Slices
Prepare
What has the greatest challenge to your faith been? What – and who – helped you to get through it? What was the outcome of the challenge, faith-wise?
Bible passage
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.
39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Explore
And finally… the writer of Hebrews takes us at a bit of a gallop through a list of Old Testament people whose lives evidenced great faith in God. There is also a list of events, which help us to identify a few more, such as Daniel and the three young men in the fiery furnace. Each of those people and events has much to teach us about what living a life of faith means and about what may happen as a result of doing so.
The whole of chapter 11 provides us with examples, big, small and unknown, of people whose lives demonstrated faith in God. For pretty much all of them, the circumstances in which they exhibited it were challenging, at the least – and for many, horrific. But all of them have their faith in God commended (v 39), and all of them are ‘waiting for Christ’s faithful people to join them’* (v 40). We are some of those people. We are some of those ‘who through faith’ (v 33) have lived – and are living – through circumstances in which we put our trust in God and prove his faithfulness to us. We’re connected by faith to them.
*H Marshall, S Travis and I Paul, Exploring the New Testament, Volume 2, London, SPCK, 2021
Respond
Some of the descriptions in the passage of what happened to people make truly terrible reading. And for many Christians in some parts of the world, those things are still realities. Pray for them, that they are able to persevere too.
Deeper Bible study
Lord, strengthen my faith, enabling me to persevere like those I read about today, so that I too can be commended for it.
The question at the start of verse 32 and its reply indicate that the writer reached the climax of his list with Rahab: ‘And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell …’. He names six individuals plus ‘the prophets’, followed by nine examples of the great deeds these accomplished though faith. After this the tone changes. While some women received back their dead who were raised to life, there were others who endured various kinds of torture and sometimes martyrdom, suffering extreme cruelty from their persecutors. Those who lived were mistreated horribly and excluded from society, being forced to wander in deserts and mountains and to live in caves and holes in the ground.
The whole catalogue of heroes of faith and their deeds shows how God’s faithful people, that great ‘cloud of witnesses’,1 have endured by keeping their eyes on the goal while suffering persecution. The implication is that the first readers of Hebrews, who had suffered persecution in the past and were likely to face further persecution in the future, would be encouraged in their faith and motivated to persevere, even if it cost them their lives.2
The chapter closes as it began, with the reminder that all these ‘ancients’ were commended for their faith (see v 2). Nevertheless, none of them received what was promised. For that, they had to wait (v 40). Those of us who follow Christ now and the faithful ones who preceded him are together made perfect through the self-offering of Christ. We, with them, will make up that great company of ‘the righteous made perfect’.3 Together, we will surround the throne in the world to come, where Jesus is now exalted – so long as we endure.
Many believers today are suffering for the name of Jesus. Ask God to strengthen their faith, to hear their cries and to grant them boldness and wisdom in their witness.
1 Heb 12:1 2 See Heb 10:32–36; 12:1–4 3 Heb 12:23
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Proverbs 23,24; Psalms 92,93
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray for guidance for Local Mission Partner Faith in Schools about how they adapt their work with 30,000 pupils in Newham in the face of declining finances, and that they might discover and have favour with new grant applications.
