The Purpose of the Scriptural Record. (Hebrews 11:32-40)

The writer of Hebrews goes on to mention that telling the stories of all the Old Testament saints would be too much for his little homily to contain. However, that is what he does attempt to summarize. Names and examples, taken from throughout the Old Testament, all given to illustrate the same sort of trust and surrender. People who followed God and took Him at His word, even though they had not seen the fulfillment of His promises. People throughout history before the cross died without seeing the fulfillment of the promise. Yet we who live after the cross can know that God is faithful insofar as He has sent His Son the Messiah. However, we still exercise faith by trusting in the fulfillment of the rest of the promise. The Kingdom of God has come, but we are not living in the full promise of the Kingdom just yet.