Last time we talked about the faith of the Old Testament believers. It was about the content of their faith and especially about their life of faith: the confidential contact with the Lord.
This time we would talk about the tricky parts of the letter to the Hebrews. They do have everything to do with the previous topic and I hope we can place them a bit better now.
Difficult Parts in Hebrews
In the letter we have some difficult parts, which we quote below. They are hard to understand and you wonder why on earth they appear in a letter so full of the greatness of Christ person and work. Words that are difficult for us in this regard, I have underlined in the quotes below.
- “Therefore we must abide all the more by what has been heard by us, lest we drift away at any time. For if the word spoken by angels was already binding, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we flee [for judgment], if we neglect such a great salvation, which was proclaimed by the Lord in the beginning, and confirmed to us by those who heard Him.” (Hebrews 2:1-3)
- “Therefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, To-day, if ye hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the bitterness, in the day of temptation in the wilderness. There your fathers tempted me; they tested Me and saw My works for forty years. That's why I am angry came upon that generation, and have said, They always err in their hearts, and they have not known my ways. Therefore have I sworn in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest. See to it, brethren, that there shall never be in any of you a corrupt heart, full of unbelief, to thereby fall away from the living God; but exhort one another every day, as long as one can speak of a today, lest any of you be hardened by the temptation of sin.” (Hebrews 3:7-13)
- “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and who have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, and then become apostatesto repent again, because they crucify again and openly shame the Son of God for themselves.” (Hebrews 6:4-6)
- “Want they did not stay in My covenant and I have heeded them no more, saith the Lord.” (Hebrews 8:9)
- “Because if we to sin knowinglyAfter we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but only a terrible one expectation of judgment and scorching firethat will devour the adversaries. If anyone has made void the law of Moses, he must die without mercy, at the word of two or three witnesses. How much more severe punishmentdo you think, shall he be esteemed worthy that hath trampled the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant whereby he was sanctified, unclean, and hath reproached the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. And further: The Lord will judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:26-31)
- “However, we are not people who withdraw and therefore go to destruction, (…)” (Hebrews 10:39)
- “Let no man be a fornicator or an unholy one, like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that even after that, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, rejected became, because he found no place of repentance, though he sought the blessing fervently and with tears.” (Hebrews 12:16-17)
- “Take heed, then, that you reject not Him who speaks. For if they have not escaped who rejected him who gave word from God on earth, much more we will not escapeif we turn from Him who speaks from heaven. (…) For our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:25)
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God
When you read through the letter and fish out these passages, you cannot help but get the impression that the wrathful, avenging "God of the Old Testament" is presented to us here. That is the One with whom more and more Christians in our time "have nothing" or even want nothing more to do. Yet these things are in the midst of the New Testament and we cannot help but wonder what this means to us.
All these passages point to the fact that the Hebrews could sin in such a way that they can no longer repent of their sin and God must judge them. Could it be that a believer can still be lost?
But on the other hand, there are plenty of scriptures that make it clear that a true believer is not lost. We hold on to that, but then the question remains about how we should understand these parts in the Hebrew letter. In particular, the question is what sin is involved.
The Sin of Idolatry
In my view it is inevitable to think here of idolatry, of which the Hebrews are warned. There are a few indications for this in the letter, the most important of which are below.
- Apostasy from the Lord always has to do with idolatry.
In the passages quoted above in the letter to the Hebrews twice,apostate' for. This is an expression (waste, apostate, falling away) found in both the Old and New Testaments. The term apostasy is always associated with idolatry in the Bible. In the Old Testament that meaning is always immediately obvious and in the New Testament you often have to search a bit more. The first time the word occurs is in Deuteronomy 13:5, where it talks about a (false) prophet who wanted to tempt the people to idolatry. It is called 'called to apostasy'.
Idolatry also always has to do with putting oneself under the direct influence of demons. Incidentally, without realizing it. It is mentioned several times in the Old Testament (e.g. Leviticus 17:7; Deuteronomy 32:17; Psalm 106:37) and it is also mentioned several times in Paul's letters (1 Corinthians 10:20,21 and 1 Timothy 4). :1). In the letter to Timothy, apostasy is again connected with deceiving spirits (demons).
- Idolatry is the most abominable thing to God
God hates it when His people commit idolatry. It's the most horrible thing they can do to the Lord. The Ten Commandments already start with it:
“You shall have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt make for thyself no image, no image whatsoever of what is in heaven above, or on the earth below, or in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God" (Exodus 20:3-5).
God immediately qualifies this as “crime” (verse 5) and those who do this as “those who hate Me”. It is the greatest humiliation that any of the people can inflict on God, and He is deeply hurt by it.
God presents Himself in the law as the jealous God when it comes to serving the gods (idolatry), but to those who love Him and keep His Word God shows mercy. And the greatest of those commandments is that they should not serve idols!
With the same great seriousness and in similar terms, the letter to the Hebrews warns not to fall away from the Lord, that is, not to fall into idolatry. So we see that the trouble the Lord had with His earthly people - to be read throughout the Old Testament - recurs in terms of terminology in the letter to the Hebrews.
When the passages quoted in the letter to the Hebrews (3:13 and 10:26} refer to sin and sin, then in my view the sin of idolatry is specifically meant there.
So we see that the letter to the Hebrews, on the one hand, presents to us the Person and work of Christ and how we as believers may approach God and have a confidential relationship with Him. On the other hand, the letter warns to hold fast and not to fall into the sin of idolatry. It is these two ways that are set before us: the one which the Lord shows us in His Word, and the other which man follows in disobedience. Those two ways that we also find indicated here in the Old Testament:
“Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day; the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, and turn aside from the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods which you have not known.” (Deuteronomy 11:26-28)
The confidential dealing
For the believing Christian there is free access to God the Father and to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is an entrance into the sanctuary, near the Invisible One. We may approach there with our offerings of praise and thanksgiving for the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work (see Hebrews 13:15 and also here). But also with our questions, concerns and efforts we may approach the 'the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help at the right time' (Hebrews 4:16).
