Hebrews 11 Faith's Unlikely Heroes & Unlikely Outcomes

Bible Study Series: Jesus in Hebrews - Better by Far!

Bible Study Lesson: Hebrews 11 - Faith's Unlikely Heroes & Unlikely Outcomes

by I Gordon

Ok... hello once again! We have been traveling through Hebrews for several months now and recently found ourselves in this great chapter, Hebrews 11... the hall of faith. We've seen the faith of some incredible men and women in this chapter like Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses and others. We'll close the chapter today, exploring Hebrews 11:30-40, and I really want to focus on two main thoughts as we do so.

• Firstly, we'll look at the unlikely heroes seen in the closing of this chapter - how faith is seen in less than perfect people. So as we move through this section we'll look at their faith... but through the lens of their faults and flaws. Now this should give you some encouragement I hope because I've heard it on good authority that you too may just have one or two flaws and be just a weeny bit less than perfect! 
• Secondly we'll explore the unlikely outcomes seen in the closing of this chapter - how faith doesn't always see or receive the perfect ending on this planet... but will in the next! In this we'll explore the two sides to the faith coin. But more on that later!  

So there we go... applying the KISS principle today and keeping it simple stupid! But these are both important points which can trip some people up, so let's jump in. 

The unlikely heroes

Heb 11:30-32  By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.  (31)  By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.  (32)  And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets,

Now, I'm not sure if you have noticed, but there are a whole bunch of unlikely heroes mentioned in this passage. Some were weak, some were fearful, some were even immoral... and all were flawed. But in a strange sort of way they should give us encouragement. Is it just me or do you also love the fact that God uses a bunch of faulty, impaired humans to do some very wonderful things? Ok... maybe it is just me! But I appreciate it because I can see many of these same traits, that I see in these characters, in my own life. And in my odd reasoning that is hopeful because if God used people like this before, and even places them in His hall of faith, well... maybe He could use me. Or, even stranger, you for that matter! So what unlikely heroes are we talking about then you ask?

Jericho - An unlikely means of victory!

Well we start with a whole bunch of Israelites for the most part walking in silence around the walls of an impregnable fortress called Jericho. That sounds like a likely way of defeating your enemy right? Not! The silence is really only interrupted by the blowing of a shofar when they have finished their circuit. Odd way to take an enemy city don't you think? And yet on the 7th day as they blow their shofars and let out a shout, the walls come tumbling down! We see here that victory doesn't come from being the fastest, the strongest, having the largest army or the most horses. God is telling us something in this first conflict in the Promised Land and that is that victory comes through faith, not force. Trust, not effort. And it often comes in unusual ways so that He, and not we, gets the glory. The New Testament says:

1Co 1:27-29  God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,  (28)  and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,  (29)  so that no man may boast before God.

And the many stories of the Old Testament bear this out! God again and again uses weak and even foolish means (in the eyes of the world) to confound those who think they know better! Jericho was an unlikely victory through unlikely means. So let us remember that:

2Co 10:4  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

Rahab - An unlikely heroine

Now we read of but one person inside the walls of Jericho. And this one person would save their family from the destruction of their city. They alone would survive this defeat of their city and people. And who is this colossus, this impressive individual? Well, it is a prostitute named Rahab. A prostitute you say? Surely not! God is holy... He wouldn't look favorably upon her... surely? Well, here is the thing... God may not have approved of her lifestyle but He did approve of her faith. And through faith she was willing to put her life on the line to shelter and protect the Israelite spies. And this unlikely heroine turned her whole life around... through the actions of her faith. She went on to leave her life of sin behind, marry a man called Salmon (a prince of the tribe of Judah - 2 Chr 2:10-11). Rahab became the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth, and thus Rahab (yes the once sinful gentile prostitute) became the great-great-grandmother of King David and in the line of the Messiah - Jesus Christ. It is quite the unlikely, but true, redemptive story! Rahab reminds us that God is in the business of turning lives around and as scripture says:

Eze 36:25-27  I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities... (26) I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  (27)  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees...

Unlikely faith from flawed individuals

Heb 11:32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets,

The writer assures us that he has no lack of examples to give... just a lack of space and time! He tells us that he could speak of the faith if Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel... They all had extraordinary acts of faith. But continuing this theme we see that these were all flawed and unlikely individuals as well. I won't go into their stories in any depth, but as a quick summary, note the following:

• Gideon saw himself as the least in his family and from the least tribe in Israel. In other words, 'I'm the least of the least Lord... are you sure you want to use me? I'm not convinced you have picked the right person!' He had to overcome his fears and insecurities as many of us do. He needed more confirmation than most, that God really would be with him and give him victory. He was weak in himself... and yet that is why God chose him right? The victory that Gideon went on to achieve didn't come through might or personal strength. It came from God, working through a flawed individual... but one who still would obey and step out in faith. Gideon's story is an amazing one and I encourage you to read it again in Judges 6 and 7.
   
