Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.
Verse 2 continues the narrative about brotherly love, spreading it abroad to a universal love, whose veracity is occasionally tested by the angelic host, it would seem.
Hebrews 13:1 Let brotherly love continue.
The writer’s tonal shift culminated with the word picture of God being a consuming fire, devouring all that offends in His children, perfecting them for the kingdom they are predestined to become inheritors of. Material creation will abate, but that which is eternal remains. And God’s purification, or sanctification of the believer will have been completed and we will stand holy and blameless before God, free not only from sin’s power, but its very presence.
Luke 5:32 “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
In this chapter of Luke’s gospel, we read a passage about Jesus our Lord sitting with tax collectors and sinners, and the Pharisees chiding Jesus and the disciples. Their question was both simple and accusatory: “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Luke 5:30.
Hebrews 12:27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. [28] Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. [29] For our God is a consuming fire.
God warns through Haggai the prophet that He will shake the earth once more, and this time the heavens (the terrestrial heavens and space) will be shaken as well. Material creation will be dissolved, leaving only that which cannot be shaken, or that which is eternal behind.
Hebrews 12:25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, [26] whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth but also heaven.”
The contrast is made again with the Sinaitic covenant between God and the Jews, and the Heavenly, eternal covenant made in Christ. The author has been exploiting this imagery since verse 18 to help his Jewish readership ascertain the benefit of knowing Jesus as Lord, and relying solely on Him for one’s eternal destiny.
Verse 23 speaks of the general assembly. The Greek for “assembly” is the word paneguris. It is applied to describe an assembly gathered for a festival feast in Heaven, contrasted to the congregation assembled to hear the Law and the terror it produced. Moreover, they are the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in Heaven. Where is this assembly registered? In the Book of Life, Revelation 20:12, 15, 21:27. The Book of Life has a longer title.
Hebrews 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, [23] to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, [24] to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
The former passage denoted the Law, represented by the fiery Mount Sinai, and the attendant fear it produced as man recoiled from the unmitigated holiness and sharpness God’s Law revealed. The Law brought no comfort. Yes, the psalmist delighted in God’s word, and mediating on the Law, Psalm 119:41, etc.
Hebrews 12:18 For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, [19] and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. [20] (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” [21] And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)
A similar contrast is elicited in Galatians, when Paul, using Hagar and Sarah, addresses the Galatian church about freedom and bondage. It is written, “Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the free woman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar—for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children—but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all,” Galatians 4:22-26.
Hebrews 12:16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. [17] For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
Esau’s history begins in Genesis 25:21. Rebekah was barren, and Isaac prayed the Lord for a child. God granted Isaac his petition, and Rebekah gave birth to twins. When her pregnancy proved difficult, Rebekah likewise prayed the Lord, and He answered her by saying, “Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples will be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger,” Genesis 25:23, NASB.
Hebrews 12:15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;
This verse teaches the practical implications of peace and holiness. Peace within the church is, once again, doctrinal and moral congruity and purity. Orthodoxy reigns, as it must, so Christians may know which direction to march and what our orders are. Moral purity will follow, because God will reveal through sound doctrine what moral purity looks like, and what it does not.
Hebrews 12:14b and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:
The writer separates peace and holiness. These are two different goals, and the Hebrew Christians were to doggedly pursue both. Having dealt with the Biblical concept of peace, our attention now turns to holiness.
Hebrews 12:14a Pursue peace with all people,
Pursuing peace with all people seems to be a lost cause—or a forgotten one—in our modern culture. When Paul was arrested and brought before Felix, he told the governor, “I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men,” Acts 24:16. Elsewhere we are commanded, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men,” Romans 12:18. Why? In short, people are not our enemy. “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood,” Ephesians 6:12.
Hebrews 12:12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, [13] and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
Referencing Hebrews 12:1 once more, the author directs the Hebrew Christians to their walk. They are to heal, strengthen, and straighten their paths. God leads His children through the valley of the shadow of death, not around it. We need fortitude, and that fortitude is found in the person of Jesus Christ, Hebrews 12:2. Our focus as saints is Jesus Himself.
Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
It would benefit us to remember that the writer is still addressing the same issue he began laying out in verse 1. Christians are to run the race without unneeded weight or the snare of sin that causes us to fall. We are to look to our Lord, whose life was an example of godliness in the face of persecution. Christ our Lord learned obedience by suffering; the notion here is that God’s saints, His children, will learn and learn best the same way our Master did, John 13:16, 15:18, Matthew 10:24, 25.
Hebrews 12:10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
Verse 10 continues to contrast human fathers to our Heavenly Father. They are similar in the sense that both, as our parents (in flesh or in spirit) discipline us with wisdom. For human fathers, this wisdom is limited, sometimes flawed or misdirected.
Hebrews 12:9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?
The writer continues to elucidate his point. Furthermore, he says, our human fathers corrected us, and we respected them for said correction. Our Father in Heaven corrects us for our spiritual and eternal good, which the author refers to as chastisement. The former two verses created the case explaining that such correction is a characteristic of being part of God’s household. Now he likens that image to human parental correction, and when we receive it not despising or despairing, but respecting it.
Hebrews 12:7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? [8] But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
These verses, taken together, provide a stark and succinct answer to Easy Believism. Easy Believism, or license, can be explained thus: if you have made Jesus your Savior, you are safe from sin and are now free (or have license) to do anything you like. Being saved becomes a “get out of Hell free” card.
In Israel’s time when Isaiah first wrote this passage, God used pagan nations to refine Israel, and sift the true wheat from the tares. He led them through much chastening, a chastening which His earthly people are still experiencing to this day, in preparation for their national acceptance of Him and their complete restoration.
Hebrews 12:5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; [6] For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”
Verse 5 transitions from the former thought here. The former dealt with persecution for our faith and laying aside temptation so we might run our race, culminating in verse 4, which affirms that the Hebrew Christians had not yet endured persecution to bloodshed, striving against sin. Sin in this instance refers to outside influence and pressure from people opposed to the gospel message.
Hebrews 12:4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.
This verse implies shedding our own blood in the struggle against sin. “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood,” HCSB; see also the ESV. The New Testament writers never suggest, much less command, harming another in our struggle against sin. In fact, we are ordered to do entirely the opposite.
Hebrews 12:3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
Verse 2 portrayed Jesus as the sum of our faith and salvation. Our current verse lifts Him up as our ultimate example of pious fidelity to God in the face of persecution. When we reflect on the ministry of Jesus, and its attendant persecution, we may drift to the Garden of Gethsemane and His arrest. But our Lord endured persecution from the first, when He was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness and was tempted by Satan.
Hebrews 12:2b who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The motivation of our Lord was, “the joy set before Him.” This verse brings the readership back to Hebrews 2:9, 10, where we read, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”
Hebrews 12:2a looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,
The famous hymnal, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus,” by Helen Lemmel captures the essence of this portion of verse 2. Tracking backward, the writer began verse 1 with a “therefore,” in regards to the Old Testament saints having to wait that we all, Jew and Gentile, may be inheritors of the promise. We are told about the cloud of witnesses surrounding us, and that being so; we should cast aside unneeded weight, as well as sin, or sinful practices that ensnare us.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
The writer begins by saying, “Therefore we also.” The contrast has been made since Hebrews 11:39, with the words, “and all these.” “These,” of course, refers to the Old Testament saints that died prior to the cross, and were saved looking toward it, rather than looking back at its accomplishment. Hebrews 11:40 compares us (the saints after the cross, during the dispensation of the church) with them, the OT saints.
While on vacation recently, I happened across a fridge magnet with this motto on it “Jesus loves everyone you hate.” To be fair, there were numerous magnets of various sizes usually with a rainbow backdrop to subtly convey who this slogan is aimed at, and geared toward.
Hebrews 11:39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, [40] God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.
“All these,” incorporates the entirety of the men and women named (or alluded to) in chapter 11. Every one of them obtained a good testimony through faith. In Hebrews 12:1 they are the cloud of witnesses that surround us, not for judgment, but to inspire us to walk as they walked. Please note that the focus of this chapter is not the human element, but the source or object of the saints’ faith, which is God.
