who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, grew mighty in war, and caused foreign armies to flee. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated—
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Hebrews 11:33-37 sits inside this longer paragraph.
By faith, Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had gladly received the promises was offering up his one and only son, to whom it was said, “Your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac,” concluding that God is able to raise up even from the dead. Figuratively speaking, he also did receive him back from the dead. By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come. By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. By faith, Joseph, when his end was near, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones. By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment. By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to share ill treatment with God’s people than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward. By faith, he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. By faith, he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them. By faith, they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do so, they were swallowed up. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith, Rahab the prostitute didn’t perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies in peace. What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, grew mighty in war, and caused foreign armies to flee. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth. These all, having had testimony given to them through their faith, didn’t receive the promise, God having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
Parallel Translations
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who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, grew mighty in war, and caused foreign armies to flee.
Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment.
They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated—
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which thorowe fayth subdued kyngdomes wrought righteousnes obteyned the promyses stopped the mouthes of lyons
quenched the violence of fyre escaped the edge of the swearde of weake were made stroge waxed valient in fight turned to flyght the armyes of the alientes.
And the wemen receaved their deed raysed to lyfe agayne. Other were racked and wolde not be delyvered that they myght receave a better resurreccion.
Other tasted of mockynges and scourginginges morover of bondes and presonment:
were stoned were hewen a sunder were tepted were slayne with sweardes walked vppe and doune in shepes skynnes in gotes skynnes in nede tribulacion and vexacion
Show all 3 translations
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Which through faith subdued kingdomes, wrought righteousnesse, obteined the promises, stopped the mouthes of lions,
Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sworde, of weake were made strong, waxed valiant in battell, turned to flight the armies of the aliants.
The women receiued their dead raised to life: other also were racked, and woulde not be deliuered, that they might receiue a better resurrection.
And others haue bene tryed by mockings and scourgings, yea, moreouer by bondes and prisonment.
They were stoned, they were hewen asunder, they were tempted, they were slaine with the sworde, they wandred vp and downe in sheepes skinnes, and in goates skinnes, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented:
Cross-references (136)
- Jeremiah 20:2 (v36) Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in Yahweh’s house.
- 1 Kings 17:22-24 (v35) Yahweh listened to the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. Elijah took the child, and brought…
- 2 Kings 4:27-37 (v35) When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said,…
- Genesis 39:20 (v36) Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were bound, and he was there in custody.
- 1 Samuel 17:51-52 (v34) Then David ran, stood over the Philistine, took his sword, drew it out of its sheath, killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the…
Show all 100 cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 24:21 (v37) They conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of Yahweh’s house.
- Philippians 3:11 (v35) if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
- 2 Kings 6:16-18 (v34) He answered, “Don’t be afraid; for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Elisha prayed, and said, “Yahweh, please…
- Jeremiah 26:23 (v37) and they fetched Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the…
- Acts 9:41 (v35) He gave her his hand, and raised her up. Calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.
- 1 Kings 19:10 (v37) He said, “I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your…
- Psalms 144:1-2 (v33) Blessed be Yahweh, my rock, who teaches my hands to war, and my fingers to battle: my loving kindness, my fortress, my high tower, my…
- Jeremiah 37:15-21 (v36) The princes were angry with Jeremiah, and struck him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the…
- Acts 24:15 (v35) having hope toward God, which these also themselves look for, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
- 1 Corinthians 15:54 (v35) But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will…
- Hebrews 6:12-15 (v33) that you won’t be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherited the promises. For when God made a promise…
- Psalms 144:10 (vv33–34) You are he who gives salvation to kings, who rescues David, his servant, from the deadly sword.
- Judges 15:8 (v34) He struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; and he went down and lived in the cave in Etam’s rock.
- 1 Kings 21:13-15 (v37) The two men, the wicked fellows, came in and sat before him. The wicked fellows testified against him, even against Naboth, in the presence…
- 2 Chronicles 30:10 (v36) So the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even to Zebulun, but people ridiculed them and mocked…
- John 11:40-45 (v35) Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see God’s glory?” So they took away the stone from the place where…
- Acts 23:6 (v35) But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Men and brothers, I am a…
- 2 Timothy 4:17 (v33) But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear.…
- Hebrews 10:36 (v33) For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise.
- Judges 14:5-6 (v33) Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and his mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion roared at…
- 2 Samuel 5:4-25 (v33) David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months;…
- 2 Kings 1:8 (v37) They answered him, “He was a hairy man, and wearing a leather belt around his waist.” He said, “It’s Elijah the Tishbite.”
- 2 Chronicles 32:20-22 (v34) Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, prayed because of this, and cried to heaven. Yahweh sent an angel, who cut off…
- Daniel 6:20-23 (v33) When he came near to the den to Daniel, he cried with a troubled voice. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living…
- Luke 7:12-16 (v35) Now when he came near to the gate of the city, behold, one who was dead was carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.…
- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (v34) He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in…
- Galatians 3:16 (v33) Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his offspring. He doesn’t say, “To descendants”, as of many, but as of one, “To your…
- Hebrews 11:4-8 (v33) By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had testimony given to him that he was righteous, God…
- 1 Peter 5:8 (v33) Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
- Judges 7:19-25 (v34) So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had…
- Judges 8:4-10 (v34) Gideon came to the Jordan and passed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, faint, yet pursuing. He said to the men of…
- Judges 15:14-20 (v34) When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. Then Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on him, and the ropes that were on his…
- 1 Samuel 14:13-15 (v34) Jonathan climbed up on his hands and on his feet, and his armor bearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armor bearer…
- 1 Samuel 17:33-36 (v33) Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he a man of war from…
- 2 Samuel 8:1-14 (v33) After this, David struck the Philistines and subdued them; and David took the bridle of the mother city out of the hand of the Philistines.…
- 2 Samuel 8:1-18 (v34) After this, David struck the Philistines and subdued them; and David took the bridle of the mother city out of the hand of the Philistines.…
- 2 Samuel 10:15-19 (v34) When the Syrians saw that they were defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together. Hadadezer sent, and brought out the Syrians who…
- 1 Kings 19:3 (v34) When he saw that, he arose, and ran for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
- 1 Kings 21:10 (v37) Set two men, wicked fellows, before him, and let them testify against him, saying, ‘You cursed God and the king!’ Then carry him out, and…
- 2 Kings 6:32 (v34) But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Then the king sent a man from before him; but before the…
- 2 Chronicles 16:10 (v36) Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in the prison; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. Asa oppressed some of the…
- Psalms 18:32-34 (v33) the God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect? He makes my feet like deer’s feet, and sets me on my high places. He teaches…
- Psalms 91:13 (v33) You will tread on the lion and cobra. You will trample the young lion and the serpent underfoot.
- Jeremiah 20:7 (v36) Yahweh, you have persuaded me, and I was persuaded. You are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day.…
- Jeremiah 26:24 (v34) But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they didn’t give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.
- Jeremiah 32:2-3 (v36) Now at that time the king of Babylon’s army was besieging Jerusalem. Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was…
- Lamentations 3:52-55 (v36) They have chased me relentlessly like a bird, those who are my enemies without cause. They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and have…
- Matthew 23:34 (v36) Therefore behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge…
- Luke 14:14 (v35) and you will be blessed, because they don’t have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.”
- John 5:29 (v35) and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.
- Acts 7:52 (v37) Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now…
- Acts 22:29 (v35) Immediately those who were about to examine him departed from him, and the commanding officer also was afraid when he realized that he was…
- Hebrews 10:34 (v36) For you both had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you have for…
- Hebrews 11:17 (v33) By faith, Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had gladly received the promises was offering up his one and only son,
- Matthew 21:35 (vv36–37) The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
- Joshua 6:1-13 (v33) Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the children of Israel. No one went out, and no one came in. Yahweh said to Joshua, “Behold, I…
- Judges 16:25 (v36) When their hearts were merry, they said, “Call for Samson, that he may entertain us.” They called for Samson out of the prison; and he…
- 1 Samuel 22:17-19 (v37) The king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn, and kill the priests of Yahweh; because their hand also is with David, and because…
- 2 Samuel 7:11-17 (v33) and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. I will cause you to rest from all your enemies. Moreover Yahweh…
- 1 Kings 18:4 (v37) for when Jezebel cut off Yahweh’s prophets, Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and…
- 1 Kings 18:13 (v37) Wasn’t it told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed Yahweh’s prophets, how I hid one hundred men of Yahweh’s prophets with fifty to a…
- 1 Kings 19:1 (v37) Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
- 1 Kings 19:14 (v37) He said, “I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your…
- 1 Kings 22:24 (v36) Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, “Which way did Yahweh’s Spirit go from me to speak…
- 1 Kings 22:27 (v36) Say, ‘The king says, “Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in…
- 2 Kings 2:23 (v36) He went up from there to Bethel. As he was going up by the way, some youths came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up,…
- 2 Kings 20:7-11 (v34) Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” They took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign…
- 2 Chronicles 14:11-14 (v34) Asa cried to Yahweh his God, and said, “Yahweh, there is no one besides you to help, between the mighty and him who has no strength. Help…
- 2 Chronicles 16:1-9 (v34) In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not allow anyone to go…
- 2 Chronicles 20:6-25 (v34) and he said, “Yahweh, the God of our fathers, aren’t you God in heaven? Aren’t you ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and…
- 2 Chronicles 36:16 (v36) but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until Yahweh’s wrath arose against his people,…
- Job 5:20 (v34) In famine he will redeem you from death; in war, from the power of the sword.
