HEBREWS 11:32-34 {Leaving a Legacy Series]
TRIUMPHS (AND TRIBULATIONS) OF FAITH
In the closing section of chapter 11 the writer lets his mind’s eye roam back over people and events of history and God brings to memory name after name and event after event of heroic souls. c
Having taken us through the period of the patriarchs and the time of the conquest of the promised land, we now move through the era of the judges, the kings and the prophets to show that faith in God is the goal of Israel’s entire history. Faith can operate in the life of any person who will listen to God’s Word and dare to surrender to His will. Let’s look at some people and some achievements of faith.
I. MEN OF FAITH, 32.
II. ACHIEVEMENTS OF FAITH 33 - 34.
There were far too many heroes of faith for the writer to even touch upon them all so swiftly beginning in verse 32 he mentions the variegated accomplishments of some of them. “And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets,”
Our author feels “time” is not sufficient to recant in any detail the stories of even these six men of faith. The original readers had extensive knowledge of O.T. Scripture whose stories are often retold and thus the mentioning of the names would move his listeners to recall and relive the events of faith each biblical hero performed. Unfortunately, our comprehension is not so good so let’s look at each briefly. Having left off with the children of God conquering the promised land, he mentions first one of Israel’s famous judges and military leaders, “Gideon.” (Judges 6 & 7 - also called Jerubbaal). Gideon’s victory over the Midianites is another example of the sufficiency of faith in the midst of conflict. When Gideon was appointed by the Lord to deliver Israel he assumed it would be necessary to assemble a large army to defeat the enemy. “He assembled 32,000 men to fight the Midianites and the Amalekites.” To keep Israel from thinking the coming triumph was by their own power, God cut her forces down to 10,000 (all who were not afraid) and then to a mere 300. These 300 were separated out solely on the basis of how they drank water from a spring. The enemy, by contrast, were “as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore” (Judg. 7:12). Yet Gideon’s men were outfitted only with trumpets and with clay pitchers with torches inside. With even fewer men and less effort than was used to defeat Jericho, the entire heathen enemy army was routed (7:16-22). Only a fool would have attempted such a courageous approach to battle apart from God’s direction and power. From a faith perspective though, only a fool would not attempt such a thing when he has God’s direction and power (MacArthur John. Hebrews. Moody Press. Chicago.1983. p. 364).
“Barak” (or Bedan) is unknown in Scripture outside of the brief account in Judges 4-5. Under the inspiration of the prophetess Deborah, Barak assembled 10,000 young men to face the Canaanites whose commander Sisera had a large, powerful well-trained army with 900 iron chariots. Barak assembled his men on Mt. Tabor and charged Sisera as he had been commanded by God. “And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army, with the edge of the sword before Barak” (Judges 4:15). Barak and his men were involved, and probably fought valiantly, but the success of the campaign was the Lord’s. It was as if a band of under armed infantries had routed a division of tanks. Without God’s help, Israel would have easily been slaughtered. Barak was told in advance that the glory of victory would not be his. Not only did the Lord fight the battle for His people but he allowed a woman to kill Sisera, so that Barak would have even less cause for claiming credit for himself (4:9).
Barak believed God’s promise of triumph and was not the least concerned that a woman would get credit for slaying Sisera. In fact he insisted that Deborah, a woman judge, go to battle with him (v. 8). He wanted her spiritual, not her military help. She was the Lord’s special representative in those days, and Barak wanted the Lord’s person with him. The fact that he wanted her along was another indication of his trust in the Lord. As God’s prophetess, she was of greater value to him than his 10,000 men. Barak was not concerned about Sisera’s power, because he had God’s power. By such courageous faith he conquered kingdoms.
“Samson” (Judges 13-16) is not most remembered for his faith, but for his physical strength and personal gullibility. In many ways he was immature and self-centered, unable to cope with the miraculous power God had given him. Yet he was a man of faith. He never doubted that God was the source of his power, of which his hair was only a symbol.