Hebrews 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—[38] of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
The history of the prophets is a tumultuous one. We also know, from the words of Jesus Christ, that the persecution of the prophets began immediately with Abel’s murder, Luke 11:50, 51. In this same verse (Luke 11:51) our Lord mentions a prophet named Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the temple. This is unlikely the prophet whose book is in the OT, but another prophet, one of many sent by God that the people spurned and killed.
Hebrews 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. [36] Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.
Verse 32 mentions Samuel and the prophets. Samuel’s rise to power in Israel denoted the end of the era of the Judges, Acts 13:20. Samuel was the prophet that first anointed Saul, and then David, his successor. Furthermore, from Samuel onward, the united voice of the prophets foretold of the Coming One, Acts 3:24.
Into this milieu of spiritual intermingling came Samson. His birth was foretold by the Angel of the Lord, as was his purpose: to begin delivering Israel out of the hands of the Philistines, whom they had served forty years, Judges 13:1, 5. Before Jacob died, he said this about Dan’s heirs, “Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider shall fall backward,” Genesis 49:16, 17. Samson would grow to become an exemplary Danite, using military tactics and violence to oppose and overthrow his enemies. While his birth’s purpose certainly make Samson a type of Christ, his lifestyle and death reveal a sinful man effectively used by God despite his nature.
Sixty-six years and several Judges after Gideon, Jephthah was chosen to deliver Israel. Jephthah was the child of a harlot, and though he apparently grew up under his father Gilead’s roof his half-brothers rejected and exiled him, Judges 11:2, 3.
Hebrews 11:32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: [33] who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, [34] quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
It is notable that of the five names mentioned in this passage, four properly belong to the era of the Judges. Judges is one of the hardest books in the Old Testament to read for me, largely because of the outrageous atrocities committed by the people that wear the name of God. The golden thread of Judges, that binds together this peculiar time in Israel’s history, can be summarized as, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes,” Judges 21:25, see also Judges 17:6, 18:1.
Hebrews 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. [31] By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.
The author leads the narrative to the conquest of Canaan, and the battle of Jericho in particular. Joshua chapter 6 records this portion of Israel’s history. God commanded Joshua and the people to march around the walled city of Jericho six days, blowing horns while the ark was conducted around its walls in a circuit, Joshua 6:13, 14. The seventh day, they were commanded to march around the city seven times, and when the trumpets blew the people were to shout; when this occurred the walls of Jericho would collapse, permitting invading Israel entry, Joshua 6:16, 20.
Hebrews 11:28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. [29] By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.
Verse 28 recalls the final judgment on Egypt’s gods from Exodus chapter 12. “Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment,” Exodus 12:12. The gods of Egypt’s pantheon were diverse. This final judgment might have been directed at Osiris, who was reverenced for, among other things, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, and life.
Hebrews 11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.
This passage appears to contradict Exodus 2:14, 15, where we have Moses himself admitting, “So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!” Verse 15 informs us that Pharaoh became aware of the murder and sought to kill Moses, prompting him to flee to Midian.
Hebrews 11:24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, [25] choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, [26] esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
Verse 24 relates the events that begin in Exodus 2:11. The verse, in part, states, “Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens.” Moses had grown up the son of pharaoh’s daughter, indulging in the riches and learning of ancient Egypt. One need only look to the paragons of architectural genius to glimpse what the brilliance of the Egyptian mind was capable of. The Egyptian culture aided in pioneering mummification, medicine, agriculture, architecture, and advanced mathematics. The Egyptians used astronomy to predict the flooding of the Nile, and to align the pyramids to the polestar.
Hebrews 11:23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.
It ought to be noted that this verse technically isn’t about Moses, but his parents. This episode took place in Exodus, chapter 2. Little is written about Moses’ mother and father. His father was of the tribe of Levi, as was his mother, verse 1. We know in verse 4 that the infant Moses had an older sister, who would later be revealed as Miriam, who would become a prophetess, Exodus 15:20.
Hebrews 11:22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.
