27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
The only option left for God after people willfully reject His revelation for believers is to discipline them.
27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment [not eternal],
God will execute an indefinite judgment on believers who distort the finished work of Christ as the exclusive sacrifice for sin. The word “expectation” means that anyone who gives credence to any other sacrifice violates fellowship with God. To be open to receive any other truth disposes of what God has said.
The “judgment” here is the Judgment Seat of Christ, not hell. The Judgment Seat is strictly for believers, not unbelievers (2 Co 5:10). The Great White Throne judgment is for non-believers (Re 20:11–15).
and fiery indignation
This phrase may allude to Isaiah 26:11, where fire will consume the wicked. The fire here is not the fire of hell but of a judgment that God executes on the people of Israel who violate principles of Scripture. Fire in the Old Testament refers to God’s anger towards His own people (Isa 9:18–19; 10:17; 33:14).
The metaphor of fire here is not hell. Nothing in the context indicates that the author has shifted to the doctrine of salvation. The fire here is God’s judgment of believers under discipline (Is 9:18–19; 10:17). This discipline will be spelled out in Hebrews 12:5–11.
Fire in the Old Testament carries several different ideas. It is used of fire that took the life of Nadab and Abihu (Lev 10:1–3). It is also used of the physical death of leaders who challenged Moses’ leadership (Nu 16:8–10, 35). Here the reference is to Isaiah 26:11, where hell is not in view. It is fire against covenant people. The metaphor of fire in the Old Testament is usually related to judgment of God’s people that resulted in physical death.
which will devour the adversaries.
The “adversaries” are those who reject God’s word. This may allude to Isaiah 26:11, which is physical destruction coming to the land of Israel. Christians will also “suffer loss” because of their sin (1 Co 3:15).
The terms “fiery” and “devour” show the severity of the willful sin of the previous verse.
PRINCIPLE:
Christians will experience loss of reward for staying out of fellowship with God.
APPLICATION:
The judgment on the believer was sealed forever when he accepted Christ’s judgment for his sin on the cross. Christians will never face eternal judgment (Jn 5:24). However, this does not imply that they will never face discipline from God for sins they commit as believers (1 Co 11:27–30). They have eternal forgiveness but may face temporal discipline. In the Old Testament it was capital punishment of physical death, and in the New Testament it may be the “sin unto death.”
In the Old Testament the discipline was temporal in nature; people lost their physical lives by capital punishment. As well, the discipline of the believer in the New Testament is temporal, not eternal hell. The sin was one of abandoning confession of faith (He 10:23). We must interpret Hebrews 10:27 in the context of Isaiah 24–27, which is eschatological judgment. Hell is not the point in these passages.
There is nothing in this passage about hell. The Reformed position is that the people addressed here are mere professors of the faith and not genuine believers. The Arminian argument is that a genuine believer can lose his or her salvation in hell. Both positions are incorrect.
Those warned in this verse must be identified from the argument of the entire book of Hebrews—genuine believers who were contemplating going back to the Mosaic Covenant. The nature of their sin was to minimize the finished work of Christ on the cross. God’s action on this sin was divine discipline (He 12:6f). The issue was that “holy brethren” (genuine believers, He 3:1) address a doctrinal error (He 3:1). These Christians were “sanctified” (positional sanctification) or justified (He 2:11). They were not to waver in their faith (He 10:23). There is no indication the readers of Hebrews were to examine their faith as to whether they were genuine Christians. All of the book of Hebrews is an exhortation to true believers. Their real need was to endure (He 10:36). The context of Hebrews 10:32–39 shows that the subject relates to genuine Christians. They were sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ on the cross (He 10:10, 14).
The degree of our fear of judgment rests on the nature of the One who judges. His temporal judgment cannot be trifled with.
To Dr. Grant: You wrote that the “judgment” in this verse is the “judgment seat of Christ” for believers.
But you made a huge mistake. The Greek word used in this verse is κρίσεως (kriseōs). This is the judgment of condemnation.
κρίσεως (kriseōs) — 16 Occurrences
It is NOT the — béma – βήματος — judgment seat of Christ.
I was very surprised because you are such a scholar of the Bible. I still can almost not believe it. I had to look very carefully because I was quite stunned.