Samson was a judge of Israel and was given the special task of opposing the Philistines, who then ruled over Israel. Samson’s own motives for fighting the Philistines were often mixed, but he knew he was doing the Lord’s will in the Lord’s power. From his early manhood the Spirit of the Lord had been with him, and we are told specifically that it was the Spirit that strengthened him in his amazing one-man battles (Judg. 13:25; 14:19; 15:14, 16:28).
Samson knew that God had called him, and that God had empowered him to “begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines,” just as God had told Samson’s mother before her son was even conceived (13:5). God had promised him power and Samson trusted God for that power. He fought alone with his God given strength again and again facing the most amazing odds and emerged triumphant. He faced the Philistines not in the courage of physical powers but in the courage of faith. We are inclined to judge Samson by his weaknesses, God here commends him for his faith.
“Jephthah” (Judges 11&12) preceded Samson as judge of Israel. He was an illegitimate outcast who came back from exile to lead Israel to a tremendous triumph over the Amorites. He was empowered by the Spirit of the Lord and despite his foolish vow (11:30f) and his mistakes, God honored him for his faith in undertaking a seemingly impossible task of deliverance.
“David” stands out as one of the obviously great men of the Old Testament. His trust in the Lord began when he was a boy, tending sheep, killing a lion, and a bear, and taking on Goliath with a slingshot. David faced Goliath in utter confidence that the Lord would give him power to defeat this giant. While the rest of Israel, including the King and David’s own brothers, were cowering in fear, David calmly walked up to Goliath and announced, “This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands and I will strike you down and remove your head from you” (I Sam. 17:46). It seems never to have occurred to David not to trust the Lord.
Like the other heroes of faith, David was not perfect, but God called him “a man after My heart, who will do all My will” (Acts 13:22).
“Samuel” is added to this list of warriors. Though a priest and not a soldier, he fought battles equal to any that soldiers face. He stood alone in his generation to fight the great foes of idolatry and immorality. He had to stand up in the middle of a polluted society and fearlessly speak God’s truth. His severest opponents frequently were not the Philistines, the Amorites, or Ammonites – but his own people. It often takes more courage to stand up against our neighbors than against our enemies. Social pressure can be more frightening than military power. This prophet of God, who was also Israel’s last judge, began “ministering before the LORD, as a boy wearing a linen ephod” (I Sam 2:18) and continued faithful to God throughout his life. In the courage of faith, he ruled and prophesied.
“The Prophets” are unnamed except for Samuel. As the writer mentions in the opening of verse 32, he does not have time to go into detail about the many other faithful people of the Old Covenant, or even to mention them all by name. These prophets, just as Gideon, Barak, and the others, risked everything for the Lord. They prayerfully, courageously, and confidently accepted God’s commands and faced whatever opposition came along. They did not fight on battlefields, but they had many triumphs in the Lord because they believed Him.
The whole list is of men who faced incredible odds for God. These are men who believed that God is on the side of God’s commands and were willing to take tremendous and even terrifying risks for Him. These are men who cheerfully and courageously and confidently accepted God-given tasks which in human terms were impossible. They were all men who were not afraid to stand alone and face immense odds for the sake of their loyalty to God. The honor roll of history is of men who chose to stand with God’s minority rather than with earth’s majority.
II. THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF FAITH (33-34).
The author now describes what was accomplished by such faith. “Who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, (34) quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.”
Verses 33-34 contain nine statements about the achievements of faith. The statements appeared in three groups of three commendations. The characteristic that binds these achievements together is the statement “who through faith.” Faith in God and His Word is what enabled them to do what they could not have otherwise
done.
The first group of statements demonstrate faith’s attainments such as conquering kingdoms, establishing justice and inheriting spiritual promises. In “conquering kingdoms” (?ata??????µa?- to fight down) common people empowered by faith overcame Israel’s enemies. Joshua, the judges, and David all subdued kingdoms.
One such triumph is found in Joshua 8:1-29. It is the story of the conquest of the kingdom of Ai. After Achon’s crime of covetousness had been exposed and judged, Joshua again led Israel against Ai.
God’s strategy to conquer a now over-confident enemy was ingenious. God instructed Joshua to place an ambush behind the city. The outworking of this plan involved three contingents of soldiers.
