An Explanation of Lessons from Lent

In the next 40 days (7 now because you have already accomplished thirty-three), the weeks leading up to Easter, the posts on Glimpsed Glory will be different. I am reading through the New Testament during this time and I am hoping the Holy Spirit will lead me to a fresh revelation each and every day. I’m going into it with a prayerful heart and an expectant spirit but I will fully confess to you that my soul feels sluggish.

I have been in a place of exhaustion over these last months. My mind has been clouded, my body has ached and insomnia has been my companion since late December. The enemy has been and is still whispering in my ear that my Jesus has forgotten me . . . that He has finally tired of my imperfections and left me behind.

I’m not giving in to it! I am going to fight the good fight of faith and follow the example of my Nehemiah Man. I am going to stand firm in my faith because if I do not, I will not stand at all. I’m praising God for bringing me to a place of emptiness so that I can look to Him to fill my cup.

I’m coming before the Lord and I’m asking Him to do a new thing in me. To rouse my heart to His side and to draw me near in real and tangible ways. To plow through the fog that has settled over me in the form of health issues, physical stress, and emotional upheaval and lay a level path before me. I’m entering the throne room and I’m humbly reminding Him that He has invited me to come in my time of need. O Lord – be near to me. Love me where I am. Take me where I need to be.

That’s the cry of my heart Sweet Sister and I’m thinking that if I am in this place that perhaps you are too. It might be that different life situations have brought us here but here we are. If that’s the case, I want you to know that you are not alone and that you have a faith sister to walk through it with. We can do this together – you and I. It’s why God gave us to one another. We can join our hearts and we can offer up the next 40 days to the Beautiful One and trust Him to do the beautiful thing in us.

So here’s what I’ll do. I’ll post the daily reading on the blog (except for Sundays) and if you read the Scriptures not only will you have read through the entire New Testament by Easter but God promises that He’ll show you deep and unsearchable things you do not know. He promises that His word is alive and active and will transform your heart. I could use some transformation. What about you?

At the end of the daily passage, I’m going to share my “Lesson from Lent” – nothing long or drawn out just something that God uses to speak straight to my heart from the Scripture that day. I’m putting it at the end because if your time runs short on a particular day – I want you to skip reading my words, not His.

I’m hoping that you’ll start your own running record of what God is showing you. Maybe you’ll even be moved to leave a comment so your Sisters can glean from what you’re learning. No matter how you choose to keep track of all He shares with you . . . treasure it up in your heart Sweet One, meditate on it, mull it over, consider the whisper of the Lover of your soul. The God of the Universe is the only Voice we need to revive our tired souls. So, let’s you and I lean in close, pray for ears to hear and hearts to respond. Let’s dig in to the riches He has given us and prepare to be amazed by what He will reveal to our expectant hearts. O Sister, let’s boldly ask Him for a lesson from Lent and then brace ourselves for a glimpse of Glory!

Day Thirty-four

March 28, 2015 ~~ Hebrews 8-13

Amplified Bible

Footnotes: I’ve left the footnotes in place if you would like to track down sources in word study and language. Please follow the link to each chapter and scroll to the bottom of the passage.

Hebrews 8

Now the main point of what we have to say is this: We have such a High Priest, One Who is seated at the right hand of the majestic [God] in heaven, ² As officiating Priest, a Minister in the holy places and in the true tabernacle which is erected not by man but by the Lord. ³ For every high priest is appointed to offer up gifts and sacrifices; so it is essential for this [High Priest] to have some offering to make also. ⁴ If then He were still living on earth, He would not be a priest at all, for there are [already priests] who offer the gifts in accordance with the Law. ⁵ [But these offer] service [merely] as a pattern and as a foreshadowing of [what has its true existence and reality in] the heavenly sanctuary. For when Moses was about to erect the tabernacle, he was warned by God, saying, See to it that you make it all [exactly] according to the copy (the model) which was shown to you on the mountain. ⁶ But as it now is, He [Christ] has acquired a [priestly] ministry which is as much superior and more excellent [than the old] as the covenant (the agreement) of which He is the Mediator (the Arbiter, Agent) is superior and more excellent, [because] it is enacted and rests upon more important (sublimer, higher, and nobler) promises. ⁷ For if that first covenant had been without defect, there would have been no room for another one or an attempt to institute another one.

