BIBLE STUDY MANUALS: HEBREWS CHAPTER 12

HEBREWS CHAPTER 12

I) [Heb 12:1]:

(v. 1) "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

A) (Heb 12:1) Biblestudymanuals Commentary On Heb 12:1]:

(Heb 12:1 NASB) "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, "

[Notice that believers, (Heb 12:7), are in view who are exhorted to "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles" in a "race marked out for us" [= believers, not unbelievers] in view of the example of the great cloud of faithful witnesses of past, OT, saints. And the writer of Hebrews includes himself in this verse as a fellow believer about growing in the faith as he is admonishing his audience to do]

B) [(Heb 12:1) Expositor's Bible Commentary On Heb 12:1]:

''' "We" links the writer to his readers. He is a competitor in the race as well as they and writes as one who is as much caught up in the contest as they are. The word "cloud" (nephos, only here in the NT) may be used of a mass of clouds in the sky (the more common nephele means a single cloud). But it is also used from time to time of a throng of people, when it emphasizes the number. The witnesses are a vast host.

There is a question whether we should understand "witnesses" as those who have witnessed to the faith or as spectators witnessing the present generation of Christians. Normally the word is used in the former sense, and it is doubtful whether it ever means simply "a spectator." Still it is difficult to rid the word of this idea in 1 Timothy 6:12 (perhaps also in Heb 10:28), and the imagery of the present passage favors it. The writer is picturing athletes in a footrace, running for the winning post and urged on by the crowd. He speaks of the runners as "surrounded," which makes it hard to think of them as looking to the "witnesses" and all the more so since they are exhorted to keep their eyes on Jesus (v. 2). Both ideas may be present. Perhaps we should think of something like a relay race where those who have finished their course and handed in their baton are watching and encouraging their successors.

With the great gallery of witnesses about us, it is important for us to run well. So we are exhorted, "Let us throw off everything that hinders." "Everything that hinders" translates onkos (only here in the NT), a word that may mean any kind of weight.

It is sometimes used of superfluous bodily weight that the athlete sheds during training. Here, however, it seems to be the race rather than the training that is in view. Athletes carried nothing with them in a race (they even ran naked), and the writer is suggesting that the Christian should "travel light." He is not referring to sin, for that follows in the next clause. Some things that are not wrong in themselves hinder us in putting forward our best effort. So the writer tells us to get rid of them.
Christians must also put off every sin. There is a problem relating to the adjective rendered "that so easily entangles" (euperistatos), for it is found nowhere else. The word is made up of three parts that mean respectively "well," "around," and "standing." Most scholars accept some such meaning as "easily surrounding" or "easily entangling." Sin forms a crippling hindrance to good running. Christians then, are to lay aside all that could hinder them in their race and are to "run with perseverance." The author is not thinking of a short, sharp sprint but of a distance race that requires endurance and persistence. Everyone has from time to time a mild inclination to do good. The author is not talking about this but about the kind of sustained effort required of the long-distance runner who keeps on with great determination over the long course. That is what the heroes of faith did in their day, and it is that to which we are called."

II) [(Heb 12:1-2]:

(Heb 12:2 NASB) fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

A) [(Heb 12:1-2) Biblestudymanuals Commentary On Heb 12:1-2]:

(Heb 12:2 NASB) fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

[Heb 12:2 completes the thought of the last part of Heb 12:1 which states, "and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" with "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith implying that believers have a secure eternal destiny through Jesus and should concentrate on Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith unto eternal life. Then the author writes that Jesus looked beyond His enduring the cross - despising the shame of it for He would identify Himself with the sins of the whole world. If one "scorns" a thing, one normally has nothing to do with it, but "scorning its shame" means rather that Jesus thought so little of the pain and shame involved that he did not choose to avoid it. He endured it; looking to the joy set before Him when He would sit down at the right hand of the throne of God]

B) [(Heb 12:1-2) Expositer's Bible Commentary On Heb 12:1-2]:

"2 We are to run this race "with no eyes for any one or anything except Jesus" (Moffatt, in loc.). It is he toward whom we run. There must be no divided attention. The "author and perfecter of faith" (there is no "our" in the Gr.) may mean that Jesus trod the way of faith first and brought it to completion. Or it may mean that he originated his people's faith and will bring it to its perfection. Since it is not easy to think that the author sees the faith by which Jesus lived as essentially the same as our own, perhaps it is better to see the emphasis on what he does in his followers. (Yet the thought of example will not be entirely absent, for we should bear in mind that Jesus' kinship with men has been stressed in this epistle.) As the heroes of faith in chapter 11 are OT characters, there is the thought that Jesus led all the people of faith, even from the earliest days.

The expression rendered "for the joy set before him" is problematic. The preposition anti strictly means "in the stead of," "in the place of." Accordingly the meaning may be that in place of the joy he might have had Jesus accepted the cross. The "joy" is then the heavenly bliss the preincarnate Christ surrendered in order to take the way of the Cross. He replaced joy with the Cross. But anti sometimes has a meaning like "for the sake of" (F. Buchsel sees this in Eph 5:31 etc., TDNT, 1:372). So with this understanding of the term the meaning is that Jesus went to the Cross because of the joy it would bring. He looked right through the Cross to the coming joy, the joy of bringing salvation to those he loves. The latter meaning is preferable. For this joy, then, Jesus "endured the cross" (or, perhaps, "endured a cross").

The "cross" is not as common a way of referring to the death of Jesus as we might have expected. Actually, this is the one occurrence of the word outside the Gospels and Pauline Epistles. If one "scorns" a thing, one normally has nothing to do with it, but "scorning its shame" means rather that Jesus thought so little of the pain and shame involved that he did not bother to avoid it. He endured it. Then, having completed his work of redemption, he "sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (see comments on 1:3). The perfect tense in the verb "sat down" points to a permanent result. The work of atonement ended, Christ is at God's right hand forevermore."

C) [(Heb 12:1-2) Bible Knowledge Commentary On Heb 12:1-2]:

"B. The final warning (chap. 12)
The author concluded the basic argument of the epistle with a final admonition and warning. As usual his hortatory section grew directly out of the expository one which preceded it. His discussion of the life of faith now led to another call for perseverance.

1. THE INTRODUCTORY ADMONITION (12:1-2)
12:1-2. The life of faith has been amply attested by this great cloud of Old Testament witnesses. (This does not mean that they watch believers today.) Hence believers ought to run with perseverance (hypomonēs; cf. 10:32, 36; 12:2-3,7) the race marked out in their Christian lives, setting aside whatever hinders and the sin that so easily entangles (euperistaton, "ambushes or encircles"). Their supreme Model for this continued to be Jesus, however admirable any Old Testament figure might be. He is both the Author and Perfecter of our faith. The word "author" (archēgon) was used in 2:10 (see comments there) and suggests that Jesus "pioneered" the path of faith Christians should follow. He also "perfected" the way of faith since He reached its end successfully. He kept His eye on the joy set before Him, the "joy" alluded to in 1:9 wherein He obtained an eternal throne. The believers' share in that joy must also be kept in view. After enduring (hypemeinen, the verb related to the noun hypomonē in 12:1; cf. vv. 3, 7) the cross and scorning its shame, Jesus assumed that triumphant position at the right hand of the throne of God (cf. 1:3; 8:1; 10:12) which presages His and the believers' final victory (cf. 1:13-14)."

III) [Heb 12:3]:

(v. 3) "Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

A) [(Heb 12:3) Biblestudymanuals Commentary On Heb 12:3]:

(Heb 12:3 NASB) "For consider Him Who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

In view of Heb 12:1-2, Heb 12:3 indicates to the believers that what Jesus Christ endured for their benefit unto their receiving a glorious eternal life, they should seriously consider out of great gratitude, so that in their temporal lives they "will not grow weary and lose heart."

B) [(Heb 12:3) Expositor's Bible Commentary On Heb 12:3]:

(Heb 12:3 NASB) "For consider Him Who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

'''3 "Consider" (analogisasthe, used only here in the NT) is a word used in calculations. The readers are invited to "take account of" Jesus. He is described as one who "endured" (the perfect tense points to the abiding result). The example he set remained before the readers. He endured "opposition from sinful men" and thus was in the same kind of position the readers found themselves in. They must not think their situation unique. They were not called upon to put up with something their Master had not first endured. Several commentators point out that the two verbs used at the end of this verse, "grow weary and lose heart," are both used by Aristotle of runners who relax and collapse after they have passed the finishing post. The readers were still in the race. They must not give way prematurely. They must not allow themselves to faint and collapse through weariness. Once again there is the call to perseverance in the face of hardship.'''

IV) [Heb 12:4]:
(Heb 12:4 NASB) "You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;"

A) [(Heb 12:4) Biblestudymanuals Commentary On Heb 12:4]:

(Heb 12:4 NASB) "You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;"

[Heb 12:4 implies that believers in their struggle against committing sins in their lives might very well experience the shedding of blood in view of Christ's struggle of paying the penalty for the sins of the whole world. We are to ponder our struggle against sin as part of the Christian life that has great value for our lives in eternity relative to rewards, honor and glory in accordance with our faithfulness in our struggle - our attitude in that struggle being of great rewardable value. Notice that believers are reminded of not sufficiently resisting sin - "to the point of shedding blood" Interesting to note here, that this could hardly be a requirement to secure eternal life and to see the Lord, (v. 14), namely to resist sin to the point of shedding ones blood in order to see the Lord and have eternal life. Scripture no where supports the doctrine that only martyrs who shed their blood go to heaven, albeit their reward will be all the more greater.

[From Expositor's Bible Commentary]:

"Suffering comes to all; it is part of life, but it is not easy to bear. Yet it is not quite so bad when it can be seen as meaningful. The author has just pointed out that Christ endured his suffering on the cross on account of the joy set before him. His suffering had meaning. So for Christians all suffering is transformed because of the Cross. We serve a Savior who suffered, and we know he will not lead us into meaningless suffering. The writer points to the importance of discipline and proceeds to show that for Christians suffering is rightly understood only when seen as God's fatherly discipline, correcting and directing us. Suffering is evidence, not that God does not love us, but that he does. Believers are sons and are treated as sons."

B) [(Heb 12:4) Expositor's Bible Commentary On Heb 12:4]:

(Heb 12:4 NASB) "You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;"

4 The "struggle [antagonizomai retains the imagery of athletic games] against sin" seems to refer not to sin the readers might be tempted to commit (though some think apostasy is in mind) but to the sin of oppressors who tried to terrorize them into abandoning their faith. Shedding blood would not accompany the normal course of temptation, but it was a very real possibility for those facing persecution. Jesus had been killed, and many of those honored in chapter 11 had likewise been killed for their faithfulness to God. The words "not yet" show that there was real danger and that the readers must be ready for difficult days. But they had not had to die for their faith. The comparative mildness of their sufferings must not be overlooked, the writer is saying. They were evidently concerned at the prospect facing them, and he points out that their experience is not nearly so difficult as that of others."

C) ](Heb 12:3-4) Bible Knowledge Commentary On Heb 12:3-4]:

(Heb 12:3 NASB) "For consider Him Who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

(Heb 12:4 NASB) You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;"

"Nothing is more natural for a person than to overestimate the severity of his trials. The writer did not want his audience to do that.
12:3-4. If they would consider the opposition from sinful men which Jesus confronted and endured (hypomemenēkota; cf. vv. 1-2, 7), they would be encouraged. After all, unlike Him, they had not yet resisted... sin... to the point of bloodshed. By "sin" the author probably primarily meant that of "sinful men" who opposed them, but doubtless also had their own sin in mind, which they had to resist in order to maintain a steadfast Christian profession."

