I believe the answer to these thought provoking questions lies within the pages of Scripture and by the end of this blog I hope to present to you the answer that I suppose to be the truth of God's Word concerning this passage.
I will be honest, ultimately I cannot dogmatically argue why certain men are not mentioned because that would be an argument from silence, but this is the belief that I have come to accept and I desire to share that with you at this time.
There are sixteen people mentioned by name in this chapter and many who remain unnamed, but what do they have in common? The spiritual answer is that they had faith and believed God, but what does that mean? I encourage you to check out the whole chapter for yourself, but here are a few:
"By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks." - Heb. 11:4
"By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God." - Heb. 11:5
"By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." - Heb. 11:7Did you see it?
All of the men and women in this chapter have at least one of two things in common: Each one of them obtained a testimony and a witness among men for their faith in God. Several of them were also involved in a great rescue mission in hopes to either save God's people or to point them towards Jehovah.
Abel obtained a testimony of righteousness that is still speaking to this very day. Enoch obtained a witness of righteousness amongst a sin-cursed world even while there were Nephilim walking the earth. Noah was a preacher of righteousness for 120 years and was used by God to save the human race (2 Pet. 2:5).
James says in 2:17 that "faith, if it has no works, is dead." Is it not true that God wants us to shine like stars in the universe? His desire is that the world would see us as different. His craving is for us to obtain a testimony of righteousness which is according to faith, and if we do, then He will reward us for our faithfulness.
But I pose the question, "Why is Samson in this chapter?" This is the man that was always sleeping around. It is like he had no convictions whatsoever and if he did, then it seems to say that he didn't care. One of my teachers at Bible school called him "a moral retard!" Especially sense Delilah, the last girl he was with, kept asking him how he could be made weak so that she could allow the Philistines to seize him.
It doesn't seem like Samson ever really had a "great faith" moment because it wasn't until the very last day of his life in which he really believed God for the incredible. On the flip side why is Solomon not mentioned here?
I find it interesting that the one who wasted most of his life (Samson) is mentioned as having great faith, yet the other (Solomon) who spent over twenty years of his life serving the Lord is not mentioned.
We all know of Solomon's downfall and how he forsook the one true God for the latter half of his life, but he was walking with the Lord for over twenty years to start. It seems like this would count for something right?
Imagine two men both living fifty years. One serves God for 49 years and then for the last year of his life he completely rejects God and everything to do with Him. The other lives in complete rebellion for 49 years and the last year he feels the conviction upon His heart and begins to walk faithfully for the remainder of the year. They both die and then stand before the Lord.
Who receives a greater reward? In our perception, we would say the first guy because 49 years of faithfulness is a long time compared to the other guy's one year. But is this how God sees it? The apostle Paul believed that even him and the apostles could risk losing everything they had worked for in terms of reward (1 Cor. 9:27).
Even at the end of Solomon's life, after he turned back to the Lord when he realized that everything he was searching for was vanity apart from God, he wrote a most incredible book that has impacted lives in each generation since then.
So why is he forgotten?
I believe that both Solomon and Jeroboam are saved individuals. I hold strong ground in believing that I will see them both one day worshiping the God of heaven, yet I propose this theory. Take it lightly and hold it up to the scrutiny of Scripture. If it does not fit, then don't believe it.
For about the first twenty years of Solomon's reign as King of Israel he faithfully served the Lord. God granted him peace throughout his entire life and made him the wealthiest king alive. He extended his borders and built great temples, monuments, houses, and lands.
Towards the middle of his reign he became bored. He began the slow fade of taking matters into his own hands and slowly his dependence upon God was dieing out. He made and established covenants with Gentile nations by marrying their daughters in order to better secure his peace with these other nations.
These women that he married were from idolatrous people. They led him astray and he had built for them temples in order that they may serve their own gods. Solomon committed acts of idolatry by worshiping these false gods and even sacrificing human babies to the god Molech.
Solomon turned the entire nation around from worshiping God to bowing down to idols. I am asking you that as you look at the story of his life, does him turning away from God an entire nation exhibit faith? No.
Not only did he lead Israel into idolatry, but he became darkness for the Gentile nations so that they would not see the light.
Jeroboam did the same. After Solomon died, his son Rehoboam did not exercise wisdom in the slightest. God gave Jeroboam ten of the twelve tribes of Israel and allowed Rehoboam to keep two, however, it was very clear that these ten tribes would not be Jeroboam's forever, nor would his line remain on the throne.
Because of this, Jeroboam became obsessed with his power. He didn't ever want to lose his grasp on these tribes so he concocted a plan that would lead the nation further into idolatry so that they would never return to the line of David.
He made two golden calves, one was set in Bethel, and the other in Dan. He told the nation not to go to Jerusalem to worship God, but to worship these instead. Does this sound like faith to you?
The two men above did not help people. Instead, they ruined millions of lives and caused sin to run through generation after generation. Yes, Solomon eventually turned back to God and wrote a convicting book, but the damage was already done. He led God's people astray.
Solomon and Jeroboam did not receive a testimony of faith among men nor did they seek to progress the faith of others by becoming burden lifters. They lived their lives as dead weight.
Samson is mentioned here because at the last minute he didn't destroy the lives of God's people, instead he saved them. By killing the Philistines he exercised divine judgment from the hand of God in removing the nuisance that this idolatrous nation kept having upon the people of Israel. Samson was finally willing to let God work.
They had a desire to show God's glory and His love. Are you looking to the interests of others? Are you living a life of faithfulness and gaining a testimony of righteousness among men? Are you leading men to their Savior? Do you love the least of these?
God is concerned with people. How concerned are you with the salvation of those closest to you?
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