By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.
Parallel Translations
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By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.
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Thorow fayth we vnderstonde that the worlde was ordeyned by the worde of god: and that thynges which are sene were made of thynges which are not sene.
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Through faith we vnderstand that the world was ordeined by the worde of God, so that the things which we see, are not made of things which did appeare.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Hebrews 11:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 33:6 By Yahweh’s word, the heavens were made: all their army by the breath of his mouth.
- John 1:3 All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made.
- 2 Peter 3:5 For this they willfully forget that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water by the word of God,
- Romans 4:17 As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were.
- Acts 17:24 The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands.
- Revelation 4:11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed, and were created!”
- Hebrews 1:2 has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.
- Jeremiah 10:11 “You shall say this to them: ‘The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.’ ”
- Romans 1:19-21 because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them. For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity, that they may be without excuse. Because knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, and didn’t give thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened.
- Genesis 1:1–2:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day. God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day. God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so. God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good. God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth;” and it was so. The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day. God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth;” and it was so. God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;” and it was so. God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good. God said, “Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food. To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day. The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished.
- Isaiah 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is lacking.
- Acts 14:15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to the living God, who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them;
- Jeremiah 10:16 The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the maker of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is his name.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 3. Through, or by, faith we understand, etc. This…
3. Through, or by, faith we understand, etc. This is a most striking proof of the last verse; for we differ nothing from the brute creation, if we understand not that the world has been created by God. To what end have men been endued with understanding and reason, except that they might acknowledge their Creator? But it is by faith alone we know that it was God who created the world. No wonder then that faith shone forth in the fathers above all other virtues.
But it may be here asked, Why does the Apostle assert that what even infidels acknowledge is only understood by faith? For the very appearance of heaven and earth constrains even the ungodly to acknowledge some Maker; and hence Paul condemns all for ingratitude, because they did not, after having known God, give him the honor due to him. (Romans 1:25.) And no doubt religion would not have so prevailed among all nations, had not men’s minds been impressed with the convictions that God is the Creator of the world. It thus then appears that this knowledge which the Apostle ascribes to faith, exists without faith.
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To this I reply, — that though there has been an opinion of this kind among heathens, that the world was made by God, it was yet very evanescent, for as soon as they formed a notion of some God, they became instantly vain in their imaginations, so that they groped in the dark, having in their thoughts a mere shadow of some uncertain deity, and not the knowledge of the true God. Besides, as it was only a transient opinion that flit in their minds, it was far from being anything like knowledge. We may further add, that they assigned to fortune or chance the supremacy in the government of the world, and they made no mention of God’s providence which alone rules everything. Men’s minds therefore are wholly blind, so that they see not the light of nature which shines forth in created things, until being irradiated by God’s Spirit, they begin to understand by faith what otherwise they cannot comprehend. Hence most correctly does the Apostle ascribe such an understanding to faith; for they who have faith do not entertain a slight opinion as to God being the Creator of the world, but they have a deep conviction fixed in their minds and behold the true God. And further, they understand the power of his word, not only as manifested instantaneously in creating the world, but also as put forth continually in its preservation; nor is it his power only that they understand, but also his goodness, and wisdom, and justice. And hence they are led to worship, love, and honor him.
Not made of things which do appear. As to this clause, all interpreters seem to me to have been mistaken; and the mistake has arisen from separating the preposition from the participle φαὶνομένων. They give this rendering, “So that visible things were made from things which do not appear.” But from such words hardly any sense can be elicited, at least a very jejune sense; and further, the text does not admit of such a meaning, for then the words must have been, ἐκ μὴ φαινομένων: but the order adopted by the Apostle is different. If, then, the words were rendered literally, the meaning would be as follows, — “So that they became the visible of things not visible,” or, not apparent. Thus the preposition would be joined to the participle to which it belongs. Besides, the words would then contain a very important truth, — that we have in this visible world, a conspicuous image of God; and thus the same truth is taught here, as in Romans 1:20, where it is said, that the invisible things of God are made known to us by the creation of the world, they being seen in his works. God has given us, throughout the whole framework of this world, clear evidences of his eternal wisdom, goodness, and power; and though he is in himself invisible, he in a manner becomes visible to us in his works.
Correctly then is this world called the mirror of divinity; not that there is sufficient clearness for man to gain a full knowledge of God, by looking at the world, but that he has thus so far revealed himself, that the ignorance of the ungodly is without excuse. Now the faithful, to whom he has given eyes, see sparks of his glory, as it were, glittering in every created thing. The world was no doubt made, that it might be the theater of the divine glory.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain So that the world which we see, was not…
So that the world which we see, was not made of any matter that appeared or was before, but of nothing.
He showeth the propriety of faith, by setting unto us most piked examples of such as from the beginning of the world excelled in the Church.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were…
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.
Ver. 3. Through faith we understand] It is the nature of faith to believe God upon his bare word, and that against sense in things invisible, and against reason in things incredible. Sense corrects imagination, reason corrects sense, but faith corrects both. Aufer argumenta ubi fides quaeritur. Verba philosophorum excludit simplex veritas Piscatorum, saith Ambrose. I believe, and that is enough, though I cannot prove principles and fundamentals of faith.
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That the worlds were framed] Gr. κατηπτισθαι, affabre facta, " were neatly made up."
By the word of God] By that one word of his, Fiat, Let it be so and so. By the way, take notice, that faith here described is taken in a large sense as it hath not the promises only, but the whole word of God for its object. Look how the Israelites with the same eyes and visual faculty wherewith they beheld the sands and mountains, did look upon the brazen serpent also, but were cured by fastening upon that alone; so by the same faith whereby we are justified, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, and believe all other truths revealed; and yet faith as it justifieth looks upon Christ alone, not knowing anything here but Christ and him crucified, as is well observed by a learned divine.
Were not made of things, &c.] Of any pre-existent matter, as Plato held. {See Trapp on "Gen 1:1"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This proves the second part of faith’s description, Heb…
This proves the second part of faith’s description, Heb 11:1, that it is the evidence of things not seen; for by it only we understand the creation, which no eye saw. It is the same Divine faith as described before, but as evidencing invisible truths, it communicates a marvellous light to the understanding, and leaves real impressions of it from the word of God, whereby it arriveth unto a most certain knowledge of what is above the power of natural reason to convey, and gives a divine assent to it, such its as is real, clear, sure, and fruitful, different from that of the Gentiles, Rom 1:19-23.
The worlds; touv aiwnav the word noteth sometimes ages, Luk 16:8; the garb and corrupt habit of men who live in them, Eph 2:2; eternity: but there, as Heb 1:2, it is a word of aggregation, signifying all kinds of creatures, with their several places, times, and periods; things celestial, terrestrial, and subterrestrial; angels, men, and all sorts of creatures, together with all the states and conditions in which they were made.
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Were framed by the word of God; heaven, earth, and seas, with all their hosts of creatures, the visible creation and the invisible world, were put into being and existence, placed in their proper order, disposed and fitted to their end, by the mighty word of God: Trinity in Unity the Creator, his powerful fiat, without any pain, or trouble, or assisting causes, instantly effected this miraculous, glorious work; He spake, and it was done, Gen 1:3,6,9,11,14, &c.; Psa 33:6,9.
So that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear; the visible world, and all visible in it, were made all of nothing; this reason could never digest. All was produced of that formless, void, dark chaos which was invisible, Gen 1:2; which void, formless, dark mass itself, was made of no pre-existent stuff, matter or atoms, but of nothing; which differenceth the operative power of God from that of all other agents. See Gen 1:1; Psa 89:11,12; Psa 148:5,6, &c.; Isa 42:5; 45:12,18.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain The design of the apostle in these words is…
The design of the apostle in these words is to prove, that faith satisfies itself in the world be now visible, and the things contained in it are said to be seen, yet the original framing and making of the world has a principal place among things not seen.
Learn hence, That by faith assenting to divine revelation, and not by reason, we understand the truth and wonders, the seasons and causes, the manner and end of the world’s creation. Reason indeed tells us that there was a creation, consquently a Creator; but reason without divine revelation could never have discovered the circumstances and manner of the creation, which wholly depended upon the will of God.
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Reason and nature could never have known them, had not God in his word first revealed them: The old Heathens could never determine who made the world, nor when, nor how it was made, or whence, and out of what it was made. Reason may profound the question, how was the world made, and all things herein? But revelation must resolve it. A poor child learns more by its catechism, than all the philosophers ever learn by their profound researches, and painful studies.
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed, it follows, by the word of God, that is, both by his external and imperial word, his word of command, saying Let it be; He spake and it was done, Psa 33:9. And also by his essential and substantial word, Jesus Christ, by whom God made the worlds, Heb 1:2 in that order which Moses has historically related.
Observe lastly, How and after what manner the world was made, not out of any prejacent or pre-existent matter, but out of nothing: That which was not at all, could not be seen: The things that are seen, were not made of things that do appear.
Here note, That the power of God framed many things out of nothing, as the heaven of heavens, the dwelling place of God and angels, immediately; other things mediately out of the chaos, that is, such rude, indisposed, and unfit matter, as had no disposition to receive such a form, as it did actually receive from the power of God; and may therefore deservedly be called a creation, out of nothing.
Learn hence, That in the work of creation, though other attributes of wisdom and goodness visibly appeared, yet none were so eminently conspicuous as the power of God. Well might St. Paul say, Rom 1:20 That herein was manifested his eternal power and Godhead.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent…
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,.... The apostle proceeds to examples of faith, and begins with Abel: it may seem strange that Adam and Eve are not mentioned; this omission is not because they were not believers; but either because of the fall and ruin of mankind by them; or because the apostle speaks only of such who had received some eminent testimony by faith, and therefore passes by many believers, and hastens to Abraham, the father of the Jews. The superior excellency of Abel's sacrifice to Cain's, lay both in the matter, and in the manner of it; the one was offered heartily to the Lord, the other only in show; the one was offered in faith, the other not; Abel looked through his sacrifice to the sacrifice of Christ, not so Cain. Abel's sacrifice was a lamb, a type of Christ, the Lamb of God; a firstling, a figure of him who is the firstborn of every creature; one of the fattest of his flock, expressive of the excellency of Christ; and this was offered up at the end of days, as Christ at the end of the world; and the superior excellency of the sacrifice of the one to that of the other, appears from God's regard to the one, and not to the other, Gen 4:3 from whence it may be observed, that sacrifices were of divine institution, and were very early types of Christ; and that there always were two sorts of worshippers, spiritual and carnal ones, whom God can distinguish, for he seeth not as man seeth; that the acceptance of persons is in Christ, and is previous to their offerings; that whatsoever works do not spring from faith are unacceptable to God; that no dependence is to be had on birth privileges, or outward actions; and that electing and distinguishing grace very early took place, and appeared.
