The Superheroes of Faith in the Bible
These men and women trusted God in good and bad times, pt 1.
Comic book superhero meet-ups
Every fictional superhero team has a headquarters — a place to meet.
The Super Friends met in the Hall of Justice. Then, as the Justice League they switched to the Watch Tower, a space satellite. The Fantastic Four gathered in the Baxter Building. The Avengers planned their avenging at the Avengers Tower.
Even the bad guys got in on the action. At one time the Legion of Doom submerged their meeting place, the Hall of Doom (of course) in an undisclosed murky swamp.
Bible superhero meet-ups
The Bible also has its own team of superheroes. They were men and women who were superheroes of faith. And though most of them lived at different times, they all still have a common meeting place: the Hall of Faith.
The Hall of Faith
The eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews is commonly referred to as the Hall of Faith. It is a brief compilation of the real-life experiences of flesh and bone people in the Old Testament who were outstanding examples of faith.
None of the Hall members were perfect. Everyone single one of them goofed it at some point in their lives:
- Noah got drunk and laid out buck naked in his tent.
- Abraham had a habit of lying when he got in tough spot.
- Sarah tried to help God by coming up with her own game plan.
- Jacob was a trickster who manipulated his twin brother and father to get what he wanted. Later, he messed up his family life by picking a favorite wife and a favorite child.
- Joseph, the favorite child, bragged around his family and irritated his brothers so much that they considered killing him.
- Moses killed a man and buried the body in the sand.
So, they were not perfect by any means. Yet, their names are recorded in the Hall of Faith because they were obedient to God and they continued to believe in him. Their faith didn’t wane when things got hard, the situation seemed impossible; or, when life didn’t work out like they had expected or hoped.
So, let’s look at these superheroes of faith and see why they have been acknowledged in the Bible:
- Abel has the honor of being the first person listed in the Hall of Faith. He was the second son of Adam and Eve who was killed by his older brother Cain. ACT OF FAITH: He offered to God the best lambs from his flocks. You can find out more about Cain and Abel from my article here.
- Enoch was the first person in the Bible who went to heaven without dying. He was a righteous man whose relationship with God was on another level. ACT OF FAITH: He pleased God. You can find out more about Enoch from my article here.
- Noah was Enoch’s great-grandson. At a time when the world was rapidly spiraling down the drain, Noah was a beacon of righteousness. ACT OF FAITH: He believed God’s warning about the impending destruction of the world. He obeyed the Lord and built an extremely large boat that withstood the divine deluge. He saved his family and the animals divinely chosen for rescue.
- Abraham was a descendant of Noah’s son, Shem. He was hand-picked by the Lord to be the “father of many nations.” ACT OF FAITH: At God’s direction, he packed up and left his home behind to travel to an unfamiliar place to start all over. Without question he offered up his only child as a sacrifice when God commanded him to do so.
- Sarah was the wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac, the aforementioned sacrifice. ACT OF FAITH: She was divinely enabled to conceive and bear a child when she was 90 years old!
- Isaac was the son of Abraham and Sarah. ACT OF FAITH: He blessed his sons Jacob and Esau.
- Jacob was the younger twin of Isaac’s sons. God changed his name to Israel. The Twelve Tribes of Israel are named after his twelve sons. ACT OF FAITH: He blessed his grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh.
- Joseph was Jacob’s/Israel’s favorite son. His brothers sold him into slavery because they were insanely jealous of him. He was framed for a crime he didn’t commit and sent to jail. But in time God vindicated him and he became the second most powerful man in Egypt. ACT OF FAITH: He trusted that God would one day lead the people of Israel out of Egypt.
- The parents of Moses disregarded the royal decree to kill their child. Instead, they hid baby Moses for three months.
- Moses was a Hebrew who grew up in the pharaoh’s household at the height of Hebrew captivity in Egypt. He killed an Egyptian and escaped the death penalty by high-tailing it out of Egypt. He stayed away for forty years. ACT OF FAITH: He refused to live a life of luxury as an Egyptian. He followed God’s orders and returned to Egypt. At the Lord’s direction, he instituted the Passover.
The members of the Hall of Faith didn’t expect a life full of sunshine and roses just because they believed in and trusted God.
Neither should we.
Often hardship comes with the territory when you’re trying to live your life the way God wants you to. But the hall-of-famers understood that having faith was absolutely necessary in order to please the Lord. How many of us understand that today?
And think about this — if God used them in all of their imperfections, he can use us too!
If you liked this article, check out this other one about people with other- word speed in the Bible here.
Thanks for your time. Thanks for reading.