Mike, I did not intend, and I don’t believe I said, that κρίσεως is the same as βήματος of 2 Corinthians 5:10 and Romans. The Greek word κρίσεως does not always mean “condemnation,” or eternal punishment as you claim. The word has a number of usages, and the particular meaning is determined by context. A major usage of κρίσεως is simply “decision,” personal “evaluation,” make a judgment about an issue. The latter is the sense I am using in this context. Jesus Christ will make His judgment about our lives in the final judgment for Christians.
Here is what you wrote. You can see it RIGHT HERE on this page. >
The “judgment” here is the Judgment Seat of Christ, not hell. The Judgment Seat is strictly for believers, not unbelievers (2 Co 5:10). The Great White Throne judgment is for non-believers (Re 20:11–15).
That is what you stated, and that is what you meant.
And the Greek word used in Revelation 20:12 and 13 as in Hebrews 10:27 is the same Greek root word for judge.
Here is the definition for that word according to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.
decree, determine, judge
Properly, to distinguish, i.e. decide (mentally or judicially); by implication, to try, condemn, punish — avenge, conclude, condemn, damn, decree, determine, esteem, judge, go to (sue at the) law, ordain, call in question, sentence to, think.
So this word is definitely the judgment of hell.
Hebrews 10:27
But a CERTAIN dreadful (terrible) expectation of judgment, and the rage of a fire which shall consume the adversaries.
What is the most CERTAIN thing of all? It is the final judgment. And there is not one example of anyone being consumed by fire in the New Testament. So your argument lacks credibility. And since no adversary was consumed by fire in the New Testament, then there remains only one alternative that is CERTAIN! And that is the judgment of hell.
Mike, most Greek words have a metaphorical meaning, rather than literal. “Firey” refers to intense judgment on those who mix the finished work of Christ with works. “Certain” does not mean definite here, but it is a “reference to someone or something indefinite, spoken or written about—‘someone, something, anyone, a, anything.’ ἐάν τις ὑμῖν εἴπῃ τι ‘if anyone says anything to you’ Mt 21:3; καὶ ἤλπιζέν τι σημεῖον ἰδεῖν ‘and he hoped to see a sign’ Lk 23:8.”
Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 813). New York: United Bible Societies.
“The “adversaries” are those who reject God’s word.” << This is what you wrote.
Well, if these are adversaries (or enemies) of God who reject His word, then I think this must surely be talking about hell.
As far as I know, God never refers to any true believers as enemies. And Apostle Paul said not to regard even badly behaving Christians as the enemy.
2 Thessalonians 3:14-15
14 Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them in order that they may feel ashamed. 15 Yet do not regard them as an enemy but warn them as you would a fellow believer.
It looks to me like your commentary is wrong.
Marcus,
It is important to note that the entire book of Hebrews was written to believers, not non-Christians. Also, the immediate context deals with Christians. The author of Hebrews calls the readers of Hebrews “brothers.” You would see this if you followed the studies throughout the commentary.
The adversaries throughout Hebrews are Jews, who became Christians, that were tempted to return to Judaism because of persecution (as seen throughout Hebrews).
You make a good point that it is not the practice of the NT to refer to genuine believers as “enemies,” however, this particular context alludes to Isaiah 26:11, which in the wider context refers, not to eternal punishment, but to physical destruction upon the nation Israel due to their sin. In other words, the Isaiah reference is talking about the nation Israel. This is national discipline for stepping out of line. A Christian who abandons “the confidence [he] had at first” (He 3:14) puts himself on the side of God’s enemies (which the readers had not done) and, as the writer had already said, is in effect “crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace” (He 6:6). Such reprehensible conduct can scarcely be worthy of anything but retribution. This, however, as stated earlier (cf. comments on 6:8), is not a reference to hell (He 10:29)
Homer Kent makes an important point in his commentary on Hebrews, “One interesting fact frequently missed by those who view the warning passages as referring to eternal judgment on apostates is the absence of the adjective “eternal” connected with the judgment mentioned in the warning passages. Given the frequency of the use of this adjective throughout the New Testament to speak of eternal judgment (“eternal fire,” Matt 18:8; 25:41; “eternal punishment,” Matt 25:46; “everlasting destruction,” 2 Thess 1:9; “punishment of eternal fire,” Jude 7), and given the frequency of the use of “eternal” in Hebrews itself, the absence of the term in the warning passages is significant.”
