Hebrews 11:32-40 (HCSB)
And what more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the raging of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength after being weak, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead—they were raised to life again. Some men were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might gain a better resurrection, and others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.
All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.
This list of exemplars in the Hebrews Hall of Faith is necessarily incomplete due to lack of space and time on the part of the writer. But he finishes this section with a brief overview of additional biblical heroes of the faith, those whose exploits were so exemplary that they were included in the Scriptures.
Many of these were not people who many would call successful. Some did achieve status and high office. Some even ruled nations. But that was not what made them great. Their promotion to high office was a reward for their faith and their faithfulness that existed well before they had achieved any of that.
David is a powerful example. He was raised in very humble circumstances, and worked primarily as a shepherd. But his faithfulness brought him victory over the giant and set him on a trajectory that would make him the king of Israel. But before he gained that prize, he spent 13 years serving a man who despised him, and a lot of time in hiding, his very life at risk if he was caught. It was only by remaining faithful in both commitment and action, even during the time of his most extreme testing, that he was able to finally receive and achieve what God had in mind for him.
All those to whom the writer of Hebrews points as examples of faith were only able to receive God’s blessing as long as they remained in His will. Some of them, even David, turned away at times and placed themselves in the path of God’s wrath rather than in the path of his blessing, until they repented. And even then, their journey forward had more trials and pitfalls than were necessary, the remanants and results of their unfaithfulness.
As a writer points out, these men and women of faith endured many trials, dangers and persecutions before the end of their lives and their final reward. And none of them was able to experience God’s final goal in their lifetimes. They could see God’s plan only dimly but still they stayed faithful, ending enduring hardships taking bold action at God’s direction and ending their lives still believing that there was more in God’s plan than what they had yet seen.
Father, far too often we want to see your whole plan and our part in it before we are willing to say yes to You. We want to be able to run a risk-benefit analysis before we commit ourselves. But these men and women obeyed each day, every day, simply out of their commitment to You. Like us, none of them were guaranteed a single additional day beyond the one we live today. But each of them doggedly obeyed your commands, regardless of the cost. They were all faithful, not only in their beliefs, but in their actions, fully expecting that if they died in their faithful service to You, Your plan would still move forward, and there would be a reward waiting for them on the other side. Lord, help me to live each day in that kind of faithful service to You, entrusting to You my today, my tomorrow, and my forever. Amen.