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NT Doctrine -- Hebrews 10 - Ed Hurst - 10-12-2024
We were born trapped in our fleshly natures. There was no way we could have broken the bondage; the flesh must die. Jesus did that for us. His death on the Cross broke the bondage and set us free to walk in the Spirit. This is what the writer of Hebrews tells his fellow Jews in Rome.
The Covenant of Moses was just a shadow of the real thing. Mount Sinai was a promise of what was to come. Blood sacrifices spoke of the price, but were not that price. They could not break the bondage of the fleshly nature. Otherwise, once free, there would have been no need to keep making the sacrifices over and over again. Though commanded by God, these rituals and sacrifices were just the shadow of redemption.
God revealed that Himself. David in Psalm 40 prophesied the truth: It wasn't a matter of those sacrifices, but of a firm commitment based on the promises of things to come. The Law of Moses was a promise of redemption. Moses himself said that what God really wanted has always been the same: our hearts. Thus, the Messiah's submission to come and simply live the Father's will was the promise of a New Covenant.
So, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice once and for all, breaking the bondage of the flesh. Now He sits at the right hand of the Father, until such time as this New Covenant is fulfilled in His children. The New Covenant is not written in human language, but in the hearts of those children.
Following Christ to the Cross is the ultimate fulfillment of every command God had ever revealed to mankind. What the author indicates, but does not say, is his audience should stop whining about persecution in the flesh. It cannot change what Christ has done in your soul. He has broken the bondage of the flesh. Take up your cross of commitment and sacrifice, endure with patience, do His will in the face of sorrow and death. Encourage each other to endure and keep pulling together as a family. That's what it means to follow Christ.
Now that the bondage is broken, you are free to walk away from sin and defilement. You would have to willfully seek out disobedience; there's no further cleansing that can help you. Are you trying to provoke God's wrath?
Back when these Hebrew Christians first came to Christ some decades ago, they were willing to endure some persecution in defiance of Jewish authorities. They understood being released from the bondage to this life and its trappings. Are they now going to fold under Roman persecution?
He quotes from Habakkuk 2 about how God operates on a different time frame, yet He never fails to act. When God comes to deliver, He will be searching for those who were faithful in waiting until He was ready to act. We get the feeling the writer sensed that the opportunity to slide back into the safety of the Talmud would end soon when Rome would destroy the Temple.
Don't turn tail and hide in Judaism; Rome will destroy that, too. What's left will never be the same.