- Job 42:10 (v34) Yahweh turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends. Yahweh gave Job twice as much as he had before.
- Psalms 6:8 (v34) Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for Yahweh has heard the voice of my weeping.
- Psalms 44:2-6 (v33) You drove out the nations with your hand, but you planted them. You afflicted the peoples, but you spread them abroad. For they didn’t get…
- Psalms 66:12 (v34) You allowed men to ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water, but you brought us to the place of abundance.
- Psalms 105:17-18 (v36) He sent a man before them. Joseph was sold for a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles. His neck was locked in irons,
- Isaiah 43:2 (v34) When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire,…
- Jeremiah 2:30 (v37) “I have struck your children in vain. They received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
- Jeremiah 29:26 (v36) “Yahweh has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in Yahweh’s house, for every man who is crazy,…
- Jeremiah 36:6 (v36) Therefore you go, and read from the scroll which you have written from my mouth, Yahweh’s words, in the ears of the people in Yahweh’s…
- Jeremiah 38:6-13 (v36) Then they took Jeremiah and threw him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard. They let down…
- Jeremiah 38:28 (v36) So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.
- Lamentations 4:13-14 (v37) It is because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, That have shed the blood of the just in the middle of her.…
- Daniel 3:19-28 (v34) Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the form of his appearance was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He spoke, and…
- Zechariah 13:9 (v37) I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They will…
- Matthew 3:4 (v37) Now John himself wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
- Matthew 8:20 (v37) Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
- Matthew 20:19 (v36) and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up.”
- Matthew 22:30 (v35) For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like God’s angels in heaven.
- Matthew 23:35-37 (v37) that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of…
- Matthew 27:26 (v36) Then he released to them Barabbas, but Jesus he flogged and delivered to be crucified.
- Mark 10:34 (v36) They will mock him, spit on him, scourge him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
- Mark 12:25 (v35) For when they will rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
- Luke 11:51-54 (v37) from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.’ Yes, I tell you, it will be required…
100 distinct cross-references across this passage (136 total citations).
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Explain this passage (22 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv34–35 34. Out of weakness were made strong, etc. Chrysostom…
34. Out of weakness were made strong, etc. Chrysostom refers this to the restoration of the Jews from exile, in which they were like men without hope; I do not disapprove of its applications to Hezekiah. We might at the same time extend it wider, that the Lord, by his hand, raised on high his saints, whenever they were cast down; and brought help to their weakness, so as to endue them with full strength.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv33, 35, 37 The fruit of the promises.
The fruit of the promises.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv33–37 33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained…
33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Ver. 33. Wrought righteousness] Civil and military, spiritualized by faith and heightened to its full worth. The Scripture maketh it a great matter, that Abraham should have a child when he was a hundred years old, whereas Torah his father was 130 when he begat Abraham. But because Abraham had his child by faith, therefore it was a great matter. And so in all things whatsoever that we have, do, or suffer, if they be by faith, they are great things indeed.
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Obtained promises] Faith winds itself into the promises, and makes benefit thereof. A bee can suck honey out of a flower, so cannot a fly do. Faith will extract abundance of comfort in most desperate distresses out of the precious promises, and gather one contrary out of another, honey out of the rock, &c., Deu 32:37.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv33–37 These, by the same gospel faith, subdued kingdoms, defeating…
These, by the same gospel faith, subdued kingdoms, defeating the mighty enemies of the church; and eminently amongst them, David, who conquered Edom, Moab, Ammon, and the Syrian kingdoms, and extended his conquests to the Euphrates. This he and they did in obedience to God’s call, in dependence on God’s promise both of conduct and victory. All was done by God’s arm at the instance of faith and prayer, Psa 18:29-42; 20:5,9.
Wrought righteousness; they were all of them eminently righteous in their persons, and in their administration of justice to others: the utmost of their abilities were laid out in it, as became righteous judges, as to all matters of God and men, Jdg 6:1-40; 1Sa 7:15,17; 12:2,6.
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Obtained promises; a real and actual possession of all those good things which God secured to them by promise; especially as to Gideon and Barak, victory and success over the Canaanites and Midianites, Jdg 4:1-24; 6:1-40; Samson, victory over the Philistines; David, victory over the church’s enemies. All which they first obtained in the promise, and then in the execution. Faith secured all, giving a real enjoyment of all the good made theirs in the promise, and then in the event; and will give the fulness of all good in general promises made to the church and them in the end.
Stopped the mouths of lions: Daniel, an eminent prophet of God, believed in him, and for his testimony to him was cast into the den of lions to be devoured, where God stops the mouths of them on his faith and prayer, and opens them to destroy their adversaries, Dan 6:22. By the power and strength of God, both Samson and David slew those lions which would have preyed both on them and others, Jdg 14:6; 1Sa 17:34-36. Faith obtained this success for them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v36 Our apostle having in the foregoing verses acquainted the…
Our apostle having in the foregoing verses acquainted the Hebrews with the great things which faith enabled the Old Testament saints to do, he now lays before them an account of the hard and difficult things which faith enabled them to suffer, and here reckons up the sharpest and bitterest sufferings that human nature perhaps can be exposed to; but to do the greatest things, and to suffer the hardest, is all one to faith. Faith stands ready for both, as God shall call.
Observe here in general, that the evils enumerated are of such various sorts and kinds, as to comprise ever thing that may befal believers on the account of their Christian profession: Do we meet with temptations, scorns, mockings, scourgings, bonds, imprisonments, yea, death itself, by all sorts of tortures and extremities? THis is our encouragement, that others in the cause of God, have undergone them, and been carried victoriously through them: but the particulars in this little book of martyrs follow.
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Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance. In this passage, and several others here following, the apostle is concluded to refer too the story in the Maccabees, whic though written after the closing of the canon of the scripture, when there was no extraordinary prophet in the church, yet the matters of fact were then fresh in memory, and are here alluded to, particularly Eleazar, , who was beaten to death, when he had been persuaded and allured to accept deliverance by transgressing the law; and also the mother and her seven sons, they expected a better resurrection, better than what their persecutors offered them, even a glorious resurreciton of their bodies at the last day.
Others had trials of cruel mockings, as Micaiah, 1Ki 22:24, and others’ and scourgings, as Jer 20:2; Jer 20:15.
Also bonds and imprisonments, as Joseph in Egypt, and Jeremy in the dungeon; some were stoned, as Zachharias the son of Johoiada, 2Ch 24:21.
Others sawn asunder, as Isaiah under the tyranny of Manesseh; others were tempted with fair promises and great rewards, but refusing, were slain with the sword.
Learn hence, That torments in the case of religion have been a very old invention of the devil and the world, and they have placed great hopes of prevailing by them; but no instruments of cruelty, no endeavours of hell, shall ever prevail against the faith of God’s elect. They wandered about in sheep-skins, and goat-skins; destitute, afflicted, tormented. This some refer to Elijah, who was destitute and fed by ravens, 1Ki 17:4, but it has been the portion of many of God’s faithful servants to be driven from their habitations, sometimes by the cruelty of the laws, sometimes by force and violence.
Of whom the world was not worthy; that is, the men of the world think the saints of God not worthy of to live amongst them, whereas the world is not worthy of such excellent company; and therefore, as soon as their work is done, God removes them.
Learn hence, 1. That God’s esteem of his people is never the less because of their outward sufferings and calamities, whatever the world judgeth of them; they esteem them the filth of the world, and the off-scouring of all things; but God is of another mind.
