Bibliography

Anderson, Neil. Who I Am In Christ, Ventura: Regal (A Division of Gospel Light), 1993.

Barnes, Peter. The Truth About Jesus and the Trinity. Printed by Peter Barns in the United States of America, 1989.

Boettner, Loraine. Roman Catholicism, Phillipsburg: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1962.

Bruce, F. F. The Epistle to the Hebrews, Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1964.

Coleman, Lyle. The Serendipity Bible, Littleton, Serendipity House, 1988.

Erdman, Charles. The Epistle to the Hebrews, Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1983.

Flusser, David. Jewish Sources in Early Christianity, Tel Aviv, MOD Books, 1898.

Fruchtenbaum, Arnold. The Messianic Jewish Epistles: Hebrews, James, First and Second Peter and Jude, San Antonio, Ariel Ministries, 2005.

Fruchtenbaum, Arnold. Ezekiel MP3bbs 47-V-b (43:8-27).

Fruchtenbaum, Arnold. The Dispensations of God pdf, MBSO41.

Gibson, Joyce. Genesis: God’s Word for the Biblically Inept, by Joyce Gibson, Lancaster, Starburst Publishers, 1999.

Girard, Robert, and Richards, Larry. The Book of Hebrews: The Smart Guide to the Bible Series, Nashville, Thomas Nelson, 2008.

Guthrie, Donald. Hebrews, TOTC, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1983.

Guthrie, George. The NIV Application Commentary on Hebrews, Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1998.

Lewis, C S. The Last Battle, New York, Collier Books, New York, 1970.

Lucado, Max. Grace for the Moment, Volume Two. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2006.

MacArthur, John. Hebrews, Chicago: Moody Bible Publishers, 1983.

MacArthur, John. The Power of Faith, John MacArthur’s Bible Studies, Hebrews 11:1-12:4, Panorama City, Word of Grace Communications, 1987.

MacArthur, John. MacArthur Bible Studies, Nashville, Thomas Nelson, 2007.

Morris, Henry. The Genesis Record, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1976.

Phillips, Richard. Hebrews: Reformed Expository Commentary, Phillipsburg: P and R Publishing, 2006.

Sacks, Stuart. Hebrew’s Through a Hebrew’s Eyes, Clarksville: Messianic Jewish Publishers, 1995.

Scott, Brett. Bibliotheca Sacra, Volume 155, April-June 1998, Number 618, Jesus’ Superiority Over Moses in Hebrews 3:1-6, Dallas, Texas.

Stern, David. The Jewish New Testament Commentary, Clarksville: Jewish New Testament Publications, 1992.

Walvoord, John and Zuck, Roy. The Bible Knowledge Commentary on the New Testament, Wheaton: Victor Books, 1983.

Walvoord, John and Zuck, Roy. The Bible Knowledge Commentary on the Old Testament, Wheaton: Victor Books, 1985.

Warren, Rick. The Purpose Driven Life, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002.

Wiersbe, Warren. Hebrews, Colorado Springs: David Cook Publishers, 1982.

Wuest, Kenneth. Hebrews in the Greek New Testament, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1947.

Zanchettin, Leo. A Devotional Commentary on Hebrews, Ijamsville, The Word Among Us Press, 2005.

Zlodhiates, Spiros, Executive Editor. Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible NASB, Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2008.

Glossary

Abba: An affectionate way to say Father, hence dear Father, or even Daddy, Papa.

Adar: The twelfth month of the Jewish biblical calendar.

Adonai: Literally, my Lord, a word the TaNaKh uses to refer to God.

ADONAI: The Tetragrammaton, meaning the four-letter name of YHVH. Both ADONAI and Ha’Shem are substitute names for YHVH. ADONAI, however, is more of an affectionate name like daddy.

ADONAI Elohei-Tzva’ot: The LORD God of heaven’s angelic armies.

ADONAI Eloheinu: LORD our God.

ADONAI Nissi: The LORD my Banner.

ADONAI Shalom: The LORD of Peace.

ADONAI Tzidkenu: The LORD our Righteousness.

ADONAI-Tzva’ot: The LORD of heaven’s angelic armies.

Adversary, the: Satan, the devil, and the old dragon.

Afikomen: Literally, “That which comes after.” Piece of matzah that is hidden during the Seder, to be found and eaten after the third cup of redemption.

Amen: “It is true,” or “So be it,” or “May it become true.”

Ariel: Lion of God, fireplace on God’s altar.

Aviv: The first month of the biblical year, corresponding to the modern Jewish month of Nisan.

Avraham: Abraham.

Azazel: A scapegoat or goat demon sent out in the wilderness on Yom Kippur.

Ba’al: The chief male god of the Phoenicians and Canaanites. The word means lord or master.

Bar or Bat Mitzvah: Son or daughter of the commandments. The ceremony by which a boy or girl at 13 or 12 is considered an adult.

Beit-Lechem: Bethlehem, birthplace of David and Yeshua, meaning house of bread.

Bnei-Yisrael: The children of Isar’el.

B’rit Chadashah: The New Covenant, New Testament.

Chesed: Mercy, righteousness (see the commentary on Ruth Af – The Concept of Chesed).

Cohen of Ha’Elyon: Priest of the God Most High.

Cohen Rosh Gadol: Great High Priest.

Cohen: Priest.

Cohanim: Priests.

Diaspora, the Dispersion: The scattering of the Jewish people in exile. Today over 6 million Jews live in Isra’el, and over 8 million Jews live in the Diaspora.

Echad: The Hebrew word for “one” or “unity.” Echad is used in the Shema (Deut 6:4).

El ‘Elyon: The Most High God.

El Shaddai: God Almighty.

Emissaries: Apostles

Goyim: Nations, non-Jews, Gentiles.

Halacha: The way, the Oral Law (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law), or the rules governing Jewish life.

Ha’Shem: While ADONAI is more of an affectionate name like daddy, while Ha’Shem is a more formal name like sir.

Hag ha-Matzah: The Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Hanukkah: Meaning “dedication,” the feast commemorating the rebuilding and dedication of the Temple after its desecration by Syrian invaders.

Kadosh: Holy.

Malki-Tzedek: Melchizedek.

Matzah: Unleavened bread, bread made without yeast.

Meshugah: A Yiddish word meaning crazy.

Messiah (Greek): Christ, the Anointed One.

Mashiach (Hebrew): Messiah, the Anointed One.

Midrash: Allegorical interpretation or application of a text. The hearer is expected to understand that the maker of the midrash is not expounding the plain meaning of the text, but introducing his own ideas.

Mikveh: A bath o pool with a flow of fresh water; used in Orthodox Judaism to this day for ritual purification or ceremonial cleansing, performed at various times in a person’s life.

Mitzvah: A good deed; literally command or commandment; more broadly, a general principle for living.

Mitzvot: Commandments.

Moshe: Moses.

‘Olam haba, the: The coming age.

Omer: Meaning “sheaf,” the bundle of barley used in the Firstfruits offering. After the Temple period it came to be identified with Sefirat ha’Omer, or the counting of the omer, the counting of the days from Firstfruits to Shavu’ot.

Pesach: Passover. It is one of the three “pilgrim festivals” that all able bodied Jews were expected to celebrate before YHVH in Yerushalayim.

Purim: Meaning “lots,” the holiday based on the story of Esther.

Redeemed: Setting free from slavery, buying back something lost, for a price.

Resheet: The Feast of Firstfruits.

Righteous of the TaNaKh, the: Old Testament believers.

Ruach: Wind or spirit.

Ruach ha-Kodesh: The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.

Shabbat: The Sabbath Day, the seventh day of the week, when work ceases.

Shalom: Peace, wholeness, wellness; a greeting used when meeting or departing.

Sh’khinah: The visual manifestation of the glory of God.

Sukkot: The festival of Booths or Tabernacles, celebrating the forty years when the people of Isra’el lived in booths, tens, shacks, in the desert between Egypt and the land of Isra’el. It is one of the three “pilgrim festivals” that all able bodied Jews were expected to celebrate before YHVH in Yerushalayim.

Shavu’ot: The festival of Weeks (Hebrew) or Pentecost (Greek), since it comes seven weeks after Pesach; also called Pentecost, from the Greek word for fifty because one counts fifty days after Passover. It is one of the three “pilgrim festivals” that all able bodied Jews were expected to celebrate before YHVH in Yerushalayim.

Sinai: The mountain in the desert between Egypt and the land of Isra’el.

Shuwb: Turn, turning, and the big idea of Jeremiah.

Synagogue: Meaning “assembly,” an adopted Greek word for a house of prayer and study.

Talmud: Student.

Talmud: The codified body of Jewish Oral Law; includes literary creations, legends, scriptural interpretations, comprised of the Mishnah and the Gemara.

TaNaKh: The Hebrew word TaNaKh is an acronym, based on the letters T (for “Torah”),N (for “Nevi’im,” or the Prophets), and K (for “Ketuv’im,” or the Writings). It is the collection of the teachings of God to human beings in document form. This term is used instead of the phrase, “the Old Testament.”

Torah: Literally, means teaching or instruction. It can be used for the five books of Moshe, or the whole TaNaKh (John 10:34). Uncapitalized, torah can be understood generally as a law or principle (Romans 7:21-8:2).

Tziyon: Zion, Mount Zion, was originally the City of David, south of the modern Old City of Yerushalayim. Later the name Tziyon came to refer metaphorically to the Temple Mount, Jerusalem, or the people of Isra’el. The hill now called Mount Tziyon was given its name in the fourth century AD.

Yeshua: Jesus, and is a masculine form, and a word play on yeshu’ah (salvation).

Yerushalayim: Jerusalem.

Y’hudah: Judah.

YHVH: The Tetragrammaton, meaning the Name, the four-letter name of God. Therefore, God does not have many names, He has only one name – YHVH (Yud Hay Vav Hay). All the other names in the Bible describe His characteristics and His attributes.

Yisra’el: Isra’el.

Yochanan: John.

Yom Kippur: The Day of Atonement, the close of the High Holy Days, and considered the holiest day of the year in traditional Judaism.

Benediction and Final Greetings
13: 20-25

Benediction and final greetings DIG: How would your sum up the writers prayer for them? Would an obedient assembly pray for its leaders? Or would a praying congregation obey its leaders? How does this benediction talk to the Hebrews who were tempted to give up on Messiah?

REFLECT: How does the writer recommend you use the benediction in your life. As this study comes to an end, what new truths have you learned about God? About yourself? What is ADONAI working in you that is pleasing to Him through Jesus Christ?

As Stuart Sacks relates in his book, Hebrews Through a Hebrew’s Eyes, no image of the Messiah is more precious to the believer than that with which the letter to the Hebrews concludes. For generations David’s psalm of comfort and encouragement that begins with HYHV Ro’i (ADONAI is my shepherd) had ministered to the deepest needs of untold numbers of God’s fearful or hurting flock.

In the midrash to Exodus, a story is told about Moshe searching for a lost goat, a circumstance that God used to tell His temporarily disenfranchised shepherd that He would soon lead the people of Isra’el. That God would raise up shepherds for Isra’el was one thing. It was, however, quite another that God Himself would actually shepherd His people.

The revelation of God’s intention to do so helped sustain Ezeki’el as he looked around him and saw only false prophets and self-seeking rulers. His reaction to their corruption brought a stern rebuke: Woe to you shepherds of Isra’el who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally (Ezeki’el 34:2-4).

Then follows God’s litany of promises: I will rescue My flock . . . I Myself will search for My sheep and look after them . . . I will pasture them on the mountains of Isra’el . . . I Myself tend My sheep and have them lie down . . . I will search for the lost . . . I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak (Ezeki’el 34:10-16).

That was then. By the first century AD, only a vague, romanticized conception of the shepherd in the TaNaKh remained. While the rabbis still maintained some reverence for that past image – many cherishing the hope that ADONAI would raise up a shepherd-King to deliver them from their Roman overlords – there was much distain for shepherds in general.

But when Yeshua arrived on the scene He said: I am the good Shepherd . . . I lay down My life for the sheep (John 10:14-15). The heart of the letter to the Hebrews dwells upon the infinite value of Messiah’s death for all who rely on it exclusively. Because of mankind’s tendency to rely on work’s-righteousness, we need to join the Hebrews in being on guard, lest we ever think of ourselves as somehow deserving God’s favor.

In Yeshua’s parable of the lost sheep (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Hs – The Parable of the Lost Sheep), the redeemed lamb’s only contribution to its salvation was, being found. The rabbis used to debate whether YHVH loved more the person who had never sinned (they made the false presumption that there could be such a person) or the person who sinned but genuinely repented. Although the majority decided in favor of the former, Jesus made it clear that there was no rejoicing over those persons who do not need to repent (surely He was speaking ironically inasmuch as all ninety-nine of them were still in the wilderness).