⁸ However, He finds fault with them [showing its inadequacy] when He says, Behold, the days will come, says the Lord, when I will make and ratify a new covenant or agreement with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. ⁹ It will not be like the covenant that I made with their forefathers on the day when I grasped them by the hand to help and relieve them and to lead them out from the land of Egypt, for they did not abide in My agreement with them, and so I withdrew My favor and disregarded them, says the Lord. ¹⁰ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint My laws upon their minds, even upon their innermost thoughts and understanding, and engrave them upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. ¹¹ And it will nevermore be necessary for each one to teach his neighbor and his fellow citizen or each one his brother, saying, Know (perceive, have knowledge of, and get acquainted by experience with) the Lord, for all will know Me, from the smallest to the greatest of them. ¹² For I will be merciful and gracious toward their sins and I will remember their deeds of unrighteousness no more.

¹³ When God speaks of a new [covenant or agreement], He makes the first one obsolete (out of use). And what is obsolete (out of use and annulled because of age) is ripe for disappearance and to be dispensed with altogether.

Hebrews 9

Now even the first covenant had its own rules and regulations for divine worship, and it had a sanctuary [but one] of this world. ² For a tabernacle (tent) was erected, in the outer division or compartment of which were the lampstand and the table with [its loaves of] the showbread set forth. [This portion] is called the Holy Place. ³ But [inside] beyond the second curtain or veil, [there stood another] tabernacle [division] known as the Holy of Holies. ⁴ It had the golden ^[a]altar of incense and the ark (chest) of the covenant, covered over with wrought gold. This [ark] contained a golden jar which held the manna and the rod of Aaron that sprouted and the [two stone] slabs of the covenant [bearing the Ten Commandments]. ⁵ Above [the ark] and overshadowing the mercy seat were the representations of the cherubim [winged creatures which were the symbols] of glory. We cannot now go into detail about these things.

⁶ These arrangements having thus been made, the priests enter [habitually] into the outer division of the tabernacle in performance of their ritual acts of worship. ⁷ But into the second [division of the tabernacle] none but the high priest goes, and he only once a year, and never without taking a sacrifice of blood with him, which he offers for himself and for the errors and sins of ignorance and thoughtlessness which the people have committed. ⁸ By this the Holy Spirit points out that the way into the [true Holy of] Holies is not yet thrown open as long as the former [the outer portion of the] tabernacle remains a recognized institution and is still standing, ⁹ Seeing that that first [outer portion of the] tabernacle was a parable (a visible symbol or type or picture of the present age). In it gifts and sacrifices are offered, and yet are incapable of perfecting the conscience or of cleansing and renewing the inner man of the worshiper. ¹⁰ For [the ceremonies] deal only with clean and unclean meats and drinks and different washings, [mere] external rules and regulations for the body imposed to tide the worshipers over until the time of setting things straight [of reformation, of the complete new order when Christ, the Messiah, shall establish the reality of what these things foreshadow—a better covenant].

¹¹ But [that appointed time came] when Christ (the Messiah) appeared as a High Priest of the better things that have come and are to come. [Then] through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with [human] hands, that is, not a part of this material creation, ¹² He went once for all into the [Holy of] Holies [of heaven], not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves [by which to make reconciliation between God and man], but His own blood, having found and secured a complete redemption (an everlasting release for us). ¹³ For if [the mere] sprinkling of unholy and defiled persons with blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is sufficient for the purification of the body, ¹⁴ How much more surely shall the blood of Christ, Who ^[b]by virtue of [His] eternal Spirit [His own preexistent ^[c]divine personality] has offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, purify our consciences from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the [ever] living God?

¹⁵ [Christ, the Messiah] is therefore the Negotiator and Mediator of an [entirely] new agreement (testament, covenant), so that those who are called and offered it may receive the fulfillment of the promised everlasting inheritance—since a death has taken place which rescues and delivers and redeems them from the transgressions committed under the [old] first agreement. ¹⁶ For where there is a [last] will and testament involved, the death of the one who made it must be established, ¹⁷ For a will and testament is valid and takes effect only at death, since it has no force or legal power as long as the one who made it is alive. ¹⁸ So even the [old] first covenant (God’s will) was not inaugurated and ratified and put in force without the shedding of blood. ¹⁹ For when every command of the Law had been read out by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of slain calves and goats, together with water and scarlet wool and with a bunch of hyssop, and sprinkled both the Book (the roll of the Law and covenant) itself and all the people, ²⁰ Saying these words: This is the blood that seals and ratifies the agreement (the testament, the covenant) which God commanded [me to deliver to] you. ²¹ And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and all the [sacred] vessels and appliances used in [divine] worship. ²² [In fact] under the Law almost everything is purified by means of blood, and without the shedding of blood there is neither release from sin and its guilt nor the remission of the due and merited punishment for sins.

