Haikus through Hebrews, chapter 11

Glimpses of chapter 11...

By faith alone has
Anyone found approval
In the sight of God.

Our predecessors
In faith escaped the sword and
Then died by the sword

So what then sustained
Them all?  Faith in the future
Promise and blessing.

All were commended
Into the presence of God
By the act of Christ

Through Christ alone is
The promise received in God's
Perfect plan for us.

*Important Note: Please read through the whole of Hebrews (I recommend the English Standard Version or New American Standard Bible) for contextual significance (and significant context!).  Additionally, I would like to mention that my most helpful tool in preparing these haikus has been onlineparallelbible.com (also found at bible.cc).  I am writing these haikus on the cited verses as a conglomeration of many translations of the Bible.  I am simply attempting to arrange them in coherent groupings of 17 syllables at a time.  The summary or glimpses of the chapter written at the beginning of each blog entry are just that: a summary or glimpse of the main points or themes found after meditating on the whole chapter myself.  My hope in this whole endeavor is to encourage our (my) meditation on the Word of God.  My efforts in arranging Scripture in this format are intended to encourage us (me) to hear the message of the Word with fresh ears, and hopefully allow us (me, too) to hear the truth of Scripture more deeply because of reading in it a different way.  As always, I continue to pray that the Spirit will cover over any errors made on my part, and most importantly, that He will speak truth to your heart.  To God alone be the glory!

11:1
Now then faith is
The assurance of things hoped for,
The certainty that

11:1-2
What we cannot see
Exists.  For by faith people
Won God's approval.

11:3
We understand by
Faith that the universe was
Formed at God's command,

11:3 (continued)
So that that which is
Seen was not made out of things
Which are visible.

11:4
By faith did Abel
Offer to God a better
Sacrifice than Cain,

11:4 (continued)
By faith he obtained
Testimony of being
Righteous, because God

11:4 (continued)
Approved his gifts, and
Even though he is dead, he
Still speaks through his faith.

11:5
By faith Enoch was
Taken up so he did not
Experience death.

11:5 (continued)
Now before he was
Taken he was commended
With testimony

11:5 (continued)
And he was not found
Because God took him away
Since he had pleased God.

11:6
No one can please God
Without faith.  Whoever goes
To God must believe

11:6 (continued)
That God exists and
That he is the rewarder
Of those who seek him.

11:7
By faith Noah, when
He was warned by God about
Events yet unseen,

11:7 (continued)
In reverent fear
Built an ark for the saving
Of his family

11:7 (continued)
By faith he condemned
The world, and became heir of
Righteousness by faith.

11:8
By faith Abraham
Obeyed when he was called and
Went out to a place

11:8 (continued)
He was going to
Receive as inheritance.
He went, not knowing

11:8-9
Where he was going.
By faith he made his home in
The land of promise,

11:9
Living in tents with
Isaac and Jacob, coheirs
Of the same promise.

11:10
For he looked for a
City that has permanent
Foundations, of which

11:10-11
God designed and built.
By faith Sarah, even though
She was old, barren,

11:11
Received the power
To conceive because she was
Convinced that the One

11:11-12
Who made the promise
Was faithful.  Therefore from one
Man, as good as dead,

11:12
Were born descendants
As many as the stars of
Heaven in number,

11:12 (continued)
And as the grains of
Sand which is by the seashore
Innumerable.

11:13
All these died in faith,
Without having received the
Promises, but they

11:13 (continued)
Saw and greeted them
From a distance, and confessed
That they were strangers

11:13-14
And temporary
Residents here on the earth.
People who speak thus

11:14
Make it clear that they
Are looking forward to a
Country of their own.

11:15
And indeed if they
Had been thinking of that
Land from which they left,

11:15-16
They would have had an
Opportunity to have
Returned.  Instead, they

11:16
Were longing for a 
Better country, that is, a
Heavenly homeland.

11:16 (continued)
Therefore God is not
Ashamed to be called their God,
For he has prepared

11:16-17
A city for them.
By faith Abraham, when he
Was tested, offered

11:17
Isaac and he who
Had received the promises
Was in the act of 

11:17-18
Offering up his
Only son, of whom it was
Said, "Through Isaac shall

11:18-19
"Your offspring be named."
He considered that God was
Able even to

11:19
Raise him from the dead,
From which he also received
Him back as a type.

11:20
By faith Isaac blessed
Jacob and Esau for the
Future things to come.

