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In this chapter the apostle uses the examples he gave in the previous chapter as a stimulus to motivate Christians to patience and perseverance in the faith, giving arguments:
I. From an example greater than any of the above, that of Jesus Christ Himself, v. 1-3.
II. From the comparatively easy and beneficial nature of the sufferings endured by Christians in their path of faith, v. 4-17.
III. From the commonality and correspondence of the state of the gospel church on earth with the state of the triumphant church in heaven, v. 18-29.
Verses 1-3. Let us note here to what great duty the apostle calls the Jews and how much he desires that they submit to him, namely, to lay aside every burden and the sin that besets them, and to run with patience the race that is set before them. This duty consists of two parts, preparatory and final.
I. Preparatory part: Let us lay aside every burden and sin that besets us.
1. Every burden is excessive attachment to the flesh and immoderate concern for it, for temporary life, for worldly things. Excessive concern for earthly things, or attachment to earthly things, is a dead weight for the soul: it pulls it down when it wants to go up, and pushes it back when it strives forward; makes responsibilities and difficulties more difficult.
2. The sin that besets us, that is, the sin that has a great advantage against us in the circumstances around us, in our character or in our company. By this may be meant the fatal sin of unbelief, or rather the favorite sin of the Jews, their excessive attachment to their native dispensation. Let us overthrow all external and internal obstacles.
II. Final part: And let us run with patience the race that is set before us. The apostle uses sports language, borrowed from Olympic and other sports competitions.
1. Christians must go through the field assigned to them, the field of service and the field of suffering, the path of active and passive obedience.
2. This field is set before them, it is marked for them both by the word of God and by the examples of God’s faithful servants, that cloud of witnesses with which they are surrounded. The boundaries and direction of their field are determined, the goal towards which they must strive, and the reward for which they must do it.
3. This race should be walked with patience and perseverance. Patience is necessary to overcome the difficulties encountered on our path, and perseverance is necessary to resist all temptations that divert or seduce us from it. Faith and patience are the virtues that ensure our victory, so they must be constantly developed and improved.
4. Christians have a great example, which should inspire and encourage them in their Christian walk, more than any of the above, - the example of the Lord Jesus Christ: Looking to the author and perfecter of faith, v. 2. Note here:
(1.) Who the Lord Jesus is to his people: He is the author and perfecter of faith, the initiate, the perfecter, and the rewarder of it.
He is the head of their faith, not only its object, but also its leader (English initiator, creator - Translator's note). He is the great leader, the forerunner of our faith, He trusted in God. He gives the Spirit of faith, He establishes the rule of faith, He is the active force of faith, He is in every way the source of our faith.
He is the finisher of faith. He is the fulfiller and fulfillment of all the prophecies and promises of the Holy Scriptures. He is the completer of the canon of Holy Scripture. He is the perfecter of grace, He works mightily in the hearts of His children the work of faith; He is the judge who will reward her. He determines who has achieved the goal, and his reward will be from Him and in Him.
(2) What trials Christ encountered in His career and on His path.
He suffered such reproach from sinners (v. 3). He withstood all the opposition they offered Him with their words and actions. They constantly contradicted Him and opposed all His purposes. And although He could easily have led them into confusion and embarrassment, and sometimes made them feel His power, yet He endured their evil treatment of Him with great patience. Their insults were directed against Christ Himself, against His person as the God-man, against His authority and His preaching, and He endured all this.
He endured the cross - all the suffering that He encountered in this world, for first He took up His cross, and in the end He was nailed to it and suffered a painful, shameful death, being numbered among the evildoers, among the worst criminals. And He endured all this with invincible patience and firmness.
He despised the shame. He despised all the accusations that were thrown at Him during His life and at the time when He died; He was infinitely superior to them. He knew His innocence and His superiority and disdained the ignorance and malice of those who despised Him.
(3) What supported the human soul of Christ in these incomparable sufferings. This was the joy set before Him. Among all His sufferings, He saw before Him something that gave Him great joy: He rejoiced, foreseeing how His sufferings would bring satisfaction to the offended justice of God and restore His honor and power; how he will reconcile a person with God, confirm the covenant of grace and become its Mediator; He will open the way of salvation for the worst of sinners and will save all those whom the Father gives Him, and He Himself will be the firstborn among many brothers. Such was the joy that was set before Him.
(4) The reward of His sufferings: He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Christ as Mediator occupies a position of supreme honor, supreme authority and power. He is the right hand of the Father. Nothing can unite heaven and earth except Him alone; everything is accomplished by Him; He always lives to intercede for His people.
(5.) What is our duty to Jesus Christ. We have to:
Look to Him, that is, constantly fix your attention on Him as an example and source of great encouragement. In all our sufferings we must look to Him for His instructions, His support and His approval.
We must think about Him, think a lot about Him, comparing His position with ours. We must make an analogy, that is, compare the sufferings of Christ with our own sufferings, and then we will find that as His sufferings are far superior to ours, in nature and extent, so His patience is far superior to ours, and is a perfect model for our imitation.
(6.) What we gain by doing this: a remedy against weariness and weakness (v. 3): Lest ye be faint and faint in your souls.
Even the best Christians are prone to become tired and exhausted during trials and tribulations, especially severe and prolonged ones. This happens because of our imperfection in grace and the presence in us of remnants of the old nature.
The best way to prevent this is to look to Jesus and think about Him. Faith and reflection give an influx of new strength, consolation and courage, for, the apostle assures, if we suffer with Him, we will reign with Him; this hope will be a helmet of salvation for us.
Verses 4-17. Here the apostle convincingly calls on the Jews to patience and perseverance, resorting to the following argument: the suffering they endure on their Christian path is very moderate and beneficial.
I. The moderation of their sufferings: You have not yet fought to the point of blood in your struggle against sin, v. 4.
1. Paul acknowledges that they suffered much, they struggled to the point of despair against sin. Note here:
(1) The cause of the conflict is sin, the struggle against it is a good deed, for sin is the worst enemy of God and man. Spiritual warfare is necessary because we are defending ourselves against that which can destroy us if it overcomes us; we are fighting for ourselves, for our lives, so we must be patient and firm.
(2) Every Christian is a soldier of Jesus Christ and is called to fight against sin, against sinful teachings, against sinful lifestyles, against sinful habits and practices, both in himself and in others.
2. He reminds them that they could have suffered more, they have not yet suffered as much as others, for they have not yet fought to the point of blood, they have not yet been called to martyrdom, although, who knows, they may soon be called to him. Let's learn the following from this:
(1.) Our Lord, the captain of our salvation, does not require us to endure hard trials from the beginning, but wisely prepares us for them by easy trials. He does not pour new wine into fragile vessels, He good shepherd He does not drive the lambs of His flock until they are exhausted.
(2) Christians should notice how generous Christ is towards them, how He proportions trials to their strength. They should not exaggerate their sufferings, but should notice how mercy is mingled with them, and sympathize with those who are called to the fiery trials and fight to the point of blood, not shedding the blood of their enemies, but sealing their testimony with their own blood.
(3) Christians should be ashamed to faint under lesser trials when they see others enduring greater ones; they do not know how soon they themselves may face great trials. If we are tired of running with foot soldiers, how can we compete with horses? And if we are exhausted in a peaceful country, what will we do when the Jordan floods? Jer 12:5.
II. The apostle argues based on the beneficial essence of the suffering that befalls the children of God. Although the instruments of these sufferings may be their enemies and persecutors, they nevertheless represent God's punishment: everything is in the hands of their Heavenly Father and everything serves His wise purposes. He warned them of it, and they must not forget it, v. 5. Please note:
1. Calamities, which may be considered as persecutions, because men are interested in them, are fatherly reproofs and chastisements, because God is interested in them. Persecution for faith is sometimes a means of correcting and rebuking those who profess it. People persecute them because they are pious, and God punishes them because they are not pious enough: people persecute them because they do not renounce their confession, and God punishes them because they do not live worthy of it.
2. God shows His children how they should behave in all the sorrows that befall them: avoid the extremes into which many fall.
(1) They must not neglect the discipline of the Lord; They should not take lightly the disasters that befall them, be insensitive and stupid, for these are the actions of the rod of God, through these disasters He convicts them of the sins they have committed. He who treats sorrows lightly takes God and sin lightly.
(2.) They should not be discouraged when they are rebuked, should not be plunged into despair during trials, should not be irritated and complain, but should endure them with patience and faith.
(3.) If they fall into either of these extremes, it is a sign that they have forgotten the counsels and admonitions of their Heavenly Father, which He offered them out of a sense of true and tender love for them.
3. Tribulations, rightly borne, though they are the expression of God's displeasure, are yet proofs of his fatherly love and care for his children (v. 6, 7): For the Lord chastens whom he loveth; he beats every son whom he receives. Please note:
(1) The best of God's children need discipline; they have their shortcomings and a certain amount of folly that need to be corrected.
(2) Although God gives over other people to their sins, yet He corrects the sins of His own children; they belong to His family and cannot escape His chastisement when they need it.
(3.) In this God acts as a father should, and treats them as children; only an unwise and unkind father will turn a blind eye to the shortcomings of his children, as he does with strangers to him; his kinship with them and his love for them oblige him to notice shortcomings in his children more than in others.
(4) If God allows someone to follow the path of sin without rebuking him, then this is a sad sign of alienation from God; These are illegitimate children, not sons. They may call Him Father, because they were born into the bosom of the church, but they are illegitimate children, children of another father, not God, v. 7, 8.
4. He who is unwilling to bear patiently the chastisement of his Heavenly Father behaves toward Him worse than he ought to behave toward earthly parents, v. 9, 10.
(1.) The apostle commends the respectful and submissive attitude of children to their earthly parents: We feared them when they chastened us. It is the duty of children to show respect to their parents: to be obedient to their just demands and to humbly accept their punishment for disobedience to these demands. Parents have not only authority, but also a command from God - to correct their children when there is a need for it, and He gave the children the command to accept correction kindly: to persist and show dissatisfaction against correction is a double sin, for correction presupposes an offense against parents' power to command and adds another crime - against their power to punish.
(2) Paul advises us to behave humbly and submissively toward our Heavenly Father when He disciplines us; at the same time, he argues according to the principle from least to greatest.
Our earthly parents are just carnal parents, but God is the Father of spirits. Our earthly parents were instrumental in the creation of our bodies, which are but flesh, mortal, fallen, perishable, formed from the dust of the earth, like the bodies of animals. Nevertheless, since our bodies are created with the greatest art, form a part of our personality, are a tabernacle for the dwelling of the soul and an instrument for its activity, we must treat with respect and love those through whom they were created. But then we are much more obliged to Him who is the Father of our spirits. Our souls are not created from material matter, but from a higher substance, they are not inherited (to say otherwise is bad philosophy and even worse theology), but come directly from God, who, after forming the body of man from the dust of the ground , breathed into him a life-giving spirit, and man became a living soul.
Our earthly parents punished us arbitrarily. Sometimes they did this more to satisfy their anger than to correct our behavior. Our carnal parents are subject to this weakness and must carefully guard against it, for by doing so they dishonor the parental authority with which God has endowed them, and greatly injure the benefit of their discipline. But the Father of our spirits never grieves the sons of men according to His will, much less His children. He always punishes us for our benefit. And the purpose He pursues in this is that we may have a share in His holiness, that we may correct and remove the sinful disorders that hinder us from being like Him, and that we may develop and perfect qualities that will conform us to His image, that we may be like Him. on our Heavenly Father and acted like Him. God loves His children, so He wants them to be as similar to Him as possible, and for this purpose He punishes them when necessary.
Our carnal fathers punish us for a few days, during our childhood, and when we were in this weak and imperfect state, we feared them, and when we reached adulthood, we began to love and honor them for it. Our whole life on earth is a state of childhood, imperfection, therefore we must submit to God's discipline corresponding to this state. When we reach perfection, we will be in complete agreement with all the measures of God's discipline that He now applies to us.
God's punishment is not condemnation. His children may at first feel fear, thinking that disasters are being sent upon them precisely for this terrible purpose, and they cry out: Do not blame me, tell me why You are fighting with me? Job 10:2. But God's intentions towards His own people are completely far from this; He punishes them now only so that they may not be condemned with the world, 1 Cor. 11:32. He punishes them in order to prevent the death and destruction of their souls, so that they live for God, are like God and are always with Him.
5. Children of God who are experiencing punishment should evaluate it not from the point of view of real life, but from the positions of reason, faith and experience: Any punishment at the present time seems not to be joy, but sadness; but afterwards he brings to those who are taught the peaceful fruit of righteousness, v. 11. Note the following here:
(1) Judgments of the senses in the matter of suffering. Suffering is unpleasant to the senses; it seems sad to them. The flesh is sensitive to suffering, it saddens it, and it groans under it.
(2) Judgments of faith, corrective judgments of feelings. Faith recognizes that sanctifying suffering produces the fruit of righteousness. It is a peaceful fruit that soothes and comforts the soul. By promoting the growth of righteousness, suffering thereby produces peace, for the fruit of righteousness is peace. If bodily suffering brings peace to the soul and short-term sorrows now lead to blessed fruits of a lasting nature later, then you should not become discouraged, irritated or exhausted under them, but try to endure God’s punishment with patience, so that it contributes to the achievement of greater holiness.
To endure tribulations with patience, which is the main purpose of Paul's discourse on this subject; and he returns again to this exhortation, that they, for the reason above mentioned, might strengthen their slackening hands and weak knees, v. 11. Under the burden of sorrows, a Christian may give up his hands, and his knees may weaken, sorrows discourage him and lead him to despondency, but he must fight against this, for the following two reasons: First, in order to best pass his spiritual career. Faith and patience, holy courage and determination will make his walk more firm, his path more straight, and will prevent hesitation and wandering. Secondly, that he might encourage, and not discourage, others walking the same path with him. There are many who walk the path to heaven, but walk with a relaxed gait, limping. Such are apt to discourage and hinder others, whereas it is the duty of Christians to encourage one another, to act by faith, and to help one another to stretch forward on the path to heaven.
So that their sorrows may contribute to their attainment of the highest degree of holiness. Since this is God's purpose with them, it should be their purpose and concern, that with renewed strength and patience they may endeavor to have peace and holiness with all, v. 14. If the children of God become impatient in affliction, they cannot maintain calm and peaceful relations with others, and cannot walk godly with God as they should. But faith and patience will enable them to follow the path of peace and holiness, just as a person follows the path of his calling, with constancy, zeal and joy. Please note:
First, it is the duty of Christians, when they suffer, to try to have peace with everyone, even with those who are the instruments of their suffering. This is a difficult lesson and a high goal, but it is what Christ calls His children to. Suffering tends to harden the spirit and aggravate the passions, but the children of God should strive for peace with all.
Second, peace and holiness are interrelated; There can be no true peace without holiness. There may be prudence and self-control, the appearance of friendship and benevolence, but true Christian love of peace is inseparable from holiness. We must not, under the pretext of love of peace, of maintaining peace with all people, abandon the path of holiness, but must seek peace on the paths of holiness.
Thirdly, without holiness no one will see the Lord. The contemplation of God our Savior in heaven is the reward of holiness. Although a gentle peaceable spirit is of great importance in the matter of our fitness for heaven, yet the main emphasis is on holiness.
6. If sorrows and sufferings for the sake of Christ are not perceived by men as a punishment from their Heavenly Father, and benefit is not derived from them, then they become a dangerous snare and a temptation to apostasy, which every Christian should carefully guard against (vv. 15, 16): See that who has not lost the grace of God.
(1.) The apostle gives a solemn warning against apostasy, and backs it up with a terrible example.
Serious Warning Against Retreat, Art. 15. Here you may observe, first, that the essence of apostasy is a deprivation of the grace of God, a bankruptcy in religion due to the lack of a good foundation and due care and diligence. This is the deprivation of God’s grace, that is, the principle of true grace in the soul in the presence external funds grace and external confession of faith, deprivation of God’s love and His favor, both in the present life and in the future. Secondly, the consequences of apostasy: where people are deprived of the true grace of God, a root of bitterness arises, the corrupt nature begins to prevail and manifest itself. A bitter root produces bitter fruit in the backsliders themselves and in those around them. In themselves, this root produces vicious principles that lead to apostasy and through apostasy are even more strengthened - harmful errors (perverting the teaching of the Christian church and its worship) and vicious behavior. The apostates become worse and worse and fall into great wickedness, usually ending in atheism or despair. The bitter root also produces bitter fruit for others, for the church to which these people belong, for their evil principles and evil behavior harm many, disturb the peace of the church, disturb the peace of minds and pollute many, infect them with evil principles and lead them into evil habits. . So great harm is done both to the peace of the church and to its purity. But ultimately, the greatest harm apostates do is to themselves.
The apostle reinforces his warning with a terrible example, namely, that of Esau, who was born into the bosom of the church, had the birthright as the eldest son, and the privileges of being prophet, priest and prince in his family, but was so wicked that he neglected all these privileges and sold his birthright for a piece of bread. Note here,
first, what was Esau's sin. He neglected his birthright and sold it and all the privileges that came with it. This is what apostates do: calling themselves children of God and having an external right to blessing and inheritance, they renounce all claims to them in order to avoid persecution and enjoy the peace and sensual pleasures of this world.
Secondly, Esau's punishment according to his sin. He realized his sin and his madness when it was already too late: ...after that, wanting to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. His punishment was twofold:
1. He was condemned by his own conscience. He saw that the blessing he had neglected was worth having, worth seeking with all care and with many tears.
2. He was rejected by God: He could not change his father’s thoughts, his blessing was given to another, the same one to whom he sold it for lentil stew. Esau, in his great wickedness, made a deal, and God, in His righteous judgment, confirmed and sealed it, and Esau was not allowed to change anything.
(2) We can learn the following lessons from this:
Apostasy from Christ is the result of the fact that a person prefers carnal pleasures to the blessings of God and the heavenly inheritance.
Sinners will not always think so disdainfully of God's blessings and His inheritance as they do now. The time will come when they will not consider their efforts too great, their cares and tears spent too much, in order to regain the lost blessing.
When their time of grace ends (which may still happen in this life), they will have no opportunity for repentance: they will not be able to repent of their sins, and God will not repent of His judgment on them. Therefore Christians must never give up their privileges, the blessings of God and the hope of inheritance, lest they expose themselves to His wrath and curse. They should not renounce their faith in order to avoid suffering, which, even if it is persecution from wicked people, is only blows from the rod of the Heavenly Father with the aim of correcting and punishing them, with the aim of bringing them closer to Himself, in the sense of greater likeness Yourself and closer communication with Yourself. Such is the force of the apostle's argument, taken from the essence of the sufferings of the children of God, even if they suffer for the sake of righteousness; and this is a very strong argument.
Verses 18-29. In this passage, the apostle continues to call upon Jewish believers to stick to the Christian path and not give up in the fight, not to return to Judaism. He does this by showing them how different the condition of the gospel church is from that of the Jews, and how similar it is to the condition of the church in heaven; on the basis of both, it requires and deserves all our zeal, patience and fidelity to the Christian calling.
