who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
4 sermons cite this verse
… For time would fail me of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David, Samuel, and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. They were made strong, the next verse says. They escaped the edge of the sword, quenched the violence. In other words, they won on the battlefields, major wars. Were made strong and valiant in battle. Turned to flight the armies that invaded. Powerful stuff. It's God's hall of fame. And God lifts those men and women in Hebrews chapter 11 who distinguish themselves in the kingdom of God. It's God's roll call of outstanding winners. He says these, and there's a long list, names that are household names biblically. But then in there, there are three names. I named the first one, but there are three names that did nothing in the natural, such as winning a battle or slaying a giant or closing the mouth of a slaying a lion, as the text said. They did nothing. They conquered no city. …
… And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets who through faith conquered kingdoms and ministered justice and gained what was promised, who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword, whose weakness was turned to strength, and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Do you see the energy and the passion and the power that the writer is giving us here, telling us? Faith, look at what all these people did by faith. This is mountaintop stuff, y'all. This is Instagram real worthy. Look at me, y'all. The mouths of the lions have been shut. Yeah, God is good. Yeah, try me, lions. This is being retweeted. This is being reposted over and over and over again. These are the mountaintops, and God is in the mountaintop kind of stuff. You've experienced some of these. Shoot, you're sitting in one. …
… each of these are multi-layered stories, but all of these through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice and gained what was promised to them in that era who shut the mouths of lions. We know who he's talking about. Quenched the fury of the flames. We know who he's talking about. And escaped the edge of the sword. Whose weakness was turned to strength who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. And see, when I read that, I'm like, yeah, yeah. That's what I wanna be. That's what I, I wanna do something and God do something. I wanna do something big and God does something bigger. And it's like, hey, I was part of what God did. You know, this is all up and to the right. You know, that's what we love. We love the up and to the right days, right? And then he turns a corner. He's like, yeah, but it wasn't like that for everybody. In fact, throughout this story, it wasn't like that for the people who were part of this long story arc between Abraham and Jesus. …
… And then he tells what they did by faith. 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 aliens. Women received their dead, raised to life again. Boy, if that's all I read I'd say sign me up. Boy, if that's what the Christian faith is, sign me up. Looks to me like It's all honey and no bees. But now wait a minute. Verse 36, there is a change. Just underscore this phrase, and others, and others. Now look at this. And others had a trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. …