holbeck

Chapter 11 contained a list of the heroes of faith during the span of Israelite history. The writer begins chapter 12 with the words, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Hebrews 12:1. The cloud of witnesses are the heroes of faith mentioned in chapter 11 and the example of their faith witnesses as an encouragement to the people of God in their Christian race.  

A. Looking to Jesus. 12:1-4

Heb 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2  looking to Jesus, the founder 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.”

Believers have a race to run in life and there are some preparations they need to make to be victorious in that pursuit. The focus has to be on Jesus, “the founder and perfecter of our faith.” 12:2. They need to keep “looking to Jesus” where “looking “is a present participle from [aphoraō; ἀφοράω] meaning to maintain one’s focus on Jesus having turned from looking at other things. That meant getting rid of anything that could slow them down in the race such as additional weight and sin. The race is not a short sprint but requires endurance. Endurance was what Jesus showed as He ran His race to obtain the joy that was set before Him. The endurance of hanging on a cross as an object of shame as part of the joy of fulfilling the plan of God for the salvation of sinners. Because He had fulfilled God’s plan, He was seated at the right hand of God. There was no further sacrifice for sin to be offered. He had secured an eternal redemption for the people of God.

There is a similar command in verse 3,  “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4  In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” The word for “consider” is from [analogizomai; ἀναλογίζομαι] meaning to think over, ponder. The readers were to ponder Jesus who went through very difficult times as He ran His race, eventually shedding His blood. They too were to face difficulties and the writer now begins to show why they would need to undergo suffering.

B. Why God Allows Difficult Times For His People: The Chastening Of God. 12:5-11

Heb 12:5 “And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him . 6  For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.‘ 7  It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8  If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.”  Believers need to be disciplined. But there is a positive purpose in the Lord’s discipline. It is a mark of His love, not an expression of His punishment.

The Contrast Between Earthly Discipline And God’s Discipline. 12:9- 11.

Heb 12:9 “Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10  For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11  For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Human discipline was on the basis of doing what seemed to be best in the minds of those exercising discipline. However, God’s discipline has two main purposes. “He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.” It is to make us more holy, more set apart to live for Him.  It also ”yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Those who submit to God’s chastening will have the peace of knowing they are living in a way pleasing to God.

C. Application: Instructions on How To Live As Believers. 12:12-28.

i].         Commands To Obey. 12:12-13.

Heb 12:12 “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13  and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14  Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”  The Christian race demands deliberate effort such as getting our hands, knees and feet working properly as we run the race. There are 2 goals in sight as we run. We need to ”strive” [diōkō;  διώκω] or pursue peace with everyone and to make a real effort to be holy,  for only the holy will see the Lord.

ii].        Warnings To Observe. 12:15-17

God knows human beings and the power of the temptations they face. So throughout His word, He warns people of the temptations they face and the danger of not relying upon His grace and thus sinning. Heb 12:15  “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16  that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17  For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.”

“See to it” is from [episkopeō; ἐπισκοπέω] meaning to inspect thoroughly and to beware and is at the basis of our English word “episcopal” meaning being an overseer or a bishop. Believers are to be fully aware and to take heed lest they fail to appreciate and appropriate the grace of God in His love for them. Rejecting the grace of God can lead to sinful  behaviour such as 

• Exhibiting bitterness. Bitterness had characterised the people of Israel in their wilderness wanderings and was infectious as it influenced many of the people and was one of the reasons why they did not enter the promised land. 
• Sexual immorality. The Decalogue [or Ten Commandments] and other Old Testament passages forbade sexual immorality.  
• Unholiness such as that shown in the life of Esau when he disregarded his birthright. That meant he missed out on the blessing that had been due to him.

Appreciating and appropriating the grace of God enables believers to have victory over sin.

D].       Coming To An Intimate Relationship With God. 12:18-24

In verses 18 to 24 the writer outlines the journey that believers had begun as they exercised faith in Jesus Christ, using the  words, “You have come!”

They had not come to something fearful, “For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19  and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20  For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21  Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 12:18-21.

Rather they had come into a more intimate relationship with God. This is expressed in many ways using the words “But you have come”

• to Mount Zion 
• and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
• and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 
• 23  and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, 
• and to God, the judge of all, 
• and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 
• 24  and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, 
• and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” 12:22-24.

God wants His people to know how He sees them as believers.  He said through St Paul in Ephesians 2:4-7, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” We may find it difficult to see ourselves as now being seated with Christ at the right hand of God but that is what God wants us to know. He Himself actually seated us with Christ at His right hand. It was His doing, not ours. It can be very freeing for us to understand how God sees us, in these passages in Ephesians 2 and in this chapter 12 of Hebrews. 

E].        A FINAL WARNING AND AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO WORSHIP GOD IN GRATITUDE AND PRAISE. 12:25-29

The Warning

Though believers can be assured of their place in God’s purposes, it is still necessary for them to be careful. They need to keep on hearing and obeying God, “See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26  At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27  This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.” 12:25-27.

In 1 Corinthians 10 St Paul showed how Israel had not followed God’s commands and perished in the wilderness. Then he added, “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.’  1 Corinthians 10:6 and “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” 1 Corinthians 10:11. God cannot be ignored or disobeyed. His warnings must be taken seriously. There is no escape for those who reject Him.

The Encouragement

The writer ends the chapter on a positive note, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29  for our God is a consuming fire.” 12:28-29.

The words “let us be thankful” may be rendered “let us have [or, ‘obtain’] grace” (echōmen; charin ) (ἔχωμεν; χάριν ) and is probably a reference to all the resources of grace available from Jesus Christ.

The Holman Christian Standard Bible translates verse 28 as “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us hold on to grace. By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe.”

What they have received is a kingdom and that was referred to in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 8, “But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of your kingdom.”

Believers are mentioned as belonging to a kingdom in verses such as these:-

Dan 7:18, “But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.”

Rev 1:6, “and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 

Rev 5:10, “and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

(Luk 22:28-30; “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, 29  and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, 30  that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Rev 20:4-6, “Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5  The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6  Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.”

What amazing grace is bestowed on those who submit to the rule of Christ over them! To those who enter God’s kingdom through their faith in Jesus Christ. They should be highly motivated to “offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.”

God consumed human sin on the cross of Christ as He accepted Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. What grace! What a privilege!

Blog No.532 posted on Friday 01 March 2024