Heb 13:15-16 | KingComments | STEP | . The writer substantiates the call to go out to Him by pointing again at the goal of their pilgrimage. The Hebrews didn’t have to consider it as a loss when they turned their back on the earthly Jerusalem and the whole religion that was performed there. It had all come to an end because of the rejection of the Lord Jesus. Every desire for it was wrong. Jerusalem was not a lasting city. The city would soon be destroyed ( ). That was also the case with the temple ( ). They should not look back, but forward (cf. ). They were seeking the future city. That was what they continually had to look forward to wholeheartedly, even though it seemed so far away and even though the way was that difficult. If they would let themselves be distracted by what they left, they would go astray. . When the writer has drawn their attention on the right goal again he gives them a wonderful exhortation. Were they thinking that their unbelieving fellow countrymen were better off with an offering service with literal offering animals? Then that thought had to be corrected. In fact it was a great privilege for them not to, just now and then with special occasions, bring offerings to God, but to do that “continually”. And it had nothing to do with tangible offerings at all, but they were allowed to bring “praise to God”, that is “the fruit of lips”. That goes much deeper, it comes out of the heart and goes to the heart of God. This is all because of Christ and His work. Through Him you also are able to praise and worship God. That doesn’t happen with outward appearance, but by speaking out about what you have found in the Lord Jesus. God loves to see you coming to Him to tell Him something about His Son. He loves it when you give thanks to His Name. It is a great joy for His heart if you continually praise Him with the fruit of your lips which is meant for Him . . God also loves it when you think of others. Beside spiritual offerings He also wants you to bring material offerings. You may bring the spiritual offerings to Him, the material offerings you may bring to others. “Doing good” is to provide someone with something good, to do a good deed. That is not only giving goods, but it can also be a gesture or a word. “Sharing” has the meaning of sharing your goods with others who are in need of them. It is about doing good in a general sense and sharing everything with one another. You see that wonderfully in practice with the first Christians ( ). I am afraid that that state of mind is hardly to be found now, but God still finds pleasure in it. In that way earthly possessions get such a rich meaning and a deep satisfaction. If you are willing to bring these sacrifices, you yourself will be refreshed ( ). God is a giving God. Isn’t it a privilege to imitate Him in that? . Thus, with regard to giving, you may imitate or follow God. On earth there are people you should follow, that means whom you should obey. That are the ones who lead you. Do you see that it is plural? Therefore it is not about a pastor, a person who is theologically trained or someone who makes himself a leader. It is about mature, spiritual believers who are taught and formed by God and whom He has given to His church. Those are the ones you should submit to when they explain to you, based on God’s Word, how things should happen. Then they will not do their work “with grief”, but “with joy”. You must submit to them. Although this is not in line with the current world, it is fully biblical and it brings blessing. Many Christian families are reflecting the spirit of this age. Children do not obey anymore, and being submissive is out of the question. Instead of obeying, children are negotiating with the parents. That possibly delivers the child the result he wanted, but it is an enormous loss for the parents. In most cases it also becomes clear in future that such a relationship with each other is an obstacle for a radical conversion of the child. On the other hand, the call to obedience and submission also does not involve discipline demanding unconditional (blind) obedience. Thank God for brothers who lead you. That will make it easier for you to obey them. If you do not listen to them, it is “unprofitable” for you, and it will be harmful for you. . Pray for leaders whom you know. They need your intercession. If those who rule ask for intercession, they can only do that if they are sure that they “have a good conscience”. For if they do not have a good conscience they cannot stand right before God and they can therefore be of no help to others. They must first take away the burden from their conscience. As far as the writer was concerned, this was not the case. . He desired to meet the believers to whom he wrote this letter. He also knew the power of intercession, for he exhorts them to intercede abundantly, so that he may be able to be with them the sooner. . The writer comes to his conclusion. He directs your gaze to “the God of peace”. A wonderful, soothing expression: the God of peace. He has perfect peace and gives this peace to anyone who trusts in Him. There is nothing that confuses Him. His peace can be your peace, He wants to give that to you ( ; ). Through the work of the Lord Jesus He is able to give peace to all who believe in His Son. That peace is everlasting. It is also the peace that will be all over the world in the millennial kingdom of peace. The letter was written with this kingdom of peace in prospect. Here at the end of the letter you read once more about the basis of that kingdom. That basis is that God “brought up from the dead … Jesus our Lord”. In that way a new covenant could be made, which also is everlasting. It cannot possibly fail because it is based on the blood of Christ, which eternally holds its value. Isn’t it beautiful to read about the Lord that He is “the great Shepherd of the sheep? As ‘the great Shepherd’ He was raised from the dead and guides His flock through the world, on the way to that other world, where He already is. It has become His flock because He has been for that flock “the good Shepherd”, Who gave His life for the sheep that belong to it ( ). And when He comes to establish the millennial kingdom of peace, He will do that as the “Chief Shepherd” ( ). Note that the writer speaks about the Lord Jesus as “Jesus our Lord”. Therein you taste his love for Him, a love that he also assumes to be with the readers by the word ‘our’. . The wish of the writer is that the God of peace will “equip you [the believers] in every good thing to do His [this is God’s] will”. He is not satisfied with less because God does not deserve less. You are on earth to do good in such a way that nothing is lacking. That will be the case if you are executing God’s will. God’s will is that you are on earth to His honor. He wants you to be with Him in glory. On your way to that He wants you as a sheep of His flock to stay close with the flock and with the Shepherd. In the light of the letter His will has got to do with bringing into practice what you have become, namely a son and a priest. He wants you to behave as son and that you honor Him as priest. I can imagine that you may ask yourself how to do that. That won’t work, will it? That’s the feeling I have too. God knows about that question. He also has the answer to it. That answer consists of the promise of His help. He is “working in us that which is pleasing in His sight” (cf. )! Therefore you only have to open yourself to Him and fill your heart with His Word. Then it will become full of Christ and He will work in you what is well pleasing in God’s sight. If thus everything of yourself has fades into the background in that way and God and Christ are great before you, you cannot help but exclaim: “To Him [be] the glory forever and ever. Amen.” . In the light of that exclamation the remark of the writer is understandable that he has written to them “briefly”. Although the letter is quite a long one, he dealt with topics that are inexhaustible. He could only touch all his topics very limited (cf. ). Only the essential ones were covered, which was needed for the Hebrews and for us too. We may discover more and more in them. The total of what he has written, has the form of an exhortation. He exhorts them or encourages them to bear with it. The bearing with the exhortation is important if you want to grow spiritually. It doesn’t mean that you just listen to it in a friendly way and then do nothing with it, but that you take the exhortation to heart. . The writer also has news about Timothy. He knew that they were interested in him and that they would be delighted if he would come together with him. It is nice to inform your brothers and sisters about other believers because you know that they are interested. . The bond of the writer with the company to whom he writes, also is expressed in his greetings. He asks his readers to greet the “all of” their “leaders and all the saints”. The bond of the believers has no borders, but is international. From Italy the believers greet their fellow believers in Israel through the writer. The connection is through the Lord Jesus; through Him all believers are a unity, a family. . The writer says goodbye with the wish that grace be with them all. Only by grace it is possible to go the path of faith to the end. Now read Hebrews 13:14-25 again. Reflection: What is the will of God for your life? How can you learn to know that will?

