Be Heroic. Demonstrating Bravery by Your Walk

195 Pages·2011·1.26 MB·English

by  Warren W. Wiersbe

BE HEROIC
Published by David C. Cook
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All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced
or used in any form without written permission from the publisher.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. (Public
Domain.) Scripture quotations marked are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®.
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NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All
rights reserved; are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © Copyright 1960, 1995 by The
NASB
Lockman Foundation. Used by permission; are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright ©
NKJV
1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved; and are taken from the New
NLT
Living Translation of the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale
Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.
LCCN 2010930483
ISBN 978-0-7814-0335-1
eISBN 978-0-7814-0512-6
© 1997 Warren W. Wiersbe First edition of Be Heroic published by Victor Books® in 1997 © Warren W.
Wiersbe, ISBN 1-564760591-1
The Team: Karen Lee-Thorp, Amy Kiechlin, Sarah Schultz, Jack Campbell, and Karen Athen Series Cover
Design: John Hamilton Design Cover Photo: Veer Second Edition 2010
Contents
The Big Idea: An Introduction to Be Heroic by Ken Baugh A Word from the
Author
1. The Providence of God (Ezra 1—3) 2. The Faithfulness of God (Ezra 4—6) 3.
The Good Hand of God (Ezra 7—8) 4. The Grace of God (Ezra 9—10)
Haggai in His Time
5. Stirring Up God’s People (Haggai 1) 6. Keeping the Work Alive (Haggai 2)
Zechariah in His Time
7. God and His People (Zechariah 1—2) 8. God and His Leaders (Zechariah 3—
4) 9. God and the Nations (Zechariah 5—6) 10. Truth, Traditions, and Promises
(Zechariah 7—8) 11. Messiah, the Shepherd-King (Zechariah 9—11) 12.
Redeemed, Refined, and Restored (Zechariah 12—14) 13. Wanted: Holy Heroes
and Heroines (Review) Notes
The Big Idea An Introduction to Be
Heroic by Ken Baugh The Medal of
Honor is one of the rarest military
decorations awarded by any nation. It is
given only to an officer or enlisted
person who has distinguished himself or
herself by heroic action above and
beyond the call of duty. To date, only
3,468 of these medals have been
distributed.
According to the Army Regulation Manual, “In order to be awarded this
medal, the deed performed must have been one of personal bravery or self-
sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his
comrades and must have involved risk of life. Incontestable proof of the
performance of the service will be exacted and each recommendation for the
award of this decoration will be considered on the standard of extraordinary
merit.” Therefore, the men and women who have been awarded the Medal of
Honor are true military heroes who deserve our respect and appreciation.
But there are other heroes who deserve shout-outs too; they are the heroes of
the faith. Heroes of the faith are those who have put it all on the line for the
glory of God. They are willing to do whatever it takes to carry out God’s calling
on their lives regardless of the personal cost. The writer to the Hebrews gives us
a glimpse at some of these heroes of the faith and says that many of them were
…
tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a
better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still
others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they
were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They
went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted
and mistreated. (Heb. 11:35–37 ) Heroes of the faith are
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willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the glory of God. Who
are your heroes of the faith? My list is long and includes Noah
and his wife (hey, she doesn’t get a lot of credit, but she had to
suffer the stink of the animals too), Abraham and Sarah, Moses,
Joshua, David, Hezekiah, Josiah, Ruth, and Mary the mother of
Jesus. It also includes the twelve disciples (minus Judas of
course), most of whom, according to church history, died
martyrs’ deaths. And don’t forget the apostle Paul. I love Paul—
he endured endless suffering and imprisonment for the glory of
God. Talk about a guy who put it all on the line!
No doubt your list will include some of my favorites and maybe a few
others, too. And yet I wonder if your list would include any names of the Minor
Prophets. What about Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum,
Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi? These people were also
heroes of the faith but are often forgotten. They are referred to as Minor Prophets
not because their messages were less important than the Major Prophets (Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel) but simply because their books were shorter. For