Isaiah tells us: We all like sheep have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6). Rabbinic logic, however, teaches that kharatah (remorse) and teshuvah (repentance) are the beginning stages of salvation. In Messiah’s parable above, to repent is synonymous with being found – the shepherd looks for the sheep until he finds it and carries it home. So it must always be, for even the most obedient among us must ultimately confess with the psalmist: I have strayed like a lost sheep (Psalm 119:176). What does it mean to be carried home by Yeshua? Its meaning must surely be bound up with our Shepherd’s declaration: I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10b).⁴⁰⁸

Now the writer prays for those to whom he addresses this letter, saying: May the God of shalom, who through the blood of the of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Yeshua, the great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will. And may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen (13:20-21). What you are able to do, God wants you to do. You are the only person on earth who can use you abilities. No one else can play your role, because they don’t have the unique shape that God has given you. The Bible says that God has equipped you with everything good for doing His will. To discover God’s will for your life, you should seriously examine what you are good at doing and what you’re not good at.⁴⁰⁹

What a difference it would make in our lives if we would turn Hebrews 13:20-21 into a personal prayer each day, “Lord, make me perfect in every good work to do Your will. Work in me that which is well pleasing in Your sight. Do it through Jesus Christ and may He receive the glory. Amen.”

Then in an almost apologetic manner, the writer encourages the readers to bear with (Greek: anecho) what he had written, to receive it with open minds and warn hearts what he had said – in contrast to those in Second Timothy 4:3 (whom Rabbi Sha’ul describes using the same Greek verb, anecho) who do not endure [bear with] sound doctrine. Brothers and sisters, I urge you to bear with my message of encouragement, for in fact I have written to you quite briefly (13:22). The letter has been straightforward, confrontive, uncompromising, somewhat complex and taxing to the mind, emotion and will. Yet, even so, it is written quite briefly. The whole letter is shorter than Romans and First Corinthians and can be read in under an hour. If the writer had dealt fully with the great themes he discusses, the letter could have been incredibly long. But it is amazingly short in comparison to the eternal and infinite truths it contains.

I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you (13:23). They needed to know that one of God’s servants, our brother Timothy (who must have been well known to them) has been released, probably from prison. The historical detail of Timothy’s imprisonment is unknown. But we are not surprised that he, like his teacher Paul, was put in jail for preaching about Jesus. Timothy seemed to be faltering in his faithfulness when Paul wrote his second letter to him. So in 2 Timothy 1:6–2:12 and 3:12-14, the apostle encouraged him to endure persecution and not to fear it. It is likely that Hebrews was written soon after Second Timothy, and we see that this man of God had responded well to Paul’s previous encouragement.

Greet all your leaders and all of God’s people. The readers had already been encouraged to obey their leaders (13:17), and now they were asked to convey greeting to them and to all God’s people who were part of the Messianic community. Those from Italy send you their greetings (13:24). This may indicate that the group to which he wrote was in Italy, or simply that some Italian believers were with him and sent their greetings.

Grace be with you all (13:25). The letter ends with a simple, yet lovely conclusion in the form of a plea for ADONAI to grant grace to the readers (Titus 3:15), as God does for all His children through the One who alone can give grace – Yeshua ha-Mashiach.⁴¹⁰

The letter to the Hebrews was written to people who were enduring persecution and questioning if Yeshua was really their great Shepherd. At that point in time, there were some in that Messianic community who began to think that the Temple and its accompanying Levitical sacrificial system looked awfully good to them by comparison.

At times we are tempted to doubt goodness of our great Shepherd; we may even question – somewhere deep within our souls – His sovereign care. But as Simon Peter said: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God (John 6:67-69). Amidst the hard realities of life we see in an anonymous medieval prayer the yearnings of our own hearts:

A stranger here, as all my fathers were,
that went before, I wander to and fro.

From earth to heaven is my pilgrimage,
a tedious way for flesh and blood to go.

O Lord, You are the way, pity the blind,
And teach me how I may Your dwelling find.⁴¹¹

Messiah’s Sacrifice Has Cleansed Us
13: 10-19

Believer’s behavior in relation to God DIG: What rituals, mores, and other forms of legalism tempt believers of any age? Why? What is the point of the argument in verses 10-12? Based upon his argument, what types of sacrifices is God concerned with in verses 15-16? How does, how we regard our leaders, reflect our regard for Messiah and His sovereignty in our lives? How has the writer to the Hebrews used the red heifer to point us to Messiah?

REFLECT: How does God bring us into spiritual maturity? What stands in the way of offering God a sacrifice of praise? Considering all you’ve learned about Yeshua in this book, write out a sacrifice of praise to Him now reflecting on all He has done for you. What sacrifice of doing good and sharing can you offer this week? What has been the most significant thing you’ve learned from studying Hebrews? How has Messiah cleansed you?

The writer of the book of Hebrews took the Red Heifer, who had to be without fault or defect (see the commentary on Numbers, to see link click – The Red Heifer) and applies it to Yeshua and takes this, and applies it to us.

There are four things that God wants in our behavior and are directly related to Him.

Separation: The writer of Hebrews now makes it clear that those Jews who persist in adhering to the Temple sacrifices can have no part in the blessings of the New Covenant. The two covenants are mutually exclusive. They are separate. He uses the phraseology of the Temple sacrificial ritual and the figure of eating a sacrificial meal.³⁹⁹

We believers have an altar. This altar is in heaven; on the heavenly altar Yeshua Messiah made the once-for-all sacrifice of Himself (8:2-5, 9:23-24, 10:1-14). But the altar is also outside the camp (13:11), so that although those who minister at the Tabernacle, the Levitical priesthood, representing the Dispensation of Torah (nonbelievers in Yeshua), have no right to eat the sin offering, because the bodies of those animals are burned outside the camp (13:10). Since Jesus was a sin offering, nonbelievers have no right to participate in the se ‘udat-ha’Adon (the Lord’s Supper), in which the bread and the cup represent the body and blood of the Messiah, unless and until they put their trust in Him.

After having stated that the non-Messianic Jews are excluded from the privileges of the B’rit Chadashah. The author proves this statement to be true by using an illustration drawn from the ceremonies of the Great Day of Atonement. Neither the people nor the priests were allowed to eat of sacrifices of that day. For the high priest (Hebrew: cohen hagadol) bring the blood of [animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are “burned outside the camp” (Hebrews 13:11 CJB quoting Leviticus 16:27 and Numbers 19:9).

And so Jesus also suffered outside the City gate to make the people holy through His own blood (13:12). In general, as the camp in the wilderness had really consisted of three parts – camp of Isra’el, that of the Levites, and that of God – so they reckoned three corresponding divisions of the Holy City. From the gates to the Temple Mount was regarded as the camp of Isra’el; though to the Court of the Women  to the Nicanor gate  represented the camp of Levi; while the rest of the Temple was “the camp of God.” It is in allusion to this that the writer Hebrews compares Messiah’s suffering outside the gate of Jerusalem, to the burning of the Red Heifer outside the camp of Isra’el in the wilderness.

Golgotha, the place of the skull, was not in the ceremonially ordained territory within Jerusalem, but upon a garbage dump whose very name had become a loose synonym for Sh’ol (Gehinnom). It was there, on a foul and wretched hill, that Yeshua died to set apart, to make holy, those who would believe in Him. Jesus identified with the needs of an unholy world by offering Himself in the midst of it, showing that no one need be excluded from His saving love, thus extending the love of God’s covenant love to all the nations (Isaiah 42:6).

All this took place far away from Isra’el’s traditional ceremonies and away from the Temple. The application to the Hebrews receiving this letter was clear. They could not be content to remain in their traditional Levitical system with its outdated, useless formulas. But their fear of leaving was understandable. To this day, Kaddish, the mourner’s prayer, is often said by the Jewish community for people who receive Yeshua as their Messiah. In such a stressful situation believers would need their hearts to be strengthened by grace by fixing their eyes upon Jesus, and remembering what He said: Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you (Hebrews 13:5b). They needed to consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that they would not grow weary and lose heart (12:3).

Yeshua was not calling them to a life of ease; He had made it known that in this world you will have trouble. However, in the same breath He also said: But take heart! I overcome the world (John 16:33) and He promised sustaining grace to all who go to Him outside the camp. They could not expect to know the extent of His grace until they turned their backs on the Temple and the Levitical system associated with it, bearing the disgrace He bore (13:13).⁴⁰⁰ What was formerly sacred was now unholy, because Jesus had been expelled from it; and what was formerly unholy was now sacred, because Jesus was there.⁴⁰¹

God has given us glimpses of eternity in His Word. We know that right now He is preparing an eternal home for us. In heaven we will be united with loved ones who are believers, released from all pain and suffering, and rewarded for our faithfulness on earth. We will have unbroken fellowship with ADONAI for all eternity. One day Jesus will say: Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world (Matthew 25:34).

C S Lewis captured the concept of eternity on the last page of the Chronicles of Narnia, his seven-book children’s fiction series: “For us this is the end of all the stories . . . But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world . . . had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one con earth has read, which goes on forever and in which every chapter is better than the one before.⁴⁰²

Just as the nine months you spent in your mother’s womb were not an end in themselves but preparation for life, so this life is preparation for the next. If you have a relationship with Jesus, you don’t need to fear death. It is the door to eternity. Rather than being the end of your life, it will be the birthday into eternal life. The writer to the Hebrews says: For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come (13:14 NLT). Measured against eternity, our time on earth is just a blink of an eye, but the consequences of it will last forever.⁴⁰³

Sacrifice: The believer-priests of the New Covenant are not to offer animal sacrifices as did the Levitical priests, but sacrifices of praise. The rabbis teach that in the future all sacrifices will cease; but praises to ADONAI will not cease. Through Him, therefore, “let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise,” for this is the fruit of the lips that acknowledge His name (Hebrews 13:15 quoting Leviticus 7:12, 22:29; Psalm 50:14-15, 23; 107:22, 116:17; Second Chronicles 29:31). The believer’s sacrifice of praise is to be offered continually. It is not to be a fair-weather offering, but an offering in every circumstance. Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (First Thessalonians 5:18).

And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for God is well pleased with such “sacrifices” (13:16). Yochanan warns us that the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen (First John 4:20). In other words, if our praise of ADONAI in word is not accompanied by doing good and sharing with others, it is not acceptable to Him. Praise of God in word and deed are inseparable. Religion that God our Father accepts are pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted with the world (James 1:27).

Submission: Having encouraged the Hebrews to remember their leaders who spoken the word of God to them (13:7), and not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings (13:9), the writer now encourages them, probably because of a separatist spirit (10:25), to submit to their present leaders, trusting in their teaching.⁴⁰⁴ ADONAI had provided for their spiritual protection by giving them godly leaders. It was their responsibility to guard, protect, defend and care for the spiritual welfare of the flock. The Adversary loves detached believers, unplugged from the life of the Body, isolated from God’s family, and unaccountable to spiritual leaders, because he knows they are defenseless and powerless against his tactics. Therefore, obey your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you (13:17).⁴⁰⁵

Supplication: Pray for me. The writer of Hebrews was apparently a leader in the Messianic community to whom he was writing, and here he asks for prayer support of among those to whom he was ministering. Every servant of Christ needs the prayers of believers to minister effectively – but even more so the leadership. The old serpent will attack leadership continually. Consequently, leaders need and deserve the prayers of God’s people, without which they cannot be the most effective in His work (James 3:1).

The writer asks for prayer because he was sure that he had a clear conscience and had a desire to live honorably in every way. He was not being egotistical or arrogant, but simply saying that, to the best of his own knowledge, he had ministered to the people faithfully – not perfectly – but faithfully. He not only needed their prayers; he had earned their prayers. He had the right before God to expect them to pray for him. And evidently, he really needed it. I particularly urge you all the more to pray so that I may be restored to you soon (13:18-19). Whatever the reason had been for his leaving them, he was anxious to return. God is sovereign, but prayer makes things possible that otherwise would not be possible (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ih – The Parable of the Persistent Widow).⁴⁰⁶

Moses was given the unusual mitzvah of the Red Heifer (Numbers 19:1-13) whose ashes purify those contaminated by contact with death. This ritual is considered a mystery to the Jews because it makes no sense to them. In fact, the Talmud states that of all the 613 commandments in the Torah, this is the only one that King Solomon could not understand, since this sacrifice is the most unusual of all the sacrifices found in the Torah. However, Hebrews has the answer! The Red Heifer was a clear foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Yeshua Messiah to deliver us from death.

^{The sacrifice of the Red Heifer was unique for the following reasons:}

1. Unlike all other sacrifices that were offered at the Bronze Altar, the Red Heifer was taken outside the camp to be slaughtered.

2. Unlike all other sacrifices the Red Heifer was to be burned in its entirety: its hide, flesh, and even dung were to be burned.

3. Unlike all other sacrifices, all the blood of the sacrifice was to be burned in the fire as well.

4. Unlike all other sacrifices, it (paradoxically) contaminated the priest who offered it, but made the one who was sprinkled by it clean.

5. Unlike all other sacrifices, the ashes were preserved and used for cleansing (all other sacrifices required the ashed disposed of outside the camp).

