Daily Scripture Reading Hebrews 11:28 - 12:10
Many Christians think the Christian life should always be pleasant and joyful. Anyone who is not always happy is thought to be a bad Christian, lacking the joy of Christ.
There is a verse in today’s passage that illustrates true Biblical joy. True joy is not happiness. Joy is the confidence and satisfaction we experience when we persevere through pain and persecution.
The 11th chapter of Hebrews is the faith hall of fame. After defining faith as assurance and conviction, the author of Hebrews listed many examples of faith from the Old Testament. When we stopped reading yesterday, we were reading about the faith of Moses.
Heb. 11:28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.
The first pronoun “he” refers to Moses. The second pronoun “he” refers to the angel of God. Yahweh told Moses He was going to destroy the firstborn of all Egypt. That probably sounded preposterous, but Moses believed God and did as Yahweh instructed in order to protect the Israelites from the impending death. Moses’ belief in God demonstrated faith.
Heb. 11:29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land, and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drowned.
The first pronoun “they” refers to the Israelites. When God separated the waters of the Red Sea, it took courage for the Israelites to walk down into the sea with a wall of water on both sides of them. It took faith to believe that God would hold back the water until they passed to the other side.
Heb. 11:30 ¶ By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.
It was unrealistic to think that walking around Jericho for seven days would defeat the city. However, the Israelites obeyed God, and their belief in God was rewarded. God destroyed Jericho for the Israelites.
Heb. 11:31 By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after welcoming the spies in peace.
Heb. 11:32 ¶ And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I recount Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, as well as David and Samuel and the prophets,
Heb. 11:33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, performed righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,
Notice the phrase “through faith”. In verses 33 thorough 35 the author of Hebrews listed accomplishments recorded in the Old Testament. All the successes were the result of faith.
Heb. 11:34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong from weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Heb. 11:35 Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection;
Heb. 11:36 and others experienced mockings and floggings, yes, also chains and imprisonment.
Heb. 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, mistreated
Heb. 11:38 (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in desolate places and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.
Verses 35-38 list some of the sufferings people endured when they lived out their beliefs. Sometimes faith means believing God and serving Him despite the obstacles and persecutions we face.
Heb. 11:39 ¶ And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
Heb. 11:40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.
Heb. 12:1 ¶ Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, laying aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
Look at the word “therefore”. The command in chapter 12 verse 1 is what we should do in light of what was written in chapter 11. The first thing we should do in light of all the examples of faith is lay aside sin.
The second thing we should do is run the race.
Heb. 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The third thing we should do in light of all the examples of faith is fix our eyes on Jesus.
It is easy as humans to fix our eyes on wealth, pleasure, entertainment, and comfort. As Christians we need to focus on Jesus and pleasing Him.
Look at the word “joy” and think of the definition of joy. Enduring the cross was joy for Jesus. That doesn’t mean the cross was fun or pleasant. It means Jesus experienced joy because he accomplished something exceedingly difficult and knew He did the right thing.
Many Christians think joy is always being happy. That is not the Biblical definition of joy. Biblical joy is the confidence and satisfaction that comes after we do the right thing, especially when we have to endure pain and opposition in the process of doing the right thing.
Heb. 12:3 ¶ For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary, fainting in heart.
The end of this verse tells us not to grow weary. The implication is that as Christians we will endure hostility, and we need to persevere through the opposition.
Heb. 12:4 ¶ You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin.
Heb. 12:5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
“MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD,
NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;
Heb. 12:6 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,
AND HE FLOGS EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”
Heb. 12:7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
This is a warning that Christians will endure discipline. Discipline is not pleasant. We are not happy when we are disciplined. However, after we submit to the discipline and correct our errant behavior, we experience true joy.
Heb. 12:8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
Heb. 12:9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them. Shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb. 12:10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our benefit, so that we may share His holiness.
Many Christians think the Christian life should always be pleasant and joyful. Anyone who is not always happy is thought to be a bad Christian, lacking the joy of Christ.
However, true Biblical joy is serving and obeying God, particularly when it is difficult to do so.
How should your concept of joy change in light of today’s passage?
What are some occasions when you persevered through hardship and experience true joy?
Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. If you have already joined my email list, thank you and please tell others about Bible Mountain. If you have not joined my email list yet, please do so now. In order to join, go to Bible Mountain dotcom, click on subscribe, and that will take you to a page where you can sign up. Your email address will not be sold nor given away. Once again, thanks for visiting Bible Mountain.
“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”