OUR FATHER WHO GAVE US HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON

Written by the Apostle Matthew who was among the 12 disciples whom the Lord Jesus called at the onset of His ministry, the book of Matthew is an account of the life of of Jesus from the point of view of a witness who was with Him during His Ministry up to His death on the cross and also from subsequent research into His ancestry, His birth and His early life.

The book of Matthew chapter 1 is a compilation of Jesus' geneology starting from Abraham the patriarch of the nation of Israel into which the Lord Jesus was ordained to arrive to bring salvation to the world.

This geneology is a like a chain-of-custody form that shows how Jesus' lineage passed down via the people who were prophetically marked as being the ones through whom the promised saviour of the world would come. With the Lord Jesus having this lineage, it makes Him the biological heir to the promises from God.

Matthew starts the geneology with an identification of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of David and as the Son of Abraham. These are the two most recognizable people from the scriptures to whom God gave the promises of the Saviour and His kingdom.

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:

2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. 

As the listing begins, we see Abraham (who is a type and shadow of God the Father because he is described as the father of many nations and he is the one who offered his only son Isaac in the way the God the Father gave His only son as a sacrifice for the sins of men. 

Isaac, the second on the list is the son of Abraham ( with Sarah )who was a type and shadow of Jesus Christ because he was the long-awaited promised son who was offered as a sacrifice. This is parallel to Jesus who was promised, waited for and who, when He appeared, was sacrificed on the cross.

Third on the list was Jacob who was the second of the twin sons of Isaac. Jacob who is a type and shadow of a believer in Jesus Christ because he started off as a fugitive from his twin brother to escape the sentence death and as he fled,  he encountered God at a portal to heaven and ultimately lived by faith and worshipped God ( Hebrews C. 1  v. 21 ) which is parallel to the life pattern of a believer.

These three men were included in the promise of an eternal inheritance as established in the book of Hebrews chapter 11 verse 9.

Continuing down the geneology, we find Judah in the geneology and this placement confirmed the prophetic utterance that Jacob, as he was dying, spoke over him declaring that the scepter of the promised kingdom would not depart from his lineage.

3 Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. 4 Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. 5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, 6 and Jesse begot David the king.

Judah then had a son named Perez who had Hezron who had Ram who had Amminadab who had Nahshon who had Salmon who ( with Rahab the prostitute from Jericho ) had Boaz, who ( with Ruth ) had Obed who had Jesse who was the father of David the king whose throne was to be an eternal throne through one of his descendants as it was written in 2 Samuel chapter 7 verses 12 - 16.

12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”

The throne of David the king was the throne that the Messiah would be established upon and this touchpoint is a pivotal nexus that the Messiah would have to descend from. 

From King David came King Solomon who then had a son named Rehoboam who had Abijah who had Asa who had Jehoshaphat who had Joram who had Uzziah who had Jotham who had Ahaz who had Hezekiah who had Manasseh who had Amon who had Josiah who had Jeconiah which was in the time that Israel was captured by Nebuchadnezzar and taken into captivity in Babylon. 

David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. 8 Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. 9 Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah. 11 Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.

In Babylon, Jeconiah had a son named Shealtiel who then had Zerubbabel. Zeruabbabel's name means "Seed or offspring of Babylon". Zerubabel was labeled "God's signet ring" and he led the children of Israel back to Jerusalem and helped to rebuild the temple. 

The geneology of Jesus Christ was now back in the Israel when Zerubbabel had a son named Abiud who had Eliakim who had Azor who had Zadok who had Achim who had Eliud who had Eleazar who had Matthan who had Jacob who had Joseph the husband of Mary ( or perhaps the father of Mary ) who then conceived Jesus Chirst through the Holy Spirit.

12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. 14 Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. 15 Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. 16 And Jacob begot Joseph the husband (more likely the  father ) of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.

1.  Abraham             Solomon                Shealtiel                           
2.  Isaac                    Rehoboam            Zerubbabel
3. Jacob                   Abija                      Abiud
4. Judah                   Asa                         Eliakim
5. Perez                    Jehosephat           Azor
6. Hezron                 Joram                     Zadok
7. Ram                      Izziah                     Achim
8. Amminadab        Jotham                  Eliud
9. Nahshon              Ahaz                       Eliazar
10. Salmon/Rahab   Hezekiah               Mattan
11. Boaz/Ruth           Mannaseh             Jacob
12. Obed                    Amon                     Joseph
13. Jesse                  Josaiah                  Mary
14. David                  Jeconiah                Jesus Christ

17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.

In this geneology, see a numeric error where Mathew describes each period as having 14 generations yet the post-Babylonian exile branch only has 13 generations if the  Joseph mentioned there is the husband of Mary rather than her husband.