According to Jewish tradition, this sacrifice was to atone for the sin of the Golden Calf, though the Torah itself does not make this association. Yeshua Messiah is the perfect fulfillment of the Red Heifer, since He is completely without fault or defect (Second Corinthians 5:21; John 8:46); He was sacrificed outside the camp (Hebrews 13:13); He made Himself sin for us (Second Corinthians 5:21); the sprinkling of His blood cleanses us (First Peter 1:2; Hebrews 12:24; Revelation 1:5); and the water of purification, the Ruach Ha’Kodesh that His sacrifice created is the means by which we are made clean from the impurity of sin (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Gp – On the Last and Greatest Day of the Feast).⁴⁰⁷

Believer’s Behavior in Relation to Ourselves
13: 4-9

Believer’s behavior in relation to ourselves DIG: What do you learn here about sex in marriage? About sex outside of marriage? What personal qualities should believers demonstrate to each other? How is God’s presence an antidote for discontentment (see verses 5-6)? Read 1 Tim 6:6-11. How can being discontent with what you have and desiring riches be a detriment to one’s spiritual health and vitality? How are we to regard our leaders? Why? What strange teachings were particularly tempting to the Hebrews in their day?

REFLECT: Would you say you were a content person? Why or why not? In which of these five areas have you made the most progress this year: (a) providing hospitality? (b) caring for those suffering in their faith? (c) loving one another as brothers and sisters in Christ? (d) keeping your marriage strong? (e) staying free from the love of money? Which do you need to work on the most? In which of these five areas in your place of worship the strongest? Weakest?

The rabbis teach that God revealed much more to Moshe on Mount Sinai than was actually written down. This became known as the Oral Law (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Ei – The Oral Law), passed on orally from generation to generation. Eventually, there were about 1,200 oral laws for every one of the 613 commandments in the Torah. Not only that, but the rabbis also elevated the Oral Law slightly above the Torah. They teach that “whoever obeys the Torah does a good thing, but whoever obeys the Oral Law does an even better thing.” Not until 219 AD was a summary of the Oral Law complied. When it was fully transcribed it was called the Mishnah. Much later, what was to be called the Talmud, was anchored to this body of legal rulings.

In addition, the opinions of the rabbis were complied into the Gemara, a commentary on the Mishnah. This, too, became a part of the Talmud. Many Jews accepted these writings as authoritative and used them for spiritual and practical direction. The Messianic community that was the recipient of the letter to the Hebrews would have felt the influence of these rabbinical writings in competing for their attention.

Over the course of many centuries, little has changed in the Orthodox world. They still speak of the rishonim (first ones), the medieval Torah scholars, and refer to the akharonim (latter ones), the sages at the time of the Renaissance and afterwards. In the sixteenth century Rabbi Yosef Caro wrote his Shulkhan Arukh (Prepared Table), which has become a comprehensive resource for Jews desiring a complete Talumdic code governing everyday life.

There are gems to be found in these collective writings of the Hebrew people. Pithy, philosophical sayings abound, “The rose grows among the thorns,” “Commit a sin twice, it will seem like a sin no longer,” “A single light answers as well for a hundred men as for one.” There are also practical elements, “Use the noble vase today; tomorrow it may break,” “Attend no auctions, if you don’t have any money.”

Yet for all of its wisdom and wit and sometimes whimsical elements, the Talmud presents no distinct ethical system. Nor does it offer any cohesive doctrine. What we do find, however, is the denial of such bedrock biblical doctrines as original sin, the vicarious atonement, and everlasting punishment. The Talmud portrays humans as the authors of their own salvation by works and whose spiritual life will continue to develop beyond the grave.³⁹³

Sexual purity: Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Br – Do Not Commit Adultery) and all the sexual immoral. Ha’Shem is serious about sexual purity. Men and women may play around with illicit sex, and be totally acceptable in our contemporary society. But in the eyes of the LORD, it is always sin and will always be judged. Rabbi Sha’ul warns: Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient (Ephesians 5:6). He also tells us to flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body (First Corinthians 6:18). In other words, sexual sin is not only against YHVH and other people, it’s also against ourselves. Part of our moral responsibility to ourselves is to be sexually pure.

Some of the more obvious results of such views are the heart-breaking increases in extramarital pregnancies, forcible rapes, illegitimate births (despite birth control measures and abortions), and venereal diseases of all sorts. Billy Graham once said that the writings coming out of contemporary authors are “like the drippings of a broken sewer”. Judgment already exists in the broken homes, the psychological and physical breakdowns, and the murder and other violence that is generated when passion is uncontrolled. It is not possible to live and act against the moral grain of the universe established by the LORD Himself and not suffer terrible consequences.³⁹⁴ Sex is like fire. It, has its place. Fire in your fireplace is a good thing. It can warm your house and cook your food. But fire in your kitchen is a bad thing. It can destroy your house and kill you and your family. Sex within the confines of marriage, however, is God-ordained. Therefore, Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexual immoral (13:4).

Satisfaction with what we have: Keep your lives free from the love of money (Hebrews 13:5a) because it is one of the most common forms of covetousness, since money can be used to secure so many other things that we want. Loving money is lusting after material riches, whatever the form is. Among other things, loving money is trusting in uncertain wealth rather than the living God, who provides us with everything for our enjoyment (First Timothy 6:17). A believer should be free from such love of material things. Actually, the love of money is a sin against YHVH, a form of distrust. For God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5b quoting Deuteronomy 31:6).

Achan’s love of money cost Isra’el a defeat at Ai, the lives of at least thirty-six of his fellow Israelites, his own life, and the lives of his family and flocks (Joshua 7:1, 5, 25). After Naaman was cleansed of leprosy, following Elisha’s instruction to wash seven times in the Jordan, the prophet refused any payment. But Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, later ran back to Naaman and deceived him in order to profit from the grateful captain. After lying again, he was cursed by Elisha with Naaman’s leprosy (Second Kings 5:15-27). His greed led to lying, deceit, and leprosy. Judas was greedy as well as traitorous, willing to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of sliver. Ananias and Sapphira paid for their greed and attempted deceit with their lives (Acts 5:1-10). Greed is not a trifling sin before Ha’Shem. It has kept many unbelievers out of the Kingdom, and it has caused many believers to lose the joy of the Kingdom or worse!

It is not wrong, of course, to earn or have wealth. It’s what you do with it. Abraham and Job were extremely wealthy. The B’rit Chadashah mentions a number of faithful believers who had considerable wealth. It is the love of money is a root of all kind of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs (First Timothy 6:10). It is the longing after it and trusting in it that is sinful. David counseled: Though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them (Psalm 62:10b). Job stated this principle clearly: If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, “You are my security,” or if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained . . . then these also would be sins to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high (Job 31:24-25, 28). To trust in money is to distrust God. Nicer clothes, a bigger house, another car, a better vacation could tempt us all. But ADONAI tells us to be content with what you have (Hebrews 13:5c).

Many of those addressed in the book of Hebrews had lost most, if not everything they had. But they knew what they possessed was better and would last forever (10:34 CJB). Some of them might have been looking back to what they had lost and thought that the cost was too high. However, they are told not to return to material things. Therefore, we can say with confidence, “ADONAI is my helper; I will not be afraid – what can mere mortals do to me” (Hebrews 13:6 quoting Psalm 118:6)? In Matthew 28:20, Yeshua made it clear: I am with you always, to the end of the age.³⁹⁵

Steadfastness in the faith: Remember your leaders. The writer is still mindful of the danger that many of the Jewish recipients of this letter were in, that of renouncing their profession of faith in Yeshua Messiah, and returning to the Levitical sacrifices for their salvation. He therefore encourages them to remember their leaders who had been martyred. Those had who spoken the word of God to you. They were urged to imitate their faith, while considering the outcome of their way of life (13:7). Thus, they would be guarded against forsaking Jesus Christ and going back to the Temple sacrifices.³⁹⁶

Our author calls on us to focus on Him who is the sovereign unchanging source of salvation. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (13:8). As our hearts rejoice in His actions on our behalf we will continually acknowledge that it is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace (13:9a). We may really begin to realize the extent of the Lord’s grace when we contemplate the depths of our sin and our total lack of righteousness before Ha’Shem who is a consuming fire (12:29). Yeshua suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through His own blood (13:12). No other sacrifice was necessary. All we can really do is to gratefully offer God a sacrifice of praise for what He has done (13:15) for God is well pleased with such “sacrifices” (13:16).

Yet the rabbis teach that with respect to the atonement, and their interpretation of Isaiah 53, is that the Jewish people themselves are the redeeming sacrifice (see the commentary on Isaiah Iy – The Death of the Suffering Servant). The Talmud states that “the death of the righteous of the TaNaKh makes atonement” for others (Leviticus Rabbah, 20:7).

But were the people of Isra’el righteous? Isaiah knew that his people hardly qualified to be God’s suffering servant for they were spiritually deaf and blind (Isaiah 42:19). One doesn’t need to hear too many synagogue readings of the Haftarah (the weekly readings taken from the prophets) to see how every bit of righteousness had been stripped from the Jewish people. There were more than a few Orthodox rabbis who, nevertheless, instructed those about to be executed at the Nazi death camps to see their forfeited lives as a fulfillment of the Almighty’s plan to redeem a corrupt world through His people’s death. Many sought the strength to embrace their death in prayer that God would use their lives as part of His redemptive plan. The following prayer was found attached to a coat of a dead child at Ravensbruck concentration camp.

O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all of the suffering they have inflicted upon us: Instead remember the fruits we have borne because of this suffering: our fellowship, our loyalty to one another, our humility, our courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart that has grown from this trouble. When our persecutors come to be judged by You, let all of these fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness.

This stirring, even heartbreaking prayer, and the sentiment behind it, shows how easy it is to be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. And if, as the writer to the Hebrews says, that it is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace (13:9a), if it is truly grace, we must acknowledge ADONAI as the Author and Finisher of our salvation. Therefore, it is vital that God Himself bear the full weight for the punishment of our sins. And this is precisely what the Hebrew members of the Messianic community to whom this letter was written were being encouraged to believe, that Yeshua was God’s one and only Son (John 3:16), reconciling the world to Himself (Second Corinthians 5:19).³⁹⁷

Many in the Messianic community continued to practice kosher eating habits even after being saved, not as a means of salvation, but as a part of their Jewish heritage. This is allowed because of their freedom in Messiah. However, the author warns them that their strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them (13:9 NLT). It is as if the author is saying, “Yes, your food can be kosher because of your freedom in Christ allows you to eat what you want, but don’t confuse eating kosher with your salvation. You are saved through faith in Yeshua, not by works, not by the kind of food you eat.”

Any relationship involves times of closeness and times of distance, and in a relationship with God, no matter how intimate, the pendulum will swing from one side to the other. So sometimes you will not feel close to Him. But the deepest level of worship is praising God when in spite of the pain, thanking ADONAI during a trial, trusting the LORD when tempted, surrendering while suffering, and loving God when your prayers seem like they are bouncing off of the ceiling. How do you intend to stay focused of God even when He feels distant? How do you praise God when you don’t understand what’s happening in your life and ADONAI is silent? You do what Job did.

Tell God exactly how you feel.

Focus on who God is – His unchanging nature (13:8).

Trust God to keep His promises.

Remember what God has already done for you.³⁹⁸

Believer’s Behavior in Relation to Others
13: 1-3

Believer’s behavior in relation to others DIG: Many people claim they are not interested in a relationship with the Lord because of the hypocritical behavior of believers. In your opinion, to what extent is this a valid excuse or simply a smoke screen?³⁸⁹ How is hospitality still important in the congregations of God today as it was in the early Messianic community?

REFLECT: What hospitality can you offer? Are you part of a “holy huddle?” Or do you reach out to others, even to people who are very different from you? Describe how your sharing with others affects your evangelism?

As the letter to the Hebrews comes to a close, the author can’t help providing some snippets of practical advice. While the intensive teaching sections of the letter confirm that the writer was a master of the TaNaKh and the B’rit Chadashah, at heart he is a Messianic rabbi, concerned with the well-being of everyone in the Messianic community. We might hear similar words of advice given by a mother to her son going off to college. As she hugs him good-bye she just can’t help saying things like, “Now remember . . . ,” “Don’t forget . . . ,” We can almost see her son smiling and reassuring her, “Don’t worry, mom, I’ll be all right.”

The warning sections of Hebrews are long past (to see link click Ag – The Audience of the book Hebrews). The stern demeanor has ended, and now nothing but tenderness shines through. These are words of a loving parent who wants nothing less than what is best for her child. Surely the writer wants nothing but the best for his first-century readers and for us.³⁹⁰

The author encourages his readers to keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters (13:1). Loving each other reveals to the world that we belong to Messiah, it assures our true identity to ourselves, and it delights ADONAI. Jesus said: By this all mankind will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another (John 13:35). In a sense YHVH has given the world the right to evaluate us on the basis of our love for each other. Also loving fellow believers assures us of our true identity: We know that we have passed from death to life because we love each other (First John 3:15a). Lastly, our loving one another delights God. How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Tziyon. For there ADONAI bestows this blessing, even eternal life (Psalm 133:1-3).

Our first responsibility is to our brothers and sisters in Messiah, “As we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the household of God” (Galatians 6:10). But our responsibility doesn’t end there. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers. The danger of “being taken advantage of” is no excuse for not helping someone in need. Yes, sometimes it’s easy to be deceived by strangers, but we should use our common sense and our discernment in deciding how to help someone. Our primary motivation should be for helping, not for being taken advantage of. If we help in good faith, ADONAI will honor our effort and be held blameless.

