CONNECTIONS
Opening Prayer
God of history, thank you for giving me a part in your story of redemption. Help me to share that story with those around me.
Read HEBREWS 11:32–40
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning;[a] they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Footnotes
- Hebrews 11:37 Some early manuscripts stoning; they were put to the test;
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What has the greatest challenge to your faith been? What—and who—helped you to get through it? What was the outcome of the challenge, faith-wise?And finally…the writer of Hebrews takes us at a bit of a gallop through a list of Old Testament people whose lives evidenced great faith in God. There is also a list of events, which help us to identify a few more, like Daniel and the three young men in the fiery furnace. Each of those people and events has much to teach us about what living a life of faith means and what may happen as a result of doing so.
The whole of chapter 11 provides us with examples, big, small, and unknown, of people whose lives demonstrated faith in God. For pretty much all of them, the circumstances in which they exhibited it were challenging, at the least – and for many, horrific. But all of them have their faith in God commended (v. 39), and all of them are ‘waiting for Christ’s faithful people to join them’* (v. 40). We are some of those people. We are some of those ‘who through faith’ (v. 33) have lived – and are living – through circumstances in which we put our trust in God and prove his faithfulness to us. We’re connected by faith to them.
Apply
Some of the descriptions in the passage of what happened to people make truly terrible reading. Where are some of the many Christians in the world, for whom those things are still realities – and what steps can you take to encourage them?
Closing prayer
Mighty God, thank you for those who persevere in the hard places of the world for your glory. Give them courage and the assurance that you are with them and are pleased with the faith by which they live.
*H Marshall, S Travis and I Paul, Exploring the New Testament, Volume 2, London (IVP, 2021)
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