Deuteronomy 18:19-22 - That prophet has spoken presumptiously

18:19,20

“I will call to account ...” We see more of the importance of Jesus, and of listening to Him. This is then followed by a warning against false prophets. Claiming to speak on God’s behalf, or to speak in the name of other gods was direct disobedience to God, and would potentially lead the people astray. Such a person was to be put to death. False teachers are not to be tolerated.

18:21,22

With all these warnings about false prophets, the natural question is how can we tell if someone is a false prophet, i.e. speaking a message that is not from the Lord. Earlier we had the test that if their teaching enticed people away from God towards idols, then it was not from God. Here we get a very simple test. If what they say does not take place then it is not from the Lord. Such a person can be ignored. Today all prophecy should be tested, just because someone claims to speak the word of the Lord does not mean they are doing so. Note that it does not say that if what they say does come true, then they are speaking in God’s name (Deut 13:1-4).

Hebrews 7:18,19 - A better hope is introduced

7:18

Up to this point the argument has primarily been positive, i.e. the Melchizedek priesthood was introduced at the time of Abraham, and that the Messiah would be a priest in the line of Melchizedek. Now the argument will develop and highlight the weakness of the Law. When we read this we might be tempted to think this means the Law was useless or was a mistake. This is not so. The Law pointed the way forward, it anticipated Christ. The writer begins by saying that the “former commandment” was “weak and useless”. The Law did not work in the sense that it did not effectively deal with the problem of man's sinfulness, even Israel’s sinfulness.

7:19

“For the Law made nothing perfect”. Again we have the implicit assumption that the goal is perfection. Conversely, the gospel introduces a better hope. The Law produced eternal frustration, for one could never reach the standard. The gospel produces eternal hope, and enables us to draw near to God. The gospel will lead to us living better lives, but at the heart is that it enables us to draw near to God.

Deuteronomy 18:15-18 - The Lord will raise up for you a prophet

18:15

Having been told who not to listen to, we are then told that a prophet would come, a prophet like Moses. “You must listen to Him”. This is a prophecy of the coming of Jesus. It is also why it is so significant when God says “listen to Him” (Matt 17:5). Moses led them out of slavery to Egypt, Jesus leads us out of slavery to sin.  Islam, mistakenly, claims that Mohammed is the one spoken of here.

18:16-18

“For this is ...” The people did not want to see or hear God directly, so He spoke to them through Moses. But there is a recognition in all this that something and someone greater than Moses was going to come “He will tell them everything I command Him”. Jesus told us all that the Father said to Him.

Hebrews 7:15-17 - By the power of an indestructible life

7:15,16

The Levitical priesthood was inaugurated by the Law. The Levitical priests were priests because of the requirements of the Law. Jesus became the great high priest “on the basis of an indestructible life”. Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice on the cross. He died and was then raised from the dead. The resurrection demonstrated that the sacrifice was accepted, it paid for all our sins. Jesus is priest on the basis of the inherent value of His life. He earned the right to be the great high priest. This was not true of the Levitical priests, none of them had any inherent right to be a priest.

7:17

The writer again quotes from Ps 110:4. He is at pains to emphasise that the Levitical priesthood has been superseded by the Jesus priesthood, and that this was always God’s intention. God declared it would be so. 

Deuteronomy 18:9-14 - Do not learn to imitate their detestable ways

18:9-13

The Promised Land was inhabited by peoples who followed all sorts of occult practices, worshipping all kinds of idols. This worship would involve child sacrifice. The reason God warned so severely against worshipping idols was that it was utterly evil. So the Israelites were warned in no uncertain terms to have nothing to do with these false gods or the associated practices. The reason the current occupants were being driven out was because of the detestable practices. The Israelites were to be blameless before the Lord. As we know, they ended up being anything but blameless, and they too were driven out.

18:14

The Israelites were not to worship the idols of the nations, nor were they to follow their practices. The nations would listen to sorcerers or those who practised divination. We still do this today, though while “fortune tellers” of various sorts do exist, more commonly we call them forecasters or modellers. Now there is nothing wrong with modelling or forecasting as long as the limitations are recognised. Instead, their pronouncements are treated as almost gospel truth. We saw this with Covid, and we also see it with climate change. God’s people are not to allow their lives to be governed by such people.

