When God says, 'What more need I say?'

The consensus among most Bible scholars is that the author of the Book of Hebrews is unknown, but some understand the book has no human author and God wrote it all Himself.

Imagine you made God’s own ‘Who’s Who’ list in Hebrews 11, called the “by faith” synopsis of the Bible. God singles out for commendation the faith of Abel, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab . . .

Using the first person, He ends the chapter with, [32] And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
[33] Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
[34] Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
[35] Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
[36] And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
[37] They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
[38] (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
[39] And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
[40] God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

Jordan explains, “In this passage in Hebrews 11 there are 11 things described, all of them positive achievements, done in order that these people might achieve a better resurrection.

“Notice His little parenthesis in verse 38—‘Of whom the world was not worthy.’ Isn’t that an interesting little comment about these people? They were wandering around like a bunch of hunted wild animals, and as He’s describing that destitute condition, He puts that little parenthesis in. They wandered around like that because they were too good for the world; they didn’t have a place to fit in.

“You have seven negative reactions and you’re told it’s to get better things. When verse 35 talks about how ‘others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection,’ that’s an interesting statement. That means they could have gotten out of it if they wanted to.

"They weren’t taking it in the neck because they couldn’t avoid it; they could have avoided it if they didn’t walk by faith. Faith required them to accept the consequences.

“Each one of these people were told something to do and the instructions they were given were all different. Noah was told to build an ark and so on.

“There was one basic underlying hope and promise behind everything they did and that’s that issue of a better resurrection. The Old Testament saints understood there was going to be a resurrection.

“Job says in Job 19, ‘And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.’

“The issue coming down through Hebrews 11 is that the way these people back there obtained a good report was by faith. That’s what He starts out telling you in verse 2; that ‘by faith the elders obtained a good report.’

"Then He gives you His great list of all the elders, illustrating how they obtained the report through faith. They took God at His Word in spite of all the obstacles; in spite of all the circumstances and human reasoning and all the rest to the contrary.

*****

“He lists all that stuff in chapter 11 so He can say in chapter 12: ‘Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.’

"That’s the issue Hebrews 10-12, the practical section of Hebrews, is talking about. Are you going to endure on to the saving of your soul or are you going to draw back to perdition? And He says, ‘Look, seeing we are encompassed about by so great a cloud of witnesses.’ He says, ‘We’re encircled with this great cloud of witnesses so that we don’t have any alibis to pretend that the race can’t be run or that it isn’t winnable.’

“How do you know the race can be won? You got this great cloud of witnesses that did it! They endured; they didn’t draw back. They continued on and they didn’t even get a fulfillment of what they were hoping in like we have!

“The only reason they wouldn’t run is because they were weighted down, and that goes back into the Gospels with ‘the cares of this life’ and all that kind of stuff, or there’s sin in their life and they’d rather have the sin and the self-will. The passage is saying, ‘Lay that aside; be like the elders and let’s run the race with patience.’ That’s the WHOLE issue!

*****

“Hebrews 10:35-36 says, ‘Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

[36] For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.’

“He gives you 40 verses of illustrations of the enduring capacity of faith and then He comes to chapter 12 and makes the application. Hebrews 12:1-2 is sort of like Romans 12:1-2, telling the reader, ‘Here’s the point of the nitty-gritty-make-up-your-mind-and-let’s-get-down-to-it decision-making.'

“Hebrews 12:2 says, ‘Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.’

“He says you want to have a motivation to endure because the Lord’s going to come and you’re going to get the promise. Faith will get there and the only way you’re going to do it is by looking to Jesus.

“That’s what the Book of Hebrews does starting in the first verse, telling them, ‘Look to the provision God’s made for you in Christ.’ The only motivation that’s ever going to get Israel through the tribulation—the one thing that won’t fail them is to look for the provisions Jesus Christ made through His blood poured out at Calvary.”