This event occurs at the very end of the Genesis account. In Genesis 50:24, 25, it is written, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob…God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” Joseph attested that God spoke with all three of Israel’s founding fathers, promising them that He would give them the land of Canaan, but not until the iniquity of the Amorites was complete. Until then the Jews would remain segregated in Egypt, isolated from the moral disintegration that would spell the end for the seven nations Israel would later expel.
Hebrews 11:21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
I find it very interesting how the author avoided the benediction Israel gave his sons on his deathbed, and focused instead on Joseph’s children, or Jacob’s grandsons. Once again, as it was with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Joseph’s sons are reversed. Ephraim the younger supplanted Manasseh the elder. Both would become tribes in Israel, and both would remain ethnically intact and accounted for, even during the Great Tribulation, Revelation 7:6, 8. Although Joseph’s name is employed rather than Ephraim’s in that list, we find both tribes alive and well during the Millennial reign of Jesus, as described by the prophet Ezekiel, Ezekiel 48: 4, 5.
Hebrews 11:20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.
This account is taken from Genesis chapter 27. Isaac’s wife Rebekah gave birth to twin sons, Esau and Jacob, later to be renamed Israel by God. Esau was a rugged man that loved the outdoors and hunting and was, by all accounts, carnal in his thinking.
Hebrews 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who received the promises offered up his only begotten son, [18] of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” [19] concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
The writer turns to Genesis chapter 22, which details the account of God’s command to sacrifice Isaac on an altar. Focusing on verse 2, we read, “Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
The better, the heavenly country they seek only permits heavenly citizens. When the Old Testament saints perished, they waited in Abraham’s Bosom until the time of Christ, when He led captivity captive after His triumphant death on the cross. Now, after the cross, the saints enter directly and consciously into the presence of their Lord upon death.
Hebrews 11:16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
In the midst of discussing Abraham and Sarah with his Hebrew Christian audience, the author pauses to discuss how the patriarchs died in faith. The beginning of verse 16 contrasts with the opportunity each had in verse 15 of returning from whence they came. They rejected earthly delight and practiced patience, waiting for the fullness of God’s promises.
Hebrews 11:14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. [15] And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.
Later, the author under inspiration of the Holy Spirit relates that the world is unworthy of such people, Hebrews 11:38. Such people, of whom we are a part if we have confessed Jesus as the Christ and believed on Him for eternal life, do not want this present evil world as our home. Instead, we acknowledge that this life, in which we tent, is transient and evil, and we seek a country with foundations, and a kingdom wherein righteousness dwells.
Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
“These all,” compasses the panorama of the faithful from Abel to Abraham and Sarah thus far, for a total of 2184 years of human history from the inception of man to the death of Abraham at 175, using the Biblical chronology found in Genesis, NKJV.
Hebrews 11:12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
From the humble beginnings of Isaac, Abraham’s progeny were as numerous as three million during the Exodus and the wilderness wanderings. We do know that the men 20 years old or older that were conscripted into military service numbered 603,550, Numbers 1:46, 2:32. This number did not include the Levites (Numbers 2:33), nor women and children. The number of Israelites in this time was anticipated to be around three million by conservative estimate.
I realize that I am a little more than a month late with this post, but life has been busy of late. So without further ado, I would like to announce my blog’s fifteen-year anniversary! My first article was posted June 26th 2009, two months before my twins were born. It’s been an amazing ride thus far, but I’ll focus on recapping this last year plus briefly.
Hebrews 11:11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.
Sarah, formerly named Sarai (lit. princess), was Abraham’s wife and ten years his junior. Genesis 17:17 confirms that, prior to Isaac’s birth Abraham was nearly 100, while Sarah was about 90. We are told of Sarah that she received strength from God to bear a child, the child of promise that God had told Abraham of 25 years prior when He brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees.
Hebrews 11:9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; [10] for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Though Abraham, Isaac and Jacob dwelt in Canaan, it was not their homeland. God promised Canaan to Abraham, but the patriarch did not see the fulfillment of this promise. Neither did Isaac or Jacob, who left Canaan behind and dwelt in Egypt with Joseph for the final seventeen years of his life, Genesis 47:9, 28. For that matter, neither did Aaron or Moses, who represented the fourth generation that were led out of Egypt by God. But it was Joshua, Moses’ successor, who brought Israel into Canaan at last and conquered the Promised Land, though not fully.
Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Abraham is an extremely famous personage in both the Old and New Testaments. So much so, that Paul concedes that Abraham possesses an esteemed position in God’s great plan, writing, “Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham,” Galatians 3:7.
Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Thus far we have arrived at Noah. Abel, Enoch, and now Noah are treated as real, historical figures in Scripture, not quasi-mythological figures, whose purpose in the Bible is to impart allegorical lessons. Many sincere Christians have given tacit assent, that when dealing with the historicity of the Bible, it begins in Genesis chapter 12 at best, with some further mythology mingled with reality, such as Sodom and Gomorrah.
God is a Being, three persons in one, or what the Christian church calls the Trinity. Many professing Christians have stumbled at this doctrine, clearly taught in both the Old and New Testaments. Jehovah’s Witnesses, a cult that denies the Trinity, was founded by Charles Taze Russell, who couldn’t fathom the Trinity. To him it was incomprehensible nonsense, and so using flawed human reason to trump Scriptural authority, he apostatized.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
The author appears to pause here, reflecting on the previous verse. In Hebrews 11:5 it reads, “that he (Enoch) pleased God.” But Enoch’s walk sans faith, or Abel’s offering sans faith would not have pleased Him. Our works without faith are offerings made to substitute for that substance we lack, and which God finds pleasing.
Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Very little is written in the Bible about Enoch. Yes, there are non-canonical books of Enoch, written roughly between 300 BC to after the time of Christ for the latter two. Neither the Jews nor the Christian church recognizes these books as inspired in the same sense as the Biblical prophets.
Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.
Verse 1 explained what the Christian’s faith is, and what it is grounded in; namely, substantial evidence corroborated by eyewitnesses. Verse 2 details how the patriarchs, or elders, obtained a good testimony (for their works) by faith, not the work itself. Verse 3 recalls the creation of all things, and that understanding that God created the universe by speaking, we know that our creation is not comprised of anything that had existed formerly, or in a previous state.
Let’s recall the first two laws of thermodynamics. Law number one is the conservation of energy law. It states that energy can be neither created nor destroyed, only altered in form. The second law is the law of increasing entropy; it states that a closed system will progress (or regress?) from a highly organized to an increasingly disorganized state.
Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
This verse treads some deep water. The NKJV and NASB use the word, “worlds” in this verse. The NIV and HCSB use the word, “universe.” The RSV uses the singular, “world.” The Greek word is, “aion,” The word as a noun expresses an age or era, and signifies, “a period of indefinite duration, or time viewed in relation to what takes place in said period.” It sounds as if the term “creation,” would not be an unfitting word to substitute for “worlds.” The era of time/space, and all that occurs within it is framed by the word of God.
Hebrews 11:2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
The elders obtained a good testimony, not by their works, but by their faith. Their faith empowered their works and made them acceptable to God, as we will see as we progress through this chapter. Note that the author is not appealing to the Jewish forebears alone. No, he reaches back prior to the Flood and speaks of Abel, Enoch, and Noah, progenitors not only of the Jewish lineage, but humanity at large.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is…the evidence of things not seen.
The NKJV’s use of “evidence,” is translated, “conviction,” in the RSV, ESV and NASB, and “proof,” in the HCSB. Furthermore, faith is the evidence of the unseen. Paul writes, “For we are saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?” Romans 8:24.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
With chapter 11 we have arrived at a lynchpin in Scripture. Verse 1 follows the line of thought culminating in Hebrews 10:39, the latter portion of the verse stating, “but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.” Those who believe are, of course, synonymous with those who profess and exercise faith.
Hebrews 10:39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
At once it is arresting to note how the author contrasts those who draw back with those who believe. Both actions also have their attendant consequences listed. The ones that draw back do so to their destruction, or perdition. Those who believe, do so to the saving of their souls. It must also be noted that this verse specifically addresses professing believers and the ultimate outcome of their spiritual walk: either the broad road or the narrow one that leads to life.
Hebrews 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: [37] “For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. [38] Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”
The author commends endurance for the purpose of doing the will of God. What is the will of God for a believer? Jesus once said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority,” John 7:16, 17.