V) [Heb 12:5-6]:

(Heb 12:5 NASB) '''and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;

(Heb 12:6 NASB) FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." '''

A) [(Heb 12:5-6) Biblestudymanuals Commentary On Heb 12:5-6]:

(Heb 12:5 NASB) '''and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;

(Heb 12:6 NASB) FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." '''

[Notice that this passage is addressing those in the family of God relative to disciplining them for being unfaithful which considering that all believers possess a sin nature who sin all the time for no child of God leads a perfectly faithful life, (1 Jn 1:8, 10); and is always due some kind of godly direction in their lives albeit often disciplinary. Furthermore the context does not harmonize with the subject of salvation unto eternal life as some contend, as if to say that God would send members of His family to the Lake of Fire as the final result of discipline for being unfaithful, especially since the context so far indicates that no one in the family of God will avoid being unfaithful nor escape being disciplined for being unfaithful]

B) [(Heb 12:5-6) Expositor's Bible Commentary on Heb 12:5-6]:

(Heb 12:5 NASB) '''and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;

(Heb 12:6 NASB) FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." '''

"5-6 They had forgotten an important point: Scripture links suffering and sonship, as Proverbs 3:11-12 shows. The address "My son" is normal for a maker of proverbs who assumes a superior but caring position. The author, however, sees a fuller meaning in these words than that, for they are words from God to his people. When God speaks of discipline and rebuke, it is sons that he addresses. It is interesting that this warning is called "that word of encouragement." The certainty of suffering encourages the believer rather than dismays him because he knows that it is God's discipline for him. Incidentally, it seems not improbable that the words might perhaps be taken as a question: "Have you forgotten?"

The word for discipline combines the thoughts of chastening and education. It points to sufferings that teach us something. In v. 4 the striving was against sin, but somehow the hand of God was in it, too. No circumstances are beyond God's control, and there are none he cannot use to carry out his purpose. So the believer is not to belittle the significance of his sufferings nor lose heart in the face of God's correction. "Those he loves" comes first in the Greek, which gives it a certain emphasis. God disciplines people he loves, not those he is indifferent to. The readers should see the sufferings they were experiencing as a sign of God's love, as Scripture already assured them. It is the son that is punished and "every son" (panta huion) at that.
In the ancient world it was universally accepted that the bringing up of sons involved disciplining them. Therefore, we should not read back modern permissive attitudes into our understanding of this passage. The Roman father possessed absolute authority. When a child was born, he decided whether to keep or discard it. Through out its life he could punish it as he chose. He could even execute his son and, while this was rarely done, the right to do it was there. Discipline was only to be expected."

VI) [Heb 12:5-6; 7-8]:

(Heb 12:5 NASB) '''and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;

(Heb 12:6 NASB) FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES; EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." '''

(Heb 12:7 NASB) "It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

(Heb 12:8 NASB) But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons."

A) [(Heb 12:5-6; 7-8) Biblestudymanuals Commentary On Heb 12:7-8]:

(Heb 12:5 NASB) '''and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;

(Heb 12:6 NASB) FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." '''

(Heb 12:7 NASB) "It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

(Heb 12:8 NASB) But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons."

[Notice that children of God are being addressed in this passage and are viewed as being disciplined - all believers are being disciplined by God - obviously for unfaithfulness, i.e., sinful behavior all the time. Evidently all believers are in need of being disciplined by God all the time throughout their mortal lives, (1 Jn 1:8, 9). Hence no believer is viewed as sufficiently holy on his own auspices to result in seeing the Lord, i.e., having eternal life; or even being faithful during their Christian lives. On the other hand, there is a confidence of God's child of remaining His child for eternity here in this passage and for that matter in the entire letter.

But notice that Heb 12:8 says "But if you - meaning if some of you sons of God, forever born again believers, are without discipline in the sense that you are not reacting positively / faithfully to the discipline that God is placing you under, then you born again believers for that period of time are in effect, (but not in position) of being illegitimate children of God in your behavior and are not in effect sons (but in position you are still sons of God for all eternity no matter how you behave, (Eph 2:8-9 ).

1) [Compare Excerpt from Bible Knowledge Commentary On Heb 12:8]:

(Heb 12:8 NASB) "But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons."

"On the other hand in Heb 12:8 In speaking of those who are not disciplined and are thus illegitimate children, he was probably thinking of Christians whose disloyalty to the faith resulted in their loss of inheritance (i.e., reward) which is acquired by the many sons and daughters. (In the Roman world, an "illegitimate child" had no inheritance rights.) What such Christians undergo, the author had shown, is severe judgment. On the other hand believers who undergo God's "discipline" are being prepared by this educational process (paideia, "discipline," lit., "child-training"; cf. Eph. 6:4) for millennial reward."]

B) [(Heb 12:5-6; 7-8) Expositor's Bible Commentary On Heb 12:7-8]:

(Heb 12:5 NASB) '''and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;

(Heb 12:6 NASB) FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." '''

(Heb 12:7 NASB) "It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

(Heb 12:8 NASB) But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons."

"7 NIV takes the verb "endure" as imperative [= a command]. This may well be correct, though it could be an indicative [mood = statement of fact]. The important thing here is the emphatic position of the words "as discipline" in the Greek sentence. It is not as misery, accident, or the like that Christians should understand suffering but as discipline. God uses it to teach important lessons. It shows that "God is treating you as sons." The rhetorical question appeals to the universality of fatherly discipline. It was unthinkable to the writer and his readers that a father would not discipline his sons. Perhaps we should notice in passing that while the author clearly sees believers as children of God, he does not specifically call God father (except in a quotation in 1:5; cf. also "the Father of spirits," v. 9).

8 The hypothetical possibility of being without chastisement is looked at and a devastating conclusion drawn. "Everyone," he says, "undergoes discipline" (hes metochoi gegonasin pantes; lit., "of which all are sharers"), which recalls the "everyone" of v. 6. It is the universal experience of children that life means discipline. If anyone does not receive discipline, then, the author says, he is "illegitimate." The word nothos is used of one born of a slave or a concubine, or of the illegitimate in general (see LSJ, s.v.). The point is that they are not heirs, not members of the family.

[Biblestudymanuals: Not true. All individuals who are in view in this passage - unbelievers excluded - are members of the family of God having believed and become born again, Jn 1:12-13]

For them the father feels no responsibility.

[Biblestudymanuals: Not true. God's responsibility is toward all believers and unbelievers as well - faithful or not. Just because an individual in this passage - all believers - is not positively responding to God's discipline - the possibility brought out in verse 8 - does not mean that God feels no responsibility toward him whether believer as in this passage or elsewhere in Scripture where nonbelievers are in view]

Their freedom from discipline is not evidence of a privileged position. Rather the reverse is true. They are bastards—"not-sons" (ouch huioi)."

[Biblestudymanuals: You have read this incorrectly. Believers are in view in this passage - true legitimate born again believers - no unbelievers. The verse implies that the believer in the case of Heb 12:8 is not positively responding to God's discipline and is acting like an illegitimate son, not like a son should, hence is described as not a son - figuratively speaking because he is not acting like a son should. Otherwise this verse contradicts itself because believers are in view - born again sons of God, no unbelievers are in view at all. So since only believers are in view, whether faithful or not; there is not any loss of salvation in view or false believers as some contend; but disciplined believers who are not responding positively to God's discipline of them. Also what is in view is loss of rewards not loss of salvation]

C) [(Heb 12:5-6; 5-8) Bible Knowledge Commentary On Heb 12:5-8]:

(Heb 12:5 NASB) '''and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;

(Heb 12:6 NASB) FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." '''

(Heb 12:5 NASB) '''and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;

(Heb 12:6 NASB) FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."

(Heb 12:7 NASB) It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

(Heb 12:8 NASB) But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.'''

"12:5-8. The readers also seemed to have forgotten the encouragement found in Proverbs 3:11-12:

[Pr 3:11-12 NASB: "My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD or loathe His reproof, For whom the LORD loves he reproves, Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights,"]

which presents divine discipline as an evidence of divine love. Thus they should not lose heart (cf. Heb. 12:3) but should endure hardship (hypomenete, lit., "persevere"; cf. vv. 1-3) as discipline and regard it as an evidence of sonship, that is, that they are being trained for the glory of the many sons (cf. 2:10 and comments there). All God's children are subject to His discipline, and in the phrase everyone undergoes discipline the writer for the last time used the Greek metochoi ("companions, sharers"), also used in 1:9; 3:1, 14; 6:4. (Lit., the Gr. reads, ". . . discipline, of which all have become sharers.") In speaking of those who are not disciplined and are thus illegitimate children, he was probably thinking of Christians whose disloyalty to the faith resulted in their loss of inheritance (i.e., reward) which is acquired by the many sons and daughters. (In the Roman world, an "illegitimate child" had no inheritance rights.) What such Christians undergo, the author had shown, is severe judgment. On the other hand believers who undergo God's "discipline" are being prepared by this educational process (paideia, "discipline," lit., "child-training"; cf. Eph. 6:4) for millennial reward."

VII) [Heb 12:9-10]:

(Heb 12:9 NASB) "Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?

(Heb 12:10 NASB) For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness."

A) [(Heb 12:9-10) Biblestudymanuals Commentary On Heb 12:9]:

(Heb 12:9 NASB) "Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?

(Heb 12:10 NASB) For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness."

[Biblestudymanuals] on Heb 12:9 - Furthermore, the author of Hebrews adds that we - believers - had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them in the sense that that was our obligation as children of our earthly fathers, albeit not every child will necessarily and properly respect their earthly fathers. So the question is asked shall we believers in the Father of spirits, meaning God the Father, and be subject to God in order to "live." Now the word "live" evidently refers to the preservation, the living out of to years appointed for our physical life as opposed to the reception of eternal life / spiritual life as some maintain, given that submission to discipline for unfaithfulness could hardly be the requirement for the reception of eternal life / spiritual life when Scripture everywhere indicates that we believers have been saved by grace through faith, not by anything we do, (cf Eph 2:8-9). Notice that submitting to the Father's discipline results in the preservation of the child of God's physical life in the sense of living out their appointed years and to the extent that they will live out all that that child of God does in pursuit of faithfulness to our calling to serve the Father. Eternal life cannot be in view, for it cannot be received as a result of a sinful child of God's submission to discipline for sinning. Note that an individual that has believed in Christ for salvation becomes born of God and cannot be unborn of God for sinful behavior; but the value of their lives will be preserved for rewards in heaven depending upon their positive submission to God's discipline. That hardly results in holiness! So being submissive to being punished for committing sins in this temporal life hardly results in being holy, just less sinful. Hence the word 'live' here refers to the physical life, the preservation of it - it's longevity as well as the preservation of its value for eternal rewards in heaven by submitting and not resisting the discipline of God in ones life for doing wrong which can only result in more severe discipline.