For by doing so some have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it (13:2). This is not the basis for being hospitable. We are not to help people because we might find ourselves ministering to angels. We are to minister out of the love for other people and for God’s glory. The simple point made here is that we can never know how important and far-reaching a simple act of hospitality may be. Abraham went out of his way to help three men who were passing by his tent. He did not wait to be asked for help but volunteered. For him, it was an opportunity more than a duty. In fact, he considered the greater service to himself, saying: My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, please don’t leave your servant (Genesis 18:3). At the time, he had no idea that two of the men were angles and the third was the Angel of ADONAI Himself (Genesis 18:1 and 19:1).

In a sense, we always minister to our Lord when we are hospitable, especially to fellow believers. “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me” (Matthew 25:40). To feed the hungry, help a stranger, clothe the naked, and visit those in prison in Yeshua’s name is to serve Him. To turn our backs on those in need of such things is to turn our backs on God. “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me” (Matthew 25:45).³⁹¹

The author’s writing to these first-century Hebrews, who were being persecuted by non-believing Jews who had not left the Temple, encourages the believers to remember the other members of the Messianic community.³⁹² Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering (13:3). We should do our best to identify with those who are in need and try to put ourselves in their place. It is the principle of the golden rule: Treat others how you want them to treat you, for this is the meaning of the Torah and the teaching of the Prophets (Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31 NCV).

We can show sympathy and identify with others in a least three different ways. First, we can simply “be there” when others are in trouble. Sometimes the mere presence of a friend is the best encouragement and strength. Secondly, we can give direct help. Paul thanked the Philippians for sharing with him his affliction by giving him money to carry on his ministry in other places (Philippians 4:14-16). By supporting him financially, they also encouraged him spiritually. A third way is to show sympathy through prayer. Again, Paul’s ministry gives us an example. His closing words to the Colossians, “Remember my imprisonment” (Colossians 4:18 NASB), were an appeal for prayer. They could not visit him, and money would have been no help at that time. But by remembering him in prayer they could still support him powerfully.

Bearing one other’s burdens fulfills the Torah’s true meaning, which the Messiah upholds (Galatians 6:2 CJB). Since we do not have a Cohen Rosh Gadol who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses (4:15a CJB), how much more should we sympathize with others, especially fellow believers, who are in need? Following Yeshua’s example, who did not come to be ministered to but to minister, we should lose ourselves in the sustained, sympathetic, and loving care of others.

The Earthly Sinai and the Heavenly Tziyon
12: 18-29

The earthly Sinai and the heavenly Tziyon DIG: What is the point of the comparison between Mount Sinai and Mount Tziyon? What key principle for the Hebrews does Esau illustrate (Genesis 25:29-34)? How does this contrast sum up the author’s argument throughout the book? What happens to those who refuse to heed God’s voice from Mount Sinai (verses 19, 25 and 3:17)? From heaven (25-27 and 1:2)? What is our reward and appropriate response (verse 28)?

REFLECT: For more insight about how to endure, read Psalm 42. What do you learn from the psalmist about how to persevere in difficult times? What other truths from Hebrews 12 are illustrated in this psalm? If you are believer, you have come to Mount Tziyon and the City of the living God, the heavenly Yerushalayim. How often do you think of heaven? What can you do to focus on heaven each day? How can your life better reflect your true citizenship?³⁸¹

The glory and supremacy of the Messiah is the great theme of Hebrews. A hostile Jewish community doubtless told the Hebrew believers in Messiah that they had turned their backs on Ha’Shem. They were probably taunted for having foolishly forsaken Jerusalem and the Temple, where ADONAI promised to meet His people. In response, the writer placed a God-sized vision before these believers. They received not only an understanding of Messiah’s unparalleled, exalted character, but also a deeper awareness of the privilege they had been given to worship Him and enjoy His fellowship.

The great issue in spiritual warfare is the glory of ADONAI. The Adversary is intent on depriving God the glory He deserves. Unless we perceive the glory of YHVH, our worship will be the worse for it. As a result, we cannot live with the personal and spiritual fulfillment to which His glory calls us. If that’s not bad enough, our service to the Lord will also be impeded, for where that is no dynamic worship, there is also little dynamic service.

For the people of Isra’el, the glory of the LORD was originally something quite visible. His majestic presence terrified them at Sinai (see the commentary on Exodus Dg – Moses Spoke and the Voice of God Answered Him), but was a powerful reminder that He was with them. His presence with them at the Tabernacle during the many years of wilderness wanderings. Generations later, when the Philistines captured the ark of the Covenant, the cry, Ichabod, was heard: The Glory had departed from them (First Samuel 4:21-22).

The Temple in Yerushalayim, with a centuries old history of God-ordained rituals and sacrifice, was the place where the Sh’khinah glory dwelt. It was only a few years after the letter to the Hebrews was written, that the Romans would burn down Temple after a tragic and humiliating siege of the City of David. It was a destruction that Messiah had foretold: Do you see all these great buildings? As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down (Matthew 24:2; Mark 13:2; Luke 21:6).

Yet even before the Temple’s destruction (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Mt – The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple on Tisha B’Av in 70 AD), many children of Abraham had come to see the radiance of God’s glory in a new and living way: ADONAI had revealed His unique splendor in the Person of His Son, the exact representation of His Father (1:3). To see YHVH, you only needed to behold His Messiah. The foundation of the B’rit Chadashah is that Yeshua, who bears the very stamp of God’s essence, has come into the midst of His people. As our perception of Him becomes fuller, so will our worship.³⁸²

The dilemma of those Jews in Messianic community to whom the letter was written was this, “Should I stay or should I go?” Should I stay and endure the persecution. Should I stay and look to the City with foundations, whose architect and builder is God, the heavenly Jerusalem (11:10)? Should I stay and place my faith in a better Covenant, a better Sanctuary, and a better sacrifice . . . better than the prophets, better than Moshe, better than the angels, and better than the Levitical priesthood? Or fall back to the fear and darkness of Mount Sinai? Those on the verge of accepting Yeshua, should not fear the persecution they might receive for believing in Him; but rather they should fear the judgement they would inevitably receive if they rejected Him. Their fear should not be coming to Mount Tziyon, but turning back to a burning Mount Sinai. The contrast is striking.

Mount Sinai: The awesome appearance of Mount Sinai when God gave the Torah to the people of Isra’el demonstrated His holiness (Exodus 19:16-20, 20:18-21; Deuteronomy 4:10-13); however, the Torah was inaugurated in the context of terror. Going back to the Temple and the Levitical sacrifices would be terrifying, in essence, returning to the ministry that brought death and condemnation (Second Corinthians 3:2-18).³⁸³

The writer then quotes from Exodus 19:12-13 to show that Mount Sinai, where the Torah had been given, was untouchable. You have not come to an earthly mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fires; to darkness, gloom and storm, to the sound of the shofar, as had the generation that stood at its base (12:18). When God appears in the TaNaKh, He is often accompanied by fire (Exodus 13:21; Judges 13:20; 1 Kings 18:38); darkness and gloom (Genesis 15:12; Exodus 10:21-22, 14:20; 1 Kings 8:12; Joel 2:31; Amos 5:18); and a storm (Nahum 1:3; Job 37:9, 38:1; Zech 9:14).

When YHVH gave the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 5:6-21), called the Ten Words in the Torah (Deuteronomy 4:13), all the people of Isra’el heard His voice. And those words made the hearers beg that no further message be given to them (12:19 CJB), for they could not bear to hear what was commanded to them, “Even if an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death” (Hebrews 12:20 quoting Exodus 19:12-13). The people only wanted God to talk to Moshe as their representative because they were fearful (Deuteuteronomy 4:10-13, 5:20-25 and 18:16-17). But Moses said: ADONAI will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You are to listen to everything He tells you. Everyone who fails to listen to that Prophet will be completely cut off from the people (Deut 18:15-19 CJB). According to Acts 3:22-23, Yeshua fulfills this prophecy.

Not only were the people frightened but Moshe was also. The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I was terrified of the LORD’s anger and fury” (Hebrews 12:21 quoting Deuteronomy 9:19 GWT). So the scene on Mount Sinai repelled even Moshe. However, by quoting a remark that Moses made not on Mount Sinai but upon returning and discovering the golden calf (Deuteronomy 9:14-19), the author of Hebrews show us that as a result of Moshes’ personal experience with God, he developed a healthy fear of God (Proverbs 1:7, 9:10), which lasted not only while he was receiving the Torah, but also afterwards – indeed throughout his life. The author’s point (for us also) is that those who begin well with Yeshua should not fall away later.³⁸⁴ If the persecuted believers in the Messianic community returned to the Levitical system, they would return to a system that would only bring terror, death, and condemnation.

For many years Rabbi Sha’ul had been a student of the Torah. He knew the TaNaKh as few men of his time knew it. Yet until Yeshua confronted him on the Damascus road (see the commentary on Acts Bc – Sha’ul Turns from Murder to Messiah), he had never really understood the true meaning of the Torah. He had never looked squarely into it to see himself. He thought he was alive because of his obedience to the 365 negative and 248 positive commandments of the Torah. In seeing Yeshua Messiah, however, he saw himself reflected in the mirror of the 613 commandments. As a result, he said: I was once alive outside the framework of Torah. But when the commandments really confronted me, sin sprang to life, and I died. The commandments that were intended to bring me life was found to bring me death! For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandments, deceived me; and through the commandments, sin killed me (Romans 7:9-11).

Though he had been circumcised on the eighth day, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, in regard to the Torah, a Pharisee, as for zeal, persecuting the Church, as for righteousness based upon the Torah, faultless (Philippians 3:5-6), he had never stood at the foot of Mount Sinai. He had eyes, but had not seen, and had ears but had not heard (Jeremiah 5:21). He had not understood the clear unmistakable declaration of Deuteronomy 27:26: Cursed is anyone who does not uphold (all) the words of this Torah by putting them into practice (perfectly). But in Messiah he came to understand it, and he quotes it to some Galatians who were beginning to fall back to the Temple and the Levitical system: For all who depend on the legalistic observance of the Torah are under a curse, as it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything (perfectly) written in the Scroll of the Torah” (Galatians 3:10).³⁸⁵

Mount Tziyon: But you have come to Mount Tziyon, to the City of the living God, the heavenly Yerushalayim. This is the City in heaven that is destined to be the abode of all the redeemed. This is the City Jesus spoke about in John 14:2-3. In contrasting Hagar and Sarah, Paul tells us that Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children (Galatians 4:25). He mentions two Jerusalem’s. Hagar represented the first-century Jerusalem, a City enslaved to Rome and to the Levitical priesthood. But Sarah, on the other hand, pictured the Yerushalayim that is above and free. She is the mother of all the children of grace. This is the City that Abraham sought in 11:10. The writer will mention it again in 13:14. This is the City that John describes in Revelation 21:1 to 22:5. This will be the home of all the redeemed of every generation since Adam who either enter by resurrection or translation. To those believing Jews who were being persecuted, it was if the writer was saying, “Don’t turn to back to Temple that will only bring death and condemnation. Endure! This heavenly City awaits you!” And to those unbelieving Jews who were on the edge of salvation, he was saying, “Don’t return to Mount Sinai, come to Mount Tziyon and be saved!”

The angels are introduced here because they usually represent God’s glory and ministers of His will. You come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the assembly of called out ones of the firstborn. It is the firstborn who receive the inheritance. Those believers were heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ who is the firstborn among many brothers and sisters (Romans 8:17 and 29) whose names are written in heaven (12:22-23a) in the Lambs Book of Life (see the commentary on Revelation Fv – Nothing Impure Will Enter the New Jerusalem).

On Mount Tziyon we can come into the presence of ADONAI, something incomprehensible to the Jew who only knew the terrifying God of Mount Sinai. After Yeshua’s death on the cross, the curtain of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51a; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45b), and the way into YHVH’s presence was forever made open for those who trust in His atoning death. To come into the presence of Ha’Shem at Sinai was to die; to come into ADONAI’s presence at Tziyon is to live (Psalm 73:25; Revelation 21:3). You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the righteous of the TaNaKh made perfect. To those persecuted Jewish believers, the writer declares that they will not be inferior to Abraham or Moshe or Elijah, because they will all be equal in righteousness, because our only righteousness will be our Savior’s righteousness. The only way to get to heaven is to be perfect, and the only way to be made perfect is to have all of Christ’s righteousness transferred to our spiritual bank account at the moment of faith (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Bw – What God Does For Us at the Moment of Faith).

