The author of the Letter to the Hebrews was a Hebrew Jesus follower, a leader or apostle in the new Jesus movement that was created in the Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit in about AD 33 (Acts 2).
The letter was written sometime around AD 62-66. Hebrews 1:2 calls it “the last days”, an expression meaning the End Times, that is the last days of Israel as the people of God.
It was written when Jesus’ followers were new Christians though still identified as Jewish. They were the true people of God, people “who remain confident in their hope in Christ” (Hebrews 3:6). These believers were opposed and persecuted by those fake Israelites, who refused to accept Jesus (Hebrews 10:32-36) and as a consequence were under the judgment of God.
Please note, Hebrews was not written to us but it can be useful for us, it can be very important for us. The letter is full of warnings not to fall away—important for us today.
Many passages in this letter affirm that the recipients were the real people of God who met together and not those who rejected Christ
But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ”. (Hebrews 3:4-6) Thus God says all who remain confident in our hope in Christ are the true people of God! This is true for us today despite those who hold the ridiculous myth that Israelites are “the people of God”.
See also Hebrews 3:13-14: You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.
These readers were expecting his soon, second-coming Kingdom. See Hebrews 9:27-28: . . . . after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation.
It’s important to see this letter was not written to us. Though not to us, it can be very important for us. The letter is full of warnings not to fall away. For today’s Christian this is just as important. For “Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Heb 13:8).
Now looking at Hebrews 3:13-14: You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.
For those first believers, it was still “today” because “tomorrow” they expected Jesus’ return, and the age to come! But for us today, the Word of God still insists that we warn each other every day.
Now let’s look at Hebrews 10:24-25.
Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
Our author here emphasizes the importance of community and mutual encouragement among those Century 1 believers, and especially because the Lord’s coming for them was imminent.
For us today, we may not be expecting the Lord’s soon coming as they did, yet what God says here is critical to be applied.
Ask yourself.
Do you, does anyone, today seriously consider ways to motivate fellow believers to such acts when gathered together? No, hardly ever. People leave that up to their pastor or minister. You may legalistically attend “church”. But the Lord wants us to meet together (Grk ekklesia) rather than attend a ‘service’ or organisation. In church services how can we possibly encourage one another, sitting in pews and relying on a minister? Satan has convinced today’s churchgoers to be inactive—many waiting for some mythical soon ‘rapture’ event. Many churchgoers just sit, observe or go to sleep in church services. Whereas these first century believers were to be salt of the earth and the light of the world as Jesus taught and eagerly awaited his imminent return.
This is the main, if not the only, passage in scripture that clergy use to urge people to “come to church”. The sole one! And then what to pastors do? They do everything and the people do nothing.
Again see Hebrews 12:15. Here’s another ‘each other’ just one of about 100 : Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God.
God’s word commands us to act and make arrangements to care for one another in our believing community. How do we do that? Certainly not by relying on the gifting of some overworked pastor.
So how can we today obey God’s word and actually do as he says?
There is no better way than to meet together in an informal setting of fellowship and community and allow the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be present.
You can start meeting with one other believer and Jesus promises to be with the two or three! Matthew 18:20
You can start or join a home church—look up www.oikos.org.au, people who “see a movement of God where simple churches are started in houses, cafes, work places, clubs, parks, markets, schools – making Jesus accessible to every Aussie and impacting every corner of our nation”.
We can use the phone to exhort and pray. We also can use email posts and social media, ‘Zoom’ sessions as many believers do.
But let’s do it!
Ian Thomson 