The first group of soldiers was the main army which came the fifteen-mile distance from Gilgal early the next morning and camped in plain view on the north side of Ai. Led by Joshua, this army was a diversionary force to decoy the defenders of Ai out of the city.
The second group of soldiers were sent by night to hide just west of the city of Ai. Their assignment was to wait until the defenders left the city to pursue Joshua and his army, then rush into the gates and torch the city. [While the text indicates this unit numbered 30,000, this seems an excessively large number of men to hide near the city. Since the Hebrew word translated “thousand” may also be rendered “chief” or “officer,” it appears better to view this as a choice group of thirty brave officers chosen by Joshua for a daring commando-type mission.]
The third group of soldiers was another ambush unit of 5,000 men who were positioned between Bethel and Ai to cut off the possibility of reinforcements from Bethel to aid the men of Ai.
The plan worked to perfection. When the king of Ai saw Israel’s army, he took the bait. Pursuing the Israelites who pretended defeat, the men of Ai left their city unguarded. At Joshua’s signal, the commando troops quickly entered and set the city on fire. The men of Ai were thrown back and saw the flame and smoke billowing up out of their city. Before they could gather their wits, they were caught in the Israelite trap and slaughtered.
David also subdued such kingdoms as Moab, Ammon, Edom and Syria. Both David and Joshua conquered these kingdoms by believing. They believed God’s instructions, acted according to His word and God crowned their exertions with triumph.
In establishing justice, Israel’s leaders “practiced righteousness” rather than injustice (1Sam. 7:13-17) both personally and in leading others to do so also (II Sam. 8:15). God’s heroes of faith like Ezra and Nehemiah lived holy lives and they did so because they believed the truth about God and His divine will. To live a righteous life is a most remarkable result for fallen man and demonstrates the power of faith. (Num. 25:7; 1 Kings 18:40).
In “receiving promises,” wavering human beings grasped hold of God’s Word till God’s Word got hold of them and they based their life on God’s promises. Through believing these heroes obtain the blessings promised to them. It was promised to Joshua that he should conquer Canaan and by believing he obtained the conquest. It was promised to Gideon that he could defeat the Midianites and through believing he obtained their defeat. It was promised to David that he should be king over Israel and through believing he obtained the kingdom. Great obstacles were in the way of those good men obtaining the blessings promised. Without believing and seeking to obtain them by following God’s will and way they could not have obtained them. By believing and acting in faith, they did obtain the promises.
The second triplet designates various rescues that occurred by faith. Faith has and can deliver from physical harm. Faith “shut the mouths of lions” in saving Daniel when he was cast into the lion’s den for his faithfulness to God. God sent His angel to shut the lion’s mouth so that they could not hurt him. It is expressly said that this was done by faith (Daniel 6:18-23). [Also Samson (Jdg 14:6), David (1 Sa 17:34–37), Benaiah (2 Sa 23:20).]
Faith “quenched the fury of the flames” with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3. They were cast into a fiery furnace overheated by a magnification of seven. They were not only preserved alive but walked back and forth in the midst of the flames and it did not touch them, not even a hair on their bodies was singed nor did their clothing smelled of smoke. It was by faith in God that the violence of the fire was quenched.
Faith also “escaped the edge (mouth) of the sword” as did David in 1 Samuel 23: 19-29. King Saul was determined to put David to death, but David escaped this obsessively determined hunter. Then by faith in God’s power to protect him, David did not put Saul to death by the edge of the sword when he had opportunity (1 Sam 24). Elijah also escaped the edge of the sword of Queen Jezebel’s henchmen (1 Kings 19:2ff), Elisha from Jezebel’s son Jehoram (2 Kings 6:31ff), Jeremiah from Jehoikim (Jer. 36:19,26). Multiplied thousands have returned home from battlefield around the world because someone believed in God and sought His protecting grace. God protected all of them because they believed in Him.
