In this series we are studying the five warning passages in Hebrews as follows…
1. “Don’t Drift Away from So Great Salvation” (Hebrews 2:1-4).
2. “Don’t Harden Your Hearts” (Hebrews 3:7-4:11).
3. “Don’t Crucify God’s Son Again” (Hebrews 5:11-6:12).
4. “Don’t Trample God’s Son Under Foot” (Hebrews 10:26-39).
5. “Don’t Refuse God’s Voice” (Hebrews 12:12-17, 25-19).
We have completed the first four warnings and come now to the fifth and final warning, the subject of which is “Disobeying God’s Summons.” The primary teaching in this passage is that there is no escape for those who refuse to obey God’s word and who turn away from the one who speaks from heaven.
In this passage, the writer focuses on two specific dangers. Notice first…
I. The Danger Of Falling Short Of God’s Grace (12:12-17)
In 12:1-2, the writer calls for our renewed commitment to “run with endurance the race that lies before us.” In our passage, he follows up this call for renewed commitment with an exhortation to keep going and a warning to be careful.
A. An Exhortation: “Keep Going” (12:12-14).
“Therefore, strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees” (12:12). We learn from this exhortation three principles…
A1. Running the race to the finish line involves perseverance. If you ease up from training and perseverance your spiritual hands and arms can easily lose muscle tone and strength and your spiritual knees and legs become weak.
The athlete whose hands hang by his side and whose knees are prone to buckle depicts someone who is exhausted, discouraged, and on the verge of giving up. But the one who is diligent about spiritual strength and fitness training depicts someone who is determined, focused on the goal (cf. Isa. 35:3-4; Prov. 4:25-27).
The danger here is of growing weary and giving up (12:3, 5), of losing sight of “Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (12:2), of becoming entangled with and ensnared by sin (12:1).
In addition to perseverance...
A2. Running the race to the finish line involves prevention. “...and make straight paths for your feet...” (12:13a). By running on level (“straight”) ground you prevent twisting your ankle or tripping – that’s important if you want to run a race successfully.
Don’t venture into areas of life that may lead you into ethical and / or spiritual traps resulting in your being injured and put out of the race. Order your life in such a way that you are not corrupted by evil nor hindered by sin, but rather follow a godly life which is ordered by godly wisdom (“straight paths”).
Go in a straight direction – don't turn to the left or the right to investigate rabbit trails in which you may get lost. Don’t try to take short cuts through rough ground, unworn paths “so that what is lame may not be dislocated” (12:13b). There are “lame” members of the Christian community who lack spiritual strength and stamina, who have strayed from the well-worn paths (cf. Jeremiah 6:16; Psalm 23:3), who have sustained spiritual injury, which has caused them to draw back, turn aside from the truth and drift away from the gospel. Such people clearly existed among the Hebrews. Live in such a way that these lame members may not sustain further injury by way of dislocation but that they may be “healed instead” (12:13c), healed of their spiritual lethargy by being strengthened and encouraged to keep going.
So, the exhortation is to encourage one another in the community of faith, to be strong, to keep going, to keep your eye on the goal, to persevere and don’t give up (see Isaiah 35:3-4). To be prepared and able to run the race right to the finish line involves perseverance and prevention, and...
A3. Running the race to the finish line involves pursuit. You have to have your eye on the goal and pursue it. The goal in seeking to heal those who have been turned aside, discouraged, run out of energy, or dislocated their spiritual limbs is twofold…
a) Pursue peace with everyone (12:14a). Peace should characterize the relationships of God’s people – harmony, unity, happiness, solidarity, mutual support.
b) Pursue…holiness (12:14b). We have been set apart for God and declared righteous by him (Philippians 3:9; Romans 3:22). And that lays on us the obligation to be holy in thought, word, and action by living lives that are consistent with the One we follow.
“Pursue… holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (12:14b). Here’s why the pursuit of holiness is so important: Holiness is the pre-requisite for entering God’s presence, the pre-requisite for eternal life. Only “the pure in heart will see God” (Matthew 5:8). Of course, perfect holiness will only be ours at our transformation and glorification, but in the meantime we must strive for it. Striving for holiness is an indication that you are truly born again.
“But,” you say, “surely, peace and holiness are already ours.” Peace is already ours through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1), who through his death has clothed us with his holiness (Galatians 3:17; 2 Corinthians 5:21) on the basis of which we can approach God (Hebrews 10:22). So, how do we pursue what we already have? We do it by working out practically in our lives what we have positionally in Christ. This is what Paul calls “working out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).
