HF193 - Hebrews 10:19-34 (#18 The Dire Warnings)
To: Hebraic-Foundations@YahooGroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date: Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Subject: Bible Study HF193 - Hebrews 10:19-34 (#18 The Dire Warnings)
Hebraics,
Continuing in our study from the book of Hebrews, we now find warnings to the Jewish readers becoming more alarming. Let's continue.
This is Bible Study HF193 - Hebrews 10:19-34 (#18 The Dire Warnings)
Heb 10:19-25 - "Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."
The apostolic writer is using Old Testament imagery. Once a year the high priest entered into the holiest of holies. He carried a basin of blood that would splatter on his robe and on his feet, leaving a trail from the sacrificial altar all the way to the mercy seat of God. Jewish readers would have grasped the significance of this picture.
Through the cross we now have a new and living way, that is, we walk a living trail made alive by the blood of Jesus, and we are now invited to enter into the holiest of holies at will. Not only is the trail a living trail but our very hearts have been sprinkled clean by that same blood. So our hearts have also been made alive.
The significance of having our bodies washed with pure water could well be an allusion to water baptism. The early Christians very much considered water baptism as part of the covenant experience. However, bodily washing may also speak to our acceptance before God as a whole being. Paul refers to this as 'the washing of water with the word.' (Eph5:26)
A good area for discussion.
Heb 10:23-25 - "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near."
Here the cautionary warnings begin. To hold fast their confession was a clear juncture to how salvation begins. Our continual confession of Christ is the benchmark of a living faith. It is possible that some of the intended readers of this letter had never made a clear demarcation in their hearts with regard to the law of Moses and their allegiance to Jesus Christ.
An indicator of this was likely is some of them 'forsaking' the assembling with other believers. This was such a time of duress for the Jewish church. They were being persecuted and reviled for their confession of Jesus. And while many still attended the synagogue, the pressure was on to renounce Jesus. But the Lord said this division even in the family would happen. This was the 'sword' He came to bring. The sword linked to the confession. (Cf. Matthew 10:32-42)
Heb 10:26-29 - "For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?"
The 'sinning willfully' had to do with the rejection of Jesus Christ. This was a terrifying place to be. If they turned from Jesus, after having received Him as Lord and Savior, it was be the same as trampling the Son of God underfoot, and as an insult to the Spirit of grace. Judgment was swiftly on its way.
This warning is a clear reflection on something the Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah; "In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, and He lifted them and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them." (Isaiah 63:9,10 nasb)
Heb 10:30,31 - "For we know Him who said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.' And again, 'The Lord will judge His people.' It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
The warning becomes more vivid. What was going to happen to Jerusalem in a short while would be beyond imagination. Jewish factions would turn on one another. And the Roman soldiers would cover the city with a thirst for blood that would be uncontrollable. Thousands of crosses would ring the city. Multiplied thousands would become slaves. A raging fire would consume the temple while blood flowed through the streets of Jerusalem. No longer would there be a vestige of Old Testament Judaism with its sacrifices.
Was this a judgment of God? Absolutely. Jesus described it more than once. When the women were mourning over Him as He carried His cross, the Lord said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children." (Cf. Luke 23:28-31)
Heb 10:32-34 - "But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one."
Now the apostolic writer wants to refresh these Jewish Christians by calling them to remember their past, how the grace of Jesus rested upon them, how they took care of one another, and how they rejoiced in their sufferings for Christ. This is the first love they must return to.
Note: I need to draw attention to something that I mentioned earlier. According to the historian Epiphanius, for some unknown reason there was a temporary pulling back of the Roman forces. During this time the Jewish Christians made their escape to Pella. Over the centuries this tradition was held without question. Certainly we know that the Lord always makes a way for His people, when there seems to be no way.
Hear the promise: "I will lead the blind by a way they do not know, in paths they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness into light before them and rugged places into plains. These are the things I will do, and I will not leave them undone." (Isaiah 42:16)
Heb 10:35-39 - "Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. But my righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.
And again the apostolic writer tells them that a great reward is coming. All they need to do is to hold fast their confidence. He concludes this chapter in speaking faith to the hearts of his readers. "But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction."
There you have it to this point of Hebrews. Some were shrinking. Others were standing firm. And when we move on to chapter eleven of Hebrews, the apostolic writer is going to draw on the rich faith history of God ancient peoples. He is also going to explain what our faith is really all about.
The study is open.
Buddy
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Lawrence "Buddy" Martin
email: Bro.Buddy <at> ChristianChallenge.Org
Web: http://www.ChristianChallenge.org
Forum: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hebraic-Foundations/
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"See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)