By Faith We Live and Die

These were all commended for their faith. – Hebrews 11:40

In our study of the life of faith, we notice a seeming contradiction in Hebrews 11:32-40. Verse 34 says by faith God’s people escaped the edge of the sword, while verse 37 says by faith some were put to death by the sword. There is, however, no contradiction. As believers, we live by faith and we die by faith. We may experience God’s miraculous deliverance from troubles, or we may die without miracles. We must fully understand that Christ’s teaching includes our suffering.

This particular passage is extremely important to give balance in our lives. The thrust of much modern evangelism is that by receiving Jesus into our hearts, we can not only avoid hell and go to heaven, but we can also avoid pain and enjoy health, wealth, and power in this life. Such notions are false, and those who preach them are false teachers.

This passage reinforces the truth that in God’s sovereign plan, Christians do suffer and may even become destitute and homeless. In fact, Christians are destined to suffer more than others because of their confession of Christ. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, keep in mind it hated me first . . . In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God” (John 15:18; 16:2). Elsewhere he warned, “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me” (Matt. 24:9).

I grew up believing in miracles and I still do. But I have adjusted my thinking in the light of God’s word. In God’s sovereign will, he may perform miracles for us, or he may not. Jesus demanded that Christians deny themselves, take up their crosses daily, and follow him. In other words, we must come and die that we may live forever. Jesus did not say he would give us trouble-free and prosperous lives here and hereafter eternal life. He said, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish” (John 10:28). Paul says, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). In reference to possible martyrdom he writes, “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed but have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body whether by life or by death . . . For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. . . I am torn between the two; I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” (Phil. 1:20-21, 23).

Hebrews 11:32-40, therefore, tells us clearly that by faith Christians live for Christ and by faith we suffer and die for Christ. The eternal life that Christ gives us is a death-conquering life; we are therefore more than conquerors. By faith we overcome the world.

Faith means that we can clearly see the invisible things of God. When we do so, the present, visible world loses its charm. Through faith we are enabled to forfeit life itself, if necessary, to gain that better world to come. Faith is the response of all who are conscious of their own nothingness and weakness; therefore, they rely totally in God.

By Faith We Live

First, then, the author gives six examples of faith, in which God’s people triumphed through miracles (vv. 32-35).

1. Gideon. As a vast multitude of Midianites came to swallow up the Israelites, God commissioned Gideon to defeat them. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him and God asked him to reduce his thirty-two thousand troops. With only three hundred men, Gideon totally defeated the Midianites.
2. Barak. Although he was timid and fearful, he believed the word of the Lord that Deborah spoke, and he and his infantry overcame Sisera and his 900 iron chariots.
3. Samson had many flaws. Yet by faith in Yahweh and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, he defeated the Philistines.
4. Jephthah was another flawed man. Yet the Spirit of God also came upon him and he defeated the Ammonites by his faith in the God of Israel.
5. David. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him even while he was a teenager and enabled him to triumph over the Philistine champion Goliath. Later, he overthrew the armies of various kingdoms, as recorded in 2 Samuel.
6. Samuel and all the prophets. These also lived by faith and prophesied fearlessly, often risking their own lives. They all experienced miracles and successes in their lives through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Hebrews author says all of these by faith “conquered kingdoms,” meaning the kingdoms of enemies of the people of God, and “administered justice,” which could also be translated “practiced holiness” (v. 33). These people lived righteous lives and administered justice as God’s agents. They “gained what was promised” (v. 33) regarding the nation Israel and the land of Israel, although they did not see the fulfillment of the promise of the Messiah in their lifetimes. They could say with Joshua, “Now I am going to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed” (Josh. 23:14).

Hebrews 11:33 also says by faith some “shut the mouths of lions.” Because he lived by faith and prayed to God, Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den. But God protected him, and in Daniel 6 we read, “Daniel answered, ‘O king, live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king.’ The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him because he had trusted in his God” (Dan. 6:21-23).

By faith some “quenched the fury of the flames” (v. 34). This can refer to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were asked to violate God’s law by worshiping a ninety-foot tall golden image. Because they lived by faith in God and his word, they refused to worship the image and were thrown into a fiery furnace. Notice their declaration of faith and how God miraculously spared them:

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” . . . So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace . . . Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisors, “Weren’t there three men we tied up and threw into the fire?’ They replied, “Certainly, O king.” He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisors crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their head singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them (Dan. 3:16-18, 21, 24-27).

The Hebrews author then speaks about those who by faith “escaped the edge of the sword” (v. 34). First Kings 19 speaks of Elijah escaping Jezebel’s sword: ” Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, ‘May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them'” (vv. 1-2). Jezebel could not kill Elijah, for the Sovereign God did not want him to be so killed.

