 |  |
Hebrews 12: 15 - 25.
A | 15. | a | Looking diligently.
b | Lest any man fall from or fail.
B | 16, 17. The birthright bartered (Prototokia).
C | 18-21. Ye are not come. Six "ands". SINAI.
C | 22, 23. But ye are come. Seven "ands". SION.
B | 23, 24. The birthright enjoyed (Prototokos).
A | 25. | a | See.
b | Lest ye refuse.
The section opens with a warning: "Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace
of God". It does not say "fall from the grace of God", but "fail of the grace of God".
Hustereo, "to come short", occurs in Heb. 4: 1, and that passage partially explains what
we are considering here: "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering
into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it". The context speaks of Israel's
forty years" wandering in the wilderness, and their failure, though redeemed to "go on
unto perfection". We are not dealing with sonship, but with birthright; not salvation, but
possession; not deliverance from Egypt, but entry into Canaan. The warning is
threefold:
(1)
Lest any fail (come short) of the grace of God.
(2)
Lest any root of bitterness spring up.
(3)
Lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau.
What is this root of bitterness? The apostle is quoting from Deut. 29: and a
reference to that passage will show his meaning clearly. Moses is addressing the people
of Israel before his death, at the close of forty years" wandering in the wilderness, and in
verse 18 says:
"Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart
turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations;
lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood" (Deut. 29: 18).
Here is the "root of bitterness", a heart that turns away from God, or, in the language
of Heb. 3: 12:
"Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing
from the living God."
The words of Amos 6: 12 seem to have some reflection upon the "peaceable fruit of
righteousness" and the "root of bitterness": "Ye have turned judgment into gall, and the
fruit of righteousness into hemlock". The effect of this root of bitterness is trouble and
defilement. A reference to John 18: 28 will show the nature of the defilement--
something that was profane, something from which a Jew would shrink.
We have next to learn in what sense Esau was a fornicator, and what bearing it has
upon the teaching of this passage. There are two outstanding events in Esau's history that