Hebrews 11: 32–40
“And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection.
Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
Unique faith
Perhaps because of our success and results oriented society, when it comes to faith, we want faith to produce great results. In fact, some have taught that a life of faith results in health, wealth, and happiness. This passage at the end of a chapter on faith is a problem for those who hold that view.
The voices of those who were criticizing Christians were starting to make more sense when life was getting more difficult. The writer of this letter repeats the theme over and over that Jesus is better. Jesus is better than all they held dear in their Jewish faith. In fact, Jesus is the fulfillment of all that was foreshadowed in the Old Covenant.
People can have such different experiences with their faith. There’s the person who comes up against a challenge and through their faith they experience a miracle or God provides in an unmistakable way. And then, equally as faithful and faith-filled, is the person who prays and trusts God and takes steps of faith and the answer to their prayer doesn’t come. Our passage has those two groups.
Faith turning into triumph
In verses 32–35 the writer references six Old Testament characters and prophets who faced incredible odds but saw their weakness turned to strength. In the end, their faith resulted in triumph. Each of them have a phenomenal story.
Gideon
Gideon is known as the greatest judge of Israel. He doesn’t start out that way. When we first see him in Judges 6, he’s hiding from the roving bands of Midianites who were raiding and decimating the people of Israel.
God calls him to raise up an army. In all he’s able to muster 32,000 men. And even at that he’s outnumbered and outpowered by the mighty army of Midian. In the end he’s left with 300 soldiers and when his 300 defeat the army of Midian it’s clear that God has won the battle.
Jephthah
Then there’s Jephthah: a complete underdog. His mom was a prostitute. His brothers drove him away to prevent him from claiming his inheritance. But through his faith he becomes the ruler of Israel and defeats the mighty Ammonites.
David and Samuel
David and Samuel were both underdogs. They were both disadvantaged and through their faith they went from weakness to strength. Remember David and Goliath? David is able to see Goliath not as the giant that others see, but by faith, he sees him as a puny man compared to the power and greatness of David’s God.
These heroes of faith conquered kingdoms. Through faith they ruled and governed the nation of Israel. They gained what God had promised to them. All of these stories resonate. When bad things happen, God fixes them for people who exercise their faith. But that’s not where the passage ends.
Faith in hard times
In the middle of verse 35 is the words “others.” They stand in sharp contrast with the heroes of faith in the previous verses; however, they are as much heroes of faith as those in the previous verses.
The heroes of faith in verses 1 to 35 acted and took a bold dare on the unseen. They had a certainty about the God who they could not see with their physical eyes. And that is just as true of those in these latter verses of Hebrews 11.
Maccabees 7
The book of Maccabees is part of Israel’s history from the intertestamental period (in the 4-year gap between the end of the Old Testament and the coming of Jesus). During that time, Israel was under the brutal reign of the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes.
The author is referring to the story of a mother with seven sons. The king orders them to violate the Law of Moses by eating food that is forbidden and the sons refuse. The king orders that a caldron be heated up. Refusing to defy the law of God, the first son gets his tongue cut out. He is scalped, his hands and feet are hacked off and still alive he is thrown onto a frying pan over a fire.
The mother speaks words of courage to her sons urging them to remain faithful to God, and son after son goes to his death the same way. As they come down to her last son the king threatens to be even more brutal if he refuses to compromise his faith in God. In Maccabees 7:23 the mother encourages her youngest son by saying, “the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of man and devised the origin of all things, will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again.” And in verse 29 says, “do not fear this butcher but prove worthy of your brothers. Accept death so that in God’s mercy I may get you back again with your brothers.”
Other characters’ faith
Tradition tells us that Isaiah the prophet was sawn in half. Much more contemporary to those who received this letter, John is put to death by the sword at the order of King Herod. Peter is imprisoned, as are Paul and Silas. Verse 35 refers to the fact that they refused to be released.
All they needed to do was to recant their faith. All they had to do was to walk away and their lives would have been spared. But they made the decision to stay the course—to be faithful to God—and leave the outcome to Him.
Faith’s plan, price, and prize
As we look at this other side of faith, I want us to highlight three things from this passage.
- Faith’s plan.
- Faith’s price.
- Faith’s prize.
Faith’s plan
If there’s anything that’s clear it’s that God doesn’t use a cookie cutter. God’s work in each of our lives is tailor-made for us. Faith can’t be reduced to a formula where God works the same way in every life.
The pathway of faith involves trusting God with your life knowing that your journey is different from another person’s journey. It also involves me not making judgements about another person when they process faith differently than I do.
God may choose to deliver someone else from their troubles while I am given God’s strength and grace to go through the troubles—and vice versa. Faith’s plan for me is unique.
Faith’s price
God’s salvation is a gift freely given to me because Jesus paid for it. This is not about paying for salvation.
Reading through the list of things that people endured it is clear that their love for God didn’t end when difficulty began. Their faith compelled them to pay the price. They stood firm in the face of persecution and deprivation.
To follow Jesus is to relinquish ownership and control of one’s life. To follow Him is to walk in obedience to Him as the ultimate authority.
Jesus is not something we add to our lives. He is our life. Living as Christians in North America we face moments of discomfort for following Jesus so we may not be as aware of the tens of thousands of Jesus followers who are martyred annually around the world.
Faith’s prize
From a human perspective these suffering people were failures. However, within the heart of every one of those heroes of faith was the certainty of resurrection—certainty that physical death is the beginning of an eternal life with God. They weren’t afraid of death; therefore, they weren’t afraid of anything. For the mother in Maccabees who encouraged her sons to accept death rather than give up their faith in God, she did it because she was convinced that they would all be reunited in eternity.
And then think of this; those O.T heroes of faith believed based on a promise. You and I have much more than that. We have Jesus who actually experienced death and came back from it. His resurrection assures us of our own resurrection. And that makes all the difference in how we live and how we die.
These heroes of faith teach us to live with an unshakable confidence that Jesus is better than what life can give us and better than what death can take from us. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
— Notes from Pastor Marvin Wojda’s sermon on July 4th, 2021
CLICK HERE to watch the Hebrews 11 (part 2) sermon on YouTube.