We'll be returning to Hebrews chapter 11. In our series through the book of Hebrews, this is now a message number. 37 entitled Faith Among Lions and we'll be looking at the last of this chapter so that'll be verses 30 to 39. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were compassed about seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she had received the spies with peace. 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. who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promise to stop 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. So verses 17 to 29 that we looked at last time. progressed these illustrations from Abraham to Moses. And the focus really is increasing as you start in chapter 11 and you go through to the end. There's an increasing intensity. He begins a little more focused with Abraham and the idea of patience and waiting, and then progresses to trials and hardships as you get more into the middle there and get toward Moses. The writer in this letter is primarily exhorting his readers to endure, to persevere in faith, even though they don't see all the promises now. And the writer provided a powerful illustration that gives a contrast. Israel, he said, passed through the Red Sea by faith, but the Egyptians tried to do the same thing, but they were drowned. So the very same actions But the one was done by faith, and the other without faith, and without faith, of course, the Egyptians died. So the very same action, but very different outcomes. that the persecution and afflictions had been increasing in that first century in particular. He knew what they had faced. He knew what they were likely to face. And he wrote really as one that was coming alongside them and calling them to endurance and patience and perseverance. And it really gets at the heart of the idea of the exhortation that he said that this letter was. So now we get to verses 30 to 39 to finish out this chapter. And he picks up the pace. He merely mentions some names in some cases, doesn't mention any particular events or actions, just mentions some names, and then not even names. We just get sort of some general experiences. And he continues escalating the tension in this chapter, though, as now the examples progress from trials and hardships to great danger. He chose particular examples that build up violent fighting and persecution and even death in this latter part of the chapter. Now the writer consistently shows that faith is active in trying circumstances and particularly where everything is not known. And really if you think about each of these examples and you think through them, you can think about how that they did not know. many cases they didn't know in case of Abraham he didn't know where he was going when he set out and and you know Noah he didn't know really what a flood what that would look like on the earth when he begins to build the ark and they don't know necessarily where they're going but they obey because God has on the one hand given promises and on the other hand he has given commands well God's way sometimes doesn't make sense to us, especially in that immediate moment. But we shouldn't have the mistaken idea that, well, then God is irrational or God is illogical. That certainly is not the case. but that doesn't make sense to us because we don't know or understand everything about God's plans. And so sometimes we struggle understanding why would this be the way? Well, we're gonna look at this in two parts, verses 30 to 38, where we see faith in the fight, and in verses 39 to 40, where he gives us a good summary of this entire chapter. So let's start here with verse number 30. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were compassed about seven days. Now he's referring to the walls of Jericho, the account in Joshua chapter number six in particular, some of it in chapter five as well. So after the death of Moses, Joshua was leading the nation of Israel into the land of Canaan, and they come to the walled city of Jericho. And the Lord told them, the Lord appeared to Joshua and gave them the battle plan, as it were, for this city. And they were not to attack the city, But rather, they were to march around the city once a day for six days. The priests would blow the shofar. The people were to remain on those six days completely quiet, weren't to make any noises with their mouths. And on the seventh day, they were to march around seven times. And when the priests blew the shofars, then all of the people were to shout. And with this great shout, all the walls of Jericho fell down, we're told, and they spoiled the city, and they took it just as God had said, that He'd given them this city. So the city was given to Israel. And they obeyed and by faith they took it. But you have to admit that the strategy of city siege that was employed here was a strange one. Probably not one that Joshua and all of his, all the elders and all of his commanders, they probably would have never come up with this strategy on their own, but yet it's what God told them to do. And again, it doesn't make a lot of sense in that immediate moment. And we'll have more to say about this when we get all the way to the end. But nevertheless, they obeyed, they believed, and they followed, and we see that they indeed did win the victory. Verse 31. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she had received the spies with peace." So before the walls of Jericho fell down Joshua sent the spies into the city and Rahab received them and she hid the spies and we're told that she did this by faith and her and her family were saved. We read the account particularly of the expression of her faith in Joshua chapter 2 verses 9 to 13, and she said unto the man, I know that the Lord, Yahweh, hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint 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 unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side of the Jordan, Sion and Og, and whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in me, man, because of you. For the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed you kindness, that you will also show kindness unto my father's house and give me a true token, and that you will save alive my father and my mother and my brethren and my sisters and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death." Now, we recently went through the book of Exodus, and repeatedly we encountered the Lord telling Moses, or even in speaking to Pharaoh, that He was doing all of these things, all these wonders, all these things in Egypt. He was bringing judgment upon that nation, but also He was doing it so Egypt would know, so Israel would know, and so all the nations would know that He is God in heaven and earth. And now here we have this testimony of Rahab we have heard. We have heard. And the God of Israel, He is God of heaven and earth. So we have an expression of faith. And because of it, Rahab and her house was saved. And those that believed not, rather, who were terrified, and there's different strategies that the nations used against Israel as they were coming into the land, but those that didn't believe, they were destroyed. And Rahab believed, and by faith she was saved. She was delivered from death. So she was at a great risk. When you read the account, they made her swear an oath, and they made her swear that if she revealed the spies and their business and all of that, then their oath would be broken, they would be under no obligation, that they would have to remain inside the house in order to be saved, all those sort of things. And so she had to follow through, and she did, and she and her family were saved. 