Three lettuces - 4 October 2009 |
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A few notes on the three exhortations (Let us…) in Hebrews 10:22-25.
1. ‘Faith’ (v. 22), ‘hope’ (v. 23) and ‘love’ (v. 24).
2. Father, Son and Spirit.
- We ‘draw near’ to the Father (v. 22).
- We ‘hold fast’ to the Son (v. 23). This is a bit harder to spot, but notice that the same language of ‘holding fast’ to our ‘hope’ appears in 6:18-20, where the ‘hope’ is described as a ’sure and steadfast anchor for the soul’ (6:19), and identified as ‘Jesus’ in 6:20.
- We encourage one another (10:25) – note that ‘encouragement’ is identified as a Spiritual gift in Romans 12:8.
3. We focus on the Lord, ourselves and each other.
- We draw near to God (v. 22).
- We hold fast to our own, individual confession (v. 23; note the warning directed to individuals in 10:26ff.)
- We encourage each other (vv. 24-25).
4. The three exhortations map onto the three ‘offices’ of priest, king and prophet.
- We ‘draw near’ (v. 22) as priests into the heavenly sanctuary.
- We ‘hold fast’ to our hope (v. 23) – language reminiscent of the description of Christ in 3:6, who was ‘faithful over all God’s house as a Son’, i.e. as God’s anointed King (cf. Ps 2), and in whom ‘we share’ if we ‘hold … firm’ (3:14) to our confidence.
- We encourage each other as prophets, speaking the word of God to each other.
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Posted by Steve Jeffery · Topics: Bible, Minister's Blog