²³ By such means, therefore, it was necessary for the [earthly] copies of the heavenly things to be purified, but the actual heavenly things themselves [required far] better and nobler sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ (the Messiah) has not entered into a sanctuary made with [human] hands, only a copy and pattern and type of the true one, but [He has entered] into heaven itself, now to appear in the [very] presence of God on our behalf. ²⁵ Nor did He [enter into the heavenly sanctuary to] offer Himself regularly again and again, as the high priest enters the [Holy of] Holies every year with blood not his own. ²⁶ For then would He often have had to suffer [over and over again] since the foundation of the world. But as it now is, He has once for all at the consummation and close of the ages appeared to put away and abolish sin by His sacrifice [of Himself]. ²⁷ And just as it is appointed for [all] men once to die, and after that the [certain] judgment, ²⁸ Even so it is that Christ, having been offered to take upon Himself and bear as a burden the sins of many once and ^[d]once for all, will appear a second time, not to carry any burden of sin nor to deal with sin, but to bring to full salvation those who are [eagerly, constantly, and patiently] waiting for and expecting Him.

Hebrews 10

For since the Law has merely a rude outline (foreshadowing) of the good things to come—instead of fully expressing those things—it can never by offering the same sacrifices continually year after year make perfect those who approach [its altars]. ² For if it were otherwise, would [these sacrifices] not have stopped being offered? Since the worshipers had ^[a]once for all been cleansed, they would no longer have any guilt or consciousness of sin. ³ But [as it is] these sacrifices annually bring a fresh remembrance of sins [to be atoned for], ⁴ Because the blood of bulls and goats is powerless to take sins away.

⁵ Hence, when He [Christ] entered into the world, He said, Sacrifices and offerings You have not desired, but instead You have made ready a body for Me [to offer]; ⁶ In burnt offerings and sin offerings You have taken no delight. ⁷ Then I said, Behold, here I am, coming to do Your will, O God—[to fulfill] what is written of Me in the volume of the Book.

⁸ When He said just before, You have neither desired, nor have You taken delight in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings—all of which are offered according to the Law— ⁹ He then went on to say, Behold, [here] I am, coming to do Your will. Thus He does away with and annuls the first (former) order [as a means of expiating sin] so that He might inaugurate and establish the second (latter) order. ¹⁰ And in accordance with this will [of God], we have been made holy (consecrated and sanctified) through the offering made once for all of the body of Jesus Christ (the Anointed One). ¹¹ Furthermore, every [human] priest stands [at his altar of service] ministering daily, offering the same sacrifices over and over again, which never are able to strip [from every side of us] the sins [that envelop us] and take them away— ¹² Whereas this One [Christ], after He had offered a single sacrifice for our sins [that shall avail] for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ Then to wait until His enemies should be made a stool beneath His feet. ¹⁴ For by a single offering He has forever completely cleansed and perfected those who are consecrated and made holy.

¹⁵ And also the Holy Spirit adds His testimony to us [in confirmation of this]. For having said, ¹⁶ This is the agreement (testament, covenant) that I will set up and conclude with them after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint My laws upon their hearts, and I will inscribe them on their minds (on their inmost thoughts and understanding), ¹⁷ He then goes on to say, And their sins and their lawbreaking I will remember no more. ¹⁸ Now where there is absolute remission (forgiveness and cancellation of the penalty) of these [sins and lawbreaking], there is no longer any offering made to atone for sin.

¹⁹ Therefore, brethren, since we have full freedom and confidence to enter into the [Holy of] Holies [by the power and virtue] in the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ By this fresh (new) and living way which He initiated and dedicated and opened for us through the separating curtain (veil of the Holy of Holies), that is, through His flesh, ²¹ And since we have [such] a great and wonderful and noble Priest [Who rules] over the house of God, ²² Let us all come forward and draw near with true (honest and sincere) hearts in unqualified assurance and absolute conviction engendered by faith (by ^[b]that leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness), having our hearts sprinkled and purified from a guilty (evil) conscience and our bodies cleansed with pure water. ²³ So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the ^[c]hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgement of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word. ²⁴ And let us consider and give ^[d]attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities, ²⁵ Not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the habit of some people, but admonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching.