If we see Mary as taking a place as a generation with Joseph as her father, the branch of geneology then has 14 generations to match what Matthew said immeadiately after the geneological listing.

This notion is bolstered by the passage in Luke 3:23: "Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli". Joseph, in Matthews geneology, is known to be the son of Jacob while in this passage, the Joseph in the context of being the supposed father of Jesus, was the son of Heli. In the geneology in Luke, Heli is written in as the father of Joseph. 

So the change of the title of Joseph in Matthew's geneology from husband to father corrects the number of generations and also resolves the discrepancy of who Joseph's father was. Even though it is not very common, it is very plausible that a man have the same name as his father-in-law especially if it is a commonly used name.

The change of the title of the Joseph in the geneology listing from father to husband in the text is likely an overreach by early scribes who, looking at the name Joseph being used in the same passage, presumed that it was the same person and altered the geneology to match the label given to the Joseph in the immediate context.

Continuing after the geneology, we reach the story of the birth of Jesus which, in speaking of Joseph, calls him Mary's husband as she was betrothed to him. It is probably from this text that translators took their cue to modify the geneology. 

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Mary, after she was betrothed to Joseph, encountered the angel Gabriel who informed her that she was chosen to carry the child Jesus and she was impregnated by the Holy Spirit with a seed that was not of the lineage of sinful men. 

When it became known to her family that Mary was pregnant, it became an explosive situation because she was not made pregnant by the man to whom she was betrothed, which, in the culture, would have been ruinous to Mary. 

Joseph, a fair and kind man, not wanting to destroy Mary, had decided to quiety release her without publically demanding justice but before he did so, an angel of the Lord visited him in a dream and instructed him to stick to the plan of marrying Mary because she had not betrayed him but rather was being used as an instrument by which a divine son, who would save His people from their sins, would be brought into the world.  

22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

Matthew describes the whole circumstance of Mary being a virgin who would give birth to the one who would be called "God with us", as a fulfilment of the prophesy by the Prophet Isaiah in the book of Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14.  

A dimension to add to this prophecy  is that even though the means of the arrival of the Son of God was foretold and widely known including by the kingdom of darkness. As such, the events surrounding the arrival of Jesus would have to occur incognito so that they would not catch the attention of those who would oppose the appearance of a person who save mankind and who would judge the world.

24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.

Joseph, awoke from the dream and did as the angel he encountered instructed him and he remained commited to Mary and stayed separate from her until the child was born and Joseph named the child, Jesus 

Amen.

1

 OUR FATHER WHO CANNOT BE MOCKED

The book of Galatians chapter 6 concludes Paul's letter saying this:

1 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 

The apostle Paul gives an instruction to the Galatians on how to respond to a fellow brother or sister who was entrapped in a sinful addiction.  He tells them that those who walk in the Spirit should restore the person gently but he warns those who undertake this work to be careful lest they get tempted to pursue the sin themselves.

2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

Paul also advises them to be careful with pride that would cause them to think too highly of themselves. The prescription for this propensity is to humbly carry one another´s burdens and also to examine continuosly their own actions to calibrate their headings so that if they are on a true course, they can be satisfied in their own conduct without measuring themselves against the actions of other people. 

The Galatians are advised to be self-supporting but allows that if anyone receives a blessing from a teacher who instructs them in the ways of the word of God, they should share all good things that their instructor.

In this context, Paul states two axioms: God cannot be mocked and  A man reaps what he sows.

By first saying that God cannot be mocked, Paul is saying that the axiom that follows cannot be circumvented in any way. 

If we sow to the satisfaction of the flesh, we will reap what the corruption of the flesh has accrued to itself which is destruction.

If, on the other hand, we sow to please the Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of life, we will reap eternal life. As such, as a farmer patiently waiting for what he has sown to mature into a harvest, sowing into the Spirit will yield an eternal harvest if we do not give up. Paul counsels us to use every occasion we have to do good to other people especially fellow believers.

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Seeming to take over the writing of the letter to the Galatians from an assisting scribe, Paul marvels at how large his own alphabetical characters were as he points out that he was writting in his own hand. The anachronistic phrase in verse 11 seems to indicate that a transition in who was writing  had taken place.

11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!

The Apostle Paul, now with the pen in his hand, recapitulates the indictment on those who were bringing the false doctrine of mandatory circumcision for believers noting that they were doing so in an attempt to impress the religious establishment of the time and be able to boast to others that they had brought righteousness to the gentiles. As well, they wanted to avoid being persecuted by the authorities by being able to claim that they were propagating the same religious pratices as the estabishment was.

