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HEBREWS CHAPTER TWELVE.

This chapter has so many delights that one has difficulty in bringing all of these wonders together in a study! Here we have a revelation of the ways of God in dealing with His beloved, redeemed child. We see the Christian life depicted as a running race, Christ as the beginning and ending of all our life here on earth, the Heavenly Father as a concerned disciplinarian, ourselves as getting tired in the “race”, a glorious picture of the toiling and discouraged Christian – and so much more.

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1,2).

The cloud.

The Greek here is not nephele, a sharply outlined cloud, but nephos, a great mass of clouds, they cover all the visible space of the atmosphere above. A nephos of witnesses.

The Witnesses.

Remember that we have just come from Hebrews 11, where the saints of the Old Testament have been presented, they excel in faith. Now we go straight on to the way of faith outlined for others that follow them. We see the life of a believer depicted as a footrace. We are all running together with Jesus. Around us are the cheering crowds, as though we are in an amphitheatre. Who are these “witnesses?”

Some commentators have taught that these witnesses are angels. But the Greek word used for them could not be used of angels. It is marturos. These witnesses have been in the race themselves. The angels have not entered the faith race of humans, they have not been redeemed in the way we have. The Greek word means an expert, one who has both seen and heard what we are seeing and hearing. It means one who has suffered in the same way we have. These witnesses understand as they cheer. They are without a doubt the FAITH HEROES and HEROINES of chapter eleven.

The Weight.

“Let us lay aside every weight.” (12:1).
The Greek word here is onkos, a vast mass of weight. A weight can stop us from running the race well. We might consider that sin alone could be a weight, but that is not true. Some believers would never deliberately sin, yet they will allow other things to weigh them down. The enemy of good is not always the bad; it can be a lesser good. If you were an athlete striving for an earthly prize you would lay aside such things as staying up late and going to parties, drinking alcohol, guzzling down fast foods and chocolates, and you would put aside laziness and even some friendships. We are Christian athletes striving for a Heavenly prize of eternal worth. If “good” things slow down our race, we must “lay aside” these things.  Are there activities that stop you and your family having devotions together? Are there friends or relatives who pull you away from God? Do you put lesser, “good” things ahead of God in preference, and let them “weigh you down”? Your Images concern should be “how will this affect my race?” Just as Cathy Freeman would think about her earthly running, when she was training for an Olympic event.
 

“AND the sin that doth so easily beset us” (12:1).
Notice here that now we see “sin” as well as other weights. What does “beset” us mean? It is as though sin lays in wait for us, surrounds us and conquers us, is a clever ambush.
Wilmington says this:

“It speaks of a loosely-fitting robe…in mind the sin of unbelief here,
but it also refers to any sin the believer allows to upset him.”

“Let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”
Take note of what this implies:
We have not chosen our life’s work or our path, if we are committed a Christians. God Himself has “set before us” the race. The Greek word that is used for race is enlightening. The usual word for race is dronos but here the Greek word is agon. This is the word we get our English word agony from. The race we are in is not for entertainment, it is a critical, serious endeavour. We suffer in the race, not just have a joyful time.

If the race is set by God, so is the pace and course. What object have we in the race? Are we trying to win Heaven? Not at all, we are running to seek to please God and to win His rewards when we heave ourselves through the ribbon at the finish. Note that every runner is expected to finish and win! There is not one winner and others are losers.

“Looking unto Jesus.”
The Greek phrase suggests an intent, relentless, continuous gaze. Don’t get your eyes off Him and turn to the left or the right. We are not running alone; He is just ahead urging us on. Don’t compare yourself with other runners; He is the One to Whom we must relate. Some will run faster than we can, they will be spectacular. If we look at them we will slow down and be discouraged. The man who has led thousands of souls to Christ, the woman who has opened up China in missionary work – we read their stories and are shamed. But, they had their gifts, we have ours. ALL is of Grace. Then we might look at those saved ones who are far behind us, still worldly and not growing in Christ. We can slow down because we look at them with spiritual pride, and complacency can trip us up. Look only unto Jesus, and please Him.

Wilmington has this to say:

 
(a) If you would be disappointed, look to others.
(b) If you would be discouraged, look at yourself.
(c) If you would be delighted, look at Jesus.

Christ is the “author and finisher of our faith.” (12:2).
Jesus Christ our Lord is both the Originator and the Finisher of the Christian Faith. He can finish it because He is ALIVE, not dead. All the other founders of the world faiths cannot finish the race for their followers, they are DEAD. Buddha is dead, Confucius is dead, Mohammed is dead – and so are Lenin, Marx and Darwin for that matter.
“For the joy that was set before him endured the cross.” (12:2).
What is this joy of which the verse speaks? It is the joy that Christ has when He presents us faultless before the presence of His glory. God in Heaven will be glorified when we finish the race that Christ won for us on the Cross. We could never even be entered in the event if He had not endured the Cross.
(See Jude 1:24; John 17:6-12, 26).

“Despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (12:2).
Compare with Philippians 2:5-11.

“For consider Him” (12:3).
Where do we find out about Jesus Christ and what He suffered and endured? How do we know how He handled humiliation and shame? By studying the Gospels. He was rejected and despised, yet He did not take it to Himself as though the opinions of the world had any relevance. “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3).

The Purpose of Suffering.
To know that there is a meaning to suffering in the Christian’s life can lift any breaking heart! The verses in Hebrews 12, 4-11, give us such insight into the Mind of God. There is purpose and meaning in everything we suffer on earth, and LOVE is at the back of all that happens to us. It is not as though love were extended to us by God while we suffer. It is more than that. It is not as though God comforts us even though we suffer, it is more than that. God is Love, and Love is in charge of all we go through, He allows our pains, LOVE or GOD is in and through the whole of every event we encounter. It is a part of the race. He disciplines us, and this gives the meaning we long for.

If we weren’t His children we would not have discipline. Just as a homeless orphan in Calcutta is not disciplined by its father. Our sufferings are light, the writer reminds us, because we have not yet been martyred. Christ died for the world, you are still alive on the earth, do not be weary and “faint” in your minds (or give up):
“For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” (12: 3-6).

God uses the trials we endure to give spiritual education and discipline. These trials we have are PRACTICAL PROOF that God has not just left us alone, but is working on us for our benefit. We must cooperate and trust. Some experiences are extremely unpleasant; we may not know why they are benefiting us. God does not want any suffering in our lives, just as we do not want suffering in little children’s lives. But, we know that we have to inflict pain ourselves at times to our children in order to do them good. The bee sting we have to pull out from a tiny arm might make a child scream, but out it must come. God wants us to grow in practical righteousness and Godliness, He must bring us back from going astray, show us the race again, take away that “good” that will lead us into temptation and even disaster.  He leads us into “hurt” so that He can pull out the sting of evil that is in our hearts.

The word chasteneth in this passage is the Greek word paideia meaning “education” or the training of a child, discipline and reproof. See Proverbs 3:11,12. God allows trials to happen to us, and then gives the ability to endure.
“If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? “ (12:7-9).

The Father of spirits is an interesting term. It shows that our Heavenly Father is the Creator of the human spirit, contrast this with fathers of our flesh. These verses show that we can only know true LIFE as we submit to God’s control and trust Him with our entire lives. Don’t let Him down by the “why me!” complaints when trials come. Or by losing your balance over problems and sufferings. So easy to do. Go back and read these verses in Hebrews 12 and be in submission to your Father. Christianity is NOT all about getting your own way, having your prayers answered instantly, and riches and self-enjoyment. It is grander and deeper and more thrilling than such shallow notions. It is as REAL as life is all around us. No baby without months of carrying in the womb, and pain in delivery.  No flowers without digging the soil, rain as well as sunshine, and keeping away the bugs. We have to LET God do His work in us, no matter how painful.

Although I do not recommend C.S. Lewis’ writings, as they tend to have the danger inherent in them that his analogies can be interpreted by anyone in any way they want (New Agers see occult meanings in his myths and fantasies), I still will include this poignant quote from him. It is about Aslan the Lion, or a picture of God the Father:

“Well, exactly the same thing happened again. And I thought to myself, oh dear, how ever many skins have I got to take off?…So I scratched away for the third time and got off a third skin, just like the two others, and stepped out of it. But as soon as I looked at myself in the water I knew it had been no good.
Then the Lion said, “You will have to let me undress you….”
The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt….And there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker and darker, and more knobbly looking than the others had been ….
After a bit the Lion took me out and dressed me…in new clothes – the same I’ve got on now, as a matter of fact.” (The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, ch.7).

What are your reactions to discipline? (12:5,11).
“5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:”
“11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

We can react to discipline from God in basically three ways:
1) We can treat it very lightly or “despise” it. Then we learn nothing, and even treat God as though He has let us down. “Why didn’t You let me win that money at the shopping center? It would have paid all my bills.” “Why did You let me lose my wallet as well?” We should have learnt to not go to the world with our needs, but to go to GOD. Money is not your security and answer, God is.
2) We can take chastening too seriously and “faint” under it.
3) The believer can be enlarged by chastening. How much do we learn from our trials, our failings and our mistakes? Have a look at these verses in the Psalms:
94:12; 119:67; 119:72; 119:75. PLEASE READ!