²⁶ For if we go on deliberately and willingly sinning after once acquiring the knowledge of the Truth, there is no longer any sacrifice left to atone for [our] sins [no further offering to which to look forward]. ²⁷ [There is nothing left for us then] but a kind of awful and fearful prospect and expectation of divine judgment and the fury of burning wrath and indignation which will consume those who put themselves in opposition [to God]. ²⁸ Any person who has violated and [thus] rejected and set at naught the Law of Moses is put to death without pity or mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much worse (sterner and heavier) punishment do you suppose he will be judged to deserve who has spurned and [thus] trampled underfoot the Son of God, and who has considered the covenant blood by which he was consecrated common and unhallowed, thus profaning it and insulting and outraging the [Holy] Spirit [Who imparts] grace (the unmerited favor and blessing of God)? ³⁰ For we know Him Who said, Vengeance is Mine [retribution and the meting out of full justice rest with Me]; I will repay [I will exact the compensation], says the Lord. And again, The Lord will judge and determine and solve and settle the cause and the cases of His people. ³¹ It is a fearful (formidable and terrible) thing to incur the divine penalties and be cast into the hands of the living God!

³² But be ever mindful of the days gone by in which, after you were first spiritually enlightened, you endured a great and painful struggle, ³³ Sometimes being yourselves a gazingstock, publicly exposed to insults and abuse and distress, and sometimes claiming fellowship and making common cause with others who were so treated. ³⁴ For you did sympathize and suffer along with those who were imprisoned, and you bore cheerfully the plundering of your belongings and the confiscation of your property, in the knowledge and consciousness that you yourselves had a better and lasting possession. ³⁵ Do not, therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward. ³⁶ For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and ^[e]carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised. ³⁷ For still a little while (a very little while), and the Coming One will come and He will not delay. ³⁸ But the just shall live by faith [My righteous servant shall live ^[f]by his conviction respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, and holy fervor born of faith and conjoined with it]; and if he draws back and shrinks in fear, My soul has no delight or pleasure in him.

³⁹ But our way is not that of those who draw back to eternal misery (perdition) and are utterly destroyed, but we are of those who believe [who cleave to and trust in and rely on God through Jesus Christ, the Messiah] and by faith preserve the soul.

Hebrews 11

Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, ^[a]the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. ² For by [faith—^[b]trust and holy fervor born of faith] the men of old had divine testimony borne to them and obtained a good report. ³ By faith we understand that the worlds [during the successive ages] were framed (fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose) by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible.

⁴ [Prompted, actuated] by faith Abel brought God a better and more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, because of which it was testified of him that he was righteous [that he was upright and in right standing with God], and God bore witness by accepting and acknowledging his gifts. And though he died, yet [through the incident] he is still speaking. ⁵ Because of faith Enoch was caught up and transferred to heaven, so that he did not have a glimpse of death; and he was not found, because God had translated him. For even before he was taken to heaven, he received testimony [still on record] that he had pleased and been satisfactory to God. ⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]. ⁷ [Prompted] by faith Noah, being forewarned by God concerning events of which as yet there was no visible sign, took heed and diligently and reverently constructed and prepared an ark for the deliverance of his own family. By this [his faith which relied on God] he passed judgment and sentence on the world’s unbelief and became an heir and possessor of righteousness (^[c]that relation of being right into which God puts the person who has faith).

⁸ [Urged on] by faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went forth to a place which he was destined to receive as an inheritance; and he went, although he did not know or trouble his mind about where he was to go. ⁹ [Prompted] by faith he dwelt as a temporary resident in the land which was designated in the promise [of God, though he was like a stranger] in a strange country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was [waiting expectantly and confidently] looking forward to the city which has fixed and firm foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God. ¹¹ Because of faith also Sarah herself received physical power to conceive a child, even when she was long past the age for it, because she considered [God] Who had given her the promise to be reliable and trustworthy and true to His word. ¹² So from one man, though he was physically as good as dead, there have sprung descendants whose number is as the stars of heaven and as countless as the innumerable sands on the seashore.