11:21
By faith Jacob, as
He was dying, blessed each of 
The sons of Joseph,

11:21-22
Bowing in worship
Over the head of his staff.
By faith Joseph, at

11:22
The end of his life,
Spoke of the exodus of
The Israelites

11:22
From Egypt and gave
Them instructions concerning
Burying his bones.

11:23
By faith Moses, when
He was born, was hidden three
Months by his parents.

11:23 (continued)
For they saw he was
A beautiful child, and they
Did not fear the king.

11:24
By faith Moses, when
He had grown up, refused to
Be known as a son

11:24-25
Of Pharaoh's daughter.
He chose to suffer with the
People of God than

11:25-26
Enjoy the passing
Pleasures of sin, regarding
Disgrace for Christ's sake

11:26
Greater wealth than
Treasures of Egypt; he looked
Ahead to reward.

11:27
By faith he forsook
Egypt, not fearing the king's
Anger; he endured

11:27-28
As one who sees him
Who is unseen.  By faith he
Kept the Passover

11:28
And sprinkled the blood
So that the angel of death
Would not kill their sons.

11:29
By faith the people
Passed through the Red Sea as though
Passing through dry land;

11:29 (continued)
But the Egyptians,
When they attempted to do
The same, they were drowned.

11:30
By faith the walls of
Jericho fell down after
The Israelites

11:30-31
Marched around them for
Seven days.  By faith Rahab
The prostitute was

11:31
Not destroyed with those
Who were disobedient,
Welcoming the spies.

11:32
What more can I say?
Time would fail me to tell of
Gideon, Barak,

11:32 (continued)
Samson, Jephthah, of
David also, Samuel,
And of the Prophets.

11:33
By faith they conquered
Kingdoms, administered justice, and
Gained what was promised,

11:33-34
Shut the lions' mouths,
Quenched the violence of fire,
Were delivered from

11:34
The edge of the sword,
Found strength in weakness, became
Mighty in battle,

11:34-35
And routed foreign
Armies.  Women received their
Dead raised back to life.

11:35
Others were tortured,
Not accepting their release,
So that they might gain

11:35-36
Eternal life, and
Still others experienced
Mocking and flogging,

11:36-37
And even chains and
Imprisonment.  They were stoned,
They were sawn in two,

11:37
They died by the sword,
They went about in sheepskins
In goatskins, being

11:37-38
Destitute, oppressed,
And mistreated--of whom the
World was not worthy--

11:38
Wandering about
In deserts and mountains, in
Dens and caves of earth.

11:39
All these were approved
Through their faith, but they did not
Receive the promise.

11:40
God had planned something
Better, that they would not be
Perfect without us.

Haikus through Hebrews, chapter 10

A viewing-over of chapter 10...

The law a shadow,

Perfecting none, condemns and

Necessitates Christ

For by his single

Offering he perfects all

Who are sanctified

A new covenant:

Laws put on hearts and written

On minds, forgiveness

With boldness enter

We by the blood of Jesus

Through opened curtain

Fully assured faith

Hearts clean from guilty conscience

Washed with pure water

Hold unswervingly

To hope confessed, for he who

Promised is faithful

Provoke each other

To love and charity and

See the Day draw near

Set aside the law

Do the will of God, spurn not

The Spirit of grace

Compassion in pain

An abiding possession

Confident reward

We do not shrink back

We live by faith so we may

Receive what's promised

"Acts of sacrifice, in the end, don't do anything.  They do not cleanse your conscience, and they do not set your heart on the things of God.  The routine sacrificial system, then, was not empowered to or designed to cleanse the Israelites' hearts any more than good works are empowered to or designed to cleanse our own.  Even our most rigorous of attempts reveals the hardness of our hearts and the insurmountable brokenness inside them.  This whole enterprise is a blessed exercise in frustration, but it is one that points beyond itself.  Hebrews 10:1 tells us the law is just the shadow of the good things to come.  Similarly, the shadow of good works ought to proceed from the light of the good news."  -from page 67 of The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler with Jared Wilson (Crossway, 2012)

*Important Note: Please read through the whole of Hebrews (I recommend the English Standard Version or New American Standard Bible) for contextual significance (and significant context!). There is a lot of Scriptural meat found outside these 17 syllables.  I pray that the Spirit will cover over any errors made on my part, and most importantly, that He will speak truth to your heart.  To God alone be the glory!

10:1

The law is but a

Shadow of good things to come

Not the very things

10:1 (continued)

And thus can never,

By the same sacrifices

Offered year by year,

10:1-2

Make perfect those who

Draw near.  Otherwise, they would

No more be offered,

10:2

For the worshipers,

Once cleansed, would no longer have

Consciousness of sins?