Learn, 2. Let the world think as highly and as proudly of itself as it pleases, God thinks it at all times, but especially when it persecute his people, base, and unworthy of their society. They wandered in deserts and mountains: Behold here the state and condition of some of the servants of the Living God, who, when driven from all inhabited places, took up their lodgings in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
Learn hence, That oft-times it is much better, and more safe for the saints of God to be in a wilderness, among the beasts of the fields, than in a savage world inflamed by the devil into rage and persecution.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv33–37 Women received their dead raised to life again,.... As…
Women received their dead raised to life again,.... As the widow of Zarephath, and the Shunammite, Kg1 17:22. Their sons were really dead, and they received them alive gain, from the hands of the prophets, Elijah and Elisha, in the way of a resurrection, and by faith; by the faith of the prophets:
and others were tortured; racked, or tympanized; referring to the sufferings of seven brethren, and their mother, in the times of Antiochus, recorded in 2 Maccabees 7 as appears from the kind of torment endured by them; from the offer of deliverance rejected by them; and from their hope of the resurrection: for it follows,
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not accepting deliverance; when offered them by the king, see the Apocrypha:
"24 Now Antiochus, thinking himself despised, and suspecting it to be a reproachful speech, whilst the youngest was yet alive, did not only exhort him by words, but also assured him with oaths, that he would make him both a rich and a happy man, if he would turn from the laws of his fathers; and that also he would take him for his friend, and trust him with affairs. 25 But when the young man would in no case hearken unto him, the king called his mother, and exhorted her that she would counsel the young man to save his life.'' (2 Maccabees 7)
that they might obtain a better resurrection; which they died in the faith of, see the Apocryha:
"7 And him he sent with that wicked Alcimus, whom he made high priest, and commanded that he should take vengeance of the children of Israel. 11 And said courageously, These I had from heaven; and for his laws I despise them; and from him I hope to receive them again. 14 So when he was ready to die he said thus, It is good, being put to death by men, to look for hope from God to be raised up again by him: as for thee, thou shalt have no resurrection to life. (2 Maccabees)
The resurrection of the saints, which is unto everlasting life, is a better resurrection than mere metaphorical, and figurative ones, as deliverances from great afflictions, which are called deaths; or real ones, which were only to a mortal state, and in order to die again, as those under the Old Testament, and under the New, before the resurrection of Christ; or than the resurrection of the wicked: for the resurrection the saints will obtain will be first, at the beginning of the thousand years; the wicked will not live till after they are ended; it will be by virtue of union to Christ, whereas the wicked will be raised merely by virtue of his power; the saints will rise with bodies glorious, powerful, and spiritual, the wicked with base, vile, and ignoble ones; the righteous will come forth to the resurrection of life, the wicked to the resurrection of damnation. The consideration of the better resurrection is of great use to strengthen faith, under sufferings, for righteousness sake, and this is obtained by suffering; not that suffering is the meritorious cause of it, but saints in this way come to it; it is promised to such, and it will be attained unto, and enjoyed by such; for all that live godly, do, and must suffer persecution in one way or another.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv33, 35, 36, 37 David, in particular, subdued kingdoms. Samuel (not excluding the…
David, in particular, subdued kingdoms. Samuel (not excluding the rest) wrought righteousness. The prophets, in general, obtained promises, both for themselves, and to deliver to others. Prophets also stopped the mouths of lions, as Daniel; and quenched the violence of fire, as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. To these examples, whence the nature of faith clearly appears, those more ancient ones are subjoined, (by a transposition, and in an inverted order,) which receive light from these. Jephthah escaped the edge of the sword; Samson out of weakness was made strong; Barak became valiant in fight; Gideon put to flight armies of the aliens. Faith animates to the most heroic enterprises, both civil and military. Faith overcomes all impediments effects the greatest things; attains to the very best; and inverts, by its miraculous power the very course of nature. 2 Sam. viii, 1,&c.; 1 Sam. viii, 9,&c.; 1 Sam. xiii, 3,&c.; Dan. vi, 22; Dan. iii, 27; Jude xii, 3; Jude xv, 19,&c.; Jude xvi, 28,&c.; Jude iv, 14,&c.; Jude vii, 21.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv33–37 Verse 33. Who through faith subdued kingdoms] As Joshua,…
Verse 33. Who through faith subdued kingdoms] As Joshua, who subdued the seven Canaanitish nations; and David, who subdued the Moabites, Syrians, Ammonites, and Edomites. 2Sa 8, c.
Wrought righteousness] Did a great variety of works indicative of that faith in God without which it is impossible to do any thing that is good.
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Obtained promises] This is supposed to refer to Joshua and Caleb, who, through their faith in God, obtained the promised land, while all the rest of the Israelites were excluded to Phineas also, who, for his act of zealous faith in slaying Zimri and Cosbi, got the promise of an everlasting priesthood; and to David, who, for his faith and obedience, obtained the kingdom of Israel, and had the promise that from his seed the Messiah should spring.
Stopped the mouths of lions] Daniel, who, though cast into a den of lions for his fidelity to God, was preserved among them unhurt, and finally came to great honour.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv33, 35, 37 Heb 11:33-34. Who through faith subdued kingdoms — As…
Heb 11:33-34. Who through faith subdued kingdoms — As Joshua, the Judges, David, and others; wrought righteousness — Lived righteous and holy lives, and administered justice impartially, 1Sa 12:3-5. Obtained promises — Namely, of particular mercies, as Sarah, Hannah, Manoah, and the prophets in general, both for themselves, and to deliver to others; stopped the mouths of lions — By their faith prevailed with God to do it, as Daniel, Dan 6:22 : quenched the violence of fire — As Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel 3. He does not say they quenched fire, which may be done by natural means, but they took off, restrained the violence, the power of fire with respect to themselves. The fire continued still, and retained its burning power, for it slew the men that cast them into the furnace. But by faith they disarmed it of its power to hurt themselves, so that not one hair of their heads was singed. To these examples, whence the nature of faith clearly appears, those more ancient ones are subjoined, (by a transposition and in an inverted order,) which receive light from these. Jephthae escaped the edge of the sword; Samson out of weakness was made strong; Barak became valiant in fight; Gideon put to flight the armies of the aliens. Faith animates to the most heroic enterprises, both civil and military. Faith overcomes all impediments, effects the greatest things, attains to the very best, and inverts, by its miraculous power, the very course of nature. One thing, however, is necessary to be observed by the reader, namely, that these celebrated worthies are not represented by the apostle as being justified by their faith, but only as performing miracles, and heroic, valiant actions by it: nor are they all commended for their good conduct in general; for several of them failed in their duty in divers instances, through the want of an abiding principle of faith and holiness in their hearts, even as the Israelites in general, who by faith had passed through the Red sea, lost their faith, rebelled, and were doomed to die in the wilderness.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv33–37 Who through faith subdued kingdoms - That is, those…
Who through faith subdued kingdoms - That is, those specified in the previous verses, and others like them. The meaning is, that some of them subdued kingdoms, others obtained promises, etc. Thus, Joshua subdued the nations of Canaan; Gideon the Midianites; Jephtha the Ammonites; David the Philistines, Amalekites, Jebusites, Edomites, etc.
Wrought righteousness - Carried the laws of justice into execution, particularly on guilty nations. They executed the great purposes of God in punishing the wicked, and in cutting off his foes.
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Obtained promises - Or obtained “promised blessings” (Bloomfield, Stuart); that is, they obtained as a result of their faith, promises of blessings on their posterity in future times.
Stopped the mouths of lions - As Samson, Jdg 14:6; David, 1Sa 17:34 ff; and particularly Daniel; Dan 6:7, following To be able to subdue and render harmless the king of the forest - the animal most dreaded in early times - was regarded as an eminent achievement.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v37 Greek: Melon signifies a sheep; Greek: melote signifies a…
Greek: Melon signifies a sheep; Greek: melote signifies a sheep skin, with the wool on it. This, or a goat skin, was the usual covering of poor people, and as such was adopted by the ancient prophets, mortified to all the luxuries of life. Thus Elias [Elijah] is called vir pillosus, a hairy man, not for his beard or hair, but for his shaggy or hairy covering.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv33–37 subdued kingdoms--as David did (Sa2 8:1, &c.); so also…
subdued kingdoms--as David did (Sa2 8:1, &c.); so also Gideon subdued Midian (Jdg. 7:1-25).
wrought righteousness--as Samuel did (Sa1 8:9; 1Sa. 12:3-23; Sa1 15:33); and David (Sa2 8:15).
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obtained promises--as "the prophets" (Heb 11:32) did; for through them the promises were given (compare Dan 9:21) [BENGEL]. Rather, "obtained the fulfilment of promises," which had been previously the object of their faith (Jos 21:45; Kg1 8:56). Indeed, Gideon, Barak, &c., also obtained the things which God promised. Not "the promises," which are still future (Heb 11:13, Heb 11:39).
stopped the mouths of lions--Note the words, "because he believed in his God." Also Samson (Jdg 14:6), David (Sa1 17:34-37), Benaiah (Sa2 23:20).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv33, 34, 35, 37 33. Subdued kingdoms—These were secular exploits, yet performed in…
33. Subdued kingdoms—These were secular exploits, yet performed in service of the theocracy, and in firm allegiance to Jehovah, God of Israel. Conscientious generalship and statesmanship, performed in the right spirit, are in the line of faith. Happy the man who serves his country in allegiance to his God.
