The writer now turned from the hearers' responsibility as they experienced suffering (vv. 1-13) to the peril of rejecting God who continues to speak to us through His Son using the Scriptures.
As the preceding pericope (vv. 1-13), this one also is a chiasm.
AExhortation (vv. 14-17)
BExposition (vv. 18-24)
A'Exhortation (vv. 25-29)
"The synthesis of so many significant themes and motifs within a single section identifies 12:14-29 as the pastoral and theological climax of the sermon . . ."408
These verses summarize what the writer said previously about irrevocable loss through disobedience, unbelief, apostasy, and contempt for New Covenant privileges. The fearful warning about Esau brings these earlier warnings to an awesome head.
12:14 We need to live peaceably with all people as much as we can (cf. Matt. 5:9; Mark 9:50; Rom. 12:18; 14:19) because peaceful interpersonal relationships foster godliness (James 3:18). However this writer's emphasis was more on the objective reality that results from Christ's death than on our subjective enjoyment of peace. Since we will one day see the Lord, and since no sin can abide in His presence, we must pursue holiness in our lives now. A better translation than "sanctification"here is "holiness"(Gr. hagiasmon; cf. hagiatetosin v. 10, and hagiasomenoiin 10:10).409As with peace, holiness is our present state, and we need to continue to manifest it by remaining faithful when tempted to depart from the Lord.
This statement may seem at first to contradict the fact that Satan saw God and appeared in His presence in Job 1 and 2. While Satan did and probably still does have access to God's presence, that will not be his permanent privilege. The writer of Hebrews spoke here of the permanent privilege of human beings.
12:15 Negatively the writer warned against neglecting God's grace (help). God's grace enables us to persevere (cf. 3:12), but here it is almost synonymous with the Christian faith. This neglect would result in unfaithfulness spreading as a poison among God's people (cf. Deut. 29:17-18). The writer pictured departure from the truth here as a root that produces bitter fruit in the Christian community. It results in the spiritual defilement of many other believers eventually. The writer was not implying that most of his readers were in danger of apostatizing but that the failure of only one individual can affect many other believers.
"Stubbornness, when it grows, produces the noxious fruit of apostasy, which is equivalent to excluding oneself from the grace of God. . . .
"The sin of one individual can corrupt the entire community when that sin is apostasy, because defilement is contagious. One who is defiled by unbelief and apostasy becomes a defiler of others."410
"The writer has just referred to the need for helping those who are weak and failing in their faith. It would be logical that this still is in reference to them, providing a more specific instance in which some are failing. It is a failing with reference to the grace of God, especially as it relates to seeking forgiveness for failure. It is uncalled for to take this reference and make it a general designation of the plan of salvation."411
12:16-17 Esau is a clear example of someone who apostatized; he despised his inheritance and forfeited it to satisfy his immediate desires. That is precisely what the writer warned his readers not to do in this letter. Esau could not regain his inheritance later when he repented. His decision had permanent consequences; he could not repent (cf. 4:1; 6:6).412His inability to repent was not a matter of forgiveness but of consequences.
"To take a very simple example--if a young man loses his purity or a girl her virginity, nothing can ever bring it back. The choice was made and the choice stands. God can and will forgive, but God Himself cannot turn back the clock and unmake the choice or undo the consequences."413
The writer warned against two things in verse 16: immorality (Gr. pornos) and being godless (bebelos) like Esau. The Old Testament makes no mention of Esau's immorality, so probably the writer understood this term metaphorically in the sense of "apostate."414Esau was "godless"in that he relinquished his covenant rights for the sake of immediate gratification.415He is "the prototype of all who throw away the heavenly reality for the sake of the earthly one."416
"Whether or not Esau was saved is not relevant to this discussion. The writer uses him as an illustration of the fact that the saved can lose their firstborn inheritance rights. His example is applied to those who have come to the church of the firstborn ones (Heb. 12:23).
"True Christians fully parallel the description of Esau. We are children of God and we are firstborn sons. Because of that we possess the rights of the firstborn. We do not have to earn these rights. They are given to us through the grace of God. However, we must value and keep these rights and are warned by Esau's example regarding the possibility of not doing so. But even though we cannot forfeit eternal life, we can forfeit our firstborn rights."417
"Esau's willingness to give up all that was his as the firstborn son reflected a contempt for the covenant by which his rights were warranted. By descriptive analogy, he is representative of apostate persons who are ready to turn their backs on God and the divine promises, in reckless disregard of the covenant blessings secured by the sacrificial death of Jesus. The immediate reference is to the objective blessings of peace' and holiness,' specified in v 14. With the example of Esau, apostasy is further defined as a decisive rejection of God's gifts."418
"There is an interesting, often overlooked parallel between the five warningsin the Book of Hebrews and the seven overcomers' promisesin the Book of Revelation. The warnings and the overcomers' promises both have the same end in view. The last warning has to do with the birthright(Heb. 12:14-17), and the last overcomers' promise has to do with the throne(Rev. 3:21). The successive thought in the warnings in the Book of Hebrews is that of Christians ultimately realizing their birthright--sonsexercising the rights of primogeniture. The great burden of Hebrews is bringing many sonsunto glory' (Heb. 2:10). And the successive thought in the overcomers' promises in the Book of Revelation is that of Christians ultimately ascending the throne--co-heirs, companions, exercising power with Christ. The great burden of Revelation, chapters two and three is that of placing equipped Christians upon the throne with Christ.
"In Jewish history, the birthright belonged to the firstborn son in a family simply by right of birth and consisted of three things: 1) rulerof the household under and for the father, 2) priestof the family, and 3) the reception of a double portionof all the father's goods. Although a firstborn son did nothing whatsoever to come into possession of the birthright, he could conduct his life in such a manner so as to forfeit the birthright. He could not forfeit his positionas firstborn in the family, but he could forfeit the rightsof the firstborn."419
The writer proceeded to explain the superiority of the New Covenant by comparing it with the Old Covenant using the figure of two mountains: Sinai and Zion.
