By Faith, Those Who Suffered
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 2:30AM 
The Martyrdom of Eleazer the Scribe by Gustave Doré
The stories of the judges, prophets, and kings highlighted in the previous piece in this series on the people listed in the Hebrews hall of faith were all stories of triumph. The lives of these Old Testament heroes, at least the parts featured in the passage we studied, would make outstanding advertisements for the benefits of a life of faith. We started reading, if remember, at Hebrews 11:32, and stopped in the middle of verse thirty-five. Up to that point, it might seem as if the main idea of the passage is “live a life of faith and you will win battles, escape danger, and bring dead children back to life.”
But the paragraph doesn’t end in verse thirty-five, and the verses that follow contain no stunning escapes, crushing victories, or miraculous resurrections. “There were others,” the text continues,
who were tortured refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground (Hebrews 11:35a-38).
The faithful people described in the second half of the paragraph experienced more suffering than success. No one is going to use their pictures on promotional posters for the earthly advantages of a life of faith. Even so, the author of Hebrews expected their stories to be just as effective for strengthening the faith of his first century readers as the previous stories of triumph.
When he wrote of other heroes who were impoverished, tortured, imprisoned, and killed, he may have been thinking of some of the Old Testament prophets (Nehemiah 9:26). Jeremiah, for example, isn’t known as the “weeping prophet” for nothing. He was beaten, placed in stocks, and thrown into a cistern (Jeremiah 20:2, 37:15-16). The prophet Zechariah was stoned to death (2 Chronicles 24:20-22), and according to tradition, Isaiah was sawn in two. The prophets Hanani and Micaiah were each imprisoned by kings who were angered by what they prophesied (1 Kings 22:26-27; 2 Chronicles 16:7-10). Come to think of it, I’m not sure there were any prophets who weren’t mistreated because they passed on messages from God that made people angry.
The author was probably also thinking of some of the martyrs whose stories are recorded in the Jewish history book of 2 Maccabees. A man named Eleazer, for instance, was tortured to death when he refused to renounce his faith, and a mother and her seven sons were also tortured and killed for remaining faithful to the law.
These persecuted men and women survived without enough food or proper clothing. They lived in caves and holes; some, perhaps, because they were poor, but others because they were hiding from men who were trying to harm them (1 Samuel 24:3; 1 Kings 18:4,13). They were outcasts from society because they were faithful to God. In the eyes of the world, they were not worthy of respect, but in God’s eyes—the only eyes that see things as they really are—it was the world who was not worthy of them.
These believers remained true to God as they endured unspeakable suffering because they were looking forward to something infinitely more valuable than a happy, healthy, and successful life. What they wanted most was not a life without pain, but an “even better resurrection.” In the first part of verse thirty-five, right before he turned his attention to the suffering saints, the author of Hebrews wrote of “women who received back their dead, raised to life again.” These women experienced miraculous resurrections, but even as they rejoiced in the miracles, they knew their loved ones would still eventually die. The suffering saints wanted a different and better kind of resurrection.
They longed for an eternal resurrection, one with glorified bodies that can’t experience pain, or illness, or be tainted by sin. They wanted to live forever in the presence of God in the heavenly city. They could live their earthly lives as foreigners and strangers in the world because they hoped for resurrection to “a better country—a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:13-16). What they desired most was life in a place where they truly belonged, and where all the wrongs done to them would be made right.
At the very least, the first recipients of the letter of Hebrews knew believers who had been mistreated and imprisoned because they were Christians (Hebrews 10:32-34), and they were probably afraid that persecution would come again. These accounts of courageous historical men and women reminded them that down through the ages, God’s people have suffered—and many have suffered worse trials than theirs.
None of their trials came because God doesn’t care for his own, or isn’t faithful to them. And they weren’t suffering because they didn’t have strong enough faith for God to perform a miraculous work to save them. Victorious people of faith and suffering people of faith are both commended in Hebrews 11. God was not withholding blessings from them because they lacked faith, but he was giving them something better. If they kept clinging to Jesus, they would be resurrected to such glory that their present-day trials would seem like nothing (Romans 8:18).
Unlike some of the early Christian readers of Hebrews, you probably haven’t had your possessions confiscated or been thrown in jail for following Jesus. I do, however, know someone who lost a dear friend because she shared the gospel, and a few others who have been mocked for their convictions. I also know believers who have friends and family who strongly disapprove of the things they believe. These trials are minor, of course, when we compare them to torture and death, but we shouldn’t underestimate the pain that can come from this kind of rejection. But even if you are never persecuted or rejected, you will not get through life without suffering. In this life, we are all susceptible to illness, pain, and loss. And while we may never face martyrdom, we will certainly face death.
One key to faithfully enduring all sorts of trials is to look toward the better resurrection that will one day be ours. Our earthly bodies will eventually fail us, but we will gain resurrection bodies that can’t fail. When the circumstances of our life make us feel as if we don’t really belong here, we can focus on our resurrection home in a place where we will always be with the One (and the ones) we love most.
What’s more, while looking forward to a better resurrection will help us keep clinging to Jesus during seasons of suffering, the seasons of suffering themselves can work to loosen our grip on the pleasures and successes of this life so that we can cling even tighter to him. Our trials teach us that the truest treasures are found in the glories of the life to come—glories we can only receive through faith. If you are a believer, your times of trial work to increase your desire for heaven and strengthen your hold on Jesus, who is your only hope, and both of these are good reasons for God to allow us to suffer.
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