12 Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. 

Regarding the infiltrators boasting of their subversion of the gospel, Paul declares that he would only boast in the cross of Christ which was the instrument which the Lord Jesus  made available to us by which the things of this world are made dead to us and we are made dead to the world. With the cross as the pivot on which human beings are freed from slavery under the kingdom of darkness, all other religious practices became meaningless and the only things that were left with meaning were under the realm of the new creation.

14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. 

Paul concludes his letter to the Galatians by blessing those who remain in faith and inhabit the new creation. 

He asked the Galatians not to trouble him anymore with their challenges to his apostleship and his doctrine because the persecution for his work for Jesus had left their marks on him that validated his ministry.

16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.

17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER WHO ALLOCATED FREEDOM TO US WHO BELIEVE

The book of Galatians chapter 5 (NIV) says this:

1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

The Apostle Paul tells us that it is for freedom that we are released from captivity and as such, we must guard against the possibility of being re-captured and placed under a yoke of the slavery of the law.

Paul strongly puts to the Galatians that if any of them undertook to attain righteousness by fulfilling one law, that person would be obligated to fulfill the entirety of the law and the work of Christ would then be of no value to them for they would have taken the tack of gaining righteousness by works in the flesh rather than gaining righteouness by faith in Christ Jesus. Paul labeled this abandonment of faith in Christ to grapple for righteousness by works, a "fall from grace".

It is through the Spirit that we hope for righteousness by having faith in the efficacy of the work that the Lord Jesus did for us by dying on our behalf on the cross. As such, the only thing that is measured regarding righteousness is faith and how it expresses itself through love in the life of the believer.

2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

The Galatians surprised Paul because from his point of view, they had started their christian walk well but in the interim period, some influencers were able to capture their ear and pursuade them to engage in faithless practices. Paul tells us that being able to be pursuaded into leaving the faith of the gospel of Christ cannot have come from Christ who was the one who had called them.

Using the metaphor of a small amount of yeast in a lump of dough, Paul writes to them that there must have been a small incursion of the false doctrine at first but then it ultimately propagated through the whole assembly of the believers at Galatia the way yeast propagates throughout the lump of dough. 

Nonetheless, Paul was sure that the Galatians would return to the truth and the ones who were bringing in the confusion of doctrine would be penalized for their infiltration.

By way of argument, Paul demonstrates to the Galatians that his persecution was proof of fact that  the truth he brought to them was contrary to the law. If Paul was indeed teaching the law, he would have been welcomed by the established religious authorities but instead, they persecuted him because he was teaching that righteousness could only be gained by faith. Paul insisted in his argument that if it was appropriate to teach that righteousness could be obtained by the law, that meant that the cross of Christ (which was the central offence against the administrators of the law), was obsolete. 

Paul then comments strongly about those who were attempting to pursuade the Galatians to undergo circumcision to gain righteousness. He writes that he wished that those promoting circumsion would castrate themselves instead of merely following the prescription of the law.

7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. 11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

The apostle Paul, addressing the believers in Galatia as his brothers and sisters, tells them that they were called into faith to be free but he reminds them not to use their freedom to give leeway for their fleshly nature to express itself but rather to use their freedom to humbly be of service to one another because what replaced the law of Moses was the law of love which is is a direct expression of God because the scripture elsewhere ( 1 John chapter 4 v. 8 ) says, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

Paul warns the Galatians that if, instead of love, they participate in infighting and exploitation, they would be on a path of being destroyed by each other.

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Paul now pin-points the singular way that they can avoid seeking after the gratifications of the flesh and that is to walk by the Spirit. The Spirit and the flesh are diametrically opposed to one another and as such, following the Spirit of God constrains us in what is allowable to do and by following the Spirit, we are not under the law but under the coverage of the Spirit and heeding to the law of love.

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Paul lists the symptoms of both walking by the Spirit and walking in the flesh:

          FLESH                                    SPIRIT

•  Sexual Immorality                    Love
•  Impurity & Debauchery            Joy
•  Idolatry & witchcraft                 Peace
•  Hatred                                     Forbearance
•  Discord                                    Kindness
•  Envy                                        Goodness
•  Temper trantrums                    Faithfulness
•  Selfish ambition                       Gentleness
•  Dissensions                             Self-control
•  Factions
•  Drunkeness
•  Orgy attendance
•  Conceit 

Paul explains that there are no laws against the practice of walking by the Spirit but the practices of the flesh can result in being excluded from the inheritance of the kingdom of God.          

