Hebrews Chapter Ten, Character Assassination

 

Hebrews 10:28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. (29) Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

 

This passage would recall a particular part of the Torah for the Jewish Christians, found in Deuteronomy chapter 17. We will quote the passage at length, since the cause for the given effect listed (the death penalty) is very telling to what the writer is presently attempting to convey.

“If there is found among you, within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing His covenant, who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded, and it is told you, and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination has been committed in Israel, then you shall bring out of your gates that man or woman who committed that wicked thing, and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones. Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness,” Deuteronomy 17:2-6. Also see Deuteronomy 19:15.

 

This sin is especially heinous because Yahweh clearly identified Himself to Israel. To know who the covenant God is, and then turn from Him willingly to seek lesser gods was a crime befitting capitol punishment. Israel, from the days of the wilderness wanderings onward, was always a theocracy. Whether they were led by prophets, judges, or kings, ultimately God was their Sovereign, who alone possessed immortality, and who outlives all prophets, genuine or false, Zechariah 1:5.

 

This is blatant character assassination. On a human level, this kind of gross misrepresentation could lead to a lawsuit by the defamed party. Consider it: let’s assume you know who I am, at least enough to be acquainted with me. If you wanted to know me more, there are two ways to do so. You could approach and talk with me, getting genuine information from the source. Or you could invent it, deviating from what is true and in the end fabricating a false personage that only passes as the genuine article on surface inspection. This is what religion has done to God’s character. Look at Mormonism in our time. The Father was once a man, just as we are, but went on to obtain godhood, while Jesus is in the self-same process of becoming ruler of his own universe. The self-deification Lucifer sold to Adam and Eve lives on in Mormonism. But this is not the God of the Bible; this is not the God of Israel, or our Triune God, Savior of mankind. Scratch the surface and watch the differences pour forth when you contrast the legitimate with pretenders for the throne.

 

Israel is being judged here. The individual that rejected God’s testimony of Himself and replaced Him in their heart with a lesser god was guilty of treason against Israel’s King, and the death penalty was the punishment for such an offense. It is the difference between real money (which has real value) and forged bills (which have no real value). On the surface they may appear alike; but when one compares natures the reality shows a vast chasm between God’s transcendent holiness and His doppelgänger’s pitiful efforts to masquerade as Him. Deliberate choice bears out genuine consequences. The offender undoubtedly understood the danger involved with departing from the living God, and rejecting the knowledge of who He is. In a sense, God brought the curse pronounced in Genesis more speedily upon the offender: “for in the day that you eat of it (in the day you willfully rebel against God’s revealed will) you shall surely die,” Genesis 2:17.

 

There is the knowledge of the truth (Hebrews 10:26), and there is knowing the truth. The difference, seemingly subtle, is vast and real. Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,” John 8:31, 32. Our Lord explicitly stated that he is the truth, John 14:6. So, knowing the truth is synonymous with knowing Christ Himself. Further, Jesus explained, “Your word is truth,” John 17:17. Jesus, the living Word, is inextricably linked to the written word, the Bible. How does this knowledge correlate with the death penalty mentioned in our present text? Hebrews 10:29, addressing the preceding verse, describes it as a punishment; granted, slighting the blood of our Savior metes a “worse punishment,” but disobedience to the Law was met with punishment.  Our Lord explains it thus: “And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes,” Luke 12:47.