12:18-21 These verses describe the giving of the Old Covenant at Mt. Sinai (cf. 2:2-4; Exod. 19:9-23; Deut. 4:11; 9:8-19).420The writer made Sinai and Zion metaphors to show the difference in quality between relationship to God under the Old and New Covenants (cf. Gal. 4:24-26).421The emphasis in this comparison is on the holiness of God and the fearful consequences of incurring His displeasure (cf. Judg. 13:20; 1 Kings 8:12; 18:38; Nah. 1:3; Matt. 24:31; 1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16). God was far from the Israelites, and even Moses felt terror.
12:22-24 The giving of the New Covenant and the things associated with that covenant are more impressive because they are the heavenly realities. These realities include the heavenly city and heavenly beings (i.e., angels and believers). Everything about this vision encourages us to come boldly into God's presence (cf. 4:16).
The phrase "the general assembly and church of the first-born"--the Greek construction suggests one group--probably refers to all those believers who had died but will receive their full inheritance.422
"To come to the church of the firstborn' means to be called to the privilege of being a firstborn son. All Christians are called to be part of that assembly and by birth have a right to be there. However, they may forfeit that right and never achieve their calling. That is the thrust of all the warnings of the book of Hebrews."423
The first-born was the son who received the greatest amount of inheritance. This is another reference to Christ's companions (1:9; 3:12) who are partakers of His glory (3:14; 6:4; 12:8), namely, those who faithfully persevere in their faith.424Their names are on a heavenly roll as those who died cleaving to the Lord (cf. Exod. 32:33; Ps. 68:29; Isa. 4:13; Dan. 12:1; Luke 10:20; Phil. 4:3; Rev. 3:5; 13:8; 20:12).425
"The spirits of righteous men made perfect"evidently refers to all the glorified redeemed, faithful and unfaithful, whom Christ's sacrifice has perfected (cf. 10:10, 14; 11:40).
Jesus' blood is better than Abel's because it did not cry out for justice and retribution as Abel's did (cf. 11:4; Gen. 4:10).426It satisfied God's demands and secured God's acceptance of New Covenant believers (cf. 9:12, 26; 10:10, 14, 19). It cried out to God for mercy and pardon for those for whom Jesus shed it.
"It must be acknowledged that the reference to Abel in v. 24b is unexpected, because it does not belong to the developed comparison between Sinai and Zion. It may have been suggested by the reference in v 23b to the presence of pneumasi dikaion, the spirits of righteous persons,' in the heavenly city, since the writer had specified in 11:4 that Abel was attested by God as dikaios, righteous.' It may also have been the writer's intention to evoke the whole history of redemption, from the righteous Abel to the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus, mediator of the new covenant . . ."427
This comparison (vv. 18-21 and 22-24) should motivate us to remain faithful and thereby realize the superior blessings of the New Covenant.
The writer shifted again from exposition to exhortation. The hook word "speak"(Gr. lalountiand lalounta) in verses 24 and 25 ties the two sections together.
12:25 The One speaking probably refers to God. "Him who warned them on earth"probably refers to God when He spoke from Mt. Sinai. The contrast is not between the persons who spoke but between the places from which God spoke (cf. v. 26). It would have been specially impressive to Jewish Christians. The present warning came from God in heaven and dealt with failure to continue to cleave to His Son (cf. 1:1-2; 2:2-3).
12:26-27 God's voice shook the earth at Mt. Sinai (Exod. 19:18; Judg. 5:4-5; Ps. 68:8; 77:18; 114:4, 7). It will shake the earth and the heavens at the end of the Millennium. That shaking will lead to the creation of new heavens and a new earth that will remain (Ps. 95:9-11; Hag. 2:6; Rev. 21:1).
"The shaking' is a metaphor for the judgment of God executed in history, as in the case of the fall of Babylon announced in Isa 13:1-22."428
12:28-29 Our kingdom is eternal. Our motive should be gratitude. Our activity should be the service of God. Our attitude toward Him should be reverence and awe in view of His ability to judge the unfaithful (cf. 1 Cor. 3:14-15).
"As a consuming fire, God purifies all that is unworthy and unacceptable in those who serve Him and all that is unfit to abide in His presence."429
Many readers of Hebrews associate the figure of God consuming with His judging unbelievers in hell, but this figure also occurs in the Old Testament with reference to His judging His people (cf. Exod. 24:17; Lev. 10:2; Num. 16:35; Deut. 4:24; 1 Cor. 3:15).
The reference to fire in verse 29 completes an inclusiobegun with another mention of fire in verse 18. The whole section that these references to fire enclose deals with how important it is to respond properly to God.
"The warning proper is found in 12:25-29. The readers are called to heed Yahweh, for an eschatological shaking is coming in which the earthly material order will pass away, leaving only an eternal kingdom. The faithful readers who endure will have a part in the eschatological kingdom--the millennium and the New Jerusalem as companions' of Jesus, the Messiah-King (1:9, 13-14). This kingdom will become an eternal kingdom. . . .
"All five warnings in the epistle have a positive thrust and a negative impetus. . . . Disobedience to God and His Word will result in a forfeiting of eschatological rewards; obedience to God and His Word will result in a gaining of eschatological rewards."430
Warren Wiersbe pointed out that this chapter contains three resources that encourage and enable us to run the Christian race with endurance. They are the example of Jesus (vv. 1-4), the assurance of the Father's love (vv. 5-13), and the enablement of God's grace (vv. 14-29).431