What are the results of discipline?
Verse 11 tells us. God wants us to have good crop of righteous fruit, and He is not going to just let us fail.

“Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.” (12:12-17).

We should looked at each verse carefully, 12-17.
The danger of failure has been given to us by God. We are preparing for the Kingdom of God no less. We must not go back, as those did who had only tasted of the Heaven Gift that is Christ Jesus (see verse 25, and compare with chapter 6:1-6). We born-again ones cannot lose that which is Eternal, LIFE, but we can displease God and lose rewards.

Verse 12. We all get tired and discouraged sometimes, but we must throw off despondency and be a good witness to others. We do not want those who are just about to come to Christ to be put off, so that they are completely turned out of way and are never healed spiritually.
Verse 13. We must be truly holy in our walk, and we should have PEACE with one another. It is easy to cause friction, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. (Matthew 10:16).
Verse 14. We must WATCH, WARN and WAIT. No person who causes others to fall in the race should be just allowed to do his defiling work. Some will not accept the Grace of God for salvation, and can cause others to seek salvation by works because of their doctrines.
Verse 15. Spiritual profanity and apostasy are running riot in the 21st century – within the churches. This is failure to the uttermost degree. Yet, one is called “intolerant” and “judgmental” if one objects or warns. Here the Bible says it is like ESAU who gave up his God-given inheritance, just for some trivial little material gain.
Verse 16. There was no way for Esau to get back his inheritance. It was provided by God; it was taken away by God. There are those in the churches who have no possibility of finding their way out of profanity and apostasy. We cannot judge who these are, but they are “Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.” (Jude 1:13).
Verse 17. These unsaved, Christ rejecting people are incapable of true repentance. They have no reverence for the things of God, as Esau didn’t. He wept, not out of repentance, but because he lost the blessing.

DO NOT DISGREE WITH GOD AND HIS WORD – WARNING.
“For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
(For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake)
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may reImages.
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
For our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12: 18-29).

Chapter twelve finishes on a warning that we all should take especial note of. It is no use insisting that we can be saved by works, or that we can refuse the Blood of Christ and still be justified before the Lord one day – as some of these Jews were doing.
The contrast between the Old and New Covenants is given, the terrors of the Old Covenant can be plainly seen by reading Exodus 19:12,13. Not even an animal could come near the mountain where Moses shook as he encountered the Almighty! The area was overshadowed by clouds, violent storms and darkness. They heard a trumpet and a Voice speaking. All of the Israelis were terrified, they feared for their lives:
“And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” ( Exodus 20:18,19).
Even Moses himself was overwhelmed with fear, and shook uncontrollably:
“And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake.”

Then the difference for the person who wants to come to Christ as Saviour is shown.
They come to the Unseen, not seen, Heavenly realities, and the earthly types of the Old Testament pale into insignificance. Mount Sinai was a real mountain, so too is Mount Sion and the city of God a reality. Two of the Greek words in this passage are of great interest to our study:
23 – general assembly. This is the Greek word panegyris that means a “festal gathering.” It describes a beautiful scene, nothing like Mount Sinai. Tens of thousands of angels gathering to welcome and celebrate the glory of the redeemed saints.
23 – firstborn in the Greek expresses the privilege and the heirship of the redeemed. It is in the plural, i.e. “firstborns”; this is all who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ.
 (Compare Luke 10:20; Revelation 21:27).

Verse 24.
Here we will look at The InterVarsity Fellowship notes:
“Note that it is TO THIS CHURCH, the one true Church in heaven, that these Hebrew Christians have come. Jesus’ crowning and comprehensive work as our great High Priest in heaven, is to mediate to all who come to Him all the promised blessings of the covenant now established and sealed for ever by His shed and sprinkled blood.” (Emphasis added). Compare 7:20-22; 8:6; 13:20,21.

The Jews, the Hebrews who are addressed in this book, come to the ONE TRUE CHURCH in Heaven. The Old Testament “Church” was a mere shadow of that One True Church. The New Testament Church on earth is that Church in action, a living Body of believers.

WE ALL MUST HAVE DEALINGS WITH GOD.
No getting out of it by pretending that God does not exist. His Voice may have shook Mount Sinai, but we Christians are confronted with the One Who speaks to us from the Heavenly realm. He shows us things to come; He will one day shake both earth and also heaven.

Compare Mark 13:31:
“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.”

The chapter finishes on the awesome words:
“Our God is a consuming fire.”
We of the New Covenant of Grace can dare to call this “consuming fire” OUR GOD.
“For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.”
 (Deut. 4:24).
 

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