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The meat of the word, part 7

Those who are able to digest the meat of the word must endure to the end in the face of inevitable opposition, hostility, and even persecution. Even as the men of faith in Hebrews 11 were rejected by the religious authorities in their day, so also is it today. Hebrews 12:1 says,

¹ 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.

Just as a believer may have a diet limited to milk, so also one may be justified by faith without having endurance. Belief in Christ is the mark of a Christian, but endurance is the mark of an overcomer. Likewise, there are many runners in a race, but only one that wins the prize. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:24,

²⁴ Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.

It is not that we must compete with each other, for we know that there are many overcomers. His point is that there are many believers but few overcomers in each generation. The overcomers must endure the hostility of the religious leaders of their day, as Hebrews 12:3 says,

³ For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

On the surface, it is the hostility of men, but to those who have eaten the meat of the word, it is “the discipline of the Lord” (Hebrews 12:5). We are told in Hebrews 12:7,

⁷ 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?

An overcomer is one who is able to see beyond the visible circumstances and understand the sovereignty of God even over enemies. Jesus “endured such hostility by sinners against Himself” (Hebrews 12:5). God uses enemies to discipline us, even as God used the religious leaders in Jerusalem to persecute Jesus. Likewise, King Saul disciplined David through his hostility.

The Effect of Their Hostility

Their hostility toward the overcomers is hostility to Christ (Matthew 25:40), and hostility to Christ is hostility toward the One who sent Him. Such hostility is part of the plan, but it is also the cause of divine judgment, as we read in Leviticus 26:40-43,

⁴⁰ If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me— ⁴¹ I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies—or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for iniquity, ⁴² then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land. ⁴³ For the land will be abandoned by them…

This law foreshadowed the time when both Israel and Judah would be cast off the land for their hostility to God. Israel was hostile to the pre-incarnate Christ; Judah was hostile to Christ in person. The law forbade either of them to return to their land without first humbling themselves and repenting for their hostility. That is why Zionism is a violation of the law, for it is an attempt to reverse the sentence of God by force without repenting of their hostility to Christ.

Nonetheless, God has used them to test the overcomers and to see if they are able to endure in their understanding of the meat of the word. The meat in the book of Hebrews is largely the understanding of types and shadows and to see how to interpret them in light of the changes that took place through Christ. These changes scandalized the religious leaders in Jesus’ day, causing them to persecute and crucify Christ.

Overcoming Heart Bitterness

Hebrews 12:14, 15 says,

¹⁴ Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵ 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.

Those who are disciplined by hostile religious leaders must learn to overcome the bitterness of their experience. I have found that it is difficult, if not impossible, to overcome bitterness in the heart without knowing the sovereignty of God.

In my own experience, knowing God’s sovereignty eventually leads to an understanding that all things work together for good (Romans 8:28). Yet one must endure for some time without seeing the good in such circumstances. It is only later, when looking back at the circumstance, that one can get a better perspective of it and to see God’s purpose.

The sovereignty of God is the foundation of the idea that there could be changes in the law and in the entire method of worship. Changes in sacrifice, in priesthood, and going from an earthly temple to a heavenly temple, and from an earthly Jerusalem to a heavenly city are difficult for many to accept. It was difficult in the first century for the Jews; it is difficult even for many Christians today.

We see the results today just in the past year. The Israeli attempt to kill or drive out the Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank show evidence of heart bitterness. Polls show that at least 80% of Israeli Jews support the genocide, rather than pursuing peace. This will, in the end, bring about the downfall of Jerusalem and of the state itself. Why? Ultimately, it is because they have not repented of their hostility to God.

The Unshakable Kingdom

We have entered the time of the end of the age, when God has begun to shake all nations. At the same time the Kingdom of God is emerging, and it is made of things that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:26-28). We can measure our own hearts by watching how the shaking affects us, for if we have digested the meat of the word, we will not be shaken.

The final appeal in the book of Hebrews is summarized in Hebrews 13:11-14,

¹¹ For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin are burned outside the camp. ¹² Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. ¹³ So let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. ¹⁴ For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.

The types and shadows in the law suggested that Jesus Christ—our true and final Sacrifice for sin—was crucified outside the gate of Jerusalem. The Jews defined “outside the camp” as being 2,000 cubits from the Most Holy Place in the temple. So the ashes of the red heifer were stored on the Mount of Olives, and this is where Jesus was crucified.

We are thus admonished to go outside the camp as well, leaving the earthly Jerusalem, so that we might truly see “the city which is to come.” This is the same city that Abraham sought. It was not the earthly Jerusalem but the heavenly city. This is the capital of God’s Kingdom. The earthly city will be destroyed so completely that it cannot be rebuilt (Jeremiah 19:10, 11).

Overcomers understand this and seek an unshakable city and Kingdom. This is the overcomers’ path to the Promised Land, which is understood only through the meat of the word.