[Biblestudymanuals, cont.] on the first part of Heb 12:10 which reads as follows: "For they [our human fathers] disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them," the author is explaining that our earthly fathers disciplined us for a short time considering the timespan / lifespan of humans raising children as seemed best to them which allows for the relative good and bad with which our human fathers raised us. The point is made that although it was our human fathers' godly responsibility before God to discipline us in a godly manner, it may nevertheless not turn out to be godly discipline at all. Whereupon, the second part of Heb 12:10 reads as follows, "but He [meaning God] disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness" -

holiness in the sense that by His grace He will see to it that we will indeed share in His holiness to the extent that it is according to His sovereignty in all matters which He exercises upon us in eternity not in our mortal lives which are continually flawed; yet at the same time we will be rewarded in our share of God's holiness to the extent that we are moved to and respond positively in our mortal lives to His discipline of us. Notice that discipline for a little while results in sharing in the Holiness of God in some manner albeit in the afterlife - another assurance that children of God will be holy as God is Holy, but certainly not on the child of God's own auspices]

B) [(Heb 12:9-10) Expositor's Bible Commentary]:

(Heb 12:9 NASB) "Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?

(Heb 12:10 NASB) For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness."

"9 The writer appeals to the practice and result of discipline exercised in the human family. He and his readers have had the experience of being disciplined by their human fathers. They have had fathers who were paideutai, "correctors," "discipliners." Fathers are seen in their capacity as chastisers, trainers of their children by punishing them when they go wrong. The effect of such paternal chastisement is to arouse respect, not resentment. How much more, then, should believers submit to God's discipline! "The Father of spirits" (there is no "our" in the Gr.) is a most unusual expression found only here in Scripture though a similar expression occurs in Numbers 16:22; 27:16. The spirits might be those of "righteous men made perfect" (v. 23), but there seems no reason for limiting it in this way.

[Biblestudymanuals] The spirits of men meaning after they have died; which believers will be transformed into perfect spirits awaiting their resurrection bodies does not fit the context here.

B cont.) [(Heb 12:9-10) Expositor's Bible Commentary, cont.]:

"But likewise there is no reason why we should press the expression to mean a universal fatherhood. A number of translations render this phrase "our spiritual Father" (TEV, NEB, JB), and something like this seems meant. The verb "live" (zao) is used here of "the glory of the life to come" (BAG, s.v.). When people subject themselves to God, accepting life's sufferings as discipline from his fatherly hand, they enter the life that is alone worthy of the name."

[Biblestudymanuals]: This is incorrect, individuals receive eternal life solely via a moment of faith alone in Christ alone, (Eph 2:8-9 ). They will be transformed into a life that is alone worthy of the name of God in the after life - but not before. Their temporal lives will always be flawed and never will those temporal lives reflect the glory of God in His Perfection at any time, (1 Jn 1:8, 9 )]

B cont.) [(Heb 12:9-10) Expositor's Bible Commentary, cont.]:

(Heb 12:9 NASB) "Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?

(Heb 12:10 NASB) For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness."

"10 There is a difference in the quality of the discipline we have received from our earthly fathers and that which comes from God. They disciplined us "for a little while," i.e., the comparatively brief days of childhood; and they did it "according to their lights" (NEB). They did their best, but the phrase seems to imply that they made mistakes. But God's discipline is always "for our good." There is nothing of the "hit or miss" about it. It is aimed at our good and the aim is "that we may share in his holiness." The word "holiness" (hagiotes) is not common (elsewhere in the NT it occurs only in a variant reading in 2 Cor 1:12). It points to God's holy character. The aim of God's chastisement of his people is to produce in them a character like his own."

[Biblestudymanuals]: But that won't happen until we receive our resurrection bodies. For there will always be flaws in our behavior until then, (1 Jn 1:8, 10).

VIII) [Heb 12:11]:

(Heb 12:11 NASB) "All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness."

A) [(Heb 12:11) Biblestudymanuals Commentary On Heb 12:11]:

(Heb 12:11 NASB) "All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness."

[Notice that "all discipline" by God of His children "for the moment seems NOT to be joyful, but sorrowful." On the other hand it is evident that those believers "who have been trained by it" in the sense of permiting themselves to be effected by the discipline with a positive attitude toward it; i.e., to be beneficially disciplined by it - first of all by accepting that this is God's way of training us in this temporal life, secondly by being alerted to what He is directing our lives toward, despite the pain and suffering. So the direction of the believer when God is disciplining him is to be one which results in yielding the peaceful fruit of righteousness in his life. Hence as stated previously in Heb 12:10, God's discipline is so that believers may share in His holiness. Thus holiness is brought about in some manner through God's discipline of believers who have been sinning; rather than through efforts of believers to be holy. In view is a "harvest of righteousness" that God provides for the believer, His child, for submitting positively to the discipline, as opposed to the believer's efforts to be holy. The child of God can hardly be viewed as acceptably holy under his own auspices so that he can see the Lord unto eternal life considering the fact that God is constantly having to discipline his children for doing wrong, i.e., sinning. On the other hand, when the child of God takes a positive view of the discipline of the Lord despite the pain and suffering, he enables himself to "yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness"]

B) [(Heb 12:11) Expositor's Bible Commentary On Heb 12:11]:

(Heb 12:11 NASB) "All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness."

"11 At the time it takes place, chastisement is never a happy, joyous affair. On the contrary, sorrow (Iype) goes with it. But while it does not "seem pleasant," it does produce a result the writer calls a "harvest of righteousness and peace." The adjective eirenikos (tr. "peace" in NIV) is interesting. Moffatt comments, "The writer might be throwing out a hint to his readers, that suffering was apt to render people irritable, impatient with one another's faults. The later record even of the martyrs, for example, shows that the very prospect of death did not always prevent Christians from quarreling in prison" (Moffatt, in loc.). It is important that suffering be accepted in the right spirit; otherwise it does not produce the right result. So the author goes on to speak of those who have been "trained" by it, where the word gegymnasmenois (once more the metaphor from athletics) points to those who have continued to exercise them selves in godly discipline. It is not a matter of accepting a minor chastisement or two with good grace; it is the habit of life that is meant. When that is present, the "peaceable fruit" follows."

C) [(Heb 12:9-11) Bible Study Manuals Commentary On Heb 12:9-11]:

(Heb 12:9 NASB) "Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?

(Heb 12:10 NASB) For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.

(Heb 12:11 NASB) "All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness."

"12:9-11. Drawing on the analogy of the discipline of earthly fathers, the author encouraged a submissive spirit to the discipline of the Father of our spirits which is life-preserving (and live) as well as productive of an experience of His holiness, which involves a rich harvest of righteousness and peace. But Christians must let this discipline have its full effect and be trained by it."

IX) [Heb 12:12-13]:

(Heb 12:12 NASB) Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.

(Heb 12:13) 'Make level paths for your feet,' so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed."

A) [(Heb 12:12-13) Biblestudymanuals Commentary On Heb 12:12]:

(Heb 12:12 NASB) "Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.

(Heb 12:13) 'Make level paths for your feet,' so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed."

[So in Heb 12:12, believers are encouraged to strengthen their feeble arms and weak knees as they undergo God's discipline and be healed of unholiness in some manner.

Whereupon in Heb 12:13, the phrase 'Make level paths for [their] feet,' so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather be healed,' refers to the context of Pr 4:26 and has the intended meaning of telling believers to take care of fellow believers who have a problem with sinfulness by enabling them to be more faithful and their infirmaties might be healed]

B) [(Heb 12:12-13) Expositor's Bible Commentary On Heb 12:12-13]:

(Heb 12:12 NASB) "Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.

(Heb 12:13) 'Make level paths for your feet,' so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed."

"From the acceptance of life's discipline in general, the writer turns to the way this discipline is applied in Christian experience. It is important that God's people live as God's people. They are not to take their standards from the ungodly.

12 "Therefore" links this exhortation to what has gone before. Because of what they now know of God's loving discipline, they must put forward their best effort. The "hands" (not "arms" as NIV) are pictured as "limp" (JB) and thus useless. They accomplish nothing. The knees are "weak." There is a reference to similar hands and knees in Isaiah 35:3 (cf. Ecclesiasticus 25:23), and the writer may have taken his imagery from there. "Strengthen" is NIV's translation of anorthosate ("make upright" or "straight"). The picture is of someone whose hands and legs are for some reason out of action but are put right. The exhortation implies that the readers are acting as though spiritually paralyzed. They are urged to put things right and get moving.

13 A quotation from Proverbs 4:26 is added. NIV takes the words orthas poieite to mean "make level," though they are usually understood as "make straight." Clearly the idea is to put the paths into better order in order to facilitate travel, specifically for the lame. The writer is mindful of the fact that Christians belong together. They must have consideration for the weak among their members, i.e., the "lame." There is a problem relating to the verb rendered "be disabled" (ektrape, more lit., "turned away"). It might mean that the lame are not to be turned from the right way (so Snell, for example, in loc.). BAG (s.v.) note that linguistically there is another possibility—"that what is lame might not be avoided"—but this meaning is obviously unsuitable to the context. The following reference to healing makes it certain that it is something like dislocation that is meant (as in RSV, NEB, etc.). By taking care for the defective members of the congregation, the stronger members can help them along the way. Where the Christian life is in any way "out of joint," steps should be taken to revitalize it."

C) [(Heb 12:12-13) Bible Knowledge Commentary On Heb 12:12-13]:

(Heb 12:12 NASB) "Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.

(Heb 12:13) 'Make level paths for your feet,' so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed."

"3. THE CALL TO RENEWED SPIRITUAL VITALITY (12:12-17)
12:12-13. The author sensed the tendency to spiritual weakness in his readers, and in the light of the truths he had expounded he encouraged them to renew their strength. If they would do this and would pursue the level paths which real righteousness entails, the weakest among them (the lame) would not be further disabled, but rather healed. Their own strength would benefit weaker Christians."

X) [Heb 12:14]:

(Heb 12:14 NASB) "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord."

A) [(Heb 12:14) Biblestudymanuals Commentary On Heb 12:14]:

(Heb 12:14 NASB) "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord."

[Verse 14 then summarizes the first 13 verses of Hebrews chapter 12, exhorting children of God to "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy" with the reminder that "without holiness no one will see the Lord:"

1) MAKING AN EFFORT TO BE HOLY IN ORDER TO SEE THE LORD, I.E., HAVE ETERNAL LIFE IS NOT IN VIEW - THE GRACE PROVISION THROUGH THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST OF THAT HOLINESS IN ORDER TO SEE THE LORD IS

(Heb 12:14 NASB) "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord."

In view of the context of chapters 1-12 so far, the last phrase of verse 12:14, "without holiness no one will see the Lord" cannot be saying that one must live a holy life sufficient to earn the right to "see the Lord," i.e., have eternal life. It has already been shown that believers for the most part are under God's discipline for unholy behavior and through that discipline God provides a share of His holiness in some manner, evidently as a gift.

Furthermore, all believers when they go to be with the Lord will be provided with God's holiness and righteousness in order to see the Lord, (1 Jn 3:2). This does not depend upon the behavior of the believer but is provided by the grace of God as a free gift, (Eph 2:8-9). The thought of this should provide strong motivation for the child of God to pursue God's holiness, and accept His discipline; especially since believers will be richly rewarded for their acts of faithfulness, .

A number of times in history, a king has died leaving the throne to be occupied by a young son when he reaches maturity. In the meantime, guardians typically were appointed to train the young son to become king until he reached the appointed age when he would be coronated and then given the authority of king. In the meantime the young boy was trained and exhorted to act with the authority of a king. He was often motivated by his tutors telling him, 'You are going to be given the authority to rule over your country as king; so learn to act with proper kingly authority; without authority given to you when you reach maturity, you would not be king." Notice that the young boy would assume the authority to rule as king at the appointed time regardless of how he responded to the guardians' training because of his birthright, not because of his behavior. But he was to keep in mind his future stature and authority and discipline himself to learn to act with proper kingly authority until that time.

