Friday: Further Thought ~ The Letter to the Hebrews and to Us
Further Thought:
David A. deSilva explains clearly why the early Christians suffered persecution: “Christians adopted a lifestyle that … would have been considered antisocial and even subversive. Loyalty to the gods, expressed in pious attendance at sacrifices and the like, was viewed as a symbol for loyalty to the state, authorities, friends, and family. Worship of the deities was something of a symbol for one’s dedication to the relationships that kept society stable and prosperous.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
By abstaining from the former, Christians (like the Jews) were regarded with suspicion as potential violators of the laws and [as] subversive elements within the empire.” — Perseverance in Gratitude (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000), p. 12.)
“For the disheartened there is a sure remedy — faith, prayer, work. Faith and activity will impart assurance and satisfaction that will increase day by day. Are you tempted to give way to feelings of anxious foreboding or utter despondency? In the darkest days, when appearances seem most forbidding, fear not. Have faith in God. He knows your need. He has all power. His infinite love and compassion never weary. Fear not that He will fail of fulfilling His promise. He is eternal truth. Never will He change the covenant He has made with those who love Him. And He will bestow upon His faithful servants the measure of efficiency that their need demands. The apostle Paul has testified: ‘He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. … Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.’ 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.” — Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, pages 164, 165.
Discussion Questions:
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I have been following my own advice and reading Hebrews right through. Well I am up to chapter 4, anyhow. I am reading it in "The Message", mainly because I wanted to read it in a modern idiomatic language. Here are some thoughts about what I have read.
The target audience of the epistle was a group of Christians of largely Jewish background. They had accepted Jesus as the Messiah but their concept of Christianity was that when you accepted Christianity you essentially became a Jew. The author's main theme is that with Jesus, there is a better way.
It is a great example of the theology of change. It takes Jewish ideas and reinterprets them in the first century after Christ. The really interesting thing is that our lesson author has added the words, "... and to us" in the title. That is what I have been thinking about all week.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church was formed over one and a half centuries ago and I wonder if the Hebrew message to us is that we need to consider a theology of change. Is it possible that we have remained in the nineteenth century with our thinking and that our theology is more about maintaining the status quo than being relevant in the twenty-first century. The Seventh-day Adventist Church was formed at a time when in western cultures most folk attended church and quite a few read the Bible at least some of the time. Today we live in a society that is much more secular. They think of the Bible as a bit of history, much of it irrelevant to the modern world. In the nineteenth century it made sense to quote Bible texts and refer to biblical idiom in our discussions and study with others. In the twenty-first century, the Bible is not even a starting point with most people.
Our "persecution" experience is one where our message of the Gospel is simply ignored as irrelevant. That should pain us more than physical persecution.
I used to follow the America's Cup yacht races, mainly because after a century of "ownership" by the Americans, the Australians and New Zealanders unbolted the trophy from the New York Yacht Club and brought it down under. The yachts that used to take part in race were the graceful ladies of the sea. Beautiful lines, white sails, they were always a picture on the water. Then someone got the idea of lifting the boats out of the water and making them fly on foils. Suddenly the whole competition changed. Yachts charged around the course at speeds of up to 70 km per hour. It is like watching speedboat racing.
Is it possible that our Christianity is a graceful relic of the nineteenth century when we should perhaps be embracing the functional technology of the twenty-first century?
Perhaps we can explore the theology of change - as described in the Hebrew epistle and apply that to ourselves in the twenty-first century.
Good morning Maurice (at least it’s morning here), is it possible that the theology is not what needs changing, but our understanding of it? Could it be that we are still trying to “behave” a certain way instead of having Gods law written on our hearts? Malachi 3:6 says God never changes, James 1:17 is another one. Ezekiel 36:26 tells us God will change our hearts. When what we believe is just who we are, that will make God relevant to others. People don’t want to be told how to behave, they want to see how we live. At least that is the thoughts that came to my mind.
I agree with much of what you are saying Karen, but want to add that there is another form of "behavioral salvation" that we sometimes fall into. Much of our theology is concerned with the arithmetic of salvation rather than the relationship. We have spent an inordinate amount of time and effort in establishing significant dates when the real issue is not "when", but "what and why". Proving we are right is not the endpoint. Living the relationship is where it is at.
when we become heirs to the promise made to Abraham we all become Jewish like, if they want to call me a jew so be it-better to be one of gods children then anything else.
This is a excellent New Year's Resolution:
For the disheartened there is a sure remedy — faith, prayer, work. Faith and activity will impart assurance and satisfaction that will increase day by day.
Shirley, If we followed what you are suggesting, I believe that this would answer Maurice's question about being relevant in the 21st century. We need the Holy Spirit working in our lives and not a theology change.
I agree with you Alfred, but I have to ask; what is "the Holy Spirit working in our lives?" We need to expand that one a bit.
I do not agree with David A. deSilva’s conclusion that “Christians adopted a lifestyle that … would have been considered antisocial and subversive;’ or, that ‘they did not express loyalty to the gods’. The Hebrew's religious system was established to worship only one God and followed His Law - delivered to them according to Moses. Converts to the ‘New Way’/Faith Covenant – Christians - still follow the 10 Commandments, but are not taught any longer that strict adherence to the ‘Law of Moses’ would save; make them 'eligible' to partake of Eternal life.