¹³ These people all died controlled and sustained by their faith, but not having received the tangible fulfillment of [God’s] promises, only having seen it and greeted it from a great distance by faith, and all the while acknowledging and confessing that they were strangers and temporary residents and exiles upon the earth. ¹⁴ Now those people who talk as they did show plainly that they are in search of a fatherland (their own country). ¹⁵ If they had been thinking with [homesick] remembrance of that country from which they were emigrants, they would have found constant opportunity to return to it. ¹⁶ But the truth is that they were yearning for and aspiring to a better and more desirable country, that is, a heavenly [one]. For that reason God is not ashamed to be called their God [even to be surnamed their God—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob], for He has prepared a city for them.

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was put to the test [while the testing of his faith was ^[d]still in progress], ^[e]had already brought Isaac for an offering; he who had gladly received and welcomed [God’s] promises was ready to sacrifice his only son, ¹⁸ Of whom it was said, Through Isaac shall your descendants be reckoned. ¹⁹ For he reasoned that God was able to raise [him] up even from among the dead. Indeed in the sense that Isaac was figuratively dead [potentially sacrificed], he did [actually] receive him back from the dead. ²⁰ [With eyes of] faith Isaac, looking far into the future, invoked blessings upon Jacob and Esau. ²¹ [Prompted] by faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in prayer over the top of his staff. ²² [Actuated] by faith Joseph, when nearing the end of his life, referred to [the promise of God for] the departure of the Israelites out of Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his own bones.

²³ [Prompted] by faith Moses, after his birth, was kept concealed for three months by his parents, because they saw how comely the child was; and they were not overawed and terrified by the king’s decree. ²⁴ [Aroused] by faith Moses, when he had grown to maturity and ^[f]become great, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ Because he preferred to share the oppression [suffer the hardships] and bear the shame of the people of God rather than to have the fleeting enjoyment of a sinful life. ²⁶ He considered the contempt and abuse and shame [borne for] the Christ (the Messiah Who was to come) to be greater wealth than all the treasures of Egypt, for he looked forward and away to the reward (recompense). ²⁷ [Motivated] by faith he left Egypt behind him, being unawed and undismayed by the wrath of the king; for he never flinched but held staunchly to his purpose and endured steadfastly as one who gazed on Him Who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith (simple trust and confidence in God) he instituted and carried out the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood [on the doorposts], so that the destroyer of the firstborn (the angel) might not touch those [of the children of Israel].

²⁹ [Urged on] by faith the people crossed the Red Sea as [though] on dry land, but when the Egyptians tried to do the same thing they were swallowed up [by the sea]. ³⁰ Because of faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encompassed for seven days [by the Israelites]. ³¹ [Prompted] by faith Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed along with those who refused to believe and obey, because she had received the spies in peace [without enmity].

³² And what shall I say further? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, ³³ Who by [the help of] faith subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promised blessings, closed the mouths of lions, ³⁴ Extinguished the power of raging fire, escaped the devourings of the sword, out of frailty and weakness won strength and became stalwart, even mighty and resistless in battle, routing alien hosts. ³⁵ [Some] women received again their dead by a resurrection. Others were tortured ^[g]to death with clubs, refusing to accept release [offered on the terms of denying their faith], so that they might be resurrected to a better life. ³⁶ Others had to suffer the trial of mocking and scourging and even chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned to death; they were lured with tempting offers [to renounce their faith]; they were sawn asunder; they were slaughtered by the sword; [while they were alive] they had to go about wrapped in the skins of sheep and goats, utterly destitute, oppressed, cruelly treated— ³⁸ [Men] of whom the world was not worthy—roaming over the desolate places and the mountains, and [living] in caves and caverns and holes of the earth.

³⁹ And all of these, though they won divine approval by [means of] their faith, did not receive the fulfillment of what was promised, ⁴⁰ Because God had us in mind and had something better and greater in view for us, so that they [these heroes and heroines of faith] should not come to perfection apart from us [before we could join them].

Hebrews 12

Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, ² Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

³ Just think of Him Who endured from sinners such grievous opposition and bitter hostility against Himself [reckon up and consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you may not grow weary or exhausted, losing heart and relaxing and fainting in your minds. ⁴ You have not yet struggled and fought agonizingly against sin, nor have you yet resisted and withstood to the point of pouring out your [own] blood. ⁵ And have you [completely] forgotten the divine word of appeal and encouragement in which you are reasoned with and addressed as sons? My son, do not think lightly or scorn to submit to the correction and discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage and give up and faint when you are reproved or corrected by Him; ⁶ For the Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes, even scourges, every son whom He accepts and welcomes to His heart and cherishes.