In the same way individuals become God's children who are inevitably destined by the grace of God to be holy and see the Lord at the appointed time as a result of God's plan, not man's doing. In the meantime, they are being trained - discipline being evidence of this, (vv. 12:4-11) - and exhorted to "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord" as a motivation to make an effort to be holy]

B) [(Heb 12:14) Expositor's Bible Commentary On Heb 12:14]:

(Heb 12:14 NASB) "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord."

"14 The NT contains a number of exhortations to believers to be at peace, either with one another or with people in general (cf. Matt 5:9; Mark 9:50; Rom 12:18). People are often selfish and abrasive, but this is not the way Christians should be. For them peace is imperative, and they must "make every effort" to attain it. Commentators differ as to whether "all men" is to be taken in its widest sense or whether the writer means "all fellow believers." Granted that it is especially important for Christians to live in harmony with one another, there seems to be no reason for taking "all" in anything other than its normal meaning. The readers are to make every effort to live at peace with all people. We need not doubt that the writer is especially interested in harmony in the Christian community, but he has so worded his exhortation that it covers all relations and not only those among believers.

Coupled with peace is "holiness." The rendering "to be holy" (NIV, TEV) misses the point that "holiness" is a noun set alongside "peace" as the object of the verb. Holiness means being set apart for God. It is characteristic of the believer. As Barclay puts it, "Although he lives in the world, the man who is hagios must always in one sense be different from the world and separate from the world. His standards are not the world's standards" (in loc.). Without this readiness to belong to God, this being separated to God, no one will see God. Jesus said that the pure in heart see God (Matt 5:8), and no one has a right to expect that vision without that qualification."

C) [(Heb 12:14) Bible Knowledge Commentary On Heb 12:14]:

(Heb 12:14 NASB) "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord."

"12:14. Peace with all men as well as personal holiness must be vigorously sought since without holiness (hagiasmos) no one will see the Lord. Since no sin can stand in God's presence, Christians must—and will be—sinless when they see the Lord (cf. 1 John 3:2). That realization offers motivation for pursuing holiness here and now. But the author may also have had in mind the thought that one's perception of God even now is conditioned by his real measure of holiness (cf. Matt. 5:8)."

[Biblestudymanuals]: Contrary to the above commentary, Christians will be without sin when they see the Lord but only after the temporal life is over with - when they receive their perfect resurrection bodies. Heretofore no one can say they have moments in their temporal lives that are without sin:

1) [Compare 1 Jn 1:8]:

(1 Jn 1:8 NASB) If we [should] say that we have no sin, we [deceive] ourselves and the truth is not in us.

In view of the context of chapters 1-12 so far, the last phrase of verse 12:14, "without holiness no one will see the Lord" cannot be saying that one must live a holy life sufficient to earn the right to "see the Lord," i.e., have eternal life. It has already been shown that believers for the most part are under God's discipline for unholy behavior and through that discipline God by His grace provides a share of His holiness in some manner, evidently as a gift.

Furthermore, all believers when they go to be with the Lord will not bring along their own holiness and righteousness which will always be flawed; but be provided with God's perfect holiness and righteousness when they go to heaven and see the Lord:

2) [Compare 1 Jn 3:2]:

(1 Jn 3:2 NASB) "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is."

Salvation unto eternal life does not depend upon the behavior of the believer but is provided by the grace of God as a free gift:

2) [Compare Eph 2:8-9]:

(Eph 2:8 NASB).for by grace you [are] having been saved, through faith, and this not of yourselves - [it is] the gift of God,

(Eph 2:9 YLT) not of works, that no one may boast."

The thought of this should provide strong motivation for the child of God to pursue God's holiness, and accept His discipline; especially since believers will be richly rewarded for their acts of faithfulness, albeit their efforts in their temporal lives will always be flawed, .]

XI) [Heb 12:15]:

(Heb 12:15 NASB) "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;"

A) [(Heb 12:15) Biblestudymanuals Commentary On Heb 12:15]:

(Heb 12:15 NASB) "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;"

So believers are commanded to see to it that no one, especially themselves, comes short of the grace of God in the sense that God has graciously provided the means for all believers to grow in the faith beginning with His Word, the bible for us to make all effort to study it and let the indwelling Holy Spirit graciously provided within each believer guide them / direct them to be faithful, albeit it will never be perfect in this life for our efforts which correspond to the direction of the Holy Spirit will not be without sin in this life, (1 Jn 1:8). Notice that phrase rendered, "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God," has in view others besides themselves. So believers' area of operation is not just themselves as individuals but others all around them. This is often problematic because this is no easy task to prepare for all kinds of subjects and encounters all around them and whether or not people will be receptive to their conversation about God's Word. People can present a bewildering array of scenarios through which believers are to present themselves as representing their Savior Jesus Christ.

Anything less than the Holiness / Righteousness of God makes the believer in his temporal body unfit to stand before God. But all believers will be transformed into perfectly Righteous resurrected beings before they appear before God because they have trusted alone in Christ alone in this temporal life and been given the gift of a perfect Righteous body because Jesus Christ has paid for all of mankind's defilement including their bitterness.

a) [Compare Heb 13:1-12]:

(v. 13:1) "Keep on loving each other as brothers.

(v. 13:2) Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

(v. 13:3) Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

(v. 13:4) Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

(v. 13:5) Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'

(v. 13:6) So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?'

(v. 13:7) Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

(v. 13:8) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

(v. 13:9) Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them.

[These nine verses are specific stipulations for the goal of believers to live a holy life. Yet in the final analysis the holiness, i.e., sanctification comes from Jesus Christ and what He did at Calvary]:

(v. 13:10) We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.

(v. 13:11) The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp.

(v. 13:12) And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood."

[Notice that Jesus Christ suffered on the cross and through His shed blood, will come the holiness which people will receive - through His work not theirs]

B) [(Heb 12:15) Expositor's Bible Commentary On Heb 12:15]:

(Heb 12:15 NASB) "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;"

'''15 The verb rendered "see to it" (episkopountes) is an unusual one. It conveys the idea of oversight (the verb is connected with the noun we translate as "bishop"). In this context the thought is that believers must have care for one another. The writer speaks of three things in particular the readers must avoid. The first is coming short of God's grace. Paul could speak of receiving God's grace in vain (2Cor 6:1) and of falling from grace (Gal 5:4). It is something like this that is in mind here. God is not niggardly in offering grace. He gives his people all they will take. Accordingly, it is important for them not to fail to make use of their opportunities.

The second contingency to guard against is the springing up of a "bitter root." The expression is reminiscent of Deuteronomy 29:17. But if it is a quotation from the LXX, it is fairly free. A "bitter root" is a root that bears bitter fruit. The metaphor is taken from the growth of plants. Such growth is slow, but what is in the plant will surely come out in time. So it is possible for a seed of bitterness to be sown in a community and, though nothing is immediately apparent, in due time the inevitable fruit appears. It will certainly "cause trouble." The effects of bitterness cannot be localized: it "can poison a whole community" (JB). "Defile" in the first instance refers to ceremonial defilement (John 18:28), but it is also used of moral defilement. Bitterness defiles people and makes them unfit to stand before God.

[Biblestudymanuals: Anything less than the Holiness / Righteousness of God makes the believer in his temporal body unfit to stand before God. But all believers will be transformed into perfectly Righteous resurrected beings before they appear before God because they have trusted alone in Christ alone in this temporal life and been given the gift of a perfect Righteous body because Jesus Christ has paid for all of mankind's defilement including their bitterness .]

XII) [Heb 12:16-17]:

(Heb 12:15 NASB) "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled

(Heb 12:16 NASB) that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.

(Heb 12:17 NASB) For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears."

A) [(Heb 12:16) Biblestudymanuals Commentary On Heb 12:16-17]:

(Heb 12:15 NASB) "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled

(Heb 12:16 NASB) that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.

(Heb 12:17 NASB) For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears."

Heb 12:15 presents God's command to believers to see to it that no one comes short of the grace of God: that which directs each and every believer towards His Righteousness through the guidance of the Holy Spirit within. At the end of this verse there is one preventative example that no root of bitterness might spring up and cause trouble and by it's expression many might be defiled / desecrated / spoiled Whereupon another example stipulated in Heb 12:16 of coming short of the grace of God is addressed - that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal, holding such a grand birthright as having so little value compared to the small value of temporal things as a single meal - a bowl of soup!

Whereupon, in Heb 12:17 it reads, "And Esau even afterwards he desired to inherit the blessing, but he was rejected, for he found no place within himself for repentance" - to change his mind about his attitude and thereby inherit / receive the blessing - "although he sought for it with tears." - He was sorry for losing his inheritance, but not repentant in the sense of changing his immoral, godless behavior to a moral and godly one - or being spiritually minded.

So Esau for just one meal bargained away "his inheritance rights as the oldest son" (cf. Gen 25:29-34 below). He could not recognize its true value. His insistence on the gratification of his immediate needs led him to overlook the importance of his rights as the firstborn. For a small immediate gain, he bartered away what was of infinitely greater worth.

1) [Gen 25:29-34]:

(Gen 25:29 NASB) When Jacob had cooked a stew one day. Esau came in from the field and he was exhausted,

(Gen 25:30 NASB) And Esau said to Jacob, 'Please let me have a mouthful of that red stuff there, for I am exhausted." Therefore he was called Edom by name.

(Gen 25:31 NASB) But Jacob said, "First sell me your birthright."

(Gen 25:32 NASB) Esau said, "Look I am about to die, for what use then is the birthright to me?"

(Gen 25:33 NASB) And Jacob said, "First swear to me;" so he swore an oath to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.

(Gen 25:34 NASB) Then Jacob gave Esau bread and gentil stew and he ate and drank, and got up and went on his way." So Esau despised his birthright."

B) [(Heb 12:16-17) Expositor's Bible Commentary On Heb 12:16-17]:

(Heb 12:15 NASB) "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled

(Heb 12:16 NASB) that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.

(Heb 12:17 NASB) For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears."

'''16 The third warning begins with a reference to the "sexually immoral" (pornos, "fornicator"). The OT has passages that use sexual sin as a metaphor for idolatry and the like. Some have felt that this is the way the word should be taken here. But there seems nothing in the context to demand it, so it is better to take the word literally. A further question is whether pornos is meant to apply to Esau. There is no evidence in the OT that Esau was a fornicator, though some have taken the fact that he married Hittite wives (Gen 26:34) to be the object of the allusion. In Jewish legend Esau was accused of many sins including this one. But there seems no reason for thinking that the writer of the epistle has this in mind. He seems to be warning his readers against two things: fornication and being "godless" like Esau.
The word rendered "godless" (bebelos) means "unhallowed," "profane." The author is saying that Esau was not spiritually minded but rather a man taken up with the things of the here and now. This is apparent in the incident referred to, when Esau for just one meal bargained away "his inheritance rights as the oldest son" (cf. Gen 25:29-34). He could not recognize its true value. His insistence on the gratification of his immediate needs led him to overlook the importance of his rights as the firstborn. For a small immediate gain, he bartered away what was of infinitely greater worth. So with the apostates.