Wrought righteousness—As just judges, rulers, and reformers. So Samuel, (1Sa_12:3-4;) David, (2Sa_8:15;) so Elijah, Elisha, and Josiah. Obtained the fulfilment of promises. This is no contradiction to 39. The old heroes rejoiced in the fulfilment of many a promise, but the entire body never attained the promise, namely, of the heavenly country, (Heb_11:16,) the land of the better resurrection.
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Stopped the mouths of lions—Daniel, who expressly boasted, “My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths;” and it is added, “because he believed in his God.” Faith in God, the God of Israel, in opposition to the Chaldean idolatries, was the nerve of his action.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv33–37 33. subdued kingdoms] The allusion is specially to the…
33. subdued kingdoms] The allusion is specially to the conquest of Canaan by Joshua, and to the victories of David (2Sa_5:17-25; 2Sa_21:15, &c.).
wrought righteousness] The allusion is somewhat vague, but seems to refer to the justice of Judges and Kings (1Sa_12:3-4; 2Sa_8:15; 1Ch_18:14, &c.), and perhaps especially to the Judgment of Solomon. “To execute judgment and justice” belonged especially to the Princes of Israel (Eze_45:9).
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obtained promises] If we compare the expression with Heb_11:13; Heb_11:39, we see that the primary reference must be to temporal promises (see Jos_21:43-45, &c.); but they also obtained at least a partial fruition of spiritual promises also.
stopped the mouths of lions] Samson (Jdg_14:5-6), David (1Sa_17:34-35), Daniel (Dan_6:22), Benaiah (2Sa_23:20).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv33–37 (33) Subdued kingdoms.—Better, overcame kingdoms. To all the deliverers…
(33) Subdued kingdoms.—Better, overcame kingdoms. To all the deliverers of Israel of whom we have read in Heb_11:32 (and especially to David, 2 Samuel 8, 10, 11) these words will apply. They also “wrought righteousness,” as each judge or king or prophet “executed judgment and justice unto all his people” (2Sa_8:15).
Obtained promises.—Do these words mean that these men of faith won promises of future blessing (such as were vouchsafed to David and the prophets), or that promises of deliverance were fulfilled to them? There seems no reason for doubting that the writer’s language may include both thoughts. The words which follow (though illustrated in the history of Samson and of David) clearly point to Daniel (Hebrews 6).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv35–36 Women received their dead raised to life again (literally,…
Women received their dead raised to life again (literally, from, or, out of resurrection. The A.V gives the sense in good English; only the force of the repetition of the word "resurrection" at the end of the verse is lost); and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. The first part of this verse evidently refers to 1Ki_17:22 and 2Ki_4:36 the memorable instances in the Old Testament of mothers having had their sons restored to them from death. The latter part is as evidently suggested at least by the narrative of RAPC 2Ma 7; where it is recorded how, under the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, seven sons of one mother were tortured and lint to death; how one of them, in the midst of his tortures, having deliverance and advancement offered him if he would forsake the Law of his fathers, courageously refused the offer; and how both they and their mother, who encouraged them to persevere, reiterated their hope of a resurrection from the dead. The "better resurrection" means the resurrection to eternal life by them looked for, which was "better" than the temporary restoration to life in this world granted to the sons of the widow of Zarephath and the Shunammite; while the article in the Greek before "deliverance" (thtrwsin) may be due to the thought of that which is recorded to have been offered to those in the writer"s immediate view. There is some doubt as to the exact import of the word etumpanisyhsan (translated "tortured"). The usual meaning of the Greek word is" to beat," as a drum is beaten, from tumpanon , a drum or drumstick: and apotumpanizein means "to beat to death." But, inasmuch as the instrument of torture to which Eleazar (whose martyrdom is related in the preceding chapter of 2 Maccabees) was brought is called to tumpanon , (RAPC 2Ma 6:19, 28) it has been supposed that the punishment referred to was the stretching of the victims, in the way of a rack, on a sort of wheel called a tympanum, on which they were then beaten to death, as Eleazar was. So Vulgate, distenti sunt. The fact that the seven of RAPC 2Ma 7 were not so martyred, but by fire and other tortures, is not inconsistent with this view; for our author need not be supposed to confine his view to them, but uses the word suggested by Eleazar"s case. Whatever be the exact import of the word, the A.V ("were tortured") sufficiently gives the generally intended meaning.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv33, 35, 36, 37 Through faith subdued kingdoms
Heb_11:33-34
Through faith subdued kingdoms
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Doughty deeds
I.
THEY SUBDUED KINGDOMS. Though this may agree to, and be affirmed of others; yet in this particular David seems to be most eminent, who subdued the Philistines, Edomites, Ammonites, and other of the Syrian kingdoms.
1. The cause of the conqueror was just.
2. He had warrant from God, and many times the warrant was extraordinary.
3. Sometimes he had directions from God, who was first consulted.
4. He depended not upon his own strength and policy but upon his God.
5. The victory was given by God upon the faith and prayer of the victorious party.
6. The Kingdoms subdued were not only enemies to Gods people, but to God Himself and His laws; so that both the safety of the people, and also of religion, did much depend upon these victories, which were far more excellent because given upon the faith of such as trusted in their God.
II. THEY WROUGHT RIGHTEOUSNESS. The subduing of kingdoms was the exercise of their military power, and this may seem to be the use of the sword of justice. The duty of a prince is to defend his people from foreign enemies, and to protect their loyal subjects, and punish the injurious. This righteousness therefore is judicial, and their doing of righteousness their constant administration of justice.
III. BY FAITH THEY OBTAINED PROMISES. By promises understand things promised, and these not general but particular. To the patriarchs before Joshua the land of Canaan was promised; yet not given, not enjoyed; only their posterity under Joshua obtained that promise. Christ was promised to them all, yet they obtained not this promise; for He was not exhibited till many years after. These were more general promises. There were besides many eminent mercies, particular of victory, deliverance, peace, and other things, which by faith they obtained; yet so as that they used the means which God vouchsafed unto them, and these means without faith had been insufficient.
IV. BY FAITH THEY STOPPED THE MOUTHS OF LIONS. This is understood principally of Daniel. Samson slew a lion, and so did David; Daniel was saved from the hungry, fierce lions when he was cast into their den of purpose to be devoured. This he acknowledged as a great and special mercy from his God (Dan_6:22). This preservation was miraculous, and a mercy obtained by faith. For his cause was just, he would not intermit his devotion unto his God though he should suffer death, and resolved to observe the just command of God, and refused to obey the unjust commander man, and was persuaded that God was able to deliver him, and therefore he cast himself wholly upon His mercy. This he could never have done without faith.
V. BY FAITH SOME OF THEE QUENCHED THE VIOLENCE OF FIRE. By this and the former we understand that divers of these particulars are not to be attributed to the faith of all and every one, but to some particular persons of them as severed from the rest. The former worthy intended was one of the prophets, and these might be such also, yet not so eminent; for these words are not meant of a single person, but of Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego. By these two last examples we understand how easily God can, and how ready He is to deliver His believing servants out of greatest dangers.
VI. BY FAITH THEY, THAT IS SOME OF THEM, ESCAPED THE SWORD. The sword may here be taken synecdochically for any kind of destroying instrument used in either war or peace. In war David and many of the judges escaped the edge of the sword, and were saved from the fury of the enemy. In peace Elijah, Elisha, Jeremy, and others, were delivered out of the hands of those who intended to murder them. They were in danger because they served God, did His work, and gave no just cause of offence. They were delivered because whilst they were obedient to their God, they trusted in Him. No dangers can hurt those whom God will save; they are safe in the midst of greatest evils.
VII. BY FAITH OF WEAK SOME BECAME STRONG. This, by many, is understood of recovery from sickness and diseases; and the same sometimes mortal, and by man incurable; and some instance in Hezekiah, whom God upon his prayer of faith restored to perfect health; and because his disease was mortal therefore the cure was supernatural, and said to be obtained by faith. Others understand it of such as were weak in respect of warlike valour, and far inferior to their enemies for multitude, strength, prowess, policy; yet by faith in God few overcame many; the weak subdued the strong; the plain unskilful not only defended themselves, but terrified their enemies; and though at first they were fearful, yet by faith they strengthened themselves in God, and upon their prayers were encouraged against potent enemies.
