The Pleasure of God’s Soul – Part 7 – A Whole Lot of Hope

So far, this little journey to understand what is going on in Hebrews 10 has turned into an expedition that is in its seventh week. Seems like we have been talking about this forever. In fact, it’s hard to remember why we are here, or where we are going. Wait. What was the question?

Oh, yeah. We are talking about the “pleasure of God’s soul” in Hebrews 10:38-39 -

“But My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.’ But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”

In the middle of all that is the phrase that prompted this little expedition – “. . . and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him . . .”. The pleasure of God’s soul is somehow linked to our choices. Very unsettling. How do we “shrink back”? As I read on, it seems that the destruction of my soul is at stake. How can that be? I thought we were saved “by grace, through faith”. What about eternal security? How does all this fit with the little message we have become so accustomed to – some version of “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” This doesn’t sound very wonderful. Sounds like we could really foul things up if we are not careful.

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The Pleasure of God’s Soul – Part 6 – Looking For A King

(Note – Some of the material in this article is taken from the previous article – “Looking For ‘The Kingdom’”, and presented here, in the context of the flow of the story.)

There is much background behind Hebrews 10. But we are making progress.

Beginning in the Garden, and moving through Noah, God’s covenant with Abraham, and most recently, His covenant with Israel, given through Moses, we have seen several key developments in the Story -

• The One Who Is Coming to crush the Enemy will indeed bring, not simply relief from the curse, but, in it’s place blessing.
• Abraham’s descendants are becoming a nation, just as God promised in His covenant with Abraham.
• For the first time since the Garden, God has acted to once again dwell among men. Although there are strong indications of the inherent challenges in this, mankind has not yet begun to grasp the magnitude of the problem of Holy God dwelling in the midst of sinful man. Hope is advanced as it appears that the consequences of the curse are being reversed.

So, Moses completes the Tabernacle, per God’s instructions and provision, and establishes the Aaronic Priesthood (Exodus 21-40, Leviticus, Numbers 1-9). With the Mosaic Covenant in place, the people of Israel set off in pursuit of the other key piece of God’s promise to Abraham, and the next critical step in their becoming a nation – they set out for the Land that will be home for their Nation (Numbers 10-12).

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The Pleasure of God’s Soul – Part 5 – Hope Grows

Yep. Hebrews 10 is still our destination.

In our re-examination of the story, we have moved from the Garden, through Noah and the Flood, to God’s covenant with Abraham. At this point in the story, we have learned that The One Who Is Coming to crush the Enemy will indeed bring, not simply relief from the curse, but, in it’s place blessing.

And so, Abraham begets Isaac, and Isaac, Jacob. Jacob is renamed “Israel”, and it is with his 12 sons, who become the tribes of Israel, that the promise of a nation coming from Abraham begins to take shape. The book of Genesis ends with these sons and their families seeking relief from a famine by going to Egypt.

Four-hundred thirty years later, these 12 have grown 600,000 men capable of going to war, in addition to women and children. But, fearing them, the Egyptians have made them slaves.

God sends Moses to lead them out of Egypt, into the Land of His promise to Abraham. Egypt’s objections are mitigated with a series of 10 Plagues, and God brings them out, to Mount Sinai, where they meet Him and formalize their relationship.

Having received a commitment from the people of Israel, through Moses, to obey God and become His chosen people, God calls an assembly at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19:1-15).

After careful preparation,  the people gather at Sinai. What they experience is very different from Adam and Eve’s meetings with God, where they walked with Him in the cool of the day, in the Garden, pre-fall. Instead, they find themselves before a mountain that is quaking violently and engulfed in smoke. They are surrounded by thunder and lightening, with the sound of a trumpet that grows louder and louder. And, they have been warned that if they touch even the edge of the mountain, they will be killed. In the midst of this God speaks to them, laying out the 10 Commandments – the outline of the Covenant that will govern their relationship with Him. The experience is so terrifying, they never want to do it again. Read more

The Pleasure of God’s Soul – Part 4 – Hope Made Explicit

No . . .  I haven’t forgotten about Hebrews 10.

But, if we want to understand the warning found there, it’s going to take more than a quick reading of the text, and a few background comments. For most of us, it’s going to require a significant development in our understanding of what God is up to.

In re-examining the Story, we have begun to see that God is about the recovery of all that was lost in the Garden. In spite of the heartbreaking loss, there is hope. But this hope centers, not on forgiveness, but on the destruction of the Enemy who engineered the overthrow of God’s Kingdom on earth, and on relief from the effects of the curse on Creation.

At this point in the story, Noah looks like a potential candidate for the One Who Will Come in fulfillment of the hope found in Genesis 3:15. While the rest of mankind was so wicked that God regretted creating man, Noah found favor in God’s eyes. Of all the people on the earth, only he and his immediate family are saved from the destruction of the flood.

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