Honey From The Rock

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Honey From The Rock
Psalm 81:16

"Sweet Stuff From God's Word"

A daily Bible study with Victor Knowles
Copyright 2007

TOO GOOD FOR THIS WORLD, Part 2

This entry was posted on 04-09-2009 and is filed under FAITH.

"Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison" (Heb. 11:36 NIV).

Living by faith has its consequences. For centuries believers have experienced all kinds of insults and injuries as a direct result of their faith in God and Christ. The letter of Hebrews was written to converts from Judaism who were thinking about reverting to their former faith because they were now persecuted because they were Christians. Yet he writes about the persecution Jews themselves experienced because of their faith in the Almighty. This was especially true of a group he has already mentioned - "the prophets" (v. 32). Most of them faced "jeers" and some of them were beaten. Others were chained and put in prison. Several translations have "mockings" or "taunts" for "jeers." Do you like it when people mock you or laugh at your Christian faith? That is just verbal. Most of us have never experienced the physical - flogging (scourging). If you've seen the scourging scene in Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" then you know what I'm talking about.

Other believers were chained like animals and put in prison. As I write this I am mindful that even today there are believers who experience the same. That is why Hebrews encourages us to "remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them" (13:3 KJV). "As if you were their fellow-prisoners" (TCNT). Remember, the reason they were (and are) in prison is because of their faith. Faith is not for the faint of heart. Faith endures what it cannot escape. Your faith in Christ may land you in prison some day. In my travels in Russia and Poland I have met many people who went to prison because of their Christian faith. I have been told stories of many believers who never came out, who died in prison because of ill-treatment, disease, or starvation. These are the people who were too good for this world - of whom the world is not worthy!

Prayer: Today we pray for those who are in prison, as though bound with them. Strengthen their faith and forgive us, Lord, when we whine and complain about how hard things are for us. Through Christ - who knew mockery and scourging - we pray.