7 If you are enduring discipline, God is dealing with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline (something everyone undergoes),[f] then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had our human fathers as correctors and respected them. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits[g] and live? 10 Now they indeed disciplined us during a short period as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, so that we may partake of His holiness. 11 Now no discipline seems to be pleasant at the time, but painful; yet afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been exercised by it.[h]
14 Pursue peace with all, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord;[j] 15 taking care that no one come short of the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springing up cause trouble and thereby many be defiled, 16 that no one be a fornicator, or worldly like Esau, who in exchange for one meal gave up his birthright. 17 Because you do indeed know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing he was rejected; he found no place for a change of mind,[k] though he sought it diligently with tears.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us hold on to the grace by which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear; 29 because our God is indeed a consuming fire.[p]
<- Hebrews 11Hebrews 13 ->- a I suppose that each of us has his own ‘besetting sin’—what gives me trouble will not necessarily be the same thing that gives you trouble.
- b I imagine that that “joy” has something to do with His Bride.
- c In the context this presumably refers to sin in the world, not within.
- d The Text does not say whose blood.
- e See Proverbs 3:11-12. When I was a boy my father had a horse, a gentle creature, and a proper horsewhip to go with it. I found myself on the business end of that whip more than once (more often than did the horse), and I can assure the reader that it was not a pleasant experience. So God's scourgings tend not to be very pleasant; but if we end up partaking of His holiness (verse 10 below), it will be worth it.
- f At that time there was probably no culture dominated by relativistic humanism.
- g “The Father of spirits”—an interesting concept. All created spirits owe their existence to Him.
- h That is the secret—we must be “exercised” by it; that is, we must learn whatever lesson the Lord is trying to teach us.
- i I take the point to be that we should not turn our Christian walk into a bunch of complicated rules—keep it simple.
- j If we need to “pursue” this holiness, then it is experiential, not positional. God rewards those who “earnestly seek Him” (11:6 above).
- k Neither Isaac nor God changed his mind; Jacob was in and Esau was out.
- l Perhaps 4% of the Greek manuscripts add ‘or shot with an arrow’ (as in AV and NKJV).
- m I wonder who these “firstborn ones” are.
- n Let me try to list the ‘reception committee’: 1) the City; 2) angels; 3) firstborn ones (different from angels?); 4) God the Father; 5) the perfected righteous; 6) Jesus; 7) the Blood. An impressive list! What did Abel's blood say?—murder and punishment! What does Jesus' blood say?—redemption and forgiveness! Oh praise God!
- o See Haggai 2:6.
- p One gets the impression that taking God, and our life in Christ, for granted is definitely not a good idea.