17 The opening word (iste) may be imperative "know" or indicative "as you know," as NIV takes it. The writer appeals to knowledge common to his readers and himself. Nothing is known about Esau's change of mind other than what we read here. It appears that in due course Esau came to realize he had made a mistake. He wanted to go back but found he could not. Some take the second part of the verse to mean that he could not change Isaac's mind, but this has to be read into the text. Isaac is not mentioned. The meaning is, rather, "he could not find a way to change what he had done" (TEV). There is a finality about what we do. Barclay points out that "if a young man loses his purity or a girl her virginity, nothing can ever bring it back. The choice was made and the choice stands" (in loc.). Notice that it is not a question of forgiveness. God's forgiveness is always open to the penitent. Esau could have come back to God. But he could not undo his act."

C) [(Heb 12:15-17) Bible Knowledge Commentary On Heb 12:15-17]:

(Heb 12:15 NASB) "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled

(Heb 12:16 NASB) that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. /;.which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them."

(Heb 12:17 NASB) For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears."

"12:15-17. As a grim reminder of what can happen among believers, the writer warned that one who misses the grace of God may become like a bitter root whose infidelity to God affects others. Here the author had in mind Deuteronomy 29:18 where an Old-Covenant apostate was called a "root. . . that produces such bitter poison." Such a person would be godless (bebēlos, "profane, unhallowed, desecrated") like Esau, Jacob's brother, whose loose and profane character led him to sell his inheritance rights as the oldest son for the temporary gratification of a single meal. He warned the readers not to yield to transitory pressures and forfeit their inheritances. If some did, they would ultimately regret the foolish step and might find their inheritance privileges irrevocably lost as were Esau's. This would of course be true of one who ended his Christian experience in a state of apostasy, which the writer had continually warned against."

XIII) [Heb 12:18-21]:

(Heb 12:18 NASB) "For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind,

(Heb 12:19 NASB) and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them."

A) [(Heb 12:18-21 Biblestudymanuals Commentary On Heb 12:18-21]:

(Heb 12:18 NASB) "For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind,

(Heb 12:19 NASB) and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them.

(Heb 12:20 NASB) For they could not bear the command, '''IF EVEN A BEAST TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN, IT WILL BE STONED.'''

(Heb 12:21 NASB) And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, '''I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling.'''

1) [Excerpt From The New Covenant Study By Biblestudymanuals]:

(Heb 12:18 NASB) "For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind,

(Heb 12:19 NASB) and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them."

(Heb 12:20 NASB) For they could not bear the command, '''IF EVEN A BEAST TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN, IT WILL BE STONED.'''

(Heb 12:21 NASB) And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, '''I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling.'''

In chapter 12, the writer of the Book of Hebrews continues to speak of the current benefits by virtue of the substitutionary atonement of the Mediator of the New Covenant - blessings enjoyed by his readers. Christ's substitutionary atonement in His blood for the sins of all of mankind from all timeframes serves as His ratification of the future New Covenant to be made and fulfilled by God with a future generation of restored Israel.

For example, verse 18, the author reminds his readers that "you have come not to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind," i.e., to Mount Sinai - where Moses received the Old Covenant from God. The author in verses 18-21, uses the historical experience of Israel at Sinai to depict Israel’s experience under the Old Covenant.

B) (Heb 12:18-21) Expositor's Bible Commentary On Heb 12:18-21]:

(Heb 12:18 NASB) '''For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind,

(Heb 12:19 NASB) and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them.

(Heb 12:20 NASB) For they could not bear the command, "IF EVEN A BEAST TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN, IT WILL BE STONED."

(Heb 12:21 NASB) And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, "I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling."

"D. Mount Sinai and Mount Zion (12:18-24)
The writer proceeds to contrast the Jewish and Christian ways by contrasting the terrors associated with the giving of the law on Mount Sinai with the joys and the glory associated with Mount Zion. He sounds the note of warning that great privilege means great responsibility.

18 The older MSS omit "mountain." The meaning might then be thus: "You have not come to a fire that can be touched." It is better, however, to see it as quite general: "You have not come to anything that can be touched." There can be no doubt that the events on Sinai are in mind, though the writer chooses not to refer to the mountain specifically but to what it represented—the outward, the physical, and the material (cf. JB, "What you have come to is nothing known to the senses"). The phenomena listed are all associated with the Sinai event (see Deut 4:11). Elsewhere they are all linked with the presence of God: fire (Judg 13:20; 1 Kings 18:38), darkness (1 Kings 8:12), and tempest (Nah 1:3); the trumpet (v. 19) being associated with the end time when God will manifest himself (Matt 24:31; 1Cor 15:52; 1 Thess 4:16). The picture is one that strikes terror into the heart.

19 The trumpet is spoken of repeatedly in connection with Sinai (Exod 19:16, 19; 20:18). And on that occasion the people heard the voice of God (Deut 5:24). But the effect of it all was to terrify them, and they asked that they should hear God's voice no more (Exod 20:19; Deut 5:25-27). They were overcome with awe and wanted no further part in the wonderful events.

20 The fearfulness of the giving of the law on Sinai is brought out with reference to one of the commands laid on the people, namely, that neither man nor beast should even touch the mountain under penalty of death. The writer uses a present participle in saying "what was commanded," which makes it all terrifyingly present. The command that nothing touch it indicates the holiness and separateness of the mountain. The quotation is from Exodus 19:13. Killing by stoning (Exod 19:13 also permitted shooting, i.e., with darts or arrows) was prescribed so that those taking part in it would not need to touch the mountain themselves.

21 There is a further indication of the awesomeness of it all. At the time of the giving of the law, Moses was the leader of the people. He was known as one who had an especially close relationship with God (Exod 33:11). Yet even he was terrified. The words quoted are not found in the Sinai narrative but do occur at the time of the golden calf (Deut 9:19). The author may have had access to a tradition that recorded these words on this occasion. Or he may be including Moses in the general fear spoken of in Exodus 20:18. Or possibly he is taking words spoken on one occasion and applying them to another to which they also refer. At any rate, he is picturing an awe-inspiring occasion, one that affected all the people and terrified even Moses, the man of God.

C) [(Heb 12:18-21) Bible Knowledge Commentary On Heb 12:18-21]:

(Heb 12:18 NASB) '''For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind,

(Heb 12:19 NASB) and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them.

(Heb 12:20 NASB) For they could not bear the command, "IF EVEN A BEAST TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN, IT WILL BE STONED."

(Heb 12:21 NASB) And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, "I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling."

"12:18-21. Vividly the writer pictured the situation at Mount Sinai where the Old Covenant was given and its awesomeness and fearful nature were described (cf. Ex. 19:9-23; Deut. 9:8-19)."

XIV) [Heb 12:22-24]:

(Heb 12:22 NASB) "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,

(Heb 12:23 NASB) to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

(Heb 12:24 NASB) and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel."

A) [(Heb 12:22-24) Biblestudymanuals.net Commentary On Heb 12:22-24]:

(Heb 12:22 NASB) "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,

(Heb 12:23 NASB) to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

(Heb 12:24 NASB) and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel."

Heb 12:18-24 began with a contrast between the mountain that the Jews approached for the Mosaic Law, and the mountain - Mount Zion - to which believers of the present age will have come to in the future when they are translated into heaven as promised to them by God, (vv. 18-22):

So they have come to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, and come to the general assembly, i.e., that is to say come to the church of the firstborn, i.e., that is to say to the church of Jesus Christ, who - believers both Jews and Gentile believers - have been enrolled in heaven at the point of faith, that is to say they have become "citizens of heaven, cf Phil 3:20, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect (Righteous), i.e., that is to say those believers throughout the age who have died and their spirits are in heaven awaiting their resurrection bodies.

Then in Heb 12:22 there is a single long sentence beginning with "But you have come," which refers to believers in the present age; and ending with "[But you have come] to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel," i.e., Abel's shed blood and his death speak of the sacrifice he offered to and accepted by God and Cain being jealous, killed Abel, (vv. 22-24).

So Heb 12:18-22 verses speak of a present reality which benefits believers of the present age especially with possession of eternal life through a moment of faith because of Christ’s substitutionary atonement in His blood for the sins of mankind - which atonement also encompasses Christ's mediatorship of the New Covenant in order to enable its future fulfillment not only for that generation of Israelites that will be party with God of the New Covenant, (cf. Jer 31:31-34 ), but for all of humanity throughout the ages for whom Christ died which encompasses eternal life through a moment of faith as well as other benefits as stipulated for each individual and each group of people throughout the ages outside of the benefits exclusive to Israel, (cf. 1 Jn 2:2 ). This passage therefore has in view present benefits received by believers of the present age as a result of that atonement - but not the future benefits reserved exclusively for a future generation of Israel, (cf. Jer 31:31-34 ).

The same verb "you have come" is in Heb 12:22. It refers to Jewish believers and all believers of this present age - the church age - as follows: "you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels" which represent the ongoing present reality of the time when they had come to faith in Jesus Christ while in their temporal - not future lives - unto the ongoing and eternity future of the blessings of eternal life in the eternity future as if they have already begun to experience that eternity; all of this because of Who God is, i.e., that He is sovereign and Righteous and all powerful to guarantee such a grand, future eternity without fail. The blessings that believers have experienced and are experiencing in their temporal lives as a result of their union with Christ are highlighted in verses 22-24. Thus, this paragraph is depicting the believer’s present experience juxtaposed to the Old Covenant experience in the sense that believers in their temporal lives look forward in this present age to eternity when they indeed will actually have come to be present on Mount Zion and in the city of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and be present among myriads of angels when their temporal lives are overwith and they have been transformed into resurrection bodies just like that of the risen Jesus Christ to enjoy the rest of eternity.

The verb rendered "you have come" in verse 22 describes the readers' present experience with a view to their future eternity; all of which has begun to occur at the point of their moment of faith alone in Christ alone in order to receive all of what is stipulated and more as each moment of eternal life transpires. So the verb rendered "you have come" in verse 22 is in the perfect tense - a completed action with ongoing results evidently on into future / eternity, implying their having become believers in the past with ongoing moments forever, so that they may look forward to an unimaginably grand future and forever eternal reality as stipulated and pondered in their present mortal lives because it has been promised by God Who is Absolutely reliable. By using the perfect tense in verse 22, the author indicates that the realities that are enumerated in verses 22-24 in some manner are going to be or are present realities for believers in this age with an eternal view at hand in the resurrected life in heaven on Mount Zion, i.e., the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and presence amongst myriads of angels.

So the perfect tense is often used to portray future events:

1) [Compare Jas 5:1-4]:

(Jas 5:1 NASB) "Come now you rich people, weep and howl for your miseries are coming upon you.

(Jas 5:2 NASB) "Your riches have rotted [perfect tense] and your garments have become [perfect tense] moth-eaten. [looking to the future - the last days: evidently eternity]

(Jas 5:3 NASB) Your gold and your silver have corroded [perfect tense] and their corrosion will serve [future tense] as a testimony against you and will [future tense] consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up [aorist] your treasure.

(Jas 5:4 NASB) Behold the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you and cries out against you; and the out cry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of armies."

Notice that the perfect tense - conveying a point action with ongoing present results yet on into future eternity as portrayed in verse 3 in the future tense just as in Heb 12:22-24. The aorist tense of "have stored up" is a completed action, the action of having stored up rotted treasure which will be completed in that future time. So the past tense portrays future time experiences.