You have come to Yeshua the mediator of a New Covenant (see Bw – The Results of Messiah’s Sacrifice), and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel (12:23-24). The writer reminded those unbelieving Jews that salvation only comes through the blood of Yeshua, not the Temple or its Levitical sacrifices. The sprinkled blood of Jesus speaks better than the blood of Abel. Abel’s sacrifice of blood was acceptable to YHVH because it was offered in faith, but it had no atoning power – not even for Abel, let alone anyone else. Messiah’s blood, however, is sufficient to cleanse the sins of everyone who has ever lived. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross (Col 1:19-20).³⁸⁶

There will be seven distinct entities present in the New Jerusalem according to Hebrews 12:22-24. First, there will be thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly. Secondly, there will be the Church of the firstborn (Acts 2:1-47), whose names are written in heaven. These are first century Jews who represent the Church all through the ages. They were the firstborn of more to come. Thirdly, God, the Judge of all will be present there and emphasizes His role as Judge. God the Father will someday judge all of heaven. Fourthly, the spirits of the righteous made perfect, or the righteous of the TaNaKh will reside there. They were made perfect by the blood of Christ. Fifthly, Jesus the mediator of a New Covenant will tabernacle there. Sixthly, there is the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Yeshua brought His blood into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly Tabernacle. That sprinkled blood is still visible on the mercy seat in heaven because that is where the original ark rests. While Abel’s blood speaks continually on earth, the Messiah’s blood speaks continually from heaven. And seventh, the Ruach ha-Kodesh will minister there.³⁸⁷

To those Jews who were intellectually convinced, but had not stepped over the line from knowledge to faith, the Ruach ha-Kodesh issues a final warning: See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks – the One who spoke through Moses then and though Yeshua now. As the Sh’ma succinctly puts it: ADONAI is One (Deuteronomy 6:4); therefore, anyone who rejects the God of Yeshua is also rejecting the God of Moshe. This point is made many times in the B’rit Chadashah (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; Romans 3:29-31, 10:4-10, Second Corinthians 3:6-16, Hebrews 3:1-6; Revelation 15:3).

If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from Him who warns us from heaven (12:25). The unbelieving Israelites who ignored God at Sinai did not enter the earthly Promised Land, and unbelievers today, Jew or Gentile, who ignore ADONAI when He speaks through His Son from Mount Tziyon will not enter the heavenly Promised Land. Whether God speaks from Sinai or from Tziyon, no man who refuses Him will escape judgment.

At Sinai, God’s voice shook the entire earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens” (Hebrews 12:26 quoting Haggai 2:6, 21). If unbelievers did not escape when the earth was shaken, how much more unlikely will they escape when both the heavens and the earth are shaken? John said it this way: I watched as the sixth seal was opened. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned red blood, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place (Revelation 6:12-14).

Commenting on the Haggai passage, the writer of Hebrews explains that the words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken – that is, created things – so that what cannot be shaken may remain (12:27). Everything physical (what can be shaken) will be destroyed. Only the eternal things will remain. YHVH has prepared a new heaven and a new earth, which will include the holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband (Revelation 21:1-2). This is the Kingdom we will receive. It is a Kingdom that cannot be shaken because it is eternal, unchangeable and immovable. We will never be taken from it, and it will never be taken from us. Therefore, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe (12:28).

The penalty for rejecting God is fearful, since even though He is merciful to those who trust in Him, at the same time, “Our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29 quoting Deuteronomy 4:24, 9:3 and Isaiah 33:14). The fire and smoke that was seen at Ha’Shem’s presence at Sinai (12:18) were merely symbols of that consuming fire of holiness that destroys all persistent, inexcusable evil. It is God Himself who is the fire that unbelief has to deal with. Having made a profession of faith in Messiah as High Priest, anyone in the Messianic community who renounced their faith in Yeshua and returned to the Temple and the Levitical sacrifices for salvation would become a consuming fire. This is a ominous warning for us and for those we love today. Either you accept Christ’s sacrifice, or you become the sacrifice on the altar of His wrath.

The choice is the same for everyone. Whether we are Jew or Gentile, to try to approach God by our works, is to come to Sinai and to discover that our works fall short and cannot save us. Whether we are Jew or Gentile, to trust in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ is to come to Tziyon, where our heavenly High Priest will mediate for us and bring us to the Father, and where we find reconciliation, peace and eternal life (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer). And if you have truly come to Tziyon and received all its blessings, it is inconceivable that you would want to hold on to Sinai in any way.³⁸⁸

Falling Short of God’s Grace
12: 12-17

Falling short of God’s grace DIG: Why do people, believers and unbelievers, fall short of God’s grace? Where did this “falling short” begin? What do people blame YHVH for the chaos in their lives that is a result of their own sin? How do these admonitions relate to disciplining the weaker members where you worship? How important is peace in the congregations of God?

REFLECT: How are you doing in your race of faith? Do you need encouragement to endure, to be persist or care? How can you pray to Adonai ELOHIM this week to help you get back on the right track? When was the last time you fell short? How do you react? Do you beat yourself up? Or do you get up, get right with the Lord, and continue on the race? Which of these instructions is the most important for you today? Why? What in this passage comforts you? What makes you uneasy? Why?

The basic thrust of this passage is clearly to encourage the Messianic community. The purpose was not to teach, for they already had a good intellectual grasp of the gospel, but to encourage them to live up to the truth that they already knew – to believe it, to follow it, to trust it and obey it. Truth that is known, but not obeyed, becomes a judgment on us rather than a help to us. Teaching and encouraging are inseparable. Teaching sound doctrine that is not applied is worthless, and encouraging not based upon sound doctrine is quicksand. God’s method of instruction is simple – explain spiritual principles and then illustrate and encourage their application. Hence, Hebrews 12 also begins with words of encouragement. After faith has been carefully explained, defined and illustrated, it is as if the writer is saying, “ Now that you know what running the believer’s marathon is all about, go out and run it!” It is not enough to know the B’rit Chadashah is better; we must accept it for ourselves. It is not enough to know that Messiah is superior and our Perfect High Priest; we must trust in His atoning sacrifice for us. It is not enough to know how we should live; we must actually live what we know.³⁷³

These verses give three encouragements: for endurance, for persistence and for care. They are addressed first of all to believers, although they apply to unbelievers as well. It is as if the author is saying, “On the basis that you should be in the believer’s marathon to win the race of faith, and that your suffering is a part of God’s loving discipline for your good, here are three things you should be concentrating on doing.”

Endurance: These verses resume the race metaphor. The first thing that happens to runners when they start to get tired is that their arms drop. The second thing to go are the knees. But concentrating on feeble arms and weak knees only slows you down. The only way you can hope to continue is by focusing on the goal. Likewise, when we experience spiritual feeble arms and weak knees, our only hope is to fix our eye on Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2c JKV quoting Habakkuk 2:4).

The writer of Hebrews got his metaphor from Isaiah. Therefore, “strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees” (Hebrews 12:12 quoting Isaiah 35:3). The faithful of Isra’el had been through a lot. They had many evil kings, some false prophets, generally disobedient and stubborn fellow Israelites, powerful enemies who threatened them, and it seemed like there was no prospect of every living in their own Land in peace. They were discouraged and despondent, ready to give up. So the prophet reminded them of the coming messianic Kingdom, when the desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom like the lily and they will see the glory of ADONAI, the splendor of our God (Isaiah 35:1-2). God directed them to help each other so that they would endure: Strengthen the feeble arms and steady weak knees. Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, He will come with vengeance; with divine retribution He will come to deliver you” (Isaiah 35:3-4). Then He gave Isra’el a way to recognize the Kosher King when He arrived (see the commentary on Isaiah, to see link click Gl – The Three Messianic Miracles). In was if He were saying, “Don’t give up now. Endure. A better day is coming. Look to that and you will have the encouragement and strength you need. Victory is ahead.” Encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day of the Lord (see the commentary on Isaiah Kg – The Second Coming of Jesus Christ to Bozrah) approaching (10:25).

Make level paths for your feet refers to staying in your own lane in the race. When you get out of your lane, you not only disqualify yourself but often interfere with other runners. A runner never intentionally gets out of his lane; he only does so when he is distracted or careless, when he loses concentration of the goal, or when fatigue robs him of the will to win. Let your eyes look directly ahead, and fix your gaze straight in front of you. Clear a level path for your feet, so all your ways will be firm. Do not turn to the right or to the left. Divert your foot from evil (Proverbs 4:25-27 TLV). When we set out in the race of faith, nothing should distract us or cause us to waver or change course. If we do, we will not only stumble ourselves but cause other to stumble as well.³⁷⁴

So that the lame, those unbelieving Jews who understood who Messiah was but had not stepped over the line from knowledge to faith, may not be disabled, but rather, healed, or saved (Hebrews 12:13 quoting Proverbs 4:26). The word lame (Greek: cholos) is found only in the synoptic gospels and Acts, and is used mostly in a literal sense. However, it is used metaphorically here. In First Kings 19:21 we read: How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him. But in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the TaNaKh, uses the same word (Greek: cholos) in First Kings 18:21 that the writer uses in Hebrews 12:13. Therefore, the word here speaks of spiritual limping, in particular, to those who among the Messianic congregation were most seriously affected by the persecutions and who were on the verge of going back to the Temple and the Levitical sacrifices.

The encouragement was to the born-again Jews who had left the Temple to endure and to cling so tenaciously to their newfound faith that those hesitating would be encouraged to go on to faith in Messiah as their superior High Priest. The believing Jews were warned that limping along in the race of faith would cause those on the edge of salvation to stumble and veer out of their lane. Those unbelieving Jews had started the race towards salvation by leaving the Temple, but they needed the encouraging example and testimony of the saved Jews to endure and finish the race so they would not be spiritually disabled, but rather, healed (saved).³⁷⁵

Persistence: Make every effort to keep pursuing shalom with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord (12:14). The warning that will climax at 12:29, for indeed, “Our God is a consuming fire,” begins here. Those who fail to pay attention, who suppose that mere intellectual acknowledgment of God’s existence and Yeshua’s Messiahship, will get them to heaven on the basis of their good deeds are in for a rude awakening because anyone whose name is not found written in the book of life [will be] thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15).³⁷⁶

Care: See to it (12:15a), translates the Greek word episkopeo, which is closely related to episkopas, meaning an overseer and is synonymous with elder. We are to have oversight of each other, helping each other grow in holiness. We are also to look out for, oversee, those in our midst, especially with the messianic community or church, who may not be believers. We are not to judge, but to be sensitive and concerned for opportunities to present them with the claims of Jesus Christ. And since the letter of Hebrews speaks so often to such people in the Messianic community in the diaspora, this is a critical point.

See to it that no one falls short of the glory of God (12:15b). Falls short means to come to late, to be left out. If an unbeliever dies before trusting in Yeshua Messiah, he or she will be lost for all eternity, short of the grace of ADONAI. We are encouraged to see to it, to be on the lookout, that, in so fare as we are able to influence them, that no one around us lives under the illusion of being a believer when they are not, or that no one exposed to the gospel turns away from it (Matthew 7:21-23; First John 2:19).³⁷⁷

And that no bitter root of bitterness (Hebrews 12:15c quoting Deuteronomy 29:18) grows up to cause trouble and defile many. When presenting the covenant to all Isra’el (Deuteronomy 29:1), Moshe warned make sure there is none among you [anyone] whose heart turns away from ADONAI . . . to serve other gods . . . a root producing poison and bitter fruit (instead of producing a harvest of righteousness and peace as found in 12:11), and when a person hears the words of this curse (Deuteronomy 28:15-69), and nevertheless invokes a blessing on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe even though I persist in going my own way,” they will bring disaster on themselves because ADONAI will never be willing to forgive them; His wrath and zeal will burn against them. And all the curses written in this book will fall on them, and ADONAI will blot out their names from under heaven (Deuteronomy 29:17-20).³⁷⁸

See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his birthright as the firstborn (12:16). Perhaps the saddest and most godless person in the Bible outside of Judas is Esau. On the surface, their acts against YHVH do not seem as wicked as those of many brutal and heartless pagans. But the Scriptures strongly condemn them. They had great light. They had every possible opportunity, as much as any person in their times, of knowing and following ADONAI. They knew His word, they had heard His promises, they had seen His miracles, and they had fellowship with His people; yet with determined willfulness they turned their backs on God and the things of God.

Esau was not only immoral, but he was godless. He had no ethics or faith, no scruples or reverence. He had no regard for the good, the truthful, or the divine. He was totally worldly, totally secular, and totally blasphemous. And as a result, he was totally unfit for the patriarchal blessing. That is why ADONAI told Rebekah that the older will serve the younger (Genesis 25:23), and that is why she acted as she did (see the commentary on Genesis Gn – Then Jacob Gave Esau Some Lentil Stew and Esau Despised His Birthright). Believers are to be careful that no one such as Esau contaminates Messiah’s Body. See to it that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau.³⁷⁹

Afterward, as you know, when Esau wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, Isaac could not change what he had done (12:17). Even though it appears that Esau had a change of heart between Genesis 25:27-34 and Genesis 27:30-41, it did not persuade his father Isaac to bless him with the blessing reserved for the first born son, because once the blessing was given it could not be withdrawn. Even though Esau had a change of heart, there is no indication that he ever truly repented. His tears did not flow from the kind of godly sorrow that brings repentance that leads to salvation (Second Corinthians 7:10a). Rather, his change of heart was only in valuing his rights as the firstborn (Genesis 27) instead of despising them (Genesis 25). Esau desperately wanted God’s bless – but not on God’s terms. However, there is no basis for inferring from this passage that it can be “too late to repent,” too late for a person to turn from sin to God. Such an attitude is only an excuse for continuing to sin. Beloved, it is never too late! The arms of ADONAI are always open, it is always His desire that no one should perish but all come to repentance (Second Peter 3:9).³⁸⁰

Warning to Unbelievers
and Encouragement to Believers
12: 12-29

Throughout the letter to the Hebrews there were five specific warnings to unbelievers within the Messianic community (to see link click Ag – The Audience of the book of Hebrews), and the writer has emphasized the importance of the believers response to these lost Jews.