Hebrews 10:35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.
The Jewish Christians are instructed not to cast away, or throw out, their confidence, which has great reward. Two words in this verse merit closer inspection: confidence
and reward.
Hebrews 10:32 But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: [33] partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; [34] for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.
Having issued a severe warning against apostasy, the author now deescalates the message. Notice the similarity in verse 32 with Hebrews 6:9. We read: “But beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner.” 6:10 continues: “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.”
Hebrews 10:30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” (31) It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
The OT verses cited by the author are taken from Deuteronomy 32:35, 36. The account in Deuteronomy, beginning with verse 28, speaks about Israel being a nation void of understanding, spiritual understanding, that is.
This passage in Luke explains the nature of knowing “of” someone or something, verses intimately knowing. Jesus refers to the people addressed in this parable as stewards, Luke 12:42. A steward is defined in Oxford as, “a person employed to manage a large house or estate.” Paul says, “it is required in stewards that one be found faithful,” 1 Corinthians 4:2.
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.
Hebrews 10:27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
Leading out of verse 26, the writer continues his exhortation. There no longer remains an offering for sin, if one willfully sins after receiving the knowledge of the truth, but a #1) certain, #2) fearful, #3) expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
Like my previous post addressing the topic of Hebrews 6:4-8, I had also written a sequel, contending with Hebrews 10:26-31, which may be found here.
Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, [25] not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
Twice so far in Hebrews we have read about “dead works;” first in 6:1, and then in 9:14. In Hebrews 6:1 the Hebrew Christians are reminded that repentance from dead works precedes faith toward God. When we are finally willing to acknowledge the futility of works done to merit life, then we may transplant that faith from Self to God.
Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
What is the confession of the Hebrew Christians’ hope? The same as ours is today. As we read in Romans 10:9, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” This is the essence of the gospel, 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4. The eunuch confessed Christ, Acts 8:37. The jailor, too, placed his faith in Him, Acts 16:31, 33.
Hebrews 10:21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, [22] let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Verse 21 reiterates the truth that Jesus our Lord is our High Priest, who made propitiation (or satisfactory payment) on our behalf to God, Hebrews 2:17. We are instructed to consider Jesus, the High Priest of our confession, Hebrews 3:1. Christ was faithful in the Father’s house as a Son, worthy of greater honor than Moses because He is the Creator.
Hebrews 10:19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, [20] by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,
The word the NKJV translates “boldness” is the Greek, “parrhesia,” and means, “freedom of speech or unreservedness of utterance.” It is rendered “confidence” in the NASB and the ESV. The words are interchangeable, but I believe “confidence” is a more apt descriptor to understand the writer’s intention. Boldness, especially in modern language, could be misconstrued as arrogance; confidence comes from simple trust or faith.
Hebrews 10:18 Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
Verse 17 indicates that God has remitted Israel’s lawless deeds and sins, forgetting them. Verse 18 informs us that where there is remission (also translated forgiveness) of sin, no more offering remains. In short, one cannot make another offering for something that has already been paid for.
Hebrews 10:15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, [16] “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” [17] then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
God the Holy Spirit is the ultimate Author of Scripture. It says here that He is a witness to us. Jesus has much to say of God the Holy Spirit. We are told by our Lord that He is the Helper (Greek, Parakletos) that will come in His stead when He departs.
Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
If I had to cite a single verse in the defense of the doctrine of eternal security, I could do much worse than this passage. Let us begin by skipping to its conclusion. God has perfected forever those who are being…saved? No; those who are being sanctified, or set apart for service in the church that Jesus our Lord purchased with His own blood, Acts 20:28.
Hebrews 10:13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.
We know that this epoch begins when the Lord descends bodily in glory from Heaven to overthrow Antichrist’s army and deliver the Jews from the greatest persecution they have ever faced, Zechariah 12:10, 13:1, 14:4, Jeremiah 30:7, Matthew 24:21, 30, Daniel 8:25, Acts 1:11, Romans 11:26, 27. Why does our Lord tarry? “Consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation,” 2 Peter 3:15.
