The Final Six Lest Warnings in Hebrews In this chapter, we interpret, for you, the balance of the Lest Warnings in Hebrews. We look at the final six of these warnings in this chapter. Remember that lest translates the Greek negative particle ma (many times in combination with other Greek words), which simply means for fear that. In other words, if you do (or don t do) such and such, then certain unpleasant things may (will) happen to you, hence, a Lest Warning. Heb 12:15-17 15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; (Italics mine) 16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. (Italics mine) 17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. (KJV) Looking diligently in verse 15 above simply means to stay alert, to stay awake, to stay on top of it. Our Author admonished these Hebrews to get on top of it and stay there to prevent three things from happening: (1) Lest any man fail of the grace of God in verse 15. (2) Lest any root of bitterness spring up, trouble them and defile many in verse 15. (3) Lest there be any fornicator or profane person who sells his birthright for practically nothing in verse 16. Lest Warning #6 Verse 15 warns them to look diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God. First, what does failing of the grace of God mean to these Hebrews? Failing translates hustereo, which means to fall short, to fall behind or to miss. Remember, they were born into the complete grace of the Abrahamic covenant. This grace included healing, prosperity, family well being, salvation, holiness and sanctification. Remember, to maintain this grace and these six blessings, all they had to do was to sacrifice properly under Moses law when they sinned. Remember too that God no longer accepts the blood of bulls, goats, cows, and sheep. He will only accept now the blood of Jesus. By accepting Him as their final sacrifice, they maintain all the Abrahamic blessings they had by birth in the covenant. Therefore, they did not fail of the grace of God. They maintained their birthright blessings through Jesus blood. Of course, those who rejected His final sacrifice lost all six birthright blessings. To fail or come short, then, simply meant that they refused to accept Jesus, God s final sacrifice for their sins. Lest Warning #7 Verse 15 also warns them to look diligently, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; They must be alert so that no root of bitterness could crop up. But what does root of bitterness mean in verse 15? Could it not mean that they were being required Hebrews: The Abrahamic Interpretation Page 101
to completely ditch the Mosaic system of sacrifice? This would be a hard pill for them to swallow. They had great difficulty with this. Those who chose to stay with the blood of bulls, goats, cows, and sheep were extremely bitter towards those who chose the blood of Christ. Consequently, this deep, bitter division rose up and troubled them. Not only did it trouble them, this bitter division defiled many. Defile translates the Greek word miaino, which means to dye another color. Hence, it means to tinge or stain. From the above meaning, defile here simply meant, to tarnish, stain, discolor and even blemish. These Hebrews were divided by Jesus blood. Their relationship with each other was forever stained and strained as a result of it. They were defiled as a unified people. Their bitterness concerning the blood of Jesus did it. Till this day, when a Hebrew accepts Jesus, his family disowns him. This is bitterness! Lest Warning #8 Verse 16 warns them to look diligently lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. In other words, they must stay alert so that no one (fornicator or profane person) could sell out his birthright for something worthless. Remember, we learned that they neglected the message of Jesus because they considered it a worthless message. They placed no value upon it. They deemed the blood of bulls, goats, cows, and sheep to be more valuable than the blood of Jesus. What an insult. What a loss for them. Compare this to the case of Esau--the firstborn--who sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. The rights of the firstborn in ancient times were invaluable. Esau, however, considered a bowl of soup to be more valuable than his birthright. What a foolish value judgment for him to make. How tragic! How could he have been so foolish? Yet this is exactly what Group 3A did. They sold their birthright for the blood of common animals. Remember, the blood of Jesus is actually the blood of God himself. Remember also that Esau later tried to repent, to back up and do it all over in a much different way. It was, however, too late for him to do this. He shed bitter tears but found no place to go back and do it differently. The same thing is true of Group 3A. The absolute, ultimate rejection of Jesus is eternal. There is no time or place to go back and do it over. Every Hebrew in Group 3A has had it! He is lost forever. There is no going back. There is no place for repentance. They may seek it carefully with bitter tears but they will still find no place of repentance. The lesson to be learned here is very simple. Receive Jesus now! There may be no tomorrow. Do it now. Dear Reader, this applies to everyone, not just to the Hebrew. Do it now. Remember the Psalms 95 warnings? Ps 95:7-11 7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Page 102 Hebrews: The Abrahamic Interpretation
10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: 11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. (KJV) In other words, harden not your hearts today. Today! Today is the day of salvation. Do it now! Receive Jesus today! This was their right. This was their place. This was their time. Do it now, here, today. Next, we look at the last three Lest Warnings. They primarily contain practical lessons for the Hebrews. Some of them even contain practical lessons for us Gentiles because we are grafted into their Abrahamic system. Heb 11:28 Lest Warning #9 28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. (KJV) Italics mine) Moses took God at His word. He acted upon what God said. Moses knew that if the blood was not sprinkled over the doorpost, the death angel would kill the first born of Israel as well as the first born of the Egyptians. So Moses did what any sensible believer would do. He sprinkled the blood over the doorpost. He did this to stop any occasion for the death angel to touch any of them. (What a lesson for Gentiles as well as Hebrews. When God speaks, He always does what He said He would do.) For these Hebrews, they should act upon the Jesus message because He was, from henceforth, God s final sacrifice for sin. Without accepting His final sacrifice, these Hebrews had no hope at all. There was the certain looking for of fiery judgment. Remember the aftermath and consequences of the willful sin? Learn from Moses dear Hebrew friend! He took God at His word. You must do the same! You must accept God s final sacrifice for your sins or perish in hell. You have no other choice. Do it now. Receive the loving Son of God. He loves you. He will not hurt you. Do it now. Heb 12:3-4 Lest Warning #10 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. (Italics mine) 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. (KJV) Jesus endured great contradiction of sinners against himself. Consequently, our Author encouraged his Hebrew audience to consider this Jesus. He encouraged them to consider Jesus lest they become wearied and faint in their minds. Minds translates the Greek word psyche that is the regular Greek word for soul. In Hebrews alone, we find psyche translated soul five times and mind only once. Actually, psyche is translated by heart, heartily, life, mind and soul. The primary translations, however, are soul and life. Hebrews: The Abrahamic Interpretation Page 103
Wearied translates kamno, a Greek word for sickness. This word, however, means sickness that is caused and sustained by fatigue. In other words, kamno designates a sickness brought on by constant work. Faint translates ekluo, which means to loose out of. Vine used a bowstring as an illustration of this word. If one should loose a bowstring, he would relax it. Applying this illustration to Heb. 12: 3 above, we see that two things had happened to these Hebrews. First, they had strived against sin with animal sacrifices to the point that they had relaxed their view towards the sacrifices. They had sacrificed and sacrificed and sacrificed until they were sick and tired of it. They were sick and tired of doing it. They were sick and tired of the whole repetitive Mosaic sacrificial system. Sick and tired is an excellent way to describe the meaning of kamno, a sickness born out of constant work, resulting in weariness. Finally, note this fact well: this weary, fainting sickness kamno--affected their very soul and their very life--psyche. Now in opposition to this bleak state of affairs, our Author encouraged them to consider Jesus. He had already battled against sin and beat it. Now they don t have to beat it. They simply have to accept His sacrifice. Consequently, they will never have to sacrifice an animal again as long as they live. Remember that His blood sacrifice sanctified them once and for all. Heb 10:10-14 10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (KJV) Now they can enter into His rest by simply accepting His final sacrifice, which sanctified them once and for all. Now they can come under the blood of the Son of God, whose once for all sacrifice for sins not only lasts forever but also enables Him to sit down at the right hand of God. Now they can be perfected forever by His one offering. What a joy! No more striving against sin! No more sacrificing and sacrificing until they are in a sick and tired delirium. No more battling it out by themselves. Instead, they are admonished to consider Jesus who has done it all for them in a once for all way. No wonder Jesus said that He was the way, the truth and the life. Praise God. Heb 12:13 Lest Warning #11 13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. (KJV) (Italics mine) What can straight paths for your feet mean? This expression must refer to a person s walk with God. The gist of this expression is not at all uncommon. All their lives, these Hebrews had been told to walk the straight and narrow. So understanding this expression is not difficult. Page 104 Hebrews: The Abrahamic Interpretation
Notice, however, that walking the straight and narrow is tied up with their ability to be healed. This must mean that they can be healed much easier and quicker when their walk is right. For these Hebrews, their walk must start with accepting God s final sacrifice for their sins. Apart from this, not only is healing out the window, so is prosperity and family well being as well as salvation. Apart from accepting Jesus, there will be no healing, prosperity, family well being, holiness, sanctification or salvation. No wonder our Author said for them to make straight paths for their feet. If they don t, that which is lame will be turned out of the way of the Abrahamic blessing of healing. Note well, however, that our Author wants it to rather be healed, which is their birthright. In the next chapter, we look at the Key Verse in Hebrews. This verse forms the bridge between Group Two and Group Three. In this verse, our Author pleads with Group Three to mimic those in Group Two and shows what their benefits will be if they do. This is a most enlightening and faith building chapter. Hebrews: The Abrahamic Interpretation Page 105
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