Sunday
Morning Bible Study
January
13, 2018
Introduction
The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish believers.
The author expects the
readers to be well acquainted with Levitical worship and sacrifice.
He will constantly quote the Old Testament in a way that expects that the
reader understands what he’s talking about.
We also know that these believers were encountering very strong
persecution.
Times were so bad that some were beginning to wonder if they shouldn’t quit
following Jesus.
We’ve seen three elements woven throughout this letter to the Hebrews.
1. Both Testaments
Even though the Old Testament has become “obsolete” (Heb. 8:13), the entire
book of Hebrews is built upon the clear foundation of the Old Testament.
(Hebrews 8:13 NKJV)
In
that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what
is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
You aren’t going to understand Hebrews, or even the New Testament correctly
unless you learn the Old Testament.
2. Jesus is superior
He’s superior to angels, Moses, and the Torah.
He’s superior to the Levitical priests and their sacrifices.
3. Don’t quit
The ultimate goal of the book is to encourage those who are struggling with
difficult times, and help them to endure.
Two weeks ago Caleb took us through the beginning
verses of chapter 12. The picture is of
a race being run. You and I are on the
field running the race, and the great heroes of the faith (back in Heb. 11) are
in the stands cheering us on. We need to
keep our eyes on Jesus as we run this race…
(Hebrews 12:1–2
NKJV) —1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,
who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
12:3-11 Disciplined to Grow
:3 For consider Him who
endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and
discouraged in your souls.
Him – toioutos – such as this, of this kind or sort
“Ponder on someone of this kind”
endured – hupomeno – to remain; to tarry behind; to remain
i.e. abide, not recede or flee; to preserve: under misfortunes and trials to
hold fast to one’s faith in Christ; to endure, bear bravely and calmly: ill
treatments.
Perfect participle.
sinners – hamartolos – devoted to sin, a sinner; not free from
sin; pre-eminently sinful, especially wicked; all wicked men; specifically of
men stained with certain definite vices or crimes
lest – “for the purpose of not”. There’s a reason to be
“considering” Jesus. There’s a purpose behind it.
weary – kamno – to grow weary, be weary; to be sick
Jas 5:15 And the prayer of
faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Re 2:3 And hast borne, and
hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured,
and hast not fainted.
souls – psuche – breath; the soul; the seat of the
feelings, desires, affections, aversions (our heart, soul etc.)
discouraged – ekluo – to loose,
unloose, to set free; to dissolve, metaph., to weaken, relax, exhaust; to have one’s
strength relaxed, to be enfeebled through exhaustion, to grow weak, grow weary,
be tired out; to despond, become faint hearted
:4 You have not yet
resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.
to – mechri – as far as, until
bloodshed – haima – blood; bloodshed, to be shed by
violence, slay, murder
resisted – antikathistemi – to put in place of another; to place
in opposition; to dispose troops, set an army in line of battle; to stand
against, resist; to stand in opposition against in line of battle
sin – hamartia – sin ; to be without a share
in; to miss the mark; to err, be mistaken; to miss or wander from the path of
uprightness and honor, to do or go wrong; to wander from the law of God,
violate God’s law, sin; that which is done wrong, sin, an offence, a violation
of the divine law in thought or in act; collectively, the complex or aggregate
of sins committed either by a single person or by many
In context, Jesus endured struggles with “sinners” (verse 3). This “striving against sin” would probably
then refer not to a person’s personal struggle to be free from sin, but also a
struggle against people of sin.
:4 striving against sin
striving – ἀνταγωνίζομαι (“against” + “Olympic contest”) – to
struggle, fight.
This is a word related to the word translated “race” in verse 1:
(Hebrews
12:1 NKJV) …and let us run with endurance the race
that is set before us,
Our “race” or “striving” against “sin” is probably not talking about a
person’s personal struggle against the sin in their life, but since Jesus
struggled against “sinners” (v.3), the idea is that our struggle is against the
sin in others.