Hebrews 7:12-14 - When there is a change of priesthood

7:12

“For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well”. Why does he say this? This is not something that we would naturally think of, but in the Jewish system the priesthood was absolutely central. Judaism was fundamentally dependent upon the priesthood, so if the priesthood changed, everything changed. So the writer has demonstrated that God always intended the priesthood to change, so everything else changed as well. It is important to note here that it is primarily the sacrificial and priestly aspects of the Law that the writer is concerned with, not the moral aspects.

7:13,14

It is not just that Jesus is the Great High Priest, but also that the Levitical priesthood has now been superseded, and no longer has any part to play. Jesus came from the tribe of Judah, and this tribe had no connection with the priesthood under the Law. The emphasis is that the people need to let go of the former things, for God is doing a new thing.

Deuteronomy 18:1-8 - The Lord is their inheritance

18:1,2

There is another reminder that the Levites, both the priests and all the people, had no inheritance in the land. Their inheritance was in the Lord. Instead they were to live off the food offerings made to the people in Israel. The Lord was their inheritance. In Gen 15:1 God had said to Abraham that He was his shield and his reward (or that his reward was great). Abraham thought he had no inheritance because at the time he had no sons, no obvious prospect of children, other than the promise of God. The promise of God is more reliable than natural resources.

18:3-5

We then get details on what the food share for the priests was to be. Various cuts of meat are named, along with the firstfruits of corn and other produce. So in giving firstfruits to the Lord, the people were also providing for the priests. The priests were performing a God given task, and had been chosen by Him.

18:6-8

Some of the Levites would live in towns outside Jerusalem (the place the Lord will choose). If the priest chose “in all earnestness” to come to Jerusalem he was allowed to minister to the Lord there as well. 

Hebrews 7:9-11 - If perfection had been attainable

7:9,10

The argument in these verses may seem a little strange to us, even stretching a point! However, it would make sense as a rabbinical argument. The argument is that since Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek, and the Levites were descended from Abraham, so Abraham was giving on behalf of the Levites as well. We could take this even further and say that Abraham was giving on behalf of all Israel. So all Israel should honour Jesus Christ as their true high priest.

7:11

The writer is trying to demonstrate to his readers that God never intended the Levitical priesthood to be the eternal solution. “Now if perfection had been ...” , note that God’s purposes for us are perfection, not “good enough”, “not bad”, nor even “pretty good”, but perfection. Since we are a sinful people a priesthood is needed. The Levitical priesthood was there to demonstrate that we needed a priest. Yet it was abundantly obvious that perfection had not been achieved through the Levitical priesthood. So there was a priest, Melchizedek, long before the Law, and Psalm 110 said God would send a priest in the order of Melchizedek, not a Levitical priest (i.e. not in the order of Aaron).

Deuteronomy 17:19,20 - He shall read it all the days of his life

17:19

Writing down the Law was not the end of the matter. He was to read the Law daily. The purpose was that he was to revere the Lord and keep the Law, both for himself, and for the kingdom as a whole. The king is usually seen as the boss, but under the Law he was a servant. First, he was a servant of God, then a servant for the people.

17:20

The king was not to consider himself better than the people. Like them he was under the Law. If he did this then he and his descendants would reign for a long time. Of course, none of the kings did this. Even David was deeply flawed. However, those that did keep much of the Law fared better than those who paid no respect to the Law.

Hebrews 7:6-8 - The inferior is blessed by the superior

7:6,7

Jesus was not a Levite, being in the line of David (as foretold in the Old Testament). Melchizedek was also not a Levite, with no record of his ancestry being given. Yet Melchizedek received tithes from Abraham, the father of the nation. The writer is addressing the question that Jews and Jewish Christians may have had about how can Jesus’ priesthood supersede that of the Levitical priesthood. Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek, and received a blessing from him, so he has set a precedent. The writer stresses the point in verse 7, “the inferior is blessed by the superior”. So Melchizedek was superior to Abraham, and Ps 110, an acknowledged messianic psalm, foretold that the Messiah would be a priest like Melchizedek.

7:8

The Levitical priests were just normal men, who died like anyone else. There is no record of Melchizedek’s ancestry, nor of him dying. Jesus rose from the dead and still lives today. The resurrection demonstrates the superiority of Jesus.

Deuteronomy 17:16-18 - Nor shall he acquire excessive silver and gold

17:16,17

There are then some warnings about what the king must not do. First, he must not acquire a great number of horses. Nor must he make the people return to Egypt to get more horses. While here there is an emphasis on horses, there is then a more general reference to wealth, silver and gold. This goes against all the generally accepted expectations of kingship. Nor must the king have lots of wives, for this would lead him astray, most notably to worshipping false gods. Solomon is infamous for breaching this command, though he was not the only one to do so. 

