Forty Stripes Save One – Rare Church Event – AlephTau Set – Bible TCG

Rocky Santangela
Jul 6
3 min read

Updated: Aug 12

Forty Stripes Save One – Base Art – Rare Church Event – AlephTau Set – Bible TCG

Strike Down The Leaders

Forty Stripes Save One is a 2-cost Church Event that delivers one of the cleanest and most powerful forms of removal in the game. For just two Faith, you Exile target highest Hope enemy Being, effectively removing their strongest presence on the board, regardless of its Strength or abilities.

The Stripes and the Gospel

Paul bore in his body the marks of relentless opposition. Five times he received the punishment reserved under the law, forty stripes save one. This was the legal limit under Moses, meant to stop short one hit short of death. It was brutal to say the least. The enemy sought to silence the gospel, yet every blow only spread it further. The Word of God cannot be chained. The same Spirit who strengthened Paul is the Spirit who raised Jesus from the grave.

This pattern was already written in the Old Testament. The righteous often endured affliction, not as defeat, but as the platform for God’s power. Joseph was thrown into a pit, Daniel into a den, and the three Hebrew men into a furnace. Each moment looked like loss, yet each became a stage for divine glory. Paul’s stripes joined this unbroken story of victory through suffering.

This card's verse is 2 Corinthians 11:24:

"Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one."

In every lash, Paul identified with Jesus, who bore the ultimate stripes for our healing. Isaiah declared, "With his stripes we are healed" - Isaiah 53:5. These wounds were not symbols of shame, they were seals of covenant grace. Every time the whips struck, it declared that the law had failed to crush the truth, and grace had already won. The blood speaks a better word than the voice of the accuser.

Forty Stripes Save One – Full Art – Rare Church Event – AlephTau Set – Bible TCG

The Law’s Limit and Grace’s Triumph

The law could only strike so far, forty stripes save one. It was bound by its own measure. Grace, however, is without measure. Paul’s persecutors had a limit to their power, but the Spirit within him was infinite. The strength of God is never exhausted, never diminished, never restrained. What the law could only restrain, grace could fully redeem.

Every act of persecution became another seed sown for the gospel. The more the enemy pressed, the more the church multiplied. This is the same Spirit that brought Israel out of Egypt with an outstretched arm, that delivered David from the lion and the bear, and that raised Jesus on the third day. Grace always finishes what it begins. No chain, no stripe, no prison can stop the life of Christ.

Believer, the same Spirit that sustained Paul through stripes, shipwrecks, and storms now lives in you. You are unshakable in Christ. The law’s limit is far beneath your inheritance. The victory of Jesus is your victory, His endurance your endurance, His life your life. You are sealed with His Spirit, empowered with His authority, and destined to triumph in every place He sends you. The world may strike, but heaven always wins.

Strategic Use In Gameplay

This Event shines in control decks, tempo strategies, and builds that rely on cheap but impactful plays. By focusing on Hope rather than Strength, it bypasses high-stat bruisers, ignores Protect, and nullifies Abundance or Resurrect effects, making it one of the most efficient answers to dominant threats.

Synergies and Plays:

Great Removal: Cleanly eliminates high-hope threats that would otherwise take multiple turns to deal with.
Tempo Advantage: At just 2 Faith, it lets you keep pressure while dismantling the enemy's most fortified Being.
Control Strategy: Combine with verse-draw tools to maintain card advantage while shutting down heavy enemy boards.