Hebrews 10: 19 – 39
Perfectly Accepted By Our God- Part B
19Therefore, 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, 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. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 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. 26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 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? 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. 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. 35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 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.” 39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
The result our Glorious Savior has done has now brought about a number of new conditions which we will learn about in the rest of this chapter. Here is a quick overview of what is brought to light for us;
1. We now have boldness to enter into the very presence of God because all that can hinder this from happening is removed (verses 19-20). Looking to our great priest (verse 21) whose intercession is unfailing, results in all of us being able to draw near with a true heart and full faith because we have been purified by the blood of Christ, transformed by the Holy Spirit, and have set our hearts to do what is right (verse 22)
2. A firm holding fast to our confession (verse 23)
3. A provoking of each other to love and good works (verse 24)
4. A continual gathering together to worship God and learn of Him (verse 25).
I want you to write this down and do your own inventory on your personal walk with Christ Jesus our Lord. Putting the 4 points together will give us the test of a true faith. It is nearness to God, true witness, constant purity of life and a revealing of concern for others, and finally the fellowship of the Spirit with each other.
10.19-20 ‘Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way through the veil, that is to say, his flesh,’
We now have [can you just imagine this] the ‘boldness’ to enter into the Holiest of All (here ‘the holy place’ signifies the heavenly Holy of Holies), to enter the very heart of the spiritual realm where God Is revealed, and to bask in His presence, which we do through the blood of the Lamb of God, our Lord Jesus. There is no longer the veil to separate us from Him and prevent our entry. This is ‘the high and holy place’ mentioned in the book of Isaiah 57.15, in which dwells the High and Exalted One Whose Name Is Holy, with him who is of a contrite spirit, in order to revive his spirit and heart.
So this ‘means of entering’ is now made overtly open for us because He dedicated it for us, by dying for us. For those who have been cleansed through the blood of our Holy Lord Jesus have no barrier which prevents their approach to God. They are accepted as being in total purity.
Just like the condition Adam had before he sinned we can approach our Holy Father without any restraint.
It is a ‘new way and a living way’, for it is totally different from the old, barred way, and comes to us through the new life that our Lord Jesus Christ gives us in Himself. It is a ‘new’ way because it is in terms of the new covenant already described, thus opening up a new relationship to God, it is ‘living’ because it results from receiving life and being in union with the One Who is ‘the Life’ (John 11.25). It is the entrance of those who have received eternal life and have entered into a continual walk in the presence of the Eternal One. But it was provided at great cost. Our entry into His presence should never be taken lightly, for we should ever remember the price that was paid to make that way open.
The whole emphasis on what The Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ has brought is ‘life’. The life that flows from the resurrection is central to our understanding of what He came to bring. He Is the ‘living bread that came down from Heaven -- that men might live and not die’ (John 6.50-51). He Is the resurrection and the life Who provides endless life to men (John 11.25). He came bringing more abundant life (John 10.10). And life eternal is to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom He sent (John 17.3).
We have to stop and think of the time when the Temple was in existence. As bible students know there was a veil that separated the Holy room from the Holy of Holies. The veil had ever stood as a bar to the approach to God. It was impassable. It said to even the priests, ‘thus far you may come (and even then with trembling) but no further’. But now there was a way through because of Christ’s flesh offered for us, a way of total boldness and confidence.
What a huge difference this makes for us. The message of the holy place in the Old Testament was, ‘you cannot enter’. The message in the New is, ‘The way is open, and you have an unhindered way in’. There are now no barriers to our full approach to God, (apart from our own sin until it is properly dealt with).
10.21 ‘And having a great priest over the house of God,’
The second point our writer brings out is in regards to what He has done is that we have a ‘great priest’ over the house of God. Note that He is called ‘a great priest’ not ‘a High Priest’. There is an emphasis here on His true greatness. He is a super-priest. (While ‘great priest’ was an alternative for ‘High Priest’, there must be some reason for the writer’s change of term). And it is we who are the house of God (3.6). Thus is He our great priest, active in intercession for us with regard to all our spiritual needs. Thus there is not only free entry, but also the guarantee of a great and successful Mediator and Intercessor as we approach, Who can meet all our needs. That has been the essence of much of what he has already said.
