Hebrews 11:40

God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

It is easy to romanticize the old stories.

We think, “If only I could have stood there when the sea split open. If only I could have seen fire fall. If only I could have watched lions pacing around a man they could not touch.” Those moments would have been unforgettable. No question about it.

But Hebrews says something startling. For all the greatness of those miracles, God has provided some better thing for us.

Better.

That means the believer living under the New Covenant is not standing at a disadvantage, wishing for scraps from a greater age. No, in Christ we have been brought into something fuller than what those earlier saints experienced. They saw mighty acts of God around them. We know the presence of God within us. They looked ahead to a promise. We live on the far side of the cross and resurrection with the promise opened wide before us.

Think about that. It is one thing to watch lightning flash across the sky. It is another thing to wake up and find the sun has risen and filled the whole world with light. The Old Testament saints saw flashes—real ones, glorious ones, unforgettable ones. But in Christ, the day itself has dawned.

That is why this verse matters so much.

A parted sea is astonishing.
Fire from heaven is astonishing.
Lions’ mouths shut are astonishing.

But the living Christ dwelling in His people?
The Spirit of God guiding from within?
The finished work of the cross giving bold access to the Father?
That is better.

Here’s the thing. We take it for granted because it is familiar to us. We open our Bibles, pray, ask for wisdom, and speak casually about the Lord walking with us through the day. But those very realities would have astonished the saints who came before Christ. To know not only the promise of God in shadow, but the presence of God personally. To know not only that a Redeemer was coming, but that He came, died, rose, and now lives in us by His Spirit. That is no small thing.

I like that. Because it rescues us from envying the past. It reminds us that we are not living in the lesser chapter. We are living in the chapter those earlier saints were stretching their necks to see.

And then the writer adds, “that they without us should not be made perfect.” In other words, their story was always moving toward completion in Christ, and that completion includes us. They were looking ahead. We are looking back and upward. But all of it comes together in Jesus. The whole line of faith, from Abel onward, reaches its fulfillment not in isolated miracles, but in the better covenant and the better priest and the better promise found in Him.

So how do you receive this better thing?

The same way they received what was given to them.
By faith.

By saying, “Lord, I too am looking for a better country.”
By saying, “I will not measure my life only by what I can touch.”
By saying, “What You have given in Christ is greater than I often realize.”
By saying, “Even if I never see lions’ mouths stopped, I have known Your grace in my heart, Your presence in my life, and Your kingdom as my hope.”

That is not second-tier faith.
That is the better thing.

So do not envy the external miracles of another age so much that you miss the internal miracle of this one. The Lord is not only before you. He is with you. Not only with you. In you. Not only for a moment. Every day.

And that is better than a parted sea.