By which he obtained witness that he was righteous; not righteous by his offering, nor by his faith, but by the righteousness of Christ, which his faith in his sacrifice looked unto; though it was by his faith that he obtained, or received a witness in his own conscience, from the Spirit of God, testifying that he was a justified person; and in consequence of this, he had an outward testimony bore to him in the Scriptures, that he was a righteous person hence he is called righteous Abel, Mat 23:35.
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God testifying of his gifts: not of his own gifts, temporal or spiritual, but of Abel's gifts, which he offered to the Lord; that is, his sacrifices; of these he testified, when he showed respect either by an audible voice, declaring his acceptance of them; or by sending down fire from heaven, upon his sacrifice, which in later times was a symbol of acceptance.
And by it, he being dead, yet speaketh; good men die, and some of them die a violent death, as did Abel, yet he speaks in the Scriptures, which have a voice in them, Luk 16:29 or by his blood, which calls for vengeance; or rather by, or because of his faith, though he is dead, "he is yet spoken of", as the word may be rendered.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain By faith we understand that the worlds - Heaven…
By faith we understand that the worlds - Heaven and earth and all things in them, visible and invisible. Where made - Formed, fashioned, and finished. By the word - The sole command of God, without any instrument or preceding matter. And as creation is the foundation and specimen of the whole divine economy, so faith in the creation is the foundation and specimen of all faith. So that things which are seen - As the sun, earth, stars. Were made of things which do not appear - Out of the dark, unapparent chaos, Gen. i, 2. And this very chaos was created by the divine power; for before it was thus created it had no existence in nature.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. Through faith we understand] By worlds, τους…
Verse 3. Through faith we understand] By worlds, τους αιωνας, we are to understand the material fabric of the universe; for αιων can have no reference here to age or any measurement of time, for he speaks of the things which are SEEN; not being made out of the things which do APPEAR; this therefore must refer to the material creation: and as the word is used in the plural number, it may comprehend, not only the earth and visible heavens, but the whole planetary system; the different worlds which, in our system at least, revolve round the sun. The apostle states that these things were not made out of a pre-existent matter; for if they were, that matter, however extended or modified, must appear in that thing into which it is compounded and modified, consequently it could not be said that the things which are seen are not made of the things that appear; and he shows us also, by these words, that the present mundane fabric was not formed or reformed from one anterior, as some suppose. According to Moses and the apostle we believe that God made all things out of nothing. See the note on "Ge 1:1", c.
At present we see trees of different kinds are produced from trees beasts, birds, and fishes, from others of the same kind; and man, from man: but we are necessarily led to believe that there was a first man, who owed not his being to man; first there were beasts, c., which did not derive their being from others of the same kind and so of all manner of trees, plants, c. God, therefore, made all these out of nothing his word tells us so, and we credit that word.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Heb 11:3. Through faith we understand that the worlds…
Heb 11:3. Through faith we understand that the worlds — Although the expression, τους αιωνας, generally signifies the ages, yet here the subsequent clause determines its signification to the material fabric of the world, comprehending the sun, moon, and stars, &c., (called by Moses the heaven and the earth, Gen 1:1,) by whose duration and revolutions time, consisting of days, months, years, and ages, is measured; were framed — Formed, fashioned, and finished, as the word κατηρτισθαι implies, properly signifying to place the parts of any body or machine in their right order, Eph 4:12. It, however, also signifies to make, or produce, as Heb 10:5, where it is applied to the body made for Christ. And that it here signifies, not merely the orderly disposition of the parts of the universe, but their production, is plain from the following clause. By the word of God — The sole command of God, without any instrument or preceding matter. The word ρημα, here used, properly signifies a word spoken, or a command. It is nowhere used in Scripture to denote the Son of God. His proper title is ο λογος, the Word. That the worlds were made by the word, order, or command of God, is one of the unseen things which cannot be known but by divine revelation. The apostle, therefore, doubtless refers to the Mosaic account of the creation, Gen 1:3, &c., where Moses informs us, God said, let there be light, and there was light, &c. As the creation is the fountain and specimen of the whole divine economy, so faith in the Creator is the foundation and specimen of all faith; so that the things which are seen — The earth and heavens, with all that they contain; were not made of things which do appear — Or, of things appearing, or which did appear, as φαινομενων may be properly rendered; that is, they were not made of any pre-existing matter, but of matter which God created and formed into the things which we see; and having formed them, he placed them in the beautiful order which they now hold, and impressed on them the motions proper to each, which they have retained ever since. “This account of the origin of things, given by revelation, is very different from the cosmogony of the heathen philosophers, who generally held that the matter of which the worlds were composed was uncreated and eternal; consequently, being independent of God, and not obedient to his will, they supposed it to be the occasion of all the evil that is in the world. But revelation, which teaches us that the things which are seen were not made of matter which did appear before they were made, but of matter which God had brought into existence; by thus establishing the sovereignty of God over matter, hath enlarged our ideas of his power, and strengthened our faith in his promises concerning the felicity of good men in the life to come. For the creation of the new heavens and the new earth, and the glories of the city of the living God, do not, in order to their formation, require more power than the creation of the present universe; and therefore, if we believe that the worlds were formed by the word of God from nothing, every other exercise of faith will be easy to us.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed…
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed - The first instance of the strength of faith which the apostle refers to is that by which we give credence to the declarations in the Scriptures about the work of creation; Gen 1:1. This is selected first, evidently because it is the first thing that occurs in the Bible, or is the first thing there narrated in relation to which there is the exercise of faith. He points to no particular instance in which this faith was exercised - for none is especially mentioned - but refers to it as an illustration of the nature of faith which every one might observe in himself. The “faith” here exercised is confidence in the truth of the divine declarations in regard to the creation. The meaning is, that our knowledge on this subject is a mere matter of faith in the divine testimony. It is not that we could “reason” this out, and demonstrate that the worlds were thus made; it is not that profane history goes back to that period and informs us of it; it is simply that God has told us so in his word. The “strength” of the faith in this case is measured:
(1)By the fact that it is mere faith - that there is nothing else on which to rely in the case, and,
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(2)By the greatness of the truth believed.
After all the acts of faith which have ever been exercised in this world, perhaps there is none which is really more strong, or which requires higher confidence in God, than the declaration that this vast universe has been brought into existence by a word!
We understand - We attain to the apprehension of; we receive and comprehend the idea. Our knowledge of this fact is derived only from faith, and not from our own reasoning.
That the worlds - In Gen 1:1, it is “the heaven and the earth.” The phrase which the apostle uses denotes a plurality of worlds, and is proof that he supposed there were other worlds besides our earth. How far his knowledge extended on this point, we have no means of ascertaining, but there is no reason to doubt that he regarded the stars as “worlds” in some respects like our own. On the meaning of the Greek word used here, see the notes on Heb 1:2. The plural form is used there also, and in both cases, it seems to me, not without design.
Were framed - It is observable that the apostle does not here use the word “make or create.” That which he does use - καταρτίζω katartizō - means to put in order, to arrange, to complete, and may be applied to that which before had an existence, and which is to be put in order, or re-fitted; Mat 4:24; Mar 1:19; Mat 21:6; Heb 10:5. The meaning here is, that they “were set in order” by the Word of God. This implies the act of creation, but the specific idea is that of “arranging” them in the beautiful order in which they are now. Doddridge renders it “adjusted.” Kuinoel, however, supposes that the word is used here in the sense of “form, or make.” It has probably about the meaning which we attach to the phrase “fitting up anything,” as, for example, a dwelling, and includes all the previous arrangements, though the thing which is particularly denoted is not the making, but the arrangemenent. So in the work here referred to. “We arrive at the conviction that the universe was prepared or arranged in the present manner by the Word of God.”
By the word of God - This does not mean here, by the “Logos,” or the second person of the Trinity, for Paul does not use that term here or elsewhere. The word which he employs is ῥῆμα rēma - “rema” - meaning properly a word spoken, and in this place “command;” compare Gen 1:3, Gen 1:6,Gen 1:9, Gen 1:11, Gen 1:14, Gen 1:20; Psa 33:6. “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” In regard to the agency of the Son of God in the work of the creation, see the notes on Heb 1:2; compare the notes on Joh 1:3.
So that things which are seen - The point of the remark here is, that the visible creation was not moulded out of pre-existing materials, but was made out of nothing. In reference to the grammatical construction of the passage, see Stuart, Commentary in loc. The doctrine taught is, that matter was not eternal; that the materials of the universe, as well as the arrangement, were formed by God, and that all this was done by a simple command. The “argument” here, so far as it is adapted to the purpose of the apostle, seems to be, that there was nothing which “appeared,” or which was to be “seen,” that could lay the foundation of a belief that God made the worlds; and in like manner our faith now is not to be based on what; “appears,” by which we could infer or reason out what would be, but that we must exercise strong confidence in Him who had power to create the universe out of nothing. If this vast universe has been called into existence by the mere word of God, there is nothing which we may not believe he has ample power to perform.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain The faith so highly commended here is not that…
The faith so highly commended here is not that special faith of sectarists, by means of which persons of various and contradictory tenets pretend to assure themselves that their sins in particular are pardoned for Christ’s sake, but a firm and lively belief of all that God has revealed or promised.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain we understand--We perceive with our spiritual intelligence the fact…
we understand--We perceive with our spiritual intelligence the fact of the world's creation by God, though we see neither Him nor the act of creation as described in Gen. 1:1-31. The natural world could not, without revelation, teach us this truth, though it confirms the truth when apprehended by faith (Rom 1:20). Adam is passed over in silence here as to his faith, perhaps as being the first who fell and brought sin on us all; though it does not follow that he did not repent and believe the promise.
worlds--literally, "ages"; all that exists in time and space, visible and invisible, present and eternal.
