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Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who
promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love
and good deeds,
not forsaking our own assembling together
, as is the
habit of some, but encouraging {one another} and all the more, as you see the
day drawing near. (Hebrews 10.23-25
NASB
)
This particular portion of Scripture, without any doubt, is universally interpreted
to mean that Christians must not forsake gathering together, typically in so-called
“church meetings.” Further, many pastors use this verse to exhort people to attend
Sunday “worship services,” often putting guilt on their consciences that if they do
not attend, then something dreadful will happen to them.
Now, let me be perfectly clear that the gathering together of Christians is essential.
After all, how can the body of Christ be built up in love if the joints and marrow are
not relationally connected in practical, living ways? Every begotten from above
believer in Jesus Christ is called out of the world, and they all are joined together
in the body of Christ. This is an undeniable truth based on the word of God.
However, it is not my intent to discuss the merits or means of Christian gatherings
other than to say that the most basic and essential gathering together of Christians
is when two or three are gathered together in the name of the Lord and under the
leadership of the Holy Spirit. When this occurs, the Lord is in their midst. Is there
anything greater than knowing that Jesus is in the midst of as few as two or three
that, in sincerity of heart, have gathered together in His name? It doesn’t take a
building, a temple, a meeting place, a “worship center,” or any such thing. All that
is required is for two or three to be gathered together in His name. It is profoundly
simple. Unfortunately, Christendom has made it profoundly complex, and in many
cases, something that Scripture does not teach.
Much could be written on this matter, but the purpose of this article is to challenge
the traditional interpretation of the verse
not forsaking our own assembling
together
. I realize that the traditional interpretation of this verse is so ingrained in
Christian thinking and even teaching that, most likely, many, out of hand, will
true or not. The point I want to make is that this verse deals with the great hope
that is set before everyone who is truly begotten of God. I propose that the writer of
Hebrews, who most likely was Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
encouraged the brethren who had come out of Judaism not to abandon their new-
1
Special acknowledgment goes to my dear friend and brother in Christ, Charlie Shields, who
actually challenged me with this thought. At first it seemed farfetched; but upon further study and
meditation, I came to see what he gleaned through his search of Scripture, and his study of the
Greek words. Thus, the understanding unfolded in this booklet is credited to my brother. I am
merely trying to explain it.
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found hope in the return of the Lord, and their being snatched away to meet Him
in the air at His
Parousia
. This verse could be paraphrased as such:
Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds
[which
is the proper result of our hope],
not abandoning
[the hope of]
our own
gathering together
[unto the Lord when He comes a second time],
as is the
habit of some
[who have given up this hope],
but encouraging one another
[with this hope],
and all the more as you see the day
[the day of Christ when
He comes for His people]
drawing near
.
Now, let us test this paraphrase according to Scripture and not the traditions of
men to see if this is the intent of Paul. To do this, we need to approach this verse
from three views.
First
, we need to understand the subject of the letter to the
Hebrews.
Second
, we need to understand the immediate context of this portion of
Scripture. Does the context support the notion that it refers to the hope of the
return of Christ?
Third
, we need to review the Greek word from which
gathering
together
is derived and see how it is used in other New Testament Scriptures. The
Holy Spirit was very precise in the use of words in the original languages from
which our English Bibles have been translated.
The subject of Hebrews.
The writer of the epistle left no doubt about the subject matter of the entire letter
and especially the first two chapters. He pointed to a future day.
For not to messengers did He subject
the coming world
, concerning which
we speak. (Hebrews 2.5
YLT
)
For he has not subjected to angels
the habitable world which is to
come
, of which we speak. (Hebrews 2.5
DNT
)
Clearly, Paul, under the inspiration of the spirit of God, was looking forward to a
new day in which the government of the habitable world will change. No longer
will angels rule over the earth as they do today, but the one new man in Christ will
be crowned with glory and honor, ruling as he was created to do but has been
unable to do since the fall of Adam. Of course, this day speaks of the coming reign
of Christ when Christ will ascend His own throne to rule over this earth and Satan
is bound in the pit for 1,000 years (Revelation 20.1-3). The world to come
commences at the conclusion of Man’s day (6,000 years since Adam) when the
great voices in heaven declare:
“The kingdoms of the world did become [those] of
our Lord and of His Christ, and he shall reign to the ages of the ages!”
(Revelation
11.15
YLT
). It is the seventh day, a day fixed by the Father (Acts 1.7; Hebrews 4.4, 7).