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER WHO KNOWS US

Having examined the book of Hebrews, which is a distilate and summary of the redemption story from its old testament roots, we now look into chapter 4 of the  book of Galatians which is known to have been written by Paul and whose content is structured very similarly to the content in the book of Hebrews in the sense that a complex theological matter is being exposited and references are being drawn from the old testament.

In this case, the apostle Paul is addressing the question of the adoption of the believer from orphanhood to sonship.

Paul asserts that an immature believer is like a child in his father´s house who is a ward of the servants who care from him. As a son, he is the heir to all things but until the time of his maturity, he is under the rulership of guardians until the point that his father deems him to be grown enough to be entrusted with the authority of the household.

Through the life of Jesus on earth as a man who suffered and died for us, fallen men were redeemed so that they would be able to move from infancy under the law of external governance to the status of sons who are able to receive the Spirit of God's son in our hearts where we call on the Father as ¨ABBA, Father¨ or as ¨Papa¨ in the same way that a son would call his father.

As a son of God having been taken out of slavery, we are made heirs with Christ.

1 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

The Apostle Paul, having explained how privileged we are to have been taken from abject slavery and lifted into the realm of God as sons, is flabberghasted that the Galatians would gravitate back to the same old feeble forces of legal works such as keeping special days and seasons as a means of attaining righteousness.

This retrogression by the Galatians was so contrary to the message of the gospel that Paul became highly concerned for them and feared that all the efforts of bringing them along in the exploration of the incredible gift of salvation had added up to nothing. Paul adjures them for reaching the state of knowing God and thus escaping the bonds slavery and then suddenly, being ensnared by the systems of enslavement and reverting to the practices of enslavement. 

8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 10 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11 I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.

The Apostle Paul reminds the Galatians how graciously they accepted him and the hospitality they showed him when he was sick. Even in illness, they respected him and treated him with honor. Paul commented on the fact that their honor for him seemed to have dried up and he wondered if perhaps it was because he was telling them the truth that they were not willing to hear.

Paul brings up the emergence of a group of influencers who had come into their circles and were leading them away from the original teaching of the gospel that Paul had brought to them. As a result of the drifting away of the Galatians into the orbits of the influencers who wished to harness them for their own causes, Paul describes his experience of going into labour pains again as if to give birth to them into a state of maturity that comes from having Christ formed in them.

12 I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I became like you. You did me no wrong. 13 As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you, 14 and even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. 15 Where, then, is your blessing of me now? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

17 Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them. 18 It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you. 19 My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, 20 how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you! 

Paul, perplexed by the Galatians reversion to the law, begins an excavation of the history of the patriarchs because he percieves that even though they seem to want to revert to the strictures of the law, they may not be aware of what the law actually says.

 21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?

The Aposle Paul brings out two figures from the scriptures: One was Hagar who was a slave woman in Abraham's household and the other was Sarah, Abraham's wife who was a free woman.

Hagar bore a son of the flesh when Abraham and Sarah felt that the promise that God made to them that He was going to give them a son was lingering too long and engaged the slave woman to carry a child ( Ishmael ) for them.

Sarah, on the other hand, late in her life, conceive a son in faith and this was the son ( Isaac ) that God had promised them. 

Paul explains that, figuratively,  Ishmael represents Mount Sinai which is from where the law was dispensed and this corresponds to the earthly Jerusalem which is from where the law was administrated over the civilization it governed.

Isaac, on the other hand, represents the promise of grace that was dispensed from the heavenly Jerusalem which is free and that heavenly Jerusalem is "our mother" ( as Paul puts it ) which means that we who are saved are birthed into the civilization of freedom which is governed by grace under the law of love. The metaphore invoked by Paul ( Isaiah 54 v 1 ) of the barren woman points to Sarah but also to the new Jerusalem that had remained childless until the era of grace  was inaugurated and children born of the Spirit and into freedom came forth.

22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23 His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise.

24 These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written:

“Be glad, barren woman,

    you who never bore a child;

shout for joy and cry aloud,

    you who were never in labor;

because more are the children of the desolate woman

    than of her who has a husband.”

Paul explains to the Galatians that they were children of the promise by the faith in Christ that they had walked in and as such, even as Ismael persecuted Isaac, the children of the flesh persecute the children born of the power of the Spirit until the slave and her son were turned away from the household.

Those who are saved by grace and are children of free woman should therefore eschew the influence of the children of the bond woman who were never going to share in the inheritance that was for the free woman's son.

In other words, having gained the promise of salvation through grace, the Galatians must expell the law as a means of attaining righteousness from their midst so that they can remain free.

28 Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. 30 But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”31 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

Amen.

