Draw Near Through Faith & 4th Warning (Hebrews 10:19-11:40)

"Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings…" Hebrews 10:19-22 (NIV)

"But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved." Hebrews 10:39 (NIV)

Context

In Hebrews 11, the author lists many Old Testament “heroes of faith.” But if you go back and read some of their stories, you’ll find that these men and women did not always behave as if they had great faith. Below are just a couple of examples of weakness demonstrated by both Abraham and Sarah:

Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are.When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.” Genesis 12:10-13 (NIV)

Then one of [the angels] said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

"Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”

But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.” Genesis 18:10-15 (NIV)

Observation

In response to his message of Christ’s superiority over every aspect of the Old Covenant system (in Heb 1:1-10:18), the author wants his readers to confidently “draw near” to God and “hold fast” to their hope (10:19-23).

This leads to his fourth warning: if we deliberately reject Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice on our behalf, there is no other sacrifice we can turn to for atonement of sins. Thus, we are only left with a fearful expectation of God’s judgment (10:26-31).

He then urges readers not “to shrink back” and be destroyed but to persevere by faith (10:36-39). They can do this by imitating the faith of the Old Testament people of God, who were confident God would fulfill every promise, even though they died before seeing it happen (11:1-39).

Interpretation

What does the author have in mind when he encourages the readers to “draw near” and “hold fast” rather than “shrink back”? What would it look like for the readers to respond to this encouragement?

In yesterday’s reading, the author explained the significance of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice of his very blood (Heb 9:1-10:18). How does that passage help make sense of the author’s fourth warning about the seriousness of rejecting Jesus’ sacrifice?

When you read about the characters mentioned in Hebrews 11 in their Old Testament context, you’ll find that these men and women didn’t always act like people of great faith (see Context section above for a couple of examples). How could that be an encouragement to the readers as they struggled each day to act as people of faith? What do you think it was that made these Old Testament “heroes” notable examples of faith, worthy of imitation?

Application

Are you ever tempted to “shrink back” from God and his people? When do you experience this?

Practically, what could it look like for you to instead “draw near”? Are there any specific truths you can remind yourself about Jesus to help strengthen your confidence to do this?

* After reading Hebrews 10:19-39, go to the next screen and click “Read Full Chapter” in order to read all of Hebrews 11 (not just Hebrews 11:39).