Hebrews 11:32-38 The Message
32-38 I could go on and on, but I’ve run out of time. There are so many more—Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets. . . . Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Women received their loved ones back from the dead. There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection. Others braved abuse and whips, and, yes, chains and dungeons. We have stories of those who were stoned, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; stories of vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins, homeless, friendless, powerless—the world didn’t deserve them!—making their way as best they could on the cruel edges of the world.
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
I love how the Lord employed unlikely people to do extraordinary things.
Often, the outcast was embraced, the sinner was chosen, and the “labeled” was marked by God for an extraordinary divine purpose.
Some of the names in Hebrews 11 are well known.
Others are not.
But all are names of believers through whom God worked to keep his promises.
I find it interesting that the two Israelite spies, sent by Joshua to search out the land of Jericho, went specifically to the house of Rahab the harlot.
While it made sense they would lodge at a house located on the wall of Jericho—for strategic purposes, it doesn’t make sense they chose to lodge with a harlot.
Against the commandments of God, a harlot would normally have been avoided at all cost. Yet, against all of our rationale, God chose Rahab to help His people, and eventually become part of the lineage of Jesus. (see Matthew 1:5)
What a beautiful testimony of God’s character!
He truly sees past the physical and straight to the heart. God looks for those who will be faithful to Him, and often finds them in the most unlikely places.
For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him…2 Chronicles 16:9
By faith, Rahab risked her own life to help the spies escape. It was her belief in the Lord that saved her and her whole family. Unlike the other inhabitants of Jericho, the miraculous things she had heard about God spurred her to action.
Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Joshua 2:8-11
In holy fear of the Lord, Rahab acted in faith.
Instead of closing the door on the spies, she allowed her reverent fear of “God in heaven above and on earth beneath” to motivate her.
The lesson for us here is to let a holy and reverent fear of the Lord motivate our service to Him; to remember what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do. God stirs us up and does amazing things in the lives of ordinary people.
All He looks for is faith in His Son Jesus—a faith that leads us to do great things for His glory. I don’t know about you, but I want that more than anything.
As we look to ponder and study and pray through Hebrews 11, which is also sometimes described as the Bible’s chapter on “heroes of faith,” we should note that this chapter never uses the word hero. It simply lists the names of those chosen ordinary people whom God used for extraordinary purposes.
Ordinary people stirred by the extraordinary acts of others, faith is something which tethers us to God, pulls pushes us forward—step by step and day by day.
Sports coaches and sports psychologists know the importance of faith.
You’ve got to believe … in yourself.
You have to believe you can do your sport, or you won’t win.
Faith gives drive, momentum, energy, confidence.
Whether novice Christians or matured, any group or solitary journey through Hebrews 11 points us directly to an enormous variety of extraordinary things ordinary people were able to do because they had faith. (Acts 2:14-21 Peter)
And their faith was not in themselves but in God.
Faith in God is assurance in what God has done and confidence in what God can do … and will most definitively do—at the exact right time, in his Kairos time.
True faith focuses both our eyes on God.
It also centers our gravity in such a way it keeps both our feet on the ground even while it lifts our hearts to heaven.
Faith enables us to stand tall and live straight.
It puts a spring in our step.
“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible” (Matthew 17:20).
Faith that is as small as a mustard seed, said Jesus, can move a mountain!
We have all struggled at one time or another with our ability to fully trust God. I never truly realized the extent to which I wrestled with Him over both the very simplest of things, and the big things. Sometimes we just have more faith in a kitchen chair’s ability to sustain us than we do in God’s ++ ability to sustain us.
One person’s smallest measure of faith can change the world—think of the apostle Paul, for example, or of Martin Luther, John Wesley, Billy Graham.
In chapter 11 the writer of Hebrews gives us a high-speed recitation of history to illustrate the power of faith.
Perhaps you could add the names of some people you know of to the mighty events listed in the closing verses there.
Imagine your name in that list.
Imagine your finger’s trying to hold onto a single Mustard Seed?
What event(s) in your life might be mentioned as an example of faith at work?
In the name of God, the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit … Amen
Praying …
19 1-2 God’s glory is on tour in the skies,
God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.
Madame Day holds classes every morning,
Professor Night lectures each evening.
3-4 Their words aren’t heard,
their voices aren’t recorded,
But their silence fills the earth:
unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.
4-5 God makes a huge dome
for the sun—a superdome!
The morning sun’s a new husband
leaping from his honeymoon bed,
The daybreaking sun an athlete
racing to the tape.
6 That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies
from sunrise to sunset,
Melting ice, scorching deserts,
warming hearts to faith.
7-9 The revelation of God is whole
and pulls our lives together.
The signposts of God are clear
and point out the right road.
The life-maps of God are right,
showing the way to joy.
The directions of God are plain
and easy on the eyes.
God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold,
with a lifetime guarantee.
The decisions of God are accurate
down to the nth degree.
10 God’s Word is better than a diamond,
better than a diamond set between emeralds.
You’ll like it better than strawberries in spring,
better than red, ripe strawberries.
11-14 There’s more: God’s Word warns us of danger
and directs us to hidden treasure.
Otherwise how will we find our way?
Or know when we play the fool?
Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!
Keep me from stupid sins,
from thinking I can take over your work;
Then I can start this day sun-washed,
scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.
These are the words in my mouth;
these are what I chew on and pray.
Accept them when I place them
on the morning altar,
O God, my Altar-Rock,
God, Priest-of-My-Altar.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 