2) Compare Commentary On Eph 2:4-7 - note the past tenses yet which refer to a future time in the heavenlies]:

(Eph 2:4 NASB) "but God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

(Eph 2:5 YLT) even being dead in ... trespasses, did make us [alive] together with ... Christ, (by grace [you] are having been saved)

(Eph 2:6 NASB) and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places [lit., heavenlies - an actual position in heaven established and guaranteed for us by God in a future time after a believer has been made alive, raised up, seated in the heavenly places] in Christ Jesus,

(Eph 2:7 YLT) that He might show, in the ages that are coming, the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus," =

So after describing in verses 1-3 the position of believers being dead to God in trespasses and sins before they believed in Christ Jesus, (along with the rest of mankind), the apostle Paul began to picture their present position in Christ - Gentiles and Jews who have believed in Christ Jesus, (vv. 1-3, 13-14). The first words of Eph 2:4 rendered, "But God" is an emphatic, context-changing phrase which emphasizes that despite all mankind being dead in trespasses and sins, (v. 1), and all mankind being by nature children of wrath - under the condemnation of God, (v. 3); God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us - those who have believed in Christ Jesus - "even being dead in trespasses, [God] did make us alive together with Christ, (by grace you are having been saved)."

This subject of the riches of God's grace was previously addressed in chapter one relative to the redemption of those who believed in Christ Jesus:

a) [Compare Eph 1:1-7]:

(Eph 1:1 NASB) "Paul, ... apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at ... [Ephesus, Laodicea, Colossae, etc] [even, i.e., that is to say, to the believing ones] in Christ Jesus.

(Eph 1:2 NASB) Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Eph 1:3 NASB) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who [did bless] us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

(Eph 1:4 HCSB) for He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight [in love],

(Eph 1:5 NKJV) having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

(Eph 1:6 NASB) to the praise of the glory of His grace, [of] which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved [One].

(Eph 1:7 NASB) In [Whom] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace"

And Paul continues to write about the subject of the riches of God's grace in chapter two beginning at verses Eph 2:4-7 which have in view the salvation by grace through faith in Christ Jesus of those who have believed in Christ Jesus, wherein God is once more viewed as being "rich in mercy" and as having "great love" toward those Gentiles and Jews who have believed in Christ Jesus, (Eph 1:1-3, 13-14). The Greek words "pollen agapen" rendered "great love" refer to God's unmerited, self-sacrificial, agapE love of believers who have nothing to merit / deserve God's love to be expressed toward them. Despite their being dead in trespasses, God did make them alive together with Christ when they believed - in the sense of making them spiritually alive together with Christ as part of Him, His body. And then Paul immediately writes, "By grace" - God's unmerited favor / undeserved kindness - "you are having been saved," present tense + perfect participle which conveys the sense of a completed action in the past with ongoing present results forever of being saved unto eternal life. When Paul wrote in Eph 2:6a, "and [God] raised us up with Him [Christ Jesus]," it was written in the past tense indicating that this was a guaranteed occurrence with absolute assurance that believers will in the future be resurrected from the dead as Christ Jesus had been resurrected, because it is God Almighty Who has enacted their resurrections. This will surely come to pass because God promised it and He is sovereign. Whereupon, Paul wrote in Eph 2:6b, "And [He, God] seated us in the heavenly places [lit., in the heavenlies] in Christ Jesus," - another absolutely guaranteed and assured positional statement from Almighty God of believers being present with Him in heaven for all eternity.

Thus, the reference to the heavenly Jerusalem in verse 22 does refer to the yet future arrival of believers who are now in the present in their mortal bodies to be in heaven, in the New Jerusalem described in Revelation 21-22 as part of the Christian’s temporal present unto future eternity experience of salvation. The items in verses 22-25 describe realties of presence in heaven to which presence believers will have come in the future after their mortal lives have ceased. In addition, the author uses the perfect tense when referring to the spirits of the righteous men made perfect (v. 23). The verb "perfect" (teteleiomenon) is in the perfect tense. The spirits of the righteous men made perfect is a reference to Old Testament saints with whom we share salvation but not a heavenly presence. They are called spirits because they have not yet been united with their bodies in resurrection - which is still yet future for them. They are made perfect in their spirits because Christ’s sacrifice for sins has actually accomplished the forgiveness / removal of their sins in the afterlife - their having believed in Christ in their temporal lives before they died.

B) [(Heb 12:22-24) Expositor's Bible Commentary On Heb 12:22-24]:

(Heb 12:22 NASB) "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,

(Heb 12:23 NASB) to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

(Heb 12:24 NASB) and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel."

'''22 ["But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,"]:

"But" is the strong adversative (alla) and introduces a marked contrast. It is not a Sinai type experience that has befallen Christians. They "have come" (the perfect tense points to an accomplished and continuing state) to Mount Zion. This is one of the hills on which the city of Jerusalem was built. It sometimes stands for that city (Matt 21:5), and stands here, of course, for that city as the home of God's people. It is also called "the heavenly Jerusalem" and "the city of the living God." Elsewhere in the NT there is the thought of the Jerusalem above (Gal 4:26, where again there is a contrast with Mount Sinai; cf. also Rev 3:12; 21:2, 10).

The author has already spoken of "the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God" (11:10). He is bringing out the thought of the ideal, heavenly city. His mention of "the living God" (see comments on 3:12) emphasizes the thought that this city is no static affair; it is the city of a vital, dynamic, living Being, one who is doing things. Its inhabitants include large numbers of angels. NIV says that there are "thousands upon thousands" of them, which is the translation of the one word myriasin. Originally this meant ten thousand, but it came to be used for a very large number. (For angels at Sinai, see Deut 33:2. The heavenly city is not deficient on this score.)

Scholars differ as to whether we should take the expression "joyful assembly" with angels (as NIV) or with the following verse (as TEV, "you have come to the joyful gathering of God's oldest sons"). While it cannot be proved to be the only way, NIV's understanding of it fits the Greek better and should probably be accepted. The word meant originally a national festive assembly to honor a god, then more generally any festal assembly.

23 "The church of the firstborn" is another difficult expression. Does it mean the angels just spoken of? They are not usually called a "church," but the word basically means an assembly and so could be applied to angels. If it refers to people, it is not easy to see it as the church triumphant because that is the same as "the spirits of righteous men made perfect" at the end of the verse. Nor is it easier to see it of the church here and now for (1) the readers would be included and would be "coming" to themselves, and (2) it would give a strange sequence—angels, the church on earth, God, the departed. Angels are not normally described as having their "names... written in heaven," whereas there are references to the recording of the names of the saved (e.g., Luke 10:20; Rev 21:27). Perhaps the best solution is to see a reference to the whole communion of saints, the church on earth and in heaven. Believers not only come to it but into it. This would follow naturally on the reference to angels, after which there is the thought of God as Judge and those who have been vindicated by his judgment.

Montefiore (in loc.) objects to the usual translations like "God, the Judge of all" partly because they do not take account of the Greek word order and partly because they miss the force of the argument. God is not third on the list of the inhabitants of heaven; rather, the author's concern is "with the Judge (who is God) who has rewarded the spirits of righteous men." It is unusual to have the departed referred to as "spirits." The expression is probably used to give emphasis to the spiritual nature of the new order the "righteous men" find themselves in. There is a sense in which they are not made perfect without Christians (11:40). But there is also a sense in which they have been brought to the end for which they were made.

[Biblestudymanuals Commentary On Expositor's Commentary Above]:

So they have come to the city of the living God, i.e., the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, and come to the general assembly, i.e., that is to say come to the church of the firstborn, i.e., that is to say to the church of Jesus Christ, who - believers both Jews and Gentile believers - have been enrolled in heaven at the point of faith, that is to say they have become "citizens of heaven, cf Phil 3:20, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect (Righteous), i.e., that is to say those believers throughout the age who have died and their spirits are in heaven awaiting their resurrection bodies.

B cont.) [(Heb 12:22-24) Expositor's Bible Commentary On Heb 12:22-24, cont.]:

(Heb 12:22 NASB) "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,

(Heb 12:23 NASB) to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

(Heb 12:24 NASB) and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel."

"24 The climax is reached with the reference to Jesus, seen here as "the mediator of a new covenant." The word for "new" (neas) is applied to the covenant only here. It refers to what is recent. The covenant involves "sprinkled blood" (cf. 9:19-22), which reminds us of the cost of the covenant. The idea of blood speaking is not common and there is undoubtedly a reference to Genesis 4:10 where Abel's blood cried from the ground for vengeance on his killer. Jesus' blood speaks "a better word" than that. His blood opens up a way into the holiest for people (10:19): Abel's blood sought to shut out the wicked man."

[Biblestudymanuals Commentary On Expositor's Commentary Above]:

The same verb "you have come" is in Heb 12:22. It refers to Jewish believers and all believers of this present age - the church age - as follows: "you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels" which represent the ongoing present reality of their having come by faith to Jesus Christ while in their temporal - not future lives - unto the ongoing and eternity future of the blessings of eternal life in the eternity future as if they have already begun to experience eternity; all of this because of Who God is, i.e., that He is sovereign and Righteous and all powerful to guarantee such a grand future eternity without fail. The blessings that believers have experienced and are experiencing in their temporal lives as a result of their union with Christ are highlighted in verses 22-24. Thus, this paragraph is depicting the believer’s present experience juxtaposed to the Old Covenant experience in the sense that believers in their temporal lives look forward in this present age to eternity when they indeed will actually have come to be present on Mount Zion and in the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and present amongs myriads of angels when their temporal lives are overwith and they have been transformed into resurrection bodies just like that of the risen Jesus] Christ.]

C) [(Heb 12:22-24) Bible Knowledge Commentary On Heb 12:22-24]:

(Heb 12:22 NASB) "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,

(Heb 12:23 NASB) to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

(Heb 12:24 NASB) and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel."

"12:22-24. The realities that pertain to New-Covenant people and to which they have come are even more impressive because they are heavenly.

[Biblestudymanuals Commentary On Bible Knowledge Commentary Above]:

[So Heb 12:18-22 verses speak of a present reality which benefits believers of the present age because of Christ’s substitutionary atonement in His blood for the sins of mankind - which atonement also encompasses Christ's mediatorship of the New Covenant in order to enable its future fulfillment not only for that generation of Israelites that will be party with God of the New Covenant, (cf. Jer 31:31-34

), but for all of humanity throughout the ages for whom Christ died which encompasses eternal life through a moment of faith as well as other benefits as stipulated for each individual and groups of people throughout the ages outside of the benefits exclusive to Israel , (cf. 1 Jn 2:2

). This passage therefore has in view present benefits received by believers of the present age as a result of that atonement - but not the future benefits reserved exclusively for a future generation of Israel, (cf. Jer 31:31-34

(Heb 12:22 NASB) "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,

(Heb 12:23 NASB) to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

(Heb 12:24 NASB) and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel."

The same verb "you have come" is in Heb 12:22. It refers to Jewish believers and all believers of this present age - the church age - as follows: "you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels" which represent the ongoing present reality of their having come by faith to Jesus Christ while in their temporal - not future lives - unto the ongoing and eternity future of the blessings of eternal life in the eternity future as if they have already begun to experience eternity; all of this because of Who God is, i.e., that He is sovereign and Righteous and all powerful to guarantee such a grand future eternity without fail. The blessings that believers have experienced and are experiencing in their temporal lives as a result of their union with Christ are highlighted in verses 22-24. Thus, this paragraph is depicting the believer’s present experience juxtaposed to the Old Covenant experience in the sense that believers in their temporal lives look forward in this present age to eternity when they indeed will actually have come to be present on Mount Zion and in the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and present amongs myriads of angels when their temporal lives are over with and they have been transformed into resurrection bodies just like that of the risen Jesus Christ.