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framed--"fitly formed and consolidated"; including the creation of the single parts and the harmonious organization of the whole, and the continual providence which maintains the whole throughout all ages. As creation is the foundation and a specimen of the whole divine economy, so faith in creation is the foundation and a specimen of all faith [BENGEL].
by the word of God--not here, the personal word (Greek, "logos," Joh 1:1) but the spoken word (Greek, "rhema"); though by the instrumentality of the personal word (Heb 1:2).
not made, &c.--Translate as Greek, "so that not out of things which appear hath that which is seen been made"; not as in the case of all things which we see reproduced from previously existing and visible materials, as, for instance, the plant from the seed, the animal from the parent, &c., has the visible world sprung into being from apparent materials. So also it is implied in the first clause of the verse that the invisible spiritual worlds were framed not from previously existing materials. BENGEL explains it by distinguishing "appear," that is, begin to be seen (namely, at creation), from that which is seen as already in existence, not merely beginning to be seen; so that the things seen were not made of the things which appear," that is, which begin to be seen by us in the act of creation. We were not spectators of creation; it is by faith we perceive it.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3. Through faith—As instrument, or means. We—Lunemann justly notes,…
3. Through faith—As instrument, or means. We—Lunemann justly notes, that while this example commences the series with the creation, it does not form one example in the line of elders; for it is we who entertain this faith, and not the elders alone, though, perhaps, the we is inclusive of the elders. The proper reasons why our author begins with this instance are: 1. That it is at the chronological beginning of the series, namely, at the very creation itself; and, 2. It exemplifies the last clause of the definition; it shows how faith is demonstration of the unseen, of the supermundane. What this faith is, we know, for we all entertain it.
We understand—The Greek verb expresses action of the higher, or intuitive, faculties of man, the spirit; that is, we intuitize. This intuitive faculty sees the invisible truth by direct looking at it, as the eye sees a visible object. See note on 1Th_5:23.
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Were framed—Were brought to completion from crude conditions. The word does not designate absolute creation from nothing, but an adjusting of parts and a construction of a symmetrical whole.
By the word of God—By the divine command, as in the first chapter of Genesis—a figurative expression for the divine energy in action. There is here no reference to the personal Word, nor to the mediation of the Son in the creation, as in Heb_1:2, but an affirmation that God is maker.
So that—Rather, to the end that. God’s word, or active energy, framed… the worlds purposely, so that the visible sprung not from things appearing.
Things which are seen—The completed system of definite things making up the visible world. Or, as the singular is used in the Greek, το βλεπωμενον, literally, the seen, the visible, it means the whole system taken as a complex unit.
Things that do appear—The difference between the seen, or the visible, and the appear, or apparent, is, that the former is considered as perceived by only the one sense of sight, the latter by any sense or perceptive power; and if by any perceptive power, divine as well as human, then the non-apparent would be about equivalent to the non-existent; for what omniscience cannot perceive must be non-existent. It is disputed whether the not connects with made, so as to say that the visible was not made, or did not come from the apparents, or with appear, so as to say that the visible came from the non-apparents. Though the order of the Greek words suggests the former, yet Stuart and Delitzsch ably maintain, by good Greek precedents, the latter. And rendering it the visible system was made from non-apparents, the non-apparents Delitzsch holds to be the creative divine powers and forces. In that case the meaning would be, that creation is by omnipotence out of nothing. Stuart, however, ingeniously suggests, that to say that the world was made “out of nothing,” seems to imply that nothing was a something out of which it was made, and he concludes that our author expresses the thought correctly when he says, that the visible was not made out of perceptible antecedents, or, in other words, previous materials. But, note, 1. The force of the word framed, meaning constructed, put together, indicates that our author is describing formation of worlds, not origination of their substance. He is speaking of shaping materials into organisms, not bringing the materials into existence from non-existence. 2. The Greek word for made signifies to begin to exist, to become, to take existence; but to begin to exist as a framed system. We have, then, the rendering: the worlds were framed so that the visible system came into existence from non-apparents. It is, then, of the organizing of the visible system that our writer is speaking. And what are the non-apparents from which it took organic existence? 3. If we rightly understand, they are the primitive elements—the chaos of Genesis. Philosophers are generally agreed that the atoms of which things consist, and the worlds were framed, are themselves imperceptible to any human sense. They are, individually, so minute that no eye and no magnifying power can reach them. Nobody ever saw the atom, though every body believes its existence. We see it by the eye, not of sense, but of intuitive reason. That is, by faith we intuitize that the worlds were organized, so that the visible system took organic form from imperceptible elements.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. Through faith] In this chapter we find fifteen…
3. Through faith] In this chapter we find fifteen special instances of the work of faith, besides the summary enumeration in the 32nd and following verses.
we understand] ‘we apprehend with the reason’. See Rom_1:20.
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that the worlds were framed] The word for “worlds” means literally ages (Heb_1:2), i.e. the world regarded from the standpoint of human history. The “time-world” necessarily presumes the existence of the space-world also. See Heb_1:2.
were framed] “have been established” (Heb_13:21; Psa_74:16; LXX.).
by the word of God] Rather, “by the utterance (rhemati) of God,” namely by His fiat, as in Genesis 1; Psa_33:6; Psa_33:9; 2Pe_3:5. There is no question here as to the creation of the world by the Logos, for he purposely alters the word λόγῳ used by the LXX. in Psalms 33 into rhemati.
so that things which are seen …] The true reading and literal translation are “so that not from things which appear hath that which is seen come into being,” a somewhat harsh way of expressing that “the visible world did not derive its existence from anything phenomenal.” In other words, the clause denies the pre-existence of matter. It says that the world was made out of nothing, not out of the primeval chaos. So in 2Ma_7:28 the mother begs her son “to look upon the heaven and earth and all that is therein, and consider that God made them out of things that are not” (ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων). If this view be correct, the writer would seem purposely to avoid Philo’s way of saying that the world was made out of τὰ μὴ ὄντα, “things conceived as non-existent,” by which he meant the “formless matter” (as in Wis_11:17). He says that the world did not originate from anything phenomenal. This verse, so far from being superfluous, or incongruous with what follows, strikes the keynote of faith by shewing that its first object must be a Divine and Infinite Creator. Thus like Moses in Genesis 1 the verse excludes from the region of faith all Atheism, Pantheism, Polytheism, and Dualism.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) Through faith.—Rather, By faith, as in the following…
(3) Through faith.—Rather, By faith, as in the following verses. The first place is not given to “the elders,” for the writer’s object is to set forth the achievements of faith. With these, he would say, the Scripture record is filled. Even where there is no mention of this principle we must trace it in the lives of God’s servants; even where there is no history of men, there is a necessity for the exercise of faith by ourselves, and the first words of Scripture teach this lesson.
That the worlds were framed.—Literally, that the ages have been prepared. The remarkable expression which was used in Heb_1:2 is here repeated. The complete preparation of all that the successive periods of time contain is the idea which the words present. The narrative of the first chapter of Genesis ascribes the whole creation of “the heaven and the earth” to God; and associates with “a word of God” every stage in the preparation and furnishing of the earth. (See Note on Heb_1:2.) This is the first lesson of that record. But it does not stand alone, as is taught more plainly still by the next clause.
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So that things which are seen.—A slight alteration in the Greek is necessary here—“the thing seen” (or “what is seen”) being the true reading. A more important point is a change in the aspect of the whole clause, which the Greek seems to require. As the English words stand, they point out the significance of the statement of Scripture respecting the creative act: we believe the writer intended rather to state the divine purpose in relation to that first creation and all subsequent acts that are included in the “preparing of the ages.” “In order that what is seen should not have come into being out of things which appear.” This is probably the true meaning of the clause. In the narrative of the first chapter of Genesis God would have us learn a lesson for the whole course of human history and development. As the visible universe did not take its being out of what was apparent, so what from time to time is seen does not arise of itself out of what is manifest to man’s natural perceptions. Not only is the eternity of matter denied, but from the beginning a warning has been given against a materialistic philosophy. The first page of Scripture is designed to teach the constant presence and work of the Creator. This lesson we learn and apply by faith; and the result of its application is seen in many points of the history which follows. In that history the operation of faith is twofold. The writer’s most obvious design is to call attention to the faith possessed by “the elders,” and its wonderful triumphs; but it is in many cases by the same faith that we interpret the Scripture record so as to discover this to have been their guiding principle. But seldom does the Old Testament directly speak of faith, and hence the importance of this verse (which some have thought incongruous, since it retards the exhibition of the elders’ faith) as throwing light on our interpretation of the teaching of God’s word.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain By faith we perceive that the worlds have been…
By faith we perceive that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen (or, that which is seen) have (or, has) not been made of things which do appear. "By the word of God" has reference to "and God said," of Genesis 1., which chapter enunciates the primary article of all definite religions faith, viz. the existence and operation of God, as the unseen Author of the visible universe. Even without a revelation to declare this, faith"s office is to apprehend it from observation of the phenomena themselves; as is intimated in Rom_1:20, where even to the Greek the invisible things of God from the creation of the world" are said to be "clearly seen, being understood nooumena : cf nooumen in the passage before us] by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead." The drift of both passages is the same, viz. this, and no more that faith recognizes an unseen power and Godhead behind, and accounting for, the seen universe. Commentators, who taking mh ek fainomenwn as equivalent to ek mh fainomenwn , and hence seeking to explain what is meant by "nonapparent things perceive here a reference either to the formless void (Gen_1:2) out of which the present creation was evolved, or to the Platonic conception of eternal ideas in the Divine mind, read into the text what is not there.
The creation of the visible universe.
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"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed," etc. The text suggests:
1. That God existed before the visible universe. As the architect must have lived before the edifice which he designed was built, so he who designed and "built all things" existed before any of his creations. "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world," etc.