It is the day in which those who will reign with Christ will receive a kingdom which
cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12.28) and will be spiritually perfected as the heavenly
Jerusalem, the lasting city, the city which has foundations, whose architect and
builder is God (Hebrews 11.10; 13.14).
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From the very start, the epistle to the Hebrews proclaims that the world to come is
centered on one thing—the Son of God returning to this earth a second time.
However, instead of dying for the sin of the world, Christ is coming to rule over
this world. He has suffered the shame of the cross, but when He returns, He will
glory in His crown. God the Father will once again introduce His Son to the whole
habitable world as the King who holds the scepter of the kingdom of the heavens.
He is the Son of Man, and He will reign!
Moreover, when
He brings the firstborn Son again into the habitable
world
, He says, Let all the angels of God worship Him. (Hebrews 1.6
AB
)
All the angels will worship Him as He takes the reign over this earth and brings
many sons to glory to rule with Him (Hebrews 2.10). No longer will man be a little
lower than the angels, for those who have believed on Jesus and have been
victorious (conquerors) will be like Him, crowned with glory and honor (Hebrews
2.5-10).
This is what this epistle calls so great a salvation. It is not just about the salvation
by grace through faith that we receive when we first believe but about the full
salvation of being counted worthy to reign with Christ in His millennial kingdom
of glory (1 Thessalonians 2.12). For this reason, we are warned not to neglect so
great a salvation (Hebrews 2.3). In fact, we are to eagerly await the second coming
of Christ, for this is our so great a salvation.
So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many,
shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin,
to those who eagerly await Him.
(Hebrews 9.28
NASB
)
Do you grasp the greatness of this hope? Jesus is coming a second time not to die
for the sin of the world, nor to judge for any sin that has been brought under His
blood. He is coming for those who are eagerly awaiting His arrival to this earth
after having been gone a long time (Matthews 25.19; Luke 19.12-15). Today, the
Son is seated at the right hand of God the Father until all His enemies are made a
footstool for His feet (Hebrews 1.13; 10.11-13). But the time is almost up and very
soon the Son will be given the command to leave the throne of His Father and
come to this earth to ascend His own throne (Revelation 3.21).
This is the hope placed before every Christian. It is time to endure to the end, to
hold fast to this hope. He will come, and He will not delay! This is our hope.
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God,
you may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while,
He who is
coming 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. (Hebrews
10.36-38
NASB
)
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This epistle contains five sets of verses that encourage us in this hope, as well as
exhort us not to lose this hope but to hold it fast, firm until the end.
Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those
things which were to be spoken later; but Christ {was faithful} as a Son over
His house whose house we are,
if we hold fast our confidence and the
boast of our hope firm until the end
. (Hebrews 3.5-6
NASB
)
And we desire that each one of you
show the same diligence so as to
realize the full assurance of hope until the end
, that you may not be
sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the
promises. (Hebrews 6.11-12
NASB
)
In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise
the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, in order that
by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may
have strong encouragement,
we who have fled for refuge in laying hold
of the hope set before us
.
This hope we have as an anchor of the
soul
, a {hope} both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,
where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest
forever according to the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 6.17-20
NASB
)
For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment
because of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made nothing perfect),
and on the other hand
there is a bringing in of a better hope, through
which we draw near to God
. (Hebrews 7.18-19
NASB
)
This is the subject and hope of the epistle to the Hebrews. Naturally, this letter
contains many truths, but my purpose is not to expound on the entire content of
the letter but to study one verse in the context of the letter. This leads us to the last
direct reference to our hope, and it is found immediately preceding the exhortation
to not forsake the assembling or gathering together.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for
He who promised is faithful
; and let us consider how to stimulate one
another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together,
as is the habit of some, but encouraging {one another} and all the more, as
you see the day drawing near. (Hebrews 10.23-25
NASB
)
The context.
What is the context of these verses? Paul had previously unveiled the great truth
that Christ is our High Priest ministering in the heavenly sanctuary on our behalf
(Hebrews 8.1-2). He is a high priest of the things to come and has entered the
greater and more perfect tabernacle. Through His own blood, He entered the holy
place once for all, having obtained
eonian
redemption (Hebrews 9.11-12). The good
news is that because of His present priestly ministry, He is also able to save forever
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2
[to the uttermost] those who draw near to God through Him, since He always
lives to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7.25). Because of His blood and His
present ministry, every one who has believed on Jesus has bold access to the
throne of grace (Hebrews 4.16).
