Hebrews - Second to the last Lesson (Part XI)

Chapter Twelve

Introduction

                Having finished with the “hall of faith” in Chapter 11, the author summarizes his thoughts at the beginning of chapter 12, then he moves on in the remainder of Hebrews to exhort his readers into taking full account and responding correctly to all that he has shown them.

νέφος [nephos /nef·os/] (cloud) v1

This is not nephele, which is the word for a detached and sharply outlined cloud.  This is the word for a mass of cloud covering, a single large mass of clouds that fills the whole sky.  What we would call a cloudy or overcast day.

μάρτυς [martus /mar·toos/] (witnesses) v1

The word here is “one who testifies, or can testify, to what he has seen or heard or knows by any other means.”  In an ethical sense it was used in the early Church to designate those who had proved the strength and genuineness of their faith in Jesus by undergoing a violent death.  This is the word that we get our word martyr from.

ἀγών [agon /ag·one/] (race) v1

This is a Greek athletic term speaking of a contest, a strenuous tough competition.

ὄγκος [ogkos /ong·kos/] (hinders) v1 

This is an inadequate translation in the NIV.  This word means bulk, mass, superfluous flesh.  The obvious reference here is the athletic training period where a runner gets into shape, or a fighter loses the extra flesh he needs to get into “fighting shape”.

εὐπερίσπαστος [euperistatos /yoo·per·is·tat·os/] (entangles) v1

From eu meaning readily or deftly, cleverly, and the verb form of the rest of the word means to place itself around.  It gives the picture of a sin that would hang on you like a long loose robe, again like a boxer trying to fight with his warm up robe or sweats on.

πρόκειμαι [prokeimai /prok·i·mahee/] (marked out) v1

This word gives the picture of a path or a road lying before us, like a road that stretches out before your eyes.

                I have always heard this verse translated like we as Christians have this big arena of Old Testament Saints who are watching us run the race and urging and spurring us on.  What the writer here intended is that more than spectators, these “clouds” are not to be looked for at looked at, they are there simply to remind us of the races that they themselves had run, and are to inspire us to “stay the course.”  In context the sin that was easily entangling these readers was their un-faith.

ἀφοράω [aphorao /af·or·ah·o/] (fix our eyes) v2 

To turn the eyes away from other things and to fix them on something.  This word also has a secondary meaning of turning one’s mind to a certain thing.  Again with the race analogy, we are to stop looking at anything that isn’t the finish line.  The readers here are urged to take their eyes off of all the pomp and ceremony of the old and to fix their eyes and minds on the simplicity and realness of the new.

ἀρχηγός [archegos /ar·khay·gos/] (author) v2

This is a compound word made up of ago, to lead, and arche, the first.  Together the  word means the chief leader, one that takes  the lead in anything and thus furnishes the example.  In our context Jesus would be the chief leader of faith.

τελειωτής [teleiotes /tel·i·o·tace/]  (perfector) v2

To carry through completely, to finish, to make perfect or complete.  Jesus in His life of faith on earth became the perfect or complete example of the life of faith.

                So what we have here is the idea that for the joy Jesus was to have after his work was done (Heb 1:9), he showed his faith by choosing to endure and suffer death on a cross.  This fits nicely with the other examples of faith in chapter 11, how they all kept their collective eyes on the prize.

                In verses 3 through 17 again the author is going to go into an argument that he touched on in chapter 6.  That if these Hebrews will go on and continue in their faith, that is a sure sign that they are saved, whereas if they do not go on, that will also be a sure sign that they were never saved.

                In verses 3 and 4 he asks the readers to consider how much persecution Jesus had to endure from sinful man, and consider this as they stand in the midst of their much less severe persecution.

παιδεία [paideia /pahee·di·ah/] (discipline) v5 

This is the word used for the whole of training and education of children.  It speaks also of instruction, which aims at the increase of virtue.  Nowhere is this word used of punishment.

                The author’s point in verses 5 and 6 is that the Lord is using these mild persecutions in an effort to educate and to clarify the people’s spiritual vision in an effort to get them to move on from the old towards the new.

