Hebrews 11 - Heros of Righteousness — The Righteousness Hall of Fame
 1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for.
In other words, faith is believing God. So, when we someone in scripture commended for great faith, they are being commended for believing God, who then credits them with righteousness so they can be counted among the rightous. Their righteousness then manifests as obedience, and there obedience is what everyone saw, and what we read of in scripture.  What I find interesting is that the Old Testament does not often bare witness to these great people’s beliefs, but much more so to their actions. The manifestation of their righteousnes is what we read about the most, and it is how we know they are righteous.
Sound familiar? It’s why Jesus tells us that you can know the faithful by their fruit, just as the Old Testament says that obedience is the manifestation of righteousness from belief. No belief –> no righteousness. No righteousness –> no fruit. That’s how it works.  So as we often see on this blog, one of Christianity’s core doctrines was in the full force with the Jews long before there was ever the word Christian. ”You will know them by their fruit.” This well-know Christian doctrine… is Jewish! I love it, once again seeing what Jesus meant when He said that He came not to change the Law, but to fulfill it. Excellent.
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Hebrews 11 lists person after person of the recorded righteous in the Old Testament. He records what people believed and what they did:
Who: Us.
The Belief: “the universe was formed at God’s command” (v. 3)
The Action: Looking at the universe and know it is a miracle
Who: Abel
The Belief: “the universe was formed at God’s command” (v. 3)
The Action: “Offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did… still speaks, even though he is dead” (v. 4)
Who: Enoch
The Belief: “the universe was formed at God’s command” (v. 3)
The Action: “pleased God” (v. 5), “eanestly” sought him (v. 6)
Who: Anyone
The Belief: “He exists” (v. 6)
The Action: Comes to God, seeking Him (v. 6)
Who: Noah
The Belief: God would send a great flood (v. 7)
The Action: “built an ark to save his family.” (v. 7)
Who: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
The Belief: God would be the architect and builder of a great city for his descendents (v. 10)
The Action: Went where God told Him (v. 
, made his home in the promised land (v. 9)
Who: Abraham
The Belief: God would make him the father of many nations
The Action: Conceived a son (v. 11)
Abel did not live to the messiah whom he was the first to model in a sacrifice.
Enoch did not find God on earth, but in Heaven when God took Him directly there.
Noah did not see mankind repopulate the earth.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did not live to see their descendents inherit the land of Israel.
Yet, they obeyed God.
 13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
The writer then records a series of righteous fruit, based on obedience to God:
 17By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
 20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
 21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
 22By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.
 23By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
 24By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
 29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
 30By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.
 31By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
 32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
 39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Would you be willing to obey the Lord for a reward you will not receive? Or do you judge God for broken promises? If the latter then you misunderstand God; if the former, then you are in good company.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.