Since therefore, brethren,
we have confidence to enter the holy place
by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way
which He inaugurated
for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over
the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of
faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our
bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10.19-22
NASB
)
Because of the blood of Jesus, we have full confidence that we can enter into the
presence of God today. We can enter into His presence in the spirit with full
assurance of faith. This is our present confidence of which we are fully assured
because of the finished work of our beloved Lord Jesus. We have a new and living
way, daily, into the presence of God.
Now, the writer exhorts us, with this present confidence, to hold fast the
confession of our hope. Because of the present ministry of Jesus, we have full
assurance of a great hope set before us, and the writer of this epistle does not want
us to waver in our resolve to endure to the end by losing sight of this hope. Why?
Because He who promised is faithful! The One who said that He will never desert
us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13.5) will come again to receive us to Himself (John
14.3). When all of heaven opens up, Jesus will come riding on a white horse, and
He will be called Faithful and True (Revelation 19.11).
Given this hope, we are then encouraged to stimulate one another to love and good
deeds. When we have the hope of the coming of the Lord sealed in our hearts, it
should be manifested in very practical expressions of love and good deeds for one
another (see Hebrews 6.10-12). Of course, our hope, the hope of our Lord’s return
and our love for one another, springs forth from love for the One who first loved us
(1 John 4.19).
“A new commandment I give to you,
that you love one another
, even as I
have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that
you are My disciples,
if you have love for one another
.” (John 13.34-35
NASB
)
In fact, this is exactly the heart that is seen in the early church that held to the hope
of the second coming of Christ. Specifically, we see it in the believers who resided
in Thessalonica and Colossae. The Thessalonians were waiting for the Son to come
from heaven (1 Thessalonians 1.10); and as they waited, they were engaged in a
2
Literally, “to the end,” which means to the end of the eon [age], at which time the Lord’s priestly
ministry in the heavenly sanctuary ends and He ascends His throne as the King-Priest, according to
the order of Melchizedek.
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labor of love (1 Thessalonians 1.3), and their love for one another grew greater.
Consider Paul’s words to the Thessalonians.
We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is {only} fitting,
because your faith is greatly enlarged, and
the love of each one of you
toward one another grows
{ever} greater; therefore, we ourselves speak
proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in
the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. {This is}
a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment
so that you may be
considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you
are suffering
. (2 Thessalonians 1.3-5
NASB
; also 1 Thessalonians 3.11-13)
Their faith, love, and perseverance in the midst of great trial were working gold
into their lives that would count them worthy of the kingdom that is coming, the
kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.
Likewise, the Colossians had love and hope, and for this, Paul commended them.
We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always
for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and
the love which
you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in
heaven
, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel….
(Colossians 1.3-5
NASB
)
The hope laid up for them refers to the coming kingdom when Christ ascends His
throne. Thus, loving one another, even stimulating one another to love and good
deeds, is the outcome of one’s hope in the coming of our Lord. If we are eagerly
waiting for the appearing of our Lord, we should love one another. However, there
is a danger that as we do love one another, we might take our eyes off the hope set
before us. As to this concern, the spirit of God exhorts us not to abandon the hope
of our future gathering together to be with the Lord when He comes in the air.
Not only are we to hold to this hope, but we are to be all the more diligent in
holding fast to our hope, and all the more as we see the day approaching. This is
quite significant, for in the verse we are studying, the writer brings us to the very
heart of the matter, and that is
the day of Christ
. What day is this? It cannot refer
to the present day in which Christ is ministering in the heavenly sanctuary. This is
not an approaching day, for He has been interceding on behalf of His people for
2,000 years. Clearly, it is a day that is set out in front of us. This day must have to
do with the confession of our hope. What is our hope? It is that Christ will come
again and raise from among the dead all the conquerors that have fallen asleep in
Him and transfigure them into His likeness, along with His conquerors that are
alive and remain on the earth. This is the glorious day of Christ (Philippians 1.6,
10; 2.16)! It will commence with the coming of the Lord in His
Parousia
.
Now, this is the context in which we find this matter of assembling or gathering
together. Admittedly, stimulating one another to love and good deeds is something
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that requires Christians to be with one another. However, is this the thought of the
Holy Spirit in this verse? To answer this question, let us dig a little deeper and look
at the Greek words from which our English words have been translated and
compare their usage in other New Testament Scriptures.
Gathering together.
Before looking at the verse in question, it is noteworthy to refer to the Lord’s own
words in which He laid out the essential principle of gathering together.