I. It shows how much the evangelical church differs from the Jewish church, and how much superior it is to it. A very detailed description is given of the structure of the church under the Mosaic dispensation, v. 18-21.
1. It was a tangible device. Mount Sinai, on which the church was established, was a tangible mountain (v. 18);
such was house-building. There was a lot in him that was external and earthly and therefore heavier. The condition of the gospel church on Mount Zion is more spiritual, intelligent and easy.
2. It was a dark economy. On Mount Sinai there was darkness and darkness, and that church was covered with dark shadows and types; the condition of the evangelical church is much clearer and brighter.
3. That dispensation inspired fear and horror; the Jews could not bear this horror. The thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the voice of God Himself speaking to them, shocked them with such terror that those who heard asked that the word should no longer be spoken to them, v. 19. Moreover, Moses himself said: I am in fear and trembling. The best of the people of the earth cannot communicate directly with God and His holy Angels. The gospel dispensation is dominated by gentleness, mercy, and forbearance, suited to our frail nature.
4. The previous dispensation was limited; not everyone could approach Sinai, but only Moses and Aaron. In the gospel economy, we can all come to God with confidence.
5. The previous economy was fraught with great danger. The mountain was burning with fire, and anyone who touched the mountain, man or beast, was to be stoned or struck with an arrow, v. 20. It is true that it is always dangerous for arrogant and insolent sinners to approach God, but it does not always entail immediate and certain death, as was the case here. Such was the position of the Jewish church, called upon to frighten stubborn and stiff-necked people, to demonstrate the strict and terrible justice of God, to deviate the children of God from the former dispensation and to incline them to willingly accept the sweeter and softer dispensation of the gospel church and cleave to it.
II. The apostle shows how the gospel church represents the triumphant church in heaven, and what connection there is between the two. He calls the gospel church Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, which is free, in contrast to Mount Sinai, which is in bondage with its children, Gal. 4:24. As believers approach Mount Zion, they approach the heavenly city, the heavenly society.
1. To the heavenly city.
(1) To the city of the living God. God has chosen the gospel church as His residence, and on this basis it is a symbol of heaven. Here He governs, guides His people, sanctifies and comforts them; here He speaks to them through ministers of the Gospel, and they speak to Him through their prayers; here He trains them for heaven and gives them a pledge of their inheritance.
(2) To the heavenly Jerusalem, as those born and raised in it, as its free citizens. Here believers have a clearer vision of heaven, a clearer testimony of heaven, a greater likeness to heaven, and a more heavenly disposition of soul.
2. Towards a heavenly society.
(1) To the darkness of Angels. The angels are one family with the saints, subject to the same Head as they are, engaged in the same work, ministering to the saints, guarding them in their ways, and encamping around them. As regards their numbers, they are innumerable, and as regards their organization, they represent a glorious unity. Those who by faith have joined the gospel church have also united themselves with the angels and will ultimately be like and equal to them.
(2) To the triumphant council and the Church of the firstborn, written in heaven, that is, to the universal church, scattered throughout the whole world. By faith we approach them, we share fellowship with them through the same Head, the same Spirit, we have the same blessed hope, we walk in the same path of holiness, we fight with the same spiritual enemies, we strive for the same goals - peace, victory and glorious triumph. This is a general council of the firstborn, the saints of former and early times, who saw the promises of the gospel church, but did not receive them, and also those who were the first to receive these promises in the age of the Gospel and, having received regeneration from them, became the firstfruits, the firstfruits of the gospel church. Thus, being the firstborn, they achieved higher honor and higher privileges than the rest of the world. Truly all the children of God are heirs and each has the privileges of the firstborn. Their names are written in heaven and in church records here on earth; they have a name in the house of God, are enrolled in the lists of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, have a good testimony of their faith and faithfulness, and are written in the book of life of the Lamb, just as the citizens are written in the house registers.
(3) And to God the Judge of all, that great God, who will judge both pagans and Jews according to the law under which they lived; believers now come to Him by faith, turn to their Judge with a petition and receive complete justification in the Gospel and in their own conscience, which assures them that they will be justified beyond the grave.
(4) To the spirits of the righteous who have reached perfection; to the best of people - to the righteous, to the best part of their being - to spirits in their best state - those who have achieved perfection. Believers are one with the saints who have already passed away in Christ and the Holy Spirit, they share with them the right to the same inheritance; while still on earth, they are heirs, and those in heaven are the owners of the inheritance.
(5) And to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the sprinkled Blood, which speaketh better than Abel. This argument, which encourages us to be faithful to the Gospel, is by no means the most insignificant of all the others, since acceptance of the Gospel is communion with Christ as the Mediator of the new covenant and communion with His Blood, which speaks better than Abel’s.
The gospel covenant is a new covenant, different from the covenant of works, and refers to a new dispensation, different from the Old Testament.
Christ is the Mediator of the new covenant. He is the Mediator standing between God and man in order to unite them in this covenant and keep it between them, despite the sins of man and God’s displeasure towards his sins; to lift up our prayers to God and bring down God's favor upon us; to represent us before God and to represent God to us, and finally to unite God with His children in heaven, to be Mediator between them forever, that they may forever behold God and enjoy fellowship with Him in Christ, and that God may look upon them and bless them in Christ.
This covenant is sealed by the Blood of Christ, sprinkling our conscience, just as the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled on the altar and the sacrifice itself. The blood of Christ appeases God and cleanses the conscience of man.
This is the talking Blood, and it speaks better than the blood of Abel. Firstly, she speaks before God in defense of sinners; she pleads not for retribution, like the blood of Abel, but for mercy. Secondly, she speaks to sinners on behalf of God. She proclaims to them forgiveness of their sins and peace to their souls; she calls them to the strictest obedience and to the highest love and gratitude.
III. The apostle, having dwelt at length on the arguments arising from the heavenly character of the evangelical church, closes the chapter by applying these arguments in a form suited to their importance (v. 25 ff.): See that ye also do not turn away from Him who speaks—who speaks by His own Blood. He speaks not only differently than the blood of Abel spoke from the earth, but also differently than God spoke through the angels and through Moses on Mount Sinai: then He spoke on earth, but now He speaks from heaven.
1. When God speaks to men in a singularly excellent manner, He justly expects from them the most earnest attention and reverence. It is in this uniquely excellent way that God speaks to people through the gospel. For:
(1.) He speaks from a higher and more glorious throne, not from Mount Sinai, which was on earth, but from heaven.
(2) He speaks more directly through His inspired word and the Holy Spirit, who are His witnesses.
(3) He speaks more powerfully and effectively. Then His voice shook the earth, but now, with the introduction of the gospel dispensation, He shakes not only the earth, but also the heavens - not only shook the hills and mountains, or the spirit of the people, or the civil structure of the land of Canaan, to make room for His people; not only shook the world, as He did then, but also the church, that is, the Jewish people, their church structure, which in Old Testament times represented heaven on earth; It is their heavenly, spiritual structure that He has now shaken. It was with the Gospel from heaven that God destroyed to the ground the civil and ecclesiastical structure of the Jewish people and introduced a new structure of the church, which will never be shaken, never replaced by anything on earth, but will stand until it reaches its perfection in heaven.
2. When God speaks to men in a peculiarly excellent manner, the guilt of those who reject Him will be the more grievous, and their punishment will be more certain and intolerable, and cannot be avoided or endured, v. 25. If in the age of the Gospel God deals with people differently, by the way of grace, then we can be sure that He will deal with those who despise the Gospel differently from other people, by way of condemnation. The glory of the gospel, which obliges us to respect it, is seen in the following:
(1) The gospel trumpet shook and destroyed the former church building; shall we really neglect the voice of God, who has overthrown the church and state, which stood for so long and were founded by Himself?
(2) The gospel trumpet proclaimed the raising up of a new kingdom for God in the world, which would never be destroyed by any upheaval. This change has been made once and for all, no other change will be made until time is no more. We accept a kingdom that cannot be shaken; it will never move or give way to any other dispensation. The canon of Holy Scripture is already completed, the Spirit of prophecy has ceased, the mystery of God is finished, He has already put His finishing touch on it. The Evangelical Church may grow and prosper more and more, and be more and more purified from everything that defiles it, but it will never give way to another dispensation; those who perish in the age of the Gospel will perish forever. From this the apostle draws fair conclusions:
That we need to have grace in order to serve Him pleasingly. If we do not please God in this dispensation, we will never be pleasing to Him; and if we do not please God, then all our labors will be in vain.
Our service will not be pleasing to God unless we serve Him with reverence and fear. To serve God acceptably requires both faith and reverence and fear.
Only the grace of God makes us able to serve God in the right way; our natural man cannot achieve this; he cannot produce either the faith or reverence necessary for service pleasing to God.
And in gospel times, God remains the same just and righteous God that He was in the times of the law. Although He is our God in Christ and now deals with us in a more gentle and merciful way, nevertheless He Himself is a consuming fire, that is, a God of strict justice, He will reward all who despise Him with grace and all apostates. In the age of the Gospel the justice of God was more fearfully demonstrated than in the time of the law, although not in such a tangible form as then; for we see how she turned against the Lord Jesus Christ, making Him, His body and soul, an atonement for our sins, such a display of justice as far exceeds what could be seen and heard on Mount Sinai when the law was given .
Comments on Chapter 12
INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
GOD REVEALS TO US IN MANY WAYS
People have never had a common view of religion. “God,” said Tennyson, “reveals himself to us in different ways.” And George Russell put it this way: “There are as many ways to climb to the stars as there are people who dare to climb to them.” One famous and beautiful saying says: “God has His own key to every heart.” In general terms, four concepts of religion can be distinguished.
1. For some people, religion is it is inner friendship with God. This is such a union with Christ that we can say that the Christian lives in Christ, and Christ lives in the Christian. This is how Paul understood religion. For him, religion was what mysteriously united him with God.
2. For others, religion is the model by which they should build their lives and the strength that allows them to achieve this model. This is how James and Peter viewed religion. They saw in religion a model according to which they should build their lives, and it gave them strength to achieve this model.
3. Others see religion satisfaction of your intellectual searches. Their mind searches and searches until they realize that their mind can rest in God. Plato also says that an unexamined life is not worthy of living. There are people who must either understand or perish. The first chapter of the Gospel of John represents the world's greatest attempt to satisfy the demands and demands of the human mind.
4. There are also people for whom religion is a path that leads into the presence of God. She removes barriers and opens doors to Him. This is exactly how the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews understood religion. He was completely absorbed in this thought. In Jesus he found the One who could bring him into the immediate presence of God. IN Heb. 10.19-23 a great idea about religion is presented.
“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter into the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus Christ, in a new and living way, which He again revealed to us through the veil, that is, His flesh... Let us approach with a sincere heart, with full faith...”
TWO WAYS OF THINKING
The concept of the author of Hebrews fit into both contemporary modes of thinking. On the one hand, this is the Greek way of thinking. Even from Plato, that is, for five centuries, the consciousness of the Greeks was preoccupied with the contradictions between the real and the unreal, the visible and the invisible, the transitory and the eternal. It was the Greeks who had the idea of the existence somewhere of a real world, of which our world is only a weak reflection. Plato believed that somewhere out there there was a world of perfect forms, ideas, or samples. Plato said: “The Creator of the world planned his creation and executed it according to an imperishable and eternal pattern, of which this world is a copy.” Philo of Alexandria, who borrowed his ideas from Plato, said: “God knew from the very beginning that a beautiful copy could only be made by having a beautiful example, and that objects, deciding to create this visible world, He first created an ideal world in order to create an objective corporeal world according to an incorporeal and divine model." Cicero spoke about laws, known to people and applied by them on earth: “We have nothing remotely similar to real law and true justice; what we have is only a shadow and crumbs.”
This idea of the existence of a real world somewhere out there, of which our world is an imperfect copy, can be found among all thinkers of antiquity. In this world we can only guess and search by touch; here we can only work with copies and imperfect objects. And all real and real objects are located in a world invisible to us. On the tombstone of the famous theologian there is a Latin inscription: “Away from shadows and appearances to the truth.” If this is so, then it is quite obvious that the purpose of our life in this world is to get away from shadows and imperfection and reach reality. And this is precisely what the author of Hebrews claims, that Jesus Christ gives us such an ability. The writer of Hebrews tells the Greeks, "All your life you have been trying to escape the shadows and come to the truth. Jesus Christ is giving you the opportunity to do this."
JEWISH WAY OF THINKING
But the author of Hebrews also shares Jewish way of thinking. In Judaism it was dangerous to approach God. “Man,” God said to Moses, “cannot see Me and live.” (Ex. 33:20). Jacob was extremely surprised at Penuel: “I saw God face to face, and my soul was preserved.” (Gen. 32:30). When Manoah realized who his guest was, he said to his wife in horror: “Surely we will die; for we have seen God.” (Judges 13:22). One of the most important religious holidays of the Jews was the Day of Atonement. Only on this day did the high priest enter the Holy of Holies, where, according to the Jews, God lived. No one except the high priest ever entered the Holy of Holies, and only on that day. The law made it clear that when the high priest entered the Holy of Holies, he should not linger there long, “lest he bring terror upon Israel.” It was dangerous to enter into the presence of God; anyone who stayed there too long could be killed.
That is why the idea of covenant. God, in His mercy and without any merit on the part of the Jews, turned to the people of Israel and invited them to enter into a special relationship with Him. But this special relationship was conditioned by compliance with the law given to him. In a dramatic scene in Ref. 24.3-8 it shows how the people of Israel entered into this relationship and accepted this law.
From that moment on, Israel had access to God, but only if he follows the law. Breaking the law is sin, and sin erected a barrier between Israel and God and denied them access to Him. And to remove this obstacle, the entire system of Levitical priesthood and sacrifices was created. God gave Israel a law; people sinned; therefore a barrier arose between Israel and God; sacrifices were made to remove barriers to God. But life has shown that sacrifice is not able to do this. This served as proof that the whole system of ongoing sacrifices was hopeless. This battle was doomed to defeat and its very goal - to eliminate the barrier between man and God erected by human sin - was unattainable.
THE PERFECT PRIEST AND THE PERFECT SACRIFICE
The people needed the perfect priest and the perfect sacrifice. What was needed was someone capable of making a sacrifice to God that would once and for all open the way and access to Him. And that is exactly what Christ did, says the author of Hebrews. He is a perfect high priest because He is both a perfect man and a perfect God. In His human form He brought people to God, and in His divinity He brings God to people. There is no sin on Him. The perfect sacrifice He offered to God is Himself - a sacrifice so perfect that it never needs to be offered again.
To the Jews, the author of Hebrews said, “You have been looking all your life for the perfect priest who could offer the perfect sacrifice and give you access to God. You have received Him in Jesus Christ and Him alone.” And to the Greek the author of Hebrews said: “You are looking for the way from shadows to reality: you will find it in Jesus Christ.”
Jesus was the One who opened people's access to reality and to God - this is the main idea of this message.
THE RIDDLE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
Everything is clear so far. All other questions that arise in connection with the study and interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews are shrouded in mystery. E. F. Scott wrote: “The book of Hebrews is in many respects the puzzle of the New Testament.” We can only guess the answers to the questions when it was written, to whom and who wrote it. The history of this message shows how the mystery surrounding it led to it being treated with caution and suspicion. It took a long time before the message was finally and indisputably included among the books of the New Testament. In the Muratorian Canon, compiled around 170, it is not mentioned at all. The great scholars of Alexandria, Clement and Origen, knew and loved him, but agreed that his place among the books of Holy Scripture was debatable. As for the North African Church Fathers, Cyprian never mentions it, and Tertullian knows that its place among Scripture is disputed. Eusebius, the Church historian, said that among controversial books, this epistle stands out for its high qualities. It was not until the time of Athanasius, in the mid-fourth century, that the Epistle to the Hebrews was finally included in the New Testament, but even Luther was not completely convinced of the correctness of this decision. It is strange that this important document waited so long for recognition!
WHEN WAS IT WRITTEN
We can only glean information about this from the message itself. It was undoubtedly written in an era that can be called the second generation of Christianity (2,3). Events are presented to the listeners by those who themselves heard the Lord. To the people addressed by this message, the Christian faith was not new; in all likelihood, they had to be mature people and trained listeners (5,12). They must have had a long history because the author refers to events from days past (10,32). Behind them were a great past and heroic martyrs to which they had to look and draw inspiration. (13,7).
In establishing the date of the message, the first thing that can help us is the mention of persecution. It is clear from the message that at one time their mentors and leaders died for their faith (13,7). The addressees of the message themselves have not yet been persecuted, because they “have not yet fought to the point of blood” (12,4). It is also clear that they experienced suffering because they had to "accept the plunder of their property" (10,32-34). In general, the message gives the impression that the recipients are in danger of persecution. Based on this, we can say with confidence that the message was written in the period between two waves of persecution: in days when Christians were not directly persecuted, but were not loved among their fellow countrymen.
The first persecution of Christians took place in 64, during the time of Nero, and the second in 85, under Emperor Domitian. Somewhere between these two dates the book of Hebrews was written, most likely closer to the reign of Emperor Domitian. In all likelihood, the message was written around the year 80.
TO WHOM WAS THE MESSAGE WRITTEN?
And here we too must limit ourselves to the information and hints that we find in the message itself. One fact is clear - the message could not have been written to a large church community, for then its name would not have completely disappeared from memory. First let's stick firmly to what we know. The message was written to a church community that had long history (5,12), which at some time in the past suffered persecution (10,32-34). It was written to a church that had great times and great teachers and preachers. (13,7). It was written to a church that was not founded by the apostles themselves (2,3), a church distinguished by its generosity and open-mindedness (6,10).
The message also contains a direct hint. Among the greetings that conclude the message we find the following sentence: “The Italians greet you.” (13,24). [Barkley: "Those who come from Italy greet you"]. Taken separately, this phrase can mean that the letter was either sent from Italy, or V Italy; it is more likely that it was written V Italy. Suppose a person writes a letter from Leningrad abroad, he probably will not write: “Everyone from Leningrad greets you,” but rather: “Everyone in Leningrad greets you.” If he is abroad and there are other Leningraders with him, he may well write: “All Leningraders greet you.” Therefore we can say that the message was written to Italy, and if so, then it is very likely that it was written in Rom.
But, quite clearly, it was not written to the entire Roman church, then it would never have lost its name. Further, it gives the impression that it was written to a small group of like-minded people, probably a group of scientists. From 5,72 we see that they for a long time studied and trained to become teachers of the Christian faith. In addition, reading the book of Hebrews requires such knowledge of the Old Testament that it could only have been written by a learned scholar.
Putting it all together, the book of Hebrews was written by a major preacher and teacher of the Church to a small group or school of Christians in Rome. He was their teacher. But at the present time he was away from them, and since he was afraid that they were leaving the path of faith, he wrote this message. It's not so much a message as it is a conversation. It does not begin as a letter from Paul, although it ends with a greeting, like any letter. The author himself calls it a word of exhortation, a sermon.
