Heb 11:35-37 | KingComments | STEP | . Not only is the faith of the people and its effect seen at Jericho. The capture of Jericho is also the cause for the manifestation of the faith of one individual from that city. The faith of Rahab shows that she chooses the people of God, while the power of her people was still completely intact and nothing of the claimed victory was yet to be seen with the people of God. But Rahab felt that God was with them. That determined her choice: a choice that was against the natural choice for her own people. In that way she is an example for the Hebrews who also had to choose for the apparently weak people of God and against their unbelieving, disobedient fellow countrymen. What Rahab does, looks like treason, but it is a deed of faith. In that way she turns away from the world and from a life in sin to join the people of God. Her people knew from the great deeds of God, but they did not want to bow their knees to Him ( ). They resisted and rebelled. She disassociated herself from that. She made peace with the people of God by taking action to protect the spies. In that way she identified with them and disassociated herself from her fellow countrymen who are here called “those who were disobedient”. By accommodating the spies, she put her own life at risk. She connected her own fate to that of them. Her faith was abundantly rewarded. She even received a place in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus ( ). . The writer could be going on like that, but he doesn’t pay attention to details anymore. Time would fail him if he did. Guided by the Spirit he mentions in general sense a number of examples. In those examples it becomes apparent how persevering their faith has been in all kinds of ways and how it has sustained believers in all kinds of suffering. One thing they all have in common: no one of them has received anything of what has been promised, as that also applied to the Hebrews to whom this letter is addressed. Because the writer of the letter only mentions the names, I don’t want to go into detail about the history of the persons he mentions. You should read their history. Then it will often become clear to you why he mentions them. Sometimes it will also surprise you, after you have read their history, that he mentions them. But when God’s Spirit quotes names of believers from the Old Testament in the New Testament, it is – with one exception, that of Elijah ( ) – always in a positive way. God sees further than what is described in outward history. He sees what is in the heart for Him, even when its practice sometimes falls short of that. Let us take a look at the list. When the people are in the land, the time of the judges begins. Four of them are mentioned. Gideon and Barak have done their faith job in little strength. Also Samson and Jephthah have dealt in faith, but their work was obviously not flawless. In both couples the most important one is mentioned first, while chronologically the order is the other way around. Of all judges it is common that their liberations were only temporary. None of them were able to create a lasting peace. After the time of the judges the time of the prophets and kings follows. Of the prophets Samuel is mentioned and of the kings David is mentioned. Here also the chronology is reversed. First David is mentioned, then Samuel. David was the king after God’s heart and Samuel was his forerunner. The prophets spoke to the conscience of the people. They rather died than preaching a lie and they rather went with a good conscience to heaven than that they lived with a bad conscience on earth. Although David was a king after God’s heart, he too didn’t manage to bring the people into the rest ( ). The ultimate rest was for him also a matter of faith, of which the fulfillment was going to happen through Him, Who was both his Son ( ) and his Lord ( ). . After these names a number of deeds follows that were done by faith. I will try to add an example to each deed: 1. “conquered kingdoms”: judges and David; 2. “performed [acts of] righteousness”: maintaining righteousness by judges and kings; 3. “obtained promises”: this is possibly obtaining what was promised, but also to be promised something; 4. “shut the mouths of lions”: Daniel ( ), Samson, David, Benaiah; 5. . ”quenched the power of fire”: the three friends of Daniel (Dan 3) who indeed quenched the power of the fire, but not the fire itself, for others were consumed by it; 6. “escaped the edge of the sword”: David, Elijah (while others were killed by the sword, ); 7. “from weakness were made strong”: Gideon, Jonathan; they proved that the weakness of God is stronger than men; 8. “became mighty in war”: Asa, Jehoshaphat; 9. “put foreign armies to flight”: many judges and kings; 10. “Women received [back] their dead by resurrection”: the widow of Zarephath, the Shunammite. In the just mentioned situations faith appeared to be effective in favor of the believers and sometimes even in a wonderful way. Now examples of situations follow in which faith is also effective for those who heavily suffer and are even killed. This suffering and death would be foolishness if death were indeed the end of everything. 1. They “were tortured, not accepting their release”: enduring cruel torture, while to faith an unacceptable offer to stop the torture is rejected; they believed in “a better resurrection” and were looking forward to that; 2. . “experienced mockings and scourgings”; Jeremiah, heroes from the Maccabees; 3. “chains and imprisonment”: Jeremiah; Joseph; 4. . “were stoned”: Stephen, Zechariah, Naboth; 5. “were sawn in two”, according to tradition: Isaiah by King Manasseh; 6. “were tempted”: were put under severe mental or physical pressure to deny their faith; were forced to compromise or to abjure something, in any case to deny their Lord; 7. “were put to death with the sword”: mass murder by the sword ( ; ; , while others escaped the sword, ); 8. “went about in sheepskins, in goatskins”: Elijah, John; 9. “being destitute”: hunger and thirst; 10. “afflicted”: were ruled by strangers; 11. “ill-treated”: general torture; 12. . “of whom the world was not worthy”: the world didn’t assign any value to people who lived this way; 13. “wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground”: these places have provided refuge to many men and women of faith without a home, while they were hunted as if they were wild beasts. . God has seen and noticed that all these believers persevered in faith till the end. They didn’t receive on earth what they were promised. They still don’t have, even not in paradise where they are now. . They shall obtain what is promised only when the Hebrews and we also will obtain it. And when will that be? When Christ comes and establishes the millennial kingdom of peace. That is “something better” what God has provided. The ‘better’ is always connected to Christ as the glorified Man in heaven. He obtained that place there from God, while He is rejected on earth. To that Christ you are connected, while you live on earth. Abraham lived in faith on earth with a heavenly mind in his heart, while he was looking forward to a heavenly city. But he was not connected to heaven through a Christ Who is really seated there in glory and he didn’t share the rejection of Christ on earth. That is our share. Therefore the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than the greatest among those who preceded ( ). Therefore God has waited to fulfill His promises. He didn’t want the Old Testament believers to be made perfect without us, which means to come to the wonderful place of taking part in the kingdom of Christ. It is the privilege of all believers of all times to partake of the kingdom of Christ. But it is first of all the privilege of those who have partaken of the rejection of Christ. That are only the believers who are partakers of the church and not the believers from the time of the Old Testament or from the time after the rapture of the church. The writer doesn’t go into detail about the special position of those believers. That is not the subject of this letter. From other letters we know that the church is connected to the Lord Jesus in a special way (e.g. ). In that way all who have lived in faith will be made perfect and God will fulfill His unchangeable promises to each of them. Now read Hebrews 11:31-40 again. Reflection: How did people manage to do such deeds of faith? How do you manage to do such deeds of faith?

