Think Back On Those Early Days
32Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.
Hebrews 10:32-34
Don’t Throw Away Your Trust in Jesus
35So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.” But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.
Hebrews 10:35-39
You may wonder what I am doing to you with what I have given you above. I am simply showing you that Hebrews 10:19-39 is one block but I have divided it into four parts. All four sections flow together and make perfect sense. You will also see when we get to the end of the last block that it flows naturally into Hebrews Chapter 11. All the pieces fit; the Bible is like that. These four segments that I have made subsections of one unit all flow together and in turn link to that which follows.
- Boldly Enter
- Don’t Negate Christ’s Sacrifice
- Think Back On Those Early Days
- Don’t Throw Away Your Trust in Jesus
Not only do these four units fit together but they link to what went before them and what follows them. Am I making sense to you? Is the Bible making better sense to you? I am doing this because so many people tell me in reading their Bible they read the pericope (the titled sections of Scripture) one by one. Most of us have the idea that the pericope are the units that we should read as separate individual units, unconnected to those around them. That is most definitely not the way the Bible should be read. If you have followed Gems for a while, you will know I frequently say that you can’t read the chapters or pericope that way. EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED. You will see this when we have finished this block of four.
Most Bibles have this section we are currently working through as one block. I have shown you in the past that there is great variation between the versions where the pericope titles are concerned as well as the divisions that are made. All versions on E-Sword are sectioned the same – one size fits all. The wider segment on E-Sword [Hebrews 10:19-39] is titled The Full Assurance of Faith. You will find different titles and different section divisions across other printed Bibles. The titles and the divisions are not sacrosanct. I think dividing this section into its composite parts is more helpful to us when giving titles to these subsections and when drawing the parts together. See what you think. Take the time to read it through again. Look at what I gave you in the previous two subsections, then re-read these last two and see if you can determine the flow.
Why does the author of the letter encourage them to think back on those early days? He appears to turn quickly from the awful picture he painted in the second subsection to suggest they recall their ability to stand firm during the trials they had already endured. The author is highlighting the trials these Jewish have faced before this letter was sent to them. The things listed in verses 33 and 34 had already happened to them. This is proof that these people had been persecuted before but more severe persecution was to come. In all likelihood the persecution under Nero was still to come. (See the list of Roman emperors I gave you in Gem 2114).
They had remained faithful under terrible suffering. Interesting the word used is [athlēsis] ‘contest’ from which we get the English word ‘athlete’. The metaphor here is a struggle or contest where someone is pitted against another in a {one-sided} fight. Where the ‘competition” was made into a spectacle for public enjoyment. I am sure I don’t need to spell it out for you. From the opening line the author spells it out by dividing these elements into two groups:
The things they experienced themselves:
- You were publicly exposed [theatridzo] to wild beasts
- You were subject to public abuse, bodily assaults and tauntings
- You were abused and insulted
The things they were made to watch while:
- their [koinōnoi] ‘partners’ were publicly suffering
- their partners were being thrown into prison
- their partners were stripped of all they owned
Yet you accepted all of the above with joy. The sense here is they suffered and rejoiced despite all of the above: meaning the things they suffered personally and what they were made to watch happen to their friends and loved ones. I am sure you are aware that it is often harder to watch something happen to those you care about than if it were happening to you personally. Just to make sure we get the idea, the author makes the distinction clear.
They were able to accept it with joy because they knew there were better things waiting for them that would last forever. In other words you fixed you eyes on the eternal prize. All of this is very reminiscent of Paul’s comments found in Philippians 3:12-14. (Running the Race of Life – Gems 1971 to 1976) That is how they managed to maintain perspective. If the Olympic champions could do it for a garland of flowers surely we Christians can endure anything in order to obtain Eternal Life. The secret is to recall the things God has done for you in the past. That is why Joshua encouraged the people to set up memorial stones to remind the Israelites and their children of what God had already accomplished in them. When you have a history of personal God encounters it reminds you not only that He is able but also that He has already worked on your behalf. When you are in that position it is easier to trust God for the next step. You can always tell where your faith is at with God. If God asks you to do a new thing for Him and you have to ask for a sign, you know your faith is not strong. But if God asks you to do something that is beyond you and you have been asked to do impossible things before, then you can answer on the basis of your past experiences with God. That is why Joshua was told to set up monument stones, to remind himself of what God had already done in his life and as a prompt to remember to tell his children of the awesome things God had done in the past.
Go find yourself some monument stones and get ready to add some more!
If a Christian is not having tribulation in the world, there’s something wrong!
Leonard Ravenhill
Persecution for Christians is not a possibility, it’s a promise, it’s not a maybe, it’s a surety! Following Jesus can mean finding the trouble you’ve been looking for!
Kingsley Manuel
I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
Philippians 3:13-14
Obstacles are things a person sees when they take their eyes off the goal.
Joseph Crossman