Al – The first warning is the danger of neglect: intellectually convinced Jews

As – The second warning is the danger of a hardened heart: unbelieving Jews

Ba – The third warning is the danger of dullness of hearing: unconvinced Jews

Bb – The fourth warning is the danger of falling away: hesitating Jews

Ci – The fifth warning is the danger of apostasy: apostate Jews

Now that the Messianic believers understood the significance of Messiah’s superior priesthood, they were implored to commit themselves to live by faith rather than going back to the Temple and the Levitical sacrifices that would only be useless.

But both the saved and the lost were undergoing persecution from the Jewish community for leaving the Temple and the Levitical sacrifices. The writer has already given some advise about how to respond to divine discipline. Show respect for ADONAI by obeying Him even when it’s painful to obey (12:9-11). Don’t give up, but strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees (12:12). But the writer has even more suggestions to offer to the believers. Suggestions that, if we follow them, will enable us to experience life as active citizens of God’s unshakable Kingdom.

God Disciplines His Children
12: 4-11

God disciplines His children DIG: What does the struggle against sin demonstrate about a person’s relationship with God? How should a person respond to Ha’Shem when disciplined? What are the three specific purposes of Ha’Shem’s discipline? How does God’s discipline differ from human discipline? What benefits does discipline bring?

REFLECT: From the demanding coach in a grueling practice to the pruning back of a rose bush in a garden, it’s discipline that ultimately causes growth. In what areas of your life do you sense that Ha’Shem has been or is disciplining (chastening) you? What was your reaction to God’s discipline? Did you rebel? Pout? How long did it take you to come around to His way of thinking? Do you think God disciplines you out of anger, or out of love? How can you help others in this regard? What’s the hardest thing you’re going through in your life right now? How is God using it?

All the Jews to whom the letter to the Hebrews was written were experiencing persecution because of their break with Judaism. It was coming from their Jewish friends and relatives, who resented their rebellion against the religious customs and traditions in which they had held since childhood (10:32-33). But none of them suffered what Yeshua had suffered. None of them had given up their life for the gospel. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood (12:4). Nor had any of them lived an absolutely sinless life as Messiah had done, living in perfect obedience to the Father, and therefore, deserving no punishment at all. On the contrary, some of their suffering was deserved and was intended for their spiritual discipline and growth.

ADONAI uses hardship and affliction as a means of discipline, a means of training His children, of helping them mature in their spiritual lives. As John MacArthur relates in his commentary on Hebrews, God has three specific purposes for His discipline: punishment, prevention, and education. We must realize that there is a great difference between God’s discipline and His judgmental punishment. As believers we often have to suffer painful consequences for our sins, but we will never experience God’s judgment for them. This punishment Messiah took completely on Himself in the crucifixion, and God does not exact double payment for any sin. Though we deserve God’s wrath because of our sin, we will never have to face it, because Jesus endured it for us. Neither God’s love nor His justice would allow Him to require payment for what His Son has already paid in full. In discipline, God is not a judge but a father. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).³⁶⁵

Punishment: We experience some of God’s discipline as a result of our sin, but the punishment is corrective, not judgmental. It is punishment, without a doubt, but not the kind that unbelievers receive. Because of his lust for Bathsheba and the resulting adultery and murder of her husband, Ha’Shem severely punished David. Most of the kings of that time did this sort or thing, or even worse, but that didn’t give David license to sin. So YHVH disciplined David, not out of wrath, but out of love. For the rest of his life he suffered anguish that otherwise he never would have experienced (Second Samuel 12:10). David didn’t lose his salvation, but he lost his infant son and had countless heartaches from his other sons. He was even forbidden to build the Temple because of the war that resulted between himself and Absalom. Yet David was a better man because of God’s discipline. ADONAI had a purpose in the discipline – to draw His servant closer to Himself (Psalm 51) and to help him grow and mature.

The church at Corinth was especially immature and worldly. Among other things, many believers were abusing the Lord’s Table. They were using it as an excuse for partying and drunkenness. Paul rebuked them strongly and told them plainly that they were suffering weakness, sickness, and even death because of their sinfulness. They were being disciplined so that [they would] not be condemned with the world (First Cor 11:30-32).

When we discipline our children, even for something serious, we do not put them out of our family. We discipline them to correct their behavior, not to disown them. Neither does ADONAI put us out of His family when He disciplines us, His children. It is often hard for us to see the good in God’s discipline as it is for our children to see the good in our disciplining them. But we know that because He is our loving heavenly Father, He will not do anything to harm us. The LORD says that when His children abandon My Torah and fail to live by My rulings, if they profane My regulations and doesn’t obey My mitzvot, I will punish their disobedience with the rod and their guilt (Psalm 89:30-32 CJB). But on the other side of His promise of punishment there is the promise of faithfulness to His covenant. But I won’t withdraw My grace from My children or be false to My faithfulness. I will not profane My covenant or change what My lips have spoken (Psalm 89:33-34 CJB). When the LORD punishes, He is not rejecting but correcting.

Prevention: Sometimes Ha’Shem disciplines us in order to prevent sin. Just as we put restrictions and limitations on our children to protect them from harm, so God does with us. What seems to us to be a horrible inconvenience or hardship may be ADONAI’s loving hand of protection. Even Rabbi Sha’ul had his thorn in the flesh for the specific purpose of keeping him from exalting himself (Second Corinthians 12:7). Our sickness or many other problems may be God’s way of keeping us from something much worse.

Education: Besides punishing and preventing, Ha’Shem’s discipline also educates us for better service and better living. It will teach us, if we will listen to what He is saying through it. First of all, discipline can help us better know YHVH’s power and sufficiency. Sometimes God can get our attention better through suffering than He can through blessing. Prosperity has a way of making us fell self-sufficient and independent, while problems make us more aware of our need for the Lord. We need Him every bit as much when things are going well as when they are not, but often we don’t feel our need for Him until we reach the end of our rope.

By the LORD’s own admission, Job was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil (Job 1:1). However, God allowed him to suffer pain, loss, grief, sickness and ridicule from his so-called “friends.” Yet through his great and seemingly unending suffering, Job was given a glorious view of ADONAI. He experienced His holy majesty, His deliverance, His care, His power, His counsel, His defense – all through His discipline. Job also learned a lesson about himself – his wisdom is not God’s wisdom. He learned to trust God for who He is, not for what he himself could see and comprehend. When we see God better – we see ourselves better.

Only our faith can bring us to appreciate discipline, whatever the kind. We are able to see behind the scenes in Job’s ordeal because the Bible provides us with a clear picture of the workings of both the Adversary and ADONAI. But Job had no knowledge of this. As far as we can tell, Job went to his grave not knowing exactly why he had to suffer as he did. But when he finally acknowledged the LORD’s sovereign omnipotence and goodness in it all, it was by faith. He came to see God more clearly (Job 42:5), but he was not shown the whys and the wherefores of his problems more clearly. When we understand and trust Ha’Shem more deeply, we are content with whatever limited knowledge He gives us.³⁶⁶

And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the LORD’s discipline, and don’t give up when He corrects you. For the LORD disciplines those He loves, and He punishes each one He accepts as His child” (Hebrews 12:5-6 NLT quoting Proverbs 3:11-12). The author’s basic point is that the purpose of suffering is to bring about the maturity of ADONAI’s children. In these two verses he talks about forgetfulness. The word forgotten (Greek: eklelesthe) means to completely forget, or to remove completely from one’s mind. Some of those Jews had completely forgotten many things about the TaNaKh. They had forgotten that God is never pleased by anything apart from faith (11:6), and they had forgotten the righteous of the TaNaKh who had suffered greatly for their faith. Now they are reminded that they had also forgotten the teaching from Proverbs 3:11-12 about God’s discipline.

They needed to learn two lessons from Proverbs 3:11-12. First, they must not regard this discipline lightly to the point of forgetting it and not allowing the discipline to teach them what they need to learn. And secondly, they must not give up when they are being corrected because it is for their own good. They were being conformed to the image of God’s Son (Romans 8:29).³⁶⁷ Our reactions cannot be right if our view of what is happening to us is not right. If we focus on the correction and not on our relationship with ADONAI, we can miss the lesson of what He wants to teach us. When we do that, and God’s discipline is not allowed to accomplish His purpose in us, the Adversary is the victor. YHVH’s purpose is lost, and our blessing is lost.

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as His son (12:7a). Isra’el collectively is God’s son (Exodus 4:22; Hosea 11:1; Matthew 2:15; Romans 9:4); but more important than that, each believer, Jewish or Gentile, is individually God’s child, by virtue of being united with God’s one and only Son, Yeshua the Messiah (Romans 8:14-19, 29; Galatians 4:1-7; Revelation 21:7).³⁶⁸ We must remember that this letter is written to a Messianic community made up of the saved and the unsaved (to see link click Ag – The Audience of the book of Hebrews). Both groups were the recipients of the persecution, because both groups had left the Temple and its Levitical sacrifices. But only those who would remain under the hardship of God’s discipline would prove themselves to be the true children of God. Those that left would prove that they were never save to begin with.³⁶⁹ The Ruach ha-Kodesh says: They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us (First John 2:19).

In the TaNaKh, Isra’el was taught to regard any discipline by YHVH such as drought and famine, or enemy attack, was a sign of His displeasure with His people because of their sins. As a result, those Hebrews in the first-century Messianic Community would naturally regard this persecution in the same light. The writer hastens to assure them that instead of this discipline being an indication that they were not right with God, it was proof of their sonship, for what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined – and everyone undergoes discipline – then you are not true sons and daughters at all (12:7b-8). A truly loving father is totally committed to helping his children conform to the highest standards. How much more is our heavenly Father committed to our conforming to His standards, and to inflicting the discipline to make such conformity a reality. Under Jewish law, to be mamzer (to be illegitimate) meant three things: no right of inheritance; no right to marry into Jewish society; and no right to be buried in a Jewish cemetery.³⁷⁰ ADONAI, as a loving Father, wants the best for His children, which includes blessing them with the inheritance of His peace and joy and an eternal home in heaven with him forever. When Ha’Shem’s children accept and learn from His discipline, it opens the door for God’s blessings on them.

Moreover, we have all had human fathers who discipline us and we respected them for it. The word moreover here introduces a shift in the teaching on discipline. Up to this point the persecution of the Messianic community had been explained by ADONAI’s fatherly relation to them. Now the emphatic point is that their fathers, with whom God is compared, were only earthly human fathers. How much more should we submit to our spiritual Father and live (12:9)! The comparison is between the respect paid to a fallible, human parent, which grows out of a natural relation, and the complete submission to our divine spiritual Father. Therefore our spiritual Father is compared to our father of the flesh. Their relation to us is limited; His is universal. They are related to us in our dying flesh; He is the Creator of our eternal being. The words and live are not limited, however, only to our eternal existence, but they also refer to this present life. The idea is to have true life.

A comparison is now made between the character and results of the earthly father’s discipline and that of our heavenly Father. Two things point to the imperfection of our earthly fathers. First, they disciplined us for a little while as they thought best (12:10a). But their discipline must stop when adulthood is reached, whether or not it has been effective or not. And secondly, human fathers are shortsighted and fallible. They are have a sin nature and are sometimes moved by passion rather than sound judgment, with the result being that their discipline may have hindered rather than promoted true life.³⁷¹

But because YHVH is perfect, His discipline is always perfect. He disciplines us out of love, not anger, and for our good, in order that we may share in His holiness (12:10b). There is only one kind of holiness . . . God’s holiness. He is both the source and the measure of all holiness – which is separation from sin. ADONAI’s greatest desire for His children is to share His holiness with us, so that we may be filled up to all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19 NASB). The only way we can be separated from sin, and be filled up with His holiness is to be saved. So the writer pleads with the unbelievers in the Messianic community who were thinking about going back to the Temple and the Levitical sacrifices, to instead step over the line from knowledge to faith and be saved. The only path to holiness is through Yeshuah Messiah.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it (12:11). The spiritual exercise consisted on the struggles of the soul, the battle between the determination to go back to the Temple sacrifices, and thus escape the persecutions, or to go on to faith in the High Priest of the B’rit Chadashah in spite of them.