17:18

We now come to more positive commands for the king. He was to write for himself a copy of the Law. This would take some time, but writing things down helps us to get them into our minds. The king was to have the Law of God in his heart. The Law was taken from the Levitical priests, so the king was subject to the Law, and was also under the priesthood as well. The kingship system was very different from that of the nations.

Hebrews 7:3-5 - See how great this man was

7:3

“He is without father or mother ...” This could be taken literally, but that would probably be  a mistake. In the Old Testament we find that there is a great interest in genealogy. When someone is introduced in the Old Testament, we almost always (but not absolutely always) are given some details about their ancestry. We are also told about their death. With Melchizedek this is not the case, and this is probably what the writer is referring to. He was a type of Christ, prefiguring the eternal priesthood of Christ.

7:4,5

“See how great this man was ...”. The primary purpose of the writer is to demonstrate that Jesus is our great High Priest, infinitely superior to the Levitical priesthood. A symbol of the greatness of Melchizedek was that Abraham gave him a tithe. The Levites could also take a tithe, indeed there was a commandment for them to do so. But they took it from their brothers, from people who were just like them. In contrast, Melchizedek was set apart from Abraham.

Deuteronomy 17:14,15 - I will set a king over me

17:14

We now get instructions on kings. Israel did not actually need a king, for God was their king. However, God knew full well that there would come a point where they wanted to be “like all the nations around us”. This did take place in the time of Samuel (1 Sam 8:5). This happened at a time when Samuel was growing old and his sons were not obedient to God. So in a sense it was understandable, though it was still disobedient to God. They looked for a man-made solution, rather than a Godly solution.

17:15

They were to appoint a king chosen by God. So God yet again makes allowance for their sinfulness. Eventually Jesus would be the King forever, God would be their King. The king had to be an Israelite, not a foreigner. It was bad enough with the Israelite kings, many of whom were all too willing to worship false gods. It would have been even worse if foreign kings had been in charge.

Hebrews 7:1,2 - Melchizedek

7:1

We now come to Melchizedek, for whom there has been something of a build up, now he is here! Melchizedek is mentioned only twice in the Old Testament, Gen 14 when he meets Abraham, and Ps 110. No one else in the New Testament makes anything of him either. However, there was much speculation about him in Judaism and in some Gnostic writings. So what are we to make of him? The best answer is probably to take him as a “type” of Christ, i.e. he has some of the attributes of Christ, in particular with regard to priesthood. There are some who see him as a pre-incarnate Christ, but this is probably taking things too far. 

7:2

Abraham met him after battle with the five kings and rescuing Lot. Abraham gave him a tenth of his plunder. Melchizedek was “king of Salem” and this means “king of peace”. His name means “king of righteousness”. Gen 14 is the first mention of giving a tithe. Teaching on tithing tends to focus on the Law, it should perhaps be more focused on Melchizedek. This does not mean Law and the Tithe have nothing to teach us, far from it, but some tithe teaching does get very legalistic, and that is not helpful.

Deuteronomy 17:10-13 - And all the people shall hear and fear

17:10,11

The judges or priests were to make judgements not in their own interest, but based on the Law, i.e. in God’s interests. Even today, while we obviously live under the Law of God, judges should enact the law of the land, and it becomes very dangerous for society when we have “activist judges”. So if someone disobeyed the judgement, they were in reality disobeying God. There is another mention of the place that God would choose. They are also warned not to turn away to the right or left of the judgement. I.e. they were to simply stick to the decision.

17:12,13

Since showing contempt for the judgement (i.e. not following it) was showing contempt for God, and was to be put to death. The evil was to be purged from Israel. Disobeying God is evil and it is also destructive. That is why it should be treated with such seriousness. Today the church should take sin very seriously. The death penalty was also to serve as a warning.

Hebrews 6:19,20 - A sure and steadfast anchor

6:19

This hope is now described as an anchor for the soul. Our hope is not wishful thinking, but is sure and steadfast. Whatever may be happening in our lives just now, however things might look just now, we need to focus on the hope. This is not escapism, or pie in the sky when you die, for this will give us strength to live life today, to overcome whatever obstacles may lie before us. The writer is now going to move on to the priesthood of Christ. “ a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain”. This is a reference to the temple, and the curtain that separated off the holy of holies. Man’s hope is usually based on this earth, founded in himself, or in other people. But our hope is founded in heaven. 

