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Hebrews 9:1 – 10:18 This is a series of studies that explore the meaning of the Epistle to the Hebrews. ©2003 by James A. Fowler. All rights reserved. You are free to download
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JESUS: THE BETTER WAY OF ACCESS TO GOD Jesus, the “better priest” (7:1-28) offered Himself as the “better sacrifice” (9:1–10:18), providing the “Better Way of Access to God” through Himself. This section of the epistle to the Hebrews is the logical conclusion of the argument that Paul has made previously. Paul transitions from instruction to application, from exposition to exhortation, from the didactic to the direct implications. There are three (3) subsection paragraphs within this direct exhortation. In the first section (19-25) Paul encourages the Christians in Jerusalem to enter the legitimate and certain access that they have to God’s presence through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, using three (3) appeals to specific action (22,23,24). Warning of divine judgment occupies the second section (26-31), as Paul explains what his readers are in danger of doing, and what the terrifying consequences of apostasy might entail. In the third section (32-39), Paul returns to encouragement by noting the prior hardships that the Hebrew Christians had endured, and prods them to continue to persevere through the trials. Similarities with Paul’s previous encouragement/warning statements (cf. 3:12-14; 6:4-8) are evident.1 This is to be expected since the historical context of the writing of this letter found the recipients in a very perilous situation. They had previously been ostracized, ridiculed, and publicly humiliated by their Jewish neighbors (cf. I Thess. 2:14), for in becoming Christians they were regarded as traitors to their Jewish heritage and religion. These people had suffered persecution, physical abuse, acts of violence, and the confiscation of their property. Then, these same Jewish countrymen began to woo them, desiring their assistance in the impending conflict of revolution against Roman occupation. There was a strong pressure to capitulate, to join the wave of nationalistic fervor, and to fight for the Jewish faith and homeland. This would have been the “easy way out,” to go with the flow of public sentiment, to join the cause of insurrection, and to find some temporary “acceptance” from those around them. But the Hebrew Christians knew that such capitulation would be to deny all they claimed to have in Jesus Christ. To “sell out” in this way would be to “stand away from” Jesus Christ in apostasy (“apostasy” is the transliteration of the Greek word apostasia, meaning “to stand away from,” though this word is not used in this epistle). To join forces with the Jewish revolutionaries would be to repudiate their Christian faith. The temptation to give up and apostasize was intense. This is evident in various words that Paul uses throughout the letter. They were “sluggish” (6:12), and in danger of “drifting away” (2:1), of “going astray” (3:10), of “falling away” (3:12; 4:12; 6:6), and of “throwing away” (10:35) all they had in Jesus Christ. Paul could sense that they were “wearying” (12:3), “wavering” (10:23), and “losing heart” (12:3); contemplating the “disobedience” (3:18; 4:6,11) of “shrinking back” (10:38,39) and “hardening their hearts” (3:8) by “neglecting their salvation” (2:3). To do so would be to “come short” of all that God had promised (4:1; 12:15), and to suffer the terrifying consequences of God’s judgment. Perhaps still restricted and restrained by the Roman authorities after being taken as a prisoner from Jerusalem to Rome (Acts 28:17,30), Paul had a heavy heart for his brethren back in Jerusalem. In this last-ditch letter, he employs every means at his disposal to instruct them about the “better things” they have in Jesus Christ, and the superiority of the vital access they have to the heavenly presence of God. Paul reminds them and praises them for their past endurance (10:32-34). He chides them about their seeming lack of maturity and stability (5:12–6:3), and warns them of the precarious position they are in, even threatening the terrifying consequence of everlasting destruction (10:38,39) if they decide to reject and deny Jesus Christ. Like a good lawyer, Paul argues his case from every angle, trying to persuade the Hebrew Christians in Jerusalem to stand firm in their faith in Jesus Christ. “Don’t give up! Don’t go back! Don’t reject Jesus!” 10:19 This long, rambling sentence (typical of Paul – cf. Eph. 1:3-14) comprises the entire paragraph (19-25). It begins with a connective review (19-21) of the previous explanation of Jesus as priest, offering the single and final redemptive sacrifice for sin, which allows for the Christians’ unhindered access to God. “Having, therefore, brothers, certainty unto the access of the Holies by the blood of Jesus,…” Jesus is not ashamed to call us “brothers” (2:11), and Paul identifies with his readers by recognizing that they are “brothers” in Christ (3:1,12; 13:22) in the family of God. His objective us to reiterate that by the priesthood of Christ (21) and the sacrifice of Christ (19,20), Christians have legitimate access to the Holy of Holies of God’s presence. The verb “having” controls the entire introductory phrase (19-21). Instead of a subjective “confidence” (35), Paul seems to be referring to the objective “certainty” of the Christian’s having legitimate access, a right-of-way of entrance to the heavenly sanctuary. To the Ephesians, Paul wrote, “in Christ Jesus our Lord …we have certainty and confident access through faith” (Eph. 3:11,12), “access in one Spirit to the Father” (Eph. 2:18). Such