The Apostle reflects on the words of Christ in the prophecy of Habakkuk. But he has an assured hope that he and his readers would repudiate the thought of drawing back. They were men of faith, bent on winning[244] the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus; and the prize would be their own souls. May we not conjecture that the Apostle’s fervid appeal prevailed with the Christians within the doomed city “to break the last bands of patriotism and superstition which attached them to the Temple and the altar, and proclaim themselves missionaries of the new faith, without a backward glance of lingering reminiscence”?[245] FOOTNOTES: [211] Chaps. ii. 1-5; iii. 1, 6; iv. 11, 16; vi. [212] Chap. x. 19. [213] μετὰ ἀληθινῆς καρδίας (x. 22). [214] μέγαν (x. 21). [215] ἀπὸ συνειδήσεως πονηρᾶς (x. 22). [216] Lev. viii. 6, 30. [217] Eph. v. 26. [218] Chap. iii. 1. [219] εἰς παροξυσμόν (x. 24). [220] ἔθος (x. 25). [221] Matt. xxiv. 27. [222] ἑκουσίως (x. 26). [223] Chap. x. 29. [224] πνεῦμα τῆς χάριτος. [225] See chap. vi. 6. [226] Chap. x. 26. [227] ζῆλος (x. 27). [228] Chap. x. 28. [229] παραδειγματίζοντας (vi. 6). [230] Chap. iii. 12. [231] Chap. xii. 21. [232] ἐμπεσεῖν. [233] Deut. xxxii. 36. [234] Chap. vi. 10. [235] φωτισθέντες (x. 32). [236] ἄθλησιν. [237] πολλήν. [238] οὕτως ἀναστρεφομένων (x. 33). [239] Reading ἑαυτούς (x. 34). [240] εἰς περιποίησιν (x. 39). [241] μὴ ἀποβάλητε. [242] μικρὸν ὅσον ὅσον (x. 37). [243] Reading μου (x. 38). [244] περιποίησιν (x. 39). [245] Dean Merivale, _Romans under the Empire_, chap. lix. CHAPTER X. _FAITH AN ASSURANCE AND A PROOF._ “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the proving of things not seen. For therein the elders had witness borne to them. By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which do appear.”—HEB. xi. 1–3 (R.V.). It is often said that one of the greatest difficulties in the Epistle to the Hebrews is to discover any real connection of ideas between the author’s general purpose in the previous discussion and the splendid record of faith in the eleventh chapter. The rhetorical connection is easy to trace. His utterances throughout have been incentives to confidence. “Let us hold fast our confession.” “Let us draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace.” “Show diligence unto the full assurance of hope.” “Cast not away your boldness.” Any of these exhortations would sufficiently describe the Apostle’s practical aim from the beginning of the Epistle. But he has just cited the words of Habakkuk, and the prophet speaks of faith. How, then, does the prophet’s declaration that the righteous man of God will escape death by his faith bear on the Apostle’s arguments or help his strong appeals? The first verse of the eleventh chapter is the reply. Faith _is_ assurance, with emphasis on the verb.