WHO WAS THE LETTER WRITTEN?
Apparently, the most intractable issue is the issue of authorship. And it was precisely this uncertainty that was the reason that they did not dare to include it in the New Testament. In those days it was simply called "Jews." No authorship was attributed to him; no one connected him directly with the name of the Apostle Paul. Clement of Alexandria admitted that it was written by Paul in Aramaic, and Luke translated it because the style was completely different from Paul's. Origen famously said, “Only God knows who wrote the book of Hebrews.” Tertullian considered Barnabas its author. Jerome said that the Roman Catholic Church did not consider it to be the epistle of Paul and went on to say: “Whoever was the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews...”. Augustine treated him the same way. Luther stated that Paul could not have been its author because he had a different way of thinking. Calvin said that he could not bring himself to believe that this epistle was written by the Apostle Paul.
Throughout the history of the Church, no one has ever seriously accepted that Paul wrote the book of Hebrews. But how did the message get its name? It happened very simply. When the New Testament was finally taking shape and taking on its modern form, disputes arose about which books to include in it and which not. To make the final decision, a check was carried out: was the book or letter written by an apostle or a person who had close relationships with the apostles? By this time the book of Hebrews was known throughout the Church. Many, like Origen, who believed that God alone knew who wrote it, read and loved this epistle and wished for it to be included in the New Testament. This could only be done by including it along with the thirteen letters of the Apostle Paul. Hebrews took its place among the books of the New Testament because of its own greatness, but to be included it had to belong to the letters of Paul. People even then knew well that it was not written by Paul, but they considered it Paul’s, because no one knew its author and it had to be included in the New Testament.
AUTHOR OF HEBREWS
1. Tertullian believed that Barnabas wrote it. Barnabas was a native of Cyprus; The Cypriots were known for their excellent Greek language, and the book of Hebrews was written in the best Greek in the New Testament. Barnabas was a Levite (Acts 4:36) and had among the writers of the New Testament the most precise knowledge of the priesthood and sacrifice, on which the epistle is based. He was called "son of consolation" in Greek paraclesis: the author of Hebrews also calls the epistle a word exhortations, paraclesis (13,22). Barnabas was one of those few who were accepted by Jews and Greeks because he was familiar with both the Jewish and Greek ways of thinking. Perhaps Barnabas really wrote this letter, but why then did his name disappear from its pages?
2. Luther believed that Apollos was the author of Hebrews. According to the New Testament, Apollos was a Jew, originally from Alexandria, an eloquent man and versed in the Scriptures (Acts 18:24; 1 Cor. 1:12; 3:4). The man who wrote Hebrews was well versed in the Scriptures and eloquent; he thought and argued like the educated inhabitants of Alexandria. Undoubtedly the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews was a man similar in origin and way of thinking to Apollos.
3. A romantic guess was expressed by Harnack, a prominent German theologian. He suggested that these could be the thoughts of Aquila and Priscilla. They were teachers (Acts 18:26). Their home in Rome was a church (Rom. 16:5). Harnack believes that this is why the letter begins without greetings and why the name of the author disappeared - the main part of the message was written by a woman, and she did not have the right to teach.
But even after considering all the guesses and assumptions, we are forced to say, as Origen said seventeen centuries ago, that only God knows who wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews. For us, the author remains only a voice; but we can thank God for the work of this great nameless one, who with incomparable skill and beauty wrote about Jesus, who is the way to reality and the way to God.
CONTEST AND GOAL, THE FIELD OF FAITH (Heb. 12:1-2)
This is one of the greatest and most moving passages of the New Testament, in which the writer of the epistle has given an almost perfect outline of the most important elements of the Christian life.
1. A Christian has in his life target. A Christian does not just wander along the back roads of life, he walks along the highway. A Christian is not a tourist who returns every evening to the place from which he left in the morning; a Christian is a pilgrim who has set out on an eternal journey. The ultimate goal is great - to become like Christ. The life of a Christian goes in a certain direction and towards a certain goal, and it would be good if every evening we asked ourselves the question: “Well, was I able to go further?”
2. In the life of a Christian there is inspiration. In us lives the thought of an invisible cloud of witnesses who are witnesses in two senses: they have already testified to their faith in Christ, and now they are witnesses of our achievements. A Christian is like a runner in a crowded stadium. While he strives forward, a crowd looks down on him, a host - those who have already won the crown.
In the famous book of Pseudo-Longinus “On the Sublime” there is a recipe for how to create a great literary work: “It is good to ask yourself a question in your soul,” he says, “how would Homer express this? How would the great Plato or Demosthenes write it? How would he reflect is this Thucydides in his history?” Because if we began to compete with such great figures in our creativity, they would undoubtedly illuminate our path and raise us to the perfection that we only dream of. It would be even better if we mentally asked ourselves this question: “What would what I said sound like to Homer if he were standing nearby, or to Demosthenes; how would they react to what I said?” And in fact, it would be the highest test if we imagine such a jury for our own artistic works and give an account of our literary works to such heroes for their judgment." After all, the actor will indeed play with redoubled force if he knows that a famous playwright is sitting in the stalls watching his performance. And the athlete will make redoubled efforts if he knows that he is being watched not just by spectators in the stadium, but by famous Olympic athletes. Significant and the most important moment in the life of a Christian is precisely the fact that he is closely watched by the great heroes of the faith who lived, suffered and died in their time. How can anyone stop striving for greatness and glory when such heroes and ascetics look down on him?
3. In the life of a Christian there is obstacles and failures. Yes, we are surrounded by the greatness of the past, but our sins hinder us. After all, no person would climb Everest with a warehouse of bulky and unnecessary things dragging him down. Those who are going to travel far should travel light. A person’s important duty in life is to get rid of unnecessary and superfluous things: habits, pleasures, self-indulgence, and memories that pull back. We must shake them off like an athlete shakes off his training suit when he starts, and often we need the help of Christ to do this.
4. The Christian has at his disposal remedy, unwavering patience. The author used the Greek word here hupomone, which does not mean the patience with which one sits quietly, accepting things as they are, but the patience that subjugates circumstances to oneself. This is not a romantic ability that gives us wings to soar above difficulties and troubles. This is a slow, but urgent determination with which they move forward and refuse to deviate from their chosen path. Obstacles cannot confuse her, and discouragement does not rob her of hope. This unwavering patience carries us tirelessly forward until we finally reach our goal.
5. A Christian has example in life. This example is Jesus Himself. For the sake of achieving the goal set before Him, He patiently endured everything: to achieve this goal meant going to the Crucifixion. The author of the message makes a brilliant discovery: despising shame. Jesus was very sensitive; no one has ever had such a sensitive heart. Crucifixion was a humiliating execution, it was subjected to criminals, criminals in whom society saw scum, scum - and yet He went for it. Philip of Neri tells us to "despise the world, despise ourselves, and despise the very fact that we are despised." If Jesus could endure so much, then we should also endure.
6. A Christian is not alone in life, he is always with him abides Jesus. Jesus is not only the goal of our pilgrimage, but also our companion on the journey; We must meet Him, and He accompanies us to our goal. The miracle of a Christian's life is that he goes to his goal as if surrounded by saints, renouncing everything except the glory of his goal, and always together with the One who has already walked this path and reached the goal and is now waiting there to greet us. us when we too reach it.
SAMPLES FOR COMPARISON (Heb. 12:3-4)
The author of the message uses two very interesting words, translated here as become exhausted And weaken your souls. Aristotle used these words to describe an athlete falling to the ground in exhaustion. after as he passed the finishing post. So the writer of the message is really saying, "Don't give up too soon; don't slacken your efforts before you've passed the finishing post." In order to convince his listeners of this, he uses two arguments.
1. The struggle of Christianity has not yet become a struggle for life and death. When the author says that they have not yet fought to the point of blood, he uses the phrase with which the leaders of the Maccabees urged their fighters to fight to the death, to fight to the last. By stating that they have not yet fought to the point of blood, the author, according to Moffat, “is not blaming them, but shaming them.” When people remember what the ascetics of the past went through to preserve their faith for us, they certainly cannot fall into apathy or shy away from conflict.
2. He encourages them to compare their sufferings with the sufferings Jesus endured. He gave up By your glory; He was born into this world, with all its shortcomings and weaknesses inherent in human life; He faced hostility from people and had to die on the Cross. The author of the message, in fact, says: “How can you compare the suffering that befalls you with the suffering that He went through? He endured everything for you, but what are you going to do for Him?”
In these two verses the author clearly shows what price was paid for the Christian faith: it was paid for with the lives of martyrs, the Son of God paid for it with His life. You cannot simply neglect what was purchased so dearly. A person cannot pass on such a legacy to tainted posterity. These two verses contain a call to every Christian: “Prove yourself worthy of the sacrifice that God and men have made for you.”
THE LORD'S COMMAND (Hebrews 12:5-11)
And now the author of the message gives another argument why people should cheerfully endure the misfortunes that befall them. The author has already said that they need to be transferred because the saints of past eras carried them. He said that they needed to be transferred because they were insignificant in comparison with those that Christ suffered. And now he says that the hardships and hardships of life must be endured because they are sent down by God and without them a person’s life would have no value.
A father always punishes his child. One cannot assume that he loves his child who allows him to do whatever he wants; on the contrary, it shows that he is nothing more than an illegitimate child for whom he feels neither love nor responsibility. We submit to the punishments of the earthly father: a power that is transitory (until we reach maturity) and which, at best, always contains an element of despotism. We owe our physical life to our earthly father; how much more fully should we submit to the punishments of the Lord, to whom we owe our immortal spirit and who, in His wisdom, cares only for our greatest good.
There is an interesting passage in Xenophon's Cyropaedia. It concerns a dispute about who brings more benefit to the world - a person who makes people cry or a person who makes people laugh. Aglaitides says: “He who makes his friends laugh, it seems to me, does them much less service than he who makes them cry, and if you look at this problem correctly, you will also understand that I am speaking the truth. Be that as it may, fathers instill self-control in their sons by making them cry, and teachers in the same way imprint good lessons in the minds of their students, and laws also guide citizens to the foot of justice by making them cry.But can you say that those which make people laugh, also either benefit our body, or prepare our brains for the better organization of our personal or public affairs? Aglaitides believed that it is the person who imposes punishments who truly serves the good of his fellow citizens.
For those who hear this passage for the first time, it will undoubtedly have a double impression, because paternal power, patria potestas, was of great importance in ancient world. Under Roman law, the father had absolute power over his family, and if his son married, absolute power continued to extend to both the son and any grandson the son would have. It all started from the moment of birth. The Roman father could, at his own discretion, keep the newborn or abandon him. He could bind or scourge his son; he could sell him into slavery; he even had the right to kill or execute him. It is true that when the father intended to take a serious step towards any member of his family, he usually convened a family council of all adult males, but he was not obliged to do this. True, in later times public opinion would not allow a father to execute his son, but this took place even in the era of Emperor Augustus. The Roman historian Sallust cites an incident from the era of the Catiline conspiracy. Catiline rebelled against Rome; Among those who joined him was Aulus Fulvius, the son of a Roman senator. He was arrested, brought back to Rome and tried by his own father. He sentenced his son to death. In eyes patria potestas the son of a Roman never came of age. He could pursue a government career; he could occupy the highest judicial position; he could be revered by the whole country, but all this did not matter - he was under the direct and absolute authority of his father while he lived. Thus, if people ever knew what a father's order was, then such people, in any case, were the Romans; and when the author of the message spoke about how an earthly father punishes his son, his listeners and readers knew well what he was talking about.
So, the author of the message states that we should look at the difficult trials and hardships that befall us in life as God's punishment, which was not sent to harm us, but for our final and highest good. To confirm his premise, he quotes from Proverbs 3.11-12. People may have different attitudes towards the punishments sent down to them by God.
1. Some humbly accept their. This is what the Stoics did. They believed that nothing in this world happens outside the will of God, therefore, they argued, there was nothing left to do but accept them. Doing anything differently is like banging your head against the “walls” of the universe. Perhaps this is acceptance and the highest wisdom, but, in any case, it has nothing to do with the acceptance of a father's love, it is only the acceptance of a father's authority. This is not a humble, submissive acceptance, but an acceptance by a conquered, defeated person.
2. Others take the punishment with a gloomy feeling and a desire to get through these troubles as quickly as possible. A famous Roman once said: “I will not allow anything to make my life difficult.” A person who views punishment this way accepts it defiantly, and not at all gratefully.
3. Others accept punishment with a feeling of self-pity that leads to death, physical or spiritual. Some, having found themselves in a difficult situation, behave as if they were the only ones who were severely touched by life. They are completely consumed by self-pity.
4. There are also those who accept punishment with indignation. Strange as it may seem, the Romans in those days saw in national and personal misfortunes the revenge of the gods. In Lucan we read: “Happy would Rome be, and blessed would its inhabitants be, if the gods put as much effort into caring for people as they do to take revenge on them.” Tacitus believed that the misfortunes that befell the Romans proved that the gods were more concerned with punishing people than with their safety. Even today there are people who consider God to be vengeful. If something happens to themselves, or to people close to them, they ask: “What did I do to deserve this?” in such a tone as to emphasize that, in their opinion, this is an unjust punishment from God. It never occurs to them to ask: “What does God want to teach me and what does God want to encourage me to do with this?”
5. And finally, there are those who accept punishment. how from loving Father. Jerome said something paradoxical, but true: “The greatest wrath is when God is no longer angry with us when we sin.” Thus leaving us alone, as untouchables, pariahs. A Christian knows that everything that happens to him comes from God the Father, who will not cause him anything that would cause him to cry innocently, and that a person must accept all this in order to become better and wiser.
We must give up feelings of self-pity, indignation and rebellious complaints, remembering that God's punishment is dictated by love and serves our good.
OBLIGATIONS, GOALS AND DANGERS (Heb. 12:12-17)
The author of the message moves on to the problems of everyday life of Christians. He knows that sometimes a man gains wings to fly upward like an eagle, that sometimes a man can tirelessly strive to achieve his great goal; but he also knows that the most difficult thing is to go forward from day to day without fainting from fatigue. And here he reflects on the daily everyday struggle that a Christian has to fight on his way.
1. Firstly, it obligations. In every church community and in every church organization there are weaker ones who can go astray and give up the fight. It is the duty of the stronger ones to breathe fresh strength into their drooping arms and wobbly legs. To pass the value hands down the author uses the same words that are used in the Bible to characterize the children of Israel in the days when they intended to abandon the hardships of the journey through the desert and return to the comforts and meatpots of Egypt.
The Odes of Solomon contains a description of the accomplishments of true servants and preachers:
They quenched dry lips,
And they perked up the spirit that had begun to fall...
And weakened limbs
They straightened and stood up.
The greatest glory is that which inspires a person close to despair and restores strength to a weakening one. To help such people, we must guide them on the right path. The Christian has a double duty: duty towards God and duty towards his fellow men. The Testimony of Simon (5:2.3) gives a vivid description of the duties of a godly person: his heart must be righteous in the eyes of the Lord, and his life must be godly in the eyes of people, and then he will be loved by God and people will love him.
A person must come before God with a pure heart; he must lead an honest life with people. The duty of a Christian is to guide a person on the true path, to keep him on the right path by his own example, to remove all kinds of stumbling blocks from his path, to make the road easier for unsteady feet. A person must give his heart to God, and his service to people, and set an example for them.
2. Secondly, goals, to which a Christian should go.
a) Its goal should be world. In the language and worldview of the Jews, peace was not something negative, but, on the contrary, something extremely positive. It was not only the absence of worries and troubles. Peace meant two things.
First, it meant everything that promotes the highest good of man. The Jews believed that man's highest good was to obey God. In the Proverbs of Solomon it is said: “My son, do not forget my instruction, and let your heart keep my commandments; for the length of days, years of life and peace they will apply to you." The Christian must always strive for such complete obedience to God, with which life finds its highest happiness, highest good, complete perfection, world.
Secondly, peace for the Jews meant true relationships between people, and this meant the complete absence of hatred and the concern of each person for the absolute good of his neighbor. The author of the letter says: “Try to live together as Christians should, in true unity, which comes from life in Christ.”
Man must seek the peace that comes from obedience to the will of God, which raises human life to a higher consciousness and helps to establish and live in right relationships with fellow human beings.
One more thing remains to be noted: it should pursuit to achieve this world. This requires effort: it does not happen by itself. This world is the result of a huge physical and mental labor and spilled sweat.
People are given the gifts of God, they are not given; they are needed conquer; because they can only be accepted on God's terms, the greatest of which is obedience to Him.
b) His goal should be holiness (hagiasmos). Word hagiasmos comes from the same root as the adjective hagios, which is usually translated as saint. The meaning behind this word is difference And separation. Although this man lives in the world, saint always in a certain sense different and separate from the world. He lives by different standards than the laity, and his behavior also differs from the behavior of others. He strives to establish a good relationship with God. Holiness, as Wescott defined it, is “preparing to enter into the presence of God.” The life of a Christian is subordinated to one great goal - to enter the presence of God.
a) This is, firstly, the danger of not seeing the Lord, lose the grace of God. The word used by the author can be expressed in words failure to keep up with God's grace. One of the early Greek commentators on the Bible uses the parallel of a group of travelers checking again and again, "Is anyone lost? Has anyone fallen behind while others hastened forward?" IN Mich. 4.6 There are these words: “In that day, says the Lord, I will gather up what is lame.” Moffat translates this as: "I will gather the stragglers." It is easy to fall behind, to be delayed on the way, to allow oneself to be passively led instead of going forward with a firm step, and thereby to lose the grace of God. After all, you can miss every opportunity. The grace of God gives us the opportunity to make ourselves and our lives what they should be. In his life's hibernation, in his madness, in his uncertainty, a person can miss the opportunity that the grace of God gives him. We must always be on guard against this.
b) Secondly, as the Bible says, the danger so that what a bitter root, having arisen, it did not cause harm. This phrase goes back to Deut. 29.18, where it talks about people who go to serve foreign gods, inclining other people to this and, thereby, exerting a bad influence on the life of the entire society. The writer of Hebrews warns against people who are bad influences. There are always people who consider Christian standards of life too rigid and pedantic; There are always those who see nothing wrong in turning again to worldly norms of life and behavior. This was especially common in the era of early Christianity. The Church at that time was a small island surrounded by a sea of paganism, and the members of the Church themselves had just come out of paganism, or, at best, their parents did. It was easy to fall away from the faith and return to the old norms. Therefore, the author of the letter warns against the infection of worldliness, which was sometimes deliberately, sometimes unconsciously, introduced into Christian communities.
c) Finally, there is danger become a fornicator or a wicked person. For the wicked, the writer of the letter used the Greek word babelos. This word has an interesting history and meaning. They designated unholy, unconsecrated land, as opposed to consecrated ground, dedicated. The ancient world had its own religions, which could only be entered into dedicated, accepted. And in a word babelos denoted a person uninitiated And uninterested, as opposed to pious And to the devotee. So, for example, they called Antiochus Epiphanes, who swore to destroy all true religion; This was the name given to apostate Jews who renounced God. Wescott believes that this word means a person who recognizes only earthly things, for whom nothing is sacred and who does not experience any reverence for the otherworldly. The wicked has no idea of the existence of God and no interest in the question of His existence. In his thoughts, goals, and pleasures, he limits himself exclusively to the earthly and concentrates his attention on it. We must carefully ensure that our worldview and the scope of our feelings are not narrowed to the exclusively worldly, for this path will inevitably lead us to the loss of honor and purity.
