Hebrews Part 7
Notes
Transcript
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7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.
8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
Now, I need to recap what we have discussed so far.
Because, it is a lot
and so far it has been very systematic
One thing building upon another
but here in Chapter 6
The Author has made a slight detour
from the evidence he was presenting
to preach for a minute about not falling away.
Chapter Recaps:
Chapter Recaps:
Jesus is Better than everything in the OT. Better than the prophets, better than the angels, because Jesus is God Himself.
We have a better salvation through His Gospel message. A message that we must hold to
Jesus is better than Moses, and we are part of God’s family through Jesus.
Jesus has a better “rest” than the rest that Moses and Joshua gave, and better than the Sabbath rest.
Jesus is a better High Priest than the Levites - and then in the middle of the chapter the author starts talking about how we need to mature as Christians, not relying on milk, but eating meat,
And here in chapter 6, it is revealed the the “milk” is the elementary doctrines like Faith, baptism, praying for the sick, and being filled with the Holy Spirit… And then there is a warning about falling away. And that is where we left off in verse 6 last week.
So, the overall theme is to hold fast to Jesus, and don’t fall away to apostasy, because Jesus is better than everything.
We will get back to the evidence that Jesus is better than the High Priest
at the very end of this chapter and start of the next chapter.
But for now, we will continue on this side mission
of being convinced by the author to not fall away.
7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.
Here, the author is describing the fruitful land
and it is being used as a metaphor of a fruitful disciple
One who, after hearing the truth, being filled with the Holy Spirit
goes on to be fruitful and multiply.
The author is talking now about the time that has been spent “cultivating” them
Teaching them the elementary doctrines of Christ.
Showing the the Truth in the word
and if that cultivating produces a “useful crop”
then they will be blessed by God.
8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
So, after all that cultivating, or teaching doctrine
If they produce thorns and thistles instead of a useful crop
He says, they are near, or close to be cursed.
and the result of that curse is to be burned.
This is what Jesus taught with the fig tree
It didn’t produce a fruit
and he cursed it and it died
In another place, he asked for it to be cut down and burned
This is actually a common metaphor in the Bible
We see this in the prophets of the OT many times
and perhaps Jesus was even quoting them
and perhaps the author here is even quoting both Jesus and the OT prophets
when he uses this alarming analogy
warning the reader to be careful where you’re treading
You are close to be cursed
and the result of that is fire
They still have a chance,
so long as they heed the warning of this letter
They aren’t ‘curse’ yet, but ‘close’
If they were already cursed,
this letter would be pointless.
So, it seems to me, based on this complementary metaphor
that the ones he is talking to
are not actually cursed
they have not fallen away
but they are heading that direction
and it also seems that the end result is fire
and so, it isn’t that they can’t repent while they are alive
but rather they can’t repent once they get to the end of the road they are travelling down
In other words, He isn’t telling them that they cannot repent in verse 6
He is trying to tell them that the Holy Spirit they received
isn’t going to even save them
if they produce thorns and thistles
We’re not talking about people who have never been born again here
So, anyone that believes in the once-saved-always saved doctrine
aka, unconditional eternal salvation, or predestination
is not going to read this passage the same way as I do
but my understanding is that he is talking to people
who have heard the Gospel
been baptized in Jesus name
and filled with the Gift of the Holy Spirit
and then walked away from it all
and the author is warning them that the end of their road is a big oh lake of fire
Peter says the same thing in his letter
That if you tasted of this salvation
and you turn away from it
It would have been better if you had never known
There will be Ninivites in heaven
Who worship fish gods
but repented to Yahweh for their sins
after Jonah preached to them
while people who were born again will be in hell
who had the Holy Spirit
and still walked away from the faith
In fact, chapter 12 of this letter makes this more blunt
and is often misunderstood by people
when they hear about the great cloud of witnesses
while we run this race
most assume they are at the finish line cheering us on
but the crowd is acually OT saints
who did not have the Holy Spirit
and made it to Heaven without the Help of God’s SPirit
and they will be legal witnesses against us
if we don’t hold fast to this faith
that is what is really being stated
and we will confirm that when we get to chapter 12
I’m getting ahead of myself…
9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.
10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.
11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end,
12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.
Ok, here in verse 9, the author takes a step back
from preaching about the fire
and balances that out by preaching about grace
we can’t just preach grace
and we can’t just preach the fire
we’ve got to preach both in balance
as the author does here
So, though we speak in this way —
He means about not being able to repent
and that a curse and fire is in your future
Though we speak about the fire
In your case, we are sure of better things
In other words, the author has faith that he is not writing this letter in vain
the audience will hear it
and turn back to him
and not be “dull” or “sluggish” or “lazy” in their hearing
Here is speaks of salvation as a future thing
and this is why I reject once-saved-always-saved
Again, he is preaching to born-again Christians
warning them about a potential eternity in a fire
and says, but “we are sure of better things”
and those “better things” are about salvation according to verse 9
and these “better things” are obviously future things
because they are currently heading toward a curse
they are “near” or “close” to being cursed by fire.
10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.
Here, we see that God is a just God
He isn’t going to withold forgiveness
if they continue holding fast to the faith
This is the grace part
which balances out the fire part
And then the Author indicates the original intended audience
did not just do good things in the past
but that they are currently doing going things
towards other saints
And it is likely this “fruit” that he sees in them
that give him the confidence that they will see
“better” things according to verse 9.
So, the indication here is that
a Christian should be doing these good things
“your work”, “the love shown”, “serving other saints”, etc.
So, if they didn’t do those things
there would be no real evidence the author good go off of
to “feel sure of better things” in their future.