VIII. WAXED VALIANT IN FIGHT. Many of Gods saints, and some of the forenamed, were soldiers and men of mighty valour, who through faith were so encouraged that they feared neither the number nor the strength of their enemies. Valour is proper unto a good soldier, and in war is necessary, as cowardice is the ruin of many a goodly army. War is very dangerous and full of hazard, and the event uncertain. The more the danger and the difficulty the greater measure of fortitude is requisite. The nature of valour is not wholly to contemn dangers, but to foresee and resist them, and no ways to adventure upon them. It is the strength of the mind without which the strength of the body is to little purpose. This is not a blind boldness, nor merely moral and grounded only upon reason, but it is Divine. For when the cause was good, and they had a command with a promise, and sometimes with instructions from God, they had great reason to be valiant. These did not fight only for their estates, wives, children, and their country; but for their religion, the covenant, and the cities of their God. Their valour was grounded upon the goodness of their cause, and the promise of their God; which firmly supported their faith, as their faith did much increase their valour.
IX. THEY TURNED TO FLIGHT THE ARMIES OF THE ALIENS. These aliens were heathens and idolaters, and so enemies not only to their country but to their religion and their God. This made their cause the better, and the enemies cause the more unjust. The event of their wars against these was that they routed them, and made them turn their backs and fly. For as they fought for God out of faith, so God fought for them according to His promise, which was the ground of their belief and confidence. If, in a just war, we have the like cause and the like faith, we may expect the like success. But now many wars are made amongst Christians, and sometimes against the same nation; and the cause is not just, but the quarrel is begun and continued out of pride, malice, cruelty, ambition, and desire of revenge; and they fight not out of faith against Gods enemies, but against Gods people. (G. Lawson.)
The heroism of goodness
I. THE DAILY DOERS OF WHAT IS RIGHT ARE AMONG TRUE HEROES.
1. They meet the same difficulties.
2. They are inspired by the same motives. They exert the same influence--glorifying God, and blessing men.
II. FAITH IS THE ONLY WAY TO THE DAILY DOING OF WHAT IS RIGHT.
1. Faith in the right.
2. Faith in God.
3. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the incarnation of right, the revealer of God, and the helper of souls. (U. R. Thomas.)
Obtained promises
Promises obtained through faith
I. INQUIRE WHETHER THERE ARE NOT PROMISES MADE TO US WHICH WE DO NOT OBTAIN.
1. The great promise of justification by faith in Christ is made to you. This blessing is promised to every one that believeth. The inquiry then is, Have I Scriptural evidence to conclude that this has taken place as to me? Is the sense of guilt removed? Does the Spirit of adoption dwell in me crying, Abba, Father? Do I love Him, knowing that He hath loved me, and given
Himself for me? And do all the fruits follow--love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance?
2. We have the promise of constant supply of spiritual life, Christ came that we might have life, and that we might have it more abundantly. The effect of all this is spiritual vigour, and a relish in the application of our minds to Divine things. With this are also connected holy thoughts, lively affections, cheerful and persevering service.
3. A third class of promises relate to our deliverance from the worldly spirit. Do we so see the hand of God in the events of life, as to rest from anxiety? so enjoy inward and sweet communion with God, as to rest in Him with entire satisfaction?
4. A fourth class of promises relate to victory over temptation. The Lord is able to keep you from falling; He will bruise Satan under your feet shortly; and every regenerate man is said to keep himself, so that the wicked one toucheth him not. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Now the question with every one of us ought to be, Am I a conqueror; or am I a conquered man? Am I overcome by temptation, or do I preserve a conscience void of offence toward God and toward man?
5. There are promises of growth and progress in all religious habits and acts. All the commands on this subject, to grow in grace, and to go on unto perfection, have in them the nature of promises. I am directed to grow; and the command implies an engagement to supply the power. We are directed also to abide in Christ, the source of fruitfulness. All the apostolical prayers are promises, because they relate to Gods gracious engagements. Every one of us ought, therefore, to inquire whether we obtain these promises. Do I grow in grace, so as to be completely delivered from the corruptions of my nature, and to love God with all my heart, and mind, and soul, and strength?
II. INVESTIGATE THE CAUSE OF THIS SAD FAILURE.
1. Faith may be defective as wanting its Scriptural concomitants. We are justified, and obtain all the promises, by faith alone; but saving faith is not alone. One concomitant of true faith is a sense of danger. It credits the whole revelation of God, the threatenings as well as the promises. Here is the ground of the grand failure in many. They are not awakened. Another concomitant of true faith is a broken spirit. Many persons have fear and remorse; but they have not that godly sorrow which worketh repentance. A sense of unworthiness is another concomitant of true faith. We can claim nothing at the hands of Gods justice. Mercy, from first to last, is our only plea. Another concomitant of true faith is strong desire after these blessings. Intense hungerings and thirstings after righteousness. Another concomitant is persevering prayer. This is the ordinance of Gods appointing as the visible expression of faith; and He will honour it. Now, has our faith failed in these concomitants?
2. Faith may remain feeble and powerless because we nourish it not by its proper food, the Word of God.
3. We may fail in the actings of faith. In addition to this general confidence, there must be an act of special trust in God for the present communication to us of those blessings which we particularly need, and which the promises of His Word authorise us to expect.
III. IF, THEN, YOU FAIL IN OBTAINING THE PROMISES WHICH IMMEDIATELY RELATE TO YOUR PERSONAL SALVATION, LET ME EXHORT YOU
1. That you cry mightily to God for a broken and contrite heart.
2. That you set before you all that God has promised as designed for you.
3. That, with your prayers, you stir up yourselves to the actings and exercise of faith. Lay hold upon the promises. (R. Watson.)
Obtaining promises
I. It is certain that holy men of old, and that good men now, do BY FAITH OBTAIN PROMISES. If we have had a little promise, and up till now have realised it, and made it the stay of our souls, surely God will give us a greater one, and so, from promise to promise speeding our way, we shall find the promises to be rounds of the ladder which Jacob saw, the top whereof shall reach to heaven.
II. By faith these men obtained not merely the giving of the promise, but THE FULFILMENT OF IT. There are three ways of obtaining the promise. Many of them only need the outstretched hand to grasp them; you may go with faith at once and take the promise, Ask and ye shall receive. There are many of the promises so readily attainable that if you are in Christ you may this morning see them fulfilled by simply believing them. Believe them to be true, and you shall have what they promise you. Some of Gods promises are like cheques, you present them at the counter and the cash is given; you have but to take the promise stamped by Gods own hand, signed and sealed, believe it to be Gods, and you shall have the mercy now. This is true of a very large number of the promises. Of some others you must not simply believe them, but exercise importunate prayer about them. Knock and it shall be opened. You are certain to have the blessing if you know how to wrestle with the angel, and declare that you will not let him go unless he shall bestow it upon you A third kind of these promises are not even to be fulfilled by prayer or by faith alone; you must obtain them by earnest seeking after them. Seek and ye shall find. Where God has appended to the promise a something that is to be done, diligently do it, and you shall obtain the blessing.
1. Child of God, babe in grace, wouldst thou obtain the promises? Take this advice first--meditate much upon them. There are promises which are like grapes in the wine-press; if thou wilt tread them the juice will flow.
2. Secondly, young man in Christ Jesus, do not only meditate upon the promise, but seek in thy soul to realise it as being the very word of God.
3. Then be sure that thou doest, in the power of the Spirit of God, what the precept annexed to the promise asks of thee.
4. Some of the promises thou wilt not inherit even so, unless thou shalt imitate the men who by faith and patience inherit the promise.
5. In the next place take care if you would get the promise that you select some one that is suitable to your own ease. Again, young believer, would you obtain the promise?
