WITNESSES AND RUNNING "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses . . . " -- Tomorrow:
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." (Heb 12:1-4)
WE ARE SURROUNDED!, #1
The Spirit has placed before us holy men and women who lived in the past. They include Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, those who passed through the Red Sea, those who shouted and the walls of Jericho fell down, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets, and an unnamed host of people as well. These are the "witnesses" to which the Spirit now refers.
The word "surround" or "compassed" (KJV) means to lie all around, i.e. inclose, encircle. The expression denotes something presently experienced. It is NOT a historical perspective. The words translated "compassed by," or "surrounded by," are in the active voice, denoting something occurring NOW. We "ARE" compassed or surrounded by these witnesses. The imagery is that of a great amphitheater, with the arena of the runners, and the tiers upon tiers of seats rising up like a cloud. Unlike those attending a mere game, however, these witnesses, or testifiers, remain. They are like a boundary around us. They form a circumference, and are among a gallery of witnesses that even include the holy angels, who themselves camp round those fearing the Lord (Psa 34:7). The language used here is not a mere literary device that suggests people of the past merely provide an example of the kind of faith we are to have.
While the angels protect and minister to believers (Psa 91:11; Heb 1:13-14), the faithful who have gone before us testify to us. They do not do so person-to-person, but through the record of their faith. Their lives provide a resounding confirmation of the effectiveness of faith. It is as though they were shouting to those struggling in the good fight of faith, "You can make it! Run! Fight! Don't give up! God is with you! Consider us! Consider us! We went through fire and water, and made it to the other side! We did the impossible! Divine power was given to us because we willed to believe God! Do not look at the circumstance, but to the Lord!" O, we need to hear them!
GOD OF THE LIVING
Some object to this, saying that it is simply the record that is in reference, not the witnesses themselves. But this is not the case. We are not surrounded by a document, but by witnesses; not by a record, but by personalities. That is what the Spirit says! They are called a "cloud of WITNESSES" because of the vast number of them. Even if there had only been very few such witnesses, they should have aroused our slumbering spirits and fired our souls for the "good fight of faith" (1 Tim 6:12). But this is a vast and prestigious assembly that surrounds us. Millions kept the Passover, came out of Egypt, passed through the Red Sea, and drank from a rock in a wilderness! From Abel through the period of the Judges and the Kings, there have been people who lived by faith. In Elijah's day, there were "seven thousand" who, by faith, refused to bow their knees to Baal (1 Kings 19:18; Rom 11:4). Every age has had its "remnant" (Isa 10:20; Ezek 6:8; Amos 5:15; Micah 2:12; Zech 8:12; Rom 11:5), and God has never left Himself "without witness" (Acts 14:17). Now, they ALL surround us.
Do not doubt the possibility of this! Jesus affirmed the present existence of those who died in the faith. "And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err" (Mark 12:26-27). God will not raise those who do not exist, but the living. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have left this world, but they have not ceased to be! We know this is the case because an extensive dialog the "rich man" had with Abraham from the very regions of hell (Luke 16:23-30). Abraham also "comforted" Lazarus, who suffered in this world (Luke 16:25). Peter, James, and John saw "Moses and Elijah" speaking with Jesus on the "holy mount" (Matt 17:3; Luke 9:30). The saints of the past have vacated their bodies, but they live on. God is not the God of dead bodies, but of the living! We are even told that we "are come" to "the spirits of just men made perfect" – not to their bodies, but to their spirits (Heb 12:22). They are among this vast "cloud of witnesses" that surround us.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, grant that I may with profit ponder the greatness of the host of personalities that are all around me.