Then the author says their “weakness was turned into strength” (v. 34). The classic illustration is that of Samson, whose great strength left him when he sinned (Judges 16:19). But look at his final prayer: “Then Samson prayed to the Lord, ‘O Sovereign Lord, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more'” (Judges 16:28). God heard his prayer and Samson killed three thousand Philistines in his death. Paul tells us, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10). When we are at our weakest, then our faith in God makes us very strong.

Next, we learn that such people became “powerful in battle” by divine enablement (v. 34). This was certainly true of David, who declared, “You armed with me with strength for battle; you made my adversaries bow at my feet. You made my enemies turn their backs in flight and I destroyed my foes” (Ps. 18:39-40).

Some “routed foreign armies” (v. 34). In 2 Kings 19 we read about Sennacherib coming against Hezekiah and his God. In verses 10 through 13 this Assyrian king gives reasons why Hezekiah should not trust in Yahweh. But it only took one angel to destroy the hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrian soldiers, and Sennacherib went back to Assyria, where he was killed.

Then we are told “women received back their dead” (v. 35). We read of several women experiencing this miracle: the widow of Zarephath, whose son Elijah raised from the dead; the Shunammite woman, whose son Elisha raised; the widow of Nain, whose son was raised by Jesus; Mary and Martha, whose brother Lazarus was resurrected by Jesus; and the widows of Joppa, who saw Peter raise their young friend Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:36-42).

Here, then, we see miracle after miracle cited by the Hebrews author. If we did not keep reading, we may tend to think that the normal Christian life is one of miracles.

By Faith We Suffer and Die

But as we read on, we see that by faith we may also be called suffer and even die without any miraculous intervention by God (Heb. 11:35-38). In verse 35 we read, “Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection.” The author may be referring to the persecution of the Jewish people during the terror-filled reign of Antiochus Epiphanes IV, the Seleucid king of the second century B.C. During the Maccabean war of independence, he gave Jewish believers the choice to either violate the law of God or be tortured to death. This king devised various instruments of torture, including wheels, joint dislocators, bone crushers, catapults, braziers, thumbscrews, iron claws, wedges, and branding irons. His troops tortured people by tearing out their tongues, scalping them, mutilating them, or frying them over flames.

These believers were tortured because they refused to violate God’s laws. Had they taken the opportunities offered them to recant, they could have lived comfortable lives. But God’s people by faith refused to become apostates. Thus, in 2 Maccabees 6 we read about a ninety-year-old Bible teacher named Eleazar who was offered an opportunity to escape death if he would eat pig’s meat. Eleazar refused, and on his own accord, and in certain hope of his resurrection, he went by faith to the instrument of torture and death. In 2 Maccabees 7 we read of the torture and death of seven sons and their mother during the same persecution. Each one asserted before their deaths that the King of the universe would raise them up to an everlasting renewal of life because they were dying for his laws. The mother herself encouraged her sons with the following words: “The Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of man and devised the origin of all things will, in his mercy, give life and breath back to you again.” All seven sons and their mother were tortured and died, one after the other. They did so to gain a better resurrection of everlasting life, which was the hope of all Old Testament saints.

In Hebrews 11:36 and following we are told that by faith some believers experienced mocking, beating, chains, stoning, and imprisonment. There is no mention of God miraculously intervening and putting an end to these things. That is why we say that any theology that teaches that the Christian life is a life of miracles from beginning to end is not biblical. (PGM) We have heard people preach against medicine even while the preachers themselves go to the doctors for treatment. This text refutes this. Yes, there are times when God in his sovereign will does intervene. After Herod Agrippa I put James to death by the sword, he planned also to kill Peter. But God miraculously intervened and Peter was released from jail by an angel (Acts 11).

Verse 37 says some were stoned. There was a prophet, Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest. When he prophesied God’s truth to King Joash, Joash had him stoned to death. Or look at the story of Naboth. To help Ahab obtain his land, Jezebel came up with a plan, and Naboth was stoned to death for a false charge of blasphemy (1 Kings 21).

Then we read that some were sawn in two. A pseudepigraphic writing, The Martyrdom of Isaiah, also cited in the patristic writings, says the wicked king Manasseh sawed Isaiah in two with a wooden sword, slowly but surely rending his person in two for preaching the kingdom of God.

The author then says some “were put to death by the sword” (v. 37). In 1 Kings 19:10 Elijah says Jezebel put God’s prophets to death by the sword. During the reign of King Jehoiakim, a prophet named Uriah fled to Egypt out of fear of the king. But Jehoiakim had him brought back and killed with the sword (Jer. 26:20-23). In the New Testament we see John the Baptist and James beheaded.

Notice, verse 34 had said they escaped the sword, but here we read, others were put to death by the sword. Why is there no divine intervention? The only answer is that death is a promotion to the very presence of God. Therefore, while some escape the sword by faith, in God’s sovereign will others will die.