6:20

Jesus has entered the very presence of the Father, He is sat at the right hand of the Father (Heb 1:3). Jesus is described as a “forerunner” (ESV). Jesus has entered the presence of the Father with a view to us joining Him there. He is not a one off in doing this, but the pioneer, the first of many. He became “a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek”, and the next chapter will focus on this aspect of Jesus’ priesthood.

Deuteronomy 17:6-9 - On the evidence of two or three witnesses

17:6,7

While the Law could be taken as looking forward, it was also very much aware of the present, as the command for how idol worshippers were to be dealt with shows. This verse is also set very much in the present. Nothing was to be taken on the testimony of just one witness, everything had to be corroborated. If the evidence was supported, then the witnesses had to throw the first stones. This would emphasise the seriousness of what they were doing. Accusing someone was not to be done lightly, but when serious things happened, serious action had to be taken. “In this way you will purge the evil from among you”.

17:8,9

There was something like our gradation of courts. So if a case was very difficult, with specific examples being given here, then it was to be taken to the Levitical priest or a judge at the “place the Lord your God will choose”. The place of God’s choosing was also a place of judgement.

Hebrews 6:16-18 - The unchangeable character of His purpose

6:16,17

The promise to Abraham was ridiculous, humanly speaking. There were two key aspects to it. One was that he would be the father of many nations, and the second was the promise of the land. Both were humanly unlikely or impossible. He was ninety nine years old, and Sarah was old as well, and they had no children. They had no claim on the land promised to them. God knew how impossible the promises seemed, and so He wanted to impress upon Abraham and Sarah the “unchangeable character of His purpose”. We need to appreciate the certainty of God’s promises.

6:18

Having reminded them of Abraham, the writer now turns to his present hearers. The promises of the gospel are even more impossible in human terms than the promises to Abraham, and God knows this. How can a sinful people be blessed by a holy God? Yet this is what the gospel promises. Note that it says “fled for refuge”. His readers had “fled” from Judaism and sought refuge in Christ. We have “fled” from the world and sought refuge in Christ, we have put our trust in Him. And we must “hold fast to the hope set before us”.

Deuteronomy 17:1-5 - A sacrifice without defect or blemish

17:1

Back in Genesis 4 we read about the offerings of Cain and Abel. Abel’s offering was from the firstborn of his flock, Cain offered “in the course of time” some of the “fruits of the soil” (Gen 4:3,4). The key difference seems to be that Abel offered his first fruits, his best, Cain’s offering was more of an afterthought. This command encapsulates the same sentiment. Any animal offered was to be without blemish or defect.

17:2-5

Deuteronomy is the second giving of the Law. When the Law was first given the people were in the wilderness. The Law in Deuteronomy is the same, but it is adapted or explained in the context of the situation in which they will find themselves once in the Promised Land. So it might transpire that there is a person in a town who is violating the covenant. Worshipping idols is given as a specific example. If this situation arose it was to be investigated thoroughly. Things were not to be taken purely on hearsay. If guilty the person was to be stoned to death. If we take the Law as painting a picture of the ideal kingdom, this does not mean that stoning is part of life in the ideal kingdom, but that there would be no one in the kingdom who disobeyed God. If we look at Revelation this is the picture painted of the new heaven and new earth (Rev 21 & 22).

Hebrews 6:13-15 - Surely I will bless you

 6:13,14

The seriousness of an oath is often stressed by swearing by some greater power, such as God or a “god”. In communicating with humans God sometimes expresses Himself in human terms so that we understand better. When He does this it is important that we do not overinterpret the anthropomorphic element of what God has said. So here, God does not actually need to swear by anything, for His word is always completely reliable. However, God wanted to stress the veracity of His words to Abraham, when said “Surely I will bless you and multiply you”. At the time it seemed highly unlikely, not to say impossible, that Abraham would have any offspring, the only grounds for believing this to be possible was the word of God.

6:15

“Abraham ,having waited patiently , obtained the promise.” Now Abraham did indeed have a son, Isaac. It is worth considering for a moment what “patiently” means, or rather what it does not mean. If we look at the story of Abraham we see that it was hardly an example of a man piously waiting for God to fulfil His promise. Abraham had to wait twenty five years, and at many times he really struggled. There was the whole Hagar and Ishmael incident (Gen16), and then there was a time that Abraham laughed at God’s promise (Gen 17:17). Waiting on God can involve a great struggle.

