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The passage Heb. 11:30-40 covers a whole range of heroes of faith and there are two main lessons to learn from them. First, Faith can operate in the life of any person who will dare to listen to God’s Word and surrender to God’s Will. What a variety of persons we have here. There is Joshua who led the Israelites after Moses and claimed the Promised Land based on his faith in God. We have Rahab, the prostitute, who was saved by her faith in assisting the Israelite spies. Then there is Gideon, the frightened farmer, whose faith did not grow strong right away. His story encourages those of us who falter in our faith. The lives of all the others show us that faith can be exercised by any kind of person, weak or strong, because the faith is not dependent on their own strength, but on God, the object of their faith.
The transition in Hebs. 11:35 is important. All the previous heroes of faith are examples of faith winning but not all men and women of faith experienced miraculous deliverance. Some were tortured and died! These “others” had faith but God did not see fit to deal with them the same way as he dealt with Moses, Gideon and David. Many unknown men and women of faith were not delivered from difficult circumstances, yet God honoured their faith. In fact, it takes more faith to endure than it does to escape. Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, we trust God and obey Him even if He does not deliver us.
Another lesson to learn is that these heroes had Faith that enabled them to turn from the approval of the world and seek only the approval of God. If God is glorified by delivering His people, He will do it. If He sees fit to be glorified by not delivering His people, then He will do that. But we must never conclude that the absence of deliverance means a lack of faith on the part of God’s children. Faith looks to the future, for that is where the reward is. All the heroes here did not receive “the promises” but they had God’s witness to their faith that one day would be rewarded. God’s purpose involves all of us, from the Patriarchs to all Christians today. One day all of us shall share the Heavenly City that true saints look for by faith!
