Though we cannot be sure whom Paul had in mind, some, like Naboth and Zechariah, were stoned to death for obeying God and doing his will. (1 Ki. 21:3,15;2 Chron. 24:20, 21) Daniel and his companions clearly had the opportunity to ‘accept release’ by compromising their integrity. Instead, their faith in God’s power enabled them, so to speak, to ‘stop the mouths of lions’!
And ‘quench the force of fire.’ (Heb. 11:33, 34;Dan. 3:16-18,20,28;6:13,16,21-23) Because of their faith, such prophets as Micaiah and Jeremiah ‘received their trial by mockings . . . and prisons’. Others, like Elijah, ‘wandered about in deserts and mountains and caves and dens of the earth.” All of them endured because they had an “assured expectation of what is hoped for’! —Heb. 11:1,36-38;1 Ki. 18:13;22:24-27;Jer. 20:1, 2;28:10, 11;32:2
PS: Teraz je čas na posilnenie našej kresťanskej viery! Iné ovce veľkého zástupu potrebujú pomoc od pomazaných bratov Ježiša Krista na prežitie Armagedonu, keď budú súdení ako ovce a nie ako capy!