Deuteronomy 16:18-22 - Do not pervert justice

16:18-20

Back in Exodus we read of Moses, following Jethro’s advice, appointing judges to help him. Here Moses gives similar instructions regarding judges and officials for the various tribes and towns. They were to judge the people fairly. No partiality was to be shown. While favouring the rich and powerful is the greatest danger, the poor are also to be judged with fairness. No bribes were to be accepted, for these distort justice, and the vision of the judge. Worst of all, they twist the words of the innocent. Following justice was an essential prerequisite for living long in the land.

16:21,22

The chapter finishes with another warning against idol worship. In this case the emphasis is on not setting up an Asherah pole alongside the Lord’s altar. Outright apostasy is obviously a danger, but so is doing something else alongside worshipping God. This can fool us into thinking we are doing alright, believing that the worshipping God part somehow sanctifies the ungodly aspects. In truth, the ungodly aspect pollutes everything. God hates idol worship.

Hebrews 6:10-12 - So that you may not be sluggish

6:10

Having chastised them at the end of chapter 5, the writer now praises them. He speaks about the good things that they have done. Again, we see that what we do matters. We also see that helping people is showing love for God. John brings out the same point in his first letter when he says that claiming to love God but not loving our brother means our claim to love God is a sham (1 John 2:9).

6:11,12

So the writer now urges his readers to “show the same diligence to the very end”. Then their hope will be fully realised. A sure sign that God is at work in us is that we work hard for Him. The converse is that we must not become idle. Instead we are “to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised”. Now, of course, we never see anyone actually inherit the promise in all its fullness, we will only see that after we die or Christ comes back. But what we do see is people whose faith grows stronger through the years, and whose character becomes steadily more Christlike. And so they die in faith and full assurance. Perseverance and persistence are vital characteristics for the Christian.

Deuteronomy 16:13-17 - Be joyful at your festival

16:13-15

The Festival of Tabernacles is the final Festival, taking place in September /October. The theme of joyfulness, and the inclusivity are again applied to this festival. Indeed, the themes repeat throughout the Pentateuch. And so we again have mention of the place that God chooses. There is a promise that the Lord would bless the work of their hands. After the Fall the ground was cursed (Gen 3:17), this is not how things are meant to be, and God’s work with Israel was part of restoring things.

16:16,17

The three festivals are now lumped together, with yet another mention of the place God chooses. These three festivals, which were chosen by God, form the background to the question in Zech 7:1-7. “No one should appear before the Lord empty handed.” We are utterly and completely dependent upon God for everything, but that does not mean we do not play any part. So they were to bring a gift “in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you”. 2 Cor 8:11 also has instructions on giving according to our means.

Hebrews 6:7-9 - We feel sure of better things

6:7,8

Farming analogies are common in the Bible, with Jesus’ parable of the sower perhaps being the most famous one of these. Here we are told that the good land is that which drinks in the rain from heaven, and so produces a good crop. Again we have the point that we are utterly dependent upon God, but that we also have a responsibility. Conversely, the land that produces only thorns and thistles is worthless, and runs the risk of being cursed. Remember, “curse” means God’s judgement on man’s sin. The end result is that it is burned. 

6:9

There are two or three parts of Hebrews which state bluntly that we can lose our salvation, but that is not the purpose of the letter. “We are convinced of better things in your case”. Life is real, and God has created us with “agency”. So we take the warnings seriously and therefore do not suffer the consequences. Maybe it is a bit like the question “could Jesus have sinned?”. The answer is no, but not because He was a puppet just following instructions, but because of who He is. The temptations that Jesus faced were real, as Hebrews has said. But Jesus was without sin. Life is real, and we need to take responsibility. The writer expects salvation for his readers.

Deuteronomy 16:9-12 - Rejoice before the Lord your God

16:9,10

Next up is the Feast of Weeks, which coincides with our Pentecost. Here it is associated with the start of the harvest. In this way it is quite appropriate that it is associated with Pentecost. They were to celebrate the Feast by giving a freewill offering. Now it looks rather odd that a freewill offering can be mandated, it seems to be something of a contradiction. Well let’s look at one aspect of what I believe the Law is (and I stress it is only one part of the purpose, there are many others as well). And that is it indicates what things would be like in the perfect kingdom. In the perfect kingdom God’s people will freely and gladly give to God, celebrating the harvest with gratitude.