As a pastor, I cannot see the thoughts and the intents of your hearts
Only God can see that
But I can see the good things you do for the church
and for people in the church
and for people in the community
Now, is i possible that you can do those good things and still have evil in your heart?
yes, that’s called a hypocrite
and the Author has already indicated that it is possible
that the people he is talking to are doing one thing with they actions
and one thing with their heart
And this is progession of backsliding
We often backslide in our hearts first
even while we continue to do good things
we put on a posistive public display of our faith
while we harbor evil intentions in our hearts
That is why the author said earlier:
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
So, here, back in chapter 6..
10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.
He is both warning them that they are close to being cursed
and then commending them for their good works
Indicating, that as their pastor or bishop
as it appears this author is some sort of authority figure to them
He is warning them to start making their hearts match their actions
God isn’t going to overlook your good works..
but only if you turn back your hearts.
11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end,
This verse just means, keep doing what you are doing
but not just physically
but also with earnestness, or eagerness
with a full assurance of hope until the end
meaning… Hold fast to the confidence
Hold fast to the assurance
let your heart start matching your hands again.
like it apparently used to
and then keep going all the way until the end.
12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Here is the word “sluggish” again
The same word used earlier when he called them “dull of hearing”
And he is telling them to not be lazy with their hearing
meaning… do what I’m telling you to do
don’t just hear what I’m saying, and do nothing with it
But hear what I’m saying and then go be imitators of those who did do what I’m saying
Those who, through faith and patience inherited the promises
And those are the great cloud of witnesses, which we will talk about in chapter 11 and 12.
Ok, let’s finish out the chapter now
and here, we are going to segway from that word “promises”
back to our discussion about Jesus being the Great High Priest
But the author starts here by diving
into a discussion about THE promise
and how great it is
and how it came about
and then transitions from there back to the subject of the High Priest
right where we left off talking about it in the middle of chapter 5 last week.
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,
14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.”
15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.
16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.
17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,
18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,
20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Ok, there’s a lot to unpack here
and we will probably finish up here
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,
This is huge here
the author is going back to the OT
Back to the first real promise
I say real
but really, there was a promise to Eve
and a promise to Noah
but those promises were really carried into the promise that God made with Abraham
and ultimately, a promise here is a covenant.
or a oath.
It isn’t just a casual promise
One like something I would say,
I promise I’ll be short tonight.
The root word means, to pledge.
BDAG ἐπαγγελία
declaration to do someth. with implication of obligation to carry out what is stated, promise, pledge, offer
When, God promises something, it is always a pledge or oath
Because God cannot lie
which verse 18 says…
18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
So, the author is getting ready to tie the promise God made to Abraham
to the promise he made to us
and show that, in order to receive the promise of Abraham
we have to hold fast to the hope that is set before us
that means, the hope that is in front of us
not the hope that is behind us
Remember, the them, the future is better than the past
The NT promise is better than the OT promise
and here’s why
Our promise is the real promise
It wasn’t the promise to Eve, or Noah, or Abrham
but to us.
All of their promises look forward to Jesus
and so, we have to hold fast to that promise
which is set in front of us
and not look back to the promise given to Abraham
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,
So, God, when he made that promise to Abraham
It came with a swear
so, again, more than a casual promise
but an oath
and when people swear, they swear by something greater than themselves
but it says, God could find no one greater
so he swore by himself
This comes from
16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
So, God had no one greater to swear by
So, he couldn’t swear on his father
or his mother
or his grave
or anything like that, which humans do
but he swore on himself
and that is the greatest thing...
God himself
which is something that is unchanging and cannot lie
so, that means… this promise is going to come to pass
Guaranteed.
14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.”
That was the promise that God swore
A promise to bless Abraham
and to multiply him
or give him offspring
aka children
15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.
And, what happened?
Abraham had Isacc
It didn’t matter that he was 100 years old
God made a promise
and the promise came to pass
This is simple, but profound point being made here.
If God says it… it will happen.
16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.
Again, we kinda already covered this when looking at verse 1.
God swore by himself
people swear by something greater
either way, an oath is final
It is something that doesn’t change
even if the person who made it does
but God can’t change
and the oath (or his words) can’t change
So…
17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,
So, we have one unchangeable thing
The character of God’s purpose
And the other one is the oath, aka his word.
So, God and his word are not able to change…
18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
Basically, the Author is saying that
God’s word is forever true and unchangeable
God cannot lie according to Numbers 23.19
And God himself cannot change
So, if he says I’m going to do something
that is “God’s purpose”
and him saying it
means… his purpose will come to pass
no matter whatelse changes
God and his word will remain steadfast and eternal
And, the point being… Jesus is God
He is greater than the prophets according to chapter one
because he is the exact imprint of God’s nature
and when Jesus Speaks
it is God speaking
and so… we have this confidence
or here, it says, strong encouragement
to hold fast to the hope set before us.
Our promise is just a sure as Abraham’s promise
because Abraham heard directly from God
and So did we… When Jesus spoke to us.
And that is an anchor for our soul.
19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,
The curtain here is referring back to the veil of the temple
A veil that separated the holy place from the holy of holies
and there was only one man that could go behind that curtain and not die
the High Priest
and there was only one time he could go behind that curtain
On the day of atonement and only after he first sacrificed for his own sins
If he went behind that curtain any other day
He would die
If he went behind that curtain without a sacrifice
he would die
So, he was not a perfect High Priest
but here in this verse
we have a hope that can enter behind the curtain.
and that hope is Jesus
Which means, this entire time that we’ve been talking about holding fast to the hope set before us
We have been talking about holding fast to Jesus.
19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,
20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Here, we will stop
and next week, we will pick up where the author continues to discuss
why Jesus is a better High Priest than the Levitical priesthood.