Christ came to fulfill the law; He shifting the emphasis from ‘keeping the law’ to the 'Grace and Mercy' of the Father vested in Him to become our Lord and Savior in order to save the believer by Faith in the work He and His Father have done.
His message highlighting Faith has been introduced by Him as the ‘Way’ which the believer applies to his life. All who believe that He fulfilled the law’s requirement - has taken down the ‘Vail of Separation’ which prevented man from coming into the presence of God -, are now endowed with the Holy Spirit to direct them as they walk the Way of Christ’s Faith.
John 16:26-28 Weymouth New Testament:
”At that time you will make your requests in my name; and I do not promise to ask the Father on your behalf, for the Father Himself holds you dear, because you have held me dear and have believed that I came from the Father’s presence. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Again I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.”
The convert’s life is now a greater testimony to the ‘living spirit of the law’ then ever before, because it is now written on the believer's heart – his/her life’s actions are motivated by the spirit of the Love of God. The sacrificial system, which had been in place to reinstate the Hebrew’s relationship with God on a yearly basis, has ended.
Are we not called to be ready, to be prepared without a moment’s notice to let go of everything which binds us to this life, even our life?
John 16:33; 1Peter 3:15; 2Tim.4:2-5; Psalm 39:4; Matt.24:42-44; Luke 21:36; 1Peter5:8; Eph.6:11;
I think that de Silva's observation is right. We need to remember that the book of Hebrews was written in the context of Christians being persecuted by the civil authorities, i.e. the Romans. A religion that refrained from honouring the "state gods" was considered antisocial and subversive.
Thank you for the comment, Maurice –
If you take a moment, peeling away the layers, you will find that at the core of Christian persecution was the persecution of Jesus by the Sanhedrin. In times following the death of Christ Jesus, this harassment of His followers intensified as the religious leaders continued to 'use' the Roman power to do their bidding. Remember: “They ‘always’ persecuted or killed their prophets – Matt.23:29-37; John15:18-21.
Christ Jesus was persecuted by the Romans only indirectly; in Truth, He was persecuted by the religious leaders and those asked to help them do their dirty deeds. They manipulated the Romans into using their civic/legal laws in that they falsely claimed that Jesus caused an ‘uprising’ in the communities. The Roman powers did not have jurisdiction over the religious affairs of the Jewish people; religious leaders did. By enticing the political powers to help them subdue what was a movement of ‘spiritual awakening’, they themselves abdicated/ended their calling to be the nation’s religious and civic leaders.
Adherence or misconduct considered ‘heresy’ by the followers of the religious/civic Law – the Law of Moses – had been solely theirs to judge. As they judged Jesus to be a heretic and a trouble maker, manipulating their accusations against Him and His followers to include the thread to the status quo established between the state and their religious system, they showed 'cause' for His and His followers' imprisonment.
Therefore, the by the Sanhedrin established religious system was using the Roman civil authorities to subdue the followers of the ‘Way’, as members of the Sanhedrin felt threatened by the Way's 'freedom of conscience'. Ultimately, they feared the loss of position assuring them financial gain.
Jesus declared ‘render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” – Mark 12:17. It is a sad thing to see that the focus of their existence, instead of teaching and guiding to apply of the spiritual elements of Salvation, was a self-seeking effort instead.
Jesus never called for an insurrection or disobedience to the laws of Caesar; they had nothing to fear from Christians. The persecution of Christians was solely due to enticements by members of the Sanhedrin, a thoroughly corrupt, religious council which used the civil powers in place at that time for their own ends.
Except that if you accept that the Hebrew congregation was an expatriate Jewish Christian group living in Rome, then they would be a long way from the influence of the Sanhedrim and the persecution would have most likely come from state/pagan sources. There is no doubt that the Christians in Jerusalem were persecuted by Jews, but that is not what is being referred to in Hebrews, necessarily.
Praise God for His most holy power and presence, for the staying and protective sin-mitigating work of redemption, and for the prayer-empowering influence of the Holy Spirit!
My study during this final week of 2021 bears a simple but personal and Spirit-filled message, as my daily brief notes indicate:
It is critical to my eternal life to develop a personal connection with God. Wisdom to ascertain God's direction for my life must be sought exclusively from the all-knowing one - God who seeks to save. The unfailing God, the Promise Keeper, must be taken at his word!
How can I best upsurge God's influence? How can I best grow God's kingdom? Like Moses, doing my best with the task at hand, may replace my personal plan for "a great work."
Praise God for His encircling Holy Spirit and for His sure promises of deliverance! Through Christ, we must labour with empathy, while increasing in prayer and surrender to His will.
"Our [mighty and most powerful] Heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us, of which we know nothing."
May much fruit be harvested, borne of the influence of the Holy Spirit. May His gift of discernment to me be used, as the new year approaches, to sustain my being "hid in Christ," while Earth's terrible tempest rages.
As a Pathfinder... May, "... a song in my heart," remain the script of my surrendered soul:
NOTHING BETWEEN MY SOUL AND THE SAVIOUR!
ROCK OF AGES CLEFT FOR ME
HOLD FAST TILL I COME!
Praise God for sustaining power provided through His word! Like the apostles, Moses and the prophets of the ages, "My strength is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12: 9,10
-RG