The Triumph Of Faith
THE TRIUMPH OF FAITH
HEBREWS 11:32-40
Faith produces the power to persevere when the going gets tough.
The author has not exhausted the catalog of the heroes of faith. There are many more and he lists some of their names (11:32). But for lack of time he does not go into detail in their exploits. Instead he has a quick summary. First he speaks of the broad, general results achieved by these people of faith: they had success in conflict, success in the area of government, and the spiritual reward covenanted by God (11:33). They also experienced forms of personal deliverance. Some were saved from wild animals, others from fire (which may stand for physical forces in general), and others again from people who would have destroyed them (11:33f.). The third group of successes rings the changes on human strength: they won it, they used it in war, and they triumphed with it by putting armies to flight (11:34).
We may wonder why women are singled out as receiving their dead by resurrection (11:35). But most such resurrections recorded in Scripture were in fact for women (eg 1 Kings 17:17ff.; 2 Kings 4:17ff.; Luke 7:11ff.; John chapter 11; Acts 9:36ff.), so there is point in the comment. But in rejoicing over such victories we must not think that faith is always triumphant on the human level. Sometimes it must undergo hardship and even apparent defeat. That was the way of the cross, and Christians follow in the steps of the Master. So we are told of those who suffered in a variety of ways, some accepting death, knowing that their faithfulness would have its effects in the resurrection (11:35). Some endured only insults, some accepted torture, some imprisonment, some destitution and the loss of homes and the like.
But the climax to all this comes with the surprising information that, giants of the faith though they were, and examples to believers as they continue to be, these “did not receive what was promised” (11:39). This does not mean that God let them down in any way. It is the author’s way of making the telling point that in the providence of God the consummation of the promises was not in the days of old, but would include his readers. God’s plan is that all his people will be made perfect together. Christ’s saving act has consequences for the whole people of God.