A Study Of The Apostle Pauls Letter To The Hebrews

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AStudyOf TheApostlePauls LetterTo The
Hebrews
How can we neglect so greata salvation?
Hebrews 23
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Hebrews Christ Is Superior! Superior Person
(11413) Superior to Prophets
(11-3) Superior to Angels (14218) Superior
to Moses (31-19) Superior to Joshua
(41-13) Superior Priest (414728) Superior to
Aaron (414612) Superior to Melchizedek
(61375) Superior to Levi (76-28)
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Hebrews Christ Is Superior! Superior Pact to
Moses (811018) Superior Promises
(81-13) Superior Sanctuary (91-14) Superior
Sacrifice (915-28) Superior Results
(101-18) Superior Principle (Faith) to Moses
(10191325) Superior Things (1019-39) Superio
r Actions (111-40) Superior Relationship
(121-29) Today well consider verses
4-13. Superior Way of Life (131-25)
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In the last installment of our studies in
Hebrews, we began chapter 12 by ex-amining verses
1-3 which primarily sum up Pauls chapter 11
point of how that Christs Superior Principle of
Faith Prompts Superior Actions. But, then again,
these verses also ease into his main point of
chapter 12that this same principle of faith is
what Establishes a Superior Relationship to what
anyone ever possessed before Jesus. Now ?
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In this installment were going to ex-amine
verses 4-13 wherein Paul mainly discussed one of
Gods purposes for al-lowing these Christians to
experience persecution, especially as it related
to this time of transition from one cove-nant to
another. He began by reminding them that although
theyve suffered, it hadnt really even come to
equaling that of their Messiah who he had just
brought up in verse 3.
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You have not yet resisted to blood-shed, striving
against the sin.
Hebrews 124 ?
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You have not yet resisted to blood-shed, striving
against the sin.
To resist means to stand against, while to strive
means to fight.
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You have not yet resisted to blood-shed, striving
against the sin.
The consensus of the scholars seems to be that
this refers to blood shed in death so while many
of their ancestors and their Messiah (as well as
Stephen and James) had been slain years earlier,
none of them had yet to experi-ence this,
implying that their cowardice was that much more
inexcusable!
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You have not yet resisted to blood-shed, striving
against the sin.
This could refer back to the sin of verse 1 where
I believe Paul had in mind the sin of unbelief
doubt in God that leads to apostasy. However
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Corresponding to the sinners of verse 3 who Jesus
spiritually fought against, its possible that
Paul was personifying sin here as the opponent in
the boxing ring of the Roman games if so, sin
here would be a reference to the enemy of Christ
and His people, viz, the rejecting Jewish nation
that was presently per-secuting these Christians.
Then again
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These two explanations mesh together so that, in
the end, it doesnt matter. Why? Because these
brethren were fighting against the temptation to
for-sake Christ due to the persecution of the
enemy i.e., sin (finding its strength in the Old
Law and its defenders, 1 Cor. 1556), was
attempting to stamp out Christi-anity before
Christ could complete His redemption (Eph.
110-14).
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The Lord once asked His people through Jeremiah,
If you have run with the foot-men and they have
wearied you, then how will you contend with
horses? And if in the land of peace (on your own
turf) they have wearied you, then how will you
do in the floodplains of the Jordan (125)?
Moving on ? ? ?
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You have not yet resisted to blood-shed, striving
against the sin.
This implies that things were only go-ing to get
worse be-fore they got better and from history
we can see that clearly, because once Nero became
allied with the Jews against Christians, things
did indeed get worse soon after this writ-ing.
This is why
Paul went on to dis-cuss the purpose of the
suffering they were experiencing.
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And youve forgot-ten the exhorta-tion which
speaks to you as to sons My son, do not despise
the chas-tening of the Lord, nor be discouraged
when you are re-buked by Him for whom the Lord
loves He chastens, scourges every son He
receives.
Hebrews 125-6 ?