2. That God"s existence is distinct from and independent of the visible universe. God and nature are not identical. Nature is not God. God is not a poetic name for an infinite and impersonal spirit of the universe. He thinks, wills, and works; and the universe is the expression and embodiment of his thoughts. The painter does not lose his personality in the productions of his imagination and his pencil. And the Divine Artist existed before his works, and exists independently of his works. The text teaches:
3. That God is the Creator of the visible universe. "The worlds were framed by the Word of God," etc. Very early in this Epistle this truth is asserted. "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands," Our text brings before our notice
I THE ABSOLUTENESS OF THE CREATION. "Things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." This statement implies:
1. That matter is not eternal. The universe was not made by God out of pre-existent materials.
2. That the visible universe is neither self-originated nor the product of chance. On this point Archbishop Tillotson forcibly observes, "How often might a man, after he had jumbled a set of letters in a bag, fling them out upon the ground before they would fall into an exact poem? How long might one sprinkle colors upon canvas, with a careless hand, before they would make the exact picture of u man? How long might twenty thousand blind men, who should be sent out from the remote parts of England, wander up and down before they would all meet on Salisbury plain, and fall into rank and file, in the exact order of an army? And yet this is much more easy to be imagined, than how the innumerable blind parts of matter should rendezvous themselves into a world.
3. The universe was absolutely created by Go&; He not only formed and arranged its materials into order and beauty, but he created the materials themselves. As to the alleged impossibility or difficulty of creation in this absolute sense, Cudworth has well said, "It may well be thought as easy for God, or an omnipotent Being, to make a whole world, matter and all, ex ouk ontwn , as it is for us to create a thought or to move a finger, or for the sun to send out rays, or a candle light, or, lastly, for an opaque body, to produce an image of itself in a glass of water, or to project a shadow; all these imperfect things being but the energies, rays, images, or shadows, of the Deity. For a substance to be made out of nothing by God, or a Being infinitely perfect, is not for it to be made out of nothing in the impossible sense, because it comes from him who is all.
II THE VAST EXTENT OF THE CREATION. "The worlds were framed by the word of God." Not simply our world, but all worlds. It is stated that in our sky there are one hundred millions of stars visible by the aid of a telescope, each of which is the center of a cluster of tributary stars, making together "a great multitude which no man can number." All these worlds were created by the Almighty. And the probably far more numerous host of worlds as yet undiscovered by man he created. How amazing is the extent to which the creative energy of God has been exercised!
III THE BEAUTIFUL ORDER OF THE CREATION. "The worlds were framed," or arranged, or adjusted by the word of God. How perfect are the relations of the worlds to each other! Carlyle says, "A star is beautiful .... It has repose; no force disturbs its eternal peace. It has freedom; no obstruction lies between it and infinity." May we not say this of all stars? How beautifully and beneficently are all things framed and ordered in our world! The earth upon which we tread, and from which we derive our subsistence, has been fashioned in infinite wisdom and goodness to the natures and necessities of the creatures which dwell upon it. In its structure it is not only useful but beautiful. It ministers to the needs of both our physical and our spiritual natures. It stimulates thought; it awakens admiration, etc.
IV THE DIVINE, INSTRUMENT OF CREATION. "The worlds were framed by the word of God." "God said, Let there be light; and there was light." "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made," etc. "He spake, and it was done," etc. This mode of expression is suggestive of the case with which creation was effected. There was no painful effort in the production of the universe; no struggle to overcome difficulties in framing the countless hosts of worlds. God has but to utter his command, and that command at once becomes an embodied and- beautiful reality. The continuous activities and developments of nature illustrate and confirm the fact that the creative acts of God are accomplished with sublime ease. All the forces of nature work without friction, with regularity and order, with highest efficiency and deepest repose. Now, these truths concerning God and his creation are not the discoveries of human reason, but the disclosures of Divine revelation. F.W. Robertson says, "Man may tell us of the development of the world from the theistical or atheistical point of view, but the simplest and most religious way is to look at this world as the expression of the will of God. It is sufficient if we feel that the light reveals to US something of the will of the Eternal; enough if the beauty of nature can speak to us of the mind of God; if the blue heaven above and. the green earth below tell of our Father"s home; if day and night, light and darkness, are symbols of the word God has spoken out of himself in the creation of the world." And these aspects of the visible universe we apprehend by faith. We credit the Scripture testimony, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Thus by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God," etc. W.J.
Faith beginning where science ends.
In the first verse of the chapter things not seen are spoken of. Faith is the evidence of these things not seen. There can be no other evidence, for things not seen are eternal; they are beyond the ken of our senses; if we cannot be certified of them by spiritual intuitions, we cannot be certified of them at all. (2Co_4:18) But the things that are seen have also to be dealt with; we want to know the connection of the seen with the unseen; and the origin of the seen we also want to know. Faith has something to say concerning the ou blepomena ; what has it to say in respect to the blepomena ? The answer is that as faith gives our only resource for being sure of the reality of unseen things, so faith gives our only resource for being sure of the origin of seen things. The seen things, at least as to the surface of them and certain manifestations of them, lie before us. Especially there are before us those seen things which have life in them. We see them spring into being, have their time of growth, maturity, decay; and then they pass out of any life that we can see. They are not only seen things, but also fainomena , things that appear. Yesterday they had not appeared; today they appear; to-morrow they will disappear. And yet in disappearing they leave behind them that out of which will come a succession of phenomena like themselves. Thus generation is mysteriously linked to generation, and the world goes on. Suppose we have before us a field of grain. A little time ago that stretch of waving stalks was not; nothing but an extent of broken soil. We look for an antecedent; and the first antecedent we find is the seed that has been sown. We do know that if grain-seed is sown in the earth the result will be a crop of grain, but to say this does not satisfy us. The heart cannot believe that natural observation has the last word to say on the matter. Scientific inquiry goes as far as it can into the seen, and then faith spreads its wings for a flight into the unseen, and declares that if generation so regularly succeeds generation, and age so regularly succeeds age, it must be because God is joining them all together framing the ages, as in this verse it is sublimely expressed. The verse must be taken as referring, not only to the original creation of the world and all that is therein, but also to the continuance and reproduction of life. The first origin of life is not more mysterious than the continuance of it. And faith says that the word of an unseen God has to do with these mysteries, and the word God" carries all the rest that has to be said. To say that God speaks the life-giving word is to say that all is spoken in love, in wisdom, and in all-comprehending power. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain The worlds were framed by the word of God
Heb_11:3
The worlds were framed by the word of God
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Spirit in matter:
The whole order of the natural world and mans physical being may be said to be the expression of chemical combination, and of the various forces resulting therefrom.
The whole is presented to us, after scientific examination, as a most elaborate and exquisite piece of mechanism. Some would also explain mans mental and moral life as only a higher development of this same mechanism. To prevent misunderstanding, I may state that, while I am willing to admit that these higher parts of mans life are affected by, and partly dependent upon, this mechanism of things, it seems to me certain that the phenomena of human life require us to believe that there is, over and above that which is mechanical, a free spirit. What I seek at present is a common ground with scientists, from which to start in an inquiry; and that I find in admitting the mechanism of all physical being. This mechanical and orderly system of being is generally known as the material world. All parts of the universe are in an intimate relation with each other. This relation is commonly conceived of as government by laws. There are, for example, what are termed the laws of gravitation and magnetic attraction, and the laws of combining proportion. Now, it is necessary to keep before us the strictly scientific idea of the laws of nature; that they are in fact nothing more than the observed mode of action of the forces in nature. They have no real existence of themselves, apart, that is, from the things in which they are observed. For example, there is, so far as science teaches, no material bond between the stone and the earth which are attracted to each other; no link like a string reaching from the one to the other. The stone is not drawn by an elastic-like band which connects it with the earth; but something in the inner nature of the matter causes them to approach. The same is true of magnetic attraction, and also of chemical affinity. So far we have kept strictly to the results of science. It is now that we proceed a step further by inference from what science has taught explicitly to something which its teaching implies. We find that the stone and the earth, the magnet and the iron, and also chemical atoms, enter into those relations which result from attraction or affinity only by reason of what is in them. What, then, is in them by which they can do these things? The earth attracts the stone which has been thrown a distance from it, and the stone, instead of continuing to ascend, comes back of itself towards the earth. This attraction is because the stone is affected by the earth, by a body of matter which is in a certain direction. The effect of the earths presence is sufficient to direct the stone to itself; i.e., the earth so affects the inner state of the stone that it is sensible of an attraction of a certain degree and in a particular direction. It knows it is attracted, and its movement is the result of that consciousness. And it knows in what direction it is attracted, and so takes the right path. The phenomena of gravitation and magnetism evidence therefore a degree of conscious life in matter. But the most comprehensive and fundamental kind of attraction is chemical affinity, since all material organisation is built up from it. And it is also the most wonderful, and even skilful, in operation. The atoms which combine by affinity to form water must have a sense of affinity sufficient to cause them to unite; they must be aware of the effect upon them of the others presence, or they would remain unmoved. And so with all chemical combinations, both of atoms and molecules; they must have a degree of consciousness to enter into union, to remain in union, and also to allow them to be disunited chemically. The action and reaction of all parts of the physical universe, because it is from the inner states of matter, necessitates the existence of a certain measure and kind of consciousness and intelligence in all matter. We have thus crossed the boundary into a spiritual sphere; but we must advance yet further. That these inner states of atoms, which we find to be conscious states, are not separate and independent of each other, science shows most clearly. All atoms of any given element act exactly alike and are affected exactly alike. There is then one conscious mind in each kind of element. But to go another step we observe in the chemical combinations of various elements that they have all an inner relation to each other, according to which each element is affected, and affected in one particular way, by its combinations with others. There is, in other words, a necessity in the relations of all chemical elements to each other--a necessity which is the ruling of their inner states. All these inner states and their movements and combinations are in some sort Of unity. And as it is the unity of conscious being in manifoldness, there is a large consciousness which is inclusive of all. But we must examine these atoms a little closer. What they are we have seen to some extent. Can we find out more about them? Can we discover their origin? We are informed that atoms--all atoms--are vortices of ether. Ether is something which pervades all space and permeates all things. It is, and yet is itself non-phenomenal--it has none of the properties of matter. It is therefore the invisible substans, or that which stands under all atomic being as its cause and foundation. It is a living entity, with consciousness and will, and the power to create out of itself an order of life different from itself. Here we come to the fact of spiritual Being as the basis and origin of the vast mechanism of nature; for mechanism never makes mind, but always proceeds from mind. And yet we do not say that ether is God, or that God is ether; but we say that it is essential to those functions which ether is credited with, that it shall be pervaded by that living and moving consciousness which demands the idea of God. We see, then, how science permits us, and indeed requires us, to believe that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear; and that the position to which faith leads us is borne out by the facts of science--that the worlds were framed by the word of God. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, is still, and ever will be, true for us; as also that He upholdeth all things by the word of His power. His works rivet our gaze and excite our wonder; yet not they, but He is the object of our worship and our chief good. Before Him, higher than all creation, yet present in all, so that He is not far from any one of us--before Him we bow in deep adoration. (R. Vaughan, M. A.)
