone.

The readers of this letter would have related to the idea of the hurdles. They were exhorted not to forget how they endured hard times but persevered (Heb. 11:32-39). The cloud of witnesses would have also understood enduring through various trials, for each one of them had to fight the good fight of faith. So, we are not alone because all of those who have gone before us have experienced walking by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).

Those before us, like Enoch, witnessed the goodness and faithfulness of God. There’s something comforting about knowing that men and women have finished their races well for centuries—it gives me faith that I can too.

The writer of Hebrews wants to also draw our attention to a part of what it takes to run the race of faith. When I ran the hurdles, I wore lightweight clothes. When you go on a run, if you add layers upon layers of clothes, you quickly become encumbered by the weight of it all.

You and I struggle with something that’s like those extra garments that make running tough. Sin is like the heavy garments that weigh us down and make it difficult to run. Like those who have gone before us, we are exhorted to lay that weight - our sin - aside. A recognition of our struggles with sin is not meant to burden or condemn us. Just the opposite! As we recognize our struggles, we can then receive grace. If we confess our sin, God is faithful to forgive us and to purify us (1 John 1:9). There’s no longer any condemnation for us (Rom. 8:1). When you are running a race, where we set our eyes matters. And when we set our eyes on Jesus and what He has done, then we can run the race well.

So let us thank God for all of those who have gone before us, and let us emulate their faith, but let us also fix our eyes on Jesus.

To strengthen and deepen your own faith, enter the stories of God’s imperfect yet faithful people in A Great Cloud of Witnesses, a six-week bible study by Trillia Newbell. This study dives into Hebrews 11, examining the lives of Rahab, Enoch, Gideon, Sarah, and many more whose faith withstood the tests of their days.