They did not obey the wicked heathen king; and the stories of their courage thrill our hearts as we read them, for they show us what those saints of old suffered rather than deny their God. '_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)._' (Hebrews xi. 37, 38.) It was of these times especially that the writer of Hebrews was thinking when he penned those words. Seven young men, the sons of one woman, were with their mother brought before the king's officer--or, as some say, before the king himself--for refusing to break the laws of God. They were cruelly beaten, but one of them cried: 'What wouldst thou ask of us? We are ready to die, rather than to transgress the laws of our fathers!' The torturers thereupon seized the brave fellow, and so cruelly tormented him that he died, his mother and brothers being forced to look on. But though their faces grew pale as death, and they quivered with anguish to see their loved one suffer, they gazed steadfastly at each other. 'The Lord looketh upon us, the Lord God hath comfort in us,' they said. Then the second son was taken, and before he died he cried with a loud voice, looking his heathen judge full in the face: 'Thou, like a fury, takest us out of this present life, but the King of the world shall raise us up, who have died for His laws, unto life everlasting!' But when it came to the turn of the youngest son even the heathen judge was anxious to spare him, and he promised the lad honour and great riches if he would but turn from his faith. But the youth stepped out before them all, his boyish face as brave as a man's and his boyish voice as steady. 'Whom wait ye for?' he asked. 'I will obey the Commandments of the Law that was given unto our fathers by Moses; but thou shalt not escape the hands of God. 'We suffer for our sins, but our pain is short. See, I offer up my body and life for the Laws of my fathers, beseeching God to be merciful to my nation, and that thou at last mayest confess that He alone is God!' Last of all, after her sons, the mother died as well.[4] [Illustration: THE JEWS OF ANTIOCHUS' TIMES COVERED THEIR HOUSES AND TOMBS WITH HEATHEN GREEK ORNAMENTS THAT THEY MIGHT BE 'IN THE FASHION.' HERE IS THE CORNICE OF ONE OF THEM, DECORATED IN EXACTLY THE SAME WAY AS THE GREEK IDOL-TEMPLES] But the saints of God did not die in vain; their victories over pain and death fired the hearts that had grown so cold, and awakened the careless into active life. Those who had forsaken the religion of their fathers returned by hundreds to God, confessing their sins, and pleading for pardon. So the very fierceness of the trial proved a blessing, and the days of torture were followed by a revival of faith in God, and devotion to His service.