--- title: "Follow Great Models of Faith" description: "An investigative report on the individuals throughout history who built their lives on unseen promises and changed the world through radical conviction." image: "" book: "Hebrews" bookId: "HEB" testament: "new" startChapter: 11 startVerse: 1 endChapter: 11 endVerse: 40 coversChapters: [11] aiTitle: "The Hall of Faith: A Deep Dive into the Visionaries Who Changed History" aiDescription: "An investigative report on the individuals throughout history who built their lives on unseen promises and changed the world through radical conviction." hasAiStory: true location: "Egypt" persons: ["God","Abel","Cain","Enoch","Noah","Abraham","Sarah","Isaac","Jacob","Joseph","Moses","Pharaoh","Rahab","Gideon","Barak","Samson","Jephthah","David","Samuel","Prophets","Israelites"] hashtags: ["faith","righteousness","deliverance","survival","suffering"] genre: "epistle" readingTime: 4 type: "adaptive" slug: "HEB/follow-great-models-of-faith" canonicalId: "HEB.11.1-11.40" chronologicalOrder: 1740 relatedSlugs: ["2CO/our-eternal-dwelling","2CO/treasure-in-jars-of-clay","HEB/jesus-is-above-moses","MAT/the-lord-sees-what-is-done-in-secret","PRO/the-excellence-of-wisdom","ROM/walking-by-the-spirit","HEB/a-priest-in-the-order-of-melchizedek","JER/letter-to-the-exiles-in-babylon","1PE/a-greeting-from-peter-a-living-hope","2PE/peters-final-challenge","1CH/david-commissions-solomon","GAL/freedom-in-christ","PSA/psalm-105-tell-of-his-wonders","LUK/do-not-worry","PSA/psalm-27-the-lord-is-my-salvation","ROM/the-faith-of-abraham","HEB/much-to-say-about-this","PSA/psalm-119-your-word-is-a-lamp-to-my-feet-part-1","JHN/where-i-am-going-you-cannot-come","2PE/the-return-of-jesus","1CO/love","2CO/ambassadors-for-christ","GEN/the-covenant-between-the-parts","GEN/abraham","ROM/israel-in-the-present","REV/the-world-to-come","PHP/warnings-against-false-examples","GEN/the-descendants-of-adam","ACT/pauls-farewell-to-the-ephesians","JHN/on-baptism"] prevSlug: "HEB/the-perfect-sacrifice" nextSlug: "HEB/the-practice-of-faith" --- What exactly is this conviction we call faith? It is the bedrock of confidence, a way of seeing the future as if it were already present. It is the invisible engine that drives history, the very thing that allowed the pioneers of the past to gain a reputation for greatness. It is by this principle that we understand the universe was not a random accident, but a structured reality brought into being by an intelligent command. The historical record is clear: those who live by this conviction make their mark. Consider [Abel](/persons/abel), who gave a sacrifice that hit the mark, or [Enoch](/persons/enoch), who walked so closely with the Creator that he bypassed the end of life entirely. Without this kind of trust, it is impossible to engage with [God](/persons/god), because you have to believe that He is actually there and that He rewards those who make it their business to find Him. Look at [Noah](/persons/noah). Long before anyone else saw a threat, he acted on a warning and built a massive vessel, effectively condemning a world that ignored the signs. Look at [Abraham](/persons/abraham) and [Sarah](/persons/sarah), who left their comfort zones for a future they could only see in their mind's eye. They lived like nomads in tents, not because they were lost, but because they were waiting for a city designed by a higher architect. The list of influencers continues through the generations. [Isaac](/persons/isaac), [Jacob](/persons/jacob), and [Joseph](/persons/joseph) each looked toward the future with eyes fixed on promises yet to be kept. Then there is the saga of [Moses](/persons/moses), who turned his back on the status and luxury of royalty to stand with the oppressed. He looked past the short-term pleasure of the moment to focus on a reward that didn't rot, essentially seeing the invisible Presence as clearly as if He were standing in the room. This legacy of conviction includes a diverse crowd: those who marched around city walls until they fell, individuals like [Rahab](/persons/rahab) who made daring choices, and legendary figures like [Gideon](/persons/gideon), [David](/persons/david), and [Samuel](/persons/samuel). These people turned tides, shut the mouths of lions, and survived impossible odds. Some faced torture and death, refusing to compromise even when everything was taken from them. The world simply wasn't equipped to handle people of this caliber. While they all possessed incredible conviction, they didn't live to see the final fulfillment of everything they were promised. Instead, there is a larger plan at work—a collective victory where their journey and ours are linked together, ensuring that no one is made perfect in isolation, but all are fulfilled together in the end. ### Faith and Assurance Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see. This is why the ancients were commended. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at [God](/persons/god)’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. ### The Faith of [Abel](/persons/abel), [Enoch](/persons/enoch), [Noah](/persons/noah) By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than [Cain](/persons/cain) did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. ### The Faith of [Abraham](/persons/abraham) and [Sarah](/persons/sarah) By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did [Isaac](/persons/isaac) and [Jacob](/persons/jacob), who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the proper age, was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised. And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. Now those who say such things show that they are seeking a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, 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. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and in a sense, he did receive Isaac back from death. ### The Faith of Isaac, Jacob, and [Joseph](/persons/joseph) By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the [Israelites](/persons/israelites) and gave instructions about his bones. ### The Faith of [Moses](/persons/moses) By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after his birth, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were unafraid of the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he was grown, refused to be called the son of [Pharaoh](/persons/pharaoh)’s daughter. He chose to suffer oppression with God’s people rather than to experience the fleeting enjoyment of sin. He valued disgrace for Christ above the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch Israel’s own firstborn. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were drowned. ### The Faith of Many ### (Joshua–Malachi) By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. By faith the prostitute [Rahab](/persons/rahab), because she welcomed the spies in peace, did not perish with those who were disobedient. And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of [Gideon](/persons/gideon), [Barak](/persons/barak), [Samson](/persons/samson), [Jephthah](/persons/jephthah), [David](/persons/david), [Samuel](/persons/samuel), and the [prophets](/persons/prophets), who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the raging fire, and escaped the edge of the sword; who gained strength from weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused their release, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, oppressed, and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised. God had planned something better for us, so that together with us they would be made perfect.

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