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. Well, Gideon, of course, led an army against the Midianites, an army that began with 32,000 warriors in Judges 7. I'm sure you're familiar, but God commanded him He's got to trim this army down. And so through various means and ways, it finally gets down to 300 men. So he had an army of 32,000 soldiers to go against the host of the Midianites that finally comes down to 300 men. In other words, he goes from what seemed possible to what seems impossible. But God told Gideon why. And this is one of those places where Oftentimes there's a command, and we've talked about this before, there's not really an explanation. But sometimes there is, and this is one of those cases in Judges 7 and verse 2, and the Lord Yahweh said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me." So here's a case where God told Gideon very plainly, you cannot go with 32,000 men, because if I give the Midianites into their hands, then Israel is going to boast They're going to think this is what we did. This is what we did with our strength with our might with our swords and and so on He says you so you can so I cannot do it this way. I'm gonna do it another way again with the 300 men and the Lamps and the pitchers and and and all that all that sort of thing. So sometimes we are given reasons like that as to why God made what seemed like an odd command Gideon seems like he's in a position of power, but God says no you're in a position of too much power And that needs to be changed. Barak was a leader in the time of Deborah in Judges 4. Samson of course defeated the Philistines Judges chapters 13 to 16 Jephthah was is another interesting judge of that time He was actually the son of a foreign harlot and his brothers essentially drove him out exiled him So he would not have part of inheritance in Israel there in Judges chapter number 11 and ultimately he went on to lead Israel to victory over the Ammonites and of course David how many of the exploits and events and things in David's life could we talk about and he doesn't say anything in particular about David but there is one particular example which is another case where I think we learn a very valuable lesson about faith and that's in 1st Samuel chapter 30 verses 1 to 10. And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire, and had taken the women captives that were therein. They slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way. So David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burned with fire. And their sons, I mean, and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters were taken captives. Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they had no more power to weep. And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters. But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought hither the ephod to David, and David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them? Now, David was obviously at this point, he's still in exile, although he has gathered his mighty men to him, and he's beginning to be at war with the Philistines and others, the Amalekites here in this case. He's still being hunted. But he comes back to what was his capital at the time there in Ziklag, and it's been destroyed, and all of their wives and children have been carried away as captives, not killed, but just carried away as captives by the Amalekites. And they're very distressed by it, and obviously they weep and they mourn, but it's not long before they want to kill David because of what has happened. They essentially blame him for it. And what does David do? And again, this is a faith response. He doesn't merely react based on gut instinct. I mean, David's a mighty warrior. He has mighty men with him. I mean, just gird your swords and go. Of course, they've just come back from battle, and there were some with him that physically could not go, and they had to stay behind. And you can read about all of that in the account. But what did David do? Did he just sit out? He didn't just sit out. But rather he inquired of the Lord, Shall I pursue this people? Shall I overtake him? And the Lord answers him there in verse number eight, Pursue, for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Basor, where those that were left behind stayed. But David pursued he and four hundred men, for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint they could not go over the brook. And then a little later down in the chapter verse 16, and when he had brought him down, behold they were spread abroad upon all the earth eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil they had taken out of the land of the Philistines and out of the land of Judah. And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day. And there escaped not a man of them save 400 young men which rode upon camels and fled. And David recovered all. that the Amalekites had carried away. And David rescued his two wives, and there was nothing lacking to them, neither small or great, neither sons or daughters, neither spoiled nor anything that they had taken to them. David recovered all." So, again, David did not just react to the situation with his gut instinct, but rather he inquired of the Lord. And the Lord told him, pursue and you will recover all. But what did that mean then? What that meant was that David really had to take his sword and to take his men with their swords and their spears and the shields and everything else. And they had to go fight. And they did fight. And they fought until they had killed all of them except for the 400 that fled and recovered everything just as the Lord had said. And this is a tremendous illustration of what faith requires because sometimes it seems like in our more modern day, the idea is that if we just have faith, these things are just going to be handed to us. That all these things