right of entry to the Holy of Holies was inconceivable to Jewish thought, as they still acted out the religious motions of a temporary and mediated access to God through the high priest in the Jerusalem temple once a year on the Day of Atonement. To have direct and immediate access to God – to have a real personal relationship with God in real face-to-face worship – was beyond their wildest imaginations. Yet, this is what Paul is telling the Hebrew Christians they have by the instrumental means of “the blood of Jesus” (9:12,14; 10:19,29; 12:24; 13:12,20), the representative and sacrificial death of Jesus. Again (9:12,14), there was no magical efficacy in the human blood of Jesus, but by His voluntary death He vicariously and substitutionally assumed the death that was the consequence of mankind’s sin, removing the alienation between God and man. “Christ died for sins one for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God” (I Pet. 3:18). 10:20 This certainty of entryway into the Holy presence of God is “a fresh and living way,…” The word Paul uses for “fresh” often referred to a freshly-slain animal sacrifice, but Paul’s intent was apparently to indicate that the new way of access to God through Jesus Christ was recent, unprecedented, and refreshing. In addition, it was not the old death-dealing way of being held at bay from God, as in the tabernacle/temple exercises, but was a life-giving way that proceeded from death to life in order to open a dynamic interaction with the living God (3:12; 9:14; 10:31; 12:22). Jesus is in Himself, by means of His priesthood and sacrifice, the “way” (Jn. 14:6) of access to God, declaring, “No man comes unto the Father, but by Me” (Jn. 14:6). Having life in Himself (Jn. 5:26; 14:6), Jesus provides a way of access to God that allows a vital relationship of living humanity with the Living God. Those, other than the high priest on his annual visit, who entered the Holy chamber of the tabernacle or temple met certain death (Numb 4:20; 17:13). There was no “living way” of access to God in the old covenant. This new and living way of access to God was the one “which He has initiated for us, through the curtain, that is, (through) His flesh.” The way of access to God was initiated (9:18), inaugurated, dedicated, and made available, when Jesus was willing to go “through the curtain,” the veil (6:19; 9:3). The curtain was the means of access to God’s presence, but in Jewish thought it was regarded as an obstacle or barrier, representing hiddenness and inaccessibility. The barrier to open access to God was that the death consequences of mankind’s sin had to be taken and conquered. Incarnated in the flesh (2:14; 5:7; Jn. 1:14) as the God-man, Jesus was susceptible to death, and “obedient unto death” (Phil. 2:8), to become the sinless representative sacrifice who could take the death of mankind upon Himself, and open the way to God’s presence. “He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach” (Col. 1:22). The “blood of Jesus” (19) and “His flesh” (20) both refer to the instrumental means by which Jesus accepted sacrificial death in order to serve as the forerunner that all Christians can follow directly into intimate relationship and fellowship with God. This was illustrated at the time of Jesus’ death by crucifixion when the veil in the temple at Jerusalem was “torn in two from top to bottom” (Matt. 27:51; Mk. 15:38) – which, by the way, indicates that God did it, not man, in order to illustrate His acceptance of Jesus’ death, and His open-door policy for all who would come to Him through Jesus Christ. 10:21 The dual basis of our having access to God was because Jesus was willing to be the sacrifice involving “flesh” (20) and “blood” (19), while at the same time serving as the priest who offered the sacrifice. “…and (having) a great priest over the house of God.” “We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens” (4:14). “A great priest” is just another way of saying “a high priest,” and Paul has thoroughly argued that Jesus is the High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek” (4:14-16; 5:11; 6:19,20; 7:1-28). Jesus’ high priesthood “over the house of God” may refer to His eternal priesthood in the heavenly sanctuary of God’s presence, or it may refer to the visible and earthly counterpart of such, wherein the community of faith, the church, is regarded as the temple (I Cor. 3:16; II Cor. 6:16) or the “household of God” (Eph. 2:19; I Tim. 3:15). Since Paul referred to “Christ as a Son over His house, whose house we are” (3:6) earlier in the epistle, and nowhere else refers to heaven as the “house of God,” the interpretation of “the household of God, which is the church of the living God” (I Tim. 3:15) is preferable. We can be certain that Paul was not referring to the temple in Jerusalem as the “house of God,” for his objective is to point out the inadequacy of that house, that priesthood, those sacrifices, and that place of inaccessibility. 10:22 Based on the open access that Christians have to God through the priesthood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Paul makes three (3) appeals (22,23,24) using the “we should” or “let us” verb form. Many commentators have noted that within these three encouragements to action there is also the triad of the themes of “faith” (22), “hope” (23), and “love” (24), a triad that Paul seems to have been fond of (6:10-12; I Cor. 13:13; Gal. 5:5,6; I Thess. 