Hebrews – Page 5 – Be Still…

Hebrews 5:11-6:12 – Going Deeper

Read Hebrews 5:11-6:12

These Christians had so much to learn, even though they had “been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others.” However, it seems they were stuck in the basics. They knew what it meant to be Jews, but to be followers of Christ changed their faith journey dramatically. Here we see the Preacher rebuking them. “You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.” It was time for them to stop being lazy Christians, and the Preacher uses a bit of “shock and awe” in this reading.

When people first come to faith in Jesus, we need to be careful not to overwhelm them with knowledge they aren’t ready for. Just like you wouldn’t give a newborn a piece of steak. However, the Preacher warns that it’s too easy to stay with “milk” and not move on to a deeper faith and understanding of what it means to be a Christ follower. I’ve seen many churches struggle with this very thing, and as a result, the congregation never goes deeper than the what the “newbies” can handle.

Hebrews 4:14-5:10 – Our High Priest

Read Hebrews 4:14-5:10

The idea of having a High Priest is a bit foreign to most of us because of what Jesus did for us. But the Preacher’s audience of Jews would have encountered a high priest regularly at festivals and animal sacrifices. A high priest was needed to cleanse their sins, up until 70 AD when animal sacrifice stopped. This reading does a good job of explaining the importance of what a high priest does for the people.

To be a high priest was a great honor given only by God. Even Jesus didn’t assume that would be his role despite fitting the criteria perfectly. It seems having the awareness of human weakness was important for the high priest. Until Jesus, even the high priests fell prey to sin and would have to cleanse themselves.

Hebrews 4:12-13 – Word of God

Read Hebrews 4:12-13

What a powerful reading! Don’t you feel empowered to spend as much time as possible in God’s word? The Bible is one of my favorite things. I hope it’s that way for you, too! When we hold a Bible in our hands, we have access to God’s love letter designed to make our lives better.

When we spend time in God’s word, the foundations of our faith are illuminated. The Bible continues to give us exactly what we need. The Preacher says, “the word of God is alive and powerful.” What does that mean to you? Think of the times you’ve read the same passage and each time something else “jumps out” at you. God’s word is alive and will speak to us in different ways. It’s up to us to be paying attention.

Hebrews 4:1-11 – What A Gift!

Read Hebrews 4:1-11

God’s rest is meant to be a gift! This is especially good news if you are one of those people (like me) who have a hard time sitting still. You want to be doing something, always keeping your mind or body in motion. The gift of rest is meant to slow us down – spend more time in God’s presence. The Preacher even says we ought to “tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it.”

This rest is so much more than the Sabbath rest mentioned here briefly. Do you find it difficult to cram everything you need to do into six days so that you can have your Sabbath on the seventh day? Having Sabbath rest is the ideal God intends for us. Consider how God offers us that day of rest as a gracious gift pointing to our ultimate rest in God’s presence. But often we fall short. That’s probably why when we read about Jesus healing on the Sabbath, for example, we have a hard time fathoming the seriousness of his actions.

Hebrews 3:7-19 – Enter His Rest

Read Hebrews 3:7-19

What does it mean to “enter His rest?” I initially thought it was referring to Sabbath rest, but it is not that meaning in this case. The whole idea of “rest” sounds fantastic when you’re scurrying around, trying to check off every single item on your “to-do” list. Again, this reference to rest is not laying around, binge watching Netflix in an over-stuffed chair, eating chocolate!

Our passage talks about disobedience and how that angers God. Consequences result from such behavior, to include missing out on the opportunity to enter His rest. Let’s unpack this so we can understand what we might be missing.