Hebrews 10:12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,
This Man, of course, refers to our Lord Jesus. One may exegete the verse very simply. Jesus offered a single sacrifice for sins forever. This observation should be the hallmark of the Christian faith. Jesus offered Himself as that sacrifice, Hebrews 7:27, 9:28.
Hebrews 10:11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
This verse hearkens back to earlier passages, where we are assaulted by a litany of identical language, meant to reinforce this truth. “For the law…can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer year by year, make those who approach perfect,” Hebrews 10:1. “Not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of another,” Hebrews 9:25. “Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services,” Hebrews 9:6.
Hebrews 10:10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
The will the author mentions is the Father’s, of course. Jesus, prior to His incarnation, alluded that His first advent was in accordance with the Father’s will. Rather, Jesus would come to do, or fulfill, the Father’s will. As He made His circuit around Israel, He said as much, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent,” Luke 4:43.
Hebrews 10:8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), [9] then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second.
The author compounds verses 5 and 6, summarizing the multiplicity of sacrifice being considered. Again, we are confronted with the stark language that God does not desire sacrifice, and finds no pleasure in sacrifice. The writer takes pains to mention sacrifice (synonymous with offerings) four times, representing various types of offerings commanded under the Law.
Hebrews 10:5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. [6] In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you had no pleasure. [7] Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—in the volume of the book it is written of Me—to do Your will, O God.’”
Chapter 10 is contending with the futility of sacrifice and its hopeless repetition. The Law commanded sacrifice, but this passage, quoted out of Psalm 40:6-8, reveals the heart of God. He does not desire sacrifice. So, it is not the act of sacrifice that benefited the Jewish worshiper. Rather, it was the spirit behind it, the motivation that empowered the worshiper’s decision to obey.
Hebrews 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.
Verse 4 has numerous implications worth consideration. The writer wants us to be assured, “for it is not possible” that the blood shed on Jewish altars could take away sins. The NKJV and KJV render the verse this way, while the NIV, NASB, ESV, HCSB, and RSV simply substitute the word impossible, with various synonyms.
Hebrews 10:3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.
Before going forward, we must pause and summarize. Beginning with Hebrews 9:22, a very pivotal verse for redemption’s plan, the writer informs his readership that shedding of blood alone remits sin. By its very definition, shed blood (or death) is a one time sacrifice, because death prevents it from being repeated.
Hebrews 10:2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.
The writer drives his point home with refreshing candor. To the Jews of his day, and by extension to the religionists of our own, the author of Hebrews asks the rhetorical question: if your offering for sin was genuinely meritorious, would it not need to be offered but once? If the offering possessed real merit for removing sin from the sinner, it should be entirely effective.
Hebrews 10:1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.
This verse contains a harsh indictment concerning the Law. It is written that the Law is only a shadow of the good things to come. In short, the Law conveyed a base image of the true good thing God would visit His people with; but the Law was not the thing itself.
The gift of speaking in tongues is as divisive as any doctrine one will find in professing Christendom. Some in the church will say it departed centuries ago; others will maintain that it exists and thrives today. But what is the gift of tongues, what was it for, and why did God the Holy Spirit bequeath said gift to certain among the church?
Hebrews 9:28b To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
Do we eagerly wait for Jesus? Jesus asked, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8. This rhetorical question sadly addresses the end time, when our Lord will return for His bride, and then bodily and visibly for Israel, as her King, in glory. The unspoken answer can be inferred from the narrow gate Jesus refers to that leads to life. Few there are that enter it, He tells us. The broad road, like a highway, that leads to destruction, or perdition, is traveled by many.
Hebrews 9:28a so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.
This verse is laden with doctrinal soundness, and there is much to unearth. Notice first how the writer contrasts verse 27 with his introductory statement. As men die but once, and then face the judgment, so too was Christ offered once to bear the sins of many.
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
The Greek term “appointed” is, “apokeimai.” It means, “to be reserved, or to await.” Men await death; we are reserved for it. Why? We are the inheritors of Adam’s sin nature, and also the curse that attends it. Job says of his own race, “Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble,” Job 14:1. Eliphaz, though he agreed with Job on little else, adds, “Yet man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward,” Job 5:7.