1:3; 5:8). One should be cautious, though, of overemphasizing these three topics, lest they diminish the appeals Paul is making. Appealing to the responsibility that they have as Christians, Paul enjoins, “Let us draw near (to God) with a true heart in full assurance of faith,…” Earlier Paul had written, “Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace” (4:16), for “He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him” (7:25). Paul wanted the Judean Christians to utilize their privilege of access and intimacy with God. This approach to God in personal relationship needed to be done with a “true heart” that was genuine, without pretence or divided loyalties (the issue his readers were struggling with). The new covenant in Jesus Christ changes hearts (8:10; 10:16), but a continued loyalty of heart, rather than a “hardness of heart” (3:8,15; 4:7), is still required. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). Loyalty and purity of heart is evidenced and enacted “in full assurance of faith.” Previously, Paul had encouraged his readers to be “diligent to realize full assurance of hope until the end” (6:11). Here, he is encouraging their confident access to God through faith in Christ (Eph. 3:12); faith that is fully persuaded (cf. Rom. 14:5) of what Christ has done. Access to God is also based on “having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” In contrast to the external sprinkling of blood (9:13,19,21) by the Jewish priests, Paul is emphasizing the internal cleansing of the conscience (9:14) whereby the Christians is no longer burdened by guilt and consciousness of sins (10:2), but has a subjective sense of pardon and peace in coming before God. Reference to “our bodies washed with pure water” could be a generalized parallel to the sprinkling of the conscience “by the washing of regeneration, and renewing by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:6), the “cleansing by the washing of water by the word” (Eph. 5:26; cf. I Cor. 6:11; Rev. 1:5). On the other hand, this may be a reference to the outward expression of such inner cleansing, when their physical bodies were overwhelmed in the water of baptism. Peter refers to baptism as “not just a removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience” (I Pet. 3:21). The early Christians looked at the event of their water baptism as a decisive public confirmation of their faith in Christ, and Paul is probably reminding the Hebrew Christians of how that event fixed their identification as Christians, especially in the eyes of their Jewish kinsmen. 10:23 Paul’s second appeal was, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for the One having promised is faithful.” Because the Jerusalem Christians were in danger of letting go of their faith and hope in Christ, Paul repeatedly admonishes them to “hold fast” (3:6,14) their confidence and hope until the end. In like manner, he had encouraged the Corinthians to “hold fast” to the gospel they had received (I Cor. 11:2; 15:2). The “confession of our hope” is not just a verbal formula of a baptismal confession or a creedal recitation, but is inclusive of the Christian’s total agreement and concurrence with the person and work of Jesus Christ, “who is our hope” (I Tim. 1:1). Subjectively, Paul wants the Hebrew Christians, who have been “born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (I Pet. 1:3), to have a confidence expectation in God’s continued grace to the very end (3:6; 6:11). His discourse on faith (11:1-40) will begin with the statement, “Faith is the assurance of the things hoped for” (11:1). The reason the Christian can have a hope that does not waver, bend, or vacillate, which can serve as “an anchor for the soul” (6:19), is because there is nothing more stable, steadfast, and unchanging (6:17,18) than the faithfulness of God to His promises. God is faithful (I Cor. 1:9; 10:13; II Cor. 1:18; I Thess. 5:24; II Thess. 3:3), reliable, and trustworthy in every promise He utters (11:11). Our security and hope is founded on God’s faithfulness, and every promise finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ (II Cor. 1:20). 10:24 The third appeal of Paul to the Hebrew Christians pertains to their interactions with one another. “Let us consider how to incite one another unto love and good works,…” The Jerusalem Christians had cared for one another (33), but Paul wants them to pay attention and be mindful of the need to spur each other on – to prick, to provoke, to “jab,” to “needle” (the English word “paroxysm,” meaning “intension emotion or excitement” is a transliteration of the word used here) one another about the practicalities of mutual love and good deeds (to be amplified in 12:14 – 13:21). Instead of the “dead works” (6:1; 9:14) of religion, Paul wants His fellow Christians to engage in “love and good works” among themselves. These loving “good works, prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10), and for which we are “equipped” (13:21) by the grace of God, are the outworking (James 2:14,26) of the life and love of Jesus Christ (I Jn. 4:7-21). Paul is advising the Hebrew Christians that they are “in this (Him) together.” We need each other. We have a collective responsibility to one another. The isolationism and individualism of “lone ranger” Christians is not compatible with the community of Christ. 