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These All Died In Faith – Hebrews 11
These All Died In Faith – Hebrews 11
In Hebrews 11, as the list of Old Testament faithful gets longer and longer, the writer stops naming them and gives a summary of their faithful acts. This list is interesting because it seems to be divided into two sections. For lack of a better description, I would label them ‘the good life’ and the ‘difficult life’.
The first group is about those who experience marvelous conquests: they “through faith conquered kingdom, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Today most people would put these events on a daily reminder and quote Phil 4:13 underneath them: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.
Faith doesn’t always end up with such positive results in THIS life. The writer continues: "Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth” (Heb. 11:35-38).
I believe it is instructive for us to see that faithfulness to the Lord is not always easy and does not always result in ‘victory’ in this world. Of course, we know that. Our greatest example died on a cross. Faithfulness to God requires faithfulness, not victory — unless you define victory as faithfulness!
If given a choice, most of us would want our lives to be of the ‘good’ group, and not the ‘difficult’ one. We are not given that choice, but we do have the pathway of faithfulness set before us. The Hebrew writer draws his application:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb.12:1-2).
Be thou faithful unto death and you shall receive a crown of life (Rev. 2:10).
Hugh DeLong