example, the book of Isaiah contains sixty-six chapters while the book of Jonah
contains only four. Yet each of these Minor Prophets was a hero in his own right
who put it all on the line for God as he carried God’s message during perilous
times. Let’s take a quick look at two examples.
Hosea was a hero of the faith in that he followed God’s command to marry a
prostitute named Gomer (I know, weird huh?) in order to demonstrate God’s
gracious love toward His idolatrous people. God said to Hosea: “Go, take to
yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is
guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the L ” (Hosea 1:2 ). I’m sure
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that Hosea would have preferred to marry the Jewish girl next door, one whom
he would be proud to bring home to the folks, but instead Hosea put his personal
interests and dreams of a happy marriage and a normal life on the line,
sacrificing them on the altar of God’s will. I would say that makes Hosea a hero
of the faith.
How about Jonah? Most of the time, Jonah gets a bum rap, because he was
so reluctant to take God’s message of forgiveness to the people of Nineveh. But
can you really blame him? Nineveh was the capital city of the Assyrians, and
they were a brutal and ruthless people, especially in battle. History has recorded
Assyrian armies committing rape; mutilating men until death; placing heads,
arms, hands, and even lower lips on the conquered city’s walls; and mounting
skulls and noses on top of stakes. Many times, Assyrian opponents were flayed
alive, had their eyes ripped out, had their fingers, noses, and ears cut off. And if
all that were not brutal enough, Assyrian soldiers were known to impale enemy
combatants on stakes in the ground and even burned men alive. On some
occasions, the Assyrians gouged out the eyes of their enemies and allowed them
to live and wander around aimlessly, bearing witness to the Assyrian brutality in
order to instill fear into local populations so that they would give up without a
fight. And don’t forget, the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel
in 721 BC (see 2 Kings 17), and I have no doubt that the Israelites experienced
their brutality as well.
Needless to say, when God called Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach a
message of repentance, he wasn’t interested. He wanted God to judge these
ruthless people, not save them. But that’s exactly what happened: Jonah
preached, even though reluctantly, and the Ninevites repented (Jonah 3:5). “But
Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the L , ‘O L ,
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is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to
flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to
anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity’” (Jonah
4:1–2 ). Jonah knew that God would forgive these people if they repented,
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which is why he didn’t want to go to Nineveh. Nevertheless, Jonah is a hero of
the faith because he did eventually obey the Lord, and God used him to bring
about revival to a pagan nation and to reveal that God is merciful and gracious.
So you can see from the examples of Hosea and Jonah that even though they
are considered Minor Prophets, they are heroes of the faith, and the same can be
true of you and me. Remember, all these prophets were just ordinary people.
They were not made out of different cytoplasm than you or me; they were just
obedient to the Word of God, willing to carry out the will of God no matter what
the cost. The only thing that made them different than anyone else is that they
were willing to put it all on the line for the glory of God.
How about you? Are you willing to put it all on the line for God? If so, you
too can become a hero of the faith. And the great thing is that even when we
blow it like Jonah, God is gracious, willing to forgive and restore us to His work.
So as you read through the rest of the Minor Prophets, look for further evidence
of their heroics in the faith and let them spur you on to Be Heroic yourself for
the glory of God.
***
Dr. Wiersbe’s commentaries have been a source of guidance and strength to me
over the many years that I have been a pastor. His unique style is not overly
academic, but theologically sound. He explains the deep truths of Scripture in a
way that everyone can understand and apply. Whether you’re a Bible scholar or
a brand-new believer in Christ, you will benefit, as I have, from Warren’s
insights. With your Bible in one hand and Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary in the
other, you will be able to accurately unpack the deep truths of God’s Word and
learn how to apply them to your life.
Drink deeply, my friend, of the truths of God’s Word, for in them you will
find Jesus Christ, and there is freedom, peace, assurance, and joy.
—Ken Baugh Pastor of Coast Hills Community Church Aliso Viejo, California