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Day 5 | Hebrews 11:23-12:3 | He Saw the Invisible

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Hello again and welcome back to Bible Basics Explained. Kris Langham with you one more time as we explore what the Bible says about faith. We’re in Hebrews 11, and today our stroll through the Hall of Heroes brings us to a crossroads. Two paths lay ahead and we must choose one. On the left, the path is clear and visible, quite easy to navigate by sight. On the right, the path can’t be seen, it goes up a hill, and what happens after that is rather a mystery. But the obscured path does come with one bonus: a promise from God of a good land, and an invitation to follow Him.

So which will it be? Will we walk by sight or by faith? For many of us, we know that the walk of faith is the right one, but how do you follow what you can’t see? Well, we are not the first to travel this road. Many have gone before us. And Hebrews 11 reminds us of their stories.

Today, we pick up at the story of one of the greatest faith heroes: Moses. Moses’ life was a faith journey from birth. Born to Jewish parents at the time of the Pharaoh’s edict to kill every male baby. Yet his parents hid him, and mom set him in an arc among the reeds. When the princess scooped him up, his life took a drastic turn, and he grew up in the palace as a grandson of Pharaoh himself. But in time, Moses faced a decision. Hebrews 11, verse 24:

“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:24-25).

Two paths for Moses. On the left: live in the palace, enjoy the goods. On the right: join the people of God - mistreated, enslaved. Moses chose right, but how did he do it? Verse 26:

“He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward” (Hebrews 11:26).

So that’s how he did it. Moses wasn’t blind. Like Abraham before him, he saw more. Verse 27:

“By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27).

Now there’s a verse to memorize: “He persevered because he saw him who is invisible!” May that be the caption on my story in Heaven’s record. Perseverance is a powerful force. It is the one virtue that multiplies the value of every other. Love, goodness, kindness, integrity all become worthless if they cannot persevere. And this is the calling we began within chapter 10: “You need to persevere.” And now we see how Moses did it. And so many others. The chapter goes on to Rahab, Gideon, David, Daniel, and many more, in verse 33:

“…who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised” (Hebrews 11:33).

So many powerful stories, so many heroes. Some of them saw victory in their lifetime. Others, in verse 35, suffered and died. That’s a harsh reality here. Faith doesn’t lead you on an easy road, and it doesn’t make the Lord your genie. Richard Wurmbrand said, “A faith that can be destroyed by suffering is not faith.” That’s because faith is more than just believing God is able. Faith is trusting that God is faithful - whether or not he does what we want him to do.

These heroes of faith went through it - and persevered - because they saw Him who is invisible.

And what about us? What about today? That brings us to chapter 12:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Hebrews 12:1).

This is our calling to faith. There is a path marked out for us, a race that we are called to run. The path may be obscured from sight, but we are surrounded by witnesses. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re all watching us. It means that those who went before us testify, their lives are evidence that this road is worth the trials, that perseverance pays off.

But how do we keep ourselves running on the right path? Verse 2:

“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2).

That’s how you run. You fix your eyes on your leader. Jesus is the pioneer. That means that He blazed this trail first. The word can also be translated, author. That means that He is writing your faith story. And He’s the perfecter. He will finish your story. And Jesus writes happy endings. Fix your eyes on Him. How? Read Jesus’ story. Watch how He endured so that you won’t grow weary in your own race. And find your story in the Word. After all, Romans 10 tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word about Christ.

And that’s what we’re all about. We call this Through the Word because we walk through the Bible together. But our heart is to build your faith. And that’s what the Bible does. So join us again! We have audio guides through every chapter in the Bible, and reading plans through every book. Search the reading plans for "explained" for more in the Bible Basics Explained series, and all of our Bible Books Explained plans. 

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Now speaking of finishing the story, what ever happened with all of our Romania stories? I should tell you that stories like these happen all over the world. I borrowed these from a group called Voice of the Martyrs. You can find these and many more on their website and in the book Jesus Freaks. I decided to focus on Romania because it has a special place in my heart, and because the founder of Voice of the Martyrs happens to be Richard Wurmbrand, the pastor who spent 14 years in a communist prison.

So what about him? What did he do with his time in prison? I’ll read from his own words:

“It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners. It was understood that whoever was caught doing this received a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted their terms. It was a deal; we preached and they beat us. We were happy preaching, they were happy beating us. So everyone was happy.”

Now that’s faith. But did his faith pay off? Well, many prisoner’s souls were saved. And many of the guards who beat him were so amazed at the joy in the midst of suffering that they too became believers, and they themselves were willing to suffer for their new faith in Christ.

But what of the country and the communism that outlawed faith in Romania? Going back to the story we began on day 1: It was December 16, 1989. In the city of Timisoara, local believers stood their ground to protect another pastor. Soldiers fired. Bodies fell. The survivors knelt in prayer. The soldiers stopped. And as the entire town came out to see, the voice of another pastor rang out from the Opera House. The words they heard were the words of a poem. It was titled simply, God Exists. As the people chanted and shouted the words, leaflets were distributed with the full poem. Many knew the tune, and soon the entire town joined in and sang out again and again, "God Exists."

And that singular event sparked the Romanian Revolution. Within nine days, the people of Romania overthrew the communist dictator and executed him for genocide.

That song became known as the "Song of the Revolution." The author was Constantin Ioanid. Four decades earlier, he was a man on a park bench - approached by a five-year-old boy. The kid was the son of Richard Wurmbrand, who had himself once been an atheist - until an old man in a little village prayed a simple prayer to God - because he believed, quite simply, that God exists.

Next: Read Hebrews 11:23-12:3

For Thought & Discussion:

1. Hebrews 11:27 tells us that Moses “persevered because he saw Him who is invisible?” How does your faith help you persevere through challenges and trials?
2. Hebrews 12:3 encourages us to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer, and perfecter of our faith?” Why is that so important, and how can you do it practically?
3. Do you believe that God exists? How does your answer to that question change the way you live?

All verses are quoted from the NIV.

Romania stories retold from Jesus Freaks (1999 Albury Publishing), and Jesus Freaks Vol II (2002 Bethany House) by dc Talk and The Voice of the Martyrs, and from Extreme Devotions (2001, The Voice of the Martyrs).