My studies in the Word recently have found me taking a deep dive into the book of Hebrews. Understanding the spiritual wind blowing on a group of Hebrews is more relevant now than ever before. The New Testament apostles and prophets, having moved out of Israel following the stoning of Stephen, shared the gospel with a tribe of Hebrews living somewhere east of modern-day Israel. Three distinct groups of Hebrews resulted from this work.
The first group were those Hebrews who heard the gospel, believed the truth of it, and placed their personal faith in Jesus Christ, becoming Hebrew Christians. They became new creations in Christ. Old things in their lives were passed away and all things became new. Their life change was marked by the realization that they were no longer subject to the law of Moses, the Mosaic priesthood, the feast days, and the sacrificial system. They had become part of the new covenant of grace. When this life change became public, persecution from the other two groups of Hebrews came quickly and with a vengeance. They were ostracized by both family and close friends.
A second group, upon hearing the gospel from the apostles and prophets, straddled the fence. They clearly understood the facts of the gospel and knew what it took to receive its benefits. They also recognized that forsaking the old covenant brought a strong backlash from their friends and, in some cases, family. They were just not willing to do this. They grew further and further from it. They had come to love the old ways of Moses and the angels. They witnessed the serious opposition that their friends and families were receiving for making such a life changing decision. Their hearts grew hard toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Time and again, the Holy Spirit blew the gospel over them or sprinkled the water of grace before them. But they resisted, growing harder and harder. Many soon unknowingly found themselves in the clutches of the truth spoken by our Lord found in John.
“But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: ‘Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lordbeen revealed?’ Therefore, they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: ‘He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.’ These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him. Nevertheless, even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” (John 12:37-43)
They became like Esau who sold his birthright for a bowl of soup and later sought it back with tears, but it was gone (Heb. 12:14-17). Many in this group were caught hanging on a razor’s edge.
The final group were the religiously snared crowd of Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes and all of their disciples. There were some Hebrews that had become so drunk with Satanic pride and power that they would not even consider the fact of their own sin and their need for grace. They would not even entertain the idea that God had given them something new and better. These Hebrews felt that they had all the spiritual truth they needed within the law of Moses and the old covenant, and they sought no other truth. They were so mentally captured by the fact that God had chosen them from all the nations of the earth, so proud of their religious pedigree that they publicly repudiated the claims of Christ and the apostles with their new covenant. They were like the Israel of today, so determined that they are right that they stand to miss it all. In fact, this pharisaical idea infects both Israel and the church. Paul says to both groups – do not wait; behold now is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2).