The “race” the readers are in is that “struggle” against those who are
persecuting them.
:3 For consider Him
consider – analogizomai – to think over, consider, ponder, to compare,
to weigh
Remember that the readers are going through very difficult times.
Lesson
The Best Comparison
Some of us are habitually comparing ourselves with others. And that’s not always helpful.
Illustration
Three wives were complaining about their husbands’
attitudes towards leftovers:
“It gets rough,” one said.
“My husband is a movie producer and he calls them
reruns.”
“You think you have it
bad,” was the reply. “Mine is a quality control engineer and he calls them rejects!”
“That’s nothing compared
to me,” said the third lady. “My husband is a mortician. He calls them
remains!”
Sometimes we see all the things that other
people do, and we don’t think we quite measure up when we compare ourselves
with them.
We get to feeling that we
don’t belong.
Video: Justice League – Just Save One
Comparing our problems with each other is
not really all that productive.
You may be wanting sympathy from all your
friends, but then you find someone who is worse off than you.
Peter and Jesus were walking along the
beach, and Jesus was telling Peter that he was going to have rough times
ahead. He would face persecution and die
a difficult death. Peter turned to point
to John, and wanting to compare his troubles to John’s Peter said to Jesus,
“What about him???”
(John 21:22 NLT) Jesus
replied, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As
for you, follow me.”
We will rarely get any comfort by comparing
our problems with others. We need to be
careful to just follow Jesus and His plans for us.
Part of the problem is an inaccurate
assessment of our trial.
One commentary (BKC) wrote,
Nothing is more natural
for a person than to overestimate the severity of his trials.
Perspective in our trials only comes when
we compare ourselves to Jesus.
For example: He endured “hostility” from
others.
hostility – ἀντιλογία (“against”
+ “word”) – contradiction; opposition, rebellion.
It’s a word that speaks
being criticized more than it does of being beaten up.
And in
reality, that’s exactly what most of us will face when we publicly
choose to follow Jesus.
In America we aren’t
thrown into jail for being Christians.
Instead, we are belittled,
criticized, and humiliated.
Jesus was called a “friend
of sinners”.
People questioned his
parentage (hinting He was a “bastard”).
He was called a
blasphemer.
Watch Jesus being put on trial.
Video: The Passion: Jesus condemned by
the Sanhedrin
The other day I had a dear friend send me a
picture – it was titled “This is what it looks like when I complain to Jesus
about how hard my life is.”
It was a picture of Mel Gibson giving
direction to Jim Caviezel during the filming of “The Passion of the Christ” …
and it looks like he’s complaining just a little…
When we want to complain about the
difficulties in our lives, doesn’t a picture like this put things into
perspective?
When all our focus is on
how “hard” our life is, we find ourselves wanting to quit.
When we think about what
Jesus went through, we might be able to go a little further than we thought we
could.
If you’re going to compare, compare your
troubles to Jesus.
:5 And you have forgotten
the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the
chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
forgotten – eklanthanomai (“out of” + “hidden”) – to cause to
forget; to forget
Perfect tense – something that happened in the past
but the results carry into the present.
exhortation – paraklesis – a calling near, summons, (esp. for
help); importation, supplication, entreaty; exhortation, admonition,
encouragement; consolation, comfort, solace; that which affords comfort or
refreshment
sons – huios – a son
speaks – dialegomai – to think different things with one’s
self, mingle thought with thought; to converse, discourse with one, argue,
discuss
despise – oligoreo – to care little for, regard lightly,
make small account
discouraged – ekluo – to loose,
unloose, to set free; to dissolve, metaph., to weaken, relax, exhaust; to have
one’s strength relaxed, to be enfeebled through exhaustion, to grow weak, grow
weary, be tired out; to despond, become faint hearted
rebuked – elegcho – to convict, refute, confute; to find
fault with, correct
:6 For whom the
Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He
receives.”