16:11,12

They were to rejoice before the Lord. Again, rejoicing cannot be mandated, but the normal and proper attitude of God’s people is to be one of rejoicing. In Philippians rejoicing is a major theme. Yet again we have emphasis on “the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name”. Then we see that the rejoicing involved the whole family, servants, Levites and foreigners, and the widows and fatherless. It was all inclusive. And yet again they are reminded that they were once slaves in Egypt. As Jesus said, freely you have received, freely give (Matt 10:8).

Hebrews 6:5,6 - Having tasted the goodness

6:5

“Who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age”. Again it is clear that they have had a real experience of God. They have experienced the reality of the word of God and its effects on their lives. By the way, we should not draw the conclusion that experiences are somehow bad. Quite the opposite in fact. The writer's purpose in all this is not to condemn, but to urge the people to greater things, to continue to follow Christ and grow in faith. They have experienced something of the age to come. It is only when Christ returns that we will experience the full effects of the age to come, but we get a foretaste now.

6:6

“And who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance”. Note that repentance is viewed as a continual state, it is a state of rejection of the way we used to live. The writer says here that those who have fallen away cannot be brought back to repentance. This raises the “once saved alway saved” question, and issues related to this. This usually occurs in two broad forms, the first is “can I fall away?”. The second concerns the person we know, may be a family member or close friend, who once confessed faith in Christ, but has now fallen away.  Let’s deal with the first question. The answer is that we can have full assurance. The writer’s purpose is to urge his hearers to go on to a greater understanding and appreciation of the gospel. With regard to the second, what we should not do is seek some solace in the notion that since they once made a profession of faith they will be saved. Instead we should seek and pray that they will truly repent and have a real living faith in Christ. To reject Christ, is to be like the religious leaders and the people who called out “crucify Him”. “subjecting Him to public disgrace”. We see the delight the world takes when someone who once claimed to be a follower of Christ then denies Him. We must not do that.

Deuteronomy 16:5-8 - Except in the place He will choose

16:5,6

We have another emphasis on the Passover meal being eaten in the place of God’s choosing. It was not to be “in any town the Lord your God gives  you”. All the towns were given to them by God, but that did not mean the Passover could be eaten there. The Passover was to be eaten in the evening, because that was the time of their departure from Egypt. There is emphasis on the reality of the events. In the same way, the cross and resurrection are real events, they actually happened.

16:7,8

The meat was to be roasted and eaten in the place of the Lord’s choosing. After this they were to eat unleavened bread for six days. An assembly was to be held on the seventh day and no work was to be done.

Hebrews 6:3,4 - And this we will do

6:3

“And this we will do if God permits” (ESV). This emphasises again the God centred nature of the enterprise. It is only God who can change people’s hearts and minds, and who can lead us on to maturity. Now He involves us in the process, and our part is important, but God is at the centre, He is the source of all things.

6:4

“It is impossible ...” (NIV), ESV has more accurately “For it is impossible ...”. We now get a severe warning. Going onto maturity is not an option, something it would be nice to do if we had the time! It is an imperative. The writer begins by listing various qualities of those who might be in danger of falling away. They have “tasted the heavenly gift”, i.e. they have personal experience of the goodness of the gospel. “Who have shared in the Holy Spirit”. They have a direct experience of God, through the Holy Spirit. We are not talking about nominal Christians here. 

Deuteronomy 16:1-4 - Let no yeast be found

16:1,2

We now move on to a repeat of instructions for three festivals, the first of these being the Passover. The reason for celebrating it is because they are to remember that God brought them out of Egypt, and emphasis here is given to the fact that it occurred at night.  An animal is to be sacrificed, and this is to be “at the place the Lord will choose as a dwelling for His Name”. Throughout Deuteronomy there is repeated reference to God choosing a dwelling place for His Name. Under the new covenant God chooses to dwell within us.

16:3,4

They escaped at night in haste, and the bread had to be unleavened. They are to remember that they escaped, and how they escaped. Now remember that in Exodus and elsewhere there are times when the Israelites complained that they were better off in Egypt, indeed their claims are quite laughable. They needed to remember what things were like before. We too need to remember from time to time what life was like before we knew Christ. As well as no yeast being used, the meat had to be eaten up before morning.

Hebrews 6:1-2 - Let us leave the elementary teachings

6:1a

Having chastised his readers for their reluctance to try to understand properly (Heb 5:11), he now urges them to move on, and to rectify this failing. The NIV has “be taken forward to maturity”. This better captures the meaning of the text. We cannot move on to maturity by our own efforts, we need God to enable us to move on, but when He does so we need to cooperate with Him.This is actually very important, for we are involved in a God-centred enterprise, not a man-centred enterprise. So they are to “move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ” (NIV), or “the elementary doctrine of Christ” (ESV).

