In
sharing with his readers, the writer of Hebrews gave many examples of
people who had “faith”
in God. Some of the women among them “received
their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not
accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection”.
In chapter eleven and verse twenty-seven
of Hebrews the writer shares
how some people of “faith”
“had trial of cruel
mockings and scourgings”
“the walls of Jericho fell down”
where we read:
And others
had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yes, moreover of
bonds and imprisonment:
The
verse begins, “And others had trial
of cruel
mockings and scourgings,...”. The
writer began with the words, “And
others”
which means “and a number of people opposed to the ones the writer
formally mentioned” “had trial”
or “were experienced, tested, tried and learned” “of
cruel mockings”
which means “of scoffing and derision” “and
scourgings”
or “whippings and plagues”. Other people of “faith”
were “tested” by “scoffing and whippings”.
The
verse goes on to say, “...yes, moreover of bonds and
imprisonment:”. The writer
continued with the word, “yes” or
“yet, so, moreover and nevertheless” “moreover”
which means “still, further and yet longer” “of
bonds” or “bands, chains and
strings which cause an impediment or disability” “and
imprisonment” which refers to
“keeping watch over or guarding as sentinels”. The writer
included those who suffered “capture and prison” for their
“faith” in God.
When
we think through these words in Hebrews, we see how not all who have
“faith” in God receive what we view as “good things”
in their lives. Some believers suffered “scoffing”, and
others were put in prisons because of their “faith”. Jesus
Christ came to offer “eternal salvation” for all who believe in
the fact that He came to die for their sins, rose from the grave and
is at the right hand of God in heaven today. This in no way
guarantees that everything will be easy in this life. Those who
believe may be “scoffed at”, perhaps “whipped”
or worse and may even suffer “death” in this life,
however, eternally, they can be assured, God will provide them with
blessings forever. Jesus came to provide “eternal salvation”, and
though we suffer in this life, we shall forever live with Him if we
believe.
Next
time the writer shares how other people of
“faith”
were “stoned, sawn asunder,
tempted and slain with the sword”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
No comments:
Post a Comment