ROLL CALL. Hebrews 11: 32-38.

Posted bySteven WalesPosted inBible Heroes, Different Purposes for Different Books of the BibleTags:, , ,

A fun way to study the Bible is to learn the popular parts. What would you put on the list? Psalm 23 is huge: “The Lord is my shepherd….” And Genesis chapter 1:”In the beginning, God created….” John chapter 1: “In the beginning was the Word….” There’s 1 Corinthians 13—the “love” chapter. There’s Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 “There is a time for everything under heaven….” Definitely Luke 2, the Christmas story. I also love the stories of Noah, Joseph, Moses, and David. Anything else?

I would add Hebrews 11. This chapter is called “the Roll Call of the Faithful.” It is a great reminder of heroes who have gone before. The writer (Paul, IMHO)** reports on all the saints who endured because their eyes were on the Messiah who was to come.

“By faith, Abel offered a better sacrifice… By faith, Enoch did not experience death… By faith, Noah built an ark to deliver his family… By faith, Abraham journeyed… By faith, Sarah conceived… By faith, Abraham offered up Isaac… By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau… By faith Jacob blessed each of the sons of Joseph… By faith, Joseph predicted the exodus… By faith, Moses chose to suffer as a Hebrew rather than live as the prince of Egypt… By faith, he instituted the Passover… By faith, they crossed the Red Sea… By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down…” Hebrews 11:3-31.

The writer tries to conclude:

“What more can I say? Time will fail me if I try to tell about Gideon, Samson, David, Samuel, and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, … shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the sword, … women received loved ones back from the dead, some were tortured, mocked, scourged, imprisoned, stoned, sawn in two, MEN OF WHOM THE WORLD WAS NOT WORTHY….” Hebrews 11: 32-38.

Read and study Hebrews 11, THE ROLL CALL OF THE FAITHFUL. What an inspirational passage. Then look back at paragraph one above and read the other passages that you may not know.

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** The book of Hebrews does not include a byline. No one is certain who wrote it. But I side with those who believes it to have been written by the Apostle Paul.

Published by Steven Wales

Dad's Daily Devotional began as text messages to my family. I wanted my teenagers to know their father was reading the Bible. But they were at school by then. Initially, I sent them a favorite verse or an insight based on what I read each day. That grew into drafting a devotional readng which I would send them via text. I work as an attorney and an adjunct professor, and recently wrote a book called HOW TO MAKE A'S.

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