10:25 For that reason, because we have a collective responsibility to one another to arouse and stimulate to interactive love and good deeds, we should “not (be) forsaking the assembly of ourselves together, as is the pattern of some,…” Apparently some of the Christians in Jerusalem were withdrawing from Christian fellowship, discontinuing their gathering together, and abandoning or deserting their fellow Christians. Their reasons for so doing are not given. They may have been fearful, and decided to “go underground” in hiding. There might have been personality differences or divisive rivalries. They might have become disappointed by the delay of Christ’s victory and second coming. Perhaps they decided to “give up” in apathy or indifference, or worse yet, in contempt and disregard for the things of Christ. Whatever their excuses, Christian love demands that we be there for the other, and any self-centered preoccupation that keeps Christians from such mutual edification in “the upbuilding of the Body of Christ in love” (Eph. 4:16) is a concern for Paul, for he seems to regard such failure to participate as a perilous prelude to apostasy. Contrary to such self-oriented withdrawal from fellowship, Paul wants the Christians to be “encouraging (one another); and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.” Mutual encouragement (3:13) is a foremost purpose of Christian assembly. We gather together for others, not just to selfishly “get fed” with good instruction, or “get high” on the emotional excitement of music or entertainment. The interrelational function of the Body of Christ by the spiritual giftedness of the Holy Spirit allows Christians to serve one another in the new covenant community of faith. We need each other, and the comforting encouragement of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:16,26) through the other. The intense importance of these relationships was “all the more,” because the Hebrew Christians could observe an approaching and impending “day drawing near.” The “day” that Paul is referring to might have been “the Day of the Lord” (I Cor. 1:8; 3:13; I Thess. 5:4) when Jesus would “appear a second time” (9:28). More likely, Paul was referring to the “day” that was coming in “a very little while” (37), when the Jews and Romans would meet in mortal conflict. The Christians in Jerusalem could “see” that the winds of war were brewing, the “day was drawing near,” the “day” (cf. Matt. 24:36,42; Mk. 13:32) when the Lord would come in judgment through the Roman army, in 66-70 AD, and destroy Jerusalem, the temple, and the entire Jewish nation and religion. The old covenant would “disappear” (8:13). It was inconceivable to Paul why any of the Jerusalem Christians would be considering a reversion to Judaism. 10:26 Making a direct connection to the foregoing peril of “wavering” (23) and desertion (25), Paul begins this paragraph, “For sinning deliberately after receiving the full knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,…” The previous paragraph (19-25) explained the response that Paul desired from the Christians in Jerusalem, whereas this paragraph (26-31) warns of the unacceptable response and the dire consequences of such. F.F. Bruce is correct in his observation that “this passage (26-29) was destined to have repercussions in Christian history beyond what our author could have foreseen.”2 Christians with differing theological presuppositions have produced abstract theological arguments about Christian permanency and impermanency in the broad theological systems of Calvinism and Arminianism. Failing to appreciate the dynamic of the living Savior in Christian salvation, such arguments about permanency, security, preservation and perseverance often arrive only at theological dead-ends of static belief-systems. When they approach the text of scripture with the pretext of bolstering their predetermined presuppositions and premises, they find either a proof-text for their position, or engage in bizarre interpretive distortions of the text in order to deny what it states. How tragic when theological commentators seek to protect and preserve their presuppositions, rather than explain the plain teaching of the scripture. They engage in eisegesis (bringing ideas into the text), rather than exegesis (determining the meaning out of the text). Paul’s warning about “sinning deliberately after receiving the full knowledge of the truth” was made to the Christians in Jerusalem who had received Jesus Christ (cf. Jn. 1:12,13), who is the Truth (Jn. 14:6), and the full reality of spiritual life. Paul explained to Timothy, “God our Savior desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (I Tim. 2:3,4), and the Hebrew Christians had received such by faith. References to the spiritual condition of the Christians in Jerusalem could not be clearer in the immediate context: They had “agreed with the hope that is Jesus Christ” (23); their “hearts had been sprinkled from an evil conscience” (22); and “their bodies had been washed in the water” of baptism (22). They were “enlightened” (32) with the Light of Christ, “sanctified” (29) by the Holy One, and were regarded as “righteous ones” (38). “Sinning deliberately,” whether singularly or repetitively, is not a reference to general (or specific) misrepresentations of God’s character in a Christian’s behavior. “If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves” (I Jn. 1:8). Every Christian sinfully misrepresents the character of Christ in their behavior – acting out of character in misrepresentation of their identity as a Christ-one, a Christian, who is spiritually united with Jesus Christ (I Cor. 6:17). Every Christian often does so deliberately and willfully, because sinful expression is a choice of the will. But the Christian knows that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins” (I Jn. 1:9). The historical and textual context of Paul’s words indicate that by “sinning deliberately,” he is referring to the specific and definite sin (or pattern thereof) of deliberately rejecting and denying the person and work of Jesus Christ. Some of the Hebrew Christians in Jerusalem were on the brink of definitively repudiating and renouncing the efficacy of the life and death of Jesus; of denying and disavowing that Jesus was God’s Messiah and Savior; and of regarding Jesus to be of no value. “Standing apart from” Jesus in apostasy, intentional