6. Then be careful that you are thankful for promises you have already obtained.
7. And lastly, if you would have your faith stirred up, look at the examples of all who in olden times, and in our own times, by faith have obtained the promise. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The promises:
The promises of God are to the believer an inexhaustible mine of wealth. Happy is it for him if he knows how to search out their secret veins and enrich himself with their hid treasures. They are to him an armoury containing all manner of offensive and defensive weapons. Blessed is he who has learned to enter into the sacred arsenal, to put on the breastplate and the helmet, and to lay his hand to the spear and to the sword. They are to the believer a surgery in which he will find all manner of restoratives and blessed elixirs; he shall find therein an ointment for every wound, a cordial for every faintness, a remedy for every disease. Blessed is he who is well skilled in heavenly pharmacy, and knoweth how to lay hold on the healing virtues of the promises of God. The promises are to the Christian a storehouse of food. They are as the granaries which Joseph built in Egypt, or as the golden pot wherein the unrotting manna was preserved. Blessed is he who can take the five barley loaves and fishes of promise and break them till his five thousand necessities shall all be supplied, and he is able to gather up baskets full of fragments. The promises are the Christians Magna Charta of liberty, they are the title deeds of his heavenly estate. Happy is he who knoweth how to read them well and call them all his own. Yea, they are the jewel-room in which the Christians crown-treasures are preserved--the regalia, secretly his to-day, but which he shall openly wear in paradise. He is already a king who hath the silver key with which to unlock the strong room; he may even now grasp the sceptre, wear the crown, and put upon his shoulders the imperial mantle. Oh, how unutterably rich are the promises of our faithful, covenant-keeping God! If we had here the tongue of the mightiest of human orators, and if that tongue could be touched with a live coal from off the altar, yet still it could not utter a tenth of the praises of the exceeding great and precious promises of God. Nay, they who have entered into rest, and have had their tongues attuned to the lofty and rapturous eloquence of cherubim and seraphim, even they can never tell the height and depth, the length and breadth of the unsearchable riches of Christ which are stored up in the treasure-house of God--the promises of the covenant of his grace. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Out of weakness were made strong
Strength out of weakness
1. See, first, how universal was the presence of this mark, in each of its two especial parts--of weakness growing into strength. Look back in thought on all. How surely did all begin in weakness! How was Samuel chosen in the weakness of childhood, and how was even that childhood strengthened till it bore all the burden of the prophets office! How was
Moses called amid great straits of external difficulty and internal self-distrust, and how was he made able to endure the burden of all the multitude, that gainsaying and stiff-necked generation which was committed to his guidance! Again, how did the weakness from which they were being rescued show its remaining presence in the partial unbelief of Abraham, and the deep fall of David, and in St. Peters denial of his Master! Yet how evidently was there a process of strengthening going on in each one of these very saints, even until they were perfected! How firm was the faith of Abraham--how dear to David was the will of God! How strong was the courageous love of this same Peter, who once had trembled before a maid-servant.
2. And now mark next how, in all who bear the true mark, this marvellous change is accomplished. Clearly it is wrought by a power beyond themselves--for out of weakness they were made strong. It was not of their own doing. A power out of themselves was moulding them; a higher Will was drawing up into its own blessed truth the lower and capricious actings of their weakened, dishonoured, and distorted will. A mighty love was brooding over and transforming them. The acting of that Holy Spirit to which they yielded was renewing and sanctifying them. He strengthened them to resist temptation, and in their resisting it He purified them. And then observe, further, what there was in them which thus brought them under the working of His strengthening power. All this chapter speaks of it; but it is gathered up into the fewest possible words. All this mystery of strength is revealed in this one utterance, Who through faith. With more or less of clearness, as God had revealed it to them, they saw that He had laid help for them upon One that was mighty; and they clave to Him, and in them the mystery was accomplished; they sought to cast themselves in their weakness upon Him; and His mighty presence stood beside them. He was in them, and they who without Him could do nothing found His strength perfected in their weakness. In each one of the saints this is the pattern character. Every one passes from weakness into strength through cleaving for himself to Christ. And what they were that we are--weak, faltering, unworthy, tempted souls, far beneath His love, infinitely unworthy of His care; ever ready to sink before any enemy, to be over-mastered by every temptation; ever ready to fall away utterly, yet held up by His hand, and from the crumbling brink of perdition brought safely through to crowns and to His presence. Oh, unutterable wonders of the lovingkindness and faithfulness of God! Oh, mysterious deep of His counsels of redemption!
Oh, blessed work of the life-giving Cross and bitter agony of Christ our Lord! Oh, glorious hope for every one who cleaveth closely to His righteous life for acceptance and for strength! But there is another application of this truth, which we may profitably make; for this which we have seen to be a special note of the separate spiritual life of every saint of God, is also the character of the corporate acts of the Church which is their common body. From her earliest planting this note has been especially stamped upon all which has concerned her spread and upgrowth. Thus, when our blessed Lord Himself, in His earthly ministry, gathered in the first fruits of His elect, He so veiled His glory in the likeness of our flesh that in Him there was for the common eye of men no beauty that we should desire Him; and so, plainly, He meant that it should be with those who bore His commission to their brethren. His chosen followers were fishermen of Galilee; and when He sent out the seventy, He sent them two and two, with no outward accompaniment of power or presence to challenge the attention of the world. How could the note of an external weakness be more plainly stamped upon the infant Church? Yet what a manifest strength sprang out of all that weakness! And so it has been ever since. It would not be difficult to produce a multitude of instances in which it would be clear that whenever the Church has made any signal advance, it has been not by the strength of any arm of flesh, but through the power of Gods grace working mightily through feeble instruments. So (to touch merely upon one example) it was manifestly when the goodness of our God towards this land enabled our fathers here to cast off that long accumulation of corruptions in doctrine, discipline, and conduct which had been heaped upon her truth, and well nigh choked her life. By what unlikely instruments, and with what an apparent feebleness of means, did the arm of God begin and carry through amongst us the blessed work of the Reformation. So that we may take this as an undoubted mark of His working in His Church, that the work may be seen to be wrought not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord; and that we may even expect to find the chief instruments of her increase marked with this character, that out of weakness they have been made strong. (Bp. S. Wilberforce.)
Gods cure for mans weakness
I desire to speak to those who are weak--weak where they ought not to be--and who feel a growing tendency to rest content in that weakness; I would stir up those who are beginning to imagine that weakness is the normal and proper state of a Christian; that to be unbelieving, desponding, nervous, timid, cowardly, inactive, heartless, is at worst a very excusable thing.
I. MENTION CASES OF CURE. I shall not now cite cases from the Old Testament of bodily cures which have been wrought by faith, though I might mention Hezekiah. In the apostolic times it was through faith that many sicknesses were made to fly before the healing touch of the apostles. That power of healing has probably become extinct, or is lying dormant in the Church; yet there are still indications that faith has some power in that direction. I cannot but think that when honest John Wickliffe, raising himself up in the bed of sickness, said to the monks who surrounded his couch expecting him to die and tempting him to recant, I shall not die, but live to declare the wicked deeds of the monks--I cannot but think that his faith had much to do with his cure; had he been a man of a timorous, wavering frame of mind, his sick-bed might have been his death-bed, but the vital forces were all thrown into energetic action by the mental energy of his faith, and the crisis was safely passed. I do not know how far faith may still operate upon the bodily frame, for there is certainly an intimate connection between the soul and the body. That faith strengthens Christian men has been proved often in the history of the Church of God. The Churchs weakness springs mainly and mostly from a want of faith in her God, and in the revelation which God has entrusted to her. When men believe intensely they act vigorously, and when their principles penetrate their very souls, and become precious to them as life itself, then no suffering is too severe, and no undertaking is too laborious, and no conflict too heroic. This seems to me to be the great work which Luther did in his day, under God the Holy Spirits power. He brought back the Church to the strength of faith, and then her whole force returned. What has been proved upon the largest scale has been true in all other instances. For instance, the weakness of depraved human nature always gives way before the energy of that faith which the Spirit works in us. The same is true of subsequent spiritual debility. Christians who are alive unto God, and are endowed with some Divine strength, are attacked at times with a spiritual, universal decline. Just as we sometimes see a strong and healthy person growing pale, losing appetite, and falling into sickness, until he becomes a mere skeleton, so have I seen it with Christians; they do not lose life, but they do lose all their energy. Then they can scarce walk, much less run, and mounting with wings as eagles were quite out of the question. Such persons will bear witness that the only way of recruiting their strength is by faith. They must come again to the first principles, and trust their souls anew with Jesus, believing over again with a novelty of energy the old doctrines of the gospel. They must go to God as to a real God in believing prayer, and they will not long remain weak.
II. ANALYSE THE MEDICINE. The subject is so very wide that I must confine myself to one instance, and shall speak of the medicine as it would be mixed for a man struggling at very dreadful odds against a gigantic system of evil. He was very weak, but through faith he becomes strong. One of the first ingredients of faiths medicine is a sense of right. Everybody admits that when a man is sure that right is on his side, he finds strength in that belief. Faith is a belief in the rightness of that which God reveals, a trusting in its truth, and who wonders that a man who believes, therefore becomes strong? A second ingredient is heavenly authority. Everybody knows that a man who is naturally weak will often act very bravely when he has authority to back him. Let the Christian combatant feel that he is armed with Divine authority, and you will not wonder if from a dwarf he rises to a giant. Mixed with this is a consciousness of heavenly companionship which makes the believer courageous. Many a man who would have been afraid to go to battle alone has marched along very cheerily because of the many thousands who are hurrying to the same attack. The Christian feels that he has the companionship of his God and Saviour. In addition to all this, faith has an expectation of supernatural help. Faith hears the wheels of Providence working on her behalf. I must not omit one powerful ingredient in faiths life-draught--the prospect of ultimate reward.