The result of ‘having’ this wondrous open way into God’s presence, and having this great Priest to act for us in all things, is a series of exhortations. The combination gives us great advantages and puts us under great obligations. Let us take full advantage of the advantages and ensure that we fulfill the obligations. They are as follows:
• ‘Let us draw near’. We are to live and walk in God’s presence, having ready access to Him through faith and the shedding of His blood.
• ‘Let us hold fast.’ We are to declare to all that we are in God’s presence, and our confident hope of one day knowing His presence even more fully.
• ‘Let us consider one another.’ We are to ensure that we all walk together as in His presence, having a true concern for one another.
10.22 ‘Let us draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having our body washed with pure (‘clean’) water.’
The new means of entry into God’s presence and of our new High Priest is that we can draw near to God. It is something that we must do with a true heart and in fullness of faith. We see it stated here that we are to have our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed, with purified water. So having responded to our great High Priest we are to submit to His ministrations which will produce trueness of heart and fullness of faith.
We may see this from two descriptions.
• It is a description of what makes us acceptable to God. We come through faith and through the benefits of what Christ has done for us on the cross which has sanctified and cleansed heart, mind and body once for all like the famous statement, ‘Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Your cross I cling.’
• It is a reminder that we must maintain our situation before God daily. Having been ‘bathed’ once for all, we need continually to wash our feet (John 13.10). Having been perfected before Him once for all we must continue being sanctified (10.14).
In other words the practical result of Christ’s activity is that we can draw near continually (present tense), through Him as our great priest (verse 21), and because He shed His blood on our behalf (verse 20) doing so in fullness of faith, that is with a confident and full faith that has no doubts and fears.
We are being exhorted to do so. This drawing near does not simply refer to prayer, it refers to our taking our firm stand in the spiritual realm, living in His light (1 John 1.5-7), recognizing that we have been transferred into His kingdom (Colossians 1.13) and walking with God in the full confidence that we are His (Romans 8.4; Galatians 5.16, 25). It refers to our being aware of our privileges, and enjoying them to the full. It refers to our approach to God in the whole of our lives. We are to walk continually with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 1.3; 2.6).
This drawing near is to be with ‘a true heart’ and ‘in fullness of faith’. This emphasizes both that our hearts must be genuine and true, and that it is through unfeigned faith and through faith alone, that we must approach Him. It is a reminder that there is no room for dissimulation or guile in our walk with God, while at the same time emphasizing we can approach Him with continuing and ever growing confidence, as long as we maintain a genuine attitude towards Him. As our Master and Lord Jesus said, ‘those who worship Him, must worship Him in Spirit and in truth’ (John 4.24). Faith and genuineness of heart is everything.
Thus if we approach Him it must be as those who walk in His light (1 John 1.5-7), and any prevarication will hinder our entrance. All must be open to Him. On the other hand, once that is so, there are also no grounds for hesitancy. For we come by the guaranteed way through the blood of Jesus (verse 23; 1 John 1.7). Here then we have what Christ has bought for us, and provided for us, confident access to, and certainty in, the presence of a holy God.
The contrast, of course, is with the difficulty of approach under the old ritual. Then the people could only enter the outer court, the priests only the Holy Place, while the High Priest’s entry into the Holy of Holies was limited to once a year and that on the most stringent terms. It was all in order to emphasize the holiness of God.
But now the way has been flung open. But let us not think that it means that God is less holy (as we will shortly learn). It is rather because of the all sufficiency of the sacrifice made on our behalf. No longer the need for continual offerings and sacrifices, because He as the One sufficient sacrifice for sin for all time has been offered on our behalf.
Fullness of faith then expresses our response as we respond to the wonder of what Christ has done for us. We do so with a confident faith that is without fear, a faith that overflows. But the expression may also contain within it the thought that we need to ensure that we move on to a more mature fuller faith. Our faith should be a faith that is continually expanding and growing. It needs to be filled to the full. This faith is the first element of the three Christian virtues, faith, hope and love. Thus here we have fullness of faith, in verse 23 we have the confession of hope, and in verse 24 we are to be spurred on to love. These are the three basic attitudes required in the Christian life. And it is through faith that we enter into His presence.
