X. Exhortation to Draw Near and Warning Against Rebellion (Hebrews 10:19-39)

X. Exhortation to Draw Near and Warning Against Rebellion (10:19-39)

10:19-21 After his long and powerful discussion of the superiority of Jesus Christ and his work, the author returns to the matter at hand: the readers are struggling. They had encountered trials and had become complacent. They were neglecting their salvation (2:3) and refusing to “go on to maturity” (6:1). They thus needed a reminder of what they had in front of them.

In light of who Jesus is and what he has done (7:1–10:18), we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus (10:19). The author is again using the imagery of the tabernacle. You couldn’t just go waltzing into God’s presence in the most holy place. Only the high priest could enter and only once a year. But through the blood of Jesus our great high priest, the curtain between God and humanity has been removed (10:20-21). Access has been granted. You can now enter into the presence of God—and you can come with confidence. You don’t have to be ashamed. You don’t have to tip-toe.

10:22-25 Just draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith (10:22). With this kind of access to God, we come into his presence boldly. Prayer becomes vibrant when we become real. Everything changes when you realize that Jesus has already dealt with the things you’re ashamed to discuss. Have you ever heard someone beat around the bush because he is afraid to get to the point and address the problem? We never have to do that with the Lord! God knows our issues, and he’s dealt with our problems. In fact, our hearts [are] sprinkled clean and our bodies [are] washed in pure water (10:22). He’s just waiting for us to start a conversation; he’s waiting for us to draw near to him. So, do it with confidence. Be real with the Father. Boldness in drawing near to God is critical for avoiding divine discipline associated with the willful sin the author is about to address.

Also, let us hold on to the confession of our hope (10:24). Don’t persist in rebellion against God. Pursue Christ and grow in grace! And if you’re wondering how to do that when times are hard, that’s what the local church is for. Connecting to a vibrant, biblically based, loving church is a critical tool that can steer us away from disobedience so that we can avert sin’s consequences and divine discipline. Believers who are not a functioning part of a local church are living outside of the will of God and limiting God’s work in their lives.

Tragically, some of this letter’s readers had started neglecting to gather together (10:25). They were avoiding the means God had provided to help them. Remember, when your “get-up-and-go” has gotten up and gone, you need someone who can lift you up. Furthermore, there’s someone ready to throw in the towel who needs you to walk alongside him or her. That’s why the writer of Hebrews says, Let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works (10:24). It can be hard to be a Christian. We need to be practicing the “one-anothers,” encouraging each other . . . as [we] see the day approaching (10:25).

10:26-27 But what if you refuse to let others help you? What if you intentionally choose to rebel against the Lord? Well, if we deliberately go on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth—that is, after hearing God’s Word—there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins (10:26). What remains instead? A terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire (10:27).

The idea here is willful sin against God, a sin committed because a believer develops a defiant spirit. Think of a teenager who, when corrected for disobedience, becomes stubborn and says to his parents, “I don’t care what you say.”

Houston, we have a problem! This is rebellion. And it has to be dealt with because unaddressed rebellion only gets worse and can spread. What we see in this passage is not a description of a struggling believer who sins. This is willful rebellion. That’s why the author uses the word “deliberately.” This is a determined mindset to have one’s own way.

When a believer continues in this kind of unrepentant rebellion, there are consequences: judgment and fire (10:27). This is not, however, a reference to hell. As we saw earlier (see 6:7-8), Scripture sometimes uses fire to describe God’s discipline of believers (see 1 Cor 3:11-15). We’ve seen throughout Hebrews that the author is speaking to Christians (e.g., “brothers and sisters” in 10:19) whose salvation is secure (e.g., 10:14), so the consequences he’s describing refer to the stern discipline of God.

10:28-31 The most severe form of discipline for spiritual disobedience is physical death (see 1 John 5:16). This was the case in Israel for those who disregarded the Mosaic law (10:28). Their countrymen stoned them. The author says that for the Christian who defies God, there will be a worse punishment than even this. And while we don’t see it happen very often, the very idea demonstrates how serious God is about his holiness. In Corinth, some believers became sick and even died because of their disobedience regarding the Lord’s Supper (see 1 Cor 11:27-32). As Paul told the Corinthians: “When we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned with the world” (1 Cor 11:32).

If you persist willfully in the very sin for which Christ died to set you free, you’ve trampled on the Son of God . . . regarded as profane the blood of the covenant and insulted the Spirit of grace (10:29). Such is the willful rebellion of believers who treat with contempt the high sacrificial price paid by God’s Son to bring us our great salvation. God will not ignore this. The sacrifice that saves you from the eternal consequences of sin will not necessarily deliver you from the consequences of sin in history. The Lord vows to judge his people (10:30). This is not the side of God you want to see, because it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God (10:31; see Rom 11:22).

10:32-34 Though he’s delivered a stern warning to his readers so they might avoid indulging a rebellious heart, the author immediately follows it up with warm encouragement. He urges them to remember the earlier days—that is, to recall what it was like after they were first saved. Their passion for Christ and for the gospel was so strong that they endured intense sufferings, mistreatment, and the confiscation of their property. They didn’t quit but sympathized with others who were similarly mistreated. “Persevere as you did before,” the author tells them in essence. “Don’t give up now!”

10:35-36 Not only is there severe discipline for those who rebel, but there is reward for those who obey: Don’t throw away your confidence, which has a great reward (10:35). The author calls them to endurance so that they may do God’s will and receive what was promised. God always keeps his promises. But notice what the writer says: you receive what was promised after you have done the Lord’s will (10:36). The promise, the reward, the inheritance—some of which is granted in history and the rest in eternity—is attached to performing the will of God.

The longer the obedience takes, the longer it takes for the promise to be fulfilled.

Israel should have possessed the promised land in minimal time. However, it took them forty years to enter—not because the promise changed but because they refused to do God’s will. And sadly, in the end, it required a new generation of Israelites to accomplish the work and receive the promise.

Remember the three-fold process discussed in the commentary on 3:7-11? Deliverance, development, and destiny are each parts of God’s process. You never get to skip the development stage. God wants to change your character, not just your circumstances. He’s working to make you more like Jesus.

10:37-39 Make no mistake: the Coming One will come and not delay (10:37). He will move on our behalf in history as we trust and obey him (Jas 5:7-8). If you want to experience his pleasure now and when he comes, then keep moving forward, press on to maturity, and live by faith (10:38). You became a Christian by faith, and you can only live the Christian life by faith. The author is confident that his readers are not like those who draw back but those who have faith. He’s talking to believers, describing the difference between those who do and do not experience God’s deliverance from or through circumstances.

Sometimes we need examples to follow. We need to look to the lives of heroes of the faith who endured tremendous struggles but continued to trust God. In the next chapter, the author will help the readers do just that, reminding them that they’re not alone. He’ll take them on a historical tour of fellow believers who lived by faith.