This intimacy with the Lord God is only possible when we feed on it'Word of God' (Hebrews 4:12) and let us be taught therefrom by the Spirit of God. That Spirit then teaches us the whole truth of God. Then that Word of God is an essential part of our life with the Lord, just like with David: just read Psalm 119.
Such a life with the Lord is a life of faith, wherein 'we keep our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of the faith. He endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him, and despised the shame, and now sits at the right hand of the throne of God.' (Hebrews 12:2). Only in this way can we endure in the race that lies ahead (Hebrews 12:1). That is not an easy life without problems; Hebrews 11 and 12 testify to this. But it is a life that we know we will arrive safely.
The Devil's Cunning Temptations
Faith is the condition of intimacy with God; it is the attitude of faith that is rewarded by God (Hebrews 11:6). It's what John calls 'our fellowship . . . with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ' (1 John 1:3).
But the devil has his own version of it, which he offers to the people of God with the same lie as in paradise: “there is more”. This too is a personal and deep inner experience referred to by many in the Christian world as 'intimacy with God'. These experiences are then provided with the necessary Biblical terms and then it is incredibly similar to the 'hidden association' as described by the believers. But Paul calls it "communion with demons' (1 Corinthians 10:20) and there are obvious differences.
| God's confidential dealings | Communion with the demons |
| God or the Spirit is not physically experienced | Deep experience of (the nearness of) 'God' (or 'the Spirit' or 'Jesus') |
| A hidden association with the Lord in the 'inner man' | A hidden association with 'God' in the inner man' |
| The way of faith | The way of (inner) experiences |
| God's Spirit works as our mind is concerned with things from above; our thinking is condition | 'God' is experienced in the 'higher consciousness'; The condition is that our thinking is somehow stopped. |
| God's Spirit works certainties about God's truth in the interior of man. | Another spirit works certainties in the interior of man about unbiblical 'truths'. |
| The Bible is becoming more and more important to you | The Bible becomes less and less important - and ultimately unimportant - to you |
| Practical life shows a growth in sanctification. | Practical life shows more and more worldliness |
| The source of our salvation, Christ, is in heaven and therefore our future is certain | The source of my salvation is within me; I just have to discover it: “become who you are” or “know what your identity is”. |
Paul warns us to guard against this deception when he says in Ephesians: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11).
The original word translated 'cunning temptations' is 'methodia' and we can understand it as 'seductive methods'. The same word is used one more time in the New Testament, in Ephesians 4:14.
Thus, the devil has various methods on offer to bring Christians in particular under demonic influence as well. What about special ways to "pray" such as centering prayer, Jesus prayer, various forms of meditation and other contemplative methods. Or special ways of reading the Bible, such as the sophisticated 'Lectio Divina'. It's all'cunning temptations' om special god experiences to do. .
See here another article after Hebrews 12:16,17 about Esau.
And here an article on contemplation entitled "A deeper relationship with God?"
The Letter to the Hebrews
If you would like to summarize the letter to the Hebrews, you could say the following.
God speaks to us Christians “in the Son” (Hebrews 1:1). We need nothing or no one else but Christ. In Him God has given us everything (Ephesians 1:3) and through Him God has spoken to us all that He would tell us. It is not for nothing that Christ and His work is the main subject of the letter to Hebrews.
But this means that the Christian for whom Christ is not enough is in great danger of going astray spiritually.
- The first danger is to (parts of) the add jewish religion to christian faith. When we do not have enough in Christ and need as a supplement something of lesser value (even if instituted by God Himself), God calls it the "do we neglect the great salvation which . . . has been proclaimed by the Lord” (Hebrews 2:3). And in doing so we fail to see the glory and greatness of Christ and His work!
In the Christian faith it is only and exclusively about Christ - He must be the One for our hearts. Anything we add to (Jewish) laws, customs, or rituals results indetach from Christ' (Galatians 5:4). How serious is that!
- The second danger is to to add pagan practices to the Christian faith by thinking that we can "experience God" in the depths of our inner being. That sounds and feels Christian, but the Bible calls it idolatry. There is nothing that God so abhors because "(...) they crucify again to themselves the Son of God and openly put to shame.” (Hebrews 6:6). He is the One who said: “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. And further: The Lord will judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:30-31).
The people of Israel ignored the warnings not to fall into idolatry. How sad it is then to see that Christianity - which has knowledge of "the better things" - ignores the warnings of the letter to the Hebrews. What is more, to go right into the very paths that God's Word so earnestly rejects!
Jesus, the Leader and Finisher of the Faith
We close with a few quotes from the last chapters of the letter to Hebrews.
“Let us also . . . run with endurance the race that is set before us, while we keep an eye on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of the faith. He, for the sake of the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross and despised the shame, and now sits at the right hand of the throne of God. For take sharp notice of Him Who has endured such opposition from sinners against Himself, lest you weaken and succumb in your souls”. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
“Therefore we say with good courage, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear. What will a man do to me? Think of your predecessors who spoke the Word of God to you. Watch the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by diversified and strange teachings, for it is good that the heart should be strengthened by grace (…)”. (Hebrews 13:6-9)
“Then let us go out to Him outside the camp and bear His reproach. For we have not here a permanent city, but we seek the city to come. Then let's always offer a sacrifice of praise to God through Himthat is, the fruit of lips confessing his name.” (Hebrews 13:13-15)
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