“For where
two or three have gathered together
[
sunago
]
in My
name
, there I am in their midst.” (Matthew 18.20
NASB
)
The Greek word for “gathered together” is
sunago
, and its noun form is
sunagoge
.
We derive the English noun
synagogue
from this word.
Sunago
is one of the more
common verb forms meaning “to lead together, i.e., collect or convene, gather.”
Sunagoge
means an “assemblage of persons.” Both words come from the root
word
sun
, which means “union, with or together.”
According to the Lord’s words, a gathering of His people occurs when any number
of His people gathers together in His name. It is so simple.
Now, let us look more closely at the verse in question.
Not forsaking our own assembling together
[episunagoge]
, as is the
habit of some….
(Hebrews 10.25
NASB
)
In the Hebrews epistle, the “assembling together” comes from the Greek word
episunagoge
, which means “a complete collection.” The prefix
epi
means “above or
after,” implying a more intensified meaning of the word; thus, it is a complete
gathering, implying that it could be a rather large collection of people. The only
other place in Scripture that this intensified form is used in the noun form is in one
of the few verses in all of Scripture that directly refers to the snatching away of the
believers.
Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and
our gathering together
[episunagoge] to Him, that you may
not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit
or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has
come. (2 Thessalonians 2.1-2
NASB
)
In 1 Thessalonians 4.13-17, Paul had written to the Thessalonians about the
snatching away in clouds to meet the Lord in the air, so that he did not have to
repeat himself but merely remind them of this hope. The gathering together that
Paul referenced is the complete gathering of all of the Lord’s people. It is a full,
complete, great gathering.
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Further evidence that this sort of gathering is a full or complete gathering is also
discovered by reviewing all the uses of the Greek word
episunago
, which is the
verb form of the noun
episunagoge
.
The first reference is discovered when Jesus cried out over ancient Jerusalem. His
heart’s cry was that He longed to gather the entire house of Israel, to Himself; but
at His first advent He could not do this, for they rejected Him.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are
sent to her! How often I wanted
to gather
[episunago] your children
together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were
unwilling.” (Matthew 23.37
NASB
; also Luke 13.34)
The second reference, we could say, is the fulfillment of the Lord’s heart cry when
He will gather the true, spiritual Israel, all the elect, to Himself.
“And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will
gather
together
[episunago] His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky
to the other.” (Matthew 24.31
NASB
; also Mark 13.27)
The angels will gather the elect from every corner of the world to which they have
been dispersed as the four winds of heaven (Zechariah 2.6). This is a full and
complete gathering. This is very similar to Paul’s revelation of 1 Thessalonians
4.13-17. Perhaps, it is one and the same.
Finally, there are two other verses that relate to full, complete gatherings. One
involved the complete gathering to Jesus of the city of Capernaum. The other
involved a multitude or many thousands of people gathered to Jesus.
And the whole city had
gathered
[episunago] at the door. (Mark 1.33
NASB
)
Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of the multitude had
gathered together
[episunago] that they were stepping on one another….
(Luke 12.1
NASB
)
Now, leaving out Hebrews 10.25 for a moment, all seven uses of this word (both
the noun
episunagoge
and the verb
episunago
), refer to full, complete gatherings
to the Lord Himself, and literally involve large numbers of people.
At this point, the challenge remains as to whether this matter of not forsaking our
gathering together is a present reality (i.e., “church meetings”), or whether it, in
fact, refers to the future gathering of all the believers to the Lord in the day of
Christ.
To answer this challenge, let us summarize what has been presented to this point.
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First
,
the subject of the epistle to the Hebrews is the world to come when Christ
will come a second time, and the one new man in Christ will reign over this earth
in the place of the angels. This is our hope. The fact of the matter is that if He does
not come we have no hope, for there will be no resurrection and transfiguration
into His image.
Second
, the context of the verses immediately preceding and following the one in
question refer to the hope we have, and this hope is summed up in the day that is
coming, the day of Christ. The
not forsaking our gathering together
is nestled
between the hope and the day.
Third
, the exhortation in reference to the hope and the day is to love and good
deeds. We must be faithful to our Master while He is gone for a long time to
receive a kingdom. We are called to bear fruit that is commensurate with our hope
of the coming kingdom of glory. The Thessalonians and the Colossians all held to
the hope of the coming kingdom, and as they did, they fulfilled the Lord’s
command to love.
Fourth
, the Lord never expressed a desire that we, as His people, should meet in
very large gatherings while He is gone. On the contrary, He defined the true
assembly of His people as those gathering in His name, even as few as two or three.
Historically speaking, it is noteworthy that once the believers had shed their ties to
Judaism, they often met in their homes (see Romans 16.5). The emphasis was not
on buildings or great meeting places but on simply coming together to break
bread, fellowship in the Lord and pray together. It is true that in the very
beginning there were large numbers gathered together, but as time went on, this
changed. The large gatherings in great buildings took hold later when the church,
sadly, became wed to the world rather than to her Lord. Outwardly, that which is
called “the church” in our day has never recovered from being wed to the world.
Fifth
, other, less intensified Greek words, such as
sunago
and
sunagoge
, are used
in Scripture to describe most other types or acts of gathering, including the Lord’s
heart for where two or three are gathered together in His name. In other words,
these Greek words are used for gatherings in general and often for small
gatherings, not the gatherings of the multitude.
Sixth
, all the uses of the words
episunagoge
and
episunago
refer to full, complete
gatherings to the
Lord Himself
, that is, actually being in His presence (not some
mystical or spiritual experience). Two uses refer to large numbers of people
gathering to the Lord when He first walked on this earth. Two uses speak of the
heart of the Lord Jesus to gather the true, spiritual Israel to Himself. Three uses
refer to the actual gathering of the elect to Himself at the end of Man’s day.
Seventh
, if seven out of the eight uses of the words
episunagoge
and
episunago
refer to actually gathering in the presence of the Lord, then why would the Holy
Spirit change the meaning in this one epistle? Some might argue that today
Christians meet with the Lord in the spiritual sense and that Hebrews 10.25 is
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merely a call for Christians to gather for worship. Few, if any, of the Lord’s people
would question that we are not to gather together. However, the question is
whether Hebrews 10.25 deals with our gathering in this day or with a future
gathering at the coming of the Lord? Why didn’t Paul use the more simplified word
for the gathering of two or three that the Lord had used in Matthew 18.20? Surely,
it makes more sense to use the simplified form of the Greek word to encourage the
brethren to gather, no matter how many there might be.
Contextually, Paul makes no other reference to this matter of gathering together in
this day. However, the epistle clearly focuses on our future hope, which is focused
on believers being gathered together with the Lord. Based on their background, the
Hebrews who were reading this letter must have known something about a future
gathering together. Christians were being scattered in that day, making it difficult
to meet in large gatherings. Why would the spirit of God exhort them to maintain
large meetings that could not possibly be held in a time of persecution? Further,
why call for large meetings when persecution and scattering would be an ongoing
reality for some of the Lord’s people until Christ comes a second time?
Was this a prophetic word that looked forward 2,000 years to the mega-church of
our day? Thousands are packed into buildings that are erroneously called “the
church,” places in which they have all sorts of entertainment that looks no
different than the world from which we have been saved. The single pastor that
stands in the man-exalted pulpit every Sunday has little, if any, relationship with
the masses that listen to him every week. (The solo pastor is a concept that cannot
be supported through Scripture.) How can 10,000 people be a daily stimulant to
one another to love and good deeds when, at best, they can be in relationship with
only a handful of people? In these mega-churches, people are at best
acquaintances. How can they be vitally and practically related to one another?
Further, how could the Spirit exhort us to large gatherings when it goes against the
very heart of our gathering together?
The only satisfactory resolution to this matter is based on the Greek word itself and
the contextual uses of it in Hebrews and in other New Testament Scriptures. Just
because the traditions of men state that this must refer to today’s gatherings does
not make it correct. These are the same people who often hold to the traditions of
the single pastor, the strong pulpit and many other things that are held by
Christendom but which cannot be supported by Scripture. Much of what has been
adopted by Christendom today can be traced to pagan customs and practices and
not to the Word of God.
3
It is recognized that early in the history of Christ’s ecclesia on earth, some were
deserting the hope of the second coming of our Lord. We know that the assembly
at Ephesus, merely 50-60 years after Pentecost, had fallen from her first love
(Revelation 2.4), a love for the Lord and His return. They were doing many good
3
For an interesting study of this matter:
Pagan Christianity
—
The Origins of Our Modern Church
Practices
by Frank Viola, Present Testimony Ministry. (
ptm@aol.com
/
www.ptmin.org
)
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things, but they were no longer motivated by the hope laid up for them in heaven.
They had become earthly minded, even in their good deeds. Simply, they had lost
sight of their destiny in Christ, and their intimate love for Him had waxed cold. If
falling away from this hope could happen to an assembly that had such a rich
history and teaching from the beloved Paul, then surely this is something about
which the Holy Spirit would continue to warn the Lord’s people.
There is one other key that might help to unlock this verse for some, and that is
found in the words
our own gathering together
. Hebrews 8.8-12 reminds us of the
new covenant God.
“Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will effect a new covenant
with
the house of Israel and with the house of Judah
…. For this is
the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days
,
says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them upon
their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they
shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying,
‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest of them.
For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no
more.” (Hebrews 8.8-12
NASB
)
In the verses preceding the exhortation about gathering together (Hebrews 10.16-
17), Paul again brings this covenant into view by repeating portions of Hebrews
8.8-12. The Hebrews surely knew, as Paul wrote to the Romans, that a partial
hardening had come to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and
thus all Israel will be saved (Romans 11.25-26). Based on the Lord’s own words in
Matthew 24.31, the elect of the new covenant will be gathered together at the
commencement of the millennial kingdom of Christ.
Could it be that the Hebrews were being reminded that they too would be gathered
to the Lord, as Paul had written to the Thessalonians? After all, the Hebrews still
had roots in Judaism and needed to be reminded of the gathering of the Lord’s
people. Relatively speaking, not much time had passed since Calvary, and the great
hope of Christ’s return held by the early church was beginning to wane. Some had
given up hope of the coming of the Lord. Many days had come and gone since
Calvary, and yet they were encouraged not to follow the habit of others who had
lost this hope but to hold to it, and all the more as they saw the day approaching.
Given what has been presented, it is just as likely that this exhortation to
not
forsake our gathering together
(
episunagoge
) refers to our gathering together to
be with the Lord as a future hope. If this exhortation were a call today for large
meetings, actually full, complete meetings of all the Lord’s people, it seems that it
is a contradiction to all the other uses of this word, as well as a contradiction to the
Lord’s heart for the two or three. Actually, it is literally impossible for all the Lord’s
people, either dead or alive, to be gathered together. It is only possible when the
Lord comes to gather His people to Himself. It also would be quite difficult, if not
impossible, for all the believers in large cities of our day to meet together.
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D
O
N
OT
A
BANDON
T
HE
H
OPE
The following rendering of this portion of Scripture is proposed to the reader.
Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, which
is the proper result of our holding fast the confession of hope as we await
our Lord, not abandoning
the hope of our own, unique gathering together
unto the Lord [when He returns to establish His kingdom over this earth],
as is the habit of some who have given up this hope, but encouraging one
another all the more as you see the day of Christ drawing near.
Before concluding, there is one other observation to be made regarding these
verses. It is rather curious that Paul ended with
as
you
see the day
, when in all the
preceding verses he referred to
our
and
us
—let us, our hope, our own. Why didn’t
he end by stating
as
we
see the day
? Could it be that
as
you
see the day
is for the
Lord’s people who will be on the earth when the Lord returns? Perhaps this is a
prophetic word to the terminal generation!
Nearly two millennia have passed since these words were first penned. Surely, we
are closer to the day, even at the very cusp of the day. The six days are nearly over
(or perhaps have been completed) and the seventh day is set before (or upon) this
very generation in which we live. The time is almost up! This word is more vital to
the generation that will be alive and remain when He comes than to the original
recipients. We are in that generation! We are the ones seeing the day drawing near.
Oh, do you see the greatness of our hope? Do you see the day approaching? In our
day, many have abandoned the hope of our gathering together to meet the Lord in
the air. Others have never been introduced to this great hope. And yet, others are
growing weary waiting. Let us not grow weary, but let us encourage one another
that there is a gathering unto the Lord that is uniquely for the conquerors of Christ
and that this gathering is closer than we realize.
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God,
you may receive what was promised.
For yet in a very little while, He
who is coming will come, and will not delay.
(Hebrews 10.36-37
NASB
)
It is time to wake up and to look up, for our Redeemer is coming very soon. The
day is drawing near! Let us not abandon the hope of our own gathering together
with the Lord when He comes.
If what has been presented is still difficult to accept, then may your heart love the
thought of the appearing of our Lord in the day that is coming.
From this time onward there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me
on that day
, and not
only to me,
but also to all who love the thought of His Appearing
. (2
Timothy 4.8
WNT
)
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D
O
N
OT
A
BANDON
T
HE
H
OPE
Scripture Abbreviations:
AB
Amplified Bible
DNT
Darby New Translation
NASB
New American Standard Bible
WNT
Weymouth’s New Testament in Modern Speech
YLT
Young’s Literal Translation of the Holy Bible
By: Stuart H. Pouliot
Article #2
October, 2007
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