                In 7 through 10 the author makes several points about discipline.  In the Old Testament, the Jews were taught that whenever they did something wrong God was going to punish them, with a drought or famine or whatever.  The author here is hurrying to remind them that the persecution they are enduring now is only proving their son-ship, that is, proving it as long as they endure it.  He then compares the discipline they received from the earthly fathers, as they saw fit, to the perfect discipline that they are receiving from God.

δοκέω [dokeo /dok·eh·o/] (thought best) v10 

To be of opinion, to think, to suppose.  Used of a subjective judgment that may or may not conform to fact.

                This is the kind of discipline we receive from our earthly fathers, it may or may not be right, but we are called to respect them for it anyway.  The discipline we receive from God is always for our good, and for His purposes.

γυμνάζω [gumnazo /goom·nad·zo/] (trained) v11

Word used of Greek athletes exercising in connection with their athletic games.  To exercise in any way, either the body or the mind.

                Again here we have a neat picture of God exercising us through discipline, getting us ready to run our race.  The author says that no discipline seems at the time to be fruitful.  This is true, you never know what kind of shape you are in until you start the race; it is only at that time you become aware of your spiritual fitness.

ἀνορθόω [anorthoo /an·orth·o·o/] (strengthen) v12

To restore to straightness or erectness, to reinvigorate.  It was used of medical writers of the act of setting dislocated parts of the body.

                Here we are encouraged to strengthen or straighten our hands for the work and our knees or legs for the race.

ὀρθός [orthos /or·thos/] (level) v13

Not so much in the sense of straight as distinguished from crooked, but more generally in the sense of right or plain, and in this passage even or smooth.

τροχιά [trochia /trokh·ee·ah/] (paths) v13

Literally a wheel track.  A worn path in the road that makes it easier for carts to follow one after the other.

                Here the born-again and saved Jews are encourage to make the “wheel-tracks” in the race course; to make it easier for others who are not so strong to follow their example.  This is a really neat application for our lives today.  Instead though we spend way too much time and effort making it harder for the weaker to follow us.

διώκω [dioko /dee·o·ko/] (make every effort) v14

To run swiftly in order to catch some person or thing, to run after, to press on.  To pursue, to seek after eagerly, earnestly endeavor to acquire.

                Again here the exhortation is to the believer.  In the midst of persecution of any kind it is easy to become quarrelsome.  We are exhorted to run after peace and acquire it with every man.  This process again would help make the “wheel tracks” smooth.  The holiness that is being talked about refers us back to 10:14 and 10:22 where we are to draw near to God with a cleansed conscience.  A true acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross will bring us into fellowship with God.

                In verses 15 through 17 we read of some “see to its”.  Again we are to strive to see that no one misses the gift of God.  We are to watch and oversee to make sure that no bitter root springs up and defiles the body.  We are to avoid the sin of Esau, who here is called godless or common or literally un-holy.  These Jews were not to sell their birthright (salvation) to meet some physical need (end of persecution).  It is interesting here that the author uses language that makes it plain in the Greek that Esau was sorry that this happened, therefore seeking the blessing with tears, but he could not change his heart and truly repent.  Esau was sorry that it had happened, but not sorry that he had done it.

                Again in verses 18 through 21, the author is conjuring up memories for these Jews about the revelation of the First Testament.  How it was an actual mountain that could be touched, but no one dared.  How the first was given in a dark and gloomy and terrifying setting so much so that even Moses was terrified.

                Now in verses 22 - 24 the author compares that dark and terrifying day to the joy of the heavenly city Zion.  It is compared to the festive atmosphere, to the joy of all the saints who had gone before.  The author literally uses words that describe it as a party or celebration.  In verse 24 he finishes, comparing again by bringing up Jesus’ blood, again hammering home the point of a better sacrifice.

                In verse 25 it is God who speaks: first from Mt. Sinai, second from heaven, as it says in the first chapter, through His Son.

