Over the past year the Church has been faced with many challenges regarding wisdom in navigating a pandemic and government mandates. Many have navigated this confusing time leaning heavily on the wisdom of those who are considered the health experts and others have leaned heavily on perceived freedoms that we have. There have been some leaders in the churches who have postponed meeting in person well into this year and others who went against the mandates and began to meet shortly after the “lock down” began.
If you were to put a Bible verse over 2020 you wouldn’t need to do much deep dive research. Its clear that you really only have 3 choices: “Love Your Neighbor” (Mark 12:31), “Submit to the governing authorities” (Romans 13:1), or “Do not forsake the assembling together” (Hebrews 10:25). Many have used Mark 12:31 as a justification to follow the health ordinances and others have used the Romans 13:1 as a justification for following the lock down, but others have used Hebrews 10:25 as a call to obey God rather than men.
Well, this article is not about answering any of those considerations but more about the significance of Hebrews 10:25 which carries with it the most (in my opinion) significant weight in the matter. And I have yet to hear any pastor give the reason behind Hebrews 10:25 (except here). Many have called the Church to obey it, but not many have answered the question:
“Why did God give us this command?”
not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:25
The reason behind the command reigns over any cultural reason for not meeting in person and gives us the reason why any other form of “meeting together”, whether temporary or extended, is not an acceptable alternative (be it phone calls or virtual meetings).
In order for us to understand the why, we must first look at the context, and thankfully we don’t have to do an entire book study to get quickly to the reason behind the command.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10:23-27
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
Verses 24 and 25 fall in between an exhortation and a warning. Verse 23 says to “hold fast your confession of hope without wavering”. This is an exhortation to press on, to persevere in the faith and the motivation is because of the faithfulness of God. It is an exhortation to not fall away from the faith. Verses 26 and 27 is a warning about those who do fall away and begin to live their lives in objective rebellion against God, primarily living in unbelief.
What is striking is that between those two verses is a call to our togetherness. If we were to read 23 into 26-27 it would pose a great question, why is 24-25 there?
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10:23, 26-27
26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
When we consider God’s design of our need for one another, and the issue of persevering in the faith and not falling away, you see 24-25 is a means for us to press on. We need each other in order to persevere in the faith. We need each other so that we will not be carried away into sin. It is for our protection that we not forsake the assembly.
THE GREAT CONCERN IS APOSTASY.
This is a pretty important theme in the book of Hebrews. The writer of Hebrews has a great concern that people would fall away from the faith and one of the protective measures that God has put in place is the togetherness of His people, the encouragement of the saints.
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
Hebrews 3:12-14
4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
Hebrews 6:4-6
It is clear that the writer of Hebrews wasn’t just offering commands from God without a significant purpose. God is not a law giver for the sake of giving laws. There is always a reason behind the law giving that was intended to benefit those who were called His people and to those who love the Lord, “his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).
The gathering of the saints is beyond government mandates and beyond the effect of the pandemic. The significance of not gathering carries eternal consequences with it. It is about the care of souls that will one day stand before the judge of the universe and either be judged according to their sin or according to Christ. This is no small matter of consideration, regardless of the threat that is posed to the human body by government or by viruses.
Some may argue that you can accomplish the same things over a Zoom meeting, but what you lose in the virtual world is that human interaction that only being in the physical company of others can offer. You lose vulnerability. You lose the comfort from someone who weeps with you. You lose the affection that accompanies a rebuke, a plea, a warning. In the virtual world you lose reality.
You can’t look someone in the eye and express your deepest troubles, be it sin struggles or pains in life struggles. You can’t look someone in the eye and remind them of all that has been accomplish on their behalf in Christ with deep and abiding expressed affections.
You also lose the effect of stirring each other to love and good deed, because to do good, good has to be done to someone else. What you gain in the non-physical settings pale in comparison to what you lose in the reality of not being in the company of one another.
We need to recognize that it is by God’s design that we are in need of one another for us to hold fast our confession of hope without wavering. The alternative is very very dangerous.