III. ADMINISTER THIS MEDICINE. I cannot do it. You must go to Him who compounded it, namely, the blessed Spirit of the living God, and take with you this prayer, Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief, and this other one, Lord, increase our faith; but I will just give you a few hints. Some of you are going through a present personal difficulty; you are embarrassed in money matters, or a child is sick, or the wife is dying, or some other providential trim is vexing you--you are saying, I cannot bear it! I will not pray with you that you may be comforted in that sinful weakness, but I do beseech you to ask for faith in that Fathers hand which wields the rod, that you may get out of the weakness, and may now be made strong to suffer with holy patience what your loving Fathers wisdom appoints for you. Others have a spiritual duty before you, but you are shirking it because of its difficulty. You do not like to go through the ordeal -that is what you call it. You are disobediently timid. Now, I shall not ask God to comfort you in that weakness; you know your Masters will, and you do it not; may you be beaten with many stripes, and may the stripes be blessed to you. I will ask that, knowing your duty, you may rise out of that weakness by believing that God will help you to obey, and so out of weakness you may be made strong.
IV. PRAISE THE PHYSICIAN, and who is this? Who is it that has taught us to believe? It is our Father who is in heaven, who has taught us and bidden us trust Him; blessed be His name. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Out of weakness made strong
Weakness. How expressive, how suggestive, is that word to many. What memories it may awaken of anxious times in the history of souls and bodies! It may recall to some of us long days of dangerous sickness, their own or anothers. To some it will speak of experiences, not less marked, of failing heart and discouraged resolution, in spiritual conflicts; times when, in the face of difficulties and trials to which they felt themselves unequal, they have had at the same moment no clear perception of any such power unseen as could turn the scale in favour of escape or victory. There is, indeed, no sense of the word, and no part of our being, in which the text has not again and again been verified--By faith, out of weakness, they were made strong.
1. It has been exemplified, in every age, apart from all fancy and all fanaticism, in the body. There are cases on record in medical history, in which the perfect peace of a soul entirely prepared for either alternative has actually arrested the march of disease, and made the patient literally out of weakness strong. There are cases on record in which it has been said by the physician to the sufferer, desirous to depart and to be with Christ, Sir, in this state of joyous anticipation you cannot die. But while we believe that there is a true sense of the words in reference to the restoration of bodily health, we read them with even more pleasure in other applications--still in the region of the body--of which none can challenge the certainty or the consolation. For example, there are persons marked from infancy to old age with this sign alone of disease or mortality, that they are weak--without strength. There are those whose days and years are divided between the positive seclusion of the chamber and the comparative seclusion of the home. The life so truly described as that of an invalid--in other words, of one without strength--makes a very peculiar demand upon the faith and patience of the sufferer. Natural good sense, conscious or unconscious self-interest, the mere habit of suffering, may do something to check murmuring, to teach silence, even to induce resignation and self-control; but there is a grace beyond these, which is the gift of Christ alone--by virtue of which the negative passes into the positive, making thephysical weakness spiritual strength, and the home of the invalid a very house of God to inmates and visitants taught (as St. Peter says) without the word by the mere conversation, that is, the tone and spirit and demeanour, of the sufferer.
2. We pass, by no violent transition, to a weakness, not physical, but mental, and would say a word upon cases in which an intellectual inferiority has been strengthened by a Divine power into a robustness not natural to it. We can recall companions of our boyhood who have done nothing, as the phrase is, in the world. They were regarded with admiration in that young community, in which gift is everything and attainment nothing; in which facility is the idol, and toil a synonym for dulness. Side by side with this unfulfilled hope and this broken promise, we place a career opposite to it in each particular--alike in the poverty of the expectation and in the richness of the result. Diligence, earnestness, perseverance, have won the day, and the saying, Out of weakness were made strong, has received its fulfilment even before we pass entirely out of the region of man and the world. How much more when we bring God in--when we think of a case in which a true turning of the heart, a resolute faith in Christ, and a humble looking in all things to the present help of the Holy Spirit, has changed the barrenness of nature and of the Fall into the blessed harvest of grace and the gospel.
3. But if in all these ways the text has had its fulfilment--in the body, in the mind, which God the Creator has fashioned in His wisdom, has endowed out of His fulness, yet could not--the one thing He cannot do--create into independence of Himself; how much more is it witnessed inthe spirit; in that part of the man, which is capable of communion with God, of action for God, but which, above even the two other, bears the impress of the defectibility, of the weakness, of the corruption of the Fall. I cannot doubt that there are persons who feel that the word weakness is the true description of their present spiritual state. The sense of duty is in them--but how to perform that which is good they find not. The weakness which they deplore is a weakness of will; they would be Christians indeed, and they cannot; they would be servants of God, and they find themselves, on the contrary, the servants of sin. Is there yet hope for this despair--strength for this weakness? When St. Paul asks, Who shall deliver me? he is able to answer, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And the text says, Out of weakness were made strong. By the strong motive of the Cross and Passion, drawing us to God with cords of a man, with bands of love--by the mighty power of His Holy Spirit, actually giving the strength which is obedience--thus is the work done. Thus St. Paul found himself emancipated, quickened, transformed. Thus all who in any age have given themselves, like him, to the seeking, have found, have attained, have conquered. The words are sweet, are attractive, are strong. But let us not rest in the words--let us press onward to the thing signified. Out of weakness were made strong. Think with yourselves, each one, where and what is your weakness? Is it in some duty which flesh shrinks from? Is it in some affection, not lawful, or not moderate, or not compatible with the supreme Love? Is it in the difficulty of prayer--the heart flying back from the work of seeking and grasping and communing with the Invisible? Is it in some revelation which you cannot receive--something in the ways or in the works or in the will of God, which contradicts your present idea of the just, the wise, or the good? Bring that particular weakness to God in Christ for His strengthening. Delay not, dally not, try not again and again the miserable, the hopeless experiment of your own strength, your own will, your own endeavour. Come as weak, and be thou strong! (Dean Vaughan.)
The best strengthening medicine
1. As believers in the Lord Jesus, we are called to two things, namely, to do and to suffer for His names sake. There are warriors on the field of conflict, and sentries in the box of patience.
2. Both in doing and in suffering, if we are earnest and observant, we soon discover our own weakness.
3. Our longing is to be able both to do and to suffer for our Lord, and to do this we must have strength from above, and that strength can only come to us through faith.
I. FAITH MAKES MEN STRONG FOR HOLY DOING.
1. The first duty of a Christian man is to obey God. Who among us can do this, unless a power outside of himself shall come to his aid? Faith alone takes hold of the Divine strength; and only by that strength can we obey. Hence faith is the essential point of holiness.
2. Taking another view, we would remark that faith makes us strong to fulfil the relationships of life. We are not alone by ourselves, and we can neither live nor die apart, for God has linked us with others. We either curse or bless those around us. If we have faith ill God, we shall bless our children, as Isaac and Jacob blessed their sons. If you have faith in God, you may bless your brothers while you live, as Joseph did: faith has housed many a family which else had starved. If you have faith in God, you can lead others out of the bondage of sin, and through the wilderness world, as Moses led the children of Israel; for faith is a great guide.
3. There is a high and blessed duty and privilege--I will call it both--which is to every Christian the necessity of his life, and that is to pray.
4. Faith is the great force which is needed by those whose principal work is to overcome sin. You will never be able to cut down this huge upas tree except with the axe of Christs atoning sacrifice. Take that, and every blow will tell, but no other instrument will avail. God strengthening you, you shall out of weakness be made strong to overcome sin, though backed by the world, the flesh, and the devil.
5. Permit me to speak to some aspiring spirit here, and say--Dear friend, would you like to do something great for God? Have you heard the motto of our early missionaries: Attempt great things for God? Does that thought burn within your heart? Do you long to be of some use? Oh, yes, says one, I would attempt great things for God, but I am terribly weak. Make the attempt by faith in God; for it is written, Out of weakness were made strong. If you feel incapable, throw yourself upon the infinite capacity of God.
6. I would make one more application of my text, which is capable of being used in a thousand directions. Out of weakness were made strong i this will be experienced in bearing witness for the truth of God. It is for us in our weakness to go forward as the Lord leads us; and the day of the resounding timbrels and the twinkling feet will come in due time, and Jehovah will be magnified when even humble maidens sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously.
II. FAITH MAKES MEN STRONG FOR PATIENT SUFFERING. The patience of hope is a very important part of Christian life, and faith is the essence of it.
1. Many are called to suffer much in daily life. Commend me to firm faith for power to bear the daily cross. He that believeth hath everlasting life, and the joys which come of it. Thy faith out of weakness shall make thee strong.
2. Certain saintly ones are called to bear great physical pain, and I commend to them, from practical experience, the power of faith in God under acute agony. Give thyself up to Him, and thou shalt yet sing of His lovingkindness and tender mercies.
