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Eleven positive acts of faith.
A | Subdued kingdoms.
B | Wrought righteousness.
C | Obtained promises.
D | Stopped the mouths of lions.
E | Quenched the violence of fire.
F | Escaped the edge of the sword.
G | Were made strong out of weakness.
H | Waxed valiant in fight.
I | Turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
J | Women received their dead raised to life again.
K | Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance.
That they might obtain a BETTER resurrection.
Eleven negative acts of faith.
A | Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings.
B | Of bonds and imprisonment.
C | They were stoned.
D | They were sawn asunder.
E | They were tempted.
F | They were slain with the sword.
G | They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins.
H | Being destitute.
I | Afflicted.
J | Tormented.
K | They wandered in deserts, in mountains,
in dens and in caves of the earth.
God having provided some BETTER thing for us.
Without attempting that which the apostle sets aside as beyond the scope of Heb. 11:,
we can point out some obvious connections in these lists with the seven names given in
verse 32. David subdued kingdoms, as Moab, Ammon, and Edom. The note of
triumphant faith is sounded by him in Psa. lx: "God hath spoken in His holiness; I will
rejoice . . . . . Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe . . . . . Through
God we shall do valiantly." God had spoken; that was the basis of David's triumphant
faith.
Gideon supplies us with a wonderful example of weakness being made strong, and of
turning to flight the armies of the aliens. When we read of the stopping of the mouths of
lions and the quenching of the violence of fire, it is difficult to deny a reference to Daniel
and his three companions. The women who received their dead raised to life were the
widow of Zarephath (I Kings 17: 22-24), and the Shunammites (II Kings 4: 36).