6:1b,2

Some of the “elementary teachings” are listed here: the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death; faith in God; instruction about cleansing rites; the laying on of hands; the resurrection of the dead; and eternal judgement. The first two and the last two are not surprising, we would probably include them in any foundational class on Christianity, but the middle two are more surprising. It maybe reflects the background of the hearers as being the Jewish synagogue, and would also be consistent with them being Gentile converts to Judaism.  So the list includes basic truths, and issues of local interest. In both cases they need to move on to what really matters, to gain a deeper understanding.

Deuteronomy 15:18-23 - Set apart for the male every firstborn male

15:18

As with the cancelling of debt, some may baulk at the idea of setting a slave free, considering it a hardship. God tells such people that they should be grateful for the six years of service they have received, and the oft repeated line that if they follow the Lord’s commands then He will bless them in all that they do.

15:19-23

The chapter closes with instructions about the firstborn males of herds and flocks. They were to be offered to the Lord, and eaten in His presence. One might think it strange that it is included among instructions on debts and slaves, but it is another example of seemingly losing something, though in reality it would result in gain. The firstborn was not to be put to work, but offered to the Lord, including eating some (presumably not all!) in the presence of the Lord. The animal was not to be sacrificed if it had a defect, offerings to the Lord were to be perfect. If it had a defect, then it was to be eaten in the owner’s own town, with a reminder not to eat the blood.

Hebrews 5:13,14 - Solid food is for the mature

 5:13

We now get a specific example of where their understanding is lacking, and where the writer will seek to improve their knowledge. ESV says they are “unskilled in the word of righteousness”, while NIV says they are not “acquainted with the teaching about righteousness”. It also implies that some effort is required if we are to understand righteousness properly.

5:14

“But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Yet again we are told not to be lazy! We should train ourselves “by constant use”. We should study the word of God, we should think about it, and we should apply it to our lives. If we don’t do this we could even drift away, we will at least become fairly unfruitful. If we do do this then we can better discern between good and evil. Rom 12:2 speaks of our being able to “test and approve what God’s will is”.

Deuteronomy 15:15-17 - Remember that you were slaves

15:15

The motivation for this was that the Israelites were to remember that they too had been slaves. And they had been slaves under hard taskmasters. The Hebrews, in contrast, were to treat their slaves well. But even the hard taskmasters of Egypt had sent the Israelites away with many gifts, so how much more should an Israelites send a fellow Hebrew away with gifts?

15:16,17

A clear indication that slavery was not necessarily all bad (though no doubt often it was) is this verse. It makes provision for the case where the slave loves the family he works for and considers himself well off. In that case he could choose to stay with them. Looking at the broader issue, there are two approaches to dealing with slavery, and they are not contradictory. One is the legal route, i.e. outlawing slavery. The other is the nature of the slave owner, and his attitude towards his slaves. If the slave owner values his slaves as people, and treats them well, then many of the abhorrent aspects of slavery are neutralised. This was the approach taken in the New Testament, and the reason for this was that the church had no political power, so could not change the laws, but the gospel could change the hearts of men. We should also note that changing laws on its own does not guarantee people being treated well. There are many instances of workers being treated terribly. The bit about pushing an awl through the ear lobe seems rather strange, but even today there are some who make holes in their ears for various reasons.

Hebrews 5:12 - You need milk, not solid food!

 5:12

The people get a further rebuke. They had learnt the “basic principles of the oracles of God” (ESV), or “the elementary truths of God’s word” (NIV), but now needed to be taught these all over again! They had become lazy. We are saved by God, through the word of Christ, but that does not mean that we have no responsibility. And it fails to appreciate what God’s salvation means. It does not just mean that we will go to heaven instead of hell! It means that we will become the people we were always meant to be, that we become like Christ, and that process begins now. So we should always be looking to have a better and deeper understanding of the word of God and the gospel. Now that does not mean that we need to be intellectuals. If we are academically skilled, then we should use that ability, but the keys to understanding the Bible are faith and obedience.

“You ought to be teachers!” Now James warns us that not many should seek to be teachers. Is there a contradiction? No. “Teachers” is being used in two ways. In James, and other passages in Paul’s letters, it is referring to the office or function of a teacher. Someone who can explain the gospel. Here it is used in the sense of us encouraging and helping each other, and in explaining the gospel to unbelievers.

