Hebrews Chapter Six Verse Four to Eight

4
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have
tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have
tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming
age 6 and who have fallen[c] away, to be brought back to repentance. To
their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and
subjecting him to public disgrace. 7 Land that drinks in the rain often
falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is
farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns
and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it
will be burned.
The context of this passage is important. It warns against apostasy, and
it has been suggested by many academics that the Hebrew Christians
due to the intensity of their persecution and the attraction of their
former Judaic religion with the outward ceremonies were tempting
these Christians to revert to their former religion. In the opening words
of the chapter there is a call to “fear” and this word means to dread but
also to be on our guard as apostasy can insidiously creep into the heart
of a person. The fate to be avoided is what the last sentence warns of –
being cursed or utterly cut off from the people of God.
The land is cursed, and the plants are burned in a furnace. This is the
fate of unbelievers who reject the gospel and grace of God. But it is far
worse for the one who enjoyed the benefits and then rejected the
gospel. Jesus claimed that the generation that were privileged to
experience his ministry and yet reject it, would be condemned by the
inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah who would have repented if they
had had the benefit of Jesus’ ministry. This is the fate that the epistle is
warning to avoid. It is stated in harsh terms to sting the consciences of
the Hebrew believers into action. It is only these sharp barbs that will
pierce their consciences out of apathy. It is to shake them from their
false confidence and idleness just as the Jewish audience of Jesus kept
boasting in their pedigree due to their descent from Abraham. It is an
easy trap to fall into.
The purpose of the text has been ascertained. A clear warning against
“falling away” and abandoning their faith. What does falling away
mean? We know that the purpose of the text is to warn against it, but it
is important to identify the meaning. The word means a complete
apostasy and rejecting of the Christian faith. It does not mean a
particular single sin or cluster of moral failures, but rather a complete
abandonment of the Christian religion.
Is this possible? We have read the parable of the Sower. Some seed
germinate and sprout and grow for a period of time but never come to
complete fruition due to a variety of reasons. In order for these
converts to be regenerated they needed the rainfall of all the graces
that all converts receive and some of which are listed in the opening
sentences of this part of the chapter. But they never bear fruit at the
end of the harvest. In this passage, the metaphor is far more
uncompromising. It is not the failure to produce an ear of wheat like in
Jesus’ parable, but the production of thorns and thistles – highly
noxious plants – that is the final result of these people’s lives. It is a
similar outcome as the rebellious Exodus generation that made the
golden calf and refused to enter the land of Israel.
The author of this epistle often refers to the wilderness generation.
They had enjoyed all the benefits of God’s mercy, witnessing miracles
and participating in the Passover. They were baptized into Moses and
drunk of the spiritual rock who was Christ. Whilst these are very much
earthly things, the Exodus generation participated in spiritual blessings
symbolized by these temporal advantages. But they failed to inherit
because they stopped short at the end of their journey and wanted to
go back to Egypt. They had a terrible fate and perished in the
wilderness and their actions were labelled as a rebellion against God.
This is the analogy the author is using throughout to press them not to
go down this path. A warning will be in strong terms. It does not mean
people will ignore the warning. But the warning guards against the
danger and is the providential means to crucify such stirrings in the
minds and wills of Christians who were hard-pressed for various reasons
to abandon their faith.
On the flip side, the author uses positive methods to prevent this
danger of apostasy by the audience. He promotes and highlights the
superiority of Jesus to the High Priest of the former Mosaic order.
Therefore, we have a combination of incentives and warnings to effect
the same outcome. Endure to the end. Keep the faith and don’t give up
but press through and enter God’s rest.
There are trends today not so much to abandon the Christian faith and
revert to Judaism but to hybridize Christianity. Mix the two religions and
somehow harmonize them. There are dangers with this approach.
Christians may become enthralled or mesmerized by liturgy and
language that distracts from the glory and simplicity of the gospel. We
must never lay a foundation for this to occur. The reason is that the
trajectory of such a pathway will only gravitate increasingly towards
whichever religion one is trying to assimilate.
Finally, this passage is designed to generate fear in us. Even though we
have imbibed and been granted such heavenly graces and gifts, there is
a danger of apostasy. It is designed not erode our assurance of salvation
but to keep us on our toes. Why did Jesus share the parable about the
slack servants and the thief in the night who came at an unexpected
hour? It was because of our tendency to be weak. The spirit is willing,
but the flesh is weak. Therefore, the flesh needs such strong language
to subdue it. May we take to heart this warning and let it positively
motivate us to strive even more not in the flesh but in the spirit to the
very end of our life.