The third triplet focuses on positive reversals achieved by believers. The first reversal of situations by faith in God is “weakness was turned” into strength. Such examples are found in Elijah fleeing from Jezebel, Gideon was least in his father’s house, Samson in his death, Esther before the king. This word for weakness usually refers to physical sickness. Hezekiah found his weakness turned to strength by faith (Isa. 38). Because of Hezekiah’s prayer of faith, a revelation was made to Hezekiah by the prophet Isaiah and confirmed by the miraculous sign of the staircase shadow reversal. Hezekiah believed it and health was returned to him according to his faith.
Have you ever watched loons lift into flight? They half-run, half-flap across the water for hundreds of feet before getting enough speed to lift into the air. I wondered why until I learned that unlike most birds, loons have solid bones. Their added weight makes it difficult for them to get airborne.
I also learned that loons are clumsy on land because their legs are set farther back on their bodies than other birds. Walking is so difficult that many loons simply scoot across land to their nesting places. But these disadvantages - heavy bones, legs set far back - are also tremendous advantages. Because of their weight and leg placement, loons can dive deeper, farther, and faster. This makes them very adept at catching fish and escaping predators.
What we see as disadvantages in our lives can be turned into advantages, and apparent weaknesses can be transformed into strengths. That was true of the apostle Paul, whose “thorn in the flesh” became an opportunity for God’s strength to be seen in his weakness (2 Cor. 12:7-9).
Is weakness holding you down? Is it shyness or a physical limitation? Ask God to turn it into a strength for His glory.
Inadequate but mighty– how strange, yet wholly true! Weak persons filled with power, are those the Father calls to do His work. Our limited potential accents God’s limitless power.
Others “were made (??e????sa?) mighty in war” or battle. Many of the heros mentioned above by their faith in the divine promises found courage and strength in battle. They were enabled to achieve exploits which without God’s grace they would not have overcome.
There are many O.T. examples of those who by faith acted on God’s leading and turned flight armies. Joshua in Joshua 10:1-10 believed the divine revelation and when out in faith to “turn foreign armies to flight.” In 2 Samuel 5:17-25 and 8:1-18 David believed the divine revelation and turned armies to flight (Jehosaphat in 2 Chronicles 20:1-26; Deut. 32:30; Lev. 26:8; Josh 23:10). By faith, one can chase a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight, like Gideon’s band did when they broke the pots, blew the horns and shout to the Lord.
In CLOSING
These were on the side of God and God was on their side. Their opponents step forth with confidence in physical strength and numbers. Their faith was in themselves. God’s heroes' faith was in God and His promises. They step out in faith against incredible odd and opponent and obstacles and God gave them the victory.
These works of faith demonstrate that whether the need was for political victory, helping those in need, receiving promises, over-coming natural enemies, protection in war, strength in weakness or winning a war, the power to accomplish these things was from God and the power was received by faith in Him.
We too can experience triumph through faith in Christ. Our triumph over oppressors may be like those of the O.T. saints but more likely our triumphs will be directly related to obeying God in doing whatever He leads us to do.
Faith expands us into all “the fullness of God.” Faith makes more of us. When storms threaten, faith lifts a sail. When gloom descends, faith lights a candle. When “can’t do” rules, faith creates a “can do” coup. When the odds stretch to the horizon, faith taps into the height and breadth and depth of God’s love.
These witnesses of faith are telling us that we too can be part of this glorious heritage. We too by faith can do great things for God. Will we step out in faith and attempt to do things for God also is the question God now places before us?
Maybe you are here, and you have never accepted Christ, we invite you to come now. Or if you have felt God's leadership in joining us here and serving the Lord with us, come forward now. Perhaps, you have another decision, and you want to come share that or to come to the altar and pray.
Closing Prayer: Dear God, these troubling times have weakened our resolve. We sometimes ask our self: “How much longer must I do this?” But it is in these moments of weakness that Your light shines ever brighter in the darkness. The cross that You gave us to bear would never be something we couldn’t handle because You know our true limits, oh Lord. Though these difficulties shoot us down, we always get back up because You are always with us. We humbly ask that You endue with us Your strength to keep moving forward because we know this journey – no matter how arduous it may be – leads to You. May our faith come back stronger each time we fall, because we believe that You are the source of strength we need. Amen.