FromProverbs 311-12
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And youve forgot-ten the exhorta-tion which
speaks to you as to sons My son, do not despise
the chas-tening of the Lord, nor be discouraged
when you are re-buked by Him for whom the Lord
loves He chastens, scourges every son He
receives.
To despise means to regard lightly, while
chastening refers to correction (whether verbal
or physical) so they were being warned not to
ignore Gods discipline. Job 517 says, Consider
the joy of those cor-rected by God. Dont despise
the chasten-ing of the Almighty.
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Through the wise man, Solomon, God taught in
Proverbs 1324 that parents who refuse to spank
their children ac- tually exhibit hatred toward
them. Why? Because, as He taught in 2215,
Foolish- ness is bound up in the heart of a
child, but the rod of correction will drive it
far from him and in 2313-14 He said, Do not
withhold correction from a child, for if you beat
him with a rod, he will not die but you shall
deliver his soul from Hell.
See ? ? ?
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And youve forgot-ten the exhorta-tion which
speaks to you as to sons My son, do not despise
the chas-tening of the Lord, nor be discouraged
when you are re-buked by Him for whom the Lord
loves He chastens, scourges every son He
receives.
God, as the Father of these Hebrew Christians,
not only reproved them thru Paul, but He also
chastised them thru hardship, sometimes severely,
as indicat-ed by scourge which means to whip.
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And youve forgot-ten the exhorta-tion which
speaks to you as to sons My son, do not despise
the chas-tening of the Lord, nor be discouraged
when you are re-buked by Him for whom the Lord
loves He chastens, scourges every son He
receives.
Paul called the truth of this teaching an
exhortation or an encouragement thru instruction.
I.e. ?
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Their Father was allowing them to ex- perience
all such discipline for their own good, so they
were not to disregard it or become discouraged by
it as if God didnt care, but to become
encouraged by it. How? By viewing it as a gift
(Php. 129) to His children. So Pauls teaching
here essentially implies that its rank ignorance
for a Christian to ask, Why, if Im a child of
God, does He allow me to suffer so? Why?
Be-cause its precisely because Christians are
His children that theyre disciplined.
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Note to Self Even if Solomon was thinking about
his own son when he wrote such proverbs, God
(when inspiring him to write them) was obviously
thinking about His children in relation to Him
at least thats the point Paul seemed to be
making in verse 5a by the phrase speaks to you.
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If you endure chastening, God deals with you as
with sons. For what son is there whom a father
does not chasten?
Hebrews 127 ?
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If you endure chastening, God deals with you as
with sons. For what son is there whom a father
does not chasten?
Here if means when, and endure means experience
i.e., Paul was saying, When you experience
ad-versities, acknow-ledge that theyre actually
blessings, for behind your dif-ficulties stands a
loving Father who knows whats best for you.
Besides ?
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If you endure chastening, God deals with you as
with sons. For what son is there whom a father
does not chasten?
Not only did God create all human fathers, but
Hes also the very epitome of love (1 John 48).
So If an earthly father cares enough to know to
discipline his children, surely Godthe model
Father should be expect-ed to discipline His
children as well.
Even Jesus, acting as a Father (cf. Isa. 96),
once said, As many as I love, I rebuke chasten
(Rev. 319).
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But if you are without chasten-ing, of which all
have become par-takers, then you are illegitimate
and not sons.
Hebrews 128 ?
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But if you are without chasten-ing, of which all
have become par-takers, then you are illegitimate
and not sons.
Not only was Paul trying to give them confidence
relative to their standing be-fore God, but I
be-lieve he was also en-couraging them to
acknowledge the necessity of Gods chastening.
I.e. ?
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It seems Paul was saying that if they wanted to
be of those who were at ease in Zion (the type
people God cursed, Amos 61), if they wanted to
be of those who didnt suffer persecution for
Christs sake (1 Pet. 416 2 Tim. 312), then
that would be no different than a child
dis-owning his father, in essence making himself
illegitimate. Or ? ? ?