To illustrate his point more clearly, the author of the message cites Esau as an example. He brings two stories into one: Life 25.28-34; 27.1-39. According to the first, Esau, who came terribly hungry from the field, sold his birthright to Jacob for part of the food that the latter prepared. The second story tells how Jacob skillfully and cunningly stole Esau's birthright by impersonating him and thereby receiving from the old and blind Isaac the blessing intended for Esau, as the eldest of two sons. And when Esau wanted to receive the blessing that Jacob had cunningly obtained, and learned that this was now impossible, he lifted up his voice and wept.
But there is more behind this phrase than meets the eye. In the legends of the Jews and in the interpretations of the rabbis, Esau was presented as an exclusively carnal man, putting the needs of his flesh above the spiritual. According to Jewish legend, when Jacob and Esau - they were twins - were still in the womb, Jacob said to Esau: “My brother, there are two worlds ahead of us: this world and the world to come. In this world people eat and drink, trade and "They get married, raise sons and daughters; but in the world to come all this will not happen. If you want, take this world for yourself, and I will take the world to come." And Esau readily agreed to take this world for himself, because he did not believe that there was any other world, the world to come. According to Jewish legend, by the day Jacob cunningly obtained Isaac's blessing, Esau had already committed five sins: "... he swore to foreign gods, shed innocent blood, persecuted an betrothed maiden, denied the life to come and despised his birthright."
In the interpretation of the Jews, Esau was an exclusively carnal, sensual man who saw nothing but crude earthly pleasures. Every man who does this sells his birthright, for the man who throws away eternity throws away his inheritance.
According to the Bible, Esau I couldn’t change (my father’s) thoughts. The word used in the Greek text is metanoia, which literally means changing the way of thinking. Therefore, it would be better to say that Esau could not change his father's way of thinking. This does not mean that he was henceforth denied God's forgiveness; this simply states the sad fact that a person makes certain decisions once and for all: they cannot be changed, and certain consequences of these decisions cannot be eliminated even by God. Here is a simple example: if a young man loses his purity, and a girl loses her virginity, nothing can return it to them. The choice was made, the decision was made and it is irreversible. God can forgive and He wants to forgive, but He cannot turn back the clock.
A person must remember that some actions in life are irreversible. If, like Esau, we choose the way of this world, and elevate carnal things as the highest good, we will prefer temporal pleasures to the joys of eternity. God can and even wants to forgive, but something happens that can never be changed again. There are certain things in which a person cannot change his way of thinking, but must forever adhere to the choice made once and for all.
THE TERROR OF THE OLD AND THE GLORY OF THE NEW (Heb. 12:18-24)
This passage is a contrast between old and new, a contrast between the law given at Mount Sinai and the new covenant that Jesus brought. Before 12,21 echoes the story of Moses receiving the law on Mount Sinai. The Lord's announcement of His covenant is described in Deut. 4.11-12 like this: “You approached and stood under the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the very heavens, and was darkness, cloud and gloom. And the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire." Ref. 19.12-13 it says that the people could not approach and touch this terrible mountain: “And draw a line for the people on all sides, and say: beware of going up the mountain and touching its base; anyone who touches the mountain will be put to death; Let no hand touch him, but let him be stoned, or shot with an arrow; let him not live, either cattle or man. During the prolonged sound of the trumpet, they may ascend the mountain." In Deut. 5.23-27 It is said that the people were so frightened when they heard the voice of God that they asked Moses to go and bring them a message from the Lord: “If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we will die.” In Deut. 9.19 it speaks of the fear of Moses, but the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews connects the words of Moses with the moment he received the covenant, although (according to the biblical text) Moses spoke them after he came down from the mountain and found his people worshiping the golden calf. The entire passage before 12,27 brings to mind the story of the covenant at Mount Sinai. The author of the message brought together all the terrible places in order to emphasize the horror of the scene.
From the story of Moses receiving the law on Mount Sinai, the author emphasizes three points:
1. The absolute greatness of God. The Bible emphasizes the amazing power of God and does not talk about love at all.
2. The absolute unattainability of God. The path to God is simply closed: anyone who tries to approach Him must die.
3. Absolute horror before God. People feel nothing but awe of Him, afraid to look at Him and even hear Him.
But with 12,22 everything becomes different. In the first part of the passage - what people can expect in accordance with the Old Testament, concluded by God with the people of Israel - God, in lonely power, completely separated from people, causing numbing horror. But Christians were brought a new covenant and a new relationship with God.
1. First, a new heavenly Jerusalem awaits them. This world with its insolence, fears, secrets and divisions is passing, and the life of Christians is being built in a new way.
2. Next, tens of angels await them in the triumphant cathedral. The author used the word panegyrus(translated in the Bible as a triumphant council), meaning joyful folk holiday in honor of the gods. For the Greeks, it was a joyful, holy day when everyone celebrated and rejoiced. Such heavenly joys await Christians that even the angels rejoice.
3. God's chosen ones are waiting for them. To characterize them, the author of the message uses two different words. First, he calls them firstborns. Well, the first-born son inherits the estate and honor. And, besides, the author says that they names are written in heaven. In ancient times, kings kept lists of citizens loyal to them. Thus, all those whom the Lord has honored and whom He has singled out among His citizens are waiting for Christians.
4. God the Judge is waiting for Christians there. The writer of Hebrews never forgets that Christians must ultimately stand the test of God. Glory awaits them there, but reverent fear of God remains. The New Testament is never in danger of distorting the idea of God in any way, making Him more sentimental.
5. There, finally, the spirits of the righteous, who have achieved perfection and achieved their goals, await them. Once upon a time, the righteous seemed to surround them as they walked towards their goal with an invisible cloud, but now they themselves will partake of them and join them. And they themselves will be among those who are included in the list of honor in heaven.
6. Finally, the writer says that Jesus was the initiator of this new covenant, making this new relationship with God possible. It was He, the perfect High Priest and the perfect sacrifice, who made the inaccessible accessible, and He did this at the cost of His blood. And thus the passage ends with an interesting contrast between the blood of Abel and the blood of Jesus. When innocent Abel was killed, his blood on the ground called for revenge (Gen. 4:10); when the innocent Jesus was killed, His blood opened the way for people to reconciliation. His sacrifice allowed man to enter into an intimate relationship with God.
Once upon a time, people were terrified of the law; their relationship with God was characterized by chilling horror and inaccessibility. But after Jesus came, lived and died, God, who was so far away, became closer to people and the way to His presence was opened.
THE GREAT COMMITMENT (Heb. 12:25-29)
The author of the message continues his contrasts, which now take on the nature of a warning. Moses brought God's message, His immutable truths, to earth. The author uses the word chrematicein, indicating that Moses served only as a transmitter of the immutable truths of God, a mouthpiece through which God spoke, and yet the person who violated these commandments did not escape punishment. The author contrasts Jesus with Moses. In relation to Him he used the word lalein, implying the direct speech of God Himself. Jesus was not just an instrument that conveyed the voice of God, He was the voice of God. Well, since this is so, how much more surely will the punishment befall the one who refuses to obey Him? If a man deserves damnation for not keeping an imperfect message-law, how much more does he deserve it for breaking a perfect gospel-covenant? It is because the Gospel is the complete revelation of God that he who hears it bears a double and terrible responsibility; and his condemnation must be much greater if he violates it.
Further, the author of the message expresses another thought. When the law was given to the people, the earth shook: “Mount Sinai was all smoking because the Lord had descended on it in fire; and smoke rose from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain shook greatly.” (Ex. 19:18)."Behold the Lord, O earth, tremble; before the God of Jacob" (Ps. 113.7)."The earth shook, even the heavens melted at the presence of God" (Ps. 67:9)."The voice of Thy thunder was in the circle of heaven; lightning illuminated the world; the earth trembled and shook" (Ps. 76:19).
But the author of the message finds another mention of the shaking of the earth in Agg. 2.6. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament we read: “Once again, and this will be soon, I will shake heaven and earth, sea and dry land.” The author of Hebrews sees this as a notice of the day when our land will perish and come new Age. On that day everything that can be shaken will be destroyed; Only that which cannot be shaken will remain intact and unharmed, and first of all, our relationship with God.
Everything can perish; the earth, as we know, can be torn from its orbit and life can also cease, but one thing remains unchanged forever: the attitude of Christians towards God.
If so, we have a huge responsibility. We must honor God with reverence and serve Him in fear; for nothing should disturb this relationship, which will be our salvation when this world perishes. And the author of the message ends with one of the menacing quotes that he so often rains down like lightning strikes on his readers. He took this quote from Deut. 4.24. Moses tells them to never forget the covenant they made with God and not fall back into idolatry, because God is a jealous God. People must worship only Him, or they will see in Him a destroying fire. The author of the letter seems to be saying: “You have a choice: remain steadfastly faithful to God, and in the day when the universe is shaken and destroyed to its foundations, your relationship with Him will remain reliable and safe; or deceive Him, and then the God Who Could Be your salvation will become a destructive, consuming fire for you." This is a gloomy thought, but it contains an eternal truth: a person who is unfaithful to God loses everything. In time and in eternity, only loyalty to God matters.
Commentary (introduction) to the entire book of Hebrews
Comments on Chapter 12
There is no other book in the Scriptures about the author of which there would be so much controversy and the inspiration of which would be so indisputable. Conybear and Howson
Introduction
I. SPECIAL MECTO IN THE CANON
Hebrews is unique in the NT in many ways. Its beginning is completely uncharacteristic of the epistolary genre, which cannot be said about the end; it is quite obvious that it was sent either to Italy or from Italy (13:24) and was addressed to a specific group, in all likelihood, Jewish Christians. It has been suggested that it was originally addressed to a small house church and for this reason was not known to large and famous congregations who would have preserved traditions about its origin and addressee. The style of the Epistle is the most literary of all the books of the New Testament. It is poetic, full of quotations from the Septuagint. The author of the Epistle had great vocabulary and strictly adhered to the rules of the Greek language regarding verb tenses and other details.
Being in some sense very Jewish(it is often compared to the book of Leviticus), writing is very important for Christendom as a warning against leaving the true essence of the death of Christ for empty religious ritual.
The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews is unknown, although in many editions of the Synodal Translation of the Bible the name of the Apostle Paul is present in the title of the book. In the early Eastern Church (Dionysius and Clement, both from Alexandria) it was suggested that the author of the Epistle was Paul. After much hesitation, this point of view prevailed (starting with Athanasius), and in the end the West agreed with it.
However, in our time it is unlikely that anyone would argue that the author of the Epistle was Paul. Origen admitted that content the letters, as well as some details, were characteristically Pavlovian, but the style of the original is completely different from Paul’s style. (This is not, however, excludes the possibility that Paul was its author, because a literary genius can change his style.) Over the centuries, authorship has been attributed to seven different people: Luke, whose style is very similar to that of the Epistle and who was well acquainted with Paul's preaching; Barnabas, Silas, Philip and even Aquila and Priscilla.
Luther suggested that the author was Apollos, a man who was capable of writing a book of similar content and style: he knew the Scriptures of the OT very well and mastered the art of eloquence (he was from Alexandria, which was famous for its school of rhetoric). The argument against this theory is that this is not mentioned in any Alexandrian legend, which would hardly have been possible if a native of Alexandria had written this Epistle.
For some reason, the Lord found it necessary to leave the author's name unknown. It may well be that it was Paul who wrote this letter, but deliberately concealed his authorship due to the prejudice the Jews had towards him. And therefore, no one in all the centuries has added anything to the words of Origen, spoken in antiquity: “Who wrote this Epistle, only God knows with certainty.”
III. WRITING TIME
Although Human, the writer of the Message is unknown, time its spelling can be determined quite accurately.
External evidence suggests its appearance in the first century, since this book was used by Clement of Rome (circa 95). Although Polycarp and Justin Martyr quote from the Epistle, they do not name the author. Dionysius of Alexandria cites Hebrews as the work of Paul, Clement of Alexandria states that Paul wrote the letter in Hebrew and Luke translated it. (However, the book itself does not look like a translation.) Irenaeus and Hippolytus believed that Paul was not the author of the Epistle, while Tertullian believed that Barnabas was the author.
Based internal evidence gives the impression that the author is a second generation Christian (2.3; 13.7), so it is unlikely that it was written Very early, say, simultaneously with the Epistle of James or 1 Thessalonians (cf. 10:32). Since there is no mention of the Jewish Wars (which began in 66 AD) and, apparently, sacrifices were still being performed in the temple (8.4; 9.6; 12.27; 13.10), this letter was written before 66 AD And, without any doubt until the destruction of Jerusalem (70 AD).
Persecution is mentioned, but the believers “have not yet fought to the point of blood.”
If the letter was sent to Italy, then due to the bloody persecutions unleashed by Nero (64 AD), the date of writing of the Epistle moves to mid-64 AD at the latest.
It seems quite probable to us 63-65 AD.
IV. PURPOSE OF WRITING AND TOPIC
Overall, the book of Hebrews deals with the incredible struggles that accompany the transition from one religious system to another. This includes the pain of breaking old ties, the stress and tension of alienation, and the enormous pressure put on the apostate to force him to return.
But the problem at the center of this Message is not simply the transition from the old system to a new one that is equivalent to it. No, the question here was about the transition from Judaism to Christianity and, as the author shows, about leaving the shadow for the sake of substance, the ritual for the sake of the true essence, the preliminary for the final, the temporary for the permanent - in short, the good for the best.
But it was also a problem of moving away from the popular to the unpopular, from the majority to the minority, from the oppressors to the oppressed. And this gave rise to many serious difficulties.
The message was addressed to people of Jewish origin. These Jews heard the Gospel preached by the apostles and evangelists at the dawn of the Church, and saw the great miracles of the Holy Spirit that supported this preaching. They responded to the Good News in different ways.
Some believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and sincerely converted to Christianity.
Some claimed to have become Christians, were baptized, and took their place in local communities. Yet they were never regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God.
Others resolutely rejected the message of salvation.
In the Message we're talking about about the first two groups - Jews who truly found salvation, but who were far from Christianity.
When a Jew abandoned the faith of his fathers, he was looked upon as a renegade and apostate (“meshumed”), and faced one or more punishments: - disinheritance; - exclusion from the religious brotherhood of Israel; - job loss; - deprivation of property; - "psycho-terror" and physical torture; - becoming an object of universal ridicule; - imprisonment; - martyrdom.
There remained, of course, a road to retreat. If he renounces Christ and returns to Judaism, he will be freed from further persecution. Between the lines of this Message we read about some of the arguments that were used to convince the “renegade” to return to Judaism: - the rich traditions of the prophets; - the outstanding ministry of angels in the history of the ancient people of God; - intimacy with the famous lawgiver Moses; - national ties connecting a Jew with the brilliant military leader Joshua; - the glory of the Aaronic priesthood; - The Holy of Holies, the place chosen by God to dwell among His people; - the covenant of law given by God through Moses; - the God-ordained structure of the sanctuary and the magnificent veil; - services in the sanctuary and especially the ritual on the great Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur - the most important day in the Jewish calendar).
Before our eyes vividly rises the image of a Jew who lived at the dawn of our era, who describes all the glory of his ancient, rich in rituals religion, and then with a contemptuous grin asks: “What do you, Christians, have? We have all this. What do you have?” you? Nothing but an unpretentious upper room and a table with bread and wine on it! Do you really mean to say that you left all that for the sake of this?"
The book of Hebrews is actually an answer to the question: "What do you have?" And this answer is formulated in one word: "Christ". In him we have:
- The One who is greater than the prophets;
- The One who is greater than the angels;
- One who is greater than Moses;
- One who is greater than Joshua;
- Him whose priesthood is higher than the priesthood of Aaron;
- One who serves in a much better sanctuary;
- The One who introduced a much better covenant;
- Him Whose type was the construction of the tabernacle and the veil;
- The One whose sacrifice of Himself, completed once and for all, stands above the repeated sacrifices of bulls and goats.
Just as the stars fade in the rays of a sun brighter than themselves, so the types and shadows of Judaism fade in the rays of a more glorious person and work of the Lord Jesus than themselves.
But there was also the problem of persecution.
Those who declared their affiliation with the Lord Jesus faced fierce fanatical opposition. In view of this, true believers were in danger of losing heart and falling into despair. This means that they needed to be encouraged, encouraged not to lose faith in the promises of God. They must endure everything patiently in view of the coming reward.
Those who merely called themselves Christians were in danger of apostasy. Having once declared that they had accepted Christ, they could now categorically renounce Him and return to ritual religion. This is tantamount to trampling the Son of God underfoot, desecrating His Blood and insulting the Holy Spirit. There was no repentance or forgiveness for such a deliberate sin. The book of Hebrews warns against this sin again and again. 2:1 says that he who commits this sin disappears from the message of Christ; in 3:7-19 - that he rebels against God, or hardens his heart.
In 6.6 it is named fallen away or an apostate. In 10.25 this sin is called sin leaving the meeting, in 10.26 - sin arbitrary, or intentional. In 12:16 this sin is spoken of as selling his birthright for one food. Finally, at 12.25 he is named refusal to listen The One who speaks from heaven. But all these warnings are directed against different aspects of the same sin - sin apostasy.
The book of Hebrews is as relevant today as it was in the early days of the Church.
We need constant reminders of the eternal privileges and blessings that are ours in Christ. We need exhortation to endure everything patiently, regardless of any difficulties or opposition. All who call themselves Christians need a warning: do not return to ritual religion after you have tasted and seen how good the Lord is.
Plan
I. THE SUPERIORITY OF THE PERSON OF JESUS (1.1 - 4.13)
A. The superiority of Jesus over the prophets (1:1-3)
B. The superiority of Jesus over the angels (1.4 - 2.18)
C. The superiority of Jesus over Moses and Joshua (3.1 - 4.13)
II. THE SUPERIORITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD OF JESUS (4.14 - 10.18)
A. The superiority of the high priesthood of Jesus over the high priesthood of Aaron (4:14 - 7:28)
B. The Superiority of Jesus' Ministry over Aaron's (Chapter 8)
C. The superiority of Christ's sacrifice over the sacrifices of the Old Testament (9.1 - 10.18)
III. WARNING AND ADSURES (10.19 - 13.17)
A. Warning not to despise Christ (10:19-39)
B. An exhortation to faith using examples from the Old Testament (Chapter 11)
C. An Exhortation to Trust in Christ (Chapter 12)
D. Exhortation on various Christian virtues (13:1-17)
IV. FINAL BLESSING (13,18-25)
C. An Exhortation to Trust in Christ (Chapter 12)
12,1 We should not forget that this Epistle was written to persecuted and persecuted people. Leaving Judaism for Christianity, they encountered fierce resistance. The danger was great that they would interpret suffering as a sign of God's displeasure. They could lose heart and give up. Worse, they might be tempted to return to the temple and its rituals.