• Barak was a commander from the book of Judges who achieved a great victory over Jabin, a king of Canaan and enemy of Israel. And yet Barak wasn't without his flaws and weaknesses either. He was initially reluctant to go against Jabin and would only go if Deborah, who was leading Israel at the time, would go with him. It seems that Deborah was really the brave one of the two here! Yet together they went and through faith prevailed. Again, Barak is a reminder that we all have fear, but faith can overcome when we trust the Lord. So Barak gets his mention in the hall of faith.
  
  
• Samson is next. What do you think of when you hear the name Samson? His strength right? Or is it his weakness? Hmmm... yeah both! Physically so strong, yet his inward character flaws made him so weak! Oh Samson... you have given us quite the story! He could deliver Israel from their Philistine enemies with the jawbone of an ass, then make an ass of himself with Philistine women! And yet, here we find him in Hebrews 11 - God's hall of faith. There is one very redeeming feature of Samson's story and that is his ending. You probably know the story. The Philistines had cut his hair and taken his strength. They had chained him up and taken his sight. And yet, in this moment of utter weakness, he does something wonderful. He prays. He calls on the God of Israel once again. And placing his hands on the two pillars of the temple (like a sign of the cross), God restores his strength and Samson goes out with a bang. Here is a guy who did bring the house down in his final act. Well, the temple anyway. And so we read
  
  Jdg 16:28-30  Then Samson prayed to the LORD, "O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes."  (29)  Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other,  (30)  Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.
  
  Like Jesus, His death brought greater defeat to the enemy than his life. Maybe you have tripped up along the way in your walk with the Lord? If so, remember Samson and end well. And that is by ending in faith. I do not mean by going out in a blaze of glory and destroying someone's home! We'll leave that to Samson! : )
  
  
• Jephthah is mentioned next and his story isn't straight forward either. He is another unlikely hero¹. On the one hand he is said to have been a mighty warrior (Jud 11:1), yet we also read that his mother was a prostitute. Hmmm. So Jephthah grew up in a family of half-brothers that hated him, saw him as illegitimate, and eventually drove him not only out of the family, but out of the country! It is fair to say that there is a strong case for some long standing damage and feelings of rejection right there! But thankfully his story doesn't end there and he is called back to help lead and deliver Israel from the Ammonites. And spoiler alert... he does! His faith overcame. The rejected became the leader, the one looked down upon, became the one looked up to!
  
  
• David should be known to all I'd hope! He was the youngest in his family and was overlooked. Yet he overcame this by his great faith and conquered Goliath. But his soon acceptance and praise in Israel became a source of great jealousy for king Saul who first tried to pin him to the wall with his javelin, and then spent around a decade trying to kill him. David was called 'a man after God's own heart' yet still had his failures, most notably with Bathsheba. 
  
  
• Samuel is mentioned last of all. He was an amazing man of faith, yet not without his troubles either. His difficulty came with his sons. As amazing as Samuel was, his two sons didn't follow in his footsteps. Yet despite this, Samuel appointed them as Judges in Israel. And to cut a short story even shorter... well it didn't end well. They took brides, perverted justice and before long the elders wanted them out and they called for a king for the first time... so they could be just like the other nations. And we know how that ended!

The reality is that as amazing as these men and women were, they were flawed, sometimes deeply flawed, individuals. A bit like you and me. Yet despite the flaws they had faith and through faith did things that will last for eternity. And let me say one last thing here - their many flaws will not be seen in eternity anymore than they are seen in Hebrews 11's hall of faith. 

Quiz Time!

Heb 11:33-37  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. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection.  (36)  Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison.  (37)  They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated--  

Now who do you think the author had in mind when he wrote these things?² Let's quickly go through some examples that fit each categories:

Some unlikely outcomes to faith - Two sides to the faith coin

Look at the two sides of faith in this table... and remember all of this was done by faith. Both the good, as we see it, and the bad. 

Now there are things in this list that you will naturally gravitate to. The writer speaks of some who conquered kingdoms. Yes, we like conquering! We'll happily take conquering. They gained what was promised. 'Ooooh... love it' we say, 'keep it coming. I'm all in here. I want this faith. I want to receive the promises!' They shut the mouths of lions and even quenched the flames of fire. Wow! Amazing. Their weakness was turned into strength. 'Yes, yes , yes... I want that. I need that. It's all through faith and that is going to be me!' Where do I sign up for this type of amazing faith? And yet, without missing a beat or taking a breath, the writer goes onto things that we would call the flip side of faith. This is the other side to the faith coin. And this is 100% still faith. 'Others were tortured' he writes. Oh... Still want to sign up and put your name on the faith list? They faced jeers, flogging, chains and imprisonment. Are you hanging in there? Because it gets worse. They were stoned, sawed in two. Killed by the sword. Is that your stomach grumbling? Most of their lives they were destitute, persecuted and mistreated. None of them received what had been promised. Have I popped your enthusiastic faith bubble a little?