The exhortation, then, is: “Keep Going.” And…
B. A Warning: “Be Careful” (12:15-17).
B1. “Make sure that no one falls short of the grace of God” (12:15a). We must not only strive personally for our own peace and holiness as we run the race towards the heavenly goal, we must also watch out for the spiritual welfare of others in our Christian community. We must protect and encourage one another since we are surrounded by dangers. We must exercise pastoral care for one another so that no spiritual disaster overtakes anyone.
Just as the wilderness generation of Israelites fell short of the grace of God (i.e. they didn't believe or obey God and therefore did not enter the rest of Canaan - see Hebrews 4:1), so the possibility exists that some in the Christian community of faith may not enter God’s rest in the final day, which danger obviously existed among the Hebrews. They may not be believers even, may not be saved. They may not enter God’s heavenly kingdom. Hence, the warning: “Make sure that no one falls short of the grace of God.” This is member care by everyone for everyone.
B2. “Make sure that… no root of bitterness springs up, causing trouble and defiling many” (12:15b). What this root of bitterness was is not clearly spelled out, but from the context of the epistle it is fair to assume that it was bitterness against Christ and Christianity, bitterness for their sufferings and persecution. When bitterness is left unjudged and allowed to fester and to spring up, it causes trouble and defiles many among the people of God.
The trouble this was causing among the Hebrews was the susceptibility to giving up Christianity altogether, just walking away. Anyone bearing such bitterness would be showing symptoms that they might “fall short of the grace of God,” that they might not ultimately be saved. Such a root of bitterness against other believers and / or against Christ by even one member can cause many to be defiled by drawing them into an unholy life, allowing “an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God” (3:12). The antidote to this danger is for every member of the congregation to look out for every other member. This is collective, congregational pastoral care.
B3. “And make sure that there isn’t any immoral or irreverent person like Esau” (12:16-17). “Immoral” (pornos) means sexually immoral, a fornicator. “Irreverent person” means someone who is profane, godless, totally worldly, the opposite of holy.
The example given is that of Esau, who “…sold his birthright in exchange for a single meal” (12:16b). It isn’t clear here whether Esau is being described here as “immoral” or just “irreverent / godless” (as in the NIV), or both. If Esau was sexually immoral it isn't mentioned in Genesis 25, except perhaps that he married the Hittite women in Genesis 26:34. In any event, the two adjectives go together - “sexually immoral” and “irreverent / profane” - people who turn their back on God and pursue a godless life, who “fall short of the grace of God.” That’s how rash, thoughtless, and perverse Esau’s action was - a single meal or one morsel of food in exchange for his birthright. Immediate gratification exceeded the value of his birthright (the double share of his father’s estate), as well as his father’s blessing of God’s covenantal promise to Abraham. Esau showed utter contempt for God’s salvation, turning his back on God and God’s blessings.
“For you know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected even though he sought it with tears” (12:17a). Even though Esau afterwards diligently sought the blessing, he was rejected by God. It was too late - the blessing had already been given to Jacob, despite Jacob’s deception in the whole sordid affair. The point is that Esau “didn’t find any opportunity for repentance” (12:17b). He had given God up, turned away from what he knew to be true and right. As a result he had no possibility of repentance granted by God (cf. Hebrews 6:4-6). Tears are no indication of godly repentance. Tears are often the response to being caught, for having knowingly failed to do what was right. Esau’s tears were too late – no way back then. God meted out to Esau the consequences of his actions and choices. He was rejected with no opportunity for repentance, just like the wilderness generation who were refused entrance into the rest of Canaan and who consequently died in the wilderness.
First, then, the danger of falling short of God’s grace. Second…
II. The Danger Of Refusing To Heed God’s Voice (12:25-29).
As with the four other warnings in Hebrews, this is another warning against apostasy. In 3:12 the warning is based on the Israelites’ unbelief in the wilderness: “Don’t do the same as they did!” Here, the warning is based on the Israelites’ refusal to heed God at Sinai. Again, “Don’t do the same as they did!
There are two dangers here…
A. The Danger Of Insulting God’s Person (12:25).
A1. The God who speaks on earth contrasted with the God who speaks from heaven (12:25b). The Israelites were obligated to obey God or face punishment. From their example, the warning is: ““See to it that you do not reject the one who speaks. For if they did not escape (God’s punishment) “when they rejected him who warned them on earth, even less will we (escape) if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven” (12:25c).
“Escape” from God is an allusion to Hebrews 2:3, “How will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation.” Just as the Israelites who heard God speak “on earth” at Sinai did not escape God’s judgement when they refused to obey him (and ultimately they died in the wilderness), “even less” will Christians, who hear God speak from heaven today through his Word and the application of the Holy Spirit, escape God’s judgment when they refuse to obey him. Lack of obedience, whether then or now, is an insult to God’s person and carries with it severe consequences.