They should not have considered their suffering unique. Many of the witnesses described in chapter 11 suffered greatly because of their faithfulness to the Lord and yet endured. If they, not endowed with such enormous privileges as we, were able to show unshakable endurance, then what great patience should we, who have received all the benefits of Christianity, show? They surround us like great cloud of witnesses. This Not means that they are observing what is happening on earth. They witness to us through their lives of faith and patience and set an example for us to follow.
When reading this verse, the question invariably arises: “Can the saints in heaven see our life on earth or know what is in our hearts?” The only thing that can be stated with certainty is that they know when any sinner is saved: “I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of salvation.” repentance" (Luke 15:7).
The life of a Christian is a marathon race that requires discipline and endurance. We must throw away without regret everything that will hinder our movement. These can be things that, although harmless in themselves, nevertheless hinder progress: property, family ties, love of convenience, heavy lifting, etc. There are no words in the rules of the Olympic Games that prohibit an athlete from taking with him supply of provisions, but then he will not be able to win the race.
We have to overthrow oneself And sin besetting us. Any sin can be implied here, but especially the sin of unbelief. We must have complete faith in the promises of God, fully confident that the life of faith will certainly prevail.
The one in great danger is the one who believes that our field- not a particularly burdensome little exercise that everything in the Christian life is painted in rosy tones. We must be willing to move forward through trials and temptations.
12,2 Throughout the race we must, ignoring everything else, keep our eyes on Jesus, the most important of all those who have passed this distance. A. B. Bruce writes: “It is immediately apparent that Odin stands far above all the rest... The man who was the first to perfectly realize the idea of living by faith... resignedly enduring the cruel torment of the cross and, despite its shame, strengthened by faith, which so vividly saw the coming joy and glory that erased the awareness of the pain and shame now experienced."(A. B. Bruce, Hebrews, pp. 415-416.)
He - boss our faith in the sense that he gave us the only perfect example of what the life of faith should be.
He - performer our faith. He not only started this race, but also came to the finish line as a winner. The route of His race ran from heaven to Bethlehem, then to Gethsemane and Calvary, then to the grave and again to heaven.
Not once did He stumble or try to turn back. His eyes were fixed on the coming glory when all the redeemed would be with Him throughout eternity. This gave Him the strength not to think about shame and to endure suffering and death. Today He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
12,3 Here the picture changes from a race to a battle with sin. Our undaunted commander is the Lord Jesus; no one has yet suffered such a reproach against Himself, How is he. Whenever we are in danger become exhausted And weaken your soul we need to think about what He had to go through. Compared to this, all our troubles will seem trivial.
12,4 We are engaged in an endless battle with sin. But we still They didn’t fight until they bled, that is, not to death. He's dead!
12,5 Here is a Christian view of suffering. Why do persecutions, trials, illness, pain, grief and troubles invade the life of a believer? Do they signify God's anger or disapproval? Or does this happen by chance? How should we respond to them? These verses teach us that suffering is an integral part of the education of God's children.
Even though they do not come from God, He allows them into our lives and then takes control of them - to His glory, for our benefit and the blessing of others.
Nothing happens to a Christian by chance. Tragedies are blessings in disguise, and disappointments are an invitation to come to Him.
God uses life's adverse circumstances to transform us into the image of Christ.
So, the author instructs the first Jewish Christians to remember the words from the book of Proverbs (3:11-12), where God addresses them as sons. There He warns them not to despise His punishment and not to lose courage when confronted by His reproof. If they resist or give in, then the benefit of His educational measures will be reduced to zero, and they will not be able to learn anything.
12,6 Reading words such as “punishes”, “punishment”, we immediately think of punishment. But here punishment only means teaching, or raising, a child. Components This process is instruction, punishment, correction and prevention. Their main goal is to cultivate Christian virtues and eradicate evil. In these verses, punishment is not punishment for wrongdoing, but education through persecution. These verses from Proverbs clearly state that God's discipline is a proof of His love, and none of His sons can escape it.
12,7 Obediently accepting God's punishment, we allow His discipline to mold us into His image. If we try to hinder His educational measures, He will have to teach us further, using more effective, and therefore harsher, methods. In God's school there are also several levels, and we move to the next grade only when we have mastered the educational material of the previous one.
Therefore, when trials come upon us, we must realize that God treats us as sons.
If there is a normal relationship between father and son, then the father raises his son because he loves him and wishes him well. God loves us too much to let our development take its course.
12,8 In the spiritual realm, those who have not known the discipline of God - illegitimate children, not having with Him sons nothing in common. After all, the gardener does not prune the weeds, he prunes the vines. In this, the spiritual world lives by the same rules as the natural world.
12,9 Many of us were punished by our carnal parents. But we did not interpret this as a manifestation of hatred towards us. We understood that they cared about our well-being and respected them.
How much more We must show respect to education Father of spirits to live! God - Father(or Source) of all beings who are spirits or who have a spirit.
Man is a spirit living in a human body. By submitting to God, we can enjoy life in the true sense of the word.
12,10 The disciplinary measures of earthly parents are far from perfect. They are effective only for a limited period of time, that is, during childhood and adolescence. If they were not successful at that time, then they will no longer be useful. These measures were taken according to their will, according to what the parents thought was right. Sometimes they were quite mistaken about this.
God's punishment is always perfect. His love is endless, His wisdom is infallible. He never punishes according to His whim, but always - For our benefits. His goal is that we may share in His holiness.
Righteousness cannot be found anywhere except in the school of God.
Jowett notes: “The purpose of God’s punishment is not to punish, but to create. He punishes so that we may have a share in His holiness. The phrase “that we may have” contains a hidden indication of direction, and it points to a purified, ennobled life. The fire He kindled is not a bonfire, blazing carelessly and carelessly and devouring valuable things; it is a flame burning in the refining furnace, and near it sits the brickmaker, unflinchingly, patiently and tenderly melting holiness out of carelessness and stability out of weakness. God always creates, even when he uses the dim means of grace. He produces the fruits and flowers of the Spirit. His love is always in search of the beautiful."(J.H. Jowett, Life in the Heights, pp. 247-248.)
12,11 Right now, every punishment hurts. But after learning through him it produces the peaceful fruit of righteousness. This is why testimonies like Leslie Weatherhead's confession are often found: “Like everyone, I adore the sunny heights of life, abundant with health, happiness and success, but in the dank darkness of fear and defeat, I learned much more about God and about myself than I could have learned by swimming in sun rays. After all, treasures are kept in darkness. This darkness, thank God, is passing. But what you learn from it stays with you forever. “Trials,” wrote Bishop Fenelon, “which, as it seems to you, have come between you and God, will turn into bonds that bind you even more tightly to Him if you go through them in humility. Everything that shakes us to the core and hurts our pride , brings us more benefit than that which inspires and encourages us."(Leslie Weatherhead, Prescription for Anxiety, p. 32.)
Consider the testimony of C. H. Spurgeon: “I’m afraid that all the grace that I knew in my happy hours and minutes, free from worries and worries, would fit in the palms of children. But all the good that I brought out of times of sorrow, pain and sadness is truly immense. There is "Do I have anything good that hammer and anvil would not work on? Sorrow and disaster are the best decoration for my home."(C. H. Spurgeon, "Choice Gleanings Calendar.")
12,12 When faced with adverse circumstances in life, believers should not give up; their weakened faith may have a negative impact on others. Hanging hands must be fortified to serve the living Christ. Weak knees must gain strength for persistent prayer.
12,13 Limping legs should be aimed at straight paths of Christian discipleship. Williams writes: “Everyone who follows the Lord Jesus with all his heart tramples down this path for weak brothers; but he who does not follow Him always and in everything leaves ruts and potholes behind him and gives birth to spiritual cripples.”(George Williams, The Student"s Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, p. 989.)
G. H. Lang illustrated it this way: “Tired by the road and exhausted by the gusts of the storm, the traveler stopped, seized by the deepest despondency, shackled by lack of will. His shoulders are drooping, his arms are weak, his knees are buckling - he is ready to give up and sink to the ground. According to the author, a pilgrim of God can reach such a state. But now Another traveler approaches him and, radiating confidence, with a kind smile and firmness in his voice, says: “Cheer up, straighten up, stand firmly on your feet, gather your courage. You've already come a long way, don't give up what you earned through hard work. At the end of the road a palace awaits you. Look: there is a direct road to it; walk straight on it; ask the great Physician to heal you from your infirmities... Our Master has already walked this same difficult path to the palace of God; many before you have walked along it to the end; many are still on the way; you are not alone. Just don’t give up, keep going, and you will reach your goal and receive your reward.” Happy is he who knows with what words to strengthen the weary (Isa. 50:4). Happy is he who accepts words of exhortation (Heb. 13:22). And Thrice happy is he whose faith is so strong and simple that he does not doubt the Lord when His punishment is severe.”(G. H. Lang, The Epistle to the Hebrews, pp. 240-241.)
12,14 A Christian should do his best try to have peace with everyone people and at all times. But this instruction takes on particular importance during periods of persecution, when some leave the faith, when nerves are tense. At such moments, there is a great temptation to give vent to your disappointment and fear by lashing out at those closest to you.
We should also strive to holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. Oh what holiness does it say here? To find the answer to this question, it is necessary to remember that, speaking of the holiness of believers, the NT lists at least three types of it.
First of all, when converted, the believer gains holiness as far as he is concerned provisions before God; he is separated from the world for God (1 Cor. 1:2; 6:11). Through his unity with Christ he is sanctified forever. This is what Martin Luther meant when he said, “My holiness is in heaven.” Christ is our holiness as it pertains to our standing before God.
Is there some more practical sanctification (1 Thess. 4:3; 5:23). This is what we have to do day after day. We must move away from evil in all its forms. This holiness must increase, that is, we must become more and more like the Lord Jesus.
And finally there is perfect, or complete, consecration. It will be accomplished when the believer goes to heaven. There he will be freed from sin forever. His old nature will disappear, and his condition will be completely consistent with his position.
So, which one? holiness should we strive? We are undoubtedly talking about practical holiness. We do not need to strive for the holiness of our position before God: we acquire it automatically when we are born again. Nor do we strive for perfect holiness, which we will receive when we see His face. But practical or progressive holiness cannot be achieved without our obedience and cooperation. We must constantly work on this holiness. The fact that we must strive for it shows that in this life we will never master it in its entirety. (For a more detailed description of the various aspects of sanctification, see the commentary on verse 2:11.)
Wust writes: “The author addresses the born-again Jews who left the temple with the instruction to live so holy, to hold on to their newfound faith so tenaciously, that the unsaved Jews who also left the temple and seemingly accepted the truth of the New Testament would gain the strength to continue on their path to faith "into the Messiah as High Priest, instead of returning to the abolished sacrifices of the Levitical system. He warns these truly regenerate Jews lest by their limp in the Christian life they encourage the unsaved Jews to stray from the true path."(Wuest, Hebrews, p. 222.)
But the difficulty still remains! Is it really impossible for us to see the Lord without practical sanctification? Yes, to some extent this is true; but let us not interpret these words in such a way that we can earn the right to see the Lord by living holy. Our only ticket to heaven is Jesus Christ. This same verse says that practical holiness should be evidence that a person has achieved new life. If someone does not grow in holiness, they do not have salvation. If the Holy Spirit lives in a person, then He declares His presence by moving away from evil. The cause-and-effect principle reigns here: where Christ was accepted, rivers of living water will flow.
12,15 The next two verses seem to present four specific sins to be avoided. But at the same time, it is quite clear from the context that this is another warning against the sin of apostasy and that these four sins are most directly related to it.
Apostasy is, first of all, deprivation of oneself God's grace.
A man may appear to be a Christian by his appearance, and by his words, and by his name, but he has never been born again. He came close to the Savior, but did not accept Him; he is very close to Him and at the same time so far from Him.
Apostasy - bitter root A person turns away from the Lord with bitterness and renounces the Christian faith. His wickedness is contagious. By his complaints, doubts and denials are desecrated and others.
12,16 Apostasy is closely related to immorality. Anyone who calls himself a Christian can fall into the terrible sin of debauchery. Instead of admitting his guilt, he blames the Lord for everything and turns away from Him. The connection between apostasy and sexual sins is spoken of in 2 Peter 2:10/14/18 and Jude 8:16/18.
Finally, apostasy is a form of unbelief, as exemplified by Esau. For him, the birthright had no value; he readily exchanged it for a temporary satisfaction of hunger.
12,17 Esau later regretted losing his eldest son's right to a double share of the inheritance, but it was too late.
His father could not cancel the blessing.
So is the apostate. He does not value spiritual treasures very highly. He is ready to renounce Christ just to avoid reproaches, suffering or martyrdom. It is no longer possible to renew him through repentance. If we achieve anything, it will be only regret, and not repentance.
12,18 All who are tempted to return to the law should remember the horrifying events that accompanied the transmission of the law to the Israelites and learn spiritual lessons from them. Then it was a mountain Sinai, real, tangible, burning with fire.
She was hidden by a veil, or veil, through which everything was seen blurry, vague and unclear. A terrible storm broke out at the foot of the mountain.
12,19 To these natural disasters were added terrible supernatural phenomena. rang out trumpet sound, And voice thundered so threateningly that people began to beg for him to be silent.
12,20 Divine verdict that if the beast touches the mountain, he will be stoned, deprived them of all presence of mind. They understood that if this brought death to a dumb, thoughtless animal, then what can we say about those who understood this warning? (The words “or pierced by an arrow” are absent from most manuscripts, including the most ancient ones. Most likely they were added later.)
12,21 This vision was so terrible and it's scary that even Moses was in awe. All this eloquently testifies to the nature and ministry of the law. This is a revelation of God's righteous demands and His wrath against sin. The purpose of the law is not to give knowledge of salvation, but awareness of sin. He points to the gap between God and man that has opened up because of sin. This is a ministry of condemnation, darkness and gloom.
12,22 The believers proceeded not to the awe-inspiring horrors of Sinai, but to the radiant warmth of grace:
Mountain burning with fire, mystical cover
Disappeared forever along with our horror and guilt,
And conscience knew eternal peace and tranquility,
For there on high the Lamb sat on the throne.
(James G. Dec)
Now every blood-bought child
God can say: "All the terrors of the law and of God
They have nothing to do with me;
Obedience and the Blood of my Savior
Covered up all my crimes."
(O. M. Toplady)
"Essentially, we already We have arrived where we will actually remain for all eternity. The future has entered the present.
In today's day we own the future. On earth we own the heavens" ("Selected").
We do not come to a tangible mountain on earth. We are privileged to enter the sanctuary in heaven. By faith we draw near to God in confession, praise and prayer. We are not limited to just one day of the year, but can enter the Holy of Holies at any time in the full confidence that we will always find a warm welcome. God no longer says: “Don’t you dare come closer.”
He says, "Come without fear."
Law has its own Mount Sinai, but faith has itss. Mount Zion. This heavenly mountain symbolizes the combination of all the blessings of grace - all that has become ours through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
The law has an earthly Jerusalem, but faith has hail heavenly. This city of the living God, a city that has a foundation, the Artist and Builder of which is God.
When we enter into God's presence, we find ourselves in the midst of a most magnificent meeting. First of all, we are surrounded by myriads of angels who, although untainted by sin, cannot join in our hymn because they have not known the joy of salvation.
12,23 Then we get to the meeting firstborns written in heaven.
These are members Churches, The bodies and Brides of Christ who died after the day of Pentecost and now consciously enjoy the presence of the Lord. They await the day when their bodies will rise from the grave in glorified form and be reunited with their spirit.
By faith we see The judge of all is God.
He is no longer hidden by darkness and gloom; to the gaze of faith His glory is dazzling.
There are the saints of the Old Testament, the spirits of the righteous who have achieved perfection. Justified by faith, they stand in spotless purity, because the whole value of Christ's work is credited to their account. They also await the moment when the grave will give up what has been stored in it for centuries and they will receive glorified bodies.
12,24 There and Jesus, Mediator of the New Testament. There is a big difference between Moses as the mediator of the Old Covenant and Jesus as the Mediator of the New Covenant. Moses served as a mediator simply by receiving the law from God and communicating it to the people of Israel. In performing the sacrifice that sealed the covenant, he was the representative of the people.
Christ the Mediator New Testament in an incomparably higher sense. Before God could make this covenant on a righteous basis, the Lord Jesus had to die. He had to seal this covenant with His own Blood, to give Himself as a ransom for many (1 Tim. 2:6).
By His death He secured the blessings of the new covenant for His people. His endless life is their guarantee of these blessings.
By His service at the right hand of God He guards His people to enjoy these blessings in a hostile world. All these are components of His work as Mediator.
Marked by the wounds of Calvary, the Lord Jesus was exalted to take his place at the right hand of God as Prince and Savior.
Oh, how I love to look at Him,
In the height of heaven, seated on the throne.
Soon the saints will share in all His glory,
The Lamb who ascended the cross of Golgotha.
(James G. Dec)
Finally there is Blood of sprinkling, speaking better, than the blood of Abel.
By ascending, Christ presented all value to God Blood, poured out by Him on the cross. There is no reason to believe that He literally brought His Blood into heaven, but the virtues of His Blood became known in the sanctuary. J. G. Dec expressed this truth in verse:
His precious Blood
The throne was sprinkled;
His wounds were announced to all heaven,
That the work of salvation is completed.
His precious Blood contrasted with blood Abel. Whether we understand by Abel's blood the blood of his sacrifice or his own, shed by Cain, the voice of the Blood of Christ sounds much more merciful. The blood of Abel's sacrifice said: "Temporarily covered", the Blood of Jesus proclaims: "Forgiven forever."
The blood of Abel screamed: "Vengeance!" The blood of Jesus cries out: "Mercy, forgiveness, peace."
12,25 The final verses of chapter 12 compare God's revelation at Sinai with His revelation in and through Christ. The unparalleled privileges and glories of the Christian faith are not to be taken lightly. God speaks, invites, persuades. To reject Him means to perish.
12,26 At Sinai, the voice of God caused an earthquake. But when He speaks in the future, His voice will shake the heavens. This is exactly what was predicted by the prophet Ageus (2:6): "...once again, and this will be soon, I will shake heaven and earth, sea and dry land."
This upheaval will take place between the rapture and the end of Christ's kingdom. Before Christ comes to establish His Kingdom, heaven and earth will be shaken by a series of natural disasters. The planets will leave their orbits, which, in turn, will cause huge tsunamis in the oceans and cause the sea to overflow its banks. Then, at the end of the Millennial reign of Christ, a terrible heat will destroy the earth, heaven and space (2 Pet. 3:10-12).