                Verses 26 through 29 refer to a passage in Haggai;

Haggai 2:6 (NIV) 6 “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. [1] [1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

 

               

This will be fulfilled during the Great Tribulation period when the heavenly bodies will be disorganized;

Revelation 6:12-17 (NIV) 12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.   15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” [1] [1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Revelation 8:12 (NIV) 12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night. [1] [1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

 

And the earthquake that will shake the entire earth, occurring at the moment Jesus’ feet touch the Mount of Olives at the close of the Tribulation;

Zechariah 14:4-5 (NIV) 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. 5 You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. [1] [1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

 

Revelation 16:18 (NIV) 18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. [1] [1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Revelation 11:13 (NIV) 13 At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. [1] [1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

 

Again the author’s point through all of this is that the temporary is going to be replaced with the permanent.  The earth will be removed and the permanent glorified earth will be present forever.  Again, as he has before, stating that with this new covenant there will be a doing away with everything associated with the old.

What a Slacker

This is something I put together for a Men's Breakfast. Hey Courtney Ann, this is for you:

This is a transcript of a commentary from the radio show "Stand to Reason," with Gregory Koukl. It is made available to you at no charge through the faithful giving of those who support Stand to Reason. Reproduction permitted for non-commercial use only. ©1996 Gregory Koukl

 “Recently, I was asked a question that I get asked a lot. It's a common challenge on the campus. It was offered as I spoke in the lecture hall at Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls. Though it was primarily a Christian group who came from the outside, this was the facility they used. The question is one that is asked all the time on campus.

I was reflecting on that question as I flew back this morning. I started jotting some notes down and was quite surprised at what I came up with in response to this question. They were things I'd been aware of before, but it was interesting the way it all fell together. The question was this, how to deal with somebody who says there is no truth.

Now this is very popular on campus, with deconstructionism and postmodernism, this radical skepticism that's swept the academy. It's this idea that you can't know anything for sure, nothing is set in concrete; everything is influenced by our culture, our upbringing and our suppositions, so it's impossible to get at any objective truth.

I flatly reject such a thing. I think there are a number of things we can count on as being true simply because the opposite is not possible. If we can even utter the sentence, "There is no truth"-- and, of course, we must at least utter the sentence to make the claim-- then several things must be objectively true.

First of all, if someone holds that there is no truth, then there's at least one thing that's true: the statement they just uttered that there is no truth. It's one of those awkward situations for a person making a claim, because there's no way their claim can be true. If it's true, it's false, and if it's false, it's false. Obviously, if the statement "There is no truth" is false, then it's false. But even if it's true that there is no truth, then it's also false, because that becomes a true statement, which nullifies it.

It's called a self-refuting statement. It's as if I said, "I can't speak a word of English." If I said it in English, of course that would be self-refuting. This is one of those statements. Even to utter the statement itself is a statement of truth, and so the statement that there is no truth can't stand. It defeats itself.

But there's more. In order to state the phrase "There is no truth," an individual must exist to ponder the truths of existence. Remember Descartes, sitting around in his oven back in the 18th Century, or thereabouts? He said, "I can doubt everything, but the one thing I can't doubt is the fact that I am doubting." He came up with a dictum: Cogito, ergo sum, or "I think, therefore I am." I must exist if I'm pondering my existence. Someone who states that there is no truth must exist, and so it's true that at least one individual, the one uttering the statement, must exist.

Time must also exist, by the way. Time must exist to express a sequence of words, the sequence being "There is no truth." The word "is" must come after the word "there," and the word "no" after both of them, and one can only come after the other if there's time, with present, past and future. So time must exist as an objectively true thing, because this statement was uttered with words in temporal sequence.

The statement itself is a proposition, so propositions must exist. That's a truth. It contains tokens, words that are tokens of ideas. The concept of truth, the concept of negation expressed in the word "no," must exist as ideas and be true as existants, things that exist.

There has to be the concept of unity, the idea that the four words work together in a sentence, and plurality, the distinction of the four different words. Space must exist to differentiate one word from another, separating the units.