and contemptuous desertion and defection from Christ and the new covenant community of faith, is the particular willful sin that Paul is referring to in this passage, just as it was in 3:12 and 6:4-8. Such an interpretation of Paul’s words admittedly impinges upon the theological presuppositions of some Christians, whose doctrines of “eternal security” and “once saved, always saved” disallow for any secession, defection, desertion, or apostasy. We cannot avoid, however, the obvious assertion that Paul refers to the possibility of a Christian rejecting Jesus Christ in apostasy. Though most genuine Christians find this unfathomable and unthinkable, Paul does posit the possibility of such a terminal repudiation. When an individual departs from Jesus Christ in apostasy, “there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” Such defection is irremediable. Once apostasized, always apostasized. There can be no “renewal of repentance” (6:6), because the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for sin is unrepeatable (9:26; 10:18). If one has received Christ and then left Christ, there is nothing left to redeem him. They have rejected and repudiated the only means of forgiveness (18) from sin, and reconciliation with God. There are no options beyond the singularly sufficient sacrifice of Jesus Christ. G.W. Buchanan remarks,
10:27 The only thing the apostate can expect is “a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and THE ZEAL OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.” As Paul will declare in the conclusion of this paragraph, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the Living God” (31). The apostate can only expect the inevitable and inescapable judgment of God, apart from Jesus Christ. In this case (cf. 9:27), the divine assessment and evaluation of judgment has terrifying consequences because God’s only solution of eternal life in His Son, Jesus Christ, has been rejected. Paul quotes from Isaiah in describing God’s judgment: “O Lord, Thy hand is lifted up, yet they do not see it. They see Thy zeal for the people and are put to shame; indeed, fire will devour Thine enemies” (Isa. 26:11). Zephaniah also referred to the figure of devouring fire in describing God’s judgment: “All the earth will be devoured in the fire of his jealousy” (Zeph. 1:18). “The Lord our God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (Deut. 4:24), said Moses (quoted by Paul in Hebrews 12:29). God is zealous and jealous to manifest His character, and those who refuse to accept Him through His Son, Jesus Christ (or subsequently reject Him) are necessarily regarded as adversaries. “He who is not for Me, is against Me” (Matt. 12:30; Mk. 9:40; Lk. 9:50; 11:23), Jesus said. Paul is warning the wavering (23) Jerusalem Christians not to become adversaries of God through apostasy, and suffer the irrevocable consequences of God’s judgment. 10:28 Arguing from the lesser to the greater (cf. 2:2,3), Paul sets up a comparative argument that contrasts the consequences of apostasy in the old covenant (cf. Deut. 30:15-20) and in the new covenant. “Anyone setting aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on (the evidence of) two or three witnesses.” On numerous occasions in the old covenant literature the death penalty is assigned for violation or rejection of the Law of Moses. To disregard or disobey the Law concerning idolatry (Deut. 13:8,9; 17:2-7) or murder (Deut. 19:11-13), led to death without pity (Deut. 13:8; 19:13) or appeal. Unintentional violations of Law could be forgiven (Numb. 15:27-29), but deliberate and willful (26) defiance of the law (Numb. 15:30,31) led to being cast out of the covenant community. The evidence for such required the testimony of “two or three witnesses” (Numb. 35:15,20; Deut. 17:6; 19:13,15,21), to avoid vindictive false accusations. 10:29 As Jesus is greater than Moses (3:1-6), the more serious violation of rejecting Jesus Christ leads to a punishment far worse than a physical death penalty. The greater privilege demands a greater punishment. “How much severer punishment do you think will be deserved for the one having trampled on the Son of God,…” Paul uses a triad of expressions that explain what apostasy involves. First, it means bringing the One who is Highest to the lowest position, whereby you “walk on Him,” and “grind Him in the dirt.” With deliberate disdain, contempt, and scorn, such an individual, who had confessed Jesus as the Messianic Savior, now treats the Deity as dirt! Continuing with his second explanation of apostasy, “…and has considered as common the blood of the covenant by which he has been sanctified,…” The apostate considers the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, by which the new covenant was established (20), and by which he was set apart to be the bearer of the Holy presence of God, to have no value or significance. The death of Jesus is regarded as “nothing special,” just the historical execution of another Jewish trouble-maker, another “bloody bore” of Jewish history. To deliberately and defiantly regard the sacred as profane, the Holy as common, the Word of God as worthless, is indicative of the attitude of the apostate. A third representation of apostasy: “…and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” The Holy Spirit, “the Spirit of grace and supplication” (Zech. 12:10), by whom one has been spiritually born (Jn. 3:1-8), and without whom one is not a Christian (Rom. 8:9,16), and through whom the living Lord Jesus is present and actively expressing the grace of God (Acts 2:1-4; II Cor. 3:17) is now arrogantly and contemptuously despised and scorned. Such blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (cf. Matt. 12:31,32; Mk. 3:22-30) is indeed the “sin unto death” (I Jn. 5:16). The apostate has so thoroughly rejected everything that God has done in Jesus Christ, that he now calls good “evil,” truth “a lie” (cf. Rom. 1:25), and Deity “demonic.” Such full and complete rejection of the things of God is indicative of the apostate, who will not be even slightly concerned with what a “non-existent God” cares about his attitude. 