12,27 Speaking "again", God foretold the complete and final destruction of heaven and earth. This event will shatter to smithereens the myth about the reality of only what we can see and touch, what we can control, and therefore the unreality of everything invisible. When the hesitation and upheaval are over, only that which was truly real will remain.
12,28 All caught up in the tangible, visible rituals of Judaism clung to things that would be shaken. True believers have a kingdom that cannot be shaken. This should inspire us to the most earnest worship and admiration. We must continually praise Him with awe and fear.
12,29 God is a consuming fire for all who refuse to listen to Him. But even for God's people, His holiness and righteousness are so great that they should inspire the deepest reverence and reverence in our hearts.
CHAPTER 12
1. So, surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also remove every hindrance - that is, sin that hinders us from moving forward - and, showing endurance, continue to run in the race set before us,
2. Looking at the Originator and Finisher of this trust, Yeshua, who, in exchange for the joy offered to him, was executed on the stand like a criminal, despised dishonor and sat down at the right hand of God's throne.
Looking, as a runner looks toward the finish line, to the Author (Eph. 2:8) and Finisher of our trust, Yeshua, or, as other translations say, “Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Synod .trans.). Comparison of Yeshua with the beginning and the end, aleph And tav, can be found in the Book of Revelation 1:8, 21:6, 22:13. His “endurance” (v. 1) is an example for us: think about him (v. 3; cf. Phil. 2:5). He, in exchange for the joy offered to him as a reward (10:35), was executed on the stand like a criminal (see Matthew 10:38N and Phil. 2:8), despising the dishonor that is described in more deep level in Phil. 2:6-11. Believers should not despise those who dishonor them, but the dishonor itself (cf. 1 Ceph. 4:16).
At the right hand of God's throne, or "in the place of glory near God's throne" (Living Bible). See point (7) in the note to 1:3, and also 1:13. Mat. 22:44.
3. So that you do not become weak and discouraged, think of someone who has experienced similar hostility from sinners.
4. In the contest against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your own blood.
Verses 3-4 Compare 4:15, which says that Yeshua, like us, “was subject to all sorts of temptations, but the only difference was that he did not sin.”
Don't lose heart. This expression anticipates the Tanakh passage quoted in v. 5-6.
5. Moreover, you have forgotten the advice that is offered to us as sons: " Do not reject the punishment of Adonai, my son, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you.
6. For whom Adonai loves, he punishes, and beats everyone whom he considers a son.”
7. Consider what you endure as a punishment; God treats you as sons. Is there a son who is not punished by his father?
God treats you as sons. Israel as a whole is called the son of God (Exodus 4:22, Hosea 11:1, Matt. 2:15&N, Rom. 9:4&N); but moreover, every believer, whether Jewish or not, is also, on an individual level, a son of God because of his oneness with God's only begotten Son, Yeshua the Messiah (Rom. 8:14-19,29; Gal. 4:1-7 ; Rev. 21:7).
8. All legitimate sons are punished; and if this does not happen to you, then you are not a son, but mamzer!
In Rabbinic Judaism the word mamzer is a technical term referring to a child born from a marriage prohibited in Leviticus 18. By extension, it means "illegitimate son" and has a strong connotation of contempt. See Yn. 9:34&com.
9. Further, if we were disciplined by our parents according to the flesh, and we respected them, how much more must we submit to our spiritual Father in order to live!
10. After all, they did not punish us for long, doing everything in their power; He punishes us in such a way that it brings us true benefit and gives us the opportunity to join in His holiness.
11. Any punishment, while we endure it, burdens us and does not please us; for those who are taught it, it subsequently bears the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Verses 9-11. The discipline of Adonai, our spiritual Father, produces the fruit of holiness (see v. 14) and righteousness (5:13; 10:38; 11:4,7,33).
12. Therefore, strengthen your weak hands and shaking knees;
13. And also make a path for your feet; so as not to dislocate the damaged, but to heal.
Verses 1-13. In addition to summing up the discussion of trust begun in 10:35, verses 1-4 contain the idea that believers in Yeshua are engaged in a contest against sin (vv. 1,4). requiring endurance (vv. 1-3, 7). Endurance implies that when faced with the suffering, troubles and failures that are inevitable in the life of a believer (Acts 14:22, Jn. 16:33), we should regard them as the punishment of Adonai (vv. 5-13 represent a lesson on this topic, in which verses 5-6 are the basis text, and then, in 7-8, 9-10 and 11-13, three arguments are presented). Only then do we exercise the “obedience based on trust” (Rom. 1:5,16:26), which is the goal of the gospel.
In the competition offered to us (v. 1), which is “doing the good works God has prepared beforehand for us” (Eph. 2:10), Shaul (Paul) used sports metaphors when writing to the Greeks (1 Cor. 9:24 -27, Phil. 3:12-14, 2 Tim. 4:7-8), for whom athletic competition was an integral part of life. However, the author of this letter writes to Jews, and for them at that time such competitions seemed more like Hellenistic paganism (see 1 Maccabees 1:10-15). However, the rabbis made comparisons with gladiators (Exodus Rabbah 30:24), wrestlers (Genesis Rabbah 22:9), and other athletes. The language of sports metaphors used in Art. 1-4, repeated in Art. 11-13, where the author compares believers to athletes in training who tend to their injuries so they can continue to perform effectively in their sport.
Verses 12-13. A striking contrast with Art. 1: The author is no longer encouraging those who run, but is addressing those who can barely walk due to physical and social disadvantage, emotional crippling, or spiritual backsliding.
Strengthen your weak hands, that is, gradually develop your spiritual capacity for obedience based on trust in God (Rom. 1:5).
Strengthen your shaking knees, that is, control your emotions, stop being afraid of the world.
Forge a path. " Guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake"(Psalm 22:3). Make your physical and social environment such that you can work for good in it, do not expose yourself to excessive temptations and undertake only what you can accomplish.
For your feet. Isaiah writes about the wicked: “ Their feet run towards evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood” (Isaiah 59:7; cf. Rom. 3:15). And about the Servant of God he says: “How beautiful are the feet of the evangelist on the mountains, proclaiming peace, bringing joy, preaching salvation! ” (Isaiah 52:7; cf. Rom. 10:15).
Anyone who is wounded or bruised in any of these respects and is careless about it may dislocate the wound, so that ultimately “the man becomes worse than he was before” (Matthew 12:46). If he pays due spiritual attention to such a problem, the damaged person will be healed.
14. Strive for shalom with everyone and for holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.
Strive for shalom (cf. Ps. 33:15) with everyone (cf. Rom. 12:18).
15. See that no one is deprived of God's grace, so that no root of bitterness appears and causes harm and infects many,
Bitter root. At the conclusion of the treaty between God and “all Israel” (Deut. 29:1), Moses warned the Israelites: “ Shouldn't be among you[those]... whose heart would turn away from Adonai... who would go and bow to the gods of these nations. There shall not be among you a root whose fruit is gall and wormwood (contrast this with the “peaceful fruit of righteousness,” v. 11 above), such a person who, having heard the words of this curse(Deut. 28:15-68), I would bless myself in my heart and say: I will have peace, even if I do according to the discretion of my heart... Adonai will not agree to forgive such a person” (Deut. 29:17-20) .
16. And lest among you there be any dissolute people, or wicked people, like Esau, who exchanged his birthright for food.
17. You know that later, wanting to receive a blessing from his father, he was rejected, and although he asked with tears, his repentance did not help him.
Although he asked with tears, his repentance did not help him. If we accept this translation, then it says that although in the interval between Gen. 25:27-34 and Gen. 27:30-41 Esau repented; this did not help him persuade his father, Isaac, to bless him with the blessing that he had reserved for his firstborn. However, the Greek text may also mean the following; “Although [Esau] begged with tears that his father would change his mind, his efforts were unsuccessful,” partly because a blessing once given could not be returned. Regardless of which translation is correct, we see that it is impossible to undo the consequences of sin.
Even if we are talking about Esau's repentance, neither here nor in the Book of Genesis it is implied that it was sincere. His tears were not caused by pain, suffering, which was perceived “as it is perceived by God,” contributed to “forsaking sin and returning to God, which leads to salvation” (2 Cor. 7:10). Rather, his “repentance” (Greek. metanoia, - “change in attitude, thoughts”; see com. to Mat. 3:2) was that he valued his rights as the firstborn (Genesis 27) after having long despised them (Genesis 25). Thus, although some translations support this understanding, there is no reason to conclude from this passage that it is “too late to repent” or too late to turn from sins and turn to God. This kind of attitude is just an excuse to continue sinning. It is never too late, God is always ready to embrace us in His arms, His goal has always been for “all to turn from their sins” (2 Ceph. 3:9).
Verses 14-17. To holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. This is the beginning of a warning that will culminate in Art. 29. Those people who do not want to listen to him, who believe that their intellectual recognition of the existence of God and the Messiahship of Yeshua, not accompanied by good works and submission to the will of God, gives them a “pass to heaven”, will be shaken up and disappointed (cf. Yaak 2:19-20, Rev. 20:15).
18. You have not come to a tangible mountain, to a blazing fire, to darkness, gloom and storm,
Theophany (the manifestation of God to mankind) was often accompanied by fire (Exodus 13:21, Judges 13:20, 1 Kings 18:38), darkness (Genesis 15:12; Exodus 10:21-22, 14:20; 1 Kings 8:12 ; Joel 3:4 (2:31); Amos 5:18) and a storm (Nahum 1:3; Job 37:9, 38:1; Zechariah 9:14).
19. not to sound shofar and a voice that uttered words, hearing which people prayed that nothing more should be said to them,
The sound of the shofar will be heard at the end of days during the final manifestation of God's glory (Isaiah 27:13, Zechariah 9:14), which in the New Testament is more specifically identified with the Second Coming of the Messiah (Matt. 24:31, 1 Cor. 15:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16&N).
When God gave the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 5:6-18), which in the Torah are called the “ten words” (Decalogue; Deut. 4:13), all the people of Israel heard His voice, and prayed that they would not be told anything more, but only Moses as their representative. This is described in Deuteronomy 4:10-13, 5:20-25 and 18:16-17 (in the passage where God promises to raise up a prophet like Moses; according to Acts 3:22-23&N, Yeshua fulfilled this prophecy).
20. because they could not bear what was commanded them: " Even if an animal touches the mountain, it will be stoned",
21. And the sight was so terrifying that Moshe said: " I'm in fear and trembling".
Moshe said, “I am in fear and trembling.” Not only the whole people, but also Moses himself was afraid. However, by quoting the words of Moses, spoken not on Mount Sinai, but upon his return and discovery of the golden calf (Deut. 9:14-19), the author of Messianic Jews shows that Moses, after personal communication with God, experienced a healthy fear of Him (Proverbs 1:7, 9:10), and not only while receiving the Torah, but also subsequently, throughout your life. By this the author wants to say that the same should happen to us. We who have once believed in Yeshua must not weaken our zeal in the future.
Verses 18-21. During the giving of the Torah to the people of Israel, the sight of Mount Sinai inspired awe, which reflected God's holiness. See Exodus 19:16-20, 20:15-18 (18-21); Deuteronomy 4:10-13.
22. No, you have approached Mount Zion, that is, the city of the living God, the heavenly Yerushalayim; to the assembly of tens of thousands of triumphant angels;
Ha Gope Zion, King David placed the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6:2); in the New Testament, Yochanan sees Yeshua, the Lamb, “standing on Mount Zion” (Rev. 14:1). Already in the Tanakh, Mount Zion is identified with the city of the living God, Jerusalem:
"Great is Adonai and highly glorified in the city of our God, on His holy mountain. Beautiful is the height, the joy of the whole earth, Mount Zion, on the edge of the northern (side) - the city of the great King." (Psalm 47:2-3)
However, this identification goes beyond the earthly Jerusalem and also applies to the heavenly Jerusalem (Gal. 4:25-26, Rev. 21:2), about which the author speaks in more detail in 11:10,13-16ff; 13:14. The idea that spiritual truth as it appears here on earth is but a shadow of the heavenly original is found again and again in the letter (8:5&N; 9:11&N, 23- 24&N; 10:1&N).
Tens of thousands of angels. " The Lord walked... with ten thousand saints" in heaven to give the Torah on Mount Sinai(Deut. 33:2).
To the gathering... of those celebrating. From 1:14, Dan. 7:10, Luke. 2:13-15 and Rev. 5:11-12 we learn that the purpose of this meeting is to serve God and His people.
23. to the community of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven; to the Judge, who is God for all; to the spirits of the righteous who have achieved their goal;
Community, Greek ekklesia; see com. to Mat. 16:18.
Perventsev. Yeshua is “exceeding all creation,” literally “the firstborn of creation” (Col. 1:15&N).
“Moreover, he is the head of the Body, the Messianic Community, he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, which gives him the opportunity to be first in everything” (Col. 1:18). Finally, he is “the firstborn among many brethren,” who are to follow his example and be like him (Rom. 8:29), with the result that they themselves become firstborn in the sight of God and receive all the rights that accompanies that status according to the Bible (v. 16 above). God originally gave Israel the status of firstborn (Exodus 4:22). By extending this status to believers as a whole, God deepens the identity between the Messianic Community and Israel (see Rom. 11:25-26&N, Gal. 6:16&N, Eph. 2:11-16&N). ).
Whose names are written in heaven in the Book of Life (see Rev. 20:12N).
To the Judge, Who is God for everyone. There is no way to avoid meeting God, the “righteous Judge” (2 Tim. 4:8&N); many passages of the New Testament and Tanakh confirm that every single one will appear before him at the Day of Judgment; see Rev. 20:11-15. God has entrusted judgment to the Messiah Yeshua (Yn. 5:22&N, 27-30; Acts 17:31; Rom. 2:16).
To the spirits of the righteous (11:4,7,33), who have reached the goal (7:11N), like us (11:39-40), thanks to Yeshua, the Finisher of our trust (that is, the one who brings this trust to goals, art. 2).
24. to the mediator of the new agreement, Yeshua; and to the blood of sprinkling, which speaks better than the blood of Hevel.
To the mediator of the new agreement, Yeshua. Wed. 7:22, 8:6-13.
To the blood of sprinkling, the blood of Yeshua. Wed. 9:12-14, 19-21; 10:19-21; 13:13-15. Which speaks of better things than the blood of Hevel (see 11:4&N). Abel was the first of those who died (Genesis 4:3-10), Yeshua was the last (since his death has no time limits): Yeshua's blood brings life (Leviticus 17:11), but Abel's blood brought only death. See com. to 1 Kef. 1:2.
25. See, do not reject the Speaker! Think about it, if those who rejected Him did not escape [punishment] when He gave His revelation on earth, much less will we escape if we turn away from Him while He warns us from heaven.
Especially not... Argument Kal Wehomer(Matt. 6:30N), supported by Art. 26.
26. Even then His voice shook the earth, but now He made the following promise: " Once again I will shake the earth, and, moreover, the sky!"
Even then, on Mount Sinai, His voice shook the earth. Compare Book. Judges 5:4-5; Psalms 67:9, 77:19, 113:7.
27. The words “once again” mean that everything that can be shaken, having been created, will be removed so that what cannot be shaken will remain.
28. Therefore, since we have received an unshakable Kingdom, let us maintain the grace whereby we can please God by the service we perform with reverence and fear.
Let's keep grace. Let us accept the gift of His Son, whose sacrificial death atones for our sins, rather than clinging to animal sacrifices that have become ineffective, or any other means of influencing God to obtain the status of righteousness in His eyes. Although animal sacrifices were originally prescribed by God's grace, now, after Yeshua's sacrificial death to atone for sins, these sacrifices are useless, and the offerer tries to earn righteousness by works.
By accepting God's grace, we can please God with our service. Word avoda in Hebrew means "work", "labor", "service", but is also used as a technical term for the service of sacrifice in the Tabernacle or Temple; Wed 13:15, Rom. 12:1. Chapter 13 summarizes everything that goes into such service pleasing to God.
29. For " Our God is a consuming fire!"
See also 10:31,12:18.
Verses 18-29. As in 2:1-4, the author, by comparing Mount Sinai (vv. 18-21) and the spiritual Mount Zion (vv. 22-24), shows all those numerous aspects, explicitly or implicitly indicated in previous chapters, in which the messianic Judaism with Moshe and Yeshua is superior (see the second paragraph of the note on 1:2-3) to traditional Judaism, which recognizes Moshe but does not recognize the messiahship of Yeshua.
In both cases the same God reveals Himself, His promises and demands. One can come to the only possible conclusion: " See, don't reject the Speaker(vv. 25-29) through Moshe then and through Yeshua now. As the Shema succinctly says: “Adonai is One” (Deuteronomy 6:4), therefore, anyone who rejects the God Yeshua rejects the God of Moses (this understanding is reflected in many places in the New Testament, including Luke 16:29-31, 24:25-27; John 1:45, 5:45-46, 9:28-41; Acts 3:22-23, 26:22-23, 28:23-27; Rom 3:29- 31, 10:4-10; 2 Cor. 3:6-16; Me. 3:1-6; Rev. 15:3). The penalty for rejecting God is terrible, for although He is merciful to those who trust in Him, our God is a consuming fire (v. 29; cf. Exodus 34:6-7, Mark 9:43-49, Rev. 20: 11-15).
Verses 12:1-13:19. The last of the author's five instructions (see 2:1-4N) is the longest. Chapter 12 emphasizes the negative, culminating in a stern warning in v. 25-29, and chapter 13, on the contrary, pays special attention to the positive.
12:1
Therefore we, having such a cloud of witnesses around us, let us lay aside every burden and the sin that besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Having such an example of the faith of the ancient ministers, Christians are simply ashamed to think that they will not cope with their Christian field - with the task of evangelism and becoming righteous in order to shine as children of God throughout the whole world throughout their lives. It cannot be that an obstacle for a Christian is hereditary sinfulness: a Christian can overcome sin and cope with any God’s assignment if he wants to do this, he just needs to be patient.
12:2
looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith
,
Christians have such an inspiring example of patiently walking their life's path - the leader and founder of faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ, that, focusing on him, it is possible to strengthen yourself in any difficulties, maintaining the desire to follow in his footsteps with strong faith that the direction of life's path has been chosen correctly regardless of the difficulties that one has to face, following this direction in life
Which, instead(for the sake of) presenting(future)
It is his joy that he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus Christ, for the sake of a future in which all humanity will cease to suffer, agreed to endure his path of self-sacrifice, not paying attention to the glory of the blasphemer about him, and was able to endure it without losing heart. And as a result, he sits next to God in heaven: can’t such an example strengthen a Christian who is downcast from facing problems? Maybe.
12:3
Think about Him who endured such reproach from sinners, so that you do not grow weary and weakened in your souls.
It is enough for a Christian to reflect on the great example of the strength of faith in a happy future and the steadfastness of Christ, and this will help strengthen his determination to endure everything that befalls him on the path to God, maintaining optimism and a more or less joyful spirit. After all, Christ was able to withstand the most cruel reproach of himself from those for whom he died. This means that Christians will be able to withstand any reproaches of this world, moving towards God in the footsteps of Christ
12:4
You have not yet fought to the point of blood, struggling against sin.