So the verb rendered "you have come" in verse 22 describes the reader's present experience with a view to their future eternity all of which has begun to occur at the point of their moment of faith alone in Christ alone in order to receive all of this at the present moment of eternal life as it all transpires in time. It is in the perfect tense - a completed action with ongoing present results evidently on into future / eternity, implying their having become believers and may now look forward to an unimaginably grand future and forever eternal reality as stipulated and pondered in their present mortal lives because it has been promised by God Who is Absolutely reliable. By using the perfect tense in verse 22, the author indicates that the realities that are enumerated in verses 22-24 are in some manner present realities for his audience yet with an eternal view at hand in the resurrected life in heaven with the actual presence of myriads of angels, etc.]

C cont.) [(Heb 12:22-24) Bible Knowledge Commentary On Heb 12:22-24, (cont.)]:

(Heb 12:22 NASB) "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,

(Heb 12:23 NASB) to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

(Heb 12:24 NASB) and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel."

"Not only is there the heavenly city, but there are also heaven-related beings, both angels and people, associated with it. The term church of the firstborn may mean the assembly of those whose inheritance rights are already won (since under the OT Law the "firstborn" was the primary heir; cf. v. 16). They have already gone on to the heavenly regions where the angels are. But above all, it is to God, the Judge of all men, that they have come—and there are some who indeed can stand His searching scrutiny of their lives (the spirits of righteous men made perfect; cf. 10:14; 11:40)—and to Jesus the Mediator (cf. 8:6; 9:15) of a New Covenant whose atoning blood does not cry for judgment as did Abel's but secures the acceptance of all New-Covenant persons.

If the readers would contemplate these things properly, they would be awed by them and more inclined to fulfill their call to the highest privileges that the New Covenant can provide."

[Biblestudymanuals Commentary On Bible Knowledge Commentary Above]:

Note that New-Covenant persons in the sense of parties to the New Covenant are limited solely to God and to the particular generation of the House of Israel and the House of Judah who all believe to a man in Christ evidently when He comes again in His Second Coming as it stipulates in Jer 31:31-33 and elsewhere . The rest of the population of the world from Adam & Eve on who are positively effected by the New Covenant but not parties to that Covenant, having believed in Christ for eternal life - i.e., those who comprise the rest of the world who benefit from the New Covenant which includes eternal life and many other benefits according to God's sovereignty. So the church is not a party of the New Covenant, as some contend; but a beneficiary of it in a myriad of ways as are other individuals and groups of people who have trusted alone in Christ alone for eternal life.

XIV) [(Heb 12:25-29)]:

(Heb 12:25 NASB) "See to it that you do not refuse Him Who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.

(Heb 12:26 NASB) And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN."

(Heb 12:27 NASB) This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

(Heb 12:28 NASB) Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

(Heb 12:29 NASB) for our God is a consuming fire."

A) [(Heb 12:25-29) Biblestudymanuals.net Commentary On Heb 12:25-29]:

[The author of Hebrews addresses the Hebrew christians and for that matter, all christians in view of what happened in ancient times with the Israelites of old who refused God in the sense of refusing to obey His voice on earth and as a result they did not escape God's temporal judgment; and therefore much less will the Hebrew christians of today escape God's judgment when He warns them from heaven]

(Heb 12:26 NASB) And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN."

[And the voice of God from the earth shook the earth then in the ancient time of Israel at Mt Sinai, but now He has promised in future times once more He will shake the earth, and not the earth only but the heaven - evidently in fulfillment of His promise to create a new heaven and a new earth:

1) [Compare Isa 11:6-9; 65:17-25[:

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM THERE WILL BE MORTAL HUMAN BEINGS WHO ARE UNDER MESSIAH'S RULE FOR A THOUSAND YEARS:

a) (Isa 11:6-9) IN THAT DAY, ALL ANIMALS WILL DEMONSTRATE A RESPECT AND SUBMISSION, EVEN BENEVOLENCE AND PROTECTION TOWARD HUMAN BEINGS DURING THE REIGN OF THE LORD IN HIS ETERNAL KINGDOM. AND EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING ON THE EARTH WILL REFLECT A KNOWLEDGE OF GOD IMPLYING A COMPLETE RESTORATION OF THE WORLD TO THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE LORD FROM ITS FALLEN CONDITION

(Isa 11:1 HOLMAN) "Then a shoot will [have grown] from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. (Isa 11:2 KJV) And the Spirit of the LORD shall [have rested] upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; (Isa 11:3 NKJV) His delight is in the fear of the LORD, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; (Isa 11:4 YLT) And He [has] judged in righteousness the poor, and [has] decided in uprightness [i.e., in equity] for the humble [in the sense of the lowly] of [the earth]; And has [struck] the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He [puts] the wicked to death. (Isa 11:5 NKJV) Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist. (Isa 11:6 NKJV) The wolf also shall [have dwelt] with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. (Isa 11:7 NKJV) The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. (Isa 11:8 NKJV) The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. (Isa 11:9 NKJV) They shall not hurt [lit., do evil toward] nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.

In view of the appearance of the Descendant of Jesse, His indwelling by the Spirit, His demonstration of His innate fear of the LORD as Messiah to come, Isaiah moves to the description of the age in which the Messiah comes to begin His Eternal Kingdom on the earth: "The wolf also shall [have dwelt] with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling [in the sense of the best, well fed yearling which is used for sacrifice] together; And a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. So predator will no longer be predator. All animals will demonstrate a respect and submission, even benevolence and protection toward human beings during the reign of the LORD in His eternal kingdom. Note that these changes in the animal life are literal, and not to be taken figuratively as some contend. They are possible because the Creator is Sovereign and declared through Isaiah that these changes would be characteristic of His Kingdom on earth in literal language. The restoration of human beings to God is implied in phrase "For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of God As the waters cover the sea" in the NKJV which in turn implies the complete and thorough restoration of the world's environment from its fallen condition. So the world's entire ecological system including plants, animals and people will be in harmony with the Righteous rule of the LORD. In His reign, nature will be at peace with itself and with man. Contrary to what some contend, the Eternal Kingdom rule has not yet begun, since these factors do not characterize any age of history so far: Animal life shall not hurt [lit., do evil toward] nor destroy in all My holy mountain [in the sense that the entire earth will be in that day the LORD's holy mountain], For the earth - plants, animals and people - shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea - in the sense of everything being obedient to Him - all the people, animals and plants. Peace and tranquility will reign throughout His Kingdom - "As the waters cover the sea," (cf. Isa 9:7); (Isa 11:6-9).

b) (Isa 65:17-18) WHEREUPON AT THE END OF THE MILLENNIAL AGE THERE WILL BE CREATED A NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH:

(Isa 65:17 NIV) Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

(Isa 65:18 NIV) But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.' "

c) (Isa 65:17-25) DOES ISA 65:17-25 REFER TO THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM OR TO THE NEW CREATION

i) VERSEBYVERSEMINISTRY.ORG/BIBLE-ANSWERS ON ISA 65:17-25:

Does Isaiah 65:17-25 refer to the Millennial Kingdom or the New Creation?

December 16, 2019

Is Isaiah 65:17-25 supposed to depict the Kingdom, as v.17 suggests otherwise when God states He will "create new heavens and a new earth"? The passage also goes on to talk about infants, bearing children and death. How can this take place in the Kingdom if we have glorified bodies?

The reference in Isaiah 65:17 to the new heavens is not the same "new heavens and earth" of Revelation 21. Isaiah is referring to the repaired world that will host the 1,000-year Kingdom on earth. We know this because of multiple details:

First, we know that the Old Testament saints never knew of events beyond the Kingdom. The Lord never revealed anything more than the coming Kingdom to Israel, so all references in the Old Testament to a future world or paradise are references to the Messianic Kingdom only.

Secondly, the context of Isaiah 65 includes details (as you mentioned) like death which are specifically excluded from the new heavens and earth that follows the Kingdom. For example:

i) [Compare Rev 21:1-4]:

REV. 21:1 "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

REV. 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

REV. 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,

REV. 21:4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

While Isaiah 65 mentions the presence of death in the Kingdom, which occurs as a result of unbelief and sin present in that world (though not for the resurrected saints), John says there is no death at all in the eternal order that follows the Kingdom.

Finally, the descriptions of the physical world found in Isaiah 65-66 do not match those of Revelation 21-22. For example, Isaiah 66:19 says there will be "coastlands" in that world, while John says in Revelation 21:1 that there will no longer be a sea in the new heavens and earth.

Therefore, we must conclude that though the phrasing between Isaiah 65 and Revelation 21 are similar, similarity does not mean they are speaking of the same place. In Isaiah the term "new heavens and new earth" refers to the changes and improvements coming in the 1,000 year / Millennial Kingdom on this earth, while the term "new heavens and a new earth" in Revelation 21 refers to the future Eternal Universe coming to replace the Millennial Kingdom.

A cont) [(Heb 12:25-29) Biblestudymanuals.net Commentary On Heb 12:25-29, cont.]:

(Heb 12:27 NASB) This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

(Heb 12:28 NASB) Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

(Heb 12:29 NASB) for our God is a consuming fire."

[These verses imply that there will be another occurrence which will be characterized by the removal / the shaking up of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken up may remain in a new and eternal kingdom which cannot be shaken, so that we may offer to God an acceptable service to God with reverence and awe - for our God indeed is a consuming fire - He is all powerful]

2) [Compare Rev 21:1-6]:

(Rev 21:1 NASB) "Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb,"

"21:1. The opening verses of chapter 21 describe the creation of the new heaven and the new earth, which chronologically follows the thousand-year reign of Christ described in chapter 20. Chapter 21 begins with the familiar words I saw, an expression repeated in verse 2 (cf. v. 22, "I did not see"). This new creation is described as a new heaven and a new earth. That it is a totally new heaven and a new earth, and not the present heaven and earth renovated, is supported by the additional statement, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away (also see comments on 20:11). An amazingly small amount of information is given about the new heaven and the new earth. But one major fact is stated in this verse: there was no longer any sea.

In contrast with the present earth, which has most of its surface covered by water, no large body of water will be on the new earth. The Bible is silent, however, on any features of the first heaven except the statement in 21:23 that there will be no sun or moon and, by implication, no stars. The new heaven refers not to the abode of God, but to the earth's atmosphere and planetary space.

No landmarks whatever are given concerning the new earth, and nothing is known of its characteristics, vegetation, color, or form. The implication, however, is that it is round and is the residence of all who are saved. A few other references are found in Scripture in relation to the new earth, including Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; and 2 Peter 3:10-13.

Because in some of these passages the Millennium is also discussed, expositors have often confused the eternal state with the Millennium. However, the principle is well established in Scripture that distant events are often telescoped together. Examples of this are Isaiah 61:1-2 (cf. Luke 4:17-19), which speaks of the first and second comings of Christ together, and Daniel 12:2, which mentions the resurrection of the righteous and of the wicked together even though, according to Revelation 20:5, they will be separated by a thousand years. Sometimes even the chronological order is reversed, as in Isaiah 65:17-25 (vv. 17-19 refer to the new heaven and new earth whereas vv. 20-25 clearly refer to the Millennium). End-time events are all also brought in close proximity in 2 Peter 3:10-13, where the beginning and the end of the day of the Lord are mentioned in the same passage.

