The World Was Not Worthy of Them Introduction

In the book of Hebrews chapter 11 the author defines faith and then gives many examples of people throughout history that the exhibited that faith in God. It talks of the faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Moses. Then in verses 32 through 40 the author writes: 

And what more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the raging of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead, raised to life again. Other people were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.

All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.

There are several things that are incredible about this chapter but the thing that has stood out to me for many years is the describe that “the world was not worthy of them”. The faith of these people was so incredible that this faithless world was unworthy of their presence, yet God still allowed them to be here as an example for us and to point us to the pioneer of our faith Jesus. Hebrews chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 describes it this way:

Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

That large cloud of witnesses is not limited to those mentioned by name in Hebrews 11 or just people from Old Testament, but I believe that it includes the many people that exhibited faith described by the author that have gone before us to be with the Lord, even from our modern times. My hope is to introduce you to a host of people that this “world was not worthy” but modeled a faith, hope, and moral imagination that we can strive to emulate.