“Listen up: this is better” -- A study on the Bible book of Hebrews
Given 4 September 2020
To watch this on YouTube, click this link here
Shalom to each of you here on the Zoom call and those who will watch this class lecture on YouTube later. I hope you will feel welcome and when this section ends in about 20 minutes, that you will be a participant in the rest of the questions and discussion time. This letter to messianic Jews was written before the destruction of the Temple in AD 70. Today we study chapter 6, and if you haven’t yet read it, please, those of you on YouTube, pause the playback, read the chapter, and then press play again to re-join us. Thanks.
Welcome back.
Today we will dig into this chapter which features some of the basics of messianic faith and also consider the assurance a believer can have about making it to the end in the hands of God. I hear from believers all too regularly about their lack of assurance, in other words, their fear that they will not make it into heaven. As we approach the High Holidays, this is one of the great facts for us, that assurance is real and available, if we put our trust in Yeshua. More on that today and down the track.
I wish the chapter division between chapter 5 and 6 didn’t exist. The thoughts at the end of 5 roll immediately into 6. But what we have is what we have, and we’ll use it to assist us.
The chapter begins in verse one with a ‘so then’…the linkage is clear. Given what chapter 5 said, let’s do something. What does the author want from us? To leave behind elementary principles. Or to realize we have already covered all those, and thus we need to press on? Yes, the 2nd option.
I used to be a high school mathematics teacher. I’m not saying that to solicit tutorials for your children sitting their HSC, but to highlight progressive learning. When students learned to count by whole numbers, one, two, three, etc, that was arithmetic. Adding them one by one was fundamental to experiencing the joys of arithmetic. But it’s also foundational to knowing mathematics. Without the basics, you can’t multiply fractions, you can’t solve for variables, you can’t use differentials and calculate area and volume correctly. Basics matter!
When the author says ‘leaving’ I believe what is meant is ‘since we’ve already covered all that, let’s leave discussion about that and move on to other things.’ Not in the sense of abandonment, but rather as ‘leaving the information in place.’
Then we see six doctrines that are fundamental to the believer, that the author is sure each of the messianic Jews has previously learned. Let me say just now that if you are unsure about any of those six, that you should take time this week, before and after the D-Groups, to ensure you have those down. I want to help you if you need. If you belong to a community of faith, please ensure you and the rabbi or pastor are in sync with these doctrines. They are important for you to know so that you can pass them on in your future D-Group as others ask. They break down into three groups of two. First, the believer and the Lord just now. This covers basics 1 and 2.
Repentance is first. It was John the Baptist’s message as he began. It was Yeshua’s first sermon. It was Peter’s sermon on Shavuot in Acts 2. In two weeks, the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah will take place and begin the 10 Days of Repentance. We have to know that to begin well is to self-criticise (not self-condemn). That’s why it’s repentance from ‘dead works.’ Literally works of death. Ergon nekros. Not everything we did in life before our coming to faith is bad, and not everything we do as a believer is authentic and well represents the Lord. The call by the author is to remind us that ‘dead works’ are those things we employ so that God favours us. They are religious attempts at currying God’s love. That’s empty and vain; it’s useless and we need to repent of that system and those efforts in it. This is the introduction into the family of God. It doesn’t say “repentance from sins.” Rather it’s about the system of earning God’s favour.
When you repent, your heart is then opened to being filled again, and that’s why ‘faith toward God’ is the natural follow-on. Yeshua said, ‘repent and believe the Gospel.’ (Mark 1.15). Faith is the available consequence to repentance. If you can imagine it, we dump out the bad beverage from our cup and can now re-fill the cup with proper attitudes and actions. The writer will unpack an entire tome of Older Testament characters who lived this out in the 11th chapter. Repentance leads to faith. Paul told the Ephesian elders, “I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 20.20-21)
Paul taught publicly like our Zoom classes and house to house (like our D-Groups) that all people should repent and enable faith in Yeshua.
The second (of three) groups is the believer and the community of faith. This covers basics 3 and 4.
Third is baptisms. I know some versions say, ‘washings’ and those would have been standard in Jewish understanding related to the mikveh, but the word here is from the Greek directly, ‘baptism’ and means to cause to dip. It’s early stuff for believers. Yeshua was baptised. All the new believers were as well (Acts 2, 8, 10, 19). If you in this class are a believer and have not yet been baptised, before the next week, let’s get you organized to do so. If you don’t live in Sydney, please find a believer locally who can perform this. Yeshua said at the end of Mark’s gospel, “he that believes and is baptised shall be saved.” There’s no room for ‘I’ll do that later.” It’s a sign of membership and acceptance. You don’t want to walk away from that.
