"Of whom the world was not worthy"
"And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and
of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the
prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained
promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped
the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight,
turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to
life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might
obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and
scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were
sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in
sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the
world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens
and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through
faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us,
that they without us should not be made perfect" (Heb
11:32-40).
In these few short verses we are introduced to that "great
cloud of witnesses" (Heb 12:1), those who in ages past witnessed to the eternal
truths which they believed, and were martyrs of the God they served.
As this chapter is written in a basically chronological
sequence (beginning with Abel -- v 4), we should expect most of the particulars
in these last few verses to belong to the later history of the faithful. And
indeed they do; most of the characters here belong to the time of Israel's
judges and kings.
Paul's remembrances of these men and women remind us of that
grand introduction to his letter as a whole. (This article presupposes that Paul
wrote the letter to the Hebrews -- which is by no means proven. There are in
fact good reasons to see another author: see Lesson, Heb, authorship.):
"God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spoke in times past... hath in
these last days spoken to us by a
Son..."
God had revealed Himself and His will in Old Testament times
through such men of faith. Their deliverances and victories were certainly real
and authentic, but behind that reality was in each case the typical lesson. God
was speaking of His salvation in every age; and the minor, temporary victories
of the past were only the tokens of His great victory in Christ, the One who
literally overcame the world.
These typical themes are evident in the lives of every man and
woman of this chapter. These men were men of action because they were men
of faith. Faith is not, as some teach, a lazy, credulous "belief" (which
would by Biblical standards be no "belief" at all). Faith is a powerful, living
conviction based on fact... truth... knowledge. It dominates the life of the
possessor, a quality of character controlling all facets of existence. Paul
himself said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me!"
(Phi 4:13).
This is the power of God -- "the exceeding greatness of His
power to usward who believe" -- available to each of us through prayer and
study. This is the power (The Greek word is the root of our English "dynamite"!)
that carried Christ through the last dreadful, pain-racked hours as he faced
death -- the same power of faith that he still possessed even after the Holy
Spirit was withdrawn.
In these verses we have two types of faith, related to one
another, but showing different aspects:
In vv 32-35a we see the victories of faith in action --
against the world; men of God triumph over outside forces, and the armies
of the alien.
But in vv 35b-38 we see the victories of faith in action --
against sufferings, against oneself, against temptation from
within.
***
Verse 32: "And what shall I more say? for the time
would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah:
of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets."
The first four men named were judges who saved Israel from
foreign enemies, in circumstances requiring faith in God's promises to them. All
four saved Israel in extraordinary ways: Remember Gideon's "army" of only 300,
and Samson's "jawbone of an ass", as well as the tent-peg of Jael in the days of
Barak. Such incidents illustrate that God can save by few or many, and by very
insignificant means if He so chooses. This He does so that man may not glory in
himself but rather in the Father.
And the lesson to us is that we may similarly find the weapons
of faith, and fight the battles of the Lord, in some minor way which the proud
mind of the flesh would never suggest. Let us "humble ourselves under the mighty
hand of God."
Verse 33: "Who through faith subdued
kingdoms, wrought righteousness..."
The first phrase refers primarily to David, whose early
military exploits are typical of the campaigns of Christ and the saints which
will usher in the millennial reign of the greater-than-David. And the second
phrase, which seems to be a rather feeble and general sort of statement, takes
on fresh new meaning when we see other translations: "...who performed acts
of righteousness". Paul is referring to the faithful judges and kings
(Samuel being the best representative -- 1Sa 12:3,4) who without regard for
present advantage or crowd-pleasing consistently made the right decisions in the
cases brought to their attention. Let us remember that our elected or appointed
ecclesial servants stand in much the same position as did the judges of Israel;
their decisions affect all the brethren in their spiritual lives, and they must
bear a special responsibility to perform acts of righteousness.
***
"Obtained promises..."
These men of faith all obtained the fulfillment of certain
promises during their lifetimes. But these small promises, which they could
enjoy as realities then, only pointed forward to the promise which has not even
yet been fulfilled. In the same manner, Paul refers in Heb 4 to Caleb and Joshua
who entered the land of promise -- while yet there still remains the great
"eternal rest" of the Kingdom. (More on this in v 39.)
***
"Stopped the mouths of lions..."
Three well-known instances come quickly to mind: Samson and
David (who slew lions) and Daniel (whom the lions could not harm). A fourth man
of faith was the mighty man Benaiah, "who went down and slew a lion in the midst
of a pit in time of snow" (2Sa 23:20).
The Scriptures tell only of these four instances of lions
being slain or subdued. Why four? If we remember that lions symbolize the
Gentile nations, bestial in their lusts, then we have here a picture of the four
world empires together, to be tamed and subjected by Christ and the saints, so
that in symbolic language they "shall eat straw like the ox" (Isa 11:6,7).
***
Verse 34: "Quenched the violence of fire, escaped
the edge of the sword..."