‏ Hebrews 11:35-37

Living by Faith (VI)

Heb 11:31. Not only is the faith of the people and its effect seen at Jericho. The capture of Jericho is also the cause for the manifestation of the faith of one individual from that city. The faith of Rahab shows that she chooses the people of God, while the power of her people was still completely intact and nothing of the claimed victory was yet to be seen with the people of God. But Rahab felt that God was with them. That determined her choice: a choice that was against the natural choice for her own people. In that way she is an example for the Hebrews who also had to choose for the apparently weak people of God and against their unbelieving, disobedient fellow countrymen.

What Rahab does, looks like treason, but it is a deed of faith. In that way she turns away from the world and from a life in sin to join the people of God. Her people knew from the great deeds of God, but they did not want to bow their knees to Him (Jos 2:10). They resisted and rebelled. She disassociated herself from that. She made peace with the people of God by taking action to protect the spies. In that way she identified with them and disassociated herself from her fellow countrymen who are here called “those who were disobedient”. By accommodating the spies, she put her own life at risk. She connected her own fate to that of them. Her faith was abundantly rewarded. She even received a place in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus (Mt 1:5).

Heb 11:32. The writer could be going on like that, but he doesn’t pay attention to details anymore. Time would fail him if he did. Guided by the Spirit he mentions in general sense a number of examples. In those examples it becomes apparent how persevering their faith has been in all kinds of ways and how it has sustained believers in all kinds of suffering. One thing they all have in common: no one of them has received anything of what has been promised, as that also applied to the Hebrews to whom this letter is addressed.

Because the writer of the letter only mentions the names, I don’t want to go into detail about the history of the persons he mentions. You should read their history. Then it will often become clear to you why he mentions them. Sometimes it will also surprise you, after you have read their history, that he mentions them. But when God’s Spirit quotes names of believers from the Old Testament in the New Testament, it is – with one exception, that of Elijah (Rom 11:3-4) – always in a positive way. God sees further than what is described in outward history. He sees what is in the heart for Him, even when its practice sometimes falls short of that.

Let us take a look at the list. When the people are in the land, the time of the judges begins. Four of them are mentioned. Gideon and Barak have done their faith job in little strength. Also Samson and Jephthah have dealt in faith, but their work was obviously not flawless. In both couples the most important one is mentioned first, while chronologically the order is the other way around. Of all judges it is common that their liberations were only temporary. None of them were able to create a lasting peace.

After the time of the judges the time of the prophets and kings follows. Of the prophets Samuel is mentioned and of the kings David is mentioned. Here also the chronology is reversed. First David is mentioned, then Samuel. David was the king after God’s heart and Samuel was his forerunner.

