Hebrews 10:32-39

Appetiser

Connection between this life and the life to come?

This life for the Christian is spiritually linked to the coming world. Hebrews 9:6-10; “the present time … the time of the new order.” cf. Revelation 21:4

Revelation 21:4 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death” or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’

Our future determines how we live now. The more heavenly minded you are, the more it will help you live this life as a Christian.

The key verse in the passage therefore is v35.

Main Course

Confidence

Objectively

Authorisation from God to appear in His presence, provided by the blood of Jesus, Hebrews 10:19

The certainty of our acceptance with Him: that He will not turn us away, but reward those who seek Him.

Subjectively

Our trust in God, Hebrews 10:22a. This is equivalent to faith, cf. Hebrews 11:1

Every time Hebrews calls us to be confident, it rests that confidence in the person of Christ: Hebrews 3:1-2, 6, 4:14-16

v35 calls us not to throw this away, but live it out.

The fruit of confidence, v32-34

Living in certainty concerning the promises of God

v32-34a reminds them of the beginning of their Christian lives. They didn’t seem to have a honeymoon period, but were thrown straight into testing times.

We don’t know what precipitated the seizing of their belongings, but what is remarkable is not that their property was plundered but their response to it. They were filled with joy. Here they fulfilled Jesus’ command to rejoice when persecuted (Matt 5:12).

Schreiner, T. R. (2021). Hebrews. (T. D. Alexander, T. R. Schreiner, & A. J. Köstenberger, Eds.) (p. 332). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Matthew 5:12 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

v34a tells us they were suffering along with those persecuted. They were sympathising, literally suffering together with them. They “exhibited a solidarity with each other that made visible in the world the solidarity Christ shares with his people” (Lane, W. L. (1991). Hebrews 9–13 (Vol. 47B, p. 300). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.) Remember Hebrews 4:15; Matthew 25:36, 39-40

Matthew 25:36 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was ill and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

Matthew 25:39–40 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

When did we see you ill or in prison and go to visit you?” ‘The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

v34b explains why they were prepared and able to endure what is described in v32-34a. It was their confidence in their reward in heaven: they “knew”.

There is a direct correlation between our attitude to and in suffering and our confidence in our eternal reward. It is those who have this knowledge that are empowered to live for God. This is living by faith, not by sight.

The Bible is not a self-help book. It constantly turns the eyes of the believers on the only One Who can help them.

This shapes how we encourage one another, Hebrews 10:25. What do you say to a struggling brother or sister? It is this confidence that needs to be strengthened, restored. This is what the Spirit is doing here.

Bold witness to opponents: this is implied in all of this. Remember Paul writing from prison, waiting for news whether he’ll be set free or executed? Philippians 1:20

Philippians 1:20 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

Perseverance, cf. v36

Passively: enduring suffering for the sake of Christ, or in a Christian way (think temptations of Christ).

Actively: obedience at all costs. The persecution was obviously designed to deter them from living for God. But God’s people enter heaven having persevered in obedience.

Maintaining our confidence, v35

Remember your past, v32-34a. Relive the Lord’s faithfulness to you. He has strengthened you in the past. He can do so again. What did you hang on to then?

Remember the promises of God, v34b. Meditate much on these things always! Don’t wait for a crisis. Train your heart to trust in God now for the inevitable troubles.

Remember the character of God, cf. v30. He is trustworthy, because there is no change in Him.

Remember who you are, v36-39

The two quotes work together to remind God’s people of His promise of deliberation surely being fulfilled, v37 cf. Habakkuk 2:3

Habakkuk 2:3 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.

In our OT, based on the Hebrew text, the reference is to the vision itself. It speaks about God raising the Babylonians in response to Habakkuk’s complaint about the apostatising state of God’s people.

The LXX translates the word “it will … come” as “he who is coming”, making the reference clearly about the Messiah. It was certainly interpreted that way, and the Spirit clearly applies this to Christ here in Hebrews.

Babylon becomes the type of the Messiah! How? In many ways, but the key focus here is: because they both accomplish God’s will.

Habakkuk is shocked: how is that helpful to the nation? How is that going to work with God’s promises to keep them? But the Lord assures that this will certainly happen.

There are two ways God’s people could receive Habakkuk’s prophecy, v38 cf. Habakkuk 2:4

Habakkuk 2:4 LES

If he draws back, my life does not find pleasure in it, but the righteous one will live by my faith.

By faith—trusting in God. This is what characterises the “righteous one”.

By apostasy—turning away from God.

This actually becomes a crisis of faith for Habakkuk, but the Lord brings him through (cf. Habakkuk 3:16-19)

This is why we need perseverance; a patient waiting upon the Lord!

We are made of the stuff Habakkuk is made of, v39

I prefer the NIV84 here: “we are not of” in place of “we do not belong”. Being is focused on; we are God’s workmanship, created to be the people of faith.

We belong to the right side of salvation history: the faithful ones who will be saved.

Why is that? Why this confidence? Beloved, we’ve come full circle here. Because through our Lord Jesus Christ, we belong to the world to come. We are God’s new creation. And so our hope rests on God to bring us through, and that’s why we keep going. This is why we persevere.

Pudding

Historic Creeds and Confessions (Heidelberg Catechism, Question 1)

What is thy only comfort in life and death?

That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.