10:3

But instead through those

Sacrifices there is a

Reminder of sins

10:4

It's impossible

For the blood of bulls and goats

To take away sins.

10:5

Consequently Christ

Came into the world, saying,

"You did not desire

10:5 (continued)

"Sacrifices and

Offerings, but a body

You've prepared for me.

10:6

"In burnt offerings

And sin offerings you have

Taken no pleasure.

10:7

"Then I said, 'Behold,

I have come to do your will,

O God, as it is

10:7-8

"'Written of me in

The scroll of the book.'"  After

Christ had said above,

10:8

"You did not desire

Animal sacrifices

Or sin offerings,

10:8 (continued)

"Or burnt offerings,

Or other offerings for

Sin, nor were you pleased"

10:8-9

(Though the law required

Them to be made), then he said,

"Behold, I have come

10:9

"To do your will, O

God."  He does away with the

First covenant to

10:9-10

Establish the next.

By this will of God we have

Been sanctified through

10:10

The offering of

The body of Jesus Christ

Once and for all time.

10:11

Every priest stands day

After day ministering,

Offering the same

10:11 (continued)

Sacrifices time

After time, which can never

Take one's sins away.

10:12

But when this priest had

Offered one sacrifice for

Sins forever, he

10:12-13

Sat down at the right

Hand of God, waiting from that

Time onward until

10:13-14

His enemies be

Made his footstool for his feet.

For by a single

10:14

Offering he has

Perfected forever those

Who are sanctified.

10:15

The Holy Spirit

Also testifies to us;

For after, saying,

10:16

"This the covenant

I will make with them

After those days, says the Lord:

10:16 (continued)

"I will put my laws

Into their hearts, and in their

Minds will I write them.

10:17

"And their sins and their

Lawless acts will I never

Again remember."

10:18

And where these have been

Forgiven, there is no more

Offering for sin.

10:19

Therefore, brothers, since

We have boldness to enter

The Most Holy Place

10:19-20

By the blood of Jesus,
By a new and living way

He opened for us

10:20-21

Through the curtain, which

Is his body, and since we

Have a great high priest

10:21-22

Who rules over the

House of God, let us draw near

With a sincere heart

10:22

In full assurance

Of faith, with our hearts sprinkled

Clean from an evil

10:22-23
Conscience, and bodies
Washed with pure water.  Let us
Hold firmly to hope

10:23

We confess without
Wavering, for the one who

Promised is faithful.

10:24

Let us consider

One another to provoke

To love and good deeds,

10:25

Let us not give up

Meeting together, as is the

The habit of some

10:25 (continued)

But encourage one

Another, and all the more

As the day draws near.

10:26

For if we go on

Sinning deliberately

After receiving

10:26

Knowledge of the truth,
There no longer remains a

Sacrifice for sins,

10:27
There is only the
Terrible expectation
Of God's judgment and

10:27-28

The raging fire that
Will consume his enemies
For anyone who 

10:28

Rejects the Law of

Moses dies without mercy

On testimony

10:28-29

Of two or of three
Witnesses.  Just think how much
Worse the punishment

10:29

Will be deserved for
Those who have trampled under
Foot the Son of God,

10:29 (continued)
And has regarded
As unclean the blood of the
Covenant by which

10:29 (continued)

He was sanctified,
And who has insulted the

Spirit of God's grace?

10:30

For we know the One

Who has said, "Vengeance is mine,

I will repay," and

10:30-31

Again, "The Lord will

Judge his people."  It is a

Terrifying thing

10:31-32

To fall into the

Hands of the living God!  But

Recall the former

10:32

Days after you were
Enlightened, when you endured

A great conflict with

10:32-33

Sufferings, sometimes

Being publicly exposed

To reproaches and

10:33

Afflictions, and at

Other times you were sharers

With those so treated.

10:34

You sympathized with
Those in prison, cheerfully
Submitting to the

10:34 (continued)

Violent seizure
Of your property, because
You know that you have

10:34-35

A better and more

Permanent possession.  So,

Do not throw away

10:35-36

Your confidence, for

It will bring a great reward.
You need endurance

10:36

So that when you have
Done the will of God, you may
Receive what's promised.

10:37

For in a very

Little while the one who is

Coming will return.

10:37-38

He will not delay.

But my righteous one will live

By faith.  But I will

10:38-39

Take no pleasure in
Anyone who turns away.
But we don't belong

10:39

To those who turn back
And are destroyed, but those who

Have faith and are saved.