Wednesday, May 14, 2008, Part 2

"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" (Hebrews 11:32).

IDEA: God calls all of us to live faithfully in a hostile world.

PURPOSE: To help listeners see how examples in the Bible can help us live by faith in a hostile world today. 

Why do we use examples?

We use them with our children, in sermons, in the classroom.

What does an example do?

Why do we sometimes pile up examples? 

In school a teacher might give half a dozen different examples of the kind of math problems that will be on a test. 

A cook might give half a dozen examples of how a particular ingredient can be used. 

I. The writer of Hebrews, throughout the letter and at the end, piles up examples of all kinds of people in all kinds of situations who have lived by faith.

They are a very diverse group from diverse backgrounds and showed faith in diverse situations.

They have different groups of enemies:

Gideon routed the massive Midianite army with only torches and empty jars (Judges 7:7-25).

Barak led Israel with a poorly equipped army to defeat Sisera and the Canaanites (Judges 4:8-16).

Samson championed Israel during Philistine oppression (Judges 13:1–16:31).

Jephthah led in the defeat of both the Amorites and the Ammonites (Judges 10:6–12:7).

They had diverse situations and opportunities:

David, a warrior and a king, lived a life of devotion to God, performing outstanding acts of service to God.

Samuel, a kingmaker and judge, bridged Hebrew history between the judges and the monarchy.

All of the people mentioned were flawed.

II. Why does the writer of Hebrews give us all of these different examples?

So that we who are flawed people won’t think that we couldn’t possibly live by faith.

He wants us to know that they are listed, not because of their accomplishments but because what they accomplished by faith.