The preacher alludes to many other examples of faith after Moses:
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after being encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish with the disobedient, for she had received the spies in peace.
32 What more shall I say? I have not time to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who by faith conquered kingdoms, did what was righteous, obtained the promises; they closed the mouths of lions, 34 put out raging fires, escaped the devouring sword; out of weakness they were made powerful, became strong in battle, and turned back foreign invaders. 35 Women received back their dead through resurrection. Some were tortured and would not accept deliverance, in order to obtain a better resurrection. 36 Others endured mockery, scourging, even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, sawed in two, put to death at sword’s point; they went about in skins of sheep or goats, needy, afflicted, tormented. 38 The world was not worthy of them. They wandered about in deserts and on mountains, in caves and in crevices in the earth.
39 Yet all these, though approved because of their faith, did not receive what had been promised. 40 God had foreseen something better for us, so that without us they should not be made perfect.
He is quite realistic about what living faith, living faithfully, is like. Sometimes, as with the fall of Jericho, it means an unexpectedly easy victory for faithful people, or an unexpected escape from deadly danger as with Rahab. In verses 32-35 he mentions more examples simply by name or notorious event, confident that his hearers will remember many of these striking stories.
In verse 36 he continues with a different list–examples of people who underwent great suffering in order to remain faithful. Again, he expects these brief mentions will bring whole stories quickly to their minds. Yet, he reminds his listeners, though approved by God, these people did not receive THE Promise (Christ) which we have received! What they perceived obscurely, we have had completely explained to us via the Gospel and further illustrated in the teaching/lives/examples of the disciples. We have, then, even more reason to be faithful.
For Reflection:
Here are a couple of the victoriously faithful he alludes to in verses 32-35: Judges 14:5-6 Daniel 3:13-27 Judges 4:21 Jeremiah 26:23-24 There are many stories like these among the lives of our saints.
Here are some of the suffering faithful he alludes to in verses 36-37: 2 Maccabees 7 2 Chronicles 24:17-21 1 Kings 19:10 Acts 7:58-60 There are many stories like these among the lives of the saints, too!
Consider examples of either or both types of experiences from your own life. How would you explain such experiences to curious people? Would you be brave enough to evangelize?
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