We are told the people of God “went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated” (v. 37). David did this when he was persecuted by Saul. I have seen some preachers wearing diamond rings and designer garments, fooling people by telling them that this is the way God wants us to live. That is not what this text tells us. Are you unhappy with the square footage of your house? These believers did not have a settled place to live; they lived as homeless wanderers by faith. Are you looking for health, wealth, and power in this world? Here we are told that God’s people were poor and destitute. By faith they had no food, shelter, or medical insurance. They were afflicted, ill-treated, tormented. And when we study the Maccabean times, following the seizure of Jerusalem by the troops of Antiochus Epiphanes IV, pious Jews fled, only to find themselves destitute and hunted down.

I agree with the observation of A. W. Pink that oftentimes the faith that suffers is greater than the faith that can boast of an open triumph. So the author interjects: “The world was not worthy of them.” These people were God’s gifts to the world, but the world was not worthy of them. Jesus came to his own, but his own did not receive him (John 1:11). That is the destiny of God’s people. We are the light of the world, the salt of the earth, and the hope of the world. Paul says we are “known, yet regarded as unknown” (2 Cor. 6:9). We are known to God, not to the world.

These were considered outlaws, unfit to live in civilized society. Therefore they wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground (v. 38). In 1 Kings 18 we read that Obadiah sheltered and fed one hundred prophets of God in two caves. Jeremiah found himself literally in a deep hole in the ground (Jer. 38).

The theology of health, wealth, power, and continual miracles is false and will fail in times of trouble. We live by faith and we suffer by faith, in hope of the glory of God. We did not receive Jesus Christ to obtain power and riches in this world; we have been given everything in Jesus Christ, particularly death-defying eternal life. By faith God may give us great victories, but by his will he may also permit us to be tortured and killed. James the apostle was beheaded, while Peter was miraculously delivered from death, only to be crucified later. In Acts 19 we see God performing unusual, extraordinary miracles through Paul. Yet by God’s sovereign will, Paul himself experienced great suffering:

Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches (2 Cor. 11:23-28).

All of these people were living by faith and all of these things were in God’s will. The Bible encourages us that in all things, God works for the good-that is, the eternal salvation-of those who love him (Rom. 8:28). He has given us eternal life which death cannot destroy. For us, to die is gain. To die is to be present with the Lord. To die is promotion to holy communion. If we suffer with him, we shall reign with him. Whether we live or die, our objective is to glorify God in our body.

In the meantime, we need grace and mercy daily to persevere. It is available to us because of the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ. Our sympathetic high priest is always ready to give us mercy and grace: “Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

Let Us Live by Faith!

Therefore, brothers and sisters, let us approach the throne of grace with confidence and receive grace, both to live and to die. Let us be encouraged by the words of Isaiah 43:2: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” This does not mean we will not die, but it means we cannot lose our eternal life.

We have a sympathizing God who is with us, both when we experience miracles and when we are tortured and put to death: “In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy, he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old” (Is. 63:9). Paul writes:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:35-39).

United with Christ, we are in God and God is in us. Therefore it is impossible for any power to harm or destroy us. Paul admonishes, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful: he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Cor. 10:13).

Yet what is our suffering compared to that of Jesus, the suffering that secured us perfection, forgiveness of sins, and fellowship with God? “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). The sinless Son of God suffered the wrath of God in our place and for our eternal salvation. He alone cried out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

“God has said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.’ The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Heb. 13:5). Yet for our sakes he was forsaken and went to hell. So we read in Hebrews 12:2, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Christ’s suffering was unique, but ours is not. God is with us always, especially in our sufferings. He gives us grace to live and grace to suffer and die.

God is our shield and reward. Therefore, filled with the Spirit, we can live by faith and die by faith, whether we experience miracles or not. All Old Testament saints were living by faith when they died. Abraham is the father of all believers. All were commended and approved by God. If God commends us, nothing else matters. They all persevered, though they did not see the promised Messiah in their lifetime, but only saw him by faith from afar. Now Christ has come, and we, together with the Old Testament saints, are perfected through his propitiatory sacrifice. Yet even now we have not received the fullness of perfection, the redemption of our bodies. By faith, therefore, we are looking forward to the day when we receive our Spirit-engineered bodies.

Therefore we must still live by faith. We who live in this era of fulfillment have greater reason for persevering in our faith, for God has perfected us and given us his finished revelation and the Holy Spirit. God may see fit to perform extraordinary miracles in our lives and lead us in great prosperity, or he may not. In God’s will, we may escape the edge of the sword or we may not. But miracle or no miracle, we are God’s children who have been given eternal life. We are indestructible.

Let us, then, live by faith, looking forward to the day of our glorification. Paul says, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us . . . . [W]e will all be changed-in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed . . . For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore, encourage each other with these words” (Rom. 8:18; 1 Cor. 15:51-52; 1 Thess. 4:16-18).