These ideas are then expressed in terms of two Old Testament rituals, both of which are connected with water, and illustrate the true heart and fullness of faith which our Master and Great and Holy King Jesus Christ will work in us. The first is the ‘sprinkling from an evil conscience --- with pure water’. This ‘sprinkling’ mentioned here is by ‘the sprinkling of the blood of sacrifices’ referenced in chapter 9.13 to the ashes of the red heifer for the removal of uncleanness which are described as sprinkled, contained in the water of purification (Numbers 8.7; 19) that are sprinkled on people to remove uncleanness in the Old Testament ritual.
Please take note that ‘clean water’ meant a very different thing in those days than it does to us. To us ‘clean water’ contrasts with ‘dirty water’ hygienically. With clean water we wash and satisfy our thirst, and with dirty water we perform lesser tasks (if we use it at all). But in those days matters were a little different. To them ‘clean water’ was water that had been religiously cleansed by the use of the ashes of a sacrificed heifer, and was in contrast with water not so religiously cleansed. Such ‘clean’ water was useable for the removal of uncleanness (Ezekiel 36.25) and especially for the removal of the taint of death (Numbers 19).
For in general in fact their water was not clean unless they went to a spring. Their cisterns rather produced water that was only relatively clean, and their contrast would rather be between drinkable or not drinkable water, neither of which was fully clean, the latter being used among other things for washing. And what they considered drinkable would be of a standard that we would reject totally. It is also doubtful whether they would actually call it clean water. Clean water would either be spring water (although that is usually described as ‘living water’) or water that had been made ‘clean’, that is ritually purified. Significantly therefore it was spring water (‘living water’) that was used along with the ashes of the heifer for the production of the water of purification (Numbers 19.17).
So ‘having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having our body washed, with pure (‘clean’) water,’ must surely be considered in the light of this. It refers to thorough spiritual cleansing (2 Corinthians 7.1) as seen in terms of the water of purification which was sprinkled on the unclean, and in terms of water that was used to wash in order to remove ‘earthiness’.
Washing in the Old Testament was not with ‘clean water’. The point therefore is that through what Christ has done for us we have a better cleansing. It really will cleanse because it is the equivalent of purified water.
There is not, of course, in mind the thought of the use of actual water. What is to be applied is spiritual ‘cleansed water’, made clean through the blood of Christ. In the words of 1 John 1.7, we are to walk in the light as He is in the light, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, will go on cleansing us from all sin.
Those who are sprinkled and washed are seen as being made clean from the taint of death and given life by His blood. They are cleansed in both the spiritual side of their nature and in its fleshly side.
We can compare the words of Paul. ‘Seeing then that we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God’ (2 Corinthians 7.1). Here then both ‘heart and body’ (body and spirit) are to be seen as effectively purified because of the shedding and sprinkling of the blood of Christ by our Great Priest, and are to be maintained in that state. And this is far removed from the literal sprinkling of water which merely made the flesh ‘clean’ and the literal washings which simply removed earthly defilement and never cleansed (those who were washed were never directly cleansed, they remained unclean ‘until the evening’), rituals to which some were thinking of returning.
Taking the sprinkling with clean water first the conscience is here seen as cleansed through this ‘sprinkling of clean (purified, cleansing) water’, removing the taint of spiritual death and bringing peace within. It is something that happens once for all when we first come to Him in faith, and are ‘perfected for ever’, and it is something that is to be applied continually as we ‘are being sanctified’ (10.14). We are both accounted righteous though His blood once for all (Romans 3.24-25), and we are to be continually cleansed by His blood from daily sin (1 John 1.7).
The implication is that the Spirit acts through His spiritual water of life (compare John 4.10, 13-14;7.37) in response to our faith, which is more effective because it contains spiritual cleansing as a result of something that was superior even to the ashes of the heifer, the blood of Jesus. And as a result of that, it is ‘the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son’ which ‘cleanses us from all sin’ (1 John 1.7).
Thus ‘washing’ with ‘purified water’ signifies responsive obedience in accordance with God’s word to us, and it is ‘the washing of water with the word’ which produces that obedience (Ephesians 5.26). It is only seen as possible through obedience combined with the sacrifice of Christ (1 Peter 1.2).