Oh, how God wants you to hear His music. He has a rhythm that will race your heart and lyrics that will stir your tears. You want to journey to the stars? He can take you there. You want to lie down in peace? His music can soothe your soul. But first, He’s got to get rid of that rap (just an example). And see God begins tossing our your CD’s. A friend turns away. The job goes bad. Your spouse doesn’t understand. The church is dull. One by one God removes the all the options until all you have left is Him. Would He do that? Absolutely. If He must silence every voice, He will. He wants you to hear his music.³⁷²

We Are Surrounded by a Great Cloud of Witnesses
12: 1-3

We are surrounded by a Great Cloud of  Witnesses DIG: Describe the three categories of readers addressed in the book of Hebrews. Who are the cloud of witnesses? Why was Yeshua’s becoming a man and dying for our sins the greatest act of faith ever? As believers, what should we concentrate on when we run the race? What are the prizes for those who successfully run the race with endurance? What should we do when we believe the race is getting to difficult?

REFLECT: In what ways is your spiritual life like a race? Who are the people you look up to as having run the race the way you hope to run it? List the kinds of things that weigh you down on your spiritual journey. What keeps you from letting go of the things that weigh you down? What do you look forward to in finishing this race that we call the Way (Acts 19:9). How does God’s grace make a difference in your race?

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses (to see link click Cl – The Hall of Faith), let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles (12:1a). In the book of Hebrews, as in many places in the New Covenant, the phrase let us may refer to believers, to unbelievers, or to both. As a matter of courtesy and concern, the author frequently identifies himself with those to whom he is writing, whether or not they are part of the Messianic community (see Ag – The Audience of the book of Hebrews). In Hebrews 4:1, 14 and 16, for example, I think unbelievers are being addressed. Similarly, 6:1 speaks of unbelievers going on to the maturity of salvation. In 10:23-24, the reference can be both to believers and unbelievers.

Here in 12:1, I believe let us refers to the Jews who are intellectually convinced that Yeshua is the Messiah, but have never stepped over the line from knowledge to faith. They had not begun the race of faith (see Cw – Faith to Run the Believer’s Marathon), which starts at salvation – to which the author is now calling them. The truths, however, also apply to believers, who are now running. It is as if the writer is saying, “If you have not stepped over the line from your head to your heart, if you have not trusted in the sacrifice of Yeshua rather than the Levitical sacrifices . . . get in the race, because you have to enter before you can ever hope to win. If you are a believer, run with endurance. Don’t give up.³⁶¹

And let us run with endurance the race set before us (12:1b). Endurance includes both passive endurance and active persistence. It is the steady determination to keep going. The race of a believer is a marathon, not a sprint. The congregations of God have always had many believers who are sprinters, but ADONAI wants those who will finish the race (Second Timothy 4:7). Many of the Hebrew believers to whom the letter was written had started well. They had seen signs and wonders and were thrilled with their new lives (2:4). But as the new began to wear off and the persecution started, they began to lose their enthusiasm and their confidence. They stated to look back over their shoulder to Levitical Judaism, and they began to weaken and waver.

Rabbi Sha’ul knew of some believers in the same condition, and to them he wrote: Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever (First Corinthians 9:24-25). Of course, our competition is different from that of athletic race in two important ways. First, we do not compete against other believers, trying to outdo each other in righteousness or accomplishments. Ours is not a race of works but a race of faith. Yet, we do not compete against each other even in faith. Our competition is against the Adversary, his world system, and our own sinfulness, often referred to in the New Covenant as the flesh. Second, our strength is not in ourselves, but in the Ruach ha-Kodesh; otherwise we could never endure. We are not called on to endure in ourselves, but to endure in Messiah.³⁶²

Fixing our eyes upon Jesus (12:2a). The minute the Greek runner in the stadium took his attention away from the race and the goal to which he was running, and begins looking at the crowd, he unconsciously slowed down. It is so with us. The minute we take our eyes off of Yeshua Messiah, our sanctification is hindered. Some believers are preoccupied with themselves. They may not be selfish or egotistical, but they pay way too much attention to what they are doing, to the mechanics of running. There is a place for such concern, but if we focus on ourselves, we will never run well for the Lord. Sometimes we are preoccupied with what other believers are thinking and doing, especially in relation to us. Concern for others also has a place. We do not disregard our brothers and sisters in Christ or what they think about us. But if we focus on others, we are bound to stumble. We are not even to focus on the Holy Spirit. We are to be filled with the Spirit, and when we are, our focus will be on Jesus, because that is where the Spirit’s focus is. The Holy Spirit will glorify Me because it is from Me that He will receive what He will make known to you (John 16:14). If our focus is truly on Yeshua, we will see everything else in its right perspective.

Yeshua is the Author (Greek: archegos, meaning the chief leader) of our faith (Hebrews 12:2b JKV quoting Habakkuk 2:4). In 2:10, Jesus is called the author of salvation. Here He is called the author of our faith. He is the pioneer, or originator, of all faith. He authored Abel’s faith, Enoch’s and Noah’s, as well as Moshe’s, Abraham’s, David’s, and ours. As Rabbi Sha’ul explains: For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the Sea of Reeds. They ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied the, and the rock was Christ (First Corinthians 10:1, 3-4).

But Jesus is not only the Author or our faith, He is also the Finisher (Greek teleioo, which means to carry through completely, to finish, to make perfect or complete) of our faith (Hebrews 12:2c JKV quoting Habakkuk 2:4). He continued to trust His Father until He could say: It is finished (John 19:30)! These words, along with: Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit (Luke 23:46). His work was finished not only in that it was completed, but in that it was perfected. It accomplished exactly what it was meant to accomplish, because, from birth to death, His life was totally committed into His Father’s hands. There has never been a walk of faith like Yeshua’s.³⁶³

For (Greek: anti meaning instead of) the joy set before Him (12:2d): Anti is also used in Luke 11:11 where we have: If he asked for a fish, will he anti, instead of a fish give him a serpent? Therefore, the joy spoken of here is the divine blessing of His preincarnate life in fellowship with the Father; the glory that He had with YHVH before the world was formed. In exchange for this, He endured the cross, scorning its shame (12:2e). The contrast is drawn between the race set before the readers in verse 1 and the joy that was already present in Messiah. The heroic character of His faith appears in His renouncing a joy already possessed in exchange for indignity and death. So Yeshua, being the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross (Phil 2:6-8)! Jesus’ dying for our sins was the greatest act of faith ever because He had the most to lose.

Messiah sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2f quoting Psalm 110:1). The words sat down (Greek: kekathiken) are in the perfect tense, the idea being that after His work of providing salvation was finished, He sat down, and remains seated. He never needs to raise and repeat His work on the cross for sinners. He is not only seated, but He occupies the position of preeminence, at the right hand of the throne of God the Father interceding for us (Acts 7:55-56; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20).

For the joy set before Messiah, He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (12:2). OK, but what’s at the end of the race for us? What do we get if we win? First, a marathon, the agony race, seems to never end. It is not a jog in the park, simply for the joy of running. If you don’t have something important to look forward to at the end of this race, you will likely not start it and will certainly not finish it.

Jesus didn’t run the race of faith for the pleasure of the race itself, though He must have experienced some great satisfaction in seeing people healed, comforted, brought to faith, and started on their way to spiritual growth. But He didn’t leave the presence of His Father and the Ruach, His heavenly glory, endure temptation and fierce opposition from the Adversary himself, suffer ridicule, scorn, blasphemy, torture, and crucifixion by His enemies for the sake of whatever few pleasures He had while on earth.

Only what was at the end of the race could have motivated Messiah to leave what He did and endure what He did. Jesus ran for two things: For the joy set before Him and sitting down at the right hand of the throne of God. He ran for the joy of exaltation. After the Passover Seder with His apostles on the night in which He was betrayed, Jesus said to His Father, “I have brought You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave Me to do. And now, Father, glorify Me in your presence with the glory I had with You before the world began (Yochanan 17:4-5). Yeshua gained His reward by glorifying His Father while on the earth. He also glorified ADONAI by totally reflecting the Father’s attributes and by fully doing the Father’s will.

The prize believers are to run for is not heaven. If Yeshua is truly our Lord and Savior, heaven is already ours. We run for the same prize that Christ ran for, and achieve it in the same way He did. We run for the exaltation YHVH promises will be ours if we glorify Him on earth as His Son did. There are five crowns that can be ours at the bema seat of Messiah (see the commentary on Revelation Cc – We Must All Appear Before the Judgment Seat of Christ). We glorify God by allowing His attributes to shine through us and by obeying His Word and His will in everything we do.

When you get weary in the race, when your faith runs out and you think maybe God has turned His back on you, when it seems we you’ll never get out the mess you’re in and you’re sure your faith can’t hold out any longer, remember this verse: Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart (12:3). Part of the purpose for fixing our eyes upon Jesus is the same as that for considering the great cloud of witnesses – our encouragement.

Heaven was not foreign to Jesus. He is the only person to live on earth after He had lived in heaven. As believers, you and I will live in heaven after our time on earth, but Yeshua did just the opposite. He knew heaven before He came to earth. He knew what awaited Him upon His return. And knowing what awaited, He continued to be faithful to the Father.

The righteous of the TaNaKh were heroes of faith (see Cl – The Hall of Faith), but Yeshua is the preeminent example of faith. He is the divine Son of God, but while on the earth He did not live by His own power and will, but in His Father’s power and will. Otherwise He couldn’t be our example. And unless, by the power of the Ruach, we are truly able to live a holy life, His life would not be an example but an impossible ideal to mock and to judge us.

We rejoice that one day we will live together with Him (First Thessalonians 5:10), but we should also rejoice that we can live like Him right now! We don’t live in our own power but in His, just He did not live in His own power but in the Father’s power while on the earth. We can say with Rabbi Sha’ul: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20).³⁶⁴

Faith and Discipline
12: 1-11

The writer has just told us: Now this faith is what the righteous of the TaNaKh were commended for (Hebrews 11:2 quoting Habakkuk 2:4), and now he says: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with endurance the race set before us (12:1).

Modern advertisers work hard to sell the public on the benefits of their product. But why in the world would the writer of Hebrews, speaking to an already discouraged Messianic community, picture them in the company of those whose faith brought suffering? Wouldn’t it be wiser to highlight eternal benefits and stay away from any pain they might experience here and now? Or to paint an even rosier picture of what might lie just around the corner?

The problem is, of course, that a life of faith is no bed of roses. Those who promote health and wealth ignore the fact that believers are heirs to the same troubles that plague all mankind. They also ignore Scripture’s warning that everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (Second Timothy 3:12). Sooner or later the reality of this truth sets in. In fact, the first readers of this letter were already suffering hardships. What they needed wasn’t lip service, but help. What they needed, and what we need today, as hard to understand as this might seem, is the ability to put our pain and suffering in perspective and recognize that our tribulations are gifts of a loving God.³⁶⁰

Faith to Run the Believer’s Marathon
12:1 to 13:25

Figures of speech are effective teaching tools and are often used in the Bible. Several times the life of a believer is compared to warfare. Rabbi Sha’ul counsels us to endure hardship as a good soldier for Jesus Christ (Second Timothy 2:3) and to put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:11). He also uses boxing as a comparison: I box in such a way, as not beating the air (First Corinthians 9:26; Second Timothy 4:7). The believer is often spoken of as a slave of Yeshua Messiah. Paul frequently refers to himself as a slave, or bondservant, of Christ (Romans 1:1; Philippians 1:1; Titus 1:1). Jesus spoke of His followers as lights and salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13-16). Peter refers to believers as babes and as living stones (First Peter 2 and 5). But Rabbi Sha’ul was particularly fond of the figure of a race. He uses such phrases as run in a race (First Corinthians 9:24), running well (Galatians 5:7), and run in vain (Philippians 2:16). This is also the figure used by the writer of Hebrews to the Jews who were encouraged to run with endurance the race that was set before them.³⁵⁸

But all the Jews to whom the book was written were undergoing persecution because of their break with Judaism. It was coming from their Jewish friends and relatives who resented their turning their back on the religious customs and traditions in which they had been raised. The affliction had largely been in the form of social and economic pressure, although some of them had been imprisoned (10:34). The writer encouraged them not to forget God’s Word and to their suffering for Messiah’s sake would produce holiness. They should not look to Mount Sinai with fear, but instead, look to Mount Tziyon, representing the heavenly Yerushalayim, for grace. Chapter 12 is a call, then, to persevere looking to Christ as our example. He endured the shame of the cross to bring us into fellowship with ADONAI. In the same way we should keep our eyes on Him as we run the race of life. We have received citizenship in an unshakable Kingdom, so let us show gratitude and offer our lives in acceptable service to Him.

The first eleven chapters of Hebrews do not emphasize specific commands to believers. There is an obvious lack of practical exhortations. Those chapters are pure doctrine and are almost exclusively directed to Jews who had received the Good News but needed to be affirmed in the superiority of the B’rit Chadashah. The exhortations in Chapter 12 are general, encouraging them to run the race of faith with patience. But the specific practical exhortations for believers are found in Chapter 13. This fits the pattern of the New Covenant teaching, which is always doctrine and then duty, position and then practice. Chapter 13 is not an afterthought, but is central to the message of the book of Hebrews: true faith demands true living.³⁵⁹

Faith Through Trials
11: 32-40

Faith through trials DIG: Why have so many people in our world been persecuted for their faith? Should believers be surprised when trials come? Why or why not? In verses 39-40, when we glorify God with our faith in Him, what is the result of our faith? How was Gideon’s faith demonstrated? What was the source of Samson’s courage? How was David faithful? Why do you think the Ruach ha-Kodesh selected Samuel as an example of faith? What gave courage to the righteous of the TaNaKh who suffered for their faith? Even though none of them received what had been promised, what was the something better that God had planned for them and for us?