loves – agapao – of persons; to welcome, to entertain,
to be fond of, to love dearly
chastens – paideuo (the verb form) – to train children; to
be instructed or taught or learn; to cause one to learn; to chastise; to
chastise or castigate with words, to correct; of those who are molding the
character of others by reproof and admonition; to chastise with blows, to
scourge; of a father punishing his son
scourges – mastigoo – to scourge; from mastix – a whip, scourge
receives – paradechomai – to receive, take up, take upon one’s
self
:5 do not despise the chastening of the Lord
The writer is quoting the Old Testament again … Prov. 3:11-12
(Proverbs 3:11–12
NKJV) —11 My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His
correction; 12 For whom the Lord
loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.
(Just full disclosure – Solomon is quoting Eliphaz from the book of Job)
(Job
5:17 NKJV) “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not
despise the chastening of the Almighty.
In context, Solomon is telling his son about the paths that lead to wisdom.
Learning from God’s correction is one of the ways we learn wisdom.
Lesson
Teaching tools
chastening – παιδεία (from παῖς,
“child”) – the whole training and education of children; involving the
mind, body, character, and emotion.
Our English word “chasten” speaks of some sort of physical correction, like
spanking a child.
Though that concept is present in our text, “chastening”
goes beyond spanking and more about training.
It’s about taking a person from immaturity and moving them on to
maturity.
Forms of this is word are used (two different nouns, and verb) eight times
throughout 12:5-11.
(both the noun and the verb forms) is used 19 times in the
NT,
Our Greek word is usually translated “chasten” (carrying the idea of
physical discipline like spanking), but it also describes Moses …
(Acts 7:22 NKJV) And Moses was learned in all
the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words
and deeds.
and Paul says he was …
(Acts 22:3 NKJV) brought up in this city at the feet
of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law…
The Hebrew word used in the Old Testament is “musar” (מוסר) (51x), mostly in
Proverbs), and may be translated “chastisement, rebuke, or correction”
Sometimes instruction of a child requires some sort of
physical discipline …
(Proverbs 13:24 NKJV) He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who
loves him disciplines him promptly.
Most of the time though, musar is translated “instruction”.
(Proverbs 4:1 NKJV) Hear, my children, the instruction
of a father, And give attention to know understanding;
Jesus knows what chastening is all about.
(Isaiah 53:5 NKJV) But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for
our iniquities; The chastisement
for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
There was a sort of “chastisement” needed for us to find
peace with God, and Jesus is the one who took that chastisement for us.
Following the rules of Hebrew parallelism, “chastisement”
is parallel with “wounded”, “bruised”, and “stripes” – all speaking of
difficult things.
Jesus took these things in order that we might be saved.
Even though Jesus endured “chastisement” for our eternal salvation, we will
still go through chastisement to help us mature.
So what are God’s “teaching tools”?
I want to be a deeper Christian, but to do so I need to pay attention to
God’s teaching tools.
Difficult times
We might think of “chastisement” as being some sort of
punishment for something we’ve done wrong, but punishment isn’t the goal of
chastisement, it’s learning.
Sometimes difficult times are a result of our bad
behavior.
Sometimes difficult times are about developing deeper,
better qualities in our lives that we wouldn’t experience except through
difficulty.
Don’t forget that all this comes because God loves us.
God’s Word
Difficulty isn’t the only thing God uses to teach us.
He uses His Word.
(2
Timothy 3:16–17 NKJV) —16 All Scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man
of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
“Instruction” is our word παιδεία
I think that sometimes we can avoid some of the trials of
life if we would learn to pay more attention to God’s Word and to not just know
the words, but to live the life.