10.23 ‘Let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not, for he is faithful who promised,’
The application of what he has listed now applies to his specific purpose in writing, to maintain the Jewish believers’ faith and testimony. Because of all this they are not to waver but to hold fast the confession of their hope. The thought of ‘hope’ fixes their thoughts on their future hope, emphasized with regard to God’s true people in chapter 11, where it is constantly stressed that they endured because of the hope set before them. Yet here it is also in the light of their present experience of God. As a result of being purified by the blood and transformed by the Spirit, and of having full direct access to God, they must be faithful witnesses to Jesus Christ, and what He offers for the future, recognizing that He who made the promises Is Himself faithful and will not fail them. They must trust in the faithfulness of God and recognize the certainty of the fulfillment of His promises, and make that confidence apparent to others, confessing their confident hope.
10.24-25 ‘And let us consider one another to provoke to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the day drawing near.’
Have you ever heard from someone who hardly ever attends any Christian fellowship that he gets his fellowship alone with the Lord? We read here that equally important is that believers’ have a concern for each other and stir each other to love and good works. That is kind of hard to for a brother who you never see or hear from.
The writer had earlier warned them of the need to encourage one another daily (3.15). But, as today, failure to do this appears to have been quite common. This gathering is listed for us to do this both by our own good example, and by showing concern for each other in exhortation, admonition, and encouragement. Fullness of faith results in confession of hope and in active Christian love. This is why we must not fail in gathering together constantly, so that they might thus encourage one another to confession of our faith and to activity in love. This is not just saying, ‘you must go to church’. It is saying, ‘you must gather together continuously so as to support and encourage one another’.
The words ‘Good works’ mean works of moral beauty, works which reveal to men of what kind of people these Christians are. They are not works of merit, but works that bear testimony (Matthew 5.16). If the church revealed more of Christ’s love to the world in ‘beautiful’ works, their confession of faith might be more heeded. And the closer the Day of Christ draws near, the more should they do it. Some have tended to take a position of being Lone Ranger Christians, he says. It has become their custom. But it must not be so. Their faith will grow weak and they will be the first to fall when the testing comes, and will be the least ready for the coming of Christ. We are one body and need each other (1 Corinthians 12.12-26)
We have here then, in these last three verses, three aspects of our Christian lives, [1] drawing near to God in faith, [2] confessing before men our hope, and [3] revealing love and consideration for all. This will then result in our constant gathering together to learn the truth and to encourage one another in the faith. If we do these things we will never fail.
The day of our Lord Jesus Christ’s Second Coming is to be ever in the thoughts of the believer. It is the day when all will be made clear, when every heart will be examined, when His servants will give account, and when those who have rejected Our Precious Holy Lord Jesus Christ will be judged. It is the day when those who are His will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15.52). The thought of that day strengthens our faith, is our incentive and the content of our hope, and is the driving force towards love and morally beautiful works.
10.26-27 ‘For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries.’
For they must note that now that Christ has come there remains no other sacrifice for sin (10.18). It is Christ or judgment. We cannot now turn back to the old ways and the old sacrifices. All a turning from Christ can do is result in fiery judgment. There is no other path to God.
We now come across a verse which scares the living daylights out of many - ‘If we are those who sin willfully --.’ The verb means to do something willingly, without constraint. It should be noted that all sins are willful, and that it simply emphasizes what sin is. The interpretation then is that having turned from our Savior Jesus Christ they have no One to turn to because they have deserted Him. Thus there is nowhere else that they can look for cleansing. They are doomed - unless of course they repent and turn back to Christ.
Each sin of ours deserves God’s full judgment, and that judgment would be severe. We do need to take this lesson to heart. And if we do sin willfully we need to repent and turn back to Christ (1 John 1.5-10).
We should also stop and recognize that sin is nowhere else called ‘willful sin’ and the verses that follow do seem to suggest a sinning which is of unusual severity. Furthermore the opposite of willful sin is sin done unwittingly or in error. Willful sin is clearly more than just sin.
The meaning of the phrase is surely made clear by the following verses, it means deliberately with considered forethought setting Christ at naught by continual, open rejection (verses 28-29). It is a rejection after receiving the full knowledge of the truth. But the Old Testament distinguished the sins of daily life from ‘sin with a high hand’, sins of deliberate defiance against God (Numbers 15.30). Such sins demanded an immediate death penalty. They included premeditated murder, the taking of a life which belonged to God (Exodus 21.12-14); idolatry, the setting aside of God for the worship of idols (Exodus 22.20), and being deeply involved with the occult (Exodus 22.18).
The present tense indicates a continual state. Such people have chosen this way of sin in which they are found and are intent on persevering in it. Note the ‘if’ which suggests his hope that it is not true of his readers, and the ‘we’ which includes himself as one who must himself take care that he does not do the same.
