So Great a Cloud of Witnesses - Amy Lawrence

When I was a child, my family and I often went to visit my grandparents in Knoxville. Since it wasn’t very far from the Smokies, and since my grandfather loved to hike, we spent many summer days on a trail or picnicking in the park with the family. I and my brother and sister or cousins would usually stop every few feet on the trails to investigate whatever had caught our attention; a flower, a rock, a reptile, a mud puddle that needed disturbing. We often frustrated the adults that were trying to get to the feature at the end of the trail. Pictures were taken of the group with a waterfall or a scenic overlook as the background. Very rare are the pictures of the small things the children thought just as fascinating. For most of those small things, all I have are memories. The photographs of the feature at the end of the trail  serve to remind me of those times that meant something very different to me then than it does now. I can’t tell you how many times we had an adult bring us back to reality and remind us that we’d temporarily lost sight of our destination. I was, several times, reprimanded for being the one to distract my siblings and cousins. They would not have known about the fascinating cavern or the cute little tree frog unless I hadn’t brought it to their attention. To this day, I love to hike. I became a mother and hoped to get my daughter just as addicted to nature as I was. She started hiking with me the day she could take the distance strapped to my back - and has been hiking ever since. I mention this to say that my perspective had changed. Instead of being the distracted child, I became the focused one stopping to refocus the distracted child. I heard myself repeating my mentors’ words every time Alyssa would try to take a flower or a stone: “What if everyone took a flower or a stone? What would be left to look at for everyone else?” The lessons learned were being passed down to the next generation. We aren’t just passing down knowledge, though. We are also passing down hope, integrity, and faith.
My grandfather is a prominent figure in the development of my Christian life. His influence was affecting my Christianity before I was even born. When my parents got married, my mother was not a member of the Lord’s church. My father was, at the beginning of their marriage, schooling to become a chiropractor at Logan University in St. Louis, Missouri. My parents lived there for an extended time (my brother was born there), away from their families in Knoxville. My mother has often told the story of how my grandfather sent her a letter every week - a thick envelope with a Bible lesson and verses. My father would go to worship, she would stay home and read the letter and every Bible verse. Then the day came when one such verse caught her attention, and she would say at that moment a “light was turned on in my brain”. She became a member of the Lord’s church. Grandpa was an elder of the Lord’s church for as long as I can remember. I have fond memories of seeing him walking up and down the aisle at South Knoxville Church of Christ with his clipboard tucked beneath his arm. Each time we would visit, we would ride with Grandma and Grandpa to worship services, often stopping on the way to pick someone up and take them to services. The generosity they exhibited with their Christianity has made an impact on countless lives. So many people loved my grandfather. He lived a good life, and he allowed me to watch him. My mother has said that she is so thankful for my dad and for his dad and for their patience in teaching her the truth. Because of that, I am a Christian. All of the above is because of the wonderful grace and mercy of the providential God Almighty. He has given us the blessing of the ones who have gone on before us - and the responsibility of being the influences to the next generation.

The Bible uses many human examples to impart lessons to Christians. There is a phrase I use so often that my daughter can quote it: “If you can’t be a good example, then you’ll just have to be a horrible warning.” No matter who you are, someone is watching you. We learn from each other. We seek connection with other people, and we learn what aids in making and keeping that connection. Our aspirations orbit around those we see as having qualities we like to see in others and wish to see in ourselves. Both good examples as well as horrible warnings are used in scripture. In Hebrews chapters  3-4, the writer uses the unfaithful generation of Israelites to warn readers of what happens to one who makes the choice to “depart from the living God” (Heb. 3:12). Moses is mentioned early in the same chapter as one “who was faithful to Him that appointed him” (Heb. 3:2). Two examples: Moses (faithful) and the generation of unbelieving Israelites (unfaithful). The characters are contrasted for the reader’s benefit, the do’s and do not’s of God’s will. 

Each time we see the Holy Spirit’s use of an example in human form, we are also given the lesson He wishes us to apply. So let’s look at the two categories of examples:

-Examples to Avoid

-Examples to Follow

I. Examples to Avoid

John lists three categories of sin in 1 Jn. 2:15-17: 1. lust of the flesh, 2. lust of the eyes, 3. pride of life. Each example we are given of sin falls under one or more of these categories. The very first example we are given of a mistake made is one we all know well; the fall of Adam and Eve. Satan used temptation to convince Eve to eat the fruit that God commanded they not eat. We can see in the temptation of Eve how all three categories of sin were used in the trickery of Satan in Gen. 3:6:

-lust of the flesh- “…the tree was good for food…”

-lust of the eyes- “…pleasant to the eyes…”

-pride of life- “…a tree desirable to make one wise…”

Satan knows what ensnares us, and he uses the temptations of our fleshly desires to do just that. The most well-known, in both the church as well as the secular world, is Judas (Mt. 26:25). The man who betrayed the Son of God is often the metaphor used when we describe any betrayal. But most outside of the church do not know of Judas’ other misdeeds. Of the twelve men that Jesus appointed apostles, Judas was the treasurer (Jn. 12:6,29) John tells us in verse 6 that Judas was a thief; he would take money from the money box. Satan knew that the snare that would best catch Judas was greed. And so greed is what Satan used to encourage Judas to betray Christ. 

