The final chapter break lobs off something that should have went with our previous chapter- What is entailed in worshiping the Consuming Fire that is our God. Then we finish with a two part summary of EVERYTHING the Author was getting at.
The first part, I noticed, nicely dovetails with the last six commandments- which makes sense, considering the Hebrew audience. Maybe for the first time, these people were seeing them as things to do, instead of 'do not's.
Heb 13:1 Let brotherly love continue.
This comes the closest to 'do not bear false witness' on the list. If you are loving everyone as your brother, you are looking for their welfare- and not lying to them, yes?
Heb 13:2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
In addition to bring the subject of angels back where it should be, it also exemplifies the concept of, "do not steal". I take you to Proverbs:
Pro 3:27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.
Pro 3:28 Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it"--when you have it with you.
Failing hospitality and charity is like robbery in God's eyes.
Heb 13:3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.
An analog of "do not murder". How often does a 'conviction' signal our, "Well, I can write that one off my list" response? Jesus said, "Love your enemies"; Paul said, "Pray for all men". The ending, "Since you are also in the body", might be taken well as, "But for the grace of God..."
Heb 13:4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
I can't imagine I need to explain where this one hits on the Commandments list.
Heb 13:5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
Heb 13:6 So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"
Interestingly, my paper Bible puts this, "Keep yourself from covetousness", which tells you where this fits. Also, this one comes with a consequence- the less we covet, the more we can rely on God.
Heb 13:7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
This one is in the way of, "Honor your mother and father", and I would assume comes with the same promise of long life. Maybe not life in this world, though; and because of that, the author uses a binding sentence that connects this end with what it to come- his summation...
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Now the author is going to sum up the book in 2 fell swoops. The first point is one of those "long way around" deals to our minds, but what he is getting at in vv 9-14 is simply this: Don't be afraid to be an outsider, to abandon the old, to get to the new. And not be pulled away with 'strange doctrines', as they had been with the 'angel worship' he/she was on them about at the beginning. Jesus is the same, the author reminds us, and everything they really needed to know about Him was right there in the word- they just had to open their eyes to see it in the proper way.
Heb 13:11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp.
Heb 13:12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.
Heb 13:13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.
Heb 13:14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
And the second part- worship God through Jesus Christ:
Heb 13:15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
Heb 13:16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Heb 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
The 'sacrifice of praise' is living out what they'd always been taught- as 'do's' and not as 'do not's'. We can assume that this was a problem for them, as flesh will tend to do lip service to the do nots, and ignore the dos. They had been told this by the prophets:
Hos 6:6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
But they were stuck in a religion of rituals; and you know where I always go on this subject:
When the Tao is lost, there is goodness.
When goodness is lost, there is morality,
When morality is lost, there is ritual.
Ritual is the husk of true faith,
the beginning of chaos. (Tao Te Chang, chapt. 38)
The author finishes with a benediction; I will end with a prayer request, that God lead me next to where He wants these posts to go. Amen.