This week I went to a funeral of Gerry, a 90-year-old Irish Jew who got saved a few years ago here. I enjoyed baptising him in Ezra’s pool shortly after that. Almost the day Shourov got saved, this young man was going into Bondi Beach with me to battle the waves and get baptised. It doesn’t make a Jew into a Gentile. It makes a Jew obedient to the Lord’s command.
Fourth is ‘laying on of hands.’ That has many features biblically, including arresting criminals (Acts 21.27) and bringing about healing in Yeshua’s day, but in context, I believe it’s about the ordination of priests and overseers. (Acts 13.3, 1 Tim 4.14) Paul later wrote not to ‘lay hands on anyone too suddenly.’ (1 Tim. 5.22) Of course, this time of year, I’m always thinking of laying hands on the animals of sacrifice during High Holiday considerations, and either could be in view here. Why do I know that? Because of what follows in the next few chapters. The author is setting up a clear distinction between Older Testament people and guidelines against the New Covenant way of understanding. So ‘laying on of hands could mean either the transfer of sins (Lev. 16.21) or ordination of elders. (2 Tim. 1.6) In either case, the believers reading this letter originally would have certainly been aware of the lessons, and so should you.
The final grouping is about the believer and eternity. This covers basics 5 and 6.
Fifth is the resurrection of the dead. This is so fundamental to the First Century believer, but rarely covered in basic doctrine classes today. Without the resurrection, Yeshua is still dead and buried. Without the resurrection, we have no kingdom. Jewish beliefs in the coming of Messiah require there to be a resurrection that would have already taken place. No wonder Matthew records this
“And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.” (27.51-53)
Paul records much about the resurrection and its significance in 1 Corinthians 15. It’s fundamental to the believers and should be to you as well.
Finally, the author brings up ‘eternal judgment.’ This certainly doesn’t go down well in modern conversation, but it’s essential information for a foundations class. This doctrine came to the forefront, along with resurrection, in the intertestamental period, but by the time of the writing of the Newer Testament, the formulation was set. Believers went to a reward after they die; unbelievers don’t. Yeshua himself spoke more about hell than anyone else in the entire Bible.
Most people today would say hell is reserved for the likes of Hitler and Stalin, for people we call evil like Martin Bryant who slaughtered 35 innocents at Port Arthur, Tasmania in 1996 or the murdering policeman of George Floyd in Minnesota with the knee on his neck for over 8 minutes. They even use the phrase, ‘pure evil’ for such people. Most would say that everyone else should be allowed into heaven, or at least the folks in my sphere of influence should get a pass. But the Bible makes this judgment business clearer, and completely impersonal.
Daniel 12.2 showcases the idea that eventually won out in the end that the length of time for heaven was the same as the length of time for those punished in hell.
All six of those elementary basics should be the bases of continuing in the faith. That’s where the next section takes us, and I call it Warning #5 in this book. (Out of 6). This is where some people really miss an overarching theme of the book. The assurance for believers is locked in, even though we often are tempted to, and warned against, backsliding. God wants us to know him and to be sure of his love and care.
Listen, Yeshua said this, “I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10.28-29)
Paul said, “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1.13-14)
The writer of Hebrews is not writing to make us wonder or doubt. That’s not the intention of any biblical writer. The author is writing to ‘strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that hang down’ (12.12)
Therefore, in context of the whole book and the echo of Yeshua, we read verses 4-8
“For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.”
How do I dismiss this as not teaching eternal insecurity? There are several reasons, most notably, by reading verses 9 and 10! I’ll do that in a moment. I think this change from using the words we/you to thosesounds like the author is creating a scenario that doesn’t really exist but could. “Suppose I said, there are those who used to walk with us…” That’s what it sounds like to me. And especially as the author returns to youand we in verse 9. Listen up.
“But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany (Greek word: Echo) salvation, though we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.” (Heb. 6.9-10)
What is impossible in 4-8 is that another person can stimulate another to repentance. It’s impossible (verse 6) for me to fix you. But it’s not impossible for God to bring others back to himself. That’s why we pray. That’s why we have a Great High Priest whom we can ask to repair things and people. Nothing is impossible with God (Matt 17.20) and the author is highlighting the power of God, not the power to reject God by mankind.
The author uses these terms which follow: hope, promises, anchor. Each carries enough juice to help me drink in the tough times of my own fallenness. I can turn back to God and find him because he has made promises, (verses 12, 13, 14) and as a result I have hope. (verse 19) That hope is an anchor (verse 19, 1 Thes 5.8) of my soul. That means nothing can shake me away from the vertical anchor that is not planted in the ocean’s depths, but in heaven’s heights.
