Day 774: The doubts of delay - Hebrews 10 vs 32 - 39

32-33 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

35-36 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37-38 For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. Hebrews 10:32-39 English Standard Version

The writer was seeking to encourage believer's struggling to keep going in the faith to not give up, and to not turn their backs on Christ. He had pointed out the severe consequences of doing that in the verses before today's section, now he reminds them of how the joy the gospel had brought had made such a difference to their lives. How had that joy been expressed in the early days when they became Christians? (vs 32-33)

They had become a people of great compassion. They were ready to suffer trials together and to care for those who were particularly hard hit. We read elsewhere that “the believers were together and had all things in common, and were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” (Acts 2:44-45) What was the basis of the joy that had transformed their lives? (vs 34)

Their lives had been filled with a wonderful hope. They had experienced the peace of forgiveness of sin because Christ had paid the debt of their transgressions. And they knew of His promise to return, to bring about the new heavens and earth where God's presence and reign will be eternally supreme. They knew that death would be forever defeated. But it seems the passing years, and the delay in Christ's return, was causing some to doubt the message they’d heard. So what does the writer urge them to do? (vs 35-36)

He urges them to endure. He doesn't want them to lose the confidence that faith had brought into their lives. He reminds them of words God spoke to the prophet Habakkuk hundreds of years earlier, that the Saviour they expected would definitely come. The delay would not be forever. (vs 37-38) The same faith that laid hold of Jesus Christ to be made righteous in God's sight, was now to cling to the promise of His return, and not to shrink back and give up. It is this enduring faith, this pressing on through the trials, that preserves the believer’s soul.

Near the end of his life the apostle Peter also dealt with questions about the return of Christ. He wrote: “In the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, 'What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.'” But then he says: “You mustn't forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He doesn’t want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” (2 Peter 3:3-9)

The delay (in our eyes) of Christ's return must not cause us to doubt the gospel, or any of God's promises. That day will definitely come! Let us stay firm in our faith, and pray for one another that our love for Jesus and for God's people will grow ever stronger, and be expressed in works of compassion. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come, and will not delay.”