Other avoidance examples include: 

-Cain, Balaam, and Korah (Jude 11)

-Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11)

-Pharisees (Mt. 23)

-Satan (1 Tim. 3:6-7)

-Alexander (2 Tim. 4:14-15)

-Diotrephes (3 Jn. 9-10)

What do we learn from such lessons, you ask? What can we do to avoid falling into the same traps as those we read of in scripture? In this, I can only speak from my own experience regarding my own temptations. Everyone is different. The things that tempt me may not be the same things that tempt another. I cannot know if any of these temptations are right or wrong without a standard. Paul wrote to the Romans, “…I would not have know sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’” (Rom. 7:7) He goes on in that same chapter to talk about sin and how the law made us aware of it. The law in this chapter is the Old Testament law. We are no longer under that law today. We are not required to adhere to the laws such as dietary restrictions or place of worship found in the Old Law. Does that mean there is no law? Read on to chapter 8. You’ll find two laws contrasted in Romans 8:2: the law of the Spirit of life in Christ, and the law of sin and death. Our new standard is the law of liberty (James 1:25). It makes us aware of what is sinful. After learning what is sin, I would also be remiss in failing to learn what temptations easily ensnare me - and avoiding them (Heb. 12:1). Paul told Timothy to “flee youthful lusts” (2 Tim. 2:22). The Corinthians were told by the same apostle to “flee fornication” (1 Cor. 6:18). I know what sins tempt me, and I know what sins have no appeal to me whatsoever. The former is much easier to avoid than the latter. We, like Joseph, must run away from those things that would entrap us and cause us to sin, to lose our way, to distract us from the real destination.
The Bible is not the only source of examples whose influence we should avoid. There are many figures in our history and in our present that are notorious in their own right. We often look to those that are prominent among our society as influential; and the character of some is not worthy of that honor. Look to Christ. 

II. Examples to Follow

When my mind scrolls through the examples I remember from scripture of those commended by God, these names come to mind:

-Abraham. He was the father of the nation of Israel, and to whom the promise was made as the father of both the Israelites and Christians today (Gal. 3:23-29). This is what God thought of Abraham: 

“For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.” (Gen. 18:19)

“And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.” (James 2:23)

-Moses. Moses is referred to in scripture as “very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.” (Num. 12:3) He was called to lead the Israelites, approximately 2 to 3 million people, to the land of Canaan. One of his shining moments was his conversation with God on Mt. Sinai after the Israelites at the base of the mountain had a golden calf made in their impatience. God was ready to destroy them. But Moses offered himself in their place. 

“Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.” And the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.”” (Ex. 32:31-33)

-Ruth. This woman uprooted herself from her native country of Moab to follow her mother-in-law, Naomi - and subsequently followed God.

“And Ruth said, “Intreat me not to leave you, or turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”” (Ruth 1:16-17)

-David. God described David as “a man after My own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14, Acts 13:22) His heart is described in scripture many times:

“And the LORD said to [Solomon]: “I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.

Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, “You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’” (1Kings 9:3-5)

-Esther. This woman’s courage is involved in the turning point of a historical moment in Jewish history. 

“And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom borsch a time as this?”” (Esther 4:13-14)

-Job. James wrote of Job as one having “patience” (James 5:11).

“Then the LORD said to Saran, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”” (Job 1:8)

-Mary and Joseph. These two people were the model parents, trusted by God the Father to raise His Only Begotten Son. Joseph was ascribed as a “just man” (Mt. 1:19) and his wife, Mary, was “highly favored” by God (Lk. 1:28-30).

-Paul the apostle. God called him a “chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.” (Acts 9:15) This apostle penned most of the New Testament epistles. He worked diligently and suffered greatly for the Kingdom of God, all the while considering himself the “chief of sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). 

-But above all, Christ. Paul wrote, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.” (1 Cor. 11:1) The book of Philippians is one of my favorite reads, and in it, we as Christians are told to have the sacrificial mind of Christ (Phil. 2:1-11) It is a state of mind that can be taught, and is the base necessity of any person wishing to understand the will of God (1 Cor. 2:12-16). 

“For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.” (1 Pet. 2:21)

I encourage you to study deeper into each of these figures as I have only touched the surface. There are a plethora of scriptural references of good examples (Phil. 3:17, 1 Thess. 1:7, 1 Tim. 4:12, James 5:10, Heb. 13:7, 1 Pet. 5:3), but we also have those that God has blessed us with in our lives today. We can both have good examples and be good examples. I cannot number how many wonderful role models I have had in my life, but I am certain that God will reward them for a life that has been a light to all that have witnessed it. As it has been passed to me, so I pass it on to the next generation. We walk God’s path with the assurance that the end will be worth it all. There are distractions. There are pitfalls. But there are also beloved brothers and sisters in Christ that can pull us back to the straight and narrow - whether they be those of scripture or those of our lives today. Stay the course.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance 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 has sat down and the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. 12:1)

I hope and pray that this study has been as beneficial to you as it has been to me, and may God bless you in your walk with Him.