These first two phrases also refer to Daniel's time (Dan 2:13;
Dan 3), as well as to countless men of other times (some written in Scripture,
and others written only in the Lamb's Book of Life).
***
"Out of weakness were made strong."
This brings two incidents to mind: (1) Samson's strength was
miraculously restored to him while he languished in Philistine chains. Pulling
down the great temple of Dagon, he "destroyed more by his death than by his
life" (Jdg 16:28-30), a remarkable picture of Christ's sacrifice by which man's
greatest enemy was destroyed. (2) The righteous king Hezekiah was "sick unto
death", yet was revived through prayer and faith, and went up to the Lord's
house on the third day (2Ki 20:8), another brilliant foreshadowing of Christ's
death and resurrection.
Let us remember that in times of human weakness we may
nevertheless be strong in faith to perform God's will; God has said to one of
our brethren:
"My strength is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made
perfect in weakness."
***
Verse 35: "Women received their dead raised to life
again."
Literally: "Women received their dead by a resurrection." This
translation is preferable, for it helps to underline the intended contrast to
"the better resurrection" also mentioned in this verse. Paul is referring to the
miracles performed by Elijah (1Ki 17:22) and Elisha (2Ki 4:36).
***
"And others were tortured."
Rather, "But others were tortured", as we have here a
contrast. Here begins the victories of faith in suffering. ("Tortured" is
"tympanizo", from "tympanum", a drum. The sufferer was stretched out upon an
instrument like a drumhead, and beaten to death with sticks and rods.) The
remainder of Paul's references here are to incidents in which the natural mind
would be hard-pressed to find a victory of any sort:
"For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted
as sheep for the slaughter" (Rom 8:36).
The outworkings of faith may bring present good, but
faith will also bring trials and tribulations, as God acts to chasten His
children. This preparation has its necessary part in God's overall scheme; Paul
elaborates on this theme in the next chapter:
"Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have
forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, 'My son,
despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of
Him: for whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He
receiveth.' If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what
son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?... Now no chastening seemeth to be
joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of
righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby" (vv
4-11).
The Jewish Christians faced trials at the hands of their
natural brethren because they chose to remain separate from the institutions and
traditions of the Mosaic Law, seeing it as a system ready to vanish away (8:13).
This is the same situation which we must now face -- alienation and disfavor
from the world. A mad society is entering its death throes, and those who will
not fall in with its excesses are hated.
"That they might obtain a better
resurrection."
Women of faith received their children raised to life, but
this was only a resurrection to a continuation of mortal life. That for which
these "others" hoped was an awakening to life eternal -- truly a "better
resurrection".
Possibly there is also this thought: those who were cruelly
tortured had only to forsake their faith in order to escape death. This would
have been a "resurrection" of sorts, for they would have received back their
lives which had been almost forfeited. But such a renunciation would have meant
loss of that "better resurrection" to immortality.
***
Verse 36: "And others had trial of cruel mockings
and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment."
Joseph in Egypt (Gen 39:20), and Jeremiah -- the hated prophet
-- put in stocks and lowered into the miry pit (Jer 38:6). In such trials these
men rejoiced, even as Paul sang hymns of praise from his dungeon cell.
***
Verse 37: "They were stoned..."
In Old Testament times we have Naboth, ordered to be stoned by
the wicked Jezebel so that his rightful property might be stolen (1Ki 21:7-10).
And (by tradition) we have Jeremiah, stoned to death in Egypt where he was
carried against his will. Not to mention Paul himself -- who was stoned and left
for dead.
***
"They were sawn asunder."
All ancient sources attribute this to Isaiah -- in such a
manner slain during the reign of Manasseh, "who slew much innocent
blood".
***
"They were tempted."
How does this fit in with the sufferings listed here, since
temptation is the common lot of all -- and therefore not necessarily a special
affliction? Paul must be speaking here of the temptations of the faithful to
give up their beliefs in the face of great trials. Again, to put this letter to
the Hebrews in its proper perspective, we must realize that Paul was writing to
Jews who were being persecuted by their nation (in some cases, even by their
families) because of their strange new ideas. How easy it would have been in
such circumstances to just give in, and to forsake the assembly of the saints
(Heb 10:25)!
***
"They wandered about in sheepskins and
goatskins."
The rough, coarse garments of the prophets -- especially
Elijah (1Ki 19:10,13; 2Ki 1:8) and his first-century counterpart, John the
Baptist (Mat 3:4).
Can we not imagine such men as these? Hardened by long years
of wandering and privation, roughly clothed in the skins of the poor, standing
steadfast against the wind and the rain (just as they stand before their
enemies' taunts). Men made perfect by their experiences, by the trials of their
faith;
"What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But
what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that
wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went ye out to see? A prophet?
Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet" (Mat
11:7-9).
Were such men as these too stern? Too narrow-minded? Too
devoted to an ideal? Were these men not quite "liberal" enough, or easy-going
enough, to suit our fancy? Let us look at such men, look deeply into their eyes
-- let us try to get a glimpse of that animating, invigorating, driving force...
that tremendous, word-begotten faith that lifted them out of their present
situations and into that glorious future of promise.