:7 If you endure
chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a
father does not chasten?
chastening – paideia – the
whole training and education of children (which relates to the cultivation of
mind and morals, and employs for this purpose now commands and admonitions, now
reproof and punishment) It also includes the training and care of the body;
whatever in adults also cultivates the soul, esp. by correcting mistakes and
curbing passions.; instruction which aims at increasing virtue; chastisement,
chastening, (of the evils with which God visits men for their amendment)
endure – hupomeno – to remain; to tarry behind; to remain
i.e. abide, not recede or flee; to preserve: under misfortunes and trials to
hold fast to one’s faith in Christ; to endure, bear bravely and calmly: ill
treatments
deals – prosphero – to bring to, lead to; to be borne
towards one, to attack, assail; to behave one’s self towards one, deal with one
chasten – paideuo – to train children; to be instructed
or taught or learn; to cause one to learn; to chastise; to chastise or
castigate with words, to correct; of those who are molding the character of
others by reproof and admonition; to chastise with blows, to scourge; of a
father punishing his son
:8 But if you are without
chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and
not sons.
chastening – paideia – the
whole training and education of children (which relates to the cultivation of
mind and morals, and employs for this purpose now commands and admonitions, now
reproof and punishment) It also includes the training and care of the body;
whatever in adults also cultivates the soul, esp. by correcting mistakes and
curbing passions.; instruction which aims at increasing virtue; chastisement,
chastening, (of the evils with which God visits men for their amendment)
partakers – metochos – sharing in, partaking; a partner (in
a work, office, dignity)
illegitimate – nothos –
illegitimate, bastard; one born, not in lawful wedlock, but of a concubine or
female slave
:8 you are illegitimate
Chastening proves lineage
Nobody likes a spankin’, but it proves that you
belong to the one with the paddle.
If you never experience “chastening” from God, then perhaps you are not His
child.
:9 Furthermore, we have
had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect.
Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and
live?
which corrected – paideutes – an
instructor, preceptor, teacher; a chastiser
“we were having fathers of our flesh as instructors”
paid them respect – entrepo – to shame one; to be ashamed; to
reverence a person
:9 we have had human fathers …we paid them respect
The verbs here are in the “imperfect” tense, which means continuous action
in the past.
Growing up as kids, our fathers shouldn’t have just corrected us once, but
continually.
As kids, respect was a continual ongoing thing we had for our dads.
The writer is speaking ideally here.
Some of you did not have very good fathers.
:9 Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father
be in subjection – hupotasso – to
arrange under, to subordinate; to subject, put in subjection; to subject one’s
self, obey; to submit to one’s control; to yield to one’s admonition or advice;
to obey, be subject
The verb is in the future tense (not subjunctive).
There is almost a sense that if we were raised properly by fathers with
discipline and we responded with respect, that we WILL learn to live in
subjection to the Father.
:10 For they indeed for a
few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our
profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
few – oligos – little,
small, few
profit – sumphero – to bear or bring together; to help,
be profitable, be expedient
may be partakers – metalambano – to
be or to be made a partner; to partake of, take [some] food; of a thing, to
get, find (a whole)
holiness – hagiotes – sanctity; in a moral sense: holiness
:10 chastened us as seemed best to them
as seemed – dokeo – to be of opinion, think, suppose
The word “best” isn’t in the Greek.
It’s just the idea that human dads will discipline according to what
they “think” should be done.
This isn’t talking about perverted men who take pleasure in beating their
kids.
It’s talking about dads who are just trying their best.
While most dads are just trying their best to help direct and guide their
children into becoming healthy, productive adults…
We know that God actually knows what He’s doing.
God is actually doing things for our good.
(Romans 8:28 NKJV) And we know that all things work together for good to those who
love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
He’s trying to work out an important thing in our lives – holiness.
Lesson
How to “dad”
Gentlemen, I don’t know if you’ve picked up the subtle hint in this
chapter, but those of you who are dads actually have a
God-given responsibility that the writer thinks you ought to already know.
Some dads could use a few tips in being a good dad.
Parents – kids don’t raise themselves.
You set the rules, the guidelines, and the consequences.
If they live in your house, they will act like a part of the family.
God wants you to be an active part in raising your kids and teaching them
about God.
(Ephesians
6:4 NKJV) And you, fathers, do not provoke your children
to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
That’s our paideuo word.