Because God now “warns us from heaven,” the nature of this higher revelation imposes on us a much greater obligation to obey God, failing which we face even greater punishment than the Israelites. We know God through Jesus Christ, God’s living Word, and through the Scriptures, God’s complete, final written word. Hence, we have a greater responsibility to obey God and a greater punishment if we refuse to listen and “turn away from him who warns us from heaven.” That’s our thesis in this article: There is no escape for those who refuse to obey God’s word and who turn away from the one who speaks from heaven. The greater the knowledge the greater the responsibility, and the greater the consequences for disobedience in rejecting what we know to be true.
“We” indicates that this is a warning to all the people of God, the basis of which is the example of the Israelites. The Israelites committed disobedience to God’s covenant when they refused to obey God when he spoke on earth. Professing Christians commit apostasy when they turn away from God now when he speaks from heaven. “Turn away” repeats the thought of “drift away” (2:1) and “turns away from the living God” (3:12). This is not just the refusal to listen (serious as that is) but a total rejection of God “who speaks from heaven.” The author is not accusing the Hebrews of having done so, but as with the other warnings in this epistle there obviously were danger signs that they might do so.
The first danger, then, is that of insulting God’s person. The second danger is…
B. The Danger Of Ignoring God’s Power (12:26-27).
The imagery of the God who speaks on earth contrasted with the God who speaks from heaven progresses now to…
B1. The God who shakes the earth contrasted with the God who shakes the heavens (12:26-27). “His voice shook the earth at that time, but now he has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens’” (12:26). The seriousness of not heeding the God who speaks progresses now to the seriousness of not heeding the God who shakes.
The imagery is of God shaking the earth at Sinai back then compared to God shaking the entire cosmos in the future. God’s voice at Sinai “shook the earth,” indicating God’s power, authority, and majesty contrasted to the relative instability of the earth, which we think of as stable and solid. When God spoke then the mountain trembled violently (Exodus 19:18).
Just as God spoke on earth, shaking the earth at Sinai and pronouncing judgement on those who disobeyed, so “now” in this Christian age God has spoken yet once more of another judgement, a final shaking of both the earth and heavens. When God speaks at the final judgement he “will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.” The word of God prophesies of a future shaking: “Once more, in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land” (Haggai 2:6). This judgement will be far more extensive in scope and far more serious in its consequences than any preceding judgement. This will be a far greater and far more severe judgement than before. What happened at Sinai pales in comparison to what is coming.
The contrasting imagery progresses again to…
B2. Those things that can be shaken contrasted to those things which cannot be shaken (12:27). “This expression, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of what can be shaken – that is, created things – so that what is not shaken might remain.” Here the contrast is between earthly things that are temporal and insecure vs. heavenly things that are eternal and secure. “Once more” indicates that God’s judgement will happen once again, as surely as it has in the past, but with no more warnings. This is the final shakedown that will separate out what is doomed for destruction from what will remain. It isn’t that “created things” are inherently evil but that they have been tainted by the fall and will therefore fall under God’s judgement, along with all those who reject Christ’s offer of salvation. Such things, which by their very nature are shakable, temporal, and unstable, will be removed by God. Everything in the cosmos that is opposed to God will be revealed at this final separation for divine judgement.
The end result of this shaking of all created things is that “what is not shaken might remain.” The things that will not be shaken speaks of the eternal dwelling place that Jesus has gone to prepare for those who love him and who will not fall under divine judgement. To “remain” means to be eternal not temporal, to not come under God’s judgement. This refers to that state of things into which God’s faithful and true people will be brought, God’s eternal kingdom and those who will participate in it. Such will “remain” in contrast to those who will be “shaken” and “removed.” This is the final separation of what will endure into everlasting life from what will not endure.
This final, end times shaking will be cataclysmic in that it will bring to an end all created things in the universe. Everything that can be shaken (all temporal things) will be removed so that only unshakable (eternal things) remain. The only things that will remain are those things that are part of God’s eternal kingdom, the new Jerusalem, the people of God. Thus, the end of the Christian age will usher in an eternal state of unshakable stability, and unchangeable, blessed reality.
The warning then is that there is no escape for those who refuse to obey God’s word and who turn away from the one who speaks from heaven.
III. A Closing Exhortation (12:28-29)
At the end of this passage, it’s as though the author realizes that warnings need to be counterbalanced with exhortations. Thus, the warning of 12:25-27 changes to a closing exhortation based on…
A. Two Premises (12:28a).
A1. An unshakeable prospect. “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken...”. The end result of all this shaking will be the establishment of an unshakeable, indestructible, eternal kingdom, an unchangeable reality, a kingdom which all those who obey God’s voice will receive and in fact are even now in the process of “receiving.” It’s in process now; it’s ours by faith. Those who are deemed faithful at the final judgement are the true followers of Christ.