The emphasis here ‘After that we have received the knowledge of the truth’ is on the fact that the sin is in full knowledge of the truth. It is not a sin done in ignorance or in a moment of weakness, or while in absolute darkness, it is a deliberate turning of the back on ‘the truth’, God’s revealed truth in The Lord Jesus Christ as received from God and understood and outwardly lived under. It is a considered rejection of what it once professed.
In chapter 10.18 it is said that where there is full forgiveness of sins there is ‘no more an offering for sin’. Through Christ the provisions of the old dispensation were no longer required. Sin offerings had become invalid. The same principle is in mind here. We cannot turn from God and reject His revealed truth about Jesus Christ, and find that the old sacrifices, or indeed anything else, will still suffice. Once the new covenant comes into focus the old has lost all its effects and purposes.
Having thus lost any means of finding mercy by turning from the Son of God, Adoni Yeshua, The Lord Jesus Christ, only the expectation of judgment awaits, and that a fearful one and a certain one, for it is dreadful and it comes from God
10.28 ‘A man who has set at naught Moses law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses,’
The connection with sin with a high hand comes out here. They were the sins that ‘set at naught the Law of Moses’. It was only for such sins that the immediate death penalty was required. But when men did commit such a sin there was to be no compassion. All fellow feeling between them and the whole people was to be lost. Immediate death was called for. The community would carry out the sentence. Such sinners were to be cut off from the people. However such could only be carried out where there were valid witnesses. Justice had to be maintained.
10.29 ‘Of how much sorer punishment, do you think, will he be judged worthy, who has trodden underfoot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified (or ‘by which there was sanctification’) an unholy thing, and has shown wanton arrogance to the Spirit of grace?’
How much sorer punishment then was deserved by the one who did even worse than that in that they set at naught the Son of God, and all God’s provision for salvation. Once again we have the contrast between the Son and Moses, with the Son exalted above Moses. This clearly has in mind those of whom he has spoken previously who were considering turning away from Christ in order to return to full Judaism. They would be guilty of three heinous crimes:
• 1). They would have ‘trodden underfoot the Son of God’. This is similar to having crucified Him afresh (6.6). He is treated like salt that has lost its savor which is trodden under men’s feet (Matthew 5.13). He is like pearls which are tossed before swine and trodden under foot because the swine see them as meaningless rubbish (Matthew 7.6). It is to treat the very Son of God as a defeated foe, as a charlatan, as One Who is useless and worthless, worthy only to be humiliated and trodden down. They have basically denied that ‘Jesus Is Lord’ and have rather said that ‘Jesus is accursed’ (1 Corinthians 12.3), for many non-Christian Jews saw Him as accursed because He died on the tree (Galatians 3.13). Each would have ‘counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified (or ‘by which there was sanctification’) an unholy thing’. By this they will have rejected the new covenant bought and sealed by the blood of Christ and declared it not of God, thereby declaring Christ’s blood common if not debased.
2) Under the old covenant the blood of the covenant was sprinkled on the people sanctifying them (setting them apart) to their part in the covenant. They were now outwardly God’s own people, although their genuineness would be proved by obedience, and many fell at that hurdle. The writer pictures this as also being true of the new covenant. Having been baptized and declared their commitment to Christ, and having claimed that they have been set apart for Him in that they partake of the symbol of the covenant in His blood by partaking of the wine at the Lord’s Table, thus declaring themselves as having been ‘set apart as Christ’s by His blood’ (and thus as being sanctified to Him), they now renounce that sanctification, declaring the means of it itself unholy and degraded. This exacerbates their crime. They renounce the very covenant blood which they had previously gloried in.
That this does not indicate that the apostates were once genuine Christians comes out in 1 John 2.16. ‘They went out from us but they were not of us. For if they had been of us they would have continued with us, but it was that it might be made manifest that they were not all of us.’
• 3). They would have shown wanton arrogance to the Spirit of grace. Their claim had been that the Spirit of grace had brought them to God though Christ, now they arrogantly reject Him and His ministry by denying that it was valid or genuine. Note the contrast between the graciousness of God and the arrogance of these rejecters. They have sinned against the love and graciousness of His Holy Spirit.