,
After all, the difficulties that Christians face are much less than the difficulties that Christ endured: Jesus fought to remain faithful to God and not sin until he shed his own blood.
But the congregation of Jews has not yet suffered anything like this; not to the point of shedding their blood, each of them struggled not to sin.
12:5
and have forgotten the consolation that is offered to you as sons: my son! do not despise the Lord’s punishment, and do not lose heart when He reproaches you.
Judging by these words, the Jewish Christians lost heart and became despondent when faced with some difficulties, overcoming which would help them strengthen in their Christian path. Paul's denunciation that they were somehow mishandling their difficulties seemed to be unpleasant to them and was perceived as punishment: no one likes to be reprimanded for something.
Paul speaks of their despondency from denunciations God (this is His punishment for the Jews to whom Paul was addressing), it means that the Jews encountered trouble because of perhaps incorrect behavior, and the sad result was not long in coming: perhaps the bad consequences themselves convicted them of wrongness chosen path and punished them with troubles; and then Paul also denounced, in general, the Jews accepted the admonitions with discouragement and without joy.
In cases where we encounter troubles due to violation of God’s commandments, we should not be discouraged, because the bad consequences themselves, by punishing us, help us improve, at least for the future. It is always necessary to learn useful lessons from mistakes, for everything that happens to a Christian works for his good, for his benefit, since it is going through trials towards the intended goal that tempers a Christian, makes him a strong person who does not break from stumblings and even from falls .
12:6
For the Lord punishes whomever he loves; he beats every son whom he receives.
During the period of validity of V.Z. God punished His disobedient people and the pagans who oppressed Israel according to the flesh - literally (with droughts, pestilences, devastation, etc.)
In the era of N.Z. God does not punish "pagans" (worldly people of this wicked age): Since Christ has redeemed everyone, He is patient with everyone, waiting for the “pagans” to turn to Him.
And God punishes His people - Christians who worship Him ( whom he loves, he punishes)
But how?
As shown above, Jews were punished through reproof and unpleasant consequences for their wrong behavior. Also, for His new people, God provided for the structure of a meeting in which shepherds represent the court of God - according to His will, so that those who do wrong will be corrected and alive.
God does not protect Christians from the bad consequences of their wrong actions, for it is not His will to put a “feather bed” on them and isolate them from evil. But the presence of these difficulties helps God to identify who is who among those who call themselves Christians, and to Christians themselves to prove to God that they are His sons who will not give in to despondency at the very first trials.
Any father is interested in his son correcting his bad character traits and actions, so the son, when he is wrong, has to endure punishment from his father and correct himself. Moreover, our heavenly Father is interested in the fact that His children ( whom He loves) throughout their entire life’s journey were formed into obedient, righteous, strong-spirited His sons. And successfully passing trials through ups and downs, mistakes and difficulties - all this makes a Christian an adult, mature, with a valuable baggage of accumulated experience as a son of God.
12:7
If you suffer punishment, then God treats you as sons. For is there any son whom his father does not punish?
Therefore, if a Christian faces tests of faith, fails the test, sins, and then suffers trouble from his own mistakes (for example, he receives reproach in the assembly, 2 Thessalonians 3:14, or - he is expelled from the assembly, 1 Cor. 5:5,9-11) - then he should perceive them as just a means to strengthen God’s spirit in himself, as the care of a loving Father who is interested in him finding the strength and wisdom in himself to do the right thing and correct himself.
By doing the right thing with each new trial and learning from the consequences of wrong steps (punishment), a Christian will certainly mature and grow stronger in faith so that God can rely on him.
Let us remind you: punishment from God includes reproof, bad consequences of sins and disciplinary punishments in Christian meetings: any father reprimands his son when he is disobedient and “puts him in a corner.”
12:8
If you remain without punishment, which is common to everyone, then you are illegitimate children, not sons.
No father would punish a neighbor's boy for disobeying him: a father is interested in his own son obeying him.
Moreover, the heavenly Father, who allowed everyone in this age to walk their own paths with almost impunity on His part, without carrying out a quick judgment on their evil deeds (Eccl. 8:11), will not punish strangers to Him, other people’s children who do not recognize their Father in Him (worldly people, we recall from the text 12:6,
God,does not punish: they are like other people’s children to Him until they turn to Him)
He is only interested in His children (Christians who worship Him), He is only interested in their obedience, which is why he allowed them into the world of evil for hardening: it is easy to be righteous in the company of the righteous. But the task of a Christian is to remain righteous and listen to his Father - in a world filled with evil.
Therefore, if Christians encounter difficulties because of their mistakes, if they are punished in the congregation for misdeeds, or if their conscience torments them, then we can rejoice in this: it means that the Father is working on raising His children and has not yet lost interest in them.
12: 9,10
Moreover, [if] we, being punished by our carnal parents, were afraid of them, then should we not much more submit to the Father of spirits in order to live?
The Father of spirits is God the Creator, the Father of Jesus Christ, the rest of the spiritual world (celestial beings) and Christians
Regarding parents, an amazing paradox sometimes arises. Children from Christian congregations sometimes fear their parents much more than they fear God. Why? Because parents will punish immediately as soon as they find out about the offense, and God - someday later...
This is where faith in the invisible and how real and close God is for a Christian comes into play.
It is reasonable to fear the heavenly Father more than carnal parents: Their punishments are “little flowers” compared to how God can punish if he completely turns away from His disobedient son.
And if obedience to our parents brought us temporary benefit (the satisfaction of our parents with all that entails), then obedience to the heavenly Father will bring us eternal benefit:
10 They punished us according to their will for a few days; and He is for our benefit, so that we may have a share in His holiness.
Our parents punished us at their own discretion, and their punishment did not necessarily motivate us to improve and become better.
And the punishment of the heavenly Father helps Christians become better, achieve spiritual maturity and the inner state of holiness of His sons.
For example, God loved David and therefore did not remain silent, but punished him every time David was carried away. Was this for David's benefit or not?
For good. This did not allow David to fall asleep in spirit and completely move away from God. Now let's imagine that God does not punish. At the same time, a person relaxes and serves God as he pleases, arbitrarily choosing for himself what to do and what not. Is this for the benefit of man? No, because he is carried away.
12:11
Any punishment at the present time seems not to be joy, but sadness;
There is little joy when you cannot relax, do whatever you want and still feel comfortable. But it is precisely because God does not want us to relax and finds ways to admonish sinning Christians that a Christian can overcome the flesh, becoming more righteous in the eyes of God.
It is clear that few people like to endure the difficulties of punishment for disobedience. For example, the fornicator from Corinth probably found it unbearable to live without the opportunity to communicate with his congregation (he was depressed by excessive sadness - 2 Cor. 2: 7-11)
but afterward he brings to those who are taught the peaceful fruit of righteousness
.
However, such a measure helped him to come to his senses in time, correct himself, leaving his wrong way of life, and return to the congregation. The life experience that this Christian acquired while wandering outside of God’s people is priceless for him: before that, he only knew that it was impossible to commit fornication and act against the principles of God. Now he is UNDERSTOOD forever.
There is a huge difference between acquiring theoretical knowledge and gaining understanding from personal practical experience, as Job wrote:
I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; now my eyes see You;
(Job 42:5)
You can, of course, be obedient to your Father simply because He is the Father, and this is a rare gift. Or you can - by being convinced from your own experience and realizing that He is right.
12:12,13
So strengthen your drooping hands and weak knees.
Paul smoothly moved from words of consolation to scolding Jewish Christians because they had become weak in spirit and despondency had consumed them due to some problems. Well, let’s say you made a mistake, stumbled or even fell - so what? This can happen to anyone going to God because the path to Him is narrow and thorny, not a walking alley.
How can you strengthen it? Showing according to Scripture the hope for better deliverance and that God sees the situation of a weak brother or sister, and therefore will not allow him (her) to be tempted beyond his strength. Dejection is also a temptation from the devil to give up everything and get carried away by self-pity instead of continuing to serve God.
A Christian should not allow himself to remain in prolonged despondency: he was a little sad, lamented that he stumbled and his legs gave way, and then he must straighten himself out:
13 And walk straight with your feet, so that what is lame may not be turned aside, but rather be made straight.
Those who limp along God's path and stumble have two possible options for continuing themselves: to completely break in faith and fall, or to balance their strength and strengthen their legs, so as not to fall, but to rise, not to bend completely, but to straighten up, correcting their behavior.
But even if someone falls in faith, it is always better not to remain in the position of the fallen, but to rise and continue the path to God:
because in reality, the fallen always strives to rise, no one remains in the position of the fallen - for the rest of his life after the fall.
But in faith this sometimes happens that one day the fallen one chooses this ridiculous pose and continues to wallow in the mud of sins.
12:14
Try to have peace with everyone and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord
. Without a love of peace, without a righteous lifestyle and without recognition of the atonement of Christ (the basis of a Christian’s holiness), there is no chance of approaching God and being with Him.
Trying to have peace means, firstly, trying not to do anything that could lead to a quarrel. And secondly, make efforts to reconcile even if the negative attitude does not come from us. As you know, a meek answer turns away anger and if you don’t add wood to the fire, it will go out much faster.
12:15
See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God;
Apart from the Christian himself, there is no one who could deprive him of the grace of God, that is, the chance to be with Him through the redemption of Christ and becoming His son.
But how can a Christian deprive himself of this grace?
Having become a bitter root, that is, not caring about one’s righteousness and maintaining fidelity to God, having become an apostate from God and God’s principles:
so that any root of bitterness that arises does not cause harm
,
A Christian who has become a root of bitterness is dangerous for the entire congregation: his unchristian behavior can become a temptation for someone else in the congregation and, thus, he harms not only himself, but also his fellow believers:
and lest many should be defiled by it;
How can fellow believers become defiled by the root of bitterness?
Most people are not inherently leaders, and in order to start doing something bad, they need to see that someone is setting an example in this, doing it before them. And if a “bitter” person appears in the congregation, then, looking at him, others may begin to move away from the truth of the Gospel, committing actions following his example.
There should not be among Christians a person who consciously and at will ready to violate any of God’s commandments, without trying to stop it.
But it is not necessary that everyone will follow his example. There is a principle: do not touch anything unclean. So, fellow believers can become defiled by touching the unclean, that is, by allowing this root of bitterness to remain in their midst and condoning his sins. The bitter root is dangerous in that it can even indirectly lead Christians who are weak in the faith away from Christ: it is enough not to react in any way to the “bitterness” of a member of the congregation - and with our tacit consent we become a participant in his “bitterness.”
12:16
so that there is not [among you] any fornicator or wicked person who, like Esau, would give up his birthright for one meal.
Note that Esau, in fact, did not sin in his case: he only refused what God offered him - the advantage of being the firstborn son and inheriting the blessing of Abraham.
However, as we see, the very refusal to participate in God’s intention and fulfill his role in this intention made Esau in the eyes of God equivalent to a wicked man and a fornicator.
His natural desire to eat could well be satisfied in another way, without neglecting God’s blessing, for example, just be patient and prepare food or snack on some tree fruit, a piece of bread, finally.
But he did not value spiritual values, he was of little interest in the chance to produce a savior for the world from his own family, and therefore Esau did not want to endure even the slightest difficulties for the sake of observing God’s interests.
It turns out that whoever refuses the honor of becoming a participant in the fulfillment of God's intentions becomes a fornicator and a wicked person in the eyes of God. All the more so is he who, in order to satisfy the momentary desires of his flesh, violates God’s commandments.
The same thing can happen to a Christian. And although it is unlikely that any Christian today would refuse the “firstborn” if it were offered to him directly. However, if, for the sake of satisfying some of his carnal desires, he refuses to fulfill the will of God and participate in the fulfillment of His plan, for example, to save people through the gospel (1 Tim. 2:4) - then he too can become like Esau.
12:17
For you know that after this he, desiring to inherit the blessing, was rejected;
This is what results from taking God's blessings lightly and indulging in immediate desires without calculating future costs.
Perhaps at that moment Esau would have agreed not to eat at all for three days in order to return the blessing of God, but it was already too late.
The example of Esau should sober up all frivolous Christians: God did not consider that his flesh was so weak and needed the immediate fulfillment of its desires at the cost of neglecting God's blessings. Esau could not pity God with SUCH insignificant sufferings of his flesh, if we compare these sufferings with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. God rejected Esau as a worthless and weak-willed man unworthy of God's blessing.
Likewise, He will reject every Christian who, neglecting the interests of God, hopes that God will be merciful to the weaknesses of their flesh, because of which they refused to do the will of God.
I could not change [my father’s] thoughts, although I asked for it with tears. Subsequent sobs and even, perhaps, repentance for what he had done, did not help him regain God’s former favor: he himself and voluntarily deprived himself of the legal right to become the ancestor of Christ, this right was received by someone more worthy, despite the fact that he did not have the right to do so. there were no rights and seemingly no chance.
So it is in Christianity: the favor of God does not depend on what legal rights the heirs of promises and blessings, redeemed by Christ, have. But only on how much the heirs themselves value these rights of theirs: if those redeemed by Christ allow themselves to refuse to fulfill the will of God just for the sake of pleasing the flesh, no legal rights will help them justify themselves before Him, causing Him to feel sorry for themselves and begging for mercy.
There is no desire of the flesh on earth that a Christian could not cope with with the help of God, using also his own willpower with self-control
12:18-24 Covenants at Mount Sinai (W.Z.) and at the spiritual Mount Zion (N.W.)
In the texts 12:18-24
Paul shows how great the responsibility of Christians before God is by comparing the conclusion of two covenants at different mountains: Sinai and Zion. Sinai is associated with the purely earthly life of obedient worshipers of God, filled with a series of events of earthly existence and joy from them.
Zion - with a heavenly mind, filled with thoughts of achieving spiritual perfection and the joy of becoming a son of God, similar to Christ
The first covenant was based on the fear of being punished and even dying for disobedience; the feeling of fear was the main motive for accepting the terms of God's contract.
The second covenant rests on love for God and for that righteous way of life, which was established by God for eternity.
And although in the New Testament there is no system of punishments, nevertheless, the responsibility before God for Christians is no less, even more, for the punishment for a Christian can be much more serious than it was provided for the Israel of antiquity: a sinning Christian can lose hope of life eternal. This is what Paul spoke to the Jews in these texts.
12:18,19
IN We did not approach a mountain tangible and blazing with fire, not darkness and gloom and storm,
19 not to the sound of the trumpet and the voice of verbs, which those who heard asked, that the word should no longer be continued to them,
Christians, unlike the people of God of old, did not become acquainted with and accept the leadership of God as they did on Mount Sinai at the conclusion of the Old Testament. Mount Sinai was tangible; one did not have to believe in its presence; the heavenly Mount Zion can only be discovered through the eyes of faith.
That sight at Mount Sinai was so terrible that the people were shaking with fear and lost the desire to listen to the voice of God Himself, and they asked that it would be better for Moses to retell to them everything that God wanted to say.
12:20,21
for they could not endure what was commanded: if an animal touches the mountain, it will be stoned (or struck with an arrow);
It was unbearable for the ancient people to even hear about the forbidden line, beyond which there was death: they preferred not to approach it at all, rather than, when approaching, shake in fear and trembling from a possible violation of the limit of closeness to God:
21 And so terrible was this vision [that] Moses said: “I am in fear and trembling.”
Even Moses was impressed by the frightening influence of this terrible spectacle from the appearance of God to the people with whom he was going to enter into a covenant (contractual relationship): he understood that approaching the pure and HOLY GOD of unclean and sinful people is a very serious matter and if it is not taken seriously, then you can die yourself and destroy the people.
At the conclusion of the Old Testament, each of Israel quite clearly understood that for trying to get closer to God more than He Himself allows, they could be punished by death.
12:22
N O you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem and ten thousand angels,
Mount Zion and the New Testament, which Christians have begun to approach (which they look at with the eyes of faith), are a chance to gain access to the closest relationship with God, so we need to take the responsibility of getting so close to God in its purest form even more seriously.
God, who lives in heavenly Zion and in heavenly “Jerusalem,” opened the gates of his city to those Christians who will appreciate God’s blessings, who will value them much more than the desires of the sinful flesh, who will want to come to Him and will work for this to destroy sin in to yourself.
The mention of the heavenly city in which God lives shows that the heavenly world order exists, that there is no chaos and spontaneity there, that God organized the life of His celestial subjects there, just as He organized it on earth for His people.
12:23
to the triumphant council and church of the firstborn, written in heaven,
Christians look with the eyes of faith not only at the heavenly Jerusalem of God, but also at God’s plan for the gathering of the spiritual firstborn to Himself:
in ancient times, the firstborn would have to serve in the earthly temple of Jerusalem, but Christians got the chance to take their place as spiritual firstborns - in the heavenly Jerusalem.
According to the Bible, there will be only 144,000 spiritual firstborns in the heavenly Zion with Christ ( church of the firstborn), taken by God from the earth, redeemed by Christ from every nation and tribe and gathered during the period of the New Testament as the future priests of God, who were to reign over the earth together with Jesus Christ (Rev. 14: 1-5, 5: 9,10 , 20:6)
and to the Judge of all God Christians also look to the most important Judge - to God, the father of Jesus Christ
and to the spirits of the righteous who have reached perfection,
Christians will also have to look with the eyes of faith at the strength of the will and spirit of the righteous, who will be able to achieve perfection in this century.
Let us remember that about the righteous V.Z. it is said that they, having been tested in faith, nevertheless have not yet achieved perfection, but will be able to achieve it with the help of people like the Apostle Paul (Heb. 11:39,40).
Those like the Apostle Paul were able to achieve spiritual perfection in this age with the help of the atonement of Christ, which opened access to the closest relationship with God, acquiring the mind and feelings of Christ, reaching the maturity of the sons of God through successfully passing all the tests of Christ's field (2 Tim. 4: 7.8; 1 Cor.2:15; Phil.2:5)
Looking at such examples of the strength of spirit of Christians who have achieved perfection, everyone who has chosen the path of Christ for themselves will no longer think, as in the Old Testament, that it is impossible to approach God and achieve spiritual perfection by defeating the call of the sinful flesh, for God protected himself from humanity with a thick fence of prohibitions.
Looking with the eyes of faith at people like the Apostle Paul, for example, all who want to strive for perfection can now try to do this according to Paul’s call (Heb. 6:1)
12:24
and to the Mediator of the new covenant, Jesus, and to the sprinkled Blood, which speaks better than Abel.
Christians, approaching the heavenly Zion and the conclusion of the New Testament, also look with the eyes of faith at the new and better Intercessor before God for them, at the new High Priest Jesus Christ.
His blood, brought to God in the heavenly Holy of Holies and redeeming Christians, intercedes before God much “louder and better” than the blood of righteous Abel cried out to God from earth.