***
Verse 38: "Of whom the world was not
worthy."
The proud and vain and foolish world scorned these men as of
no consequence -- "despised and rejected, men of sorrow, and acquainted with
grief". But the world's opinion was the exact opposite of God's. Those whom they
considered unworthy of their notice except as the object of ridicule and cursing
were, in reality, too good for them.
Let us notice this: the separations forced upon the faithful,
even their trials, were from God. God separated them. This separation
(that we, in our shortsightedness, sometimes resent) is a privilege. It is a
supreme privilege that we are not counted in the company of the world that is
destined to pass away.
***
"They wandered in deserts, and in mountains."
How Jesus must have loved the mountains! Often did he spend
the entire night in prayer upon the hills of the Promised Land. We remember how
Abraham chose the hills and waste places of Palestine, rather than the fruitful
plain of Sodom.
"I will go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him
whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not" (Song
3:2).
Christ cannot be found in the cities of sin, nor in the "broad
ways" of the earth. He is found instead on the lonely paths, in the wilderness,
in the mountains, the paths frequented by such men as Abraham and Moses and
David. Christ is found in such places, where the noise of man is quieted, and
the still small voice of God may be heard.
Whenever our Saviour had something special to reveal to his
disciples, he carried them out into the mountains. Let us follow Christ into
these same localities -- the "mountains of separation". Let us leave the "city"
behind us. Let us "go forth unto him without the camp". Let us give ourselves a
fair chance to listen, and Christ will speak to us also.
***
"In dens and caves of the earth."
Palestine, from its hilly character, abounds in caves -- to
which the persecuted saints were to flee when the "abomination of desolation"
stood before the city (Mat 24:15,16). "O my dove," says the Saviour, "Thou art
in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places" (Song 2:14). But here, even in
immediate danger, the men of faith may feel secure -- their lives are "hid with
Christ".
What shall we add, then, to Paul's words? "What shall we say
more?" It is an evident fact: faith demands unyielding dedication to the Truth
-- as well as a careful study of these very Scriptures. Are we the models of
steadfast faith that these men were? If not, the reason is surely this: we
never fully intended to be. If the task were pleasurable, we should find the
time. Our trouble is that the world is too much with us. We allow our minds to
be saturated by the flood of entertaining matters that daily surge around us,
and this blunts the appeal of spiritual things; they become hazy, distant, and
difficult to make real in our minds.
***
Verse 39: "And these all, having obtained a good
report through faith, received not the promise."
Abraham, to whom the promise was made, did not receive in this
life the fulfillment of that promise (Acts 7:5). Abraham was one of the men of
faith who wandered upon the mountains, who "looked for a city" (Heb 11:10). He
believed in the resurrection, as he showed in offering his son Isaac (Heb 11:19;
Gen 22:8-14). And he told his son, "God will provide the sacrifice." Abraham saw
the day of Christ (John 8:56), the "Lamb of God to take away the sin of the
world" (John 1:29). But he knew that he would not benefit from this until after
his death. He received not the promise in this life, but he fully expected to do
so in the future (just as we do).
***
Verse 40: "God having provided some better thing for
us."
This phrase may be translated, "God having foreseen..." These
two phrases, "God provides" and "God sees", are again companion thoughts in Gen
22. This account of the offering of Isaac should be carefully studied in its
context and its typical lessons. It is a beautiful portrayal in shadow of God's
offering of His only-begotten Son. Abraham tells his son, "Yahweh will provide
Himself a lamb", as he contemplates the sacrifice of Isaac's antitype, the true
seed Christ. As a memorial the place of the altar is named "Yahweh-Jireh" ("It
-- Christ -- shall be seen"). The Septuagint of Gen 22:16 is quoted by Paul in
Rom 8:32:
"He that spared not His Own Son, but delivered him up for us
all..."
The perfect sacrifice of the Father's only Son is the "better
thing" which God has provided for our salvation. It is better than the
sacrifices of the Law (Heb 10:4,14). The justification which Christ brought by
his death and resurrection leads to the "better resurrection" and the
inheritance of the promise in its glorified millennial state, better than its
imperfect past condition -- when at any rate it could be inherited only for a
brief span of mortal life.
***
"That they without (or apart from) us should not be made
perfect."
All are justified by the blood of the Lamb. Christ's sacrifice
atoned for "past sins", as well as those which followed after (Rom 3:25-26; Heb
9:15; Acts 13:39). All the faithful will be made perfect together, by the same
means.
But notwithstanding the promise to the saints of being
perfected, we have while in the flesh continual experience of imperfection. We
must strive to be perfect in conscience before God, even though we are imperfect
in nature. That which is perfect is not yet come, but we wait for it. When
Christ returns and this transformation is completed, then his prayer will have
been answered:
"I in them, and Thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one" (John
17:23).