will be handed to us and we will prosper and have health and wealth and all of these things. The Lord said, go and David had to go and fight. But because by faith, he did receive just as the Lord had promised. So again, a very great example, just one of the examples we pull from the life of David. Continuing on here in Hebrews 11 verse 33, speaking a little more generally, Samuel to the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. Now conquering kingdoms refers to military victories in battle and a lot of these Over the next couple of verses, a lot of these examples would refer to that type of military type victory. And we know that when we read the history of Israel and we read all of the different battles and how the strategies differed during the different time, the days of Joshua and the time of David, and there's differences there, but nevertheless, The writer is bringing out how that faith was necessary for the victory, and that faith, that's the same. In other words, what we've learned about faith in this chapter especially is that it's not about technique. He talks about those that stop the mouths of lions. It's not about approaching the lion in just such a way. It's not about making this or that particular move, having this particular weapon. The writer's emphasizing it's by faith that they stopped the mouths of lions. Verse 34, Many times it seems like as you read the accounts of some of these great victories that experience in their history, that in a lot of the cases, they really were the underdogs. They really were what seemed like a disadvantage. I remember reading a book some years ago, and now the author's name is escaping me, but I remember him saying that God in faith never calls us to a fair fight. And there's a lot of truth to that, and we see that in Israel's history. Let's continue on, verse 35. So having referred to the prophets generally, and he refers to women receiving their dead raised to life again, we can't help but think of Elijah and Elisha in 1 Kings 17, verses 17 to 23. And it came to pass after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick. and his sickness was so sore that there was no breath left in him. And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? Art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance and to slay my son? And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom and carried him up into a loft where he abode and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried unto the Lord and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourned by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down out of the chamber into the house and delivered him unto his mother. And Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. So one of two occasions in the Old Testament where we see one in this way brought back to life. Elisha in 2 Kings 4, verses 18-36, And when the child was grown, it fell on a day that he went out to his father, to the reapers. And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to Elijah, Carry him to his mother. And when he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon and died. And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door upon him and went out. And she called unto her husband and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God and come again. Will thou go to him today? It's neither new moon nor Sabbath, and she said, It shall be well. Then she saddled an ass and said to her servant, Drive and go forward, slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee. So she went and came unto the man of God to Mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite. Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well. And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet, but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone, for her soul is vexed within her, and the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me. Then she said, Did I desire a son of my Lord? Did I not say, Do not deceive me? Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way. If thou meet any man, salute him not. If any salute thee, answer him not again, and lay my staff upon the face of the child. And the mother of the child said, As the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose and followed her. And Gazi passed on before them and laid the staff upon the face of the child, but there was neither voice nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him and told him, saying, The child is not awake. And when Elisha was coming to the house, behold, the child was dead and laid upon his bed. He went in, therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the Lord. And he went up and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands. And he stretched himself upon the child, and the flesh of the child waxed warm. Then he returned and walked in the house to and fro, and went up and stretched himself upon him. And the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. And he called Gehazi and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her, and when she was coming unto him, he said, Take up thy son." Here we have again, we have this account, women receiving their dead, raised to life again. But notice that this verse makes a turn. To this point, Everything has been these great triumphs, these great victories, these great overcomings, even to the point of these women receiving their dead ones raised to life again. But then the writer says, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance. that they might obtain a better resurrection, a better resurrection than merely being brought back to life in this life on this earth. In other words, there were those who just as much by faith experienced no immediate victory, no immediate deliverance. And he continues in verse 36, and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea moreover of bonds and imprisonments. And so he continues this account of the suffering and the affliction and the persecution and And one of the prophets, Jeremiah, in fact, we think of as how he was put in the stocks and later thrown down in the cistern because of speaking the word of the Lord. Jeremiah chapter 20 and chapter 38 speaks of those times in his life and his account. By faith he suffered these. Verse 37, they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with a sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. We read of the prophet Zechariah, how that he was stoned in 2 Chronicles 24, verses 20 to 21. And again, these are just general examples of things that happen without names attached to them, though we could put some names in some places. He says in verse 38, of whom the world was not worthy, they wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. In other words, many, he said, suffered poverty and privation and persecution on this earth, wondering about being destitute and afflicted. And then we get to the summary of this chapter, verses 39 to 40. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, receive not the promise. So the writer summarizes his faith illustrations here, and really he's echoing back at the beginning of the chapter, chapter 11 and verse 2, where he said, for by it the elders obtained a good report. And he's using that same language here, how these all have obtained a good report through faith. a good witness by faith, with the implication being, as we saw at the beginning of the chapter, that they pleased God. So with their lives, with their faith, with their actions, they pleased God. Now once again, we look over this chapter and think about just how different these circumstances and situations were. And even as you get down to the end, he makes that turn. And he goes from these great, tremendous victories to sufferings that end in death, martyrdom. So their circumstances were very different. But the writer's point throughout has been that the faith is the same. And therefore, the reward is the same as well. Whether victorious in this life, or whether martyred, he said, they died without receiving the promises. In other words, faith absolutely must look forward to future reward. That reward is not in this life. Yes, we receive many blessings in this life. We receive many deliverances, and there's no telling how many deliverances that we receive and that we're not even really aware of. We don't even really realize how God has preserved or has delivered us in this or that instance. And we've all had those kind of moments where you know, we suddenly realize, oh, that could have been very, very bad. But it wasn't. And it wasn't, I know that it wasn't, you know, my intelligence or my ingenuity or my cautiousness that delivered me from that. It was just the Lord that simply delivered me from that because I was unaware of the danger. We've all had those kind of experiences. Well, Faith looks forward to that future reward, and that's what he's talking about here right at the end, describing it in verse 40, God having provided some better thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect. Now, of course, the writer is writing to his Jewish readers, and he's giving them all of these examples that they would have been very well familiar with from the Old Testament. And he says, we have promise of something better just as they did. And he's referring here to the coming kingdom of Christ and the inheritance in the earth and the everlasting resurrection life as these things have been hinted at in chapter 11 and will also be in chapter number 12. And God has done things. such a way so again if we're looking for reasons and we're looking for explanations of the way that God has has worked and continues to work well we're given a little bit of an explanation right here he says in verse 40 that God has provided some better thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect God has done things in such a way that that all will be glorified and receive those promises together in his kingdom. Now we do have as we think about this chapter as we've looked at and we've spent several messages and easily I always like the part where he says time would fail me. Time would fail me, because that really is true. I mean, we could go on and on and on and on with these examples and these people, and then we could even look back into our own Christian history and those of the past, and we could go on and on and on talking about these kind of examples. But there's always that nagging question of why? Why? Do things go this way? Why should we do things this way? Why not some other way? And a lot of times there's always some other way that just makes more immediate sense. And you've had that experience, I'm sure you had it as a child, and you've probably had it when you've been trying to teach a child to do something and they wanna just do it some other way. And one of the reasons is because they have no idea what it is that it actually needs to be done and why. And you're trying to teach and trying to explain it to them. And really, that's a reflection of us and how we are with God. We don't understand all of God's plans. We don't know all of God's plans and all of his ways. He tells us very plainly that his thoughts and ways are not ours. They're much higher than ours. We don't understand all those things. But God says, do this, and faith responds, I will do this. Well, the path oftentimes seems difficult and dangerous, and that's what we really get reflected particularly at the ending of this chapter. Well, we just simply cannot fully know God's plans, but we can know enough to know that God does have a plan. In other words, these are not just sort of random events that God's trying to control or react to. God does have a plan, and he works everything so that his plan is realized. And because he's God, because he's wise and good, that is far better for us. Just as the book of Job, as it comes to its end, as Job has been complaining, and his friends have been complaining. Of course, he and his friends didn't always agree, but they're complaining about these different things. And essentially, finally, God responds and asks if Job is going to give him counsel. And Job finally gets to the point where he realizes, I've just got to stop my mouth. I've got to quit speaking and telling God how that he should be running the universe. So God is working everything according to his plan. And we have examples here, and we've got example after example here that God has worked things in such a way also that His power is made known, that He is glorified. Just like He told Gideon, I can't deliver them into your hands with this many soldiers. Your army is too big. If I deliver them, then then Israel is going to boast and think that they have done it themselves. They're not going to glorify God. So he told Gideon this. He was making his power known. He told Moses this. He's making his power known. His glory is seen and his glory is praised. So again, why is God doing things the way that he's doing them? Well, one thing that we do know is that he's doing it for our good and he's doing it so that his power will be made known and that he will be glorified, which also results in a witness and testimony to others. Now, in more recent times in history, people try very hard to equate faith with success. Success in this life. faith with victory in this life, faith with prosperity in this life, but really this chapter should certainly disabuse us of such notions because not all are delivered. Some, as he said, were tortured and on and on it goes.