[29] By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. [30] By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. [31] By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.
[32] And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—[33] who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, [34] quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. [35] Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. [36] Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. [37] They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented—[38] of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
[39] Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, [40] since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.
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[1] Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, [2] looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
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This past Sunday, the Epistle reading was from this same chapter in Paul’s letter written in Hebrew. The focus of his eleventh chapter is “Faith.” My main resource for the Greek and English possibilities in translation is BibleHub Interlinear. That site lists headings for the various verses, denoting where focus changes can be found. Verses one through three are headed “Faith is Being Sure.” Verses four through seven are headed “The Faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah.” Verse eight through nineteen are headed “The Faith of Abraham.” Verses twenty through twenty-two are headed “The Faith of Isaac, Jacob, Joseph.” The verses from twenty-three through thirty (the last two in today’s reading) are headed “The Faith of Moses.” The verses thirty-one through the end of the chapter – verse forty – are headed “The Faith of Many.” Simply from these headings, it must be grasped that “Faith” is only applied (by Paul here) to the Patriarchs, who led to Abraham and then those who can rightfully claim spiritual lineage to him; and, this includes the “Many” that BibleHub Interlinear says verses thirty-one through forty place focus on. The “Many” is not the same as “the masses,” in the same way that “faith” is not the same as belief.
In verses twenty-nine and thirty, Paul used the plural pronoun “they” to denote those of true “faith” that crossed the Red Sea. It was also those of true “faith” that caused the walls of Jericho to collapse. Neither of those events had anything to do with human beings having become super heroes because they had listened to Moses or Joshua give a power-sermon, designed the fill them with so much enthusiasm (based on belief in the storyteller) that they overachieved greatly. The focus says every human being that followed Moses and Joshua were themselves just like Moses and Joshua, as spiritual descendants of Abraham. Their “faith” was due to them having become married spiritually to Yahweh, received His Spirit, and were the resurrections of His Son’s soul as Lord over their souls, so their “faith” was based on the Yahweh elohim within their souls. When Paul said the Egyptians attempted to cross the Red Sea but died, it was because of their lack of “faith” in Yahweh, even though their eyes say wimpy Jacobites crossing safely and believed, “If they can do it, so can we.”
In verse thirty-one, Paul mentions a woman of Jericho who assisted the spies sent by Joshua. When Jericho fell, her house was marked by a red cord around her doorframe, in the same way the Israelites were spare Yahweh’s Passover of death to the firstborn. This says Rahab was marked by Yahweh as a soul that was His. Her “faith” was not based on fearing anyone. It was based on love of Yahweh and questioning the religion of those leading Jericho. She can then be said to be the first of the converts from pagan philosophies to those who were souls descended from the absolute “faith” of Abram-Abraham.
In verse thirty-two, Paul continued quickly, naming in succession “Gideon, Barak, Sampson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets” as all being souls married to Yahweh (as Judges, the one true King of Israel, and those souls sent in their flesh to save the lost under bad leaders). Those names each had sacrificed their souls to do the will of Yahweh (study His Word), receive His Spirit, and give rebirth to His Son, the Lord of each’s soul-flesh. In between those named, Paul left out a vast number of people who lived in the lands entered by Joshua. Joshua brought with him only souls who were just like him in devotion to Yahweh; and, David would be the only king to have the same spiritual effect on the people he led.
Verses thirty-three and thirty-four speak of the victories that were known and credited to certain peoples; but all victories were due to Yahweh. The lesson of the Day of Midian” says Yahweh does not need the strongest, the best trained, or the meanest soldiers, and He certainly does not need many human souls (one was plenty several times) to defeat evil and its supporters. This says Yahweh could destroy evil at will; but the purpose of evil is to test the “faith” of those who serve Yahweh totally. Victory is more important to their eternal reward, than it is to a momentary battle won. Evil can only exist on the material plane. The true victory is to gain entrance into the eternal life realm with Yahweh.
