MAYBE JUST SIX MORE INCHES

In the bustling noise of our modern world, where instant gratification reigns supreme and promises are expected to be fulfilled overnight, there's a profound truth tucked away in the pages of the Bible that challenges our patience and deepens our faith. Hebrews 11:13 declares, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. " This verse isn't just a historical footnote. It's a rallying cry for anyone who has ever felt like their dreams are just out of reach, visible but seemingly unattainable.

First, who wrote the book of Hebrews? I have often heard it stated that it is a work of Paul. But consider these discrepancies. There is no author named in the text itself. Early tradition (especially in the Eastern church) attributed it to Paul, but this was debated from the start. By the 4th century, the Western Church (e.g., Jerome, Augustine) had accepted it as Pauline, albeit with reservations. They did not know for sure. Modern scholarship overwhelmingly rejects Pauline authorship due to the style. It was written in highly polished, elegant Greek, with a rhetorical sophistication unlike that found in Paul’s letters. From a theological perspective, it has different emphases (e.g., Melchizedek, the high priesthood of Christ) and lacks a greeting or personal signature, which Paul always included in his writings. Additionally, Hebrews 2:3 suggests that the author was a second-generation Christian (“salvation… confirmed unto us by those who heard him [the Lord]”), whereas Paul claimed to have received his gospel directly from Christ (Galatians 1:12).

The short answer to the question of who wrote the book of Hebrews is that we don’t know. The author was likely a highly educated Jewish Christian, part of the Hellenistic wing of the early church, writing circa AD 60–90, possibly to Jewish believers in Rome facing persecution. Origen (a 3^rd-century minister) famously said: “Who wrote the epistle, in truth, God only knows.”

Back to the thesis initially mentioned, there were people of God who were faithful to Him and His will, yet never received the promise in this life. Does that make God untrustworthy? I do not believe so. The eleventh chapter in Hebrews is often referred to as the "Hall of Faith," a roll call of biblical heroes who trusted God despite the unfinished stories in their lives. These weren't flawless superhumans. They were ordinary people grappling with extraordinary promises. Take Abraham, for instance, the father of nations, who wandered as a nomad living in tents, promised a land flowing with milk and honey, and descendants as numerous as the stars. He saw glimpses of fulfillment, such as the birth of Isaac, but he died without fully possessing the land or witnessing the vast multitude that God had foretold. Yet, he embraced the promise from afar, living as a stranger to his own inheritance. He staggered not at the promises of God. He did not let life and all its challenges trip him up in his trust in God.

Moses, a figure whose story resonates with the raw grit of perseverance. He was like a postage stamp. He took a licking and kept on sticking. Argh! :) Maybe this one is a bit better. He was like a Timex. He took a licking and kept on ticking. No? Born into slavery, Moses was raised in Pharaoh's palace and called to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses spent 40 years crisscrossing the harsh wilderness, leading a resistant group of people. It took them nearly forty years to make a nine-day journey. Imagine the dust storms, the grumbling crowds, the endless manna meals, all for a promise he wouldn't personally receive in this life. After decades of faithful leadership, guiding his people through miracles like the parting of the Red Sea and the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, Moses was only allowed to catch a glimpse of the Promised Land from the summit of Mount Nebo.

Deuteronomy 34 tells us he saw it "afar off," a panoramic view of Canaan stretching before him, but he never set foot there. His death in the faith wasn't a failure. It was a testament to trusting God's bigger plan, even when it meant handing the baton to someone else, Joshua.

This biblical principle echoes in real-world tales of near-misses and triumphant persistence.

I used to read a lot of writings by men who were successful in the world, such as J. Clement Stone, Zig Ziglar, and Napoleon Hill. One of Hill’s intriguing stories that I never forgot was about a man named R.U. Darby, who was a gold miner during the 1800s Gold Rush. Darby and his uncle invested everything they owned into a promising mine in Colorado, digging feverishly after striking an initial vein of ore. But as weeks turned to months, the gold dried up. Exhausted and broke, they sold their equipment to a junk man for pennies and quit. That junk man, however, hired an engineer who calculated they were mere feet from the mother lode. He dug just three more feet. About six inches deeper than where Darby stopped and uncovered one of the richest gold mines in the state, yielding millions. Darby's "failure" became a lesson that sometimes, the promise is closer than we think, but quitting too soon leaves it buried.

What if Moses had given up in the wilderness? Or what if Abraham settled for less than God's vision for him? Their stories, like Darby's mine, remind us that faith isn't about gaining the “gold”. It's about digging down deeper, even when the promise feels a long way off. In our own lives, we might be chasing careers, healing, or breakthroughs that seem perpetually out of reach. Hebrews urges us not to quit. Embrace the distance. We're pilgrims here, with an eternal inheritance waiting.

So, next time doubt creeps in, remember the wilderness wanderers and the miner who stopped short. Your promise might be just six inches away. Keep the faith. It's the bridge to what's unseen.