Hebrews 9:25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—[26] He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
Before beginning to unfold this passage, here is what the Roman Catholic Church says about the once for all sacrifice of Christ in what they refer to as Mass:
The Mass is the Sacrifice of the New Law in which Christ, through the ministry of the priest, offers Himself to God in an unbloody manner under the appearances of bread and wine.
The Mass is both a sacrifice and a sacred meal because it is an unbloody representation of the sacrifice of the Cross; in application of its sacred power, the Lord is immolated in the Sacrifice of the Mass.
Thus the Mass does not re-crucify Christ. It perpetuates His one sacrifice that stands outside of time. God cannot be killed and when His humanity died in the Person of Jesus Christ on Good Friday such an event must break through the confines of time if God is truly eternal and infinite.
The Mass is classed as a sacrament (an outward sign of an internal truth or experience) because the Eucharist is received within each Mass. The Mass is also classed as a sacrifice, as the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is made present and true each time the Eucharist is celebrated.
(Quotes taken from AFC.org and EWTN.com)
Hebrews 9:24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
The author contends that Jesus, as our High Priest, did not enter the earthly tabernacle during His ministry. The writer makes it clear that Jesus, regarding His human advent, came from Judah, and not Levi, and therefore would not officiate at the altar, Hebrews 7:13, 14.
Hebrews 9:23 Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
The writer insists, “it was necessary” that the copies of the heavenly things be purified with blood: symbolic of the sacrifice Christ our Lord would make on our behalf, to reconcile us to God. Beginning with verse 16, we read about the testament, and the testator’s death, putting said testament into power, or effect, verse 17.
Of special note is the conclusion to verse 22. Without shedding of blood there is no remission. Remission of sin is of course what the writer is alluding to. One may remit sin one of two ways, and only one of two. We may place our faith in Christ, whose substitutionary death on the cross paid for our sin by taking the punishment in our stead. Or we may die for our own sin and receive the punishment due: eternity separated from the Creator in the Lake of Fire.
Hebrews 9:18 Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. [19] For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and the people, [20] saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” [21] Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. [22] And according to the law almost all things are purified wit blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
The first covenant was the Sinaitic covenant, made between Yahweh and the people of Israel, after He led them out of Egypt and judged their gods. The record states it as such: “Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also that nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions,” Genesis 15: 12-14.
Hebrews 9:16 For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. [17] For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.
The testament, of course, is a will. It is the legacy, or inheritance of what the testator leaves behind or bequeaths to his loved ones. To follow this line of logic, we return briefly to verse 11, and walk back to our current passage.
By this moment I mean the moment when the new covenant supplanted the old, and those waiting in faith for the fulfillment of the promise to be led by the Christ into Heaven and the Father’s presence, when He led captivity captive, Ephesians 4:8. Zechariah says of Messiah, “And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen (Gentiles): and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth,” Zechariah 9:10, KJV.
I apologize that the details regarding this prayer request need to remain anonymous. My family is close to another family whose youngest child is suffering extreme behavioral issues. So much so that it is putting her life in jeopardy.
“Because I live, you will live also,” John 14:19. This is a promise from the lips of Jesus Himself. The resurrection was God’s assurance to His children that what He promised, He would perform. It is the promise God made to the Jewish patriarchs, Acts 26:6. The promise—witnessed in the Law and Prophets—was this: “that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles,” Acts 26:23.
Hebrews 9:15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
We pause at the beginning of the verse to ask the question: for what reason? The author states, “for this reason,” Christ is the Mediator of the new covenant. It is beneficial sometimes to forget chapter and verse breaks, since the numbers can adversely impact our understanding of a passage. Sometimes they are read in isolated pockets, like every verse is an island unto itself. But each verse deepens the theological context of the overall idea the writer is attempting to convey.
Hebrews 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,
The sancitfication mentioned here is ritualistic or ceremonial in nature. That is why the writer expresses it as sancitfication for the purifying of the flesh. It ritually cleanses the body, or symbolizes the spiritual cleansing that all such sacrifices are the antitype of. But specifically, what is the author referring to from the Mosaic Law?
