CHAPTER XII. _Having so many incitements to holiness, patience, and_ _perseverance, we should lay aside every hinderance, and run_ _with patience the race that is set before us, taking our_ _blessed Lord for our example_, 1-4. _These sufferings are to be considered as fatherly chastisements_ _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hebrews 12:2. _LOOKING UNTO JESUS_] αφορωντες. Looking _off_ and _on_, or _from_ and _to_; looking _off_ or _from_ the world and all secular concerns _to_ Jesus and all the spiritual and heavenly things connected with him. This is still an allusion to the Grecian games: those who ran were to k... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hebrews 12:3. _FOR CONSIDER HIM_] Αναλογισασθε - ἱνα μη καμητε, ταις ψυχαις - εκλυμενοι· Attentively observe and analyze every part of his conduct, enter into his spirit, examine his motives and object, and remember that, as he acted, ye are called to act; he will furnish you with the same Sp... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hebrews 12:4. _YE HAVE NOT YET RESISTED UNTO BLOOD_] Many of those already mentioned were martyrs for the truth; they persevered unto death, and lost their lives in bearing testimony to the truth. Though you have had opposition and persecution, yet you have not been called, in bearing your tes... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hebrews 12:5. _AND YE HAVE FORGOTTEN_] Or, have ye forgotten the exhortation? This quotation is made from Proverbs 3:11, and shows that the address there, which at first sight appears to be from Solomon to his son, or from some fatherly man to a person in affliction, is properly from _God hims... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hebrews 12:6. _FOR WHOM THE LORD LOVETH HE CHASTENETH_] Here is the _reason_ why we should neither _neglect_ correction, nor _faint_ under it: it is a proof of the fatherly love of God Almighty, and shows his most gracious designs towards us; from which we may be fully convinced that the affli... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hebrews 12:7. _IF YE ENDURE CHASTENING_] If ye submit to his authority, humble yourselves under his hand, and pray for his blessing, you will find that he deals with you as beloved children, correcting you that he may make you partakers of his holiness. _GOD DEALETH WITH YOU AS WITH SONS_] He... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hebrews 12:8. _THEN ARE YE BASTARDS_] This proceeds on the general fact, that _bastards_ are neglected in their manners and education; the fathers of such, feeling little affection for, or obligation to regard, their spurious issue. But _all_ that are legitimate children _are partakers_ of cha... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hebrews 12:9. _WE HAVE HAD FATHERS OF OUR FLESH_] The fathers of our flesh, i.e. our natural parents, were correctors; and we reverenced them, notwithstanding their corrections often arose from whim or caprice: but _shall we not rather be in subjection to_ _the Father of spirits_; to him from... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hebrews 12:10. _FOR - A FEW DAYS_] The chastisement of our earthly parents lasted only a _short time_; that of our heavenly Father will also be but a _short time_, if we submit: and as our parents ceased to correct when we learned obedience; so will our heavenly Father when the end for which h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hebrews 12:11. _NO CHASTENING FOR THE PRESENT SEEMETH TO BE JOYOUS_] Neither correction, wholesome restraint, domestic regulations, nor gymnastic discipline, are pleasant to them that are thus exercised; but it is by these means that _obedient children_, _scholars_, and _great men_ are made. A... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hebrews 12:12. _WHEREFORE LIFT UP THE HANDS_] The apostle refers to Isaiah 35:3. The words are an address to persons almost worn out with sickness and fatigue, whose hands hang down, whose knees shake, and who are totally discouraged. These are exhorted to exert themselves, and take courage, w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hebrews 12:13. _MAKE STRAIGHT PATHS FOR YOUR FEET_] That is, Take the straight path that is before you, do not go in crooked or rough ways, where are stones, briers, and thorns, by which you will be inevitably lamed, and so totally prevented from proceeding in the way; whereas, if you go in th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 14. _FOLLOW PEACE WITH ALL MEN_] Cultivate, as far as you possibly can, a good understanding, both with Jews and Gentiles. ειρηνηνδιωκετε, pursue peace with the same care, attention, and diligence, as _beasts_ do their _game_; follow it through all places; trace it through all winding circumst... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 15. _LOOKING DILIGENTLY_] επισκοπουντες. _Looking about_, _over_, and _upon_; being constantly on your guard. _LEST ANY MAN FAIL OF THE GRACE OF GOD_] Μη τις ὑστερων απο της χαριτος του Θεου· _Lest any person should come behind_, or _fall off_ _from, this grace_ or GIFT _of God_; this _state... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 16. _LEST THERE_ be _any fornicator_] Any licentious person who would turn the Gospel of the grace of God into lasciviousness. _OR PROFANE PERSON, AS ESAU_] It is not intimated that Esau was a _fornicator_; and the disjunctive η, _or_, separates the _profane_ _person_ from the _fornicator_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 17. _WHEN HE WOULD HAVE INHERITED THE BLESSING_] When he wished to have _the lordship over the whole family conveyed to him_, and sought it earnestly with tears, he found no place for a _change_ in his _father's mind_ and counsel, who now perceived that it was the will of God that Jacob should... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 18. - 21. _FOR YE ARE NOT COME UNTO THE MOUNT THAT MIGHT_ _BE TOUCHED_] I believe the words ψηλαφωμενωορει should be translated _to a palpable_ or _material mountain_; for that it was not a mountain that on this occasion _might be touched_, the history, Exodus 19:12; Exodus 19:13, shows; and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 22. _BUT YE ARE COME UNTO MOUNT SION_] In order to enter fully into the apostle's meaning, we must observe, 1. That the Church, which is called here the _city of the living God_, the heavenly Jerusalem, and mount Sion, is represented under the notion of a CITY. 2. That the great assembly of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 23. _TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY_] πανηγυρει. This word is joined to the preceding by some of the best MSS., and is quoted in connection by several of the fathers: _Ye are come-to the general_ _assembly of innumerable angels_; and this is probably the true connection. The word πανηγυρις is compou... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 24. _AND TO JESUS THE MEDIATOR OF THE NEW COVENANT_] The old covenant and its mediator, Moses, are passed away. See Hebrews 8:13. The new covenant, i.e. the Gospel, is now in force, and will be to the end of the world; and Jesus, the Son of God, the brightness of the Father's glory, the Maker... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 25. _SEE_] βλεπετε. _Take heed, that ye refuse not him _- the Lord Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, who now speaketh _from heaven_, by his Gospel, to the Jews and to the Gentiles, having in his incarnation come down from God. _HIM THAT SPAKE ON EARTH_] Moses, who spoke on the part of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 26. _WHOSE VOICE THEN SHOOK THE EARTH_] Namely, at the giving of the law on Mount Sinai; and from this it seems that it was the voice of _Jesus_ that then shook the earth, and that it was he who came down on the mount. But others refer this simply to God the Father giving the law. _NOT THE EA... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 27. _THE REMOVING OF THOSE THINGS THAT ARE SHAKEN_] The whole of the _Jewish polity_, which had been in a _shaken state_ from the time that Judea had fallen under the power of the Romans. _AS OF THINGS THAT ARE MADE_] That is, subjects intended to last only for a time. God never designed that... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 28. _WE RECEIVING A KINGDOM_] The Gospel dispensation, frequently termed the _kingdom of God_ and the _kingdom of heaven_, because in it God reigns among men, and he reigns in the hearts of them that believe, and his kingdom is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. _WHICH CANNOT BE... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hebrews 12:29. _FOR OUR GOD_ is _a consuming fire._] The apostle quotes Deuteronomy 4:24, and by doing so he teaches us this great truth, that sin under the Gospel is as abominable in God's sight as it was under the law; and that the man who does not labour to serve God with the principle and... [ Continue Reading ]