Hebrews 12:12-28
12:12
“Therefore” – “dio” – the conclusion of
the discussion of discipline and hardships
“strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees”
is from Isaiah 35:3 where the readers are being encouraged to be strong because
the Lord is coming with blessing and judgment:
It
is no good to be encouraged in what the Lord is going to do if you are going to
continue to walk in the crooked, stony path of human sin. So make your path level.
12:13
“Make level paths for your feet” is from
Proverbs 4:26 and is in the context of Wisdom speaking to a young man telling
him to:
“so that the lame may not be disabled, but
rather healed”
What
are some examples of a straight path?
The next verses list some of the stones that need to be removed from
life’s path if you are going to enjoy the promises of God.
12:14
“make every effort” is a translation of
the present imperfect active of “diwkw” or “dioko” and
means “to hunt to follow after, to pursue”.
It is an aggressive word.
We
are to hunt down peace with men and holiness with God.
“”without holiness no one will see the
Lord” explains why God has always
wanted us to be holy. God wants us to
see him, to understand his ways, to be able to perceive life and all that is
involved in it from the divine perspective.
If you can see God then you will be able to see God’s position and his
divine view of reality. Until we see or
understand we live by faith in his revealed word.
12:15
“See to it” is “episkopew” or “episkopeo”
We get our word “Episcopal” from it.
The word here means “to watch over, to watch out for. The word is used in Greek papyri in closing
of letters and refers to people with official capacity to exercise some kind of
authority. Here it may be addressed to
the leaders of the Christian community who have let their responsibility slip
as their faith has declined. It at least
speaks to us each individually as being responsible for our own selves.
“no one misses the grace of God” The
verb tense is present tense which carries the meaning of “continuing to miss
the grace of God.”
“no
bitter root grows up” from Dt. 29:17-19 in reference to bringing idol worship
and apostasy into the community. The
idea is anything that has roots and can cause trouble or defilement.
12:16
“No one is sexually immoral”. “sexually immoral” is the word “pornos” often
translated “fornicator”.
No
one “is godless” – Esau lacked any
sense of spiritual values. Nor did he
demonstrate restraint and clear thinking when he traded his birth right.
Esau
sold his inheritance for a single meal.
The
way it is written Esau may be an example only of godlessness or of both
godlessness and sexual immorality. The
OT nor most Jewish writing give us any example of Esau being sexually immoral
but he was clearly godless in his decisions. (The Palestinian Targum says Esau
came home exhausted that day because he had committed five transgressions in
one day including adultery with a betrothed maiden.”
12:17
The
selling of the inheritance disqualified him for the blessing.
It
was not changeable. Esau cried to have
it changed but it could not be done.
On
the Day of Judgment and even in life things are irreversible.
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Some Things That Make the Path Level
for All Believers |
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12:14 |
“live at peace with all men” |
Peace |
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12:14 |
“be holy” |
Holiness |
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12:15 |
“no one misses the grace of God” |
Grace |
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12:15 |
“no bitter root grows up”
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Not Bitter |
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12:16 |
“no one is sexually immoral” |
Not Sexually |
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12:16 |
“no one is godless” |
Not Godless |
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12:25 |
“do not refuse him who speaks” |
God’s Word |
12:18 -24
The
earthly mountain you have not come to (Exodus 19:10-23; Dt.4:7-20):
The
heavenly mountain you have come to:
12:25
The
church can not refuse this word nor its speaker (
The
earth and the mountain shook in response to the Lord’s spoken word in Exodus.
Haggai
2:6, 21
12:27
“once
more” means for the final time and results in the removing of all temporary
things.
Only
the eternal will remain.
Shaking:
Earth
Passing Away: