Do Not Forsake: Hebrews Week One

Background on Hebrews: circa 60-70 A.D.

The anonymous composer of words touched pen to parchment and authored a polished combination of metaphor, imagery, and analogy. This well formed rhetorical argument intends to encourage and persuade his friends during a tumultuous time when Nero reigned as Emperor...Nero, whose violent legacy includes tyranny, murder, destruction, and
ferocious persecution of Christians including the martyrdom of the Apostles Peter and Paul. These Christians faced the prospect of abuse, loss of property, and imprisonment.

Scholars concur that though Nero instituted the first Roman sponsored persecution of Christians, these original reader's lives were not endangered. However, the potential of threats to their safety were legitimate.  Imagine a world where your religious beliefs could justify beatings, seizure of property, or imprisonment.  Now, erase any preconceived ideas about imprisonment from your mind. First century Roman prisons were more akin to the dank, dark, putrid dungeons of medieval lore than modern American prisons. Guards lowered prisoners through a hole into a windowless room, usually carved from rock. Here they remained, often in chains, while faint shadows flickered on stoney walls. The only dim light emanated from lonely oil lamps. If the prisoner was particularly lucky, someone on the outside would risk their own reputation to bring them food and change their soiled bedding.  Otherwise, they went without. While in the walls of the prison, guards often treated prisoners abusively, beating them cruelly.

Try imagining this climate as the backdrop from which original readers lived. Wouldn't it be easier to return to their safe Jewish practices? Or stop risking their lives by ceasing to meet together as the church? 

"Hold fast," theses pages echo."Do not forsake..."

Perhaps your situation has never been as dire as the original readers, but circumstances have clouded your faith with doubt.  Maybe as you observe the suffering in the lives of others, you question. We've all experienced seasons of doubt...times when we have wondered if it would just be easier to go back...easier to return to who we were before...easier to walk away from this faith journey. The mountaintop is a grand place to visit, but God never leaves us there.  Life is lived in the valley...its in the valley that the promises of God breathe life into our tired hearts...in the valley He molds us and shapes us...in the valley transformation occurs. 

Are you, dear friend, in the valley right now? If so, let me encourage you to be brave enough to share it.  The Bible encourages us to pray for one another. This community offers encouragement and a promise that we will pray for you. 

To all of you I ask that for your Monday's homework you pray. Set some time aside to pray for those reading the study who presently walk through the valley. Pray for strength and encouragement and a renewed trust in God and His purposes. Pray also for those persecuted Christians around the world...especially for those in the Middle East under control of ISIS. Offer your prayers silently or in the comments below.