‏ Hebrews 13:15-16

Exhortations, Blessings and Greetings

Heb 13:14. The writer substantiates the call to go out to Him by pointing again at the goal of their pilgrimage. The Hebrews didn’t have to consider it as a loss when they turned their back on the earthly Jerusalem and the whole religion that was performed there. It had all come to an end because of the rejection of the Lord Jesus. Every desire for it was wrong. Jerusalem was not a lasting city. The city would soon be destroyed (Lk 21:20). That was also the case with the temple (Mt 24:1-2).

They should not look back, but forward (cf. Heb 11:15-16). They were seeking the future city. That was what they continually had to look forward to wholeheartedly, even though it seemed so far away and even though the way was that difficult. If they would let themselves be distracted by what they left, they would go astray.

Heb 13:15. When the writer has drawn their attention on the right goal again he gives them a wonderful exhortation. Were they thinking that their unbelieving fellow countrymen were better off with an offering service with literal offering animals? Then that thought had to be corrected. In fact it was a great privilege for them not to, just now and then with special occasions, bring offerings to God, but to do that “continually”. And it had nothing to do with tangible offerings at all, but they were allowed to bring “praise to God”, that is “the fruit of lips”. That goes much deeper, it comes out of the heart and goes to the heart of God.

This is all because of Christ and His work. Through Him you also are able to praise and worship God. That doesn’t happen with outward appearance, but by speaking out about what you have found in the Lord Jesus. God loves to see you coming to Him to tell Him something about His Son. He loves it when you give thanks to His Name. It is a great joy for His heart if you continually praise Him with the fruit of your lips which is meant for Him.

Heb 13:16. God also loves it when you think of others. Beside spiritual offerings He also wants you to bring material offerings. You may bring the spiritual offerings to Him, the material offerings you may bring to others. “Doing good” is to provide someone with something good, to do a good deed. That is not only giving goods, but it can also be a gesture or a word. “Sharing” has the meaning of sharing your goods with others who are in need of them.

It is about doing good in a general sense and sharing everything with one another. You see that wonderfully in practice with the first Christians (Acts 2:44 ; Acts 4:34). I am afraid that that state of mind is hardly to be found now, but God still finds pleasure in it. In that way earthly possessions get such a rich meaning and a deep satisfaction. If you are willing to bring these sacrifices, you yourself will be refreshed (Pro 11:25b). God is a giving God. Isn’t it a privilege to imitate Him in that?

Heb 13:17. Thus, with regard to giving, you may imitate or follow God. On earth there are people you should follow, that means whom you should obey. That are the ones who lead you. Do you see that it is plural? Therefore it is not about a pastor, a person who is theologically trained or someone who makes himself a leader. It is about mature, spiritual believers who are taught and formed by God and whom He has given to His church. Those are the ones you should submit to when they explain to you, based on God’s Word, how things should happen. Then they will not do their work “with grief”, but “with joy”. You must submit to them. Although this is not in line with the current world, it is fully biblical and it brings blessing.

