Commentary - Hebrews 11:32-38

Bird's-eye view

In this section of his great discourse on faith, the author of Hebrews begins to accelerate his pace. He has laid down his definition of faith and provided towering examples like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses. Now, as though pressed for time, he unleashes a torrent of names and exploits that cascade through the history of Israel. This is not a sign of fatigue, but rather a rhetorical device to show the overwhelming weight of evidence. The cloud of witnesses is not a sparse gathering; it is a stadium full of saints.

The passage pivots dramatically in the middle. It begins with the glorious, triumphant, and victorious outworkings of faith, kingdoms conquered and lions' mouths shut. This is the kind of faith that makes for thrilling stories. But then, without missing a beat, the author turns to the other side of faith's coin: torture, mockings, imprisonment, and brutal execution. The key is that both are presented as outcomes of the very same victorious faith. Faith is not a charm that guarantees earthly success, but rather the bedrock assurance that enables a believer to conquer a kingdom or to be sawn in two, all for the glory of God and the hope of a better resurrection.

Outline

Commentary

32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I recount Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, as well as David and Samuel and the prophets,

The author adopts the tone of a man who has so much evidence for his case that he is overwhelmed with the task of presenting it all. "And what more shall I say?" is not a question of a man who has run out of material, but of a man who knows the reservoir is virtually bottomless. He says that time, not evidence, is the limiting factor. He could go on and on.

And look at the list he provides. It is a startling collection of flawed heroes. Gideon, the fearful thresher who needed multiple signs. Barak, who would not go to battle without a woman to accompany him. Samson, the Nazirite who was a mess of moral compromise, led around by his lusts. Jephthah, who made a rash and tragic vow. These are not the polished and sanitized saints of sentimental piety. These are rough men, sinners all, and yet the Spirit of God commends them for one thing: their faith. The Bible is relentlessly honest about its heroes, which ought to be a profound encouragement to us. God does not use perfect people. He uses forgiven people, and He uses them when they, despite their weaknesses, trust Him. He then includes David, a man after God's own heart who was also an adulterer and murderer, Samuel the great prophet-judge, and then lumps in all "the prophets" as a group.

33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, performed righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,

Here begins the list of faith's glorious achievements. This is what faith does. It is not a passive, internal sentiment. It is an active, world-altering force. "Through faith" is the engine driving every accomplishment that follows. They "conquered kingdoms", think of Joshua's conquest of Canaan, or David's establishment of his kingdom. They "performed righteousness," which is to say they administered justice and governed in the fear of the Lord, as David and Samuel did. They "obtained promises," receiving what God had sworn to give, from the land of Canaan to specific victories in battle. And they "shut the mouths of lions," a clear reference to Daniel in the lion's den, but also a powerful metaphor for silencing any demonic adversary that roars against the people of God.

34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong from weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

The catalog of triumphs continues. "Quenched the power of fire" immediately brings to mind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who walked out of the fiery furnace without the smell of smoke on them. They "escaped the edge of the sword," as David did from Saul, or Elijah from Jezebel. Faith is not a promise that the sword will never be drawn against you, but it is the means by which God provides deliverance time and again. They "were made strong from weakness." This is a foundational principle of the Christian life. Gideon's little band of 300, Samson's final act of strength in his blindness, God delights in taking the weak things of the world to shame the strong. Faith plugs us into a power that is not our own. And because of this, they "became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight." Israel's history is filled with stories of miraculous military victories against impossible odds, all accomplished because they trusted in the Lord of Hosts.

35 Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection;

This verse is the pivot. It is the hinge on which the whole passage turns. First, we have the apex of earthly victory: "Women received back their dead by resurrection." This refers to the miracles performed by Elijah and Elisha, raising the son of the widow of Zarephath and the son of the Shunammite woman. What greater triumph could faith achieve in this life than to reverse death itself?

And then, with a semicolon, the scene changes entirely. "And others were tortured." The Greek here implies a specific, brutal form of torture, being stretched on a rack. These saints, by the same faith that raised the dead, chose to endure agony. They were offered a way out, "not accepting their release", but they refused it. Why? Because their faith was fixed on a greater reality. They were not looking for a return to this life, but were aiming for "a better resurrection." The first resurrection brought a child back to a mortal life that would end again. The better resurrection is the final, glorious, eternal resurrection of the just. This is a faith that sees beyond the horizon of this world and values the promises of the next above any comfort or relief in the present.

36 and others experienced mockings and floggings, yes, also chains and imprisonment.

The list of sufferings continues, moving from the extreme of torture to the grinding miseries of persecution. Mocking and flogging were the experiences of prophets like Jeremiah. Joseph knew chains, as did many others who stood for God against the powers of their day. This is not the glorious charge against a foreign army; this is the lonely, humiliating, painful endurance of the world's contempt. And it is held up as an achievement of faith, just as much as conquering a kingdom.

37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, mistreated

The intensity of the suffering escalates. "Stoned" was the fate of Zechariah son of Jehoiada. Tradition holds that Isaiah was "sawn in two" by King Manasseh. The mention of being "tempted" here might seem out of place amidst such physical violence, but it is a crucial insight. In the midst of their suffering, the great test was to abandon their faith, to curse God and live. Their resistance to that temptation was a central victory of their faith. Others were "put to death with the sword," like the prophets of the Lord in Elijah's day. Their lives were not marked by earthly success but by a rugged, nomadic poverty. They were outcasts, "destitute, afflicted, mistreated." They looked nothing like what the world calls successful. But they had a faith that the world could not understand.

38 (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in desolate places and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

The author interrupts his list with a parenthetical evaluation that turns the world's value system completely upside down. The world looked at these ragged, hunted prophets and judged them worthless. But God, through the author of Hebrews, delivers the true verdict: it was the world that was not worthy of them. The world, in its pomp and power and sophistication, was morally and spiritually bankrupt compared to these faithful sufferers. Their wandering was not aimless; they were pilgrims, seeking a city whose builder and maker is God. Their homelessness on earth was a testimony to where their true home was. They lived as exiles because they knew they were citizens of a heavenly kingdom, and by their faith, they condemn the world that rejected them.

Application

This passage is a bracing tonic against the kind of shallow, prosperity-gospel nonsense that so often infects the modern church. Faith is not a tool for getting what you want out of this life. Faith is the unwavering confidence in God that enables you to serve Him faithfully, whether that leads to a throne or to a torture rack.

We must recognize that both outcomes, earthly victory and earthly suffering, are equally valid expressions of a vibrant faith. Sometimes faith slays the giant, and sometimes faith enables you to be faithfully executed by the giant's minions. God calls some to conquer kingdoms for His name, and He calls others to be sawn in two for His name. The one who triumphs and the one who is tortured are both commended if they are acting "through faith."

We are therefore called to a robust and rugged faith, one that is not surprised by hardship. We should pray for and work towards victory, righteousness, and the advance of Christ's kingdom in the world. But we must also be prepared to endure mockings, imprisonment, and worse, not as a sign of God's displeasure, but as a participation in the sufferings of the saints who have gone before us. Our eyes, like theirs, must be fixed on the better resurrection, the city that has foundations, and the King who will make all things right.