Some believers apparently considered leaving Christ to return to Judaism to avoid persecution. Anyone who rejected the sacrifice of Christ for sins would not find any other means of salvation. Some of the readers of Hebrews were in danger of spurning the only way God had provided to remove sin. Thus, the warning that they would find no other path to God open.
The author of Hebrews did not say that any of the readers had committed the sin he had described. He warned that if such a thing occurred, those who had sinned could anticipate judgment and divine wrath. Anyone who rejected the sacrifice of Christ would find no other answer to the problem of sin.
The author of Hebrews related to the readers as fellow Christians. If the readers hypothetically left Christ for Judaism, they would show that they had never responded in faith to Christ. He spoke to them as Christians and urged them to show their real faith by endurance in their commitment. He probably suspected that all his readers would not respond in the same way. He assumed their continuance in commitment to Christ would demonstrate authentic Christianity. Any other response would show they had never become believers in Christ. He wrote those thinking of returning to Judaism, making sure they understood the serious nature of such action
Kent again, “The persons in view are regarded as previously receiving the knowledge of the truth. No hint is given that this knowledge (epignōsin) was deficient. Just as in the case of the previous warnings, it should be understood that the readers are Christians. Sinning wilfully (hekousiōs gar hamartanontōn) thus refers to sinning subsequent to salvation. The use of the present tense with its emphasis upon durative action prevents us from identifying this as isolated acts of sin for which repentance may follow and forgiveness be obtained. Not only does the tense of the participle argue against this but the clear teaching of the New Testament elsewhere (even in Hebrews) asserts that Christians who sin may be restored (Gal. 6:1; 1 John 2:1, 2). It is one of the functions of the believer’s high priest to help Christians in times of spiritual weakness (Heb. 2:17, 18; 4:15, 16). The sinning referred to here is a condition, and is described as being done wilfully or deliberately. Inasmuch as Christ’s offering has been explained as being once-for-all, this wilful sinning must refer to rejection of that means of expiation since it is stated that no sacrifice is available for it. The close connection with verse 25 reinforces the idea that deserting the faith is in view.9 For a Christian Jew to abandon Christ meant that he had no place to go. Jewish ritual had no efficacy per se apart from the reality which Christ’s death supplied for it. To abandon the Christian faith was therefore to depart from the living God (3:12). It is apostasy from the Christian faith which our author warns against.”
You wrote. >
“You make a good point that it is not the practice of the NT to refer to genuine believers as “enemies,” however, this particular context alludes to Isaiah 26:11, which in the wider context refers, not to eternal punishment, but to physical destruction upon the nation Israel due to their sin.”
I don’t really follow this reasoning. I mean, look at the entire sentence.
Hebrews 10:26,27 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
Was the entire nation of Israel ever consumed by “a raging fire?” And I also don’t see how the entire nation of Israel could be the “enemies of God.” Some of them, yes, but not all of them!
Marcus, the burning in Isaiah 26:11 is a metaphor for God’s judgment; it is not a reference to a literal fire (Isa 1:31; 10:17; 30:27; 42:25). The verb form for “consume” is jussive— “Let [fire] consume them.” This is discipline upon a nation that had been indifferent to who and what God is. אַף־אֵשׁ is “the fire for” (judgment). The idea is “by the fire of your enemies will consume them.”
Fire is thus a metaphor for God’s anger. The words Thy adversaries refer to his enemies, who are the wicked people just mentioned. The Hebrew text of this line is ambiguous. It is literally “now fire of your enemies may it eat them.” It probably refers to Yahweh’s fiery anger destroying his enemies.
Because this verse refers to Isaiah 26:11, we have to interpret it from the context of Isaiah 26.
Marcus, because your questions involve both the argument of the book of Hebrews, the context of the section, and immediate context, I thought I would put an article that deals with those subjects on my website here: https://versebyversecommentary.com/articles/problem-passages/hebrews-10-issues/hebrews-1026-31/
This passage of the Bible is confusing for me. Here we have a very severe depiction of judgment which it seems is directed against believers, and that the fire will consume the adversaries of God.
Yet v. 30 tells us that the Lord will judge His people.
About the only instance I can find of “krisis” not being eternal judgment necessarily is Hebrews 9:27 possibly. I say this since both believers and nonbelievers face judgments.
About the only instance I can find of “krisis” not being eternal judgment necessarily is Hebrews 9:27 possibly. I say this since both believers an
d nonbelievers face judgments.