Hebrews 11:38

(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. OF WHOM THE WORLD WAS NOT WORTHY - So far from their being unworthy of living in the world, as their exile in desert, etc., might imply. The world, in shutting them out, shut out from itself a source of blessing; such as Joseph proved to Potiphar and Jacob to Laban (Genesis 30:27; Genesis 39:5). In condemning them, the world condemned itself. CAVES, [ opais (G3692)] - 'chinks.' Palestine, from its hilly character, abounds in fissures and caves, affording shelter to the persecuted, as the 50 men hid by Obadiah and Elija...

38._Of whom the world was not worthy, etc. _As the holy Prophets wandered as fugitives among wild beasts, they might have seemed unworthy of being sustained on the earth; for how was it that they could find no place among men? But the Apostle inverts this sentiment, and says that the world was not worthy of them; for wherever God’s servants come, they bring with them his blessing like the fragrance of a sweet odor. Thus the house of Potiphar was blessed for Joseph’s sake, (Genesis 39:5;) and Sodom would have been spared had ten righteous men been found in it. (Genesis 18:32.) Though then the world may cast out God’s servants as offscourings, it is yet to be regarded as one of its judgments that it cannot bear them; for there is ever accompanying them some blessing from God. Whenever the righteous are taken away from us, let

32-38 After all our searches into the Scriptures, there is more to be learned from them. We should be pleased to think, how great the number of believers was under the Old Testament, and how strong their faith, though the objects of it were not then so fully made known as now. And we should lament that now, in gospel times, when the rule of faith is more clear and perfect, the number of believers should be so small, and their faith so weak. It is the excellence of the grace of faith, that, while it helps men to do great things, like Gideon, it keeps from high and great thoughts of themselves. Faith, like Barak's, has recourse unto God in all dangers and difficulties, and then makes grateful returns to God for all mercies and deliverances. By faith, the servants of God shall overcome even the roaring lion that goeth about seeking whom he may devour. The believer's faith endures to the en...

Verse 38. _OF WHOM THE WORLD WAS NOT WORTHY_] Yet they were obliged to wander by day in _deserts_ and _mountains_, driven from the society of men, and often obliged to hide by night in dens and caves of the earth, to conceal themselves from the brutal rage of men. Perhaps he refers here principally to the case of Elijah, and the hundred prophets hidden in caves by Obadiah, and fed with bread and water. See 1 Kings 18:4. David was often obliged thus to hide himself from Saul; 1 Samuel 24:3, c....

OF WHOM THE WORLD WAS NOT WORTHY - The world was so wicked that it had no claim that such holy men should live in it. These poor, despised, and persecuted people, living as outcasts and wanderers, were of a character far elevated above the world. This is a most beautiful expression. It is at once a statement of their eminent holiness, and of the wickedness of the rest of mankind. THEY WANDERED IN DESERTS ... - On the Scripture meaning of the word “desert” or wilderness, see the notes on Matthew 3:1. This is a description of persons driven away from their homes, and wandering about from place to place to procure a scanty subsistence; compare 1 Macc. 1:53; 2 Macc. 5:27; 6:7. The instances mentioned in the Books of Maccabees are so much in point, that there is no impropriety in supposing that Paul referred to some such cases,

EXPOSITION HEBREWS 11:1 NOW FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE _ _OF THINGS HOPED FOR, THE EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN. On the senses in which the word ὑπόστασις (translated "substance") may be used, see under Hebrews 1:2. As to the sense intended here, views differ. There are three possible ones, expressed in the text and margin of the A.V., _substance, ground, _and _confidence. _The first is understood by the Fathers generally, the idea being supposed to be that, inasmuch as things not yet experienced, but only hoped for, become real to us by faith, faith is metaphysically their substance, as substantiating them to us. So Theophilus: Οὐσίωσις τῶν μήπω ὄντων ὑπόστασις τῶν μὴ ὑφεστηκότων:_ _and Chrysostom, who

OF WHOM THE WORLD WAS NOT WORTHY,.... These words are inserted in a parenthesis, to remove or prevent such objections as these; that they were restless and unquiet persons, that made disturbance in the world, and so unfit to live in it; and that they were deservedly punished for crimes they were guilty of; and to show the great worth and inestimable value of the people of God, which exceeds that of the whole world; and to intimate the removal of them out of the world, or from dwelling among the men of it, is by way of punishment to it: THEY WANDERED IN DESERTS, AND IN MOUNTAINS, AND IN DENS AND CAVES OF THE EARTH; as Elijah did; 1 Kings 18:4, and many in the times of the Maccabees; "And they kept the eight days with gladness, as in the feast of the tabernacles, remembering that not long afore they had held the feast of the tabernacles, when as they wandered in

These men, of whom we are now briefly to read, are a company of God's witnesses; and the apostle calls them, in the next chapter, «a cloud of witnesses,» who, from their lofty seats above, are watching us who are now running the Christian race. Hebrews 11:1. _Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report._ Those of the olden time, who were men of noble character, won that character by their faith. Hebrews 11:3. _Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear._ Things that we see were not made out of things that we see. They were brought out of the unseen by the word of God; so t

WORLD Greek, "kosmos", means "mankind". (_ See Scofield) - (Matthew 4:8). _...

IV. PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS AND EXHORTATIONS CHAPTER 11 _ 1. Faith in regard to creation and salvation (Hebrews 11:1)_ 2. The patience of faith (Hebrews 11:8) 3. The energy of faith (Hebrews 11:23) Hebrews 11:1 The disastrous effect of unbelief has been pointed out in the earlier part of this epistle (Hebrews 3:12; Hebrews 3:19; Hebrews 4:2) a