⁷ You must submit to and endure [correction] for discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons. For what son is there whom his father does not [thus] train and correct and discipline? ⁸ Now if you are exempt from correction and left without discipline in which all [of God’s children] share, then you are illegitimate offspring and not true sons [at all]. ⁹ Moreover, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we yielded [to them] and respected [them for training us]. Shall we not much more cheerfully submit to the Father of spirits and so [truly] live? ¹⁰ For [our earthly fathers] disciplined us for only a short period of time and chastised us as seemed proper and good to them; but He disciplines us for our certain good, that we may become sharers in His own holiness. ¹¹ For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful; but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it [a harvest of fruit which consists in righteousness—in conformity to God’s will in purpose, thought, and action, resulting in right living and right standing with God].

¹² So then, brace up and reinvigorate and set right your slackened and weakened and drooping hands and strengthen your feeble and palsied and tottering knees, ¹³ And cut through and make firm and plain and smooth, straight paths for your feet [yes, make them safe and upright and happy paths that go in the right direction], so that the lame and halting [limbs] may not be put out of joint, but rather may be cured. ¹⁴ Strive to live in peace with everybody and pursue that consecration and holiness without which no one will [ever] see the Lord. ¹⁵ Exercise foresight and be on the watch to look [after one another], to see that no one falls back from and fails to secure God’s grace (His unmerited favor and spiritual blessing), in order that no root of resentment (rancor, bitterness, or hatred) shoots forth and causes trouble and bitter torment, and the many become contaminated and defiled by it— ¹⁶ That no one may become guilty of sexual vice, or become a profane (godless and sacrilegious) person as Esau did, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷ For you understand that later on, when he wanted [to regain title to] his inheritance of the blessing, he was rejected (disqualified and set aside), for he could find no opportunity to repair by repentance [what he had done, no chance to recall the choice he had made], although he sought for it carefully with [bitter] tears.

¹⁸ For you have not come [as did the Israelites in the wilderness] to a [material] mountain that can be touched, [a mountain] that is ablaze with fire, and to gloom and darkness and a raging storm, ¹⁹ And to the blast of a trumpet and a voice whose words make the listeners beg that nothing more be said to them. ²⁰ For they could not bear the command that was given: If even a wild animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death. ²¹ In fact, so awful and terrifying was the [phenomenal] sight that Moses said, I am terrified (aghast and trembling with fear). ²² But rather, you have come to Mount Zion, even to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless multitudes of angels in festal gathering, ²³ And to the church (assembly) of the Firstborn who are registered [as citizens] in heaven, and to the God Who is Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous (the redeemed in heaven) who have been made perfect, ²⁴ And to Jesus, the Mediator (Go-between, Agent) of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks [of mercy], a better and nobler and more gracious message than the blood of Abel [which cried out for vengeance].

²⁵ So see to it that you do not reject Him or refuse to listen to and heed Him Who is speaking [to you now]. For if they [the Israelites] did not escape when they refused to listen and heed Him Who warned and divinely instructed them [here] on earth [revealing with heavenly warnings His will], how much less shall we escape if we reject and turn our backs on Him Who cautions and admonishes [us] from heaven? ²⁶ Then [at Mount Sinai] His voice shook the earth, but now He has given a promise: Yet once more I will shake and make tremble not only the earth but also the [starry] heavens. ²⁷ Now this expression, Yet once more, indicates the final removal and transformation of all [that can be] shaken—that is, of that which has been created—in order that what cannot be shaken may remain and continue. ²⁸ Let us therefore, receiving a kingdom that is firm and stable and cannot be shaken, offer to God pleasing service and acceptable worship, with modesty and pious care and godly fear and awe; ²⁹ For our God [is indeed] a consuming fire.

Hebrews 13

Let love for your fellow believers continue and be a fixed practice with you [never let it fail]. ² Do not forget or neglect or refuse to extend hospitality to strangers [in the brotherhood—being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for through it some have entertained angels without knowing it. ³ Remember those who are in prison as if you were their fellow prisoner, and those who are ill-treated, since you also are liable to bodily sufferings. ⁴ Let marriage be held in honor (esteemed worthy, precious, of great price, and especially dear) in all things. And thus let the marriage bed be undefiled (kept undishonored); for God will judge and punish the unchaste [all guilty of sexual vice] and adulterous. ⁵ Let your ^[a]character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] ^[b]Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor ^[c]give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, ^[d][I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor ^[e]let [you] down (^[f]relax My hold on you)! [^[g]Assuredly not!] ⁶ So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me?

