By Faith These All, Again

For the past few months, I’ve been editing and reposting a series of posts on Hebrews 11 from my old blog. This post, the eighteenth one, concludes the series. You’ll find all the other posts listed in the sidebar, or you can look here.

The writer of Hebrews has completed his list of faithful people of old, and he finishes this chapter with a summary statement.

And these all were commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised. For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us. (Hebrews 11:39,40; NET)

Everyone on this list, he says, was commended for their faith. The chapter starts by telling us  that the people of old received God’s commendation by faith, and now it concludes in the same way.

All the listed faithful ancients were commended for their faith, and as a result they received many blessings and had many promises fulfilled; yet, the writer tells us, there was something held back from them. There was something promised to them that they did not receive, and that they could not receive it without us. This final blessing, the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise, our being made perfect, comes to all saints together.

What is this better thing that God has provided for us? The next step in the fulfillment of God’s promises  and the centerpiece of the book of Hebrews is the saving work of Christ. The people of old anticipated it and we look back on it. Our perfection, in one sense, has already been worked through what Christ has done.

But still we wait, like they waited, for the final fulfillment of God’s promises in Christ’s return and the fullness of the kingdom. We continue to live by faith like those who’ve gone before us. We can grow tired in the difficulties of this life, just as they must have, but we have their testimonies as examples to to encourage us to stand firm in our faith. They hadn’t seen, yet they trusted; and they spur us on to keep trusting in what we’ve not seen. We can pattern our lives after them.

By Faith the Rest, Part 2

When I have time, I’m editing and reposting a series of posts on Hebrews 11 from the old blog. This is the next-to-last post, number seventeen. You’ll find all the posts done so far in this series listed in the sidebar, or you can look here.

In the previous post, we looked at the happier half of the summary list at the end of Hebrews 11. The people in the first part of the summary received some good things in this life because of their faith, but now the list moves on to examine some hardships endured because of faith.

But others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain resurrection to a better life. And others experienced mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, sawed apart, murdered with the sword; they went about in sheepskins and goatskins; they were destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (the world was not worthy of them); they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and openings in the earth. (Hebrews 11:35b-38 NET)

Perhaps the writer of Hebrews, anticipating that those to whom Hebrews was written would face persecution and hardship, wanted to remind them that having firm faith did not guarantee that they would escape trouble. If they didn’t understand this, they might grow discouraged if they weren’t delivered from difficulty like the faithful people of old in the previous verses.

There were those of faith, he says, who were tortured and refused to turn away from their God in order to be released. They kept their resurrection to a better life in view so that they could stay firm in their faith during torture and, for some, execution. Are you wondering exactly which people of faith are referred to here? These were probably historical Hebrew people who were tortured and killed during the Maccabean revolt. These events can be found recorded in 2 Maccabees 6 and 7. Others, we’re told, were mocked and flogged and imprisoned. Once again, the Maccabean troubles are probably in view.

Some of the faithful were stoned. Since stoning is a distinctively Jewish form of execution, this may be referring to Christians, like Stephen, for instance, who were executed that way. Some faithful ones, the writer reminds us, were sawed apart, and according to tradition, the prophet Isaiah died this way. Some were murdered with the sword. This is an interesting inclusion in light of verse 34, where it says that some, through faith, escaped the edge of the sword. The writer is careful to remind his readers that having faith  may result in deliverance from death for some, but not others.

There were also those of faith who were destitute, wandering in the open dressed in sheepskins and goatskins, continually ill-treated and afflicted. They would have been sorry sights in the eyes of those around them, yet the writer tells us “the world was not worthy of them.” The world around would not have seen them as people of value, but they were God’s own people. They were without earthly homes, and at the same time, they were those for whom God had prepared a city (verse 16).

And of course, for all of those of faith who endured hardships like the ones listed in these verses, remaining faithful was the result of  valuing the heavenly rewards God had promised. They knew that God was a rewarder of those who seek him, and because they understood this, they could remain faithful in very hard circumstances.

By Faith the Rest, Part 1

I’m still bringing Hebrews 11 posts over from the old blog when I have time. This is the sixteenth post in a series from Hebrews 11. You’ll find all the posts done so far in this series listed here.

Our author can’t go on forever. There are just too many faithful people of old to examine them all, so he begins to sum things up for us.

And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets. Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight, and women received back their dead raised to life.(Hebrews 11:32-35a NET)

First we have a list of a few more people who were faithful Old Testament saints. It’s given to us without mentioning specifics details of their lives. Not all of these men are ones I’d expect to be on a list of those whose lives serve as examples of faithfulness. David and Samuel and the prophets I’d expect, but not the others. Both Gideon and Barak seemed hesitant to act. And Samson? When it came to Delilah, Samson was more than a little soft in the head. Jepthah, if you remember, made a really foolish vow and then sacrificed his own daughter to keep it. But at God’s command, they all did things that would appear, to the worldly observer, doomed from the start, so even though they had some great weaknesses, we find them here on our list of those who are commended by God for their faith.

Next the writer lists the sort of things that happened over and over to people who trusted God.

• They conquered kingdoms. Joshua, as a case in point, or Gideon and others from our list. There are those whose names are not given to us here who could be included as kingdom conquerors, as well.
• They administered justice. This could also mean “they did what was righteous”, but it probably refers more specifically to those who ruled justly, like David, for example, and the judges given on the list.
• They gained what was promised. People saw some of God’s promises fulfilled, even though the biggy remained unfulfilled until Christ. For instance, the promises to Abraham were partly fulfilled because his descendents grew in number and lived in the Promised Land as promised by God.
• They shut the mouths of lions. Right away I think of Daniel, but there were others, too: David, Samson, Benaiah.
• They quenched raging fire. Daniel’s buds, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who were thrown into the fiery furnace, are the ones I think of here.
• They escaped the edge of the sword. There’s Elijah, who Jezebel was going to kill, and the spies that Rahab hid. Can you think of others?
• They gained strength in weakness. I’ve mentioned some of the particularly obvious weaknesses above, but it’d be hard to find anyone on this list who didn’t have their foibles. God is always working within weak people to strengthen them for the tasks he asks them to perform.
• They became mighty in battle and put foreign armies to flight. There’s Gideon with his puny band, and more.
• Women received back their dead raised to life. Here I think of the two widows who sons were raised by Elijah and Elisha.

Thus ends the more pleasant part of these summary statements. These people trusted God and they had what we would see as successes as a result. However, things did not go so swimmingly for everyone who was faithful, as we’ll learn in the next installment of this series.