"And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens." (Hebrews 11:32-34)
Reading the things here declared, one might think, “Faith appears to be omnipotent.” How else can these things be explained? How else can we believe this record? Our Lord declares that if we have faith in him, even as a grain of mustard seed, “Nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matt. 17:20). How can that be? The answer is just this—The strength of faith is the omnipotent arm of our God!
Let’s look at these feats of faith. As we do, I will say little about the historical events to which they refer because it is obviously the intent of the Holy Spirit to move our minds and hearts above the carnal to the spiritual, to move our thoughts about the historical events themselves to those things represented by them.
How can we be certain of that? Look at the passage. The Holy Spirit does not specify whether Joshua or David subdued kingdoms, Samuel or David worked righteousness, Abraham or Joshua obtained the promises, Samson or Daniel stopped the mouths of lions. He does not specify the historical event because he wants us to apply each of these feats of faith to ourselves, because he would have us apply them to our own lives, because he would have us accomplish the same things by faith.
In Galatians 5:22-23 the Holy Spirit speaks of the fruit of the Spirit (the fruit of faith) as being nine fold. In these two verses, he speaks of the feats of faith as being nine fold. I cannot avoid thinking there must be a deliberate correlation.
“Who through faith subdued kingdoms”—The word here translated “subdued’ has the idea of fighting to subdue, or contending like warriors on the battlefield to take a place. We are not told whether this refers to Joshua subduing Canaan or David subduing the kingdoms around Israel. The important point is this —The kingdoms subdued were those kingdoms that sought to keep Israel from obtaining that which God had promised them. Neither Joshua nor David subdued any kingdom that did not stand in the way of and oppose Israel’s taking possession of the land God had given them.
The lesson is obvious. The Lord God has promised us an inheritance of everlasting salvation and glory in Christ. And there are two great, warring kingdoms standing in the way of us obtaining the inheritance God has promised us in Christ: the flesh, the kingdom within (Rom. 8:13; 1 Cor. 9:27,) and the world, the kingdom without (Song 8:5; James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17; 5:4).
“Wrought righteousness” —These words, in their strict sense, refer to the exercise of judicial righteousness, the enforcement of law. Joshua wrought righteousness in executing the king and inhabitants of Hazor (Jos. 11). David wrought righteousness in his rule over Israel (2 Sam. 8:15). And Elijah wrought righteousness in slaying the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18).
But in this context, the passage is intended primarily to tell us that faith is that by which the believer is experimentally justified before God. Just as God gave the land of Canaan to Israel before any who entered it were born, so the Lord God justified us in Christ long before we came into this world. Still, Israel had to take possession of the land by the execution of justice. So, too, the believer must be justified by faith experimentally, justified before God by the execution of law and justice —Trusting the crucified Substitute, by whose blood justice is satisfied (Ps. 15:1-2).
Certainly, this working of righteousness also refers to the believer’s behavior, his way of life in this world. God’s people, men and women who believe God, live by the right standard. We live by and our lives are regulated by the Word of God.
“Obtained promises” —Abraham got Isaac. Jacob got the birthright. Moses delivered Israel. Joshua conquered Canaan. Gideon defeated the Midianites. David got the throne. They all obtained what God had promised, and that “against all odds,” as we say, by faith.
So, too, you and I shall obtain
every covenant promise of our God (redemption, pardon, justification, eternal
life, and everlasting glory), all those promises of God in Christ Jesus, by
faith in him. All the promises of God are in Christ and in him they are yea and
amen, sure and certain!
“Stopped the mouths of lions” —Just as both Samson and Daniel stopped the mouths of lions by faith, believers still stop the mouth of the lion that roars against them by faith in Christ. Satan roars against us. Oh, how the lion of hell roars! But faith stops the lion’s mouth (1 Pet. 5:8; Rom. 8:31-39).
“Quenched the violence of fire” —Paul probably had in mind those three Hebrews who were cast into the fiery furnace. But the promise of God is to us —“When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee” (Isa. 43:2). The fiery darts of the wicked shall do us no harm, being quenched by the shield of faith (Eph. 6:16). The fiery trials by which God proves us in the furnace of affliction shall only refine the gold of his grace. Nothing, child of God, shall harm you (1 Pet. 3:12-13).