In the middle of Hebrews 11:35, the author transitions from telling us about triumphs to telling us about tragedies. In the ESV this transition is marked by the word “some” but in the Greek text the words are slightly stronger and probably should be translated “but others.” So, on the one hand, some people conquered by faith to the glory of God, but others—the author wants us to hear his transition loud and clear—but others were conquered by faith to the glory of Christ.
These people also received and believed in the promises of God but instead of gaining victories they were tortured. For example, at one point in his life the prophet Jeremiah was bound and beaten by the religious and political powers of his day, and yet he refused to recant what the Lord had sent him to say because his hope was in God. He was sure of what he hoped for because he hoped for what is sure, no matter the cost or consequence. His desire was not for the pleasures of this world but for the treasures of God, and therefore he rejected the easy way and embraced the way of the Lord. Jeremiah was tortured by faith to the glory of God. He was not lacking faith, quite the contrary, he was full of faith in the faithfulness of God and this is what enabled him to endure.
Like Jeremiah, some lived by faith and endured mocking and flogging and chains and imprisonment. By faith some had rocks and stones thrown at them to the point of death. By faith some were actually sawn in two. By faith some did not escape from the edge of the sword but rather were killed by the edge of the sword. Beloved, these people these people were conquered by faith to the glory of God. Their faith did not falter, their lives were not failures, rather, they trusted in the Lord all the way to the point of death and one day they will surely wear the crown of life to the glory of Christ.
Still others were not killed by the saw or the sword but by faith they were forced to live in very difficult circumstances. By faith they dressed in the skins of sheep and goats rather than normal clothing because they had been marginalized and had no other choice. By faith they lived without money or earthly possessions. By faith they were destitute and afflicted and mistreated by the powers and peoples of the world. By faith they had no homes of their own but were forced to wander about in the deserts and mountains. By faith they dwelt in caves and even holes in the ground, which is the more literal translation of the end of verse 38. Yes, the author of Hebrews tells us that some people burrowed into the earth like animals and remained there for a time because that’s the price they had to pay for walking by faith in the faithfulness of God.
Beloved, the world counts these people as losers and failures, but in truth they lived by faith and they are commendable in God’s sight. They trusted in the presence and promises of God to the point where they had nothing left but their joy in him. The world despised and rejected them, but the Lord bears another testimony about them. In essence, the Lord says in verse 38, “This world is not even worthy to be in the presence of these precious people. They trusted in me, they believed my words, they hoped in my promises, they chose the treasures of my Kingdom over the pleasures of this world, and therefore they were willing to suffer anything that they might gain me and exalt me in the sight of others. The world despises and rejects them but I, the Lord, will greatly exalt them to the glory of Christ because they loved and trusted me above all things.”
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