Verse thirty-five is confusing when it is read as saying, “Women received their dead by resurrection.” The reference is not to “women” but to “wives,” as the meaning of “gynaikes” allows. When “wives” is read and understood to be the state of being that a soul born into a body of flesh is spiritually, all souls in the flesh are called upon to becomes the bridesmaids of Yahweh. All who pass the test of commitment will then become Yahweh’s “wives.” It is then those “wives” that Paul said, “they Received” (from a capitalized “Elabon”), which is the Anointment of Yahweh’s Spirit, which made those souls in the flesh (regardless of human gender) all become His “wives from out of of resurrection” (from “ex anastaseōs”), with the Genitive case stating divine possession in “of resurrection.” The possession is divine union between the Spirit and a soul, with “of resurrection” being the rebirth of Yahweh’s Son – Adam-Jesus within the wife-soul. This “resurrection” then allows Jesus to become Lord over their soul-flesh, such that their submission to Yahweh is in essence the “death of their souls” (from “nekrous autōn”). While “women” are included in this transformation, they are not exclusive as the “wives” of Yahweh,
When verse thirty-six begins by saying “others,” this is actually furthering the “resurrection” stated in verse thirty-five. The Greek word “heteroi” is the Nominative Masculine Plural form of “heteros,” meaning “other,” implying in usage “(a) of two: another, a second, (b) other, different, (c) one's neighbor.” (Strong’s) This says the “resurrection” is then the divine soul of Yahweh’s Son – Adam-Jesus – being “resurrected” within a host soul, becoming one of two souls in the same body of flesh. The divine soul of Yahweh’s Son then becomes the Lord over that soul-flesh, which is the “resurrection” of the soul of Jesus in true Christians. When this is understood, the statements in verse thirty-six about “mockings, scourgings, trials, chains and imprisonment” were the “tortures” coming to the “wives” that were “of two.” This also says “one’s neighbor” that Jesus told his disciples to love like themselves was his soul, which he knew would possess them and become their spiritual Lord.
In verse thirty-seven, after Paul wrote of “stonings,” before he wrote of being “sawn in two,” he wrote in parentheses “epeirasthēsan,” meaning “they were tried,” with “tried” being the “proofing” and “testing” metal is put through, by fire. The root word “peirazó” means “to make proof of, to attempt, test, tempt,” where the implication means “to put to the test.” This word is not translated because Paul placed it within parentheses, which is a signal that says read this word spiritually, not physically. Thus, the “testing” was both applied by angry Jews and Roman to “test” the “faith” of Christians, while those “tests” listed by Paul were the “proof” that their “faith” was not led by a fleshy brain and its thoughts of reason, but by the ‘Ephraim’ that joined with their souls, making each be ‘Doubly Fruitful’ for Yahweh.
In verse thirty-eight, Paul wrote, “of whom not existed worthy this world,” which says those martyrs each died while possessed and protected by the soul of Jesus, the Son of Yahweh. He was the one deemed “not worthy this world,” so Jesus was persecuted to death over and over again, each time in a new body of flesh. Still, the soul of Jesus remains alive and well, found in those void of moisture and “wandering” as seekers. The soul of Jesus climbs the “mountains” and enters “caves,” seeking those whose soul is heading to a “hole in the earth” (a grave), unless they find a Saint in the name of Jesus to lead them to the altar of divine marriage.
When Paul then wrote in verse thirty-nine: “Kai these all , them having been commended on account of of this of faith , not did receive the promise .” This refers back to the beginning of chapter eleven and is the covenant made with Abram that promised his descendants would be as numerous as the countless stars of light. All who are the resurrection of the soul of Jesus are descended from Abram, who was the first of his kind – Saints totally submissive to Yahweh and His Will. When Paul wrote in verse forty that God had something greater planned for all souls descended from Abram, it was eternal life, not a bloodline maintained on the material realm.
Whenever a chapter of Scripture ends and a new chapter begins, the focus is transitional. The same focus is not repeated, just like a lesson in school is one leading to the next. As such, the focus on “faith” is mentioned briefly by Paul in his second verse that Jesus is the source of all true “faith.” True “faith” is knowing the truth; and, with Jesus’ soul resurrected within the soul of a wife of Yahweh, one’s personal experiences of Jesus is the truth of “faith.” Therefore, Paul began a new chapter writing of the true source of strength within a soul in its flesh, which allows it to surmount all obstacles and challenged. One does not boldly run full-bore into the mess that is the world, brainly knowing one has “faith.” One rides on the back of Jesus as he leads one down the path of righteousness; and, every experience of oneself as Jesus reborn is what becomes “faith” known.