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Perhaps we can picture this converse scenario A
child needing discipline wont accept it, so his
father says to him, If you dont accept my
discipline, then youre not my child. Either way,
the point is that if they wanted out of the
trials they were enduring for Jesus sake,
especially to the point of forsak-ing Christ to
go back to Judaism, then they were as
illegitimate children who wouldve been better
off never knowing God in the first place (2 Pet.
220-22).
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Furthermore, we have had human fathers who
cor-rected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we
not much more readily be in subjection to the
Father of spirits and live?
Hebrews 129 ?
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Furthermore, we have had human fathers who
cor-rected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we
not much more readily be in subjection to the
Father of spirits and live?
The phrase human fathers has reference to those
who are fal- lible, while the Fa-ther of spirits
has re- ference to God who is infallible.
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In verse 7 we paraphrased Paul by say-ing that If
earthly fathers care enough to discipline their
children, surely God should be expected to
discipline His children as well. Now here we can
para- phrase this additional thought by saying
that If by their discipline fallible fathers
merit respect, surely by His discipline the
infallible Father should be respected!
Besides ? ? ?
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Paul went on to tell them that just as submission
to earthly parents resulted in life, so
submission to the Heavenly Father would result in
life. In Ephesi-ans 62-3a Paul wrote, Honor your
father and mother that you may live long on
Earth. And earlier in Hebrews chapter 10 (the
chapter that actually con-nects to this chapter
as noted in our previous study) ? ? ?
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Paul had just told them that the just shall live
by faith (v. 38) and then in verse 39 that we are
of those who believe to the saving of the soul
(life) primarily in this case living through the
destruction of the Jews. See notes back at
1038-39.
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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.
Hebrews 1210 ?
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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.
Unlike the Heavenly Father, earthly fa-thers only
have their children for a short time for
disciplinary purposes and even during that time,
being human, their discipline is often improper.
On the other hand ? ?
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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.
The Heavenly Father (who has control thru-out the
entire lives of His created beings) never
disciplines im-properly and always with the view
of making His children holy as He is holy i.e.,
while an earthly father may discipline his child
for selfish reasons, the Heav-enly Father never
does so.
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Now no chasten-ing seems to be joyful for the
pre-sent, but grievous nevertheless, afterward
it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to
those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 1211 ?
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Now no chasten-ing seems to be joyful for the
pre-sent, but grievous nevertheless, afterward
it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to
those who have been trained by it.
No discipline (wheth- er human or divine or
whether verbal or phy-sical) is fun to bear,
rather its very un-pleasant to receive if the
discipline were pleasant, it wouldnt have any
power to produce the desired resultthe
improve-ment of the one dis-ciplined. (Cf. Just
think of American justice and its lack of
results.)
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Now no chasten-ing seems to be joyful for the
pre-sent, but grievous nevertheless, afterward
it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to
those who have been trained by it.
Especially in the case of adults, the desired
result can only be achieved if the one
disciplined correctly under-stands its purpose
and has the right attitude toward it. (Trained is
from the word for gyma place where one trains.)
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Now no chasten-ing seems to be joyful for the
pre-sent, but grievous nevertheless, afterward
it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to
those who have been trained by it.
Righteousness is peaceable because the more
righteous a child of God is, the closer his
relation-ship will be with his Father. But ? ?
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Instead of looking at this on an indivi-dual
basis, its likely that Paul had a more general
application in mind in reference to these
particular brethren in their particular time.
I.e. ? ? ?
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Maybe when he spoke of their reaching the goal of
the peace of righteousness (v. 11) and being
partakers of Gods holi- ness (v. 10) he had in
mind their pres-sing forward through all their
persecu-tion in order to attain their crown of
life (v. 9) in fulfillment of the promises
(1035-39). In fact This is what I believe Paul
had in mind when he wrote that Our light
affliction, which is but for a moment, is working
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
glory (2 Cor. 417).
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Therefore (since dis-cipline is for your good,
then) strengthen the hands that hang down and the
feeble knees, and make straight paths for your
feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated,
but rather healed.