The mystery of creation revealed to faith
The word rendered worlds means life, then that through which life extends--an age, a cycle of ages, and next the stage on which life appears--the world. Of course the author of this Epistle was not thinking of the worlds which modern astronomy has discovered in the heavenly bodies, but of this world in its successive ages, and possibly of unseen worlds inhabited by spiritual intelligences. To frame means to found or create, as a city may be said to be created by its founder. Things which do appear, is the translation of a word which is naturalised in our own language as phenomena. We might, then, read the text thus: Through faith we understand that the worlds were created by the word of God, so that that which is seen--the visible universe--did not originate from existing phenomena. The present order of things--the configuration of rocks and hills, of rivers, seas, and plains--has been brought about by the altered disposition of previous land andwater; the vegetation which clothes the earth, and the living creatures which roam upon it or swarm in its waters, are all descended from former generations of vegetable and animal life--the whole of that which is now seen has sprung immediately from similar phenomena; but it has not always been so. The living world we see around us was originally founded by the Word of God. This is one way of reading the text. Another is, to understand it as denying the eternity of matter, and affirming the creation of the world out of nothing. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, when there was nothing to make them with. He spake and it was done, He commanded and it stood fast. But whether we understand the phrase, things which do appear, to stand for natural phenomena or for the material elements, the conclusion is the same, that the visible order of creation came into existence by the simple fiat of the Almighty. Our knowledge of such a fact may be a spiritual intuition or it may rest solely on the testimony of revelation. Either way, it is knowledge of a thing not seen and only perceived by faith. The origin of all we behold around and above us must ever be an undiscoverable secret to the researches of the astronomer, the geologist, and the chemist. For though science may some day learn to read the changeful history of our globe with tolerable accuracy, it can never extract from it the story of its birth. All it can do is to take things to pieces. But simply taking a watch to pieces will tell us nothing of the nature and origin of the metals and gems of which it is made; neither will anatomy discover the nature of life, nor chemical analysis explain the origin of the ultimate forms of matter. They are as inscrutable by such analysis as metals and gems are by the tools of the mechanic. Creation out of nothing is at once inexplicable and incomprehensible. No strictly creative act comes under our observation in any of the phenomena of nature. Philosophy, unaided by the higher teaching of faith, has always taken for granted the eternity of matter. It has uniformly declared that things which are seen were made of things which do appear. The first philosopher with whose speculations we are acquainted maintained that water was the origin of all things. The substitution of gases for water is the necessary result of modern chemistry; it does not make the speculation one whit the wiser, nor, again, the resolution of these gases into primordial atoms. The later speculation which ascribed the origin of all things to fire or heat is just as plausible and just as false. The authors of these theories, ancient or modern, were all on the wrong track. They were seeking in the paths of observation and inductive reasoning the answer to a question which is beyond their range. The only certain answer is that which faith may have guessed, and which revelation endorses. The most illiterate peasant who hears and ponders the declaration of Gods Word, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, is as wise in this matter as the most learned scientist the world contains. Observe, how strictly practical revelation is. That which no science could discover, which only minds finely organised and deeply imbued with spiritual feeling could guess, but which still was necessary for men to know, that they might give to God the glory due to His name, it reveals; but what human intelligence and perseverance would be sure in time to discover, it leaves untouched. The Scripture account of creation is a retrospective prophecy, turning its gaze towards an unknown past instead of towards an unknown future. I regard the Mosaic narrative as a sublime poem on Gods creative work, as accurate in the letter of it as was consistent with its being intelligible to minds unacquainted with scientific discovery, and truer to the real moral significance of creation than any account which science has yet been able to render. But I am concerned to give this subject a more practical bearing. To doubt the opening words of Scripture, In the beginning, &c., is not your temptation; but it is your temptation, for it is every mans, to feel and act as though the things that are seen were made of things which do appear. In one sense, indeed, they are, but in another and more important sense, they are not. In one sense, all you see has come from things like them whence you can trace their origin; and, whatever the forms of animate or inanimate objects around you, they all consist of materials which were in existence before them. Properly speaking, no new materials have been called into existence since God first weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance. The original atoms of our globe still exist. They are neither more nor fewer than in the first moment of creation. Ever entering into fresh combinations, they are either held in solution in the air and form the rainbow arch, or having fallen and mingled with the soil they appear in the lowly herb and spreading tree; thence they are assimilated to nourish or protect animal life, and are cast off again to pursue the same round of endless change. But the power which gives them substance and form, the force which imparts to light, heat, and electricity their characteristic energies, the plastic power which possesses plants and animals, so that they appropriate surrounding materials and mould them after their own form and structure--in short, the vital energy which fills all nature, is a thing unseen, by which all we behold is made and sustained in existence. By the Word of God the worlds were made, and by that Word they stand fast. Things seen are not made of things that appear, in anything more than the order of their appearance. They spring from the unseen creative energy of God, operating through those familiar methods which His wisdom has adopted. (E. W. Shalders, B. A.)
The work of creation:
I. WHAT SCRIPTURE IS TO BE ACTUALLY CONSIDERED AS TEACHING US RESPECTING THIS SUBJECT.
1. Let us set out by remarking that the object of this inspired account of the worlds framing or formation is not scientific, but religious. The Bible is meant for the instruction of those of every age, country, and class; it is not meant to teach only a few superior minds, but to afford spiritual food for the whole human race. It is meant to be a book of duty, not a system of natural philosophy.
2. It is also to be borne in mind that the sacred narrative of the creation is chiefly and prominently to be regarded as of a moral, spiritual, and prophetical kind. Mans original relation to his Maker, as a responsible being, is directly taught; his restoration from moral chaos to spiritual beauty is figuratively represented; while, as a prophecy, it has an extent of meaning which will only be fully unfolded at a period yet future; perhaps that spoken of as the times of the restitution of all things.
II. THE MANNER IN WHICH GODS WORK IN CREATION DISPLAYS AND CALLS UPON US TO CONSIDER HIS PERFECTIONS.
1. Creation exhibits to us God as supreme in power. When we reflect how much labour and difficulty generally accompany the forth-putting of human power, the idea of creative power becomes peculiarly impressive. Surely reverence and adoration should be prompted, together with humility and trust.
2. The work of creation also exhibits to us God as supreme in wisdom. Everywhere we trace the working of One who is perfect in knowledge. In even the smaller parts of the Creators workmanship we trace the operation of a wisdom, alike in larger and in smaller objects; in the star, and in the insect; in the elephant, and in the fly; in the mightiest of forest trees, and in the smallest tuft, or even blade of grass. There is nothing lost sight of; nothing has been imperfectly done; each thing answers a defined end. This wisdom of God shown in creation is assuredly not meant to be devoid of influence upon His rational, responsible creatures; it should teach submission on the part of man, and beget pious trust in his heart.
3. The work of creation likewise exhibits to us God as supreme in goodness. Most justly is the earth said to be full of the goodness of the Lord; inasmuch as throughout the system of things we behold what must, at the least, be pronounced, on the whole, to be fitted to promote the good of both rational and animated beings. There are what may seem to be defects; but the latter arise out of the infirmity, sinfulness, and dereliction of the creature. (A. R. Bonar.)
Faith revealing God as Creator
I. CONSIDER THE STATEMENT THAT IT IS ONLY THROUGH FAITH WE KNOW THAT THE WORLD WAS CREATED BY GOD.
1. Reason could not discover the Creator.
2. Scripture reveals the Creator.
3. Faith knows God as Creator by her simple dependence on
Scripture declaration.
II. CONSIDER THE PRACTICAL USES OF THIS TRUTH.
1. It teaches the nature of faith.
2. It teaches the character of God.
3. It teaches the consolation of the saints.
4. It teaches the condemnation of the impenitent. (C. New.)
Faith apprehending the mystery of creation
The province of faith is the unseen. The past and the future lie all out of sight, and are therefore its undisputed domain. The present is a mixed and compound thing--shared between faith and sight. The apostle takes his first example of faith from the past. Everything that we ourselves have not seen, though it be the most strongly attested of all facts is apprehended by us through faith alone. That which the senses cannot tell us can only be accepted on testimony. The facts of history come to us in books. In many cases there is a conflict of testimony, occasioning either a perpetual difference of opinion or an occasional reversal of opinion with regard to the events or the characters of a past nearer or more remote. Christian faith also rests upon testimony.
In this it is like all belief in things not seen. The difference lies in the source of the testimony. History is written and received on what professes to be human testimony. Christian faith believes itself to have the word of God Himself for its evidence and its authority. To ascertain this Divine testimony is an anxious and responsible task. First of all these disclosures for which faith is demanded, is that one of which the text speaks--the creation of the universe by the fiat of Almighty God. We have here--none can dispute it--a subject lying altogether in the province of faith. Either faith, or nothing, can apprehend this fact. Not only is it a thing out of sight, as all the past is; not only is it a thing belonging to the most remote past, inasmuch as it involves that fact which is the condition of all facts: more than this--it is that one fact of which by the nature of the case there can be no human testimony; the origination of the creature itself is the very subject of the revelation, and if it be true--in other words, if it have any witness--that truth must be one of Gods mysteries, that witness must be God alone. We will look for a moment into the particulars of the statement. By faith. It is by an exercise of that principle which has been called above the assurance of things unseen. By faith we understand, we apprehend, or grasp with the mind, that fact which follows. Here mind is set in motion by faith. And that as to a fact--a fact of the pre-Adamite past--a fact which may lie long millenniums before human existence--but a fact, of which the results and consequences still are and are mighty. What is this fact? That the worlds have been framed, settled, or fitted in order and coherence, by a word of God. The word here used for the worlds is very peculiar. It is that word which, properly meaning ages or periods, is applied to the material universe as an existence not in space only but in time--having a vast succession of ages and periods inside eternity, as well as a vast expansion of parts and substances inside immensity. The same word occurs in the first chapter--By whom also He made the worlds. Now the point of the statement lies in this--not that faith apprehends the existence of matter, or the order, the beauty, the variety, the adaptation of matter, or even the fact, taken by itself, of the non-eternity of matter: these things are not in the special province of faith; some of them are matters of sight, others are matters of theory; the action of faith is this--she grasps the revealed fact, that the material universe, seen to exist, surveyed by the senses in its manifoldness and its harmony, was originally framed by a word of God. Once more, the end and result of this framing by a word. So that things which are seen--or, according to the true reading, the thing which is seen--speaking of the whole sum of created being, the vast mass and aggregate of the material universe--the thing which is seen hath not come into being out of things which appear. The original of the universe was itself created. God Himself is the alone eternal, as He is the alone self-existent. The subject before us is deeply important, specially seasonable, and directly practical.
