by D. S. Parrack (England)
Apart from the priesthood itself, what about the beauty of all the accompanying accoutrements and the detailed ordinances of the sacrificial system, don’t they account for anything either? Are they too superseded? Yes they are, again in and through the Person of the Lord Jesus. They were just “a figure for the time then present,” 9.9, “pattern of things in the heavens,” 9.23, “figures of the true,” 9.24, “a shadow of good things to come,” 10.1, and the writer draws out for us the inherent superiority of what replaced them. He begins with the words “But Christ,” 9.11, and as has been said before, the form of words “But God” or “But Christ” should always cause us to consider carefully the contrasts and comparisons being made, and such is the case here. We read of “a greater and more perfect tabernacle,” 9.11, and “better sacrifices,” 9.23. The temporary, repetitive and shadowy nature of the old system is contrasted with “By His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption,” 9.12. “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many,” 9.28. “For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified,” 10.14.
Now just what response would you expect the writer to look for as a result of such claims? “Having therefore boldness to enter into the holiest” not the shadow but the real thing, “by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say His flesh.” Remember that we saw that if He was to be able to die for us it was essential first that, “He also Himself, took part of the same,” i.e. flesh and blood, see 2.14. “And having an high priest over the house of God” on the basis of all those things “Let us draw near — let us hold fast — and let us consider one another,” 10.19-24. The last “let us” is an encouragement to us as individuals to continue and expand the writer's encouragement to each other.
Having waited for a long time to see the working out of what I believe, can I really come as boldly as that? Yes, in the light of what you have just been told you can. “Cast not away therefore your confidence which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise,” 10.35-36. There are many examples of people who have acted in that way, some of whom had to face even greater hardship than you. We are then given in ch.11 three lists of such people. V1-13 conclude by saying “These all died in faith, not having received the promises but having seen them afar off and we were persuaded of them and embraced them.” V17 to the first part of v35 show faith in action and include the two examples chosen by James to show that faith is not a dormant mental assent but active and to be worked out in practice, i.e. Abraham and Rahab, see Jms.2.20-26. V35-38 record unnamed believers who were probably much closer to the experiences of the first readers of the epistle. In spite of their anonymity they still “obtained a good report through faith,” even though they “received not the promise,” v39. Wasn’t God unfair in this context? After all they went through, ought they not to at least come into the good of the promises which they believed were worth suffering for? Ah, but God had something even better for them, and not only for them. He had “provided some better thing for us” i.e. all believers both then and now “that they without us should not be made perfect,” v40.
Doesn’t that array of examples galvanise your hearts and spirits? It should do so says the writer and, following the pattern of most of the other epistles, he uses his closing chapters to apply what has already been said, to the living out of your Christian lives here and now.
“Wherefore, seeing that we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us.” The basic sin with which the epistle is concerned is that of unbelief, the unbelief found even in true believers, see e.g. Mk.9 and Lk.17.5. But just laying aside the weight will leave us standing still, whereas for the Christian life to have any reality it must be ongoing, so “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” But can I, even with all those practical examples in chapter eleven, really respond to such an exhortation? Well, if those spoken of there are insufficient to give the necessary impetus, here is Someone who most certainly should. “Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith,” 12.1-2. You feel that you are hard done by because of difficulties which you are sure that God could deal with if He chose to? “Consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, v3, and that will set things in their right perspective. In any case God has His own clearly defined purpose in allowing such difficulties as you may be experiencing. They are allowed “for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness,” but they are only effective in practical terms “unto them which are exercised thereby,” v11.
“Wherefore,” in view of that enlightened perception of events. “Lift up the
hands which hang down and the feeble knees.” Instead of “that which is lame
be(ing) turned out of the way” which would signify unwillingness to persevere,
“rather let it be healed,” v13. These are the only two options, and the writer
has time and time again provided incentives and encouragements for the latter
course and warnings against the former. Now, once more, he contrasts the two
conventional systems, emphasising the superiority of the new as compared with
the old. Readers are told what they are not committed to, what “ye are not come
unto,” v18. Even Moses, seen as the premier prophet of the past dispensation,
see e.g. Jn.1.17 and 9.29, was far from happy at its inauguration. “Moses said,
I exceedingly fear and quake,” v21, “But ye are come — “followed by a whole
galaxy of appealing and encouraging venues, headed up into a climax with the
words “And to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant,” v22-24.
It is not only the old covenant though which is to be superseded. Those material
creations which appear to us as being so indestructible are also to go, not to
leave a void but to be replaced, just as the old covenant already has been, by
that “which cannot be shaken,” v27, and so is eternally permanent. An event
which John prophesies as “a new heaven and new earth, for the first heaven and
the first earth were passed away,” Rev.21.
“Wherefore,” in view of that cataclysmic happening, “we, receiving a kingdom
which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably
with reverence and godly fear,” v28. Just what does such service involve and in
what way can it be carried out in practice?
In ch.13 we see that serving God involves serving our fellow men, amongst whom
our fellow believers deserve special attention, see e.g. Gal.6.10, including
“strangers (and) them that are in bonds,” see 13.1-2. as well as all of those
Old Testament examples referred to earlier, there are others from your own
fellowship who warrant following. Do so “considering the end of their
conversation (mode of life, conduct),” v7. If their faith was effective, yours
can be too, because “Jesus Christ (is) the same, yesterday and today and for
ever,” v8. Remember the old chorus:
It is no secret what God can do.
What He’s done for others, He’ll do for you.
But the world is, in general terms, a rather nasty place, not at all conducive to serving either God or my fellow-men. Quite so, which is precisely why “Our Lord Jesus Christ — gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil world, ” Gal.1.4. When praying to His Father about all believers the Lord Jesus said, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world.” He will do that one day but for most of us not immediately, “but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” But He goes on to say “They are not of the world as I am not of the world, Jn.17.15-16. So, as believers, we are in the world but not of it. We then have an illustration from the Old Testament and the experiences of the Lord Jesus, see v11-12, to show that our interests should lie outside the influences which characterise this world, “for here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come,” v14.
The writer then, maintains his method of approach right to the very end. To exhort, or encourage, and to base that encouragement, needed by even the most established and mature believers, on clearly annunciated and Scripturally supported statements. Do his words cause you in any way to doubt the eternal nature of your salvation, based as it is on the Person and the work of the eternal Son of God? We can’t to be quite honest, be 100% sure who the writer actually was but he would without doubt have been extremely disappointed if he thought that his letter would have that effect because that is the very opposite of that which he intended in writing it. He wrote to exhort, to encourage, but for that to be meaningful in our individual experience, requires a response.
—concluded