Hebrews 11:32-38 NIVUK
[32] 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, [33] 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. [35] 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. [36] Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. [37] They were put to death by stoning; they were sawn in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and ill-treated – [38] the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
One of the greatest attractions in our nearest cities – Glasgow – are its museums and art galleries, because these are all free. So if you want to explore the prehistoric world, or to view modern artworks, or religious artefacts, you can, without paying.
One of our biggest museums – Kelvingrove – is so large that it has different floors and hallways that are themed for different topics.
We have gone through such a museum in these verses. We have seen the world of Adam and Eve and their sons, Noah, the Patriarchs and then on through to the conquest of the Promised Land.
Now we have reached a summary of very many of those who were faithful throughout Jewish history. These verses cover a broad spectrum of history and help us fully understand the foundation of great faith on which Jewish, and Christian, history is built.
Right away, at the start of this section, we see who they were.
And right away, we need to come to a pretty startling and jarring conclusion:
These people weren’t perfect.
They were flawed.
They made mistakes – some of them quite horrific ones too.
Gideon doubted God big time when he was called (Judges 6:36-40). Now, given the sheer enormity of what lay in front of him (Judges 7:12), we can understand it. But God, in His Divine Grace, worked with this willing but fearful man (Judges 7:13-15) and brought about a thoroughly miraculous victory through him (Judges 7:32-35), of that there is no doubt.
However, this fearful man also made a decision closer to the end of his life that accidentally led the Israelites into idolatry – worshipping an object rather than the God who had given them victory in the first place (Judges 8:23-27).
So Gideon was a great leader – no doubting that. But he was also flawed.
Then we have Barak. Barak was another great warrior who led Israel in a huge battle to triumph. But – and this is a huge but – he depended on the presence of the prophetess Deborah, not on God. So the decisive blow in the battle was not struck by him, despite his military command, but by a hostess in a tent (Judges 4:16-22).
A great leader, but flawed.
Then we have Samson. This guy was the very definition of a lone wolf terrorist, as far as the Philistines were concerned. He won numerous victories over them.
But in all his might and strength and rage and fury, this man had one huge weakness: foreign women. His love for one led to two violent confrontations (Judges 14 and 15). His usage of a Gazan prostitute almost lost him his life (Judges 16:1-3). And then, almost as if he was too stupid to heed the warning, his love for another Philistine woman – Delilah – led to his capture and death (Judges 16:4-30).
If ever there was a flawed hero of faith, it was Samson. Yet here he is.
Then there is Samuel: the greatest of all the judges bar none. The man who anointed two kings (1 Samuel 9, 10, 16:1-13). Yet this very same man judged David’s brothers by their appearance (1 Samuel 16:7) and did not raise his sons in the ways of the Lord (1 Samuel 8:3), which contributed to his rejection as Israel’s leader.
A great leader, but flawed.
Then we have Jephthah. He is a man who again won a huge military victory over the enemies of Israel, but at the same time ran his mouth, made a stupid vow, and his big mouth cost the life of his daughter (Judges 11).
A great leader, but flawed.
Are you spotting a theme yet?
Then we have David. Recognised as Israel's greatest king because he is the one who led them to finish the conquest of the Promised Land. God said he was a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22). He wrote half of the Psalms. The Messiah came from his line.
Yet this man, great as he was, slept with another man's wife, had the man killed and tried to cover it up, bringing estrangement and bloodshed into his family (2 Samuel 11 and 12).
A great leader, but flawed.
This is something we see again and again and again. We saw it in the previous heroes we examined one by one. We see it again here.
And that is deliberate.
The writer to the Hebrews has a very serious point to make.
But after seeing who they were, we now need to look at what they did.
And there are two groups of achievements here. There are those who won, from a human point of view, from verse 33 to the first part of verse 35:
Hebrews 11:33-35 NIVUK
[33] 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. [35] Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
And we get that. We really do. These are truly amazing achievements. They deserve their place in the annals of history.
But, and this is very important, there are also those who lost:
Hebrews 11:35-38 NIVUK
[35] There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. [36] Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. [37] They were put to death by stoning; they were sawn in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted
and ill-treated – [38] the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
Do you know the point the writer to the Hebrews is trying to make here?
They are both heroes.
They both deserve their place in history: both the ones on the winners podium, and those licking their wounds from a painful loss.
And that is important.
Not all of us will succeed. But all of us can believe. And believing in the saving God is what saves us, not our success.
Seeing all these great heroes with all their great achievements might have the opposite effect than what was intended. It might have discouraged the Jewish Christians.
Why?
Because they might have thought they could never achieve that greatness.
But seeing them as who they really were reminds us that greatness comes not because of who we are, but because of Who God is, and what He can do through us.
And realising that here we have a list of people who failed – often badly – reminds us that even in failure and mistakes and loss, God can still work.
But most of all, this chapter is not just about who these people are and what they did, but why they did it.
They did it because of what faith is:
Hebrews 11:1-2 NIVUK
[1] Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. [2] This is what the ancients were commended for.
They did these things because they looked beyond their situations – negative or positive – and saw a God who was simply worth their trust. And that’s what they did: they trusted Him with what they did not know about their current situation, and what they did not know about their future.
They also believed that doing so was worth their while – that God would reward them for doing so:
Hebrews 11:6 NIVUK
[6] 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. https://bible.com/bible/113/heb.11.6.NIVUK
However, they did not treasure the reward greater than the One who would reward them.
Knowing God and obeying Him was their greatest reward.
What made the difference for them was faith.
They were ordinary – sometimes less than ordinary – people. What changes them into heroes was faith.
And not just any old faith, but faith in God.
When I was a child, Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds was still on TV, as well as all its sequels. They were brilliant for kids TV. Really entertaining.
But they wouldn’t cut it nowadays. Our modern generation has been reared on animations and CGI. They would laugh derisorily at a TV show with puppets where you could see the strings.
However, I believe the writer to the Hebrews wants us to ‘see the strings’. He wants us to see these wonderful heroes of faith not so we can praise them, but we can put our faith and trust in the God who made them great: who created them, sustained them, chided and disciplined them, provided for them, encouraged them and gave them the strength they needed for each passing day.
Because their God is our God. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
So tell me, brother or sister, are you encouraged?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, forgive me for the times when I stop believing and find myself fat from You; when I make wrong choices and entrust myself to things that do not glorify You. Lift my eyes so I can truly see these heroes of faith and the God who made them great. I trust in You and You alone. Amen.
Questions
1. Who were these people? Go through them all and list where they succeeded and where they failed. What can you learn from this?
2. Why does the writer to the Hebrews list those who seemingly won in life and those who lost? What is He trying to say?
3. What is it (or rather, who is it) that made these people great?
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