1. First of all, it is essential to the right posture of the creature towards the Creator.
2. Not only the posture of the soul, but the whole management of the life, depends upon this primary principle. A thousand motives of self-interest and of gratitude conspire to teach the duty of obedience. We disparage none of these--we want them all. But there is one groundwork of duty which lies at the root of all--and that is, the living vital apprehension of the relationship which cannot be modified of the creature to the Creator.
3. Finally, it is this faith in creation which furnishes the strongest presumption of the truth of redemption itself. He who thought it worth while, having a clear foresight of everything, to call into existence, out of nothing, a world that should be the theatre, and a creature that should be the agent, of sin, may be believed when He says (though we durst not have said it for Him) that He counts us worth redeeming--that He intends to restore to holiness and happiness lives and souls made originally in His image--nay, by a process most wonderful to beings nearest His throne, to introduce a dispensation of the fulness of times, in which to gather together all the scattered elements in Jesus Christ, and in the ages to come to show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in the Son of His love. It is thus that faith in an unseen past allies itself with faith in an invisible future, and breathes forth in one petition the whole of its confidence and the whole of its hope--I am Thine: oh save me! (Dean Vaughan.)
Understanding Gods works:
This chapter teaches much by what it omits as well as by what it includes. There is no mention of Adam, or of Lot, or of faith during the forty years in the wilderness (see the gap between Heb_11:29-30). There are several most suggestive associations. Faith is associated with hope (Heb_11:1), with righteousness (Heb_11:4), with holiness (Heb_11:5), with diligence (Heb_11:7), with trial (Heb_11:17), and with conflict (Heb_11:32-37). The element of assured confidence runs right through the chapter. Abel obtained witness; Enoch received a testimony; Abraham looked for a city, and many of the patriarchs were persuaded (Greek, πειθω--the same word in Rom_8:38) that there was reality in Gods promises, and that they would be fulfilled. The evidence (R. V., the proving) of things not seen. Those who believe in Gods Word are not in doubt as to the existence of the things He has promised. His Word is proof positive of their reality, and if we believe that Word they become realities to us. We are just as sure of their existence as we should be if we could see them.
I. FAITH WELL GROUNDED. The Hebrews knew of but one ground of faith. It was their habit to ask, What saith the Scriptures? (Joh_7:42). The writer of this Epistle would know this, and when he spoke of faith he meant faith in the declarations of the Old Testament. This chapter from beginning to end takes us back to this Divine standard, and, without discussing the question, assumes, what every Jew would readily grant, that its statements are absolutely true. The faith of this chapter is therefore belief in the testimony of God.
II. FAITH ENLIGHTENING THE MIND. Through faith we understand (Greek, νόεω). Atheism is folly (Psa_14:1). To be without faith in Gods Word is to be void of understanding respecting His works. The history of human philosophy consists largely of a series of records of the vain efforts of men to account for the universe apart from the true cause of its origin. The variety of opinions expressed by sceptics upon the subject of the origin of the world casts discredit upon the whole of these opinions, just as half a dozen discordant testimonies in defence of a prisoner would cast discredit upon the whole case for the defence. By the light of philosophy we guess, we speculate; but by faith we understand. Well, might the Psalmist say, The entrance (or opening) of Thy Word giveth Psa_119:130). Faith sees a beginning of the universe (Joh_1:1). It sees in the beginning God (Gen_1:1). It sees God as a Creator (God created Gen_1:1). It sees Him as the author of order (the worlds were framed; Greek, καταρτίζω, to make thoroughly right or fit). It sees His continuous working (the world; Greek, αἰὼν--age. The birth of worlds was the birth of time, and therefore the history of worlds is fitly called that of the ages).
III. FAITH CONSONANT WITH REASON. The understanding approves what faith makes clear, just as the eye takes in the minute objects revealed by the microscope. It could not have seen those objects without the aid of the microscope, but, having seen them, it can admire them, and the mind, instructed by the eye, can realise and rejoice in the beauty and fitness of what is so revealed. There is much in what faith reveals that reason demands and requires. Reason tells us, for instance, that there can be no effect without a cause, and that no cause can give to an effect what it has not in itself. If we see personality in an effect, reason says there must have been personality in the cause. We see personality in man, and therefore we infer that the author of his being must have been a person. Faith satisfies this demand of reason by the revelation of a personal God. Reason connects order with the operations of mind. Type set up for the printing of a book must, it cannot but infer, have been set up by a person possessed of an amount of intelligence equal to the task. A thousand infidels could not convince a rational being that the setting up of the type was the result of chance, or that it could have been brought about in any way without the direction of a mind. Reason sees in nature the most absolute order, and it infers that if a mind is required to produce order in the setting up of the type, it is much more required in this vaster display of order which is apparent everywhere in the material universe. Faith endorses the wisdom of this inference as it gazes at nature in the light of revelation, and says with Milton:
These are Thy glorious works,
Parent of good, Almighty!
Thine this universal frame.
Faith speaks of God ordering things according to the good pleasure of His Eph_1:5), and reason hears and is satisfied.
IV. FAITH ABOVE REASON. Reason has no opportunity of observing the process by which something is made out of nothing, and so it has made the rule, Ex nihilo, nihilfit--out of nothing nothing comes, Now in opposition to this axiom faith recognises God as a Creator. Faith sees more than reason does, as a man looking at the stars through a good telescope sees more than another who looks with his unaided sight. One sees farther than the other, but the view spread out before the one is not necessarily in conflict with that seen by the other.
V. FAITH REGARDING THE UNSEEN. He who believes in God as the framer of the universe believes in what he has not seen. He was not present at the time of the creation. (Note the question in Job_38:4.) He has not seen, and yet he believes. This is, however, what men are doing every day. A man takes a ticket on a steamer bound for New Zealand. He has never seen New Zealand, but he so thoroughly believes in its existence that he spends his money and enters upon a long voyage that he may get there. Sight doesnt always secure certainty, and there may be the most absolute certainty without it. (H. Thorne.)
Faiths attitude towards the creation:
I. IT IS A NECESSARY EXERCISE FOR THE CHILDREN OF GOD TO TURN THEIR MINDS TO THE CREATION.
1. It discovereth much of God.
(1) His essence.
(2) His attributes, goodness, power, wisdom.
2. It is a wonderful advantage to faith to give us hope and consolation in the greatest distresses.
3. It puts us in mind of our duty.
(1) Reverence.
(2) Humility.
(3) Kindness.
II. WE UNDERSTAND THE TRUTH AND WONDERS OF THE CREATION BY FAITH, AND NOT BY REASON.
1. There are three sorts of lights which God hath bestowed upon men: the light of nature, the light of grace, and the light of glory. There is the daylight of glory, which is the sun when it arises in its strength and brightness; and there is the light of faith, which is like the moon, a light which shines in a dark place; then there is the weak and feeble ray of reason, which is like the light of the lesser stars. By the first light, we see God as He is in Himself; by the second, God as He hath discovered Himself in the Word: by the third, God as He is seen in the creature.
2. In this world reason had been enough, if man had continued in his innocency. His mind then was his only bible, and his heart his only law; but he tasted of the tree of knowledge and hereby he and we got nothing but ignorance. It is true, there are some relics of reason left for human uses, and to leave us without excuse (Joh_1:9). But now in matters of religion, we had need of external and foreign helps. Man left to himself would only grope after God.
3. The only remedy and cure for this is faith, and external revelation from God. The blindness of reason is cured by the Word; the pride of reason is cured by the grace of faith. Revelation supplies the defect of it; and faith takes down the pride of it, and captivates the thoughts into the obedience of the truths represented in the Word; so that reason now cannot be a judge; at best it is but a handmaid to faith.
4. The doctrine of the creation is a ,nixed principle; much of it is liable to reason, but most of it can only be discovered by faith. If by faith only we can understand the truth and wonders of the creation, then
(1) It informs us, that reason is not the judge of controversies in religion, and the doubts that do arise about the matters of God are not to be determined by the dictates of nature. If then we leave the written Word and follow the guidance of our own reason, we shall but puzzle ourselves with impertinent scruples, and leave ourselves under a dissatisfaction.
(2) It informs us that the heathens had never light enough for salvation. Certainly they are blind in the work of redemption, since they are so blind in the work of creation.
(3) It shows us the great advantage that we have by faith, and by the written Word.
(4) It informs us that religion is not illiterate. Grace doth not make men simple, but rather perfects human learning. None discern truths with more comfort and satisfaction than a believer; it solves all doubts and riddles of reason.
(5) We learn hence the properties of faith to have knowledge, assent, and obedience in it; therefore it is not a blind reliance, but a clear, distinct persuasion of such truths, concerning which human discourse can give us no satisfaction.
(6) It is the nature of faith to subscribe to a revelation in the Word, though reason give little assistance and aid. It serves to stir you up to act faith. What is the use of faith upon the creation? To answer all the objections of reason, and settle the truth in the soul, and to improve it for spiritual uses and advantages, and to facilitate the belief of other truths upon this ground; did He make the world out of nothing? Many truths are less wonderful than this. (T. Manton, D. D.)
Of the work of creation
I. WHAT WE ARE TO UNDERSTAND BY CREATION, or what it is to create.
1. It is not to be taken here in a large sense, as sometimes it is used in Scripture, for any production of things wherein second causes have their instrumentality, as Psa_104:30.
2. We are to take it strictly for the production of things out of nothing, or the giving a being to things which had none before.