If the statement itself that there is no truth is true, then its opposite must be false. If there is no truth, then it is not the case that there is truth. Therefore, the law of non-contradiction must exist and be true. That statement is also distinguished from all of its contradictions, so the law of identity must be true.

There's at least one sentence that exists, because the person just uttered it. That must be true. There are English words, and grammatical relationships between the words-- subject and predicate. That must be true.

The numbers one through four must exist because there are four different words. So addition must be true, because you add those units up and get the number four. The alphabet exists. Parts of speech exist, like nouns and verbs.

Do you see the point? In order to object by saying "There is no truth," there must be at least 14 things that are true before you can even make the statement. They must, in fact, be necessarily true, given the statement itself. When I say necessarily true, I mean there's no way they can be false, given the statement, "There is no truth," uttered in English. If there's such a statement uttered in English, then all these other things must be true. It's impossible for them not to be true.

That's why radical skepticism like this is not justified. As one thinker put it-- Dallas Willard, a Christian philosopher at U.S.C.-- "If we want to be intellectually honest skeptics, we must be as skeptical about our skepticism as we are about our knowledge." We should take the burden of proof to defend our skepticism instead of simply asserting our skepticism. Anyone can assert skepticism. Whether they can make sense out of their skepticism is a different thing.

That's why just uttering the statement "There is no truth," in itself establishes the truth of many different things. And if we can establish their truth just by uttering such a statement, then it seems to me there are a whole lot of other things we can determine to be true as well, and be certain about.

Therefore, radical skepticism is unjustified”.

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition 2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009

Says:

Truth

The quality of being true, genuine, actual, or factual;

Something that is true as opposed to false;

A proven or verified principle of statement, fact;

A system of concepts purporting to represent some aspect of the world;

Fidelity (faithfulness) to a required standard or law;

A faithful reproduction or portrayal;

An obvious fact; truism; platitude;

Honesty, reliability, or veracity;

The state or quality of being faithful; allegiance.

In the farewell prayer of Jesus, He said:

John 17:17 (NIV)

“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”

So it follows that the Bible ought to have the characteristics of truth:

1.   The quality of being true, genuine, actual, or factual

John 19:35 (NIV)

            The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.

Isaiah 45:19 (NIV)

            I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right.

Matthew 22:16 (NIV)

            They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are.

2.   Something that is true as opposed to false

1 Kings 17:24 (NIV)

            Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

Job 42:7 (NIV)

            After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.

Psalm 15 (NIV)

            Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?  Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.

3.   A proven or verified principle of statement, fact.

Numbers 23:19 (NIV)

             God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Psalm 145:18 (NIV)

             The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

Proverbs 12:17 (NIV)

             An honest witness tells the truth, but a false witness tells lies. 

4.   A system of concepts purporting to represent some aspect of the world.

Psalm 25:5 (NIV)

             Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

John 18:37 (NIV)

             “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

5.   Fidelity (faithfulness) to a required standard or law

Psalm 119:43 (NIV)

             Never take your word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws.

Romans 1:18 (NIV)

            The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

6.   A faithful reproduction or portrayal

1 Timothy 2:7 (NIV)

            And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.

1 John 1:6 (NIV)

             If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.

7.   An obvious fact; truism; platitude

Proverbs 12:19 (NIV)

             Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

1 Corinthians 13:6 (NIV)

             Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

8.   Honesty, reliability, or veracity

Galatians 2:4 (NIV)

             This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.

John 19:35 (NIV)

             The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.

9.   The state or quality of being faithful; allegiance

Proverbs 23:23 (NIV)

             Buy the truth and do not sell it—wisdom, instruction and insight as well.

John 4:24 (NIV)

             God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

John 8:32 (NIV)

             Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

The bible is truth.  We need as it says in Ephesians to wash ourselves in the word.  The word wash is related to baptism.  So we are to immerse ourselves in God’s word.

John 15:1–3 (NIV)

            “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

James 1:18 (NIV)

            He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

1 Peter 1:23 (NIV)

            For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

If you want to know what is true, baptize yourself in the Bible.

If you want to say what is true, baptize yourself in the Bible.

If you want to be true, baptize yourself in the Bible.