To The Readers In General.

Amos was called a conspirator, and forbidden not only the city in which he prophesied, but also the land of the ten tribes of Israel. Amos 7:10–13.

All these, and many more, endured much suffering and many conflicts yet not unto blood or death. But those of whom we shall speak now, suffered the bitterness of death, and are therefore, in this respect, of higher rank than they who have preceded, just as the loss of life is a severer test than to suffer in the body or to lose temporal possessions; which is the only difference between the two classes named.

This bloody army of the spiritual champions, who fought unto blood and death for the Lord, commenced with the beginning of the world, as though God’s saints were born to suffer and fight; and as though God had designed, that his church should be tried from the beginning and all through, even as gold in the furnace that her purity might become the more manifest.

In the beginning we see, Abel who, having in faith offered unto God a lamb as a sacrifice, was slain in the field by Cain, his brother. Gen. 4:8; 1 John 3:12.

In the days of Ahab and Jezebel many prophets of God were slain by the sword of the rebellious and disobedient in Israel, so that Elijah thought he alone was left. 1 Kings 19:14.

When the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, so that he said to the disobedient people: “Why transgress ye the commandments, of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you,” they took stones and killed him at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the Lord. 2 Chron. 24:21.

When Urijah, the son of Shemaiah, of Kirjath-jearim prophesied in the name of the Lord against the city of Jerusalem, his life was sought, so that he fled into Egypt. But Jehoiakim the king sent men who fetched him back, and he slew him with the sword, and buried his dead body among the common people. Jer. 26:20–23.

The god-fearing young men, named Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who refused to worship the image of King Nebuchadnezzar, were cast, bound, in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments just as they were, into a fiery furnace, in which they would have been immediately consumed, if God had not preserved them. Dan. 3:21–23.

The prophet Daniel, because he would not worship king Darius, but only the true God of Israel, was cast into a den of lions, to be torn by them; but God protected him as he did those mentioned before. Dan. 6:16.

Onias, the high priest, who, in a very praiseworthy and peaceful manner, led and kept the people at Jerusalem, so that foreign kings were moved to honor the city and the temple of God with gifts, was falsely accused by Simon the Benjamite, removed from his office by Jason, his own brother, and stabbed to death without regard of justice and equity by perjured Andronicus; for the which cause not only the Jews, but also many gentiles took great indignation. Compare 2 Macc. 3:1,2 with 4:1,34.

Two women, who had their children, circumcised according to the law of God, were led round about the city, with their babes tied to their breasts, and then cast down headlong from the wall. 2 Maccabees 6:10.

Some who had hid themselves in caves, to keep the Sabbath or day of rest of the Lord, and who would not defend themselves against the enemies, 13 when it was discovered to Philip the tyrant, were burned. 2 Macc. 6:11.

Eleazar, an old man of ninety years, because he would not sin against the law of God by eating forbidden meat, nor set an evil example to young persons, nor dissimulate, had to carry his hoary hairs with blood to the grave, and die a cruel death through many stripes. 2 Macc. 6:27–31.

Seven brethren, for the same cause, were scourged with rods and thongs, had their tongues cut out, their hands and feet cut off, and were roasted in pans, and killed in this terrible manner to the last one, together with their mother, who had witnessed it all, and likewise refused to depart from the law of God. 2 Macc. 7.

This last mentioned class, from Abel to the Maccabees, are the true army of God and the heroes of the old covenant who, for the honor of God and the law of their fathers, did not spare their lives.

These the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews has in view when he speaks of the great cloud of witnesses, who, looking through faith for the fulfillment of the promises of God and the coming of the Son of God, in the flesh endured all sufferings, conflicts, and, at last, death, bravely and with an undismayed heart. But the others, says he, meaning the steadfast saints of God of whom we have spoken, had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; of whom the world was not worthy. Heb. 11:36–38.