The prophets spoke to the conscience of the people. They rather died than preaching a lie and they rather went with a good conscience to heaven than that they lived with a bad conscience on earth.

Although David was a king after God’s heart, he too didn’t manage to bring the people into the rest (Heb 4:7-8). The ultimate rest was for him also a matter of faith, of which the fulfillment was going to happen through Him, Who was both his Son (Mt 1:1) and his Lord (Mt 22:41-45).

Heb 11:33. After these names a number of deeds follows that were done by faith. I will try to add an example to each deed:

1. “conquered kingdoms”: judges and David;

2. “performed [acts of] righteousness”: maintaining righteousness by judges and kings;

3. “obtained promises”: this is possibly obtaining what was promised, but also to be promised something;

4. “shut the mouths of lions”: Daniel (Dan 6:22-23), Samson, David, Benaiah;

5. Heb 11:34. ”quenched the power of fire”: the three friends of Daniel (Dan 3) who indeed quenched the power of the fire, but not the fire itself, for others were consumed by it;

6. “escaped the edge of the sword”: David, Elijah (while others were killed by the sword, Heb 11:37);

7. “from weakness were made strong”: Gideon, Jonathan; they proved that the weakness of God is stronger than men;

8. “became mighty in war”: Asa, Jehoshaphat;

9. “put foreign armies to flight”: many judges and kings;

10. Heb 11:35 “Women received [back] their dead by resurrection”: the widow of Zarephath, the Shunammite.

In the just mentioned situations faith appeared to be effective in favor of the believers and sometimes even in a wonderful way. Now examples of situations follow in which faith is also effective for those who heavily suffer and are even killed. This suffering and death would be foolishness if death were indeed the end of everything.

1. They “were tortured, not accepting their release”: enduring cruel torture, while to faith an unacceptable offer to stop the torture is rejected; they believed in “a better resurrection” and were looking forward to that;

2. Heb 11:36. “experienced mockings and scourgings”; Jeremiah, heroes from the Maccabees;

3. “chains and imprisonment”: Jeremiah; Joseph;

4. Heb 11:37. “were stoned”: Stephen, Zechariah, Naboth;

5. “were sawn in two”, according to tradition: Isaiah by King Manasseh;

6. “were tempted”: were put under severe mental or physical pressure to deny their faith; were forced to compromise or to abjure something, in any case to deny their Lord;

7. “were put to death with the sword”: mass murder by the sword (Dan 11:33b; Acts 12:1; Jer 26:23, while others escaped the sword, Heb 11:34);

8. “went about in sheepskins, in goatskins”: Elijah, John;

9. “being destitute”: hunger and thirst;

10. “afflicted”: were ruled by strangers;

11. “ill-treated”: general torture;

12. Heb 11:38. “of whom the world was not worthy”: the world didn’t assign any value to people who lived this way;

13. “wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground”: these places have provided refuge to many men and women of faith without a home, while they were hunted as if they were wild beasts.

Heb 11:39. God has seen and noticed that all these believers persevered in faith till the end. They didn’t receive on earth what they were promised. They still don’t have, even not in paradise where they are now.

Heb 11:40. They shall obtain what is promised only when the Hebrews and we also will obtain it. And when will that be? When Christ comes and establishes the millennial kingdom of peace. That is “something better” what God has provided. The ‘better’ is always connected to Christ as the glorified Man in heaven. He obtained that place there from God, while He is rejected on earth.

To that Christ you are connected, while you live on earth. Abraham lived in faith on earth with a heavenly mind in his heart, while he was looking forward to a heavenly city. But he was not connected to heaven through a Christ Who is really seated there in glory and he didn’t share the rejection of Christ on earth. That is our share. Therefore the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than the greatest among those who preceded (Mt 11:11). Therefore God has waited to fulfill His promises. He didn’t want the Old Testament believers to be made perfect without us, which means to come to the wonderful place of taking part in the kingdom of Christ.

It is the privilege of all believers of all times to partake of the kingdom of Christ. But it is first of all the privilege of those who have partaken of the rejection of Christ. That are only the believers who are partakers of the church and not the believers from the time of the Old Testament or from the time after the rapture of the church.

The writer doesn’t go into detail about the special position of those believers. That is not the subject of this letter. From other letters we know that the church is connected to the Lord Jesus in a special way (e.g. Eph 1:10-11). In that way all who have lived in faith will be made perfect and God will fulfill His unchangeable promises to each of them.

Now read Hebrews 11:31-40 again.

Reflection: How did people manage to do such deeds of faith? How do you manage to do such deeds of faith?