The blood of Jesus, figuratively speaking, intercedes for all participants in the New Testament (for Christians) directly before the face of God, in heaven, for Jesus ascended with it into heaven. Instructions for Christians also come from heaven.
In addition, the blood of Abel cried out to God for vengeance, and the blood of Christ intercedes for the forgiveness of sins and the justification of all the children of God for whom Christ died (Gen. 4:10: Rom. 3:24,25).
The contrast between the two "blood" speakers (Abel and Jesus) is presented here as the contrast between the voice of God coming from the earth (Mount Sinai) and the voice coming from heaven through Christ speaking (Mount Zion).
12:25
See that you do not turn away from the speaker.
This means - from Jesus Christ, speaking through his blood to God for Christians and giving commands from God to Christians.
If those who did not listen to him who spoke on earth did not escape [punishment],
The ancient servants of God, who were with Him in the Old Testament, violating the Mosaic Law pronounced by God on earth at the tangible Mount Sinai, were punished, sometimes even by death. If those who turned away from the voice of the Old Testament did not escape punishment, then how can those who “turn away” from the voice of the New Testament hope to escape it?
much less shall we [escape] if we turn away from [the One who speaks] from heaven,
Moreover, no one will go unpunished who violates the commandments of God, now spoken by Him from the heights of heaven through Jesus Christ.
12:26
Whose voice then shook the earth, and Who now made this promise: Once again I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.
This God, who shook the earth at the conclusion of the O.T. as a sign of His presence - and in the New Testament he promises to shake the earth once again, but in addition to the earth - the sky will also shake. So promises Christians from heavenly Zion - the same God who shook the earth at Mount Sinai
12:27
The words “once again” signify the change of what is shaken as of something created, so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
A very important verse for understanding the meaning of the formation of the new heavens and new earth. As we see, God's promise to shake the earth again in the future implies CHANGE of the earth, not destruction.
After all, at the first vibration the earth was not destroyed, but the conditions of God's people on earth were changed:
God brought them out of the slavery of Egypt, and for their sake God, throughout their time in slavery, preserved the land of Canaan so that it would provide honey and milk and bring prosperity to God’s people when they came to this land to settle on it.
So it is with the new earth: God, who leads humanity out of the slavery of sin and death with the help of Jesus Christ, will ensure that changed or updated planet Earth could bring people joy and blessings instead of grief and disappointment, usual for this slave age.
Why does God plan to shake the earth again (to establish His order on it)? So that from the moment of the last “oscillation” in Armageddon it never again undergoes changes for the worse: so that the unshakable may remain
12:28
Therefore, we, having received a kingdom that cannot be shaken, will keep grace, whereby we will serve God acceptably, with reverence and fear,
Christians, who with the eyes of faith see life in the future unshakable (unchangeable forever) Kingdom of God, intend to cherish this grace - the chance to get into the system of things of God (not like Esau), and for this they are ready to spend their lives in serving God with reverent fear of Him , with that fear that is generated not by the animal panic fear of one’s own death, but by love for the Father: a huge reluctance to upset his Father, who loves them and places certain hopes on his children that they will cope with all the difficulties of the Christian path and will pass their earthly career with dignity .
12:29
because our God is a consuming fire.
Christians must understand that even a loving Father’s patience is not limitless and it is better not to test Him by testing Him with sins, but He will punish or have mercy with a discount on the infirmities of the sinful flesh.
He may not have mercy if he takes His grace lightly and neglects it (violates His principles) in order to achieve his goals.
An exhortation to endure suffering following the example of the Captain of the faith (1–3). Benefits of Divine Punishments (4–11). An exhortation to cheerfulness, peace with all, and holiness (12–17). New Testament instead of Old (18–24). Exhortation to obedience to God (25–29).
Hebrews 12:1. Therefore we, having such a cloud of witnesses around us, let us lay aside every burden and the sin that besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Just as a cloud with its shadow protects those who are scorched by the burning rays, so the remembrance of the saints restores and strengthens the soul dejected by disasters. He did not say: hanging over us, but: “enveloping us,” which means more and shows that, encircling us, this cloud of witnesses makes us safer... (Zlat.). - “Every burden.” What kind of “stuff”? That is, sleep, negligence, low thoughts, everything human (Zlat.). – “The sin that bedevils us” τηνευπερίστατον αμαρτίαν, more precisely, slav.: “conveniently circumstantial sin,” that is, either conveniently mastering us, or conveniently conquered; the latter is better, since we can, if we want, easily overcome sin (3lat.). - “Let us pass with patience” (“with patience let us pass”). He didn’t say: we will fight... but what is easiest in the field is what he shows. He also did not say: let us strengthen the current, but: let us be patient in the same current, let us not weaken (Zlat.).
Hebrews 12:2. looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Then he introduces the main consolation that he offers both before and after - Christ... “looking,” he says, that is, in order for us to learn exploits, let us look at Christ (Zlat.). - “Instead of the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross...”, i.e. He could not have suffered if He had wanted, because He “did not commit iniquity; :30, 10:18). If He, having no need to be crucified, was crucified for us, then isn’t it all the more just for us to endure everything courageously? (Zlat.). - “Despising shame...” “Let Him die: but why a shameful death? For nothing else than to study us and place human glory at nothing” (Zlat.). - “He sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God...” Do you notice the victorious reward? Paul says the same thing in another letter (Phil. 2:9-10). This he says about Christ according to the flesh” (Zlat.).
Hebrews 12:3. Think about Him who endured such reproach from sinners, so that you do not grow weary and weakened in your souls.
The apostle rightly added this, because if the sufferings of our neighbors encourage us, then what consolation will not the sufferings of the Master give us? (Zlat.).
Hebrews 12:4. You have not yet fought to the point of blood, struggling against sin,
The meaning of these words is as follows: you have not yet suffered death, you have only lost property and glory, you have only suffered exile; Christ shed His blood for you, but you did not shed it for yourselves; Even to death, He stood for the truth, struggling for you, and you have not yet been exposed to dangers that threaten death (Zlat.). - “Striving against sin” Here the apostle shows that sin also attacks strongly and is also armed (Golden).
Hebrews 12:5. and have forgotten the consolation that is offered to you as sons: my son! do not neglect the punishment of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you.
“They forgot consolation,” that is, they gave up, weakened (Zlat.). “Which is offered to you as sons.” Having presented the consolation from works, now the apostle now adds consolation from the sayings, from the testimony given: “Do not lose heart,” he says, “when He convicts you”... So, this is the work of God; and it brings a lot of consolation when we are convinced that what happened could have happened through the action of God, through His permission (Zlat.).
Hebrews 12:6. For the Lord punishes whomever he loves; he beats every son whom he receives.
You cannot, he says, say that there is any righteous person who did not endure sorrows, and although it seems so to us, we do not know of other sorrows. Therefore, every righteous person must go through the path of tribulation. If it is impossible otherwise, then it follows that all those who entered life walked the narrow path (Zlat.).
Hebrews 12:7. If you suffer punishment, then God treats you as sons. For is there any son whom his father does not punish?
If God punishes us, then it is for correction, and not for torture, not for torment, not for suffering. See how the apostle, by the very thing for which they considered themselves abandoned, inspires them with confidence that they are not abandoned, and seems to say: having endured such calamities, do you already think that God has abandoned you and hates you? No, if you had not suffered, then you should have been wary of this, because if “He beats every son he accepts,” then the unbeaten one may not be a son. But how, you say, don’t evil people suffer? Of course they suffer - how could it be otherwise? - but he did not say: everyone who is beaten is a son, but: every son is beaten. Therefore you cannot say: there are many and evil people who are beaten, for example: murderers, robbers, sorcerers, grave diggers. They are punished for their own crimes; they are not beaten like sons, but punished like villains; and you are like sons (Zlat.).
Hebrews 12:8. If you remain without punishment, which is common to everyone, then you are illegitimate children, not sons.
Just as in families, fathers do not take care of illegitimate children... so in the present case. Therefore, if it is common for illegitimate children not to be punished, then one should rejoice at punishment as a sign of true kinship (Zlat.).
Hebrews 12:9. Moreover, if we, being punished by our carnal parents, were afraid of them, then should we not much more submit to the Father of spirits in order to live?
Hebrews 12:10. They punished us arbitrarily for a few days; and He is for our benefit, so that we may share in His holiness.
Again, he borrows encouragement from their own suffering, which they themselves endured... If children obey their carnal parents, then how can they not obey their Heavenly Father? Moreover, here the difference is not only in this and not only in persons, but also in the very motives and actions. It is not for the same motive that He and they (God and carnal parents) punish... The latter often do this for their own pleasure and not always with benefit in mind, but this cannot be said here, since God does not do this out of any of his own. species, but for you, solely for your benefit..., not in order to receive anything from us, but to give us... so that we become capable of receiving His benefits (Zlat.). – “To have a share in His holiness” - so that we become worthy of Him, if possible. He makes sure that you accept, and uses all measures to give you..., therefore, punishment is useful, because it brings holiness. And of course it is. After all, if it destroys laziness, vicious desires, attachment to worldly objects, if it concentrates the soul, if it disposes it to despise everything here - and this is where sorrow comes from - then isn’t it holy, doesn’t it attract the grace of the Spirit? (Zlat.).
Hebrews 12:11. Any punishment at the present time seems not to be joy, but sadness; but afterwards he brings to those who are taught the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Those who take bitter medicines first experience an unpleasant feeling, and then feel the benefits. Such is virtue, such is vice: in the latter one experiences first pleasure, and then sorrow; in the first there is first sorrow, and then pleasure. And, however, both are unequal; It is not at all the same thing to experience sorrow first and then pleasure, or to experience pleasure first and sorrow afterwards. Why? Because in the latter case, the expectation of future sorrow reduces the present pleasure, and in the first, the expectation of the upcoming pleasure greatly weakens the present sorrow, so that sometimes even no pleasure is felt there, and no sorrow here. However, not only in this respect is there a difference, but also in another - namely, that they are unequal in terms of duration of time, but one is less, while others are much more... From here Paul borrows consolation... Are you grieving? - he says. This is understandable: this is always punishment, this is where it begins... it does not seem to be joy (and therefore, it is not really)... for this, after that, “to those who were taught through him,” that is, to those who endured and suffered for a long time, “he brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness,” glory: “the fruits are peaceful” (καρπόν ειρηνικόν), thus expressing their great multitude (Zlat.).
Hebrews 12:12. So strengthen your drooping hands and weak knees.
Hebrews 12:13. and walk straight with your feet, so that what is lame may not be turned aside, but rather be made straight.
He speaks as if to walkers, fighters and warriors. Do you see how he arms them, how he excites them... If punishment comes from love and kindness and leads to a good end - as he proved with deeds, words, and everything - then why are you weakening? Only the desperate do this, not supported by hope for the future. Walk, he says, straight, so that the limping person no longer becomes crooked, but returns to its previous state... You see that it depends on us to be completely healed... (Zlat.).
Hebrews 12:14. Try to have peace with everyone and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.
What he said above (Heb. 10:25), he expresses the same here. In temptations, nothing makes us more easily overcome and easily grasped than division. And here is proof of this: scatter a detachment of warriors in battle, and it will not be difficult for the enemy to take and tie them up... (Zlat.). – “Peace with all...”, therefore, with those who do evil (Rom. 12:18)... because nothing shames those who do evil so much as if we courageously endure the insults inflicted and do not take revenge either in word or in deed (Zlat.) .
Hebrews 12:15. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness arise and cause harm, and lest many become defiled by it;
“Do you see,” says Chrysostom, how the Apostle everywhere commands everyone to contribute to the common salvation? (Hebrews 3:13). Do not, he says, leave everything to the teachers, do not entrust everything to the leaders; and you can edify one another... (1 Thess. 5:11, 4:18) You can, if you want, do more for each other than we can; you communicate with each other more often, you know your affairs better than us, you see mutual shortcomings, you have more frankness, love and sociability; and this is not unimportant for learning, but it provides great and beneficial conveniences.” - “So that no one loses the grace of God.” The apostle calls the grace of God future blessings, the gospel faith, a virtuous life: all this is from the grace of God (Zlat.). - “So that what bitter root ...”, etc. This is said in Deuteronomy (Deut. 29:18), and the expression itself is figuratively borrowed from the example of plants. If there is such a “root of sorrow,” that is, one that brings harm, then do not allow it to sprout, but pull it out, so that it does not bear the fruits characteristic of it, so that it does not infect and defile others... He rightly calls sin bitter; indeed, there is nothing so bitter as sin. Those who, after bad deeds, are remorseful and experience great bitterness know this... The property of bitterness is to be harmful. And he put it perfectly: “the root of sorrow,” he did not say: bitter, but: “sorrow.” A bitter root can bear sweet fruits, but the root is the source and basis of sorrow - “when it cannot bear sweet fruit, everything in it is bitter, there is nothing sweet, everything is tasteless, everything is unpleasant, everything is filled with hatred and disgust” (Zlat.). - “So that many are not defiled by it...”, i.e., so that this does not happen, excommunicate depraved people from you (Zlat.).
Hebrews 12:16. so that there may not be any fornicator or wicked man among you, who, like Esau, would give up his birthright for one meal.
Let no one, like Esau, be a “defiler,” that is, a glutton, intemperate, devoted to the world, despising spiritual blessings... who gave away the honor given by God out of his own carelessness, and for little pleasure lost the greatest honor and glory (Zlat. ).
Hebrews 12:17. For you know that after this he, desiring to inherit the blessing, was rejected; I could not change my father’s thoughts, although I asked him to do so with tears.
"What does it mean? Does he really reject repentance? No. But how does he say “there is no place for repentance”? (μετανοίας γαρ τόπον αύκ εύρεν). If he condemned himself, if he cried a lot, then why “don’t you find a place of repentance”? Because it was not a consequence of repentance. Just as Cain’s sadness was not the result of repentance, which he proved by murder, so here the words (of Esau) were not the result of repentance, which he later also proved by murder: and with his intention he killed Jacob. “Let the days of my father’s mourning draw near,” he said, “so that he might kill Jacob my brother” (Gen. 27:41). Therefore, tears could not convey repentance to him. And he didn’t just say: “repentance,” but: “even if you searched with tears for repentance, you will not find a place.” Why? Because he did not repent properly” (Zlat.). “You will not find,” he says, “repentance,” either because you have sinned more than can be made up for by repentance, or because you have not brought worthy repentance; therefore, there are sins that exceed repentance. Therefore, let us not allow an unhealed fall; while we are only limping, it is easy to improve; and when we are completely upset, then what will happen to us? He addresses this to those who have not yet fallen, holds them back with fear and says that the fallen cannot receive consolation. And to the fallen, so that they do not give in to despair, he instills the opposite” (Zlat.).
Hebrews 12:18. You have not approached a mountain that is palpable and blazing with fire, or darkness and gloom and storm,
Hebrews 12:19. not to the sound of the trumpet and the voice of verbs, which those who heard asked that the word should no longer be continued to them,
Hebrews 12:20. for they could not endure what was commanded: if an animal touches the mountain, it will be stoned (or struck with an arrow);
Hebrews 12:21. and this vision was so terrible that Moses said: “I am in fear and trembling.”
Wed. Exodus 20:18-19, 19:12-13, 16, 18. The fear of Moses (v. 21) is not mentioned by him when describing these events. Obviously, the apostle here used some kind of tradition, on which the first martyr Stephen, who also mentioned the fear of Moses in his speech, was probably based (Acts 7:32). Some basis for this tradition can be seen in Deut. 9:19, where Moses says: “I was afraid of the wrath and wrath with which the Lord was angry with you and wanted to destroy you ...” (which happened after the breaking of the tablets).
Hebrews 12:22. But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem and ten thousand angels,
Hebrews 12:23. to the triumphant council and church of the firstborn, written in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
Hebrews 12:24. and to the Mediator of the new covenant, Jesus, and to the sprinkled Blood, which speaks better than Abel.
“Do you see how many arguments he used to prove the superiority of the New Testament over the Old? Instead of earthly Jerusalem - heavenly; instead of Moses - Jesus; instead of the people - all the Angels..., all the hosts of the faithful... So, do not grieve, he says: you will be with them” (Zlat.). Some, making comparisons, humiliate everything that was then in order to more elevate the present; but I consider both marvelous, but at the same time I prove that ours is much more excellent and amazing. It is doubly large; as glorious and most important, and at the same time as more accessible and brief... They were not worthy of what we... They saw darkness and clouds, heard a voice. But you also heard the voice of God, only not through a cloud, but through the flesh of Christ, and yet you were not embarrassed or afraid, but stood and talked with the Intercessor... Then Moses was afraid, but now no one is. Then the people stood below, and we were not below, but above heaven, near God Himself, like His sons, and not like Moses; there was a desert, and here a city, and darkness of Angels... They did not approach, but stood in the distance, just like Moses; and you started (Zlat.). - “The blood of sprinkling, speaking better than Abel” (Cf. Heb. 11; Gen. 4:10). “The blood of Abel is still glorified even now, although not in the same way as Christ’s, because this blood cleansed everyone and emits a more glorious and important voice, the more the deeds themselves testify to it” (Zlat.). If blood speaks, then even more so is the Slain One Himself alive. And listen to what she says: “And the Spirit makes intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered” (Rom 8:26). How does he speak: by entering into a pure soul, elevating it and encouraging it to speak (Zlat.).
Hebrews 12:25. See that you do not turn away from the speaker. If those who did not listen to Him who spoke on earth did not escape punishment, then much less will we escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven,
Hebrews 12:26. Whose voice then shook the earth, and Who now made this promise: Once again I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.
If they did not escape punishment by not obeying the commandment on earth, then how can we not obey the commandment from heaven? The Apostle speaks of the difference not of persons, but of gifts (Zlat.).
Hebrews 12:27. The words “once again” signify the change of what is shaken as if it were created, so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
Everything will be changed and arranged for the better from above; this is expressed here in the words given. Why are you grieving, suffering in a temporary world, suffering in misery in a fleeting world? If there were uncertainty in the future fate of the world, then he who awaits the end should grieve. “So that it may remain,” he says, “unshakable.” What is unshakable? Future (Zlat.).
Hebrews 12:28. Therefore, we, having received a kingdom that cannot be shaken, will keep grace, whereby we will serve God acceptably, with reverence and fear,
“Let us keep grace” - έχωμεν χάριν - yes imams give grace, that is, let us thank God, let us be strong. We must not only not grumble in present disasters, but also give God the greatest gratitude for them for the sake of future blessings (Zlat.). It is impossible to serve God pleasingly without giving Him gratitude for everything - both for temptations and for consolations. - “With reverence and fear,” that is, we will not say anything impudent, nothing shameless, but we will arrange ourselves in such a way as to earn respect (Zlat.).
Hebrews 12:29. because our God is a consuming fire.
As above the apostle called God the Judge of all, that is, not only of the Jews, or the faithful, but of the entire universe, so here he calls Him “a consuming fire,” instilling saving fear in those who, even in new grace, do not cease to need it.