Deuteronomy 15:11-14 - Do not send them away empty handed

15:11

“There will always be poor people in the land.” Because of man’s sinfulness there will always be poor people. God’s command is for His people to be generous towards them. If everyone followed God’s ways there would be no poor (15:4), but no one does follow God’s laws all the time, and some hardly ever. So there will always be the poor. 

15:12

Part of the result of there being the poor is that sometimes people would sell themselves as slaves. If this happened, then a Hebrew slave was to be freed in the seventh year. So we see here a pragmatic approach to the problem of poverty. We do have a tendency to go for unattainable perfect solutions, and end up achieving little, or even making the problem worse. It should also be noted that the slavery talked of here was not “slave trade” slavery. So slavery, or being a servant, was accepted as a pragmatic solution, but was not allowed to go on for longer than seven years.

15:13,14

Critics sometimes argue that the Bible supports slavery. This is evidence of shallow thinking. As I have already said, it was not “slave trade” slavery, and we have just seen one crucial difference, the releasing of slaves after seven years. Here we get perhaps an even starker difference. They were not just to release the slave, but to send them away with gifts, with livestock and other gifts. The one who employed them as a slave was to bless the slave as they freed them. They were to release them gladly.

Hebrews 5:10,11 - We have much to say about this

 5:10

“Being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.” So we have another reference to Melchizedek. Melchizedek is mentioned in only three verses of the Old Testament Gen 14:17,18, and Psalm 110:4. Given that Psalm 110 was widely acknowledged as messianic psalm, it is likely that people wondered why he was mentioned there. We have to wait until chapter 7 before the writer expands on Melchizedek’s importance.

5:11

There is over a chapter to go before we get into the teaching on Melchizedek, and here we get part of the reason for that delay. The teaching on Melchizedek is not simple, it requires us to think, but the recipients of this letter have become “dull of hearing” (ESV), or they “no longer try to understand”. God wants us to use our minds. Now there is, of course, a danger of becoming too full of our own ideas, of thinking we can decide what is right and wrong, and can tell God what He should be thinking! Even some who do believe the Bible can get so immersed in pure intellectual stuff. As a reaction to this the opposite error is to discount thinking, to reject or undervalue any academic approaches. Neither of these extremes is good. We should prepare our minds for action.

Deuteronomy 15:9,10 - Be careful not to harbour this wicked thought

15:9

This verse shows that God knows full well what our hearts are like. He has given the seven year rule on cancelling debts. (This also sheds light on verses that talk about lending to the poor, it would be a loan that would be cancelled after a time.) So the tendency would be to think that there is only a year or two left until the debt would be cancelled, so the person would be reluctant to lend. If this happened, then the poor person may cry out to the Lord, and the man who refused to lend would be guilty.

15:10

They were to give generously to the poor, and not out of a grudging heart. As it says in 2 Cor 9:7, God loves a cheerful giver. If they did this then God would bless all that they did. When we give generously we are being like God, being holy as He is holy, for generosity is one of God’s characteristics. There is a crucial fact to get a hold of. We do not give in order for God to bless us, that is living by law, even trying to manipulate God. Rather, when we are giving out of a generous heart we are living kingdom life, eternal life even, and God blessing us is part of kingdom life.

Hebrews 5:8,9 - He learned obedience through suffering

 5:8

“He learned obedience through what He suffered”. This does not mean that there was any deficiency in Jesus. Maybe the writer is seeking to instruct and encourage his readers who were facing persecution, or soon would be. Jesus was the Son of God, yet He went through suffering, and this was all part of God’s plan. God’s plan for us can involve times of suffering. Most of the deepest lessons that we learn are learnt during times of suffering, And the previous verse tells us how to cope with these times. No one likes suffering, otherwise it wouldn’t be suffering! Jesus offered up loud cries and tears, so we too are allowed to cry out to God in anguish. The key thing is that we cry out to the One who can save us.

5:9

Jesus would not be the perfect sacrifice unless He had gone through the suffering. Jesus had to go to the cross in order to fulfil His purpose, in order to complete the work that the Father had sent Him to do. Remember how vehemently Jesus reacted to Peter when Peter was horrified at the prospect of Jesus being handed over to men and killed (Mk 8:31-33). Jesus knew that the cross was the focal point of His work on earth. By going to the cross Jesus earned salvation for all who believe. Note that it says here “all who obey Him”. Obedience is part of the gospel.