10:30 Judgment of the apostate is certain, “For we have known who it was that said, ‘VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.’” Quoting from Deuteronomy 32:35 (cf. Ps. 94:1,2), Paul reminds the Christians in Jerusalem that God is just in vindicating the righteous and allowing vengeance to be served upon the wicked. Paul quoted this same statement (Deut. 32:35) in his epistle to the Romans (12:19), emphasizing there that the enacting of vengeance or judgment is God’s business, and not to be initiated by men, even in the Christian community. Continuing the citation from Deuteronomy 32:36, Paul wrote, “And again, ‘THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.’” In Deuteronomy this appears to indicate, “God will vindicate His people,” as in Psalm 135:14, but Paul seems to be using the text to refer to a punitive judgment upon those who have been “His people,” and have subsequently rejected Him. 10:31 Paul sums up the paragraph (26-31), “It is a terrifying thing to have fallen into the hands of the living God.” Though this verse has often been used, and abused, as a heavy-handed warning to non-Christians, Paul’s statement is in the context of a warning to the faltering Christians in Jerusalem. It does not appear that Paul had “written off” any of his readers as unsalvageable apostates, but he was still hoping that they would avert the disaster of God’s judgment by drawing near to God (22), holding fast to their confession of Christ (23), and participating in the community of faith (24). 10:32 In this third paragraph (32-39), Paul seems to cajole the Jerusalem Christians by reminding them of their previous fellowship and suffering, in order to use that as an incentive to continued endurance to avoid the dire consequences of defection and apostasy. “But remember the former days, when, having been enlightened, you endured a great struggle of sufferings,…” Paul wanted his readers in Jerusalem to have a vivid recollection of the early days after their conversion and spiritual enlightenment. Some of them had been Christians for a long time (5:12), perhaps for as long as thirty-five years, since Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47). Paul was reminding them of the time when they received Jesus Christ as “the Light of the world” (Jn. 8:12; 12:35), when they “turned from darkness to light” (Acts 26:18), when the light “shone in their hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (II Cor. 4:6). “Having been enlightened, and having tasted of the heavenly gift, and having been made partakers of the Holy Spirit” (6:4), they had endured a great struggle or striving or contest (the Greek word athlesis is the basis of the English word “athletic”) of sufferings. The early Christians in Judea suffered persecution at the hands of the Jewish community, who regarded them as traitors. Writing to the Thessalonians, Paul referred to “the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea who endured suffering at the hands of their own countrymen, …from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out” (I Thess. 2:14,15). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs in the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. Rejoice, …for your reward in heaven is great” (Matt. 5:10-12). Paul reminds the Christians of Judea of their past faithfulness and suffering in order to encourage them to continue in the present, difficult situation. 10:33 Some of their sufferings are recounted. “…sometimes being made a public spectacle by defamations and tribulations,…” It is always difficult to be theatricized (the Greek word is theatrizomenoi) as a public spectacle of ridicule, humiliation, and shame. Paul knew what it meant to “become a spectacle to the world, …fools for Christ’s sake” (I Cor. 4:9,10). The Christians in Jerusalem had “borne the reproach of Christ” (11:26; 13:13) in denunciation, defamation, and accusation. They had been jeered, mocked, reviled, and ostracized from family and much of society. The pressure was intense as they were afflicted with acts of violence and physical abuse. Paul had explained to the new Christians in Asia Minor, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22), and regarded such as “the fellowship of His sufferings” (Phil. 3:10), the “filling up of what is lacking in Christ’s affliction” (Col. 1:24). The sufferings of the Jerusalem Christians were “at other times, by having become sharers with those being so treated.” They had stood with those who were being mistreated, recognizing the fellowship of being common partners and participants in the Body of Christ. A strong sense of solidarity of identification, association and community was evidenced by this unity of the Church of Jesus Christ. Paul had explained to the Corinthians, “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (I Cor. 12:26). “We who are many, are one Body in Christ” (Rom. 12:5). 