By: Obed Pineda
You are standing on the battlefield, in formation, watching and waiting for the enemy’s advance toward your platoon. As the fierce fight unfolds before you, you are able to surmise that engaging them in battle is now inevitable because of how efficiently they have been able to pierce through the previous lines of defense. You observe the greater size of their forces, the advanced sophistication of their weaponry, and the stronger physique of their soldiers (who are dominant in combat) and suddenly the throes of fear begin to invade your thoughts. The intimidating presence of the enemy marching upon you heightens your sense of dread and your survival instincts are internally yelling at you to break rank and run away from the fight. In that moment, as panic is seeking to devour your courage, you hear the valiant, confident voice of your platoon commander, who is standing at the very front of the formation where he will be first to clash with the formidable foe, shout the order, “Hold the line soldier!” With one simple, yet powerful, exhortation from the commanding officer your resilience is refueled by the reminder that “we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:39). There is no question that in the Hebrew letter, the Bible firmly establishes that Christianity is not for the faint of heart “for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). There is no question that the enemy’s military might is an intimidating sight, but it is in these moments when it is valuable to remember, “there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles” (2nd Chronicles 32:7b-8, cf. 2nd Kings 6:14-17). This concept of not retreating in the face of adversity, but rather stand fast in Christ is the principal purpose for the epistle written to the Hebrews. Every diligent student of the Bible knows that the superiority of Jesus and Christianity over Moses and Judaism is enlightened by this inspired epistle as a means to caution those Christians who had come out of the Judaic system against returning to it. Countless references to details about the old Levitical rituals found in the epistle indicates that these were still in practice when the letter was originally drafted. Additionally, it also hints at the possibility that the audience to whom this epistle was sent were very likely the Christians residing in Jerusalem and Palestine; the home of the Jewish Temple. For a former Jew living near this structure, holding firm to the faith was no easy feat. Being surrounded by fellow countrymen, family members, and friends who still followed the Mosaic Law would have been a powerful influence to combat day in and day out. Living in a community as an outsider who was constantly viewed as a traitor and treated with great contempt because the Sanhedrin labeled Christianity as heresy and blasphemy, was irrefutably a heavy cross to bear. Ergo, the remarkable motive for the Holy Spirit to inspire this letter becomes resplendently clear. God revealed to His chosen scribe the need to exhort to his fellow brethren to “hold the line!” It is not easy to leave behind an entire lifetime that was once held as pleasing to the Almighty. We must not forget that during the writing of Hebrews, Christianity was fairly new, while Judaism had been in existence for a over a millennia. The merciless jeering that Christians in that region would endure with scoffers quipping, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation” would plant seeds of confusion and doubt in their minds (2nd Peter 3:3-4). These tares being sown could potentially find fertile soil if the faith of the convert was not being properly cultivated by exercising good discernment through the Word of righteousness (cf. Hebrews 5:12-14). The inspired penman wisely concluded that by revealing the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old, the former Jews turned Christians would be reminded of the promises found in Christ Jesus, made by God Himself (cf. Hebrews 6:9-20). Teaching them that the Old Testament was designed to bring them to Jesus (in Whom God’s grace can be obtained) the Hebrew writer was unveiling the folly of going backward to a system that had already fulfilled its purpose (cf. Hebrews 10, Romans 10:1-4, 2nd Corinthians 3:7-18, Colossians 2:11-19). Today, this same lesson applies to all Christians who at times contemplate returning to their former lives. When the hardships of godly living appear and our heart is burdened by sorrow and chaos, let us heed the mighty call of the Captain of our salvation urging us to hold the line, remembering that He has already defeated “him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” with the intent to “release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham (Hebrews 2:14-16). The life of a devoted and faithful Christian who is constantly perfecting his or her holiness is verily a difficult one, in part because the society that person is surrounded by can oft times exude an intoxicating influence upon the individual. The toxins used by our community aims at numbing and distorting the reality of what our lives in the world actually were like. If we are not careful, we can repeat the mistake made by that first generation of liberated Israelites who habitually murmured against Jehovah God complaining, “We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except for this manna before our eyes” (Numbers 11:5-7)! It is curious to read that the children of Israel soon forgot that they did not eat “freely” as they claimed taking into account that they had been paying with their free labor as slaves in Egypt. The same is true if the liberated Christian yearns to go back to the old man, forgetting that in that previous life they “were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world” (Ephesians 2:1b-2a). Therefore, when our old sinful life beckons us to abandon our post and turn back, let us hold the line by remembering that we have been rescued from a polluted lifestyle and that our redeemed life, in Christ, will yield fruit in the right moment, for we labor not in vain (cf. 2nd Peter 2:18-22, Galatians 6:8-10, 1st Corinthians 15:50-58).