(1) There is an immediate creation, as when things are brought forth out of pure nothing, where there was no pre-existent matter to work upon.
(2) There is a secondary and mediate creation, which is the making things of pre-existing matter, but of such as is naturally unfit and altogether indisposed for such productions, and which could never by any power of second causes be brought into such a form. Thus all beasts, cattle, and creeping things, and the body of man, were at first made of the earth and the dust of the ground; and the body of the first woman was made of a rib taken out of the man.
II. THAT THE WORLD WAS MADE, THAT IT HAD A BEGINNING AND WAS NOT ETERNAL. This the Scripture plainly testifies (Gen_1:1). And this reason itself teacheth: for whatsoever is eternal, the being of it is necessary, and it is subject to no alterations. But we see this is not the case with the world; for it is daily undergoing alterations.
III. WHO MADE THE WORD AND GAVE IT A BEGINNING? That was God, and He only.
1. The world could not make itself; for this would imply a contradiction, namely, that the world was before it was: for the cause must always be before its effect.
2. The production of the world could not be by chance.
3. God created all things, the world, and all the creatures that belong to it. He attributes this work to Himself, as one of the peculiar glories of His Deity, exclusive of all the creatures (Isa_44:24; Isa_45:12; Isa_40:12-13).
None could make the word but God, because creation is a work of infinite power, and could not be produced by any finite cause: for the distance between being and not being is truly infinite, which could not be removed by any finite agent, or the activity of all finite agents united.
IV. WHAT GOD MADE. All things whatsoever, besides God, were created Rev_4:11). The evil of sin is no positive being, it being but a defect or want, and therefore is not reckoned among the things which God made, but owed its existence to the will of fallen angels and men. Devils being angels, are Gods creatures; but God did not make them evil, or devils, but they made themselves so.
V. OF WHAT ALL THINGS WERE MADE. Of nothing; which does not denote any matter of which they were formed, but the term from which God brought them; when they had no being He gave them one (Col Rom_11:36).
VI. How ALL THINGS WERE MADE OF NOTHING. By the word of Gods power. It was the infinite power of God that gave them a being; which power was exerted in His Word, not a word properly spoken, but an act of His will commanding them to be (Gen_1:3; Psa_33:6; Psa_33:9).
VII. IN WHAT SPACE OF TIME THE WORLD WAS CREATED.
VIII. FOR WHAT END GOD MADE ALL THINGS. It was for His own glory Pro_16:4; Rom_11:36). And there are these three attributes of God that especially shine forth in this work of creation, namely, His wisdom, power, and goodness.
IX. IN WHAT STATE WERE ALL THINGS MADE? I answer, They were all very good (Gen_1:31). The goodness of the creature consists in its fitness for the use for which it was made. In this respect everything answered exactly the end of its creation. Again, the goodness of things is their perfection; and so everything was made agreeable to the idea thereof that was formed in the Divine mind. There was not the least defect in the work; but everything was beautiful, as it was the effect of infinite wisdom as well as almighty power. Inferences:
1. God is a most glorious being, infinitely lovely and desirable, possessed of every perfection and excellency. Whatever excellency and beauty is in the creatures is all from Him, and sure it must be most excellent in the fountain.
2. Gods glory should be our chief end. And seeing whatever we have is from Him, it should be used and employed for Him: For all things were created by Him and for Him (Col_1:16).
3. God is our Sovereign Lord Proprietor, and may do in us, on us, anal by us, what He will (Rom_9:20-21).
4. We should use all the creatures we make use of with an eye to God, and due thankfulness to Him, the Giver; employing them in our service, soberly and wisely, considering they stand related to God as their Creator, and are the workmanship of His own hands.
5. There is no case so desperate, but faith may get sure footing with respect to it in the power and Word of God. Let the people of God be ever so low, they can never be lower than when they were not at all (Isa_65:18).
6. Give away yourselves to God through Jesus Christ, making a cheerful and entire dedication of your souls and bodies, and all that ye are and have, to Him as your God and Father, resolving to serve Him all the days of your life: that as He made you for His glory, you may in some measure answer the end of your creation, which is to show forth His praise. (T. Boston, D. D.)
The fact of creation an object of faith
Our object is to inquire what is implied in our really believing the fact of the creation. There is the widest difference between your believing certain truths as the results of reasoning or discovery, and your believing them on the mere assertion of a credible witness, whom you see and hear, especially if the witness be the very individual to whom the truths relate. The truths themselves may be identically the same. But how essentially different is the state of the mind, and how different the impression made on it!
I. WE MAY ILLUSTRATE THE DIFFERENCE BY A SIMPLE AND FAMILIAR EXAMPLE. Paley makes admirable use of an imaginary case respecting a watch. He supposes you to be previously unacquainted with such a work of art. You hold it in your hand; you begin to examine its structure, to raise questions in your own mind, and to form conjectures. How did it come there, and how were its parts so curiously put together? You at once conclude that it did not grow there, and that it could not be fashioned by chance. You feel assured that the watch had a maker. You gather much of his character from the obvious character of his handiwork. You search in that handiwork for traces of his mind, his heart. You speculate concerning his plans and purposes. But now, suppose that while you are thus engaged, with the watch in your hand, a living person suddenly appears before you, and announces himself, and says, It was I who made this watch--it was I who put it there. Is not your position instantly changed? Your position, in fact, is now precisely reversed. Instead of questioning the watch concerning its maker, you now question the maker concerning his watch. You hear not what the mechanism has to say of the mechanic, but what the mechanic has to say of the mechanism. You receive, perhaps, the same truths as before, but with a freshness and a force unknown before. They come to you, not circuitously and at second hand, they come straight from the very being most deeply concerned in them.
II. NOW, LET US APPLY THESE REMARKS TO THE MATTER IN HAND. YOU are all of you familiar with this idea, that, in contemplating the works of creation, you should ascend from nature to natures God. It is most pleasing and useful to cultivate such a habit as this. Much of natural religion depends upon it, and holy Scripture fully recognises its propriety. The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament showeth his handicraft. All Thy works praise Thee, Lord God Almighty. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold, Who hath created these things. O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth is full of Thy riches. It is apparent, however, even in these and similar passages, that created things are mentioned, not as arguments, but rather as illustrations; not as suggesting the idea of God, the Creator, but as unfolding and expanding the idea, otherwise obtained. And this is still more manifest in that passage of the Epistle to the Romans which particularly appeals to the fact of creation, as evidence of the Creators glory evidence sufficient to condemn the ungodly (Rom_1:20-21). So that the Scriptural method on this subject is exactly the reverse of what is called the natural. It is not to ascend from nature up to natures God, but to descend from God to Gods nature; not to hear the creation speaking of the Creator, but to hear the Creator speaking of the creation. We have not in the Bible an examination and enumeration of the wonders to be observed among the works of nature, and an argument founded upon these that there must be a God, and that He must be of a certain character and must have had certain views in making what He has made. God Himself appears and tells us authoritatively what He has done, and why He did it. Thus through faith we understand that the worlds were made by the Word of God; so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. We understand and believe this, not as a deduction of reasoning, but as a matter of fact, declared and revealed to us. For this is that act of the mind which, in a religious sense, is called faith.
III. But it may be said, ARE WE, THEN, NOT TO USE OUR REASON ON THIS SUBJECT AT ALL? That cannot be, for the apostle himself enjoins you, however in respect of meekness you are to be like children, still in understanding to be men. Certainly you do well to search out all those features in creation which reflect the glory of the Creator. Nay, you may begin in this way to know God. It is true, indeed, that God has never in fact left Himself to be thus discovered. He has always, as He did at first, revealed Himself, not circuitously by His works, but summarily and directly by His Word. We may suppose, however, that you are suffered to grope your way through creation to the Creator. In that case you proceed to reason out from the manifold proofs of design in natures works the idea of an intelligent Author, and to draw inferences from what you see respecting His character, purposes, and plans. Still, even in this method of discovering God, if your faith is to be of an influential kind at all, you must proceed, when you have made the discovery, just to reverse the process by which you made it; and having arrived at the conception of a Creator, you must now go back again to the creation, taking Him along with you, as one with whom you have personally become acquainted, and hearing what He has to say concerning His own works. He may say no more than what you had previously discovered. Still, what He does say, you now receive not as discovered by you, but as said by Him. You leave the post of discovery, the chair of reasoning, and take the lowly stool of the disciple; and then, and not before, even on the principles of natural religion, do you fully understand what is the real import, and the momentous bearing of the fact, that a Being, infinitely wise and powerful, and having evidently a certain character as just and good, that such a Being made you, and is Himself telling you that He made you, and all the things that are around you; that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
IV. THUS, IN A RELIGIOUS VIEW, AND FOR RELIGIOUS PURPOSES, THE TRUTH CONCERNING GOD AS THE CREATOR MUST BE RECEIVED, NOT AS A
DISCOVERY OF YOUR OWN REASON, FOLLOWING A TRAIN OF THOUGHT, BUT AS A DIRECT COMMUNICATION FROM A REAL PERSON, EVEN FROM THE LIVING AND PRESENT GOD. This is not a merely artificial distinction. It is practically most important. Consider the subject of creation in the light simply of an argument of natural philosophy, and all is vague and dim abstraction. But consider the momentous fact in the light of a direct message from the Creator Himself to you. Are you not differently impressed and affected?
1. More particularly--see, first of all, what weight this single idea, once truly and vividly realised, must add to all the other communications which He makes on other subjects to you. Does He speak to you concerning other matters, intimately touching your present and future weal? Does He tell you of your condition in respect of Him, and of His purposes in respect of you? Does He enforce the majesty of His law? Does He press the overtures of His gospel? Oh! how in every such case is His appeal, in its solemnity, and its power, enhanced with tenfold intensity, if you regard Him as, in the very same breath, expressly telling you, I who now speak to you, so earnestly and so affectionately, I created all things--I created you.
2. Again, on the other hand, observe what weight this idea, if fully realised, must have, if you regard the Lord Himself as saying to you, in special reference to each of the things which He has made: I created it, and I am now testifying to you that I created it. What sacredness will this thought stamp on every object in nature, if only you are personally acquainted with the living God; and especially if you know Him as the Lawgiver, the Saviour, the Judge. (R. S. Candlish, D. D.)