⁷ Remember your leaders and superiors in authority [for it was they] who brought to you the Word of God. Observe attentively and consider their manner of living (the outcome of their well-spent lives) and imitate their faith (^[h]their conviction that God exists and is the Creator and Ruler of all things, the Provider and Bestower of eternal salvation through Christ, and their ^[i]leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness). ⁸ Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is [always] the same, yesterday, today, [yes] and forever (to the ages). ⁹ Do not be carried about by different and varied and alien teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established and ennobled and strengthened by means of grace (God’s favor and spiritual blessing) and not [to be devoted to] foods [rules of diet and ritualistic meals], which bring no [spiritual] benefit or profit to those who observe them. ¹⁰ We have an altar from which those who serve and ^[j]worship in the tabernacle have no right to eat. ¹¹ For when the blood of animals is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin, the victims’ bodies are burned outside the limits of the camp. ¹² Therefore Jesus also suffered and died outside the [city’s] gate in order that He might purify and consecrate the people through [the shedding of] His own blood and set them apart as holy [for God]. ¹³ Let us then go forth [from all that would prevent us] to Him outside the camp [at Calvary], bearing the contempt and abuse and shame with Him. ¹⁴ For here we have no permanent city, but we are looking for the one which is to come. ¹⁵ Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name. ¹⁶ Do not forget or neglect to do kindness and good, to be generous and distribute and contribute to the needy [of the church ^[k]as embodiment and proof of fellowship], for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

¹⁷ Obey your spiritual leaders and submit to them [continually recognizing their authority over you], for they are constantly keeping watch over your souls and guarding your spiritual welfare, as men who will have to render an account [of their trust]. [Do your part to] let them do this with gladness and not with sighing and groaning, for that would not be profitable to you [either].

¹⁸ Keep praying for us, for we are convinced that we have a good (clear) conscience, that we want to walk uprightly and live a noble life, acting honorably and in complete honesty in all things. ¹⁹ And I beg of you [to pray for us] the more earnestly, in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.

²⁰ Now may the God of peace [Who is the Author and the Giver of peace], Who brought again from among the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood [that sealed, ratified] the everlasting agreement (covenant, testament), ²¹ Strengthen (complete, perfect) and make you what you ought to be and equip you with everything good that you may carry out His will; [while He Himself] works in you and accomplishes that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ (the Messiah); to Whom be the glory forever and ever (to the ages of the ages). Amen (so be it).

²² I call on you, brethren, to listen patiently and bear with this message of exhortation and admonition and encouragement, for I have written to you briefly. ²³ Notice that our brother Timothy has been released [from prison]. If he comes here soon, I will see you along with him. ²⁴ Give our greetings to all of your spiritual leaders and to all of the saints (God’s consecrated believers). The Italian Christians send you their greetings [also]. ²⁵ Grace (God’s favor and spiritual blessing) be with you all. Amen (so be it).

With amazement at the All of God we say the Amen

#lessonsfromlent

How do we begin or conclude looking at a passage that makes it so clear that the Author of Life, the Alpha and the Omega, has no beginning or ending? There is no place and no time we can travel that the I AM is not. Not as if He peers into the future from a long corridor, no, He Is There.

The beauty of the Book of Hebrews, threading only small portions of the Glory of God together, tries its best to lay the Divine of Him end-to-end but it simply can’t be done.

He’s too much.

He’s too big.

He’s too beautiful . . . too glorious . . .

too fierce to be fully explained.

Those chapters we just read . . . we could look at them from now until the return of Christ and not come to the bottom of their riches . . .it’s so enormous and beautiful . . . just like He is.

And doesn’t it leave you in awe, that we’re only partway there. What I mean is that we’re only seeing the edges of the reality of it—and it’s astounding! What will it be when our faith becomes sight? How will we feel when we’re blessed with the divine insight to fully grasp these things?

So much of what we read is physically represented in Exodus 19 as the Israelites stand trembling at the foot of the mountain and the Voice of God is too much for them to bear. They tell Moses, “You go and talk to Him, we can’t take it . . . He’s too much.”   They’re afraid to be in His Presence so they send a mediator. And the mediator comes back down the mountain with the Holy Words of God in his hand, with the instruction to construct a holy tabernacle where the Presence of God will rest.

Build the brazen altar – burn the sacrifice until there are only ashes . . .

Construct the Basin—make certain the priests are fully cleansed . . .

