Hebrews 11:32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Introductory Thoughts
The world incorporates their own means of measuring the worth and value of those alive and those who have lived in the past. They might suggest that men are great because of education, or wealth, or appearance, or lineage. The Lord has His own way of evaluating men. According to God, men can be weak, tortured, mocked, imprisoned, and destitute while being so valuable that the world was not even worthy for those men to have lived. Could it be that the Lord allowed men to die for their faith because the very men who put them to death were not worthy to walk next to them upon the earth? Apparently, the Lord honours those who strongly sealed what they believed with the loss of their own lives.
Devotional Thoughts
• (For children): During Daniel’s Seventieth Week (“the tribulation period”), God will pour out His wrath upon the earth. One such judgment will be to turn rivers and fountains of waters into blood. God knows the world was not worthy of those who were persecuted for Him. Yet, the world was worthy of something. Read Revelation 16:4-7 to find out what.
• (For everyone): Read the stories of some who died for their faith. How is it accurate to say the world is not worthy of such people?
• What can you learn from those who paid the ultimate price for their faith? How could you use more of the faith that they demonstrated in their deaths?
Prayer Thoughts
• Ask God to help you see things from His perspective.
• Thank the Lord for a faith worth dying for.
SONG: ‘TIS BY FAITH OF JOYS TO COME
Quotes from the next volume
(VOLUME 1, WEEK 24)
Subject: Kindness (con’t)
Though a virtuous woman possesses many wonderful traits, perhaps her greatest strength lies in the manner in which she speaks—with wisdom.
Those displaying charity will care for others in the good times as well as the bad.
No matter how much we learn in this life, eternity will continue to reveal to the saints the depths of the kindness of God.