This unshakeable prospect is rooted in…
A2. An unchangeable promise. “We are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.” God’s unchangeable promise is the foundation of our unshakable prospect. All true believers will be ushered into a “kingdom that cannot be shaken.” That’s God’s promise and what God has promised is as certain as if it had already happened. This is the hope and joyful prospect of all those who are truly redeemed, those who heed God’s word spoken now from heaven.
This kingdom is a gift from God that we receive by faith. This unshakeable kingdom is “the heavenly Jerusalem” (12:22) whose “architect and builder is God” (11:10). The reception of this gift and entrance into this eternal kingdom is the culmination of God’s redemptive work. It is eternally safe and secure. It is eternally unchangeable. It is eternally free from sin. It is eternally rooted in the saving work of Christ. It’s eternally focused on the worship of God.
So, based on these two premises (an unshakeable prospect based on God’s unchangeable promise), the author concludes with…
B. An Unequivocal Proposition (12:28b-29).
Based on this unshakeable prospect and God’s unchangeable promise, “…let us have grace by which we serve God acceptably with reverence and awe” (12:28b). God’s grace enables us to serve the God who speaks from heaven and who will one day shake this cosmos. The exhortation is: “Let us… serve God acceptably with reverence and awe.” There is a way to serve God that is acceptable, which implies that some service for God is not acceptable to him. Our service is of no value unless it is acceptable to God. To serve God acceptably means to serve him “with reverence and awe,” acknowledging that God is our Creator and we are his creatures.
The exhortation is “let us serve God acceptably,” the motivation for which is that “... our God is a consuming fire” (12:29). This is a stern warning to serve God acceptably. This aspect of God’s character should generate “reverence and godly fear,” which is an intelligent and appropriate response to the God who is “a consuming fire.”
Moses taught the people that “the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24). The author here is confirming that the God of Sinai is our God; his holy character has not changed. What happened at Sinai foreshadows the future judgement of God. God demonstrated his unchangeable, holy character at Sinai and will demonstrate it again at the final judgement.
This is the last and greatest warning in this epistle. This is a stern warning to those who may be tempted to refuse to obey God’s voice. For those who refuse him who speaks from heaven will ultimately face the God who is “a consuming fire.” Consuming indicates utter destruction, all-powerful. God will consume any and all who oppose him and do not submit to his word. The fire of God’s judgement will burn up everything that is tainted by sin so that nothing is left to offend our holy God.
Final Remarks
What a practical series these warning passages in Hebrews have been, warnings that, on the one hand, should cause us to fear, and warnings that, on the other hand, should motivate us to persevere in faith to the end (Hebrews 12:1).
We should fear the possibility of…
1. Drifting away from the gospel (2:1-4)
2. Hardening our hearts (3:7-19)
3. Crucifying God’s Son again (5:11-6:12)
4. Trampling God’s Son under foot (10:26-39).
5. Refusing to heed God’s voice from heaven (12:12-17, 25-29).
Each of these warnings teaches the possibility that there are people who look like Christians and speak like Christians but who may not in fact be Christians – they are professing Christians in word only but not in truth. Further, these warnings instruct us that it is possible for such professing Christians to turn away from the truth, thoroughly denying what they once claimed to believe and utterly repudiating the person and work of Christ, so that there is no possibility of redemption for them. This should cause us to fear that we do not fall into that trap of the devil.
This doctrine is often referred to as the “perseverance of the saints” or, more accurately, “the preservation of the saints” since perseverance to the end is only possible by God’s preservation of us. The preservation of the saints is another way of saying that genuine Christians will continue in the faith they profess until the end – they will be saved to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25) and eventually enter into the eternal salvation which has been won for them by Christ at the cross and preserved for them by the power of God (1 Peter 1:5). The doctrine of the preservation of the saints includes the intercessory work of Christ on our behalf (John 17:11) that we will be kept from the evil one, sanctified by the Word (John 17:17), and thus preserved in the faith. It includes the empowering work of the Spirit in leading and enabling believers to live holy lives. By the perseverance of the saints we mean that if and when you are truly saved you cannot be lost again. This doctrine does not mean that you will never backslide as a believer. It means that genuine Christian hope and faith will not die.
The perseverance of the saints (sometimes called the eternal security of the believer) is a well-documented biblically based truth, as affirmed, for example, in Ephesians 1:13-14; Philippians 1:6; 2:12-13; 3:14; Romans 8:28-29, John 5:24, 6:37-37, 10:27-30; 1 Corinthians 1:7-9; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 1 John 2:19; Jude 24-25.
Not only should these warnings of the possibility of apostasy (a complete and conscious rejecting of the truth once professed) cause us to fear, but it should also cause us to be even more committed to persevering in faith to the end by the grace of God.
English (US) · 