So having once confessed Him they now sin with a high hand against Christ Himself, against His blood and covenant and against the Holy Spirit, publicly repudiating them in the eyes of all. They have, outwardly at least, blasphemed against the Holy Spirit and committed the ‘sin unto death’ (Mark 3.29; 1 John 5.16). For such there can only be judgment.
10.30-31 ‘For we know him who said, “Vengeance belongs to me, I will recompense.” And again, “The Lord shall judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’
And, he says, we can see this clearly for ourselves, for we know Him as He is and as He Is revealed to be by the Scriptures which say, ‘Vengeance belongs to Me, I will repay’. Please note both the fact and the warning. Vengeance is His, which is the fact. He will repay, that is the warning.
His second quotation is ‘The Lord will judge His people’ (Deuteronomy 32.36). This includes both beneficent ‘judging’ as with the ‘judges’, and condemning judgments as Judge of all the world. It is an assurance to those who are faithful to Him, that He will rule them and watch over them as they come under the Kingly Rule of God, and brings cold fear on those who sin with a high hand as the Day of Judgment draws near. Thus we know that He will certainly, in accordance with His own will, judge those who have called themselves His people and bring vengeance on those who rebel. It is telling them that the very words that declare their judgment are taken from the very Law to which they claim to be returning.
And he adds the solemn reminder, ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. God Is not mocked, not to be treated lightly. For those who have returned to dead works and to a now invalid and dead ritual, to fall into the hands of ‘the living God’ can only be a fearful thing, for God will require it at their hands, especially in view of what they have rejected.
These words are not cited as a quotation. However, some of the wording, although not the direct idea, is taken from 2 Samuel 24.14 where the thought is that David prefers to fall into the hands of ‘the Lord’ because He at least is both just and compassionate. He trusts God and fears men. It is a very different for those who have permanently turned away from Him by rejecting His Son to shame and humiliation. For them facing up to Him is the most fearful thing that is possible
The fact of the ‘living’ God is emphasized to bring about the realization that, because He Is unlike the dead gods of other religions, they can be sure that the living God will undoubtedly exercise justice against them. They have previously declared themselves as servants of the living God (9.14). Now they are runaways from One Who Is aware of all they do. He will not look lightly on their rejection of His Son.
He now reminds them of what they had suffered for Christ’s sake in the past, and the compassion that they had revealed for fellow-sufferers in those persecutions. Now they must not give up heart but must patiently endure as they did then, recognizing that Christ Is coming again and that in the meantime God’s righteous ones must live by faith.
10.32-33 ‘But call to mind the former days, in which, after you were enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly, being continually made a spectacle [gazing stock], both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, becoming partakers with those who were so used.’
He writes to remind them how they have already endured suffering for Christ’s sake. For these people to whom he was writing were not fly-by-nights, here today and gone tomorrow. They had previously suffered for Christ and had endured. So he acknowledges how they had suffered persecution, and how in the past they had been continually mocked and treated as a spectacle, as something for men to gaze at, and how at times they had willingly shared in the sufferings of some who were being so used. Indeed he draws their attention back to it, to ‘the former days’, those days that they had experienced in the past. This endurance had earned for them great recompense of reward. Let them now not lose it.
After they heard of Jesus Christ and recognized His uniqueness and had come to recognize that He was One sent from God, that the light that enlightens every man had come into the world (John 1.9), and had thrown in their lot with those who followed Him, being baptized and becoming, at least outwardly, members of the church of Christ.
The response of Christians to Christ had resulted in intense persecution by the Jewish authorities. It had begun in Jerusalem and no doubt extended spasmodically throughout the world wherever there were strong gatherings of Jews. Communication between Jerusalem and other large cities was constant, and Christian Jews began to be seen as apostates by the Jews. The persecution of Christians by Jews is drawn attention to in some of the letters to the seven churches (Revelation 2.9; 3.9). Many of the Jews, although by no means all, showed no pity, and at times denounced Christians to the authorities, aware of the suffering that might result.
Jews had special protection in the Roman Empire which exempted them from having to partake in emperor worship, because of their unique belief in the one God. Christians [Do not forget that the first Christians were Jews], who were seen as a sect of the Jews, thus for a time enjoyed similar protection, but certain Jews were angry at this and out of malice sought to emphasize to the authorities that Christians were not true Jews, and to draw attention to them so that they would be tried for ‘blasphemy’ and condemned.
Please look again at the words - ‘Partly’ Such persecution was partly the result of themselves being directly persecuted, becoming a spectacle in men’s eyes and having to face constant reproach and even actual physical affliction. This was sometimes the direct result of being arrested by the authorities and sometimes due to the fact of becoming hated for their beliefs (wrongly understood) and vilified by ordinary people, with all kinds of accusations being hurled at them.
They had not only faced it themselves, they had also at times stood alongside those who suffered worse than they did, sharing in their afflictions too, revealing thereby their love for their brothers and sisters. They also no doubt assisted fellow-Christians who were particularly in danger and in hiding. They had clearly shown great courage and love in this regard, ‘things that accompany salvation’ (6.9).
10.34 ‘For you both had compassion on those who were in bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your possessions, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one.’
Indeed they had visited those who had been imprisoned, taking them food and offering encouragement, (prisoners were dependent on food brought in by friends and family), in spite of the danger to themselves, and had joyfully looked on in a state of exaltation while their own possessions were taken from them, for they had known that they looked forward to a better possession and one that would last forever that nothing could touch. This better possession was ‘eternal life’, the life of Christ now presently enjoyed, which made them citizens of Heaven now, and would guarantee Heaven in the future.
Thus by their behavior they had revealed something of what it meant to be a genuine Christian. This was why he could not believe that they would now desert Christ. For no genuine Christian who had been willing to face such things in triumph, could surely turn their backs on The Lord Jesus Christ. These were things that accompanied God’s saving work in the heart, and that nothing could take away. As John said, ‘we know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers and sisters in Christ’ (1 John 3.14).
10.35-36 ‘Do not therefore cast not away your boldness, which has great recompense of reward, for you have need of patient endurance, that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise.’
So he begs them not to be moved by the present uncertainties and to toss away their boldness as previously revealed in how they had faced persecution, by now counting it as worthless. For their bold service will bring them great recompense of reward. And in order to do the will of God, as Christ had done before them and to then receive the promise, they will require the same boldness in order to patiently endure. God’s inheritance and God’s rewards come through suffering and patient endurance in well-doing
10.37 ‘ For yet a very little while, He who comes will come, and will not tarry.’
For all believers it is to the future hope that we must look forward to. There is now not long to go (speaking from Heaven’s point of view - ‘For yet a little while.’ These words are taken from the book of Isaiah chapter 26.20 where the context is of anguish and suffering, and of final resurrection and our Great God’s judgment on His enemies. So let them take heart. His time is coming.
The reference ‘He who comes will come, and will not tarry is taken from the book of Habakkuk chapter 2.3 with the emphasis added to make it personal to The Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, so indicating ‘the coming one’. The writer is adapting it to the present circumstances, not quoting it as Scripture, but indicating a Scriptural theme. Not only is deliverance coming, but the Deliverer Himself.
So in a little while He Who Is coming will come and will delay no longer. Then all will have been worthwhile and they will receive their recompense of reward. It was only later that Peter was to remind Christians that with God a ‘little while’ could be a thousand years or more (2 Peter 3.8-10).
10.38 ‘But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrink back, my soul has no pleasure in him.’
Again taken almost exactly from Habakkuk 2.4 (although ‘of me’ is moved in order to stress that His righteous ones are truly His), but with the phrases transposed to bring out his point. It is again not cited as a quotation but uses what he finds to express his point.
The Scripture does declare, that our Master and King Lord Jesus imparts, that ‘my righteous one will live by faith’. If any believer would be numbered among the righteous, they must show evidence of true faith in Him -for He has no pleasure in those who shrink back from trusting Him, who thus reveal that they are not His righteous ones.
10.39 ‘But we are not of those who shrink back to perdition, but of those who have faith to the saving of the soul.’
The section is finally summed up in these words. It is a declaration of confidence in his readers. He is sure that like him, they will not shrink back to destruction, for they have that faith in Almighty God which results in the saving of the soul. Note the contrasts of ‘shrinking back’ with positive ‘faith’, and of ‘destruction’ with ‘salvation’. Positive response to Christ results in salvation, a final shrinking back from Him results in destruction. For our Great and Wonderful Adoni Yeshua, the Lord Jesus Christ Is God’s provision for the salvation of men, as the whole of his letter has openly declared.