Many Christian families are reflecting the spirit of this age. Children do not obey anymore, and being submissive is out of the question. Instead of obeying, children are negotiating with the parents. That possibly delivers the child the result he wanted, but it is an enormous loss for the parents. In most cases it also becomes clear in future that such a relationship with each other is an obstacle for a radical conversion of the child. On the other hand, the call to obedience and submission also does not involve discipline demanding unconditional (blind) obedience.

Thank God for brothers who lead you. That will make it easier for you to obey them. If you do not listen to them, it is “unprofitable” for you, and it will be harmful for you.

Heb 13:18. Pray for leaders whom you know. They need your intercession. If those who rule ask for intercession, they can only do that if they are sure that they “have a good conscience”. For if they do not have a good conscience they cannot stand right before God and they can therefore be of no help to others. They must first take away the burden from their conscience. As far as the writer was concerned, this was not the case.

Heb 13:19. He desired to meet the believers to whom he wrote this letter. He also knew the power of intercession, for he exhorts them to intercede abundantly, so that he may be able to be with them the sooner.

Heb 13:20. The writer comes to his conclusion. He directs your gaze to “the God of peace”. A wonderful, soothing expression: the God of peace. He has perfect peace and gives this peace to anyone who trusts in Him. There is nothing that confuses Him. His peace can be your peace, He wants to give that to you (Phil 4:7; Jn 14:27). Through the work of the Lord Jesus He is able to give peace to all who believe in His Son. That peace is everlasting. It is also the peace that will be all over the world in the millennial kingdom of peace. The letter was written with this kingdom of peace in prospect.

Here at the end of the letter you read once more about the basis of that kingdom. That basis is that God “brought up from the dead … Jesus our Lord”. In that way a new covenant could be made, which also is everlasting. It cannot possibly fail because it is based on the blood of Christ, which eternally holds its value.

Isn’t it beautiful to read about the Lord that He is “the great Shepherd of the sheep? As ‘the great Shepherd’ He was raised from the dead and guides His flock through the world, on the way to that other world, where He already is. It has become His flock because He has been for that flock “the good Shepherd”, Who gave His life for the sheep that belong to it (Jn 10:11). And when He comes to establish the millennial kingdom of peace, He will do that as the “Chief Shepherd” (1Pet 5:4).

Note that the writer speaks about the Lord Jesus as “Jesus our Lord”. Therein you taste his love for Him, a love that he also assumes to be with the readers by the word ‘our’.

Heb 13:21. The wish of the writer is that the God of peace will “equip you [the believers] in every good thing to do His [this is God’s] will”. He is not satisfied with less because God does not deserve less. You are on earth to do good in such a way that nothing is lacking. That will be the case if you are executing God’s will. God’s will is that you are on earth to His honor. He wants you to be with Him in glory. On your way to that He wants you as a sheep of His flock to stay close with the flock and with the Shepherd.

In the light of the letter His will has got to do with bringing into practice what you have become, namely a son and a priest. He wants you to behave as son and that you honor Him as priest.

I can imagine that you may ask yourself how to do that. That won’t work, will it? That’s the feeling I have too. God knows about that question. He also has the answer to it. That answer consists of the promise of His help. He is “working in us that which is pleasing in His sight” (cf. Phil 2:12-13)! Therefore you only have to open yourself to Him and fill your heart with His Word. Then it will become full of Christ and He will work in you what is well pleasing in God’s sight. If thus everything of yourself has fades into the background in that way and God and Christ are great before you, you cannot help but exclaim: “To Him [be] the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Heb 13:22. In the light of that exclamation the remark of the writer is understandable that he has written to them “briefly”. Although the letter is quite a long one, he dealt with topics that are inexhaustible. He could only touch all his topics very limited (cf. Heb 11:32). Only the essential ones were covered, which was needed for the Hebrews and for us too. We may discover more and more in them.

The total of what he has written, has the form of an exhortation. He exhorts them or encourages them to bear with it. The bearing with the exhortation is important if you want to grow spiritually. It doesn’t mean that you just listen to it in a friendly way and then do nothing with it, but that you take the exhortation to heart.

Heb 13:23. The writer also has news about Timothy. He knew that they were interested in him and that they would be delighted if he would come together with him. It is nice to inform your brothers and sisters about other believers because you know that they are interested.

Heb 13:24. The bond of the writer with the company to whom he writes, also is expressed in his greetings. He asks his readers to greet the “all of” their “leaders and all the saints”. The bond of the believers has no borders, but is international.

From Italy the believers greet their fellow believers in Israel through the writer. The connection is through the Lord Jesus; through Him all believers are a unity, a family.

Heb 13:25. The writer says goodbye with the wish that grace be with them all. Only by grace it is possible to go the path of faith to the end.

Now read Hebrews 13:14-25 again.

Reflection: What is the will of God for your life? How can you learn to know that will?