1

 OUR FATHER WHO WILL NEVER LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US

The writer concludes the book of Hebrews in chapter 13 with some exortations to continue cultivating brotherly love among themselves. We are reminded to care for all people including those unknown to us for in some cases, some of the guests encountered were actually angels disguised as human beings. We are also reminded to remember fellow believers who were imprisoned and subject to persecutions. This is necessary to do for the Christians who still dwell on the earth.

1 Let brothely love continue. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. 3 Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also.

Our writer touches on the sanctity of marriage and warns that defilement of the marriage bed by fornication or adultery would be subject to judgement. 

4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

Next, believers are cautioned on their attitude towards material things. To counter the inclination towards covetousness (envy ), we should sustain contentment knowing that the Lord Himself promised that He would never abandon us to our own devices but rather that he would  provide what we need for our lives.

5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said,

                             “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”     

                            6 So we may boldly say:

“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.

What can man do to me?”

7 Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.

We are also reminded to be cognisant of those who spoke the word of God to us and whose faith we follow as we reflect on the outcome of their lives.

The writer reminds of the privileged position that believers in Christ have whereby they have access to an altar that those who served the earthy tabernacle had no right to eat from. Whereas the bodies of the sacrificed animals whose blood was presented at the tabernacle were burned outside the camp, the Lord Jesus the Christ, in order to sanctify His people, suffered outside the camp so to speak when he was taken outside the walls of Jerusalem.

We too must be prepared to suffer the ignominy that Christ suffered and so must step outside of the temporal civilization in which we are ensconced so that we can live in the eternal civilization of the kingdom of God. The appropriate response to the sacrifice of Christ is the continous grateful praise of His name and on top of this, do good and share what we have with each other for these two things are loved by God.

10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. 12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. 13 Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. 14 For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. 15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. 16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

We are also called to be submissive to those who have been given charge over us for  they are answerable for our lives. If we conduct ourselves properly under them, their responsibility is joyful but if we cause them endless grief, we would lose the benefit of their guidance.

17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

18 Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably. 19 But I especially urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.

Asking the recipients of the letter to pray for them so that their company would be able to reunite with them, the writer of Hebrews gives a benediction of completion so that they would be able to fulfill the will of God in their lives and causing thme to yield fruit that is pleasing to Him through the Lord Jesus who is glorified forever.

Timothy, the protoge of Paul the apostle, is mentioned in the epilogue of the letter as having been released from prison and this strongly suggests that the letter to the Hebrews was written by Paul himself and only a few  artifacts in this book suggest that it could be another person. 

Naming Timothy as  'our brother' here rather than a 'son' as Paul does in 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 2 does give us a reason to believe that the writer of Hebrews is a protoge of Paul's, but to counter this point, the change of Timothy's title could have come about as Timothy matured and suffered alongside Paul so that Paul evolved to view Timothy as a brother in Christ rather than a son.

Another artifact in this letter to the Hebrews that suggests that Paul did not write it is that the letter is written in the voice of a plural pronoun "we" or "us" and in "Pray for us" and "Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away." Heb 2 v1.

Paul, writting to Timothy, uses "I" as the pronoun for example, out of of 2 Tim 1 v 6, "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

This stylistic change suggests that the book of Hebrews was written by a person other than Paul but this too can be attributed to a change in attitude that Paul may have undergone in relating to his fellow believers.

Based on the theologiocal depth of the book of Hebrews and the deep understanding of the old covenant, I am inclined to believe that it was Paul who wrote the book when I consider the writer's mention of Timothy and based on the scholarly treatment of the gospel's foundations in the old testament.

20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

22 And I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation, for I have written to you in few words. 23 Know that our brother Timothy has been set free, with whom I shall see you if he comes shortly.

24 Greet all those who rule over you, and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you.

25 Grace be with you all. Amen.

1

OUR FATHER WHO CHASTENS THE SONS HE LOVES

The book of Hebrews chapter 12:

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.

In chapter 12, the writer of Hebrews continues to encourage us to remember how many saints who came before us have the completion  of their work in the hands of current believers and so they are all watching in large numbers around us with keen interest the way relay racers keenly watch the completion of the race they participated in because their standing depends on how their teammates complete the race.

With this in mind, we are encouraged to eschew manifestations of the flesh that readily ensnare us. We should struggle vigorously against sin with endurance as we recall the way our Lord Jesus endured the agony of the cross and its shame. 

In the same way that Jesus gladly accepted the suffering of the cross because He looked forward to the joy that was set before him, we too should gladly stand firmly against the sins and incumberances that besaddle us knowing that the joy set before us will greatly overshadow whatever we have to endure in this life.