REFLECT: Think about the others in verse 36 who didn’t receive miracles or liberation for their faith. Instead they suffered and even died. Why does it make sense to hold onto your faith even if it doesn’t bring you deliverance from your suffering? How does your faith help you to stand firm in a very evil world?

For a Jew to become a believer in the first century it was always costly. It often cost him his friends, family, synagogue privileges, job, social status, and community respect. Some of the Jews on the edge of salvation receiving this letter to the Hebrews were tempted to return to Jerusalem and the old Levitical sacrificial system. Such hesitant Jews were being shown in this chapter that ADONAI’s faithful followers were not like them. When the righteous of the TaNaKh chose God, they were fully committed because they had a right view of who YHVH is. Right faith is based on right theology. Faith believes and obeys God because faith knows that He cannot lie, cannot make a mistake, cannot do wrong, cannot be defeated and cannot be surpassed. A God like this can be trusted. In fact, with a God like this, it doesn’t make any sense to do anything else but trust Him. Unbelief, of course, is blind to this sort of God and therefore sees trust and obedience as foolish. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (First Corinthians 1:18). There is never enough proof for unbelief. It walks by sight.³⁴⁷ But those who are righteous will live their lives by faith (Hebrews 10:38 CJB quoting Habakkuk 2:4 CJB).

Countless others: There were far too many heroes of faith for the writer to deal with in detail. And what more shall I say? It would take too long to recount all the stories of faith (11:32a). So the author singles out the three best-known judges; a general, David, who is also the best-known king; Samuel the judge-prophet; and other unnamed prophets.

Gideon (Judges 6:11 to 8:35), a judge and military leader, had assembled 32,000 men to fight the Midianites and the Amalekites. To keep Isra’el from thinking the coming victory was won by her own power, Ha’Shem cut her forces down to 10,000 and then to a mere 300. Those 300 were chosen solely on the basis of how they drank water from a spring. The enemy, by contrast, were as thick as locusts; their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore (Judges 7:12). However, Gideon’s men were outfitted only with trumpets and with pitchers with torches inside. With even fewer men and less effort than used to defeat Jericho, the entire heathen enemy army was routed (Judges 7:16-22). Only a fool would have attempted such a courageous approach to battle apart from God’s direction and power. From the perspective of faith, however, only a fool would not attempt such a thing when he has the LORD’s direction and power (11:32b).³⁴⁸

Barak (Judges 4-5): is unknown in Scripture outside the brief account in Judges 4-5 and the mention of his name in Hebrews 12:32. We are told nothing of his background or training. Through Deborah, the judge, Ha’Shem promised that Isra’el would be delivered from Jabin, the Canaanite king, whose great commander, Sisera, had a large, powerful army that boasted 900 chariots. According to the LORD’s instruction, Deborah asked Barak to assemble an Israelite army of only 10,000 men, taken from two tribes, Naphtali and Zebulun. The rest of the tribes were not asked to participate, apparently to show Isra’el, and the Canaanites, that YHVH could be victorious with only a token army from a small part of Isra’el. Barak assembled his men on Mount Tabor and charged Sisera as God had commanded him. At Barak’s advance, the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword (Judges 4:15). Barak and his men no doubt fought bravely, but the success of the campaign was ADONAI’s. Otherwise, Isra’el would have been slaughtered. Barak was told in advance that the glory of the victory would not be his. Not only did God fight the battle for His people, but He allowed a woman, Deborah, to kill Sisera (Judges 4:9), so that Barak would have even less cause for claiming the credit for himself.

Barak believed God’s promise of victory and was not the least concerned that a woman would get the credit for slaying Sisera. In fact, he insisted that Deborah go to battle with him (Judges 4:8). He wanted her spiritual, not her military, help. She was the LORD’s anointed in those days and Barak wanted the LORD’s anointed with him. The fact that he wanted her along was another indication of his trust in ADONAI. As God’s prophetess, she was of greater value to him than his 10,000 men. Barak was not concerned about Sisera’s power because he had God’s power. By such courageous faith he conquered kingdoms (11:32b).³⁴⁹

Jephthah preceded Sampson as judge of Isra’el, and his responsibility was to subdue the Ammonites, one of Isra’el’s many enemies. Despite his foolish vow (Judges 11:30-31), Jephthah’s trust was in ADONAI (Judges 29 and 32). Even people of faith make mistakes, and God honored Jephthah for his faith (11:32b).

Samson (Judges 13-16): is not most remembered for his faith, but for his physical strength and personal gullibility. In many ways he was immature and self-centered, unable to cope with the miraculous power of Ha’Shem had given him. However, he was a man of faith. He never doubted that God was the source of his power, of which his hair was only a symbol.

Samson was a judge of Isra’el and was given the special task of opposing the Philistines, who then ruled over Isra’el. Samson’s own motives for fighting the Philistines were often mixed, but he knew he was doing ADONAI’s will in ADONAI’s power. From his early adulthood the Ruach ha-Kodesh had been with him, and we are told specifically that it the Ruach that strengthened him in his amazing one-man battles (Judges 13:25, 14:19, 15:14, 16:28).

Samson knew that Ha’Shem had called him and that Ha’Shem had empowered him to take the lead in delivering Isra’el from the hands of the Philistines (Judges 13:5). God had promised him that power and Samson trusted God for that power. He faced the Philistines not in the courage of his physical prowess but in the courage of faith. We are inclined to judge Samson (no pun intended) by his weakness. But YHVH commends him for his faith (11:32b).³⁵⁰

David stands out as one of the obviously great men of the TaNaKh. His trust in ADONAI began when he was a boy, tending sheep, killing lions and bears, and talking on Goliath with a slingshot. When David faced Goliath he was supremely confident that Ha’Shem would give him the power to defeat the Philistine giant. While the rest of Isra’el, including King Sha’ul and David’s own brothers, were trembling in fear, David boldly walked out to Goliath and announced: This day ADONAI will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head . . . and the whole world will know that there is a God in Isra’el (First Samuel 17:46). It seems that it never occurred to David not to trust in the LORD. Like the other heroes of faith, David wasn’t perfect, nevertheless YHVH called him a man after My own heart, he will do everything I want him to do (Acts 13:22). He pleased God because of the courage of his faith to trust Him and do His will (11:32b).

Samuel is added to this list of warriors, though he was not a warrior. But he fought a battle equal to any that soldiers face. His greatest foes were idolatry and immorality. He had to stand up in the middle of a polluted society (sounds familiar doesn’t it) and fearlessly proclaim God’s truth. His severest opponents frequently were not the Philistines, the Amorites, or the Ammonites – but his own people. It often takes more courage to stand up against our friends than against our enemies. Social pressure can be more frightening than military power. This prophet of God, who was also Isra’el’s last judge, began ministering before the LORD – a boy wearing a linen ephod (First Samuel 2:18), and continued to be faithful to ADONAI throughout his lifetime. He ruled in faith and prophesied (11:32b).

The prophets are unnamed except for Samuel. As the writer had mentioned earlier that it would take too long to recount all the stories of faith (11:32), he does not have time to go into detail about the many other faithful people of the TaNaKh, or to even mention them all by name. These prophets, just like Gideon, Barak, and the others risked everything for the LORD. They cheerfully, courageously, and confidently accepted Ha’Shem’s commands and faced whatever opposition came along. They did not fight on the battlefields, but they had many victories in ADONAI because they believed in Him; they conquered through the courage of faith (11:32b).³⁵¹

The exploits of 11:33-34 are general and refer collectively to the persons above. Through faith they conquered (Greek: katagonizomai meaning literally to fight down, thus, to struggle against or overcome and signifies a desperate contest) kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions (quoting Dani’el 6:22), quenched the fury of the flames (Dani’el 1:6, 3:1-30), Elijah and Elisha were among those who escaped the edge of the sword (First Kings 17:8-24; Second Kings 6:31ff); whose weakness was turned into strength, and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. God specializes in turning weakness into strengths. He wants to take your greatest weakness and transform it.

Continuing in Suffering: Not all those of faith experienced miraculous deliverance. Although widow of Tzarfat and the women of Shunem received back their dead, raised to life again through Elijah and Elisha’s ministries many did not. But from the Apocrypha we learn how in the days of the Maccabees, the ninety-year-old Torah-teacher El’azar willingly chose to die ‘al Kiddush Ha’Shem (“to sanctify God’s name as in Acts 7:59-60), rather than eat pork and appear publically to have forsaken Judaism – he was among those who were tortured, refusing deliverance, choosing death instead, so that they might gain an even better resurrection, an immortal one.³⁵² The word tortured (Greek: tumpanizo meaning torture with the tumpanum, a wheel-shaped instrument, over which criminals were stretched and then horribly beaten with clubs). Some faced jeers, flogging, and even chains and imprisonment as seen in Jeremiah 20:2, 37:15 and 38:6 (11:35-36).

They were put to death by stoning (11:37a). This was a well-established method of execution as seen in the stoning of Achan after the fall of Jericho (Joshua 7:24-26). Zechariah, one of the righteous of the TaNaKh, a faithful man, was also stoned to death (Second Chronicles 24:20-22). It was, in fact, the means of carrying out the death penalty in Isra’el. However about the time Jesus was born, the Romans took away the right of the Jews to use their method of execution and instead implemented the cross, the Roman method of execution, in its place. That’s why Jesus was executed on the cross and not stoned to death.

They were sawed in two (11:37b). This was a commonly known form of torturing people to death, and according to the first century book, The Ascension of Isaiah, the prophet Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) was killed in this way. The Talmud gives this description, Rabbi Shim’on ben-‘Azzai said, “I found a genealogy scroll in Yerushalayim and it is written there that King M’nasheh (Manasseh) killed Yesha’yahu.” Raba said, “Before killing him, M’nasheh staged a trial and said, ‘For men shall not see me and live’ (Exodus 33:20); but you say, ‘I saw Adonai sitting on a throne, high and lifted up’ (Isaiah 6:1).” Yesha’yahu replied, “It is well known that you do not receive what people tell you; so if I answer your accusations, I will only turn you into a willful murderer.” So Yesha’yahu said a Name [of God, thought of as having supernatural power] and was swallowed up by a cedar. However, the cedar was brought and sawed in two; and when the saw reached Yesha’yahu’s mouth he died; [this was his punishment] for having said: I live among a people of unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5) (Yevamot 49b).³⁵³ Like Abel, however, he continues to speak to us even after death.

And the sword killed them because they would not deny their faith (11:37c). Great faith conquers great fear. But we need to remember that more believers have been killed and are being killed than in any time in the history of the world.

The faithful went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and holes in the ground (11:37d-38). The description fits Elijah (First Kings 19:9), as well as the pious Jews who fled from the persecution of Antiochus IV in the time of the Maccabees (First Maccabees 2:38). Yochanan the Immerser wore camel skins (Matthew 3:4) and led a similar life, while Yeshua Himself had no home to call His own (Luke 9:58). In other words, the righteous of the TaNaKh were utterly unrewarded and unappreciated during their lifetime; the other side of that coin is seen when our author writes that the world was not worthy of them.³⁵⁴

The world is not worthy of having such people in its midst, just as these people did not deserve the sufferings they received. For its inflicting the suffering, the world will be judged and punished; for their enduring the suffering the faithful will be resurrected and rewarded. They knew with Rabbi Sha’ul that the sufferings of this world are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed to us (Romans 8:18), and they looked forward with Peter to an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven (First Peter 1:4). God does not promise us deliverance from all suffering. Yeshua said: If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you (John 15:20).³⁵⁵

Counting on Salvation: True faith has the courage to count on salvation. They knew very little about the nature of the time or the means of God’s salvation. But they knew it was coming, and this was the basis of their trust. They had an abiding confidence that one day ADONAI would do the necessary thing to redeem them and reward them. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised (11:39), that is, they only foresaw that it would be fulfilled and died in faith since God had planned something better for us. ADONAI provided this something better for us that is for those under the B’rit Chadashah, which is why only together with us would they be made perfect (11:40). That is, not until after the cross could their salvation be completed, or made perfect. Until the shedding of Messiah’s more superior blood (to see link click Bz – The Better Tabernacle Purified with Better Blood), no salvation was complete, no matter how great the faith the righteous of the TaNaKh may have had. Their salvation was based on what Christ would do, ours is based on what Christ has done. Their faith looked forward to a future promise; ours looks back to a historical fact.³⁵⁶

As we learn from this chapter, the life of faith isn’t always easy. Many of the heroes of faith suffered persecution, deprivation, or martyrdom. Knowing this, do not be surprised when trials come your way, but expect them as a normal part of the life of faith. Mediate on the following verses to prepare yourself to face your next trial: Acts 14:22; Romans 8:18; First Corinthians 10:13; Philippians 1:29-30; James 1:2-4; First Peter 2:20-21 and 5:10.³⁵⁷