FINAL COMMANDS AND FINAL WORDS

Hebrews 13:9b-13

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.    The writer is nearing the conclusion of his epistle to the Hebrews.

 

B.      There are lots of things that he longs for them to know and do.  Thus, he gives them a list of twelve commands before closing the chapter.

 

C.     As we read these last twenty-five verses, we find the writer still draw to his theme (Heb. 13:9-14).

 

D.    We have divided the chapter into two sections:

 

i.                    FINAL COMMANDS (Heb. 13:1-19)

 

ii.                  FINAL WORDS (Heb. 13:20-25)

 

I.             FINAL COMMANDS (Heb. 13:1-19)

 

A.    Brotherly love (Heb. 13:1)

B.      Hospitality (Heb. 13:2)

C.     Those in affliction (Heb. 13:3)

D.    Marriage (Heb. 13:4)

E.      Contentment and Reliance (Heb. 13:5-6)

F.      Church rulers (Heb. 13:7)

G.    Jesus Christ (Heb. 13:8)

 

H.    False doctrines (Heb. 13:9)

1.        Direction (Heb. 13:9a)

2.       Distinction (Heb. 13:9b)

 

…for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.

 

a.       It is said it is a good thing for the heart to be established with grace and not meats.

1)       A contrast is made again between the Old and New Covenants.

a)      The sacrifice of meats upon the altar was very important in the OT.

b)     The New Testament is concerned about the grace of God manifested on the cross of Calvary through the offering of His Son.

2)      Notice the contrast between the words:  “a good thing” and “have not profited them.”

a)      Good thing

-          Strong (2570):  beautiful, good, valuable

-          Thayer:  good, excellent in its nature and characteristics, and therefore well adapted to its ends

b)     Have not profited

-          Strong (5623):  has not been useful or beneficial

-          Thayer:  has not been of assistance, useful, advantageous, or profitable

b.      Notice that their meats did not profit them even though they had “been occupied therein.” 

1)       Occupied

a)      Strong (4043):  to tread all around, to walk, to live, to deport oneself

b)     Thayer:  to walk, to live, to regulate one’s life, to conduct one’s life

2)      These things were important, sincere, constant aspects of their lives.

c.       LESSONS: 

1)       The grace of God changes the inner man.  It alters his character.  It changes his status in the sight of God.

2)      Meats, on the other hand, do none of these things (I Cor. 8:8).

 

But meat commendeth us not to God:  for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.

 

3)      False doctrines can be important parts of one’s life, but to no profit.  People are occupied by them, but the teachings and practices have not profited them.

 

I.        Altar and Sacrifice (Heb. 13:10-13)  NOTE:  The write had just mentioned meats in verse 9.  His attention is now centered upon two altars and two sacrifices.  This is another contrast between the two covenants.

1.        The Contrast (Heb. 13:10)

 

We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

 

a.       The mention of “meats” in verse 9 brought to mind the altar upon which the meat were offered.  Some of those meats could be eaten by the priests and Levites (Lev. 6:25-26; 7:29-35; Num. 18:9-10).  The author uses this point to make a contrast.

1)       We have an altar

2)      They have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

b.      “We” are Christians.  Christians have an altar of sacrifice as well. 

1)       It is the cross of Calvary, the place upon which the Lamb of God was sacrificed for our sins (Acts 5:30; 10:39).

 

And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree.

 

2)      We are partakers of the blessings of that sacrifice (I Pet. 2:24).

 

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins should live unto righteousness:  by whose stripes ye were healed.

 

3)      “…the consideration was, that Christians are permitted to partake of the benefits of a higher and more perfect sacrifice than the Jews were, and therefore should not relapse into that religion” (Barnes, e-sword).

c.       “They Jews who still trust in the physical altar have no right to the blessings of our altar.

1)       They cannot hold on to the old and receive the benefits of the new.

2)      They cannot trust in sacrificial lambs and be blessed by the Lamb of God.

3)      They cannot serve Judaism and Christianity at the same time.

2.       The Comparison (Heb. 13:11-12)

 

For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.  Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

 

a.       Here, the writer poses a likeness between the sacrifices of the OT and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.:  bodies of those beasts…are burned without the camp” and “Jesus also, suffered without the gate.”

b.      Under the Old Covenant, the skin and internal parts of the animal were taken outside the camp and burned (Exo. 29:14; Lev. 4:11-12, 21: 16:27).

 

And the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung, even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood, with fire:  where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.

 

c.       Just as the sin offering of the OT was taken outside the gate of the city, so also Jesus “suffered without the gate.”

1)       His offering was outside the gates of the city of Jerusalem (John 19:17).

 

And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of the skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha.

 

2)      The purpose of His offering was to sanctify the people.

a)      Sanctify

-          Strong (37):  to make holy, purify, consecrate

-          Thayer:  to purify, cleanse, to separate from profane things and dedicate to God.

b)     There were three aspects to sanctification:  cleansing, setting apart, a specific use for God.

3)      He did this “with his own blood.”

a)      This is a contrast because it was human blood, not the blood of animals.

b)     It was His “own” blood.  It shows the physical and personal aspects of the blood used to sanctify man.

3.       The Command (Heb. 13:13)

 

Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

 

a.       First, there is a call to come out of Judaism. 

1)       Let us go forth. 

2)      Let us go without the camp.

3)      “The admonition to ‘go forth unto him without the camp’ is designed to get these Jewish Christians to break all ties to Judaism, to leave the ‘camp’…” (Wacaster, p. 559).

4)      LESSON:  Every human being has a camp that he must leave in order to go out to the Christ:  family, friends, false religion, etc.

b.      Second, he exhorts us to “unto him without the camp.”

1)       He exhorts them to go to Jesus.

2)      Jesus was led as a criminal out of the city of Jerusalem to Golgotha.

3)      He was beaten, mocked, ridiculed, suffered, and died on the cross. 

4)      To go to Him means that you align yourself with Him.  You would be admitting:

a)      He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

b)     He is the Son of God.

c)      He is the long anticipated Messiah, the King of Kings.

d)     He is the Savior of the world.

5)      LESSON:  When we leave the camp, we have a place to go.  We go to Jesus.  We go to the one who loved us enough to suffer on our behalf.

c.       Third, he exhorts us to bear his reproach.

1)       “The meaning here is, that we should be willing to regard ourselves as identified with the Lord Jesus, and to bear the same shame and reproaches which he did (Barnes, e-sword).

2)      These Jews had come to understand that bearing His reproach was a part of Christianity.  Would the fact that Jesus sanctified them with His own blood encourage them to leave the camp of Judaism and remain faithful?

3)      LESSON:  When we go, we must understand that we are going to have to bear His reproach.  Jesus always told His followers that in following Him there would be suffering.

 

4.       The Consideration (Heb. 13:14)

 

For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.