Hebrews 1212-13 ? ? ?
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Therefore (since dis-cipline is for your good,
then) strengthen the hands that hang down and the
feeble knees, and make straight paths for your
feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated,
but rather healed.
This literally means to make straight vertically,
but since its obvious that Paul was using the
physical to illustrate the spiritual, this word
(being plural) means to encourage or edifybuild
up one another.
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Therefore (since dis-cipline is for your good,
then) strengthen the hands that hang down and the
feeble knees, and make straight paths for your
feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated,
but rather healed.
By these phrases Paul reminded them of the weary
dis-couraged in verse 3 these are those who
had become exhaust- ed by their hardships to the
point of re-considering their Christianity. Why?
Because they lacked an understanding of the
purpose of trials and therefore also the right
attitude to-ward them.
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Therefore (since dis-cipline is for your good,
then) strengthen the hands that hang down and the
feeble knees, and make straight paths for your
feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated,
but rather healed.
Since straight refers to that which is straight
horizonally, Paul meant to make smooth paths. So
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Therefore (since dis-cipline is for your good,
then) strengthen the hands that hang down and the
feeble knees, and make straight paths for your
feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated,
but rather healed.
Paul (likely alluding back to the sin and every
weight of verse 1) meant for them to clear their
courses of all unnecessary obstacles, not just
for their own per-sonal good, but also so that
the lame (the weak ones) following them wouldnt
be dislocated (fall totally out of the race). So
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Therefore (since dis-cipline is for your good,
then) strengthen the hands that hang down and the
feeble knees, and make straight paths for your
feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated,
but rather healed.
Paul was urging them to help one another,
especially should the strong strengthen the weak
(cf. Rom. 151 Gal. 62) in order to heal
(save) them.
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This aid may involve helping them to remove some
sin or weight from their lives or helping them to
regain their first love (Rev. 24). Paul summed
up all this when he told the Thessalonians to
warn those who are unruly, comfort the
fainthearted, and uphold the weak (1 The. 514).
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As mentioned in reference to 1039, this seems to
be another place where Paul appeared to have been
impersonating a cheerleader or an inspiring
coach i.e., Lift up those hands! Strengthen
those knees! Get those lazy feet on the track!
(But, then again, perhaps he sounded more like a
platoon sergeant!) So ? ? ?
50
In verses 12-13 Paul (being led by the Master
Writerthe Holy Spirit) alluded to a prophecy in
Isaiah 35 that perfectly flowed right into the
latter part of this chapter about the New
Jerusalem which was on the verge of coming in its
full-ness verse 22, in fact, specifically told
them that You have come to Mt. Zion the
Heavenly Jerusalemthat which Paul called a
kingdom that they were in the process of
receiving (v. 28). So ?
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Using Edoms judgment and destruction to picture
the judgment and destruction of physical Zion
(old Jerusalem) in Isai-ah 34, Isaiah went on in
chapter 35 to contrast that with a picture of the
glory that would follow such ugliness so lets
read verses 3-4 and parts of 8-10.
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3Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the
feeble knees. 4Say to those who are
fearful-hearted, Be strong do not fear! Behold
your God will come with vengeance, with the
recompense of God He will come and save you.
8aA highway shall be there and it shall be
called The Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall
not pass over it, but it shall be for others.
9bThe redeemed shall walk there, 10aand the
ransomed of the Lord shall come to Zion with
singing and with everlasting joy. So
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It appears that not only was Paul ex-plaining to
them the purpose and ne-nessity of their trials
in order to help them get through them, but it
also ap-pears that he was reminding them that
Isaiah had specifically predicted that those who
lived as the New Zion was coming to fruition
would suffer a suffering, however, that would
turn to joyous redemption! By the way ? ?
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All this corresponds wonderfully with Pauls
earlier admonition to encourage one another (much
like strengthen here), and so much the more as
you see that day approaching (1025b).