Towards this goal, the Lord will chastize His sons and  we should humbly and gladly accept His correction in spite of the pain it causes for it is to our eternal benefit and and it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness  It is possible to elude God's chastizement by evading the corrective measures metted out but if we permanently escape the Lord's chastizement, we bypass the route to sonship and can become illigitimate sons in a manner of speaking.

3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 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;

6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens,

And scourges every son whom He receives.”

7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 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? 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. 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.

We are exorted to exercise ourselves to shore up specific weaknesses we have and to order our lives in a way that is condusive to the practice of righteousness and in doing this, the thorns on our flesh can be healed rather than deteriorate into a worse condition. This reflects the words of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 12 verses 43 - 45 where a cleansing has occured in a person but because of unattended weaknesses,  the persons condition ends up worse than before.

43 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

The writer of Hebrews advises believers to actively chase after peace with all people as well as holiness which are both necessary prerequisites for seeing the Lord. Sustaining peace with all men requires that we all watch to makes sure the conditions that feed and secure bitterness in place are not left to fester because many people can be  defiled in such environments and they can fall into unrepentance to the degree that they forfeit their birthrights and inheritance.

14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; 16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

The counsel being offered is that we should voluntarily approach the new covenant with a stringency of conduct and the argument  The old covenant, was framed by a fearsome encounter at Mt. Sinai where a blazing fire blackened the top of the mountain and touching the mountain was punished by death so that even animals were killed if they approached it. The voice that came forth terrified the people as they found their own nature recoiling from the commands. Moses himself  testified to being terrified by the sight of the visitation of God.

18 For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. 20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” 21 And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)

In contrast, under the new convenant, we priviledged to be :

•  Invited to be on Mount Zion
•  In the city of the living God
• Among a vast number of angels
• Part of the general assembly
• Part of the  council of the firstborn of those registered in heaven
• With God who is the judge of all
• With the spirits of just men made perfect
• With the Lord Jesus who is the mediator of the new covenant
• Eternally covered by the blood of sprinkling which speaks forgiveness

What is extended to believers under the new covenant is a breath-taking panoply of transcendant advantages and preferments.

22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

With this is view, we are counseled not to turn away from the words of the One whom we are privileged to hear from heaven for if the ones who heard Him on earth were bound to God's instructions, how much more are we bound to the instructions of Him from heaven?  Even as the voice of God caused the shaking on earth that dislodged that which was not acceptable, it is promised that the heavens will be shaken as well to prove the things which are certified to be part of the Kingdom of God. 

If we are to be under the auspices of the Kingdom of God, we should, by the grace granted to us, serve God reverentially and with fear and trembling with the knowledge that God is a terrifying consuming fire.

25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.

Amen.

1

 OUR FATHER WHO IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE WITHOUT FAITH

To illustrate the pedigree of faith as the valid predicate for acceptance into God's family.  the writer of the book of Hebrews chapter 11 starts with a definition of what faith actually is. Firstly, faith is called a substance and it is substantiation of the things that are being hoped upon and this substantiation is based on evidence that is not detected by sight but by any other means such as hearing spoken words or by logical deductions or by intuitions that are sensed.

When the planet Uranus was discovered in 1781, observers noticed that it wobbled in a way that defied calculations on what its expected orbit should have been.  This observation led in two direction:  1) Doubt of the reliability of the calculations or 2) That there was another massive celestial body that was distorting the path of Uranus.

While the status quo was in this state, it can be defined as 'faith' because there is evidence other than visual evidence that is indicating the existense of something that is not visible. In this condition, everything can be questioned and even the underlying mathematical assumtions can be brought under scrutiny. The evidence of the existence of a large outer planet was purely calculational but when Neptune was discovered by telescope in 1846 ( sixty years after the discovery of Uranus ), the state of faith collapsed and what was left was confirmed knowledge that we can verify to this day.

So faith is the condition where we are confronted by non-visual evidence and we are able to believe in something sight-unseen but not without evidence.

In fact, this requirement to believe and act based on non-visual evidence is baked into the fabric of the universe itself and into all the formative events in the timeline of the salvation of men.

The universe itself was brought into being by the word of God such that that which is now visible came out of that which was invisible setting a pattern for how men walking in the spirit would relate to the process of stepping into faith based only on words spoken by the Spirit and with no visible evidence that those things spoken would come into being. 

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.

3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

The writer of Hebrews then lists the chronology of milestones of the leveraging of faith by the elders.