That the world was framed in an accurate, orderly, and perfect manner
I. To ILLUSTRATE THIS BY SOME SIMILITUDES OUT OF SCRIPTURE.
1. The perfection and order of the world is compared to the body of a man (1Co_12:12).
2. It is compared to an host or army (Gen_2:1).
3. It is compared to a curious house (Job_38:4-6).
II. WHEREIN THIS ORDER AND BEAUTY OF THE WORLD DOTH CONSIST.
1. In the wonderful multitude and variety of creatures, distributed into so many several excellent natures and forms, they all do proclaim the beauty and order of the whole world.
2. The beauty and artificial composition of all things.
3. The disposition and apt placing of all things.
4. The wonderful consent of all the parts, and the proportion they bear one to another.
5. The mutual ministry and help of the creatures one to another.
6. The wise government and conservation of all things according to the rules and laws of creation.
III. IF GOD MADE THE WORLD IN SUCH HARMONY AND ORDER, WHENCE CAME ALL THOSE DISORDERS THAT ARE IN THE WORLD? We see some creatures are ravenous; other creatures are poisonous; all are frail, and still decaying and hasting to their own ruin. Whence come murrains, sicknesses, and diseases? Whence come such dislocations, and unjointings of nature by tempests and earthquakes? All these confusions and disorders of nature are the effects of sin. Our sins are as a secret fire that hath melted and burnt asunder the secret ties and confederations of nature.
1. It discovers the glory of God. The whole world is but Gods shop, where are the masterpieces of His wisdom and majesty; these are seen very much in the order of causes, and admirable contrivance of the world.
(1) The wisdom of God and His counsel is mightily seen. The world is not a work of chance, but of counsel and rare contrivance.
(2) The majesty and greatness of God.
2. It showeth us the excellency of order; how pleasing order and method is to God: God hath always delighted in it. All order is from God; but all discord and confusion is from the devil. Order is pleasing to Him in the state and civil administrations in the Church, and in the course of your private conversations.
3. It discovers the odiousness of sin that disjointed the frame of nature. (T. Manton, D. D.)
Faith realising the invisible Creator:
In that beautiful part of Germany which borders on the Rhine there is a noble castle which lifts its old grey towers above the ancient forest, where dwelt a nobleman who had a good and devoted son, his comfort and his pride. Once when the son was away from home, a Frenchman called, and, in course of conversation, spoke in such unbecoming terms of the great Father in heaven as to chill the old mans blood. Are you not afraid of offending God? said the baron, by speaking in this way. The foreigner answered with cool indifference, that he knew nothing about God, for he had never seen Him. No notice was takes of this observation at the time; but the next morning the baron pointed out to the visitor a beautiful picture which hung on the wall, and said, My son drew that! He must be a clever youth, returned the Frenchman, blandly. Later in the day as the two gentlemen were walking in the garden, the baron showed his guests many rare plants and flowers, and, on being asked who had the management of the garden, the father said, with proud satisfaction, My son; and he knows every plant almost, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop on the wall! Indeed! observed the other. I shall soon have a very exalted opinion of him. The baron then took his visitor to the village and showed him a neat building which his son had fitted up for a school, where the children of the poor were daily instructed free of expense. What a happy man you must be, said the Frenchman, to have such a son! How do you know I have a son? asked the baron, with a grave face. Why, because I have seen his works; I am sure he must be both clever and good, or he would not have done all you have shown me. But you have never seen him! returned the baron. No, but I already know him very well, because I can form a just estimate of him from his works. I am not surprised, said the baron, in a quiet tone; and now oblige me by coming to this window and tell me what you see from thence. Why, I see the sun travelling through the skies and shedding its glories over one of the greatest countries in the world; and I behold a mighty river at my feet, and a vast range of woods, and pastures, and orchards, and vineyards, and cattle and sheep feeding in rich fields. Do you see anything to be admired in all this? asked the baron. Can you fancy I am blind? retorted the Frenchman, Well, then, if you are able to judge of my sons good character by seeing his various works, how does it happen you can form no estimate of Gods goodness by witnessing such proofs of His handiwork?
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 3. Through faith we understand, etc. The creation of…
3. Through faith we understand, etc. The creation of the world is among “the things not seen,” and all our knowledge of it rests upon our faith in the word of God. Indeed, our knowledge of all past history depends upon faith.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The example of Abel, Enoch, and Noah:
The example of Abel, Enoch, and Noah:
v. 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.
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v. 4. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it he, being dead, yet speaketh.
v. 5. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him; for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
v. 6. But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
v. 7. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
The sacred writer begins his recital with a general reference, purposely ascribed, not to Adam or any individual believer, but to the believers of all times: By faith we perceive that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, that what is seen has not come into being out of things which appear. The existence of the world, its creation and preservation, is not a matter of conjecture, of idle guesswork, with the Christians, as it is with the heathen and with the unbelievers in general, who have astonished the world with theories that challenge the belief even of the credulous. We hold no such vain theories, the products of speculation based upon false assumptions. Had the visible universe really been formed out of materials which were subject to our inspection, or to the observation of any human beings, then our standpoint would bear the marks of foolish speculation. But the entire manner in which the world came into existence, all parts being adapted to one another and the whole to its purpose, is not a matter of reasonable consideration, but of faith. Faith is the knowledge which tells us that it was the almighty word of God which called things into being out of nothing, created something which was not there before. And the result of this creative act on the part of Almighty God is the existence and preservation of all things which make up the visible universe. Note: It is a matter of comfort to us to know that the same almighty God rules the universe today, and that His promise concerning the preservation of the world still stands, Gen 8:22.
In taking up specific instances, the writer now mentions that of Abel first: By faith Abel offered to God a more adequate sacrifice than Cain, through which he was attested to as being righteous, God testifying upon his gifts; and through the same he, though dead, yet speaks. The better, the more excellent, the more adequate sacrifice of Abel, the peculiar value of his offering, was not due to the choice of the materials, but to the fact that he had faith, that he believed in the coming Messiah. It was on account of this faith, also, that God testified of him that he was righteous, Gen 4:3-5; Mat 23:35. God accepted the offering of Abel, indicating His complete satisfaction with the gift and the prayer which accompanied it; He had respect unto him and his offering, as the text in Genesis has it. Thus the faith of Abel was the reason why God imputed to him the righteousness of the coming Messiah, in whom he placed his hope. Just in what way God showed His acceptance of Abel’s sacrifice, whether by having the smoke of its burning arise directly toward the sky, or by having fire fall down from heaven to devour his offering, or by revealing His attitude to Adam, as the priest of the family, we do not know. Of one thing we are sure, namely, that his offering was accepted because of his faith. And another fact is to be noted, namely, that the murder of Abel was not the end of his activity or influence. Though he is dead, yet he is ever speaking to us. His faith is a shining example to all men as to the manner of obtaining justification, as well as to the necessity of being faithful to the Lord, even if hatred and enmity on the part of the nearest relatives is the result, Gen 4:10; Heb 12:24.
Next is cited the example of Enoch: By faith Enoch was translated so that he did not see death, and he was not found because God had translated him; for before his translation he had had this testimony, that he was well pleasing to God. Of Enoch very little is said in Scriptures, See Gen 5:22-24; Jud 1:14-15. Since the earliest days the children of God, the descendants of Adam that trusted in the mercy of the coming Messiah, had caused the proclamation of this Gospel-truth to be made in their midst, and had taught it to their children. Thus Enoch had learned the truth and the way of salvation, thus had he come to faith; and therefore he was well-pleasing to God. In his case, therefore, the Lord determined to manifest His good pleasure in a particularly extraordinary way. He removed him from the earth, in order that he might not see death; in some form or manner the Lord took his body away, up to the abode of the blessed. And all this because he believed and led a godly life in agreement with his faith, because he walked with God, as the Hebrew text has it, Gen 5:22-24. He was translated, he was removed, he was no longer found. It may well be that his relatives searched for him, as the children of the prophets did for Elijah, 2Ki 2:16, and that they eventually received information from the Lord as to the method of their relative’s removal from the earth. All this was the result of his faith: For without faith it is impossible to please God well; for he that comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He becomes a rewarder to those that diligently seek Him. The author again uses the picture of a priest’s or a worshiper’s drawing nigh to God, Heb 7:25; Heb 10:22. Such a person that worships God in truth will not only believe in the existence of God, but will know also that God will in mercy reward those that seek Him, that His gift to them is eternal life through Jesus Christ the Savior. It is he whose Christianity is not a matter of mere form and of outward ceremonies, but a true matter of the heart, he whose faith is of the kind that does not grow weary in seeking the Lord and His holy will, that will become a partaker of the Lord’s merciful reward.
The example of Noah teaches the same lesson: By faith Noah, after being informed by God concerning that which was as yet not seen, with pious reverence constructed an ark for the saving of his household; by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Gen 6:8-22; Gen 7:1-24; Gen 8:1-22; Gen 9:1-29. Noah was perfect in his generations, in the midst of a world which blasphemed the Lord and scorned His Word: he walked with God and found grace in the sight of the Lord. For this reason the Lord gave him information, issued a warning to him concerning the plans which he had with regard to the world and its punishment. While Noah, at God’s command, constructed the ark, it was always with trust in things which had as pet not come to pass. It is very probable that he had to endure the scorn and derision of the unbelievers on all sides for his act of building a ship on dry ground. But Noah continued his work in pious reverence, combined with cautious forethought, knowing that this ark would serve for the saving of his household, or family, for since the Lord had first spoken with him, he had married, and his three sons had grown up and taken wives also. By this exhibition of his faith, Noah condemned the unbelieving children of the world, for by this time the congregation of believers had dwindled down to include only his family. The faith of Noah made the unbelief of the scoffers stand out all the more strongly. Incidentally it made him an heir of the righteousness which is given to men by faith. He became the possessor, the owner of its spiritual blessings, the righteousness of the coming Savior was imputed to him by God, not being earned by the act of his faith, but being accepted by this faith. It is the very same process which obtains today in bringing salvation to men.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 11:3 That the entire universe was formed at God’s…
11:3 That the entire universe was formed at God’s command is a basic belief of Jewish and Christian theology (see Gen 1:1-3). God created everything that we now see. A life of faith understands that, by analogy, God’s promises are real and will be called into reality by God himself, even if they are unseen at present.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.