So I have a feeling that you prefer the music on side one of this cassette tape over side two! Is that right? And yet this is all part of faith and through faith. If you live in the West like I do, you probably don't have much experience of the things listed in the second side to faith. Maybe you have been jeered, mistreated or persecuted for your faith. It is doubtful that you have been tortured, stoned or sawed in two. I hope! I was going to add 'imprisoned' to the list of things that don't happen to those of faith in the West... but that seems to be changing so I have left it off. What we see from this full list is that the outcome of faith can be incredibly varied, yet it all requires faith. Faith can inherit the promises and see tremendous obstacles overcome. Love it! It may also mean that you don't see the promises fulfilled in this life - yet you persevere and trust God, unwavering in your faith no matter what. And that is so precious. In parts of the church only the first side of faith is spoken about. The faith-prosperity, heath-wealth type message that is unfortunately still around and flourishing in parts, only knows about things going well about obtaining the promises - and normally just for yourself. But what if you don't get health, wealth and anything else they are after? Maybe your health is failing you and you haven't been healed. Maybe this has gone on for years or even decades. You know what? That takes tremendous faith. When you are not seeing answers, not seeing promises fulfilled, not seeing what others may see as a 'victorious Christian life', takes tremendous faith.

A personal example

As I thought about the two sides to faith, the example of my Mum came back to me. I have mentioned before that about 5 years ago she was diagnosed with a golf ball size tumor in her head. The night before she was to go into hospital for surgery she had a wonderful experience of the Lord that left her completely in faith - whether she lived or died! It was an experience so real that she went into the hospital full of joy and peace and was happily sharing with the nurses that God is good. She really was lifted above the gravity of the situation and it was amazing to see. She came through the surgery fine, her stroke-like symptoms that she had been experiencing left her and it was just a wonderful story of overcoming and seeing the promises of God fulfilled. Awesome.  

Then about a year and half ago she had a fall on her concrete garage floor and broke her hip. She had surgery to replace the hip and while starting to recover was 'yanked' so hard by a nurse (we still have no idea why!) that a tendon in her hip was completely torn and another was partially torn. Since then it has been a struggle. She has been in a lot of pain, struggling to walk and she hasn't had any experiences of the Lord this time. And this requires faith, great faith. It is a faith that says, like Habakkuk:

Hab 3:17-18  Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,  (18)  yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

That is faith. It is one side of the faith coin. 

Let me put it this way... how would you feel if Hebrews 11 only spoke of conquering, endless victory and always receiving promises? And if you weren't living in all those things, all the time, then you weren't living in faith. How would you feel? And would that be your experience? The reality is that God allows many things in our lives to try and test us. Yes there is conquering and receiving promises. Thank God for that. But there are also times of heavenly silence while things aren't going well... and all of this is to refine our faith.  

Conclusion

So as we conclude, we have seen that faith has some unlikely characters and some unlikely outcomes. And it could well be that you are one of those unlikely characters! We all have our flaws but God is willing and able to use us anyway... as we trust and look to Him. And we have seen that there are two sides to this faith coin. One side contains faith to conquer, obtain promises and see deliverance. Awesome. The other side sees the courage to suffer, without seeing what is promised, and yet while holding firm to the faith. When I wrote about this passage previously, I added the following quick statements concerning faith which are worth re-adding:

• Faith believes in and takes hold of the promises of God
• Faith can conquer giants (in whatever form they come!)
• Faith in God has its foundation in weakness
• Faith in God can change our situation and always changes us
• Faith includes suffering as well as deliverance
• Faith is motivated by and looks to, the resurrection and life to come
• Faith in God means 'and they lived happily ever after' is not always for this life, but is for the life to come.

And so we close, let me just add the last summing-up verses of this chapter, for it speaks of those that lived by faith in God - despite all the trouble that brings! 

Heb 11:38-40  The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.  (39)  These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.  (40)  God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

The world was not worthy of them. That is heaven's assessment of these men and women of faith. In the world's eyes they were almost worthless... crazy men and women who gave up what the world had to offer to follow God. 'Very strange people' the world thought. And yet heaven thought differently. The world always has its ones that it thinks are 'worthy'. It has its 'stars' that it likes to glorify and shine a light on. But oh how different are God's thoughts! And you will note that it says concerning those of faith, that none of them received what had been promised. You see they were ultimately looking for their heavenly home and eternal city. And that is what motivated them to do what they did in this life. But also note what the writer goes on to say - God has planned something better and that is together with us (the Church). As Jesus said concerning the life to come, many will come from the east and the west and sit down in the Kingdom of Heaven with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And then everyone believer, from all ages, shall be together for the first time ever. And it is our faith that will unite us. We will all have different stories to tell³ but the one unifier will be our faith in God and in the Lord Jesus Christ. May we live for that day aye?

God Bless. 

FOOTNOTES