The World was not Worthy

Today we conclude the section on heroes of the faith. The writer is not going to name anyone else. However, as the Hebrews heard the situations he described in this section, it is likely they were able to place a name to the circumstance. We will do that as we walk through the text.

v. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection.

In The OT there are two documented cases of this happening.

Elijah resurrected the son of the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17). She was a Gentile woman. Jesus mentioned this in Luke 4:25.

Elisha resurrected the Shunamite woman’s son in 2 Kings 4.

In both cases the women exercised faith in the God of Israel.

In the NT Jesus raised Jairus daughter from the dead. He told her parents to believe in Him. Their faith as rewarded (Luke 8:50).

For an individual this must be the greatest of miracles. To suffer the death of someone you love and then have them restored to you is a great miracle. There have been times in history when God has done this.

These times are few. Our God can do this, but it is not a normal occurrence at all. The good news is all who have faith in Christ will ultimately be resurrected to life.

“Some were tortured” It seems that the torture was an attempt to get them to deny their faith. Notice the phrase “refusing to accept release”.

The word for torture is “tumpanizo”. It literally means “to beat a drum”. It refers to a method of torture.

The person was stretched over a double drum like instrument. The person was then beat with clubs until; dead or severely injured.

“A better life” is a better resurrection. What does better refer to?

It could be better in comparison to the one mentioned in relation to the women receiving their loved ones back from the dead. Their resurrection is better in that they don’t die again.

It could be better in that it is unto life. Scripture teaches all are resurrected ultimately. Some to everlasting life, others to everlasting death.

We are all going to die. We may die a horrible death. We should never judge a person by the type of death they die.

The “some” are no different than the widows. By God’s grace the widows received back their dead. By God’s grace some endured great suffering.

Illustration: Peter and John. Peter very concerned that John was not going to suffer like he did.

v. 36 “Others” Again. There is no distinction in how these people lived, only in what they suffered.

Mocking. They were demeaned and ridiculed for their faith.

Flogging. This is a beating with some sort of instrument like a whip or some other tool.

Jesus was flogged.

Paul was flogged.

The beating was public humiliation and extremely painful. Jesus said that His followers would suffer like this in Matthew 10:16-20.

Chains & imprisonment. In the OT men of God like Joseph and Jeremiah were put into prison. Again, Jesus was imprisoned. Paul and some of the other apostles were as well. In fact, Paul wrote many of his NT books from prison.

The Apostles faith didn’t always deliver them from imprisonment, but it was always the reason for it.

v. 37 “Stoned” This was a Jewish method of execution. In the OT the prophet Zechariah was stoned to death (2 Chr. 24:21). Jewish tradition says Jeremiah was stoned to death. Steven was stoned to death. Paul’s enemies attempted to stone him to death.

“Sawn in two” Gain, Jewish tradition tells us this is how the prophet Isaiah died. What a grisly way to die! Painful, bloody!

“Killed with the sword” In the previous list they escaped the edge of the sword (34). Here they do not. In the NT James the Apostle is killed with the sword.

“They went about in skins of sheep and goats”. This type of clothing was very simple clothing. It belonged to the poor. These were people of God who lived in poverty. Their faith did not lead them to financial prosperity. Some would have you believe the Christian faith leads to financial prosperity. The truth is it has often led to poverty.

“went about” homeless, nomads.

“Destitute” without common items needed for life.

“Afflicted & mistreated” The world treated them horribly because of their faith in the Lord.

Certainly, they were tempted to give up on their faith. Satan whispered to them more than once. It was their faith that made life so hard for them. They refused to give up. They continued to press on.

v. 38 “of whom the world was not worthy”

These people were a gift to the world from God. They carried the message of salvation. Think of how the world viewed them.

Scum of the earth

Nobodies

Failures

Rejects

Yet the world was not worthy of them.

The world needed these people and didn’t even realize it. These men and women had the words of eternal life.

They represented the Suffering Savior.

They had in their possession The Pearl of Great Price.

They had the riches of Christ Jesus.

They offered it to the world and the world hated them for it.

“Wandering about” this reiterates their rejection. Because of persecution they were forced to:

Move

Hide

Sleep where they could find a place

The good news is although they had a cave on earth, they had a mansion in heaven!

v. 39 Here we see that these people he is referring to were OT saints. They were:

“Commended for their faith” That’s what this entire chapter has been about.

They had faith in a coming Messiah.

They never saw that Messiah, yet they believed in Him.

They suffered for Him (26) even though they had not seen Him yet.

Imagine having the faith they had and they had yet to see Jesus. We have the gospels. We have the resurrection. We have the church. We have the testimony of a complete Bible. We have so much more than them! Yet they were faithful!

v. 40 “Something better for us”

We live in the year of our Lord. Christ has come! We live in a better age than they did. Not because:

Technology

Air conditioning

Medical advances

Transportation

All those things are great. But ultimately it is better in our age because of all we know about Jesus.

That blessing comes with responsibility. Because we know more and have more, we are more accountable before God.

“Apart from us they should not be made perfect”

The people of God are not complete until they are united. There is no heaven for OT saints and another for NT saints. God is doing a work gathering his family together from all ages. Until the whole family is brought together that work is not complete.

We often think of salvation in a very limited way. We think we are forgiven and now we get to go to heaven. That’s true. It’s not all salvation is.

When God saves us, He brings us into the family. God places us in His body. We are together. Being together is part of being saved. This is one reason church is so important. When we gather, we are reminded that we will all be gathered in heaven.

Our salvation is complete when Christ returns, gathers all His people together, and destroys the wicked. We are then together forever. Then our salvation is complete.

As we think about this glorious day it should inspire us to have greater faith than even these OT heroes. In a sense, they are waiting on us. They are in heaven. But they are yet to be complete. We should be doing all we can to hasten the return of Christ through evangelism and righteous living.

Thoughts to Consider

1. A great hope of the Christian faith is a parent never has to lose a child.

2. The suffering we face cannot be compared to the suffering many have faced for Christ.

3. Never determine a person’s faithfulness by the circumstances of their life in this world.

4. Every Christian is a gift to the world.

5. There are no empty seats in heaven. “apart from us”