10:34 Continuing his explanation of their solidarity and suffering: “For you have sympathized with the prisoners, and have accepted joyfully the confiscation of your property,…” Jesus explained that a practical expression of righteousness was visiting those in prison, “for to the extent that you do so unto them, you do so unto Me” (Matt. 25:36,40). Paul, himself, may have been a prisoner in Rome when he wrote this epistle (Acts 28:17,30), and could appreciate being visited in prison. Whether the sympathy shown to those incarcerated in chains was to fellow-Christians who had been imprisoned is not indicated, but Paul commends them for such ministry, and encourages them to continue to “remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them” (13:3). The Christians in Jerusalem had also experienced the seizure and confiscation of their property. Whether this was legal action by the authorities, or the illegal action of pillage, plunder, stealing, looting, or robbery by those opposed to the Christians, we are not told. This may have been a contributing factor to the poverty of some of the Christians in Jerusalem, which prompted Paul to receive contributions for “the poor among the saints in Jerusalem” (Rom. 15:26). Paul commends them for having accepted this joyfully, i.e. without complaint. James, the prior head of the church in Jerusalem, had previously written, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials” (James 1:2). His half-brother, Jesus, had taught, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal; for where you treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6:19-21). The earliest Christians in Jerusalem had acted on this material detachment, and were “selling their property and possessions, and were sharing with all, as anyone had need” (Acts 2:45). In accord with Jesus’ admonition, the Christians in Jerusalem had suffered, “knowing themselves to have in themselves a better and abiding possession.” The qualification “in heaven” (KJV) is not in the best Greek manuscripts, and detracts from the immanency of what the Christian has in the indwelling presence of Jesus Christ, but is valid, nonetheless, for the Christian is a “citizen of heaven” (Phil. 3:20), and “seated in the heavenlies” (Eph. 1:3; 2:6). The Christians in Jerusalem knew that the real “treasure” was spiritual, not material; both “an inheritance imperishable and undefiled, reserved in heaven” (I Pet. 1:4), as well as the superior and permanent “treasure” of the indwelling Spirit of Christ (II Cor. 4:7). Such treasure cannot be seized or stolen; but it is often the physical adversities that cause us to focus on, and get a better perspective of, our imperishable spiritual realities, as was apparently the situation with those to whom this letter was written. 10:35 “Therefore,” in light of what you have been through, “you should not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.” “Don’t give up now! Don’t let your past suffering count for nothing! Don’t jettison your courage and confidence and steadfastness! Don’t cast off your faith in Jesus Christ!” “God is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (11:6), Paul will go on to say. Jesus had said, “Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and heap insults upon you, and spurn your name as evil, for the sake of Me, …your reward is great in heaven” (Lk. 6:22,23; Matt. 5:11,12). When salvation (9:28) is consummated in the perfection of life in the heavenly realm, Christians will recognize that “the sufferings of this present realm are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18). Such heavenly reward will not be anything other than, or more than, Jesus Himself, but Christians will glory in the everlasting appreciation and enjoyment of Jesus. 10:36 In order to experience this glorious heavenly reality, Paul admonishes the Jerusalem Christians, “you have need of endurance, so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” Some of the Christians in Jerusalem needed to recognize their responsibility to persevere, to persist, to endure in the midst of the present difficult situation. The Greek word for “endurance” is hupomene, meaning “to abide under.” Instead of seeking some way to escape or defer the problems they were encountering, the Christians needed to “abide under” the situation, trusting the sufficient grace of God through faith. The patron saint of Jerusalem had written, “The testing of your faith produces endurance” (James 1:3). Paul is about to write his extended excursus on faith (11:1-40), which will be followed by the conclusive words, “Therefore, …let us run with endurance the race set before us” (12:1), in like manner as Jesus “endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (12:2). The Jerusalem Christians could “accomplish the will of God” in their lives if they were willing to be obedient in faith, receptive to the active expression of the character of Christ in every situation – even if that “will of God” meant being “obedient unto death” (10:5-10; Phil. 2:8). By such “endurance” in “doing the will of God,” Paul explained, “you shall receive the promise” – the “better promises” (8:6), the “promise of an eternal inheritance” (9:15), the better possession (10:34), “the great reward” (10:35), the “crown of glory” (I Pet. 5:4), “the salvation of your souls” (I Pet. 1:9), the “heavenly city” (12:22; Rev. 21:2,10-27) – the very promises that many heroes of faith sought (11:13,39), and are now ours (realized and yet anticipated) through faith in Jesus Christ (II Cor. 1:20). 10:37 The Old Testament scriptures were lodged in Paul’s memory, and he quotes from them again to explain the “need for endurance” (36). “FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, THE ONE COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY.” Quoting from the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint (LXX), as he does throughout this epistle, Paul allows the words of Habakkuk 2:3 to speak to the situation of the Jerusalem Christians. The delayed consummation of Christ’s victory to be revealed in the second advent created an “enigma of the interim” for the early Christians, but Paul uses Habakkuk’s words as his words to indicate that “the Coming One,” Jesus, will come “in a very little while,” very soon, i.e. imminently. This may refer to the “second coming of the parousia, as in Revelation 2:25, “Hold fast until I come.”