Except for the bit about being a Cheerios commercial, pay attention:
:11 Now no chastening
seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it
yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by
it.
for the present – pareimi – to be
by, be at hand, to have arrived, to be present
seems – dokeo – to be of opinion, think, suppose; to
seem, to be accounted, reputed; it seems to me; I think, judge: thus in question; it seems good to, pleased me, I
determined. Same word was translated
“after their own pleasure” in verse 10.
joyful – chara – joy, gladness
painful – lupe – sorrow, pain, grief, annoyance,
affliction
Nobody likes going through tough times.
afterward – husteron – latter, later, coming after, the
second; afterward, after this, later, lastly
peaceable – eirenikos – relating to peace; peaceable,
pacific, loving peace; bring peace with it, peaceful, salutary
it yields – apodidomi – to deliver, to give away for one’s
own profit what is one’s own, to sell; to pay off, discharge what is due; a
debt, wages, tribute, taxes, produce due
righteousness – dikaiosune – in a
broad sense: state of him who is as he ought to be, righteousness, the
condition acceptable to God; integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness,
correctness of thinking, feeling, and acting
:11 the peaceable fruit of righteousness
If you don’t like this concept of “discipline”, you’re not alone.
Nobody loves discipline.
But there is a valuable result from God’s discipline.
We “partake” of His “holiness”.
We experience the peace that comes from learning to do the right things.
Lesson
Keep training
The key to getting anything valuable out of God’s discipline is training.
who have been trained – γυμνάζω (“gymnasium”) –to exercise vigorously,
in any way, either the body or the mind
The verb is in the perfect tense – something done in the past with results
carrying on into the present. (Greek class – this is the “perfective aspect”)
If you don’t put in the work, the “discipline”, then you won’t reap the
results.
We know this about dieting, don’t we???
If you don’t come up with a reasonable plan to lose
weight, and stick to it, you’re not going to lose.
If you don’t stick to a healthy diet, you’re going to gain
it back.
Those struggling with addictions know they need to keep doing their step
work if they want to see results.
What is God trying to teach you?
He may be trying to teach you endurance.
He may be trying to teach you wisdom.
He may have a specific lesson that’s unique to you.
The important thing is to not short-circuit the lesson God is trying to
teach.
Illustration
The following is from the “Streams
in the Desert” devotional (Jan. 9).
This little story is about a fellow watching an Emperor Moth come out of
its cocoon. Instead of letting it do it’s
thing, he decides to help it.
Video: Emperor
Moth Emerging
I happened to witness the first efforts of my prisoned
moth to escape from its long confinement. During a whole forenoon, from time to
time, I watched it patiently striving and struggling to get out. It never
seemed able to get beyond a certain point, and at last my patience was
exhausted. Very probably the confining fibers were drier and less elastic than
if the cocoon had been left all winter on its native heather, as nature meant
it to be. At all events I thought I was wiser and more compassionate than its
Maker, and I resolved to give it a helping hand. With the point of my scissors
I snipped the confining threads to make the exit just a very little easier, and
lo! immediately, and with perfect ease, out crawled my moth dragging a huge
swollen body and little shriveled wings. In vain I watched to see that
marvelous process of expansion in which these silently and swiftly develop
before one's eyes; and as I traced the exquisite spots and markings of divers
colors which were all there in miniature, I longed to see these assume their
due proportions and the creature to appear in all its perfect beauty, as it is,
in truth, one of the loveliest of its kind. But I looked in vain. My false
tenderness had proved its ruin. It never was anything but a stunted abortion,
crawling painfully through that brief life which it should have spent flying through the air on rainbow wings.
The fellow was trying to help the moth by making it easier to get out of
the cocoon, but instead of helping the moth, he ended up hurting it.
Moths need that struggle to get out of their cocoon. It’s part of their development.
Don’t short circuit your spiritual growth.
You and I also need the painful struggle of our trials.
It’s part of how we are transformed.