God wants us to have real and sincere hope. Not wishful thinking, but biblical hope. That’s the eternal longing in a believer, to be with God, to live in his presence, no matter the discipline required, no matter the rejection by others, hope that the return of Yeshua will establish his kingdom soon.
On what do we base that hope? On the promises of God. To Abraham (verse 13ff). And then to those who have faith like Abraham (see chapter 11). Our hope will not disappoint (Romans 5.5) because it’s not based on us and our performance. It’s based on the love of God in Yeshua. Hallelujah!
Verse 18: God cannot lie. The impossible of verse 6 is contrasted with the impossible of verse 18. God cannot lie, so it’s impossible for someone to be eternally lost who has come to faith in Yeshua. Live there, not in your own experience if you know someone who might be in your mind who has fallen away.
Yes, there are warnings, and those remain to keep us on the straight and narrow. And that series of warnings reminds us to keep our hand to the plow and not to look back. The warnings are not designed to scare us; they are there to help us know there are consequences to going backwards. There is nothing in the book that tells us we are going to lose our salvation, but there is enough in the book to remind us that if we want to live a heavenly life today, on planet earth, we ought to heed the warnings. Life is better, the author says, with Yeshua as the centre of our lives. Yeshua prayed that in John 17, ““This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (17.3)
What then are the two unchangeable things? (.18) Most interpreters see the promise (Gen 22) and the oath (Psalm 110) as the two things. I have no problem with that, in context, these make great sense.
But I like to think of two others that demonstrate security and hope for those who are needy. First is the altar in the Tabernacle and second is a City of Refuge in the Land of Promise.
The altar is the place where a person could flee who felt he was in danger. (Hebrews 6.18: “take hold of the hope.”) Adonijah did that! “And Adonijah feared Solomon. So, he arose and went and took hold of the horns of the altar.” (1 Kings 1.50) Adonijah probably thought, how could anyone do evil against me if I’m in the place where sacrifice takes place and forgiveness is extended?
The place, however, was not always able to protect people. As the next chapter in 1 Kings highlights Joab’s run to ‘home base,’ but there he was killed.
“Now the news came to Joab, for Joab had followed Adonijah, although he had not followed Absalom. And Joab fled to the tent of the LORD and took hold of the horns of the altar…The king replied to him, “Do as he said, strike him down and bury him, and thus take away from me and from my father’s house the guilt for the blood that Joab shed without cause.” (1 Kings 2.28, 31)
This was one of two ‘home base’ situations I find in the Book. The other is the Cities of Refuge. (Hebrews 6.18: “taken refuge”) There were six such cities (three east of the Jordan, and three west). They are described in detail in Numbers 35. It was to one of those that a person could flee if they accidentally killed a fellow Israelite, until a proper court could be set up and the case tried calmly. This prevented vigilante justice.
It’s possible the author of Hebrews is calling on either or both of those images, or more simply staying with oath and promise. Either way, the point is clear. BE SURE. God has your back. He is yours and you are his!
How do I know that? Because Yeshua is our forerunner and he wants us to hear the echo of salvation.
Dear friends on Zoom, or on YouTube, if you don’t yet know Messiah Yeshua, please I appeal to you today, surrender your life to him. Admit your need of him. Trust him who came from heaven to earth to show the way. And to set you free. That’s faith. That’s the opposite of unbelief and do it today (4.7) the author says. Even now.
If you want to talk more about that, start with prayer. Talk to the Almighty. He loves to listen to your faintest whisper. And if you want to ask me a question, just use the email here on the screen. I’ll give it a go to try to answer you.
Until next week, when we will meet again to share about chapter 7 and more about Melchizedek, and the One who came in his order, Yeshua, our Great High Priest-- Until then,
Shabbat shalom.
Actual text:
Heb. 6:1 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do, if God permits. 4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. 7 For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; 8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and 2it ends up being burned.
Heb. 6:9 But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. 10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Heb. 6:13 For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU.” 15 And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. 16 For men swear by 1one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. 17 In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hopeboth sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, 20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Bibliography
Ladd, George E., A Theology of the New Testament, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1974. (Pages 571 – 587)
Lane, William L, Word Biblical Commentary Series, Hebrews.
Vine, W.E., An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Revell, Old Tappan, NJ, 1966.
Weirsbe, Warren. Be Confident. David C. Cook Publishing, Colorado Springs,1982.
-------------------
D-Groups for this week
1) Tuesday 11 am Sydney time. Led by James Howse
2) Monday 10 am Sydney time, led by Rebekah Bronn
3) Thursday 7 pm, Sydney time, led by James White
(Contact our office for zoom details)
No comments:
Post a Comment