Victory?

          "Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 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— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised." (Hebrews 11:35-38)

            Everyone love a story where the hero emerges from the smoke, battered, dirty but victorious. That's what we think of when we think of victory. Chapter 11 of Hebrews is called "The Hall of Faith" and gives us snippets from story after story of heroes from the Old Testament. Each one lived by faith. We read about Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Rahab, then the author decides there's not time or space enough, so he simply lists a few names, then moves on to some that are unnamed. Every one of them, heroes of the faith.

         Then he gets to today's passage. If you're not familiar with it, you might think, "Now, wait a minute," because the story changes. These people don't sound like victors in our books. They're the losers. He finishes by saying that "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised." They didn't win, yet they were commended? Yes.

           Just who were these ones who didn't receive what they were looking for? The writer says "these" and generally, we  assume that  means the people who were described immediately before. So "these" certainly refers to all of the others who were tortured, flogged, etc. But it doesn't just say "these," it also says "all," meaning everyone listed from Abel to the ones who were in caves and holes in the ground.

          As the old song says, "Faith is the victory." It doesn't matter whether you defeat someone else or they defeat you, so long as you are faithful. So long as you have faith, God does not see you as a loser, He adds you to His Hall of Faith.

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