Though expositors have differed on this point, the principle that clear passages should be used to explain obscure passages supports the conclusion that the second coming of Christ is followed by a thousand-year reign on earth, and this in turn is followed by a new heaven and new earth, the dwelling place of the saints for eternity. With the absence of any geographic identification and the absence of a sea, the new earth will obviously be entirely different. By contrast, the sea is mentioned many times in relation to the Millennium (e.g., Ps. 72:8; Isa. 11:9, 11; Ezek. 47:8-20; 48:28; Zech. 9:10; 14:8). The evidence is conclusive that the new heaven and new earth are not to be confused with the Millennium."

(Rev 21:2 NASB) "in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

"21:2. John's attention was then directed to a specific feature of the new heaven and new earth, namely, the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. The New Jerusalem is called "the Holy City," in contrast with the earthly Jerusalem (which spiritually was compared to Sodom in 11:8). As early as 3:12 the New Jerusalem was described as "the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from My God." The fact that the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven and that it is not said to be created at this point has raised the question as to whether it has been in existence during the Millennium (see further discussion on this under 21:9).

Many expositors regard the promise of Christ in John 14:2, "I am going there to prepare a place for you," as referring to this city. The suggestion has been made that if the New Jerusalem is in existence during the millennial reign of Christ, it may have been suspended in the heavens as a dwelling place for resurrected and translated saints, who nevertheless would have immediate access to the earth to carry on their functions of ruling with Christ. J. Dwight Pentecost, for instance, quotes F.C.
Jennings, William Kelly, and Walter Scott as supporting this concept of the New Jerusalem as a satellite city during the Millennium (Things to Come. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1958, pp. 577-79). In the Millennium the New Jerusalem clearly does not rest on the earth, for there is an earthly Jerusalem and an earthly temple (Ezek. 40-48).

The New Jerusalem then will apparently be withdrawn from its proximity to the earth when the earth will be destroyed at the end of the Millennium, and then will come back after the new earth is created. Though this possibility of a satellite city has been disregarded by most commentators and must be considered as an inference rather than a direct revelation of the Bible, it does solve some problems of the relationship between the resurrected and translated saints to those still in their natural bodies in the Millennium, problems which otherwise are left without explanation.

Here, however, the New Jerusalem is described as it will be in the eternal state, and it is said to be "a bride beautifully dressed for her husband." Because the church is pictured in Scripture as a bride (2 Cor. 11:2), some have tried to identify the New Jerusalem's inhabitants as specifically the church saints, excluding saints of other dispensations. However, the use of marriage as an illustration is common in Scripture, not only to relate Christ to the church but also Yahweh to Israel. Though the city is compared to a beautifully dressed bride, it actually is a city, not a person or group of people."

(Rev 21:3 NASB) "There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him;

(Rev 21:4 NASB) they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads."

"21:3-4. Following this initial revelation of the New Jerusalem John wrote, I heard a loud voice from the throne. This is the last of 20 times that the expression "a loud voice" is used in Revelation (first used in 5:2).

The final revelation from heaven states that God will then dwell with men, that the saints will be His people and He will be their God. In eternity saints will enjoy a new intimacy with God which is impossible in a world where sin and death are still present. The new order will be without sorrow. God will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death with its mourning, and pain with its crying will vanish, for the old order of things will have passed away.

Some have wondered if grief and sorrow will exist for a while in heaven and then be done away with here at the establishing of the new order. It is better to understand this passage as saying that heaven will have none of the features that so characterize the present earth.

(Rev 21:5 NASB) "And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true."

(Rev 21:6 NASB) Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost."

"21:5-6. The dramatic change to the new order is expressed in the words, I am making everything new! This revelation is trustworthy and true, and John was instructed to write down that fact. The One bringing about the change is Christ, who calls Himself the Alpha and the Omega (cf. 1:8; 22:13), the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, interpreted by the phrase the Beginning and the End.

Those who are thirsty are promised that they will be able to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. Apparently this refers not to physical thirst but to a desire for spiritual blessings."

B) [(Heb 12:25-29) Expositor's Bible Commentary On Heb 12:25-29)]:

"E. A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken (12:25-29)
Earthly, material things (things that can be "shaken") will not last forever. By contrast, God's kingdom is unshakable, and the author uses the contrast as an exhortation to right conduct. He has made it plain that God will not trifle with wrongdoing. The persistent sinner can reckon only on severe judgment. God will bring all things present to an end. Accordingly, the readers should serve him faithfully."

"25 Several times in this epistle Judaism and Christianity have been contrasted, and here the contrast concerns the way God speaks. Some feel there is a contrast between Moses and Christ. This may be so, but the basic contrast is between the way God spoke of old and the way he now speaks. Israel of old "refused" him, which means that in their manner of life they rejected what God said and failed to live up to what he commanded (cf. Deut 5:29; the writer cannot be referring to Israel's refusal to hear God's voice because they were praised for this, Deut 5:24-28). What God said was a warning "on earth" because it was connected with the revelation made at Sinai. If, then, the Israelites of old did not escape the consequences of their refusal of a voice on earth, the readers ought not to expect that they will escape far worse consequences if they "turn away from him who warns us from heaven."

(Heb 12:26 NASB) And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN."

"26 Here the solemnity of Sinai is recalled. Repeatedly we are told that then the earth shook (Exod 19:18; Judg 5:4-5; Pss 68:8; 77:18; 114:4, 7). The writer has already spoken of the awe-inspiring nature of what happened when the law was given. Now the reference to the shaking of the earth brings it all back. At the same time it enables him to go on to speak of a promise that involved a further shaking, that recorded in Haggai 2:6. The prophet looked forward to something much grander than Sinai. Then God shook the earth, but Haggai foresaw a day when God would shake "not only the earth but also the heavens." This will be no small event but one of cosmic grandeur. The reference to heaven and earth may be meant to hint at the concept of the new heaven and the new earth (Isa 66:22). At any rate, it points to the decisive intervention that God will make at the last time."

(Heb 12:27 NASB) '''This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.'''

"27 The writer picks out the expression "once more" (eti hapax; lit., "yet once more") to point out the decisive significance of the things of which he is writing. There is an air of finality about it all. This is the decisive time. The word rendered "the removing" (metathesin) can mean a "change" (as in 7:12 of a change of law). But "removal" is also possible and seems better in this context. What can be shaken will be removed in that day. NIV renders hos pepoiemenonas "that is, created things" (RSV, "as of what has been made"), and this is the sense of it (poieo is often used of God's creative activity). This physical creation can be shaken, and it is set in contrast to what cannot be shaken. These are the things that really matter, the things that have the character of permanence. The author does not go into detail about the precise nature of the ultimate rest. But whatever it may be, it will separate the things that last forever from those that do not. "So that" introduces a clause of purpose. It is God's will for this final differentiation to be made so that only what cannot be shaken will remain."

(Heb 12:28 NASB) "Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;"

"28 The "kingdom" is not a frequent subject in this epistle (the word occurs in a quotation in 1:8 and in the plural in 11:33). This is in contrast to the synoptic Gospels, where the "kingdom" is the most frequent subject in the teaching of Jesus. But this passage shows that the author understood ultimate reality in terms of God's sovereignty. This reality contrasts with earthly systems. They can be shaken and in due course will be shaken. Not so God's kingdom! The author does not simply say that it will not be shaken but that it cannot be shaken. It has a quality found in nothing earthly. The kingdom is something we "receive." It is not earned or created by believers; it is God's gift.

It is not quite certain how we should understand the expression "let us be thankful" (echomen charin). A strong argument for this rendering is that it is the usual meaning of the expression. But charis means "grace"; and, as Montefiore (in loc.) points out, elsewhere in this epistle it signifies "grace" rather than "gratitude." He thinks that the duty of thanksgiving is not inculcated elsewhere in Hebrews nor is it particularly appropriate here. So he prefers to translate it, "Let us hold on to God's grace" (JB is similar). Montefiore's position is favored by the following "through which" (di' hes), which NIV renders "and so." The writer appears to be saying that we must appropriate the grace God offers and not let it go, because it is only by grace that we serve as we should. "Worship" may be too narrow for latreuomen, for the word can be used of service of various kinds. KJV renders it "serve." Whether the meaning is service in general or worship in particular, it must be done "with reverence and awe." The combination stresses the greatness of God and the lowly place his people should take in relation to him."

(Heb 12:29 NASB) "for our God is a consuming fire."

"29 In an expression apparently taken from Deuteronomy 4:24, the writer emphasizes that God is not to be trifled with. It is easy to be so taken up with the love and compassion of God that we overlook his implacable opposition to all evil. The wrath of God is not a popular subject today but it looms large in biblical teaching. The writer is stressing that his readers overlook this wrath at their peril. Baillie speaks of the wrath of God "as being identical with the consuming fire of inexorable divine love in relation to our sins" (D.M. Baillie, God Was in Christ [London: Faber & Faber 1955], p. 189). It is something like this to which the writer directs his readers' attention.

The first twelve chapters of Hebrews form a closely knit argument. Chapter 13 is something of an appendix dealing with a number of practical points. Some commentators find the difference so striking that they think it an addition by someone other than the author of the first twelve chapters. This is going too far. There is no linguistic difference, and, while the argument is not so tight, it is in the manner of the author, especially the section on the cross (vv. 9-14)."

C) [(Heb 12:25-29) Bible Knowledge Commentary On Heb 12:25-29]:

(Heb 12:25 NASB) "See to it that you do not refuse Him Who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven."

"12:25. The contrast between the two covenants is now focused as a contrast between a warning given on earth and one that issues from heaven itself. Since those who refused the Old Covenant did not escape, how could those of the New Covenant who turn away expect to do so? (cf. 2:3) Here no doubt the author thought of the Speaker as none other than the Originator of the New Covenant who now sits "at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven" (1:3).

(Heb 12:26 NASB) And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN."

(Heb 12:27 NASB) '''This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.'''

"12:26-27. This is the divine voice which once shook only the earth, but will ultimately shake not only the earth but also the heavens. The reference to Haggai 2:6 was understood by the author as speaking of the ultimate remaking of the heavens and earth which will follow the millennial kingdom (cf. Heb. 1:10-12). What remains after this cataclysmic event will be eternal."

(Heb 12:28 NASB) "Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;"

(Heb 12:29 NASB) "for our God is a consuming fire."

"12:28-29. And such is the character of the kingdom which we are receiving. The words let us be thankful may be rendered "let us have [or, 'obtain'] grace" (echōmen charin) and are likely a final reference to the resources of grace available from the great High Priest (cf. 4:14-16). This is confirmed by the words and so (lit., "through which," diʾ ēsʾ which remind the readers that this grace is required in order to worship (better, "serve," latreuōmen, also used in 8:5; 9:9; 10:2; 13:10) God acceptably within the New-Covenant community. Failure to do so should be deterred by the concluding solemn thought that our God is a consuming fire (cf. 10:26-27). A believer who departs from his magnificent privileges will invite God's retribution."

[Biblestudymanuals note: The New-Covenant community is that generation of Israel alone who all to a man will believe in Christ evidently at His Second Coming , but other 'communities' - those believers of the time from Adam and Eve on to Abraham, and those believers during the time of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Israel until the beginning of the Church Age; and believers of the Church Age will all benefit from Christ's work on the cross, each individual and group in accordance with the sovereignty of God.

Finally, a believer who departs from his magnificient privileges - which is every believer every day of his mortal life - for no one can say he is without sin: 1 Jn 1:8 - will indeed invite God's retribution to the extent of his departure, not the least of which is loss of eternal rewards and discipline while in his mortal body . But salvation unto eternal life via a moment of faith alone in Christ alone + nothing else cannot result in loss of eternal life for that born of God, child of God. Once a child of God born of God always a child of God born of God.]

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