? More likely, Paul is referring to the imminent coming of Christ in judgment, when (perhaps within a year after the receipt of this letter) the Romans came against the residents of Palestine from 66-70 AD, destroying everything and decimating the population. This is the same “coming of the Son of Man” (Matt. 24:27,30,37,42) that Jesus referred to in His Mount of Olives discourse (Matt. 24:3-45). Paul is warning the Hebrew Christians again that judgment is coming, and everything in the old covenant will “disappear” (8:13). 10:38 Paul continues to quote from Habakkuk 2:4, though the two phrases are reversed. “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS ONE WILL LIVE OUT OF FAITH;…” This is a favorite text of Paul’s, which he quoted in his epistle to the Galatians (3:11), as well as in the letter to the Romans (1:17). The Jerusalem Christians are identified as “righteous ones” (Rom. 5:19; I Cor. 1:30; II Cor. 5:21), who needed to continue to “live by faith,” remaining receptive in faith to the activity of the living Lord Jesus within them. This responsibility of faithfulness is contrasted, “AND IF HE SHOULD DRAW BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM.” Paul uses these words of Habakkuk to continue his warning against defection, desertion, and apostasy. The word for “draw back” was used in the Greek language as a nautical term meaning, “to shorten the sail.” The Christians in Jerusalem needed to let the sails of their lives be open and receptive to the winds of the Spirit of Christ, and if they were to “shorten sail” in a withdrawal of faith, God would not be pleased. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him” (11:6). 10:39 Not willing to give up on His Christian brethren in Judea, Paul identifies himself with them and confidently asserts, “But we are not those who draw back unto destruction, but those who have faith unto the safekeeping of the soul.” In a reverse form of encouragement, Paul rallies his readers to deny that they are defectors and deserters who are disloyal and draw back from faith in Christ, to suffer the consequence of ruin and everlasting death in “the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” (II Pet. 3:7). Paul draws them into an identification with “the faithful” who steadfastly endure in the faith that relies on God whatever the circumstances – which unbeknownst to them would become even more unpleasant and difficult in the near future. Only in faithful receptivity to the strength and life of the living Lord Jesus would they experience the secure safe-keeping and preservation of theirs souls in the eternal life of Jesus Christ, and the privilege of enjoying all God’s promises (36). “God has not destined us for wrath, but for the safe-keeping (preservation) of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Thess. 5:9). Concluding remarks A sense of heart-breaking agony can be detected in Paul’s words as he expresses his deep-seated desire that the Hebrew Christians might recognize and realize the better way of access to God that they have in Jesus Christ. There is an angst apparent in his appeals to the battered brethren in Jerusalem, to “draw near to God in faith” (22), to “hold fast their confession of hope” (23), and to “incite one another to love” (24). The real possibility of these Christians lapsing into an irrevocable apostasy has presented a perplexing problem for many Christians throughout the centuries. Some have misused Paul’s comments to browbeat fellow Christians into increased performance of piety in order to avoid an alleged ever-present danger of damnation. Others have struggled with, or denied, any possibility of such apostasy, having adopted a static and determinative structure of divine actuation. Paul always maintains a balanced perspective that takes into account the dialectic of God’s sovereign activity and man’s responsibility of receptivity. Divine grace and human faith connect for the implementation of God’s intent on earth (Eph. 2:8,9). Paul affirms the divine preservation of the Christian: “God…shall confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Cor. 1:4,8). “He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6). “I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (II Tim. 1:12). Simultaneously, Paul explains the necessity of the Christian being faithfully diligent in perseverance and endurance: “He has reconciled you…in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach – if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard” (Col. 1:22,23). “If we endure, we shall also reign with Him” (II Tim. 2:12). “You have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised” (Heb. 10:36). The balanced tension of God’s preservation by grace and man’s perseverance in faith must always be maintained in the same manner that Paul presents such. Paul’s reference in the final two verses to “the righteous ones living by faith” (38), and “having faith to the safe-keeping of the soul” (39), serve as the transitional springboard for the extended excursus on faith that follows (11:1-40). The survey of the faithful of the old covenant is intended to show the Jerusalem Christians that despite the faith of the Old Testament figures, they “did not receive what was promised” (11:39), whereas Christians, by the “better things” in Christ, “may receive what was promised” (10:36). FOOTNOTES 1 cf. Lane, William L., Word Biblical Commentary: Hebrews 9-13. Vol. 47B. Dallas: Word Books.
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