Put out the showbread—let the priests eat for I am with them . . .

Fill the lamps with oil—do not let the light go dark . . .

Burn the incense—the sweet aroma of the offering will be your shield. . .

Cover the stone tablets with my Presence— the Glory will dwell behind the veil . . .

Do you see it all take shape so up close and so personal? You nor I could take being near our Holy God either – so He gave us a Mediator—far superior to Moses. Our Mediator not only takes of God and delivers it to us, He takes us and delivers us to God.

Beloved, on our own we would be left to forever gaze at the Presence of God and cover our ears when He spoke . . . just like the Israelites gazed from the foot of the mountain. We would be forever left on the east side of the brazen altar with no way to travel to the Holy of Holies. We would have no hope of entering into the Presence of the Father, our Creator, our Elohim, if the Mediator had not come to take us home.

But rest in this Sister, He has indeed sent us the Great High Priest who walked through the “greater and more perfect tabernacle” to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. Jesus Christ has made the way. He has torn the veil that we may enter into and share in our Master’s happiness.

Picture yourself standing at the east entrance of the Tabernacle courtyard. . . .

You are standing in the very place God assigned as the encampment for the tribe of JUDAH. Imagine seeing the top of the tent God chose to bless with His Presence such a short a distance away and yet, if you dare to get too close, you will die. But as twilight falls, and the time for the evening sacrifice arrives, you hear a gentle voice say, “The Father has sent me to bring you home. I have made the way, follow me.” Stunned by the power of His words, your heart pounding in fear, you quietly ask, “Who are you to make such an invitation? Do you realize that I am just an ordinary woman? I have no right to enter in.”

Cupping your chin in His hand, He lifts your face to meet His, “My child, I fully know you, better than you know yourself and if you will listen, you will recognize my voice for I am the Good Shepherd and I have laid down my life to get you home.”

“Daughter, my bloodstained feet walked through this place before the world began and my Father was well pleased to accept the offering I made for you.”

“I gave my body on the tree and wore your curse so you could pass safely through behind me. No other sacrifice is necessary. My Blood, the Blood of the Lamb, has rescued you from certain death.”

“There is no need for you to be washed at the basin, for in Me you are washed with pure and living water.” The Door to the Holy Place has been opened and I have set before you the bread God sent from heaven to bring you life . Yes, in ages past only Aaron and his sons were allowed to eat at this table, but I say to you now, come and eat, I am the Bread of Life.”

“Do not fear the darkness nor worry about the oil for the lampstand. My Father has provided the oil as well as the flame to light your way.   The darkness will not engulf you for if you follow me, you possess the Light of the world.”

“And you need not burn the incense for I am the fragrant offering and I will shield you until the end of the age.”

“I have provided everything you need to enter the Most Holy Place. I gave up My Spirit. I paid the price and the curtain separating you from the Father was torn from top to bottom. The Old Covenant has been fulfilled and I was raised to life to offer you the Blood of the New Covenant, the new and living way.”

“The Father’s Holy wrath was satisfied once for all when my Holy blood was poured over the mercy seat, drenching the Tablets of the Law that lay beneath in the Ark of the Testimony. On that day, all those seated in the heavenlies saw mercy triumph over judgment!”

“And now, in My Resurrection, I live to offer you mercy for this life and my Father has sent you the Holy Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing what is yet to come when mercy is fulfilled at the end of the age. Open your eyes, child and see that God is still God!”

“Stand firm in Me, Sweet One, I was there when your name was written in the Book of Life, I have made a way for you, and I will be there to welcome you home!”

O Sister, if He can paint that beautiful picture in the mind of this ordinary woman imagine the extraordinary reality we will see!  He’s not left us to cover our ears at the foot of the mountain. He has trumpeted the invitation to join Him and sent His Son to make the way.  He’s not abandoned us to tremble at a distance but has pulled us up close, looked in our eyes, and spoken through the One and Only. Beloved do you hear? The Herald of ages past, the Voice of the here and now, the Announcement of the future – they all speak in love as one and the Holy Message is . . . Welcome Home.

There’s no place like home . . . #lessonsfromlent

Tags: 2 Corinthians 1:22, glimpsed glory, Hebrews 10, Hebrews 12, Hebrews 13, Hebrews 1:1, Hebrews 8, Hebrews 9, Lessons from Lent, Matthew 27:51, New Covenant, Old Covenant, Revelation 13:8, Revelation 22