Abel offered a sacrifice to God that was more excellent than that of Cain by faith wherein he received validation of his righteousness when his gift was accepted by God and his faith was counted to him as righteousness. As a result, his blood still spoke from the ground meaning that he was alive even after being murdered by his brother.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

Enoch, who was swept away into heaven by God thus he by-passed death altogether. Of Enoch it was said that he pleased God and because it is impossible to please God without faith, Enoch must have walked in faith and to so, Enoch must have believed in God and understood that diligent pursuit of God would be be rewarded by God. In his faith, Enoch was saved from death in a foreshadowing  of the saving from death by faith.

5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Noah, in faith, acted on a divine warning of events that were not visible and built an ark that saved his family and this faith was conferred to him as righteousness.

7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith

Abraham was called by a whisper from God to leave his homeland and travel to a place that he did know. He walked in faith on this un-charted journey on the evidence of a whisper to leave his native land and when he got to the promised land, he dwelt as a foreigner in the land and he lived in tents as a nomad would for the duration of his life as he waited in faith upon the Lord to lead him to a hoped-for city  that was on a solid foundation that was built by God Himself.

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Alongside her husband Abraham, Sarah too was in faith when she, being advanced in age, believed in the promise of God for a child because she had assessed God and found Him to be faithful. Her faith, in harmony with Abraham's faith, brought forth the promise of their son, Isaac through whom the lineage of the Messiah would come and who would bring salvation for Abraham and Sarah and the whole world.

11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

The writer of the book of Hebrews explains that the people who were given as examples, reached the end of their lives still holding onto the faith that they had acquired but as of their deaths, had not seen the fulfilment of the promises they had trusted in but rather were assured that the promises would be received having seen visions of the future. They accepted these assurances and confessed that their time on earth was merely a sorjourn and thus they declared that there was a homeland to which they belonged and having seen themselves as citizens of this better or eternal homeland, passage would be offered to return to their heavenly country.

Because of their faith, God was not ashamed to be called their God for He had prepared a city for those who believed in the promises they had placed their hope in based on evidence that had not  been directly visible to them.

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

Pressing further into the nature of faith and its role at the pivotal points of the redemtion story, we find a pressure test on Abraham that compelled him to walk in a deeper level of faith. Up to that point, the totality of his faith in God's promise to him of an innumerable descendancy was vested in his son Isaac and yet when God asked him to sacrifice his only begotten son, his faith was tested that required that he had faith on top of faith where he reasoned ( sight-unseen ) that in order for God's promise to be fulfilled, Isaac would have to be raised from the dead. It was indeed the pattern of the Messiah Jesus, being raised from the dead, that was being foreshadowed by the un-mentioned hope of Abraham's faith. It was Abraham's faith in God's promise that brought him from being bodily dead alongside his wife to having a son and this promise, even when partially fulfilled, was still understood by Abraham to be in God's hands. And from the altar of sacrifice, Abraham received his son back when God provided His own sacrifice.

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

The inheritance of faith came down from Abraham to Isaac his son and Isaac, when the time to bless his twin sons, Jacob and Esau, by faith he blessed them where he blessed Jacob to rule over his brother Esau and he blessed Esau to be able to contend with his younger brother Jacob. Isaac, in faith, spoke the shape of the redemption story for which he only had conjecture as evidence.

20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

Jacob, having gone through protracted tests of faith throughout his life, reached the end with blessings for the sons of his long lost son Joseph, sensing into the distant future, blessed the younger to rule over the older.

21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

Joseph, the son of Jacob, who was taken as a slave to Egypt,  reached the end of his life and foresaw the nation that would emerge from the descendants of his father and that the nation would return to the land from which they came and in faith, he charged them to carry his bones back to that land. 

22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.

When the time came for the children of Israel to depart from Egypt which Joseph's faith looked forward tor, Moses , born under a sentence of death by the rulers of Egypt, was preserved by his mother who in faith, released him in a basket of reeds. When Moses grew up, in faith, he counted himself as one of the oppressed slaves and in affiliation with them, forfeited the priviledge that he would have been entitle to that he knew would be temporal and instead preferred to be named among the slaves and risked the wrath of the kings of Egypt in view of the far more valuable future that he percieved.

23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.

24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. 

Moses also believed in the promises of protection that  was promised through the sprinkling of blood and the parting of the Red Sea.

28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

By faith, Joshua walked in silence around Jericho to the effect of the collapsing of the walls and by faith, Rahab, a harlot of in Jericho, having forseen the victory of Israel, preserved the life of the spies as risk of her own life, and was preserved.

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.

Faith was deployed by the fore-bearers in two distinct ways. The first was through contention where weaknesses and vulnerabilities were turned into strengths like when kingdoms were subjugated and barreness was turned back.

32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again.