3. But there are other forms of suffering than these. Possibly I speak to some who are suffering the evils of persecution. Do not attempt to escape by yielding what is right and true; but ask the Lord to help you to stand fast for Him. If it be true that the Lord has His martyrs still, let it be seen that they are as brave as ever.
4. We have among us those who are not exposed to persecution, but have to stand against assaults of unbelief. Do not try to answer cavillers; but if you do, mind that faith is your weapon.
5. Again, it may be that I am speaking to sad ones who suffer under mental depression. Be assured, beyond all questioning, that he that believeth in the Lord Jesus is not condemned. Believe in Him, though you see no flashes of delight nor sparkles of joy. We are safe, because we are in the city of refuge, and not because we are, in ourselves, ill or well.
6. It may be that certain of you are called to suffer in your minds, not because of any wrong thing in yourselves, but for the sake of others. If you are chosen to be a leader and a helper, or a mother in Israel, be satisfied to endure hardness with the full belief that it is all right, and that God will not only bring you through, but will also bless somebody else by the means of your tribulations. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Strength in weakness
Moses, on his own showing, was slow of speech and of a slow tongue; but by his signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, God said to Pharaoh, Let My people go. David was but a stripling when he smote the twelve-foot giant. Zaccheus was little of stature, but he also was a son of Abraham. Pauls bodily presence was weak; yet who was ever more of a man in Christ? Some say he had defective vision; yet in spiritual things he had the eagles sight with the eagles flight. Apollos mightily convinced the Jews, though knowing only the baptism of John. Delicate Timothy was strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. John Bunyan spent about fifteen years of his life in prison, yet his dungeon dreams have aroused many from the sleep of sin. Robert Hall suffered agonies from an affected spine, yet who had a better Christian backbone than he? Christmas Evans eloquence was none the less brilliant because he had lost an eye. Blind John Milton saw and sang of the loss and recovery of Paradise. Pollock, sick and feeble as he was, has blest the world with an immortal poem, in The Course of Time. Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. (Thos. Spurgeon.)
The strength of weakness:
Many of the noblest specimens of our sermonic literature have come from men who were patient sufferers. Men who have had the most touching pathos, the deepest spirituality, the most marvellous insight into the deep things of God, have often known little of bodily health. Calvin laboured under many fierce disorders. Shall we ever see his like? Robert Hall was rarely free from pain. Who ever spoke more gloriously? And here I would mention one whom all of us love, Charles Stanford, who grows sweeter and sweeter as he grows weaker and weaker, and who sees all the more clearly now that his eyes grow dim. Physical force is not our strength, it may be our weakness. Health is to be desired, and carefully preserved where we have it; but if we lose it, we may count it all joy, and look forward to be able to exclaim with Paul, When I am weak, then am I strong. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The power of weakness:
Little do I care if you become fools for Christs sake. When our weakness verges upon fanaticism it may have all the more power about it. Mr. Plimsoll did nobly when he stood up and pleaded against coffin-ships; but he was never so strong as when he lost himself, and broke the rules of the House in the ardour of his passion. It was very weak of him, but in that weakness lay his strength. Give us more of the speech which comes of a burning heart, as lava comes of a volcanic overflow. When the truth conquers us we shall conquer by the truth. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv33–37 33. Who through faith subdued kingdoms. Some of those…
33. Who through faith subdued kingdoms. Some of those named subdued kingdoms, as Barak, Gideon, David. Obtained promises. Promises were made to many of the worthies named. Stopped the mouths of lions. The case of Daniel is the most remarkable. See Dan. 6:20.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v36 “Better” is not antithetical to bad, but to good.…
ARGUMENT 15
THE BETTER RESURRECTION.
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“Better” is not antithetical to bad, but to good. Hence the logical sequence follows that while there is a bad resurrection for the wicked, there are also two resurrections for the righteous — the good and the better, the first and the last. It is stated positively
“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: over these the second death hath no power, they shall be priests of God and Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” (Rev 20:6)
This Scripture, as well as others, settles the question of the two resurrections without the possibility of cavil. I am sorry this important revelation has been obscured by the spiritualization of the first resurrection. This is a gross and flagrant error, utterly untenable, as it breaks up and destroys the antithesis, doing away with the corporeal resurrection altogether, and plunging headlong into the Swedenborgian heresy. The Greek is ezeean in both cases, which simply means, “they lived.” If it is spiritual in one sense it is in the other, and physical resurrection is forever gone. Hence we see the utter untenability of this construction and receive unequivocally the doctrine of the two resurrections. In the rapture described by Paul (1Th 4:13-18), we have another graphic account of the first resurrection, when the Lord shall come after His bride, preparatory to His millennial kingdom. Php 3:11,
“If perchance I may attain unto the resurrection which is out from among the dead.”
The Old Testament saints were not ignorant of the glorious reality of the Lord’s bridehood. Therefore they suffered the most terrible tortures of martyrdom that they might have a place in the first resurrection; which will take place before the millennium, the last resurrection being postponed till the final judgment. It is certainly a glorious privilege to rise and shout o my grave a thousand years before the general resurrection, especially when we consider the glorious privileges of the bridehood to reign with Christ during the millennial ages.
36-38. Here the Holy Ghost describes the terrible tortures inflicted by a wicked world and a fallen Church on the Old Testament martyrs. They shouted in the fires anticipating the glories awaiting them in the Lord’s bridehood and the first resurrection.
39. “All these having received the witness of the Spirit through faith, obtained not the promise.”... While the Bible is flooded with thousands of promises, especially considering the synonymy of promise and commandment in the Greek and Hebrew, by which the number is doubled, the great Messianic promise of the Lord’s incarnation and the world’s literal and actual redemption by the bleeding Christ on the cross, his triumphant resurrection, glorious ascension and mediatorial coronation and intercession throughout the Bible is magnified as “the promise” by way of pre-eminence and exaltation. While the saints of all ages lived in glowing anticipation of this wonderful prophetical fulfillment, and the realization of the Messianic promise, yet they all died without the sight. Contrastively with the verification of this promise, theirs was a dispensation of Christian imperfection. Yet their stalwart and sanguine hope swept onward through the lights of type and prophecy into the personal experience of Christian perfection. This grand faith brigade lived, testified and shouted, in the realization of Gospel experiences many centuries in advance of their age and generation, while the rank and file of the Church barely reached perfection in the article of death, passing into eternity in a state of spiritual infancy, like the great bulk of the Gospel Church of the present day. Their case was apologizable, as they were in harmony with their dispensation, while the unsanctified millions of the Church of the present day, both clerical and laic, are blundering along amid the fogs of carnality, three thousand years behind the age.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v33 (See Scofield "1Jn 3:7").
righteousness
(See Scofield "1Jn 3:7").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v35 Women received back their dead by resurrection
Women received back their dead by resurrection
This can be restated to remove the abstract noun "resurrection." The word "dead" is a nominal adjective. It can be stated as a verb. AT: "Women received back alive those who had died" (See: Abstract Nouns and Nominal Adjectives)
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Others were tortured, not accepting release
It is implied that their enemies would have released them from prison under certain conditions. This can be stated in active form. AT: "Others accepted torture rather than release from prison" or "Others allowed their enemies to torture them rather than doing what their enemies required of them in order to release them" (See: Active or Passive and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
tortured
made to suffer great mental or physical pain
a better resurrection
Possible meanings are 1) these people will experience a better life in heaven than what they experienced in this world or 2) these people will have a better resurrection than those who did not have faith. Those with faith will live forever with God. Those without faith will live forever separated from God.
Others had testing in mocking and whippings ... They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were killed with the sword
These can be stated in active form. AT: "People mocked and whipped others ... People threw stones at others. People sawed others in two. People killed others with the sword" (See: Active or Passive)
Others had testing in mocking and whippings, and even chains and imprisonment
This can be reworded so that the abstract nouns are expressed as verbs. AT: "God tested others by allowing their enemies to mock and whip them and even put them in chains and imprison them" (See: Abstract Nouns)
went about
"went from place to place" or "lived all the time"
in sheepskins and goatskins
"wearing only the skins of sheep and goats"
They were destitute
"They had nothing" or "They were very poor"
The world was not worthy
Here "world" refers to the people. AT: "The people of this world were not worthy" (See: Metonymy)
They were always wandering about
This was because they had no place to live.
caves and holes in the ground
"caves, and some lived in holes in the ground"
translationWords
resurrection
test
mock
stone
sword
ewe
goat
world
worthy
desert
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv33, 34, 35, 37 11:33 overthrew kingdoms: During the time of the judges…
11:33 overthrew kingdoms: During the time of the judges and the reign of David, Israel defeated many of their enemies. David and Solomon and a few others ruled with justice (see 2 Sam 8:15; 1 Kgs 10:9). • shut the mouths of lions: See Dan 6:1-23.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.