Secondly, faith was deployed as endurance to get through hardships, tortures and imprisonment without buckling. Foreseeing a better resurrection by faith, some people withstood poverty, rejection, imprisonment, torment and murder in order that they could acquire a good testimony but did not receive the promise in their time. God, having placed the fulfilment of the promise in our time, designed an economy by which the fore-bearers of faith would be made perfect in us because their faith produced the condition by which the better salvation in Christ would come.

Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.

39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.   

Amen.

1

 OUR FATHER WHO TOOK NO PLEASURE IN THE SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS

The writer of the book of Hebrews continues in chapter 10 to emphasize that the law was merely a shadow of better things that were coming. The shadow, could never make anyone perfect because they were temporal and had to be repeated annually. The question arises, if the sacrifices under the law were able to make perfect, was there a point  at which the sacrificers would no longer be able to practice sin? 

Over the generations of those who sacrifices, they had to repeat their sacrifices year upon year for it was simply not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away the sins of men.

1  For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.

Psalm 10 is pointed out as the prophetic utterance that established that the burden of the sacrifices for the sins of men was being taken off bulls and goats and being placed on a Man who had come into the world and would willingly do what God the Father wanted and the will of the Father was that Christ would die in place of men so that their ransom could be paid and they could be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God who is Christ. 

In this passage, we see a glimpse of the Messiah arriving onto the earth in the body that God had prepared for Him and He realised that the sacrifices and offerings taking place in the temple were not what God actually wanted and so the Messiah spoke up and said to go God, "I have arrived on the earth. I have read what was written of me in the scroll and what was expected of Me and I willingly accept to do Your will".

5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:

“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,

But a body You have prepared for Me.

6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin

You had no pleasure.

7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—

In the volume of the book it is written of Me—

To do Your will, O God.’ ”

8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Whereas the shadow of sacrifices established the pattern and consequence of the shedding of blood and bulls, it was declared to be insufficient in prophetic terms in Psalm 40 and the Lord Jesus Christ offered Himself as the perfect and fully sufficient sacrifice for once and for all. 

11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

In contrast to the earthy priests who ministered repeatedly, the Man for whom a body had been prepared, sacrificed Himself and this one offering, was eternal and He was seated at the right hand of God and the Father undertakes to subjugate all those among of humanity who rebel against the perfect One but those who voluntarily repent and cease from their rebellions and believe in the One, this one sacrifice had the power to perfect forever those who are being sanctified.

This ability to perfect those who voluntarily go into a future covenant with God is described in Jeremiah chater 31 which describes the transformation of people by the inscribing of the law of God into their hearts such that the ways of God became their nature rather than having to read it from the stone tablets. 

For those being perfected, their sins and rebellious actions were also to be expunged from God's memory and this rendered the believers justified and not requiring additional offerings for sin 

15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,

16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 18 Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

The writer of the book of Hebrews tells those who believe in Jesus to draw near to God with assurance and boldness because of the sufficiency of the blood of Jesus to consecrate us and cleanse our hearts from our evil conscience via His being subjected to suffering and death in the flesh (on one side of the veil) but now is exalted as the great High Priest in the house of God (having crossed over to the other side of the veil).

19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 

In light of what the Lord Jesus Christ endured and accomplished in order to secure salvation for men, the writer of Hebrews adjures us to remain steadfast in our faith in Christ and reciprocate the steadfastness of the one who made the promise of salvation.    We are advised to encourage one another to rise up in love and in good works and to assemble with each other ( with increasing frequency as the great day of the Lord approaches ). 

This assembling together is a safe-guard to help us resist the temptation to sin wilfully and this is important because deliberately sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth leaves us with sins for which there are no additional sacrifices but rather judgement and fiery indignation that was meant for the adversaries of God but will ungulf those who acquiesced.

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Comparing the fate of those who rejected the law of Moses with those who reject the law of Christ, the writer notes that on the strength of two or three witness, a person could be put to death by stoning under the imperfect law so therefore how much greater a hazard would it be for those who, having tasted of the goodness of God's salvation, trampled the blood of the covenant underfoot and insulted the Spirit of grace. 

We are strongly encouraged to endure in holding fast to the faith that we were given insight into. Even though many contratry events happen to us as we get exposed to reproach and tribulations for even being in the company of those who believed, we are to remain confident in our faith for there is a great reward and it is awarded to those who endure till the end.

32 But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: 33 partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; 34 for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. 35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

37 “For yet a little while,

And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.

38 Now the just shall live by faith;

But if anyone draws back,

My soul has no pleasure in him.”

39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

As we learn the life of living by faith, we are justified by that faith but if we, having walked in faith retrace our steps back to a faithless life, we depart from God's pleasure because it says, "Without faith, it is impossible to please God".

Amen.

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