Hebrews 10:25
Hebrews 10:25 may be one of many Bible verses which illustrates how it is possible to interpret the Bible based upon a set of pre-suppositions - a practice which can keep us from correctly understanding (and teaching) the true meaning of a particular Scripture.
The immediate context is set in verses 24-25, as follows:
"And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."
The verse at hand is most often used (or perhaps abused) to enjoin people to be in attendance at weekly Sunday (and Wednesday) church services. In fact, if you do a Google search on “Hebrews 10:25”, you will find more than five million responses, most of which will use the verse for that purpose. The pre-suppositions which are most common in regards to this verse are: (1) that the Lord’s Day (sometimes called the Christian Sabbath) is the right day for Christians to meet and (2) that the church buildings (God’s house) of established church organizations are the right places for those meetings to occur. For more information about these pre-suppositions, please see the links at the bottom of this page.
We at BibleTruthForToday believe that Christians DO need to meet together and DO need to encourage one another, exhort one another, provoke one another unto love and good works. But we do NOT believe that Hebrews 10:25 should be used, or misused, to achieve attendance requirements at “churches” – we should be free from such bondage. And we need to be careful about the pre-suppositions through which we often read God’s Word.
In the broader context of the letter to the Hebrew believers, the topic is the sacrificial system, the priesthood and related subjects. The grave danger for these Hebrew believers was the idea of them returning to the Jewish sacrificial system and forsaking the truth that Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient! Those who went back to the sacrificial system, and perhaps in other ways also reverted to what was old and had now been replaced, may also have ceased to meet with those who continually, faithfully preached the message that the letter to the Hebrews contains. An admonition such as that found in Hebrews 10:25 might have addressed such a situation. Or, perhaps, such an admonition might have been used to address Jewish believers who may have avoided meeting with Gentile believers, rather than demonstrating by their actions that they were now one in Christ.
Furthermore, we believe that there is continuity throughout the letter to the Hebrews, such that the "exhorting" which is enjoined in Hebrews 10:25 can be related back to that portion of the letter in Hebrews 3:12-13 where we read: "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Consider further that believers meeting together to encourage, exhort, provoke unto love and good works does NOT automatically imply the context of the Sunday church service on the first day of the week as many pre-suppose. Jesus Himself said: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them”! (Matthew 18:20). There are many different places, many different contexts, in which these activities (exhorting, encouraging, etc.) can (and do) take place - house churches, breakfast, lunch or dinner "gatherings/assemblies", specific times set aside for discipleship and/or true Christian fellowship are but a few examples where the exhorting of one another can take place. Getting back to the Greek word used for “assembling together” or “gathering together”, some commentators suggest that the compound word episunagoge is used instead of sunagoge (from which we get our word "synagogue") in order to avoid a word with Judaic association. Others feel that the word sunagoge might have been more suggestive to them of a building and formal meetings rather than the more generic concept of meeting together as believers in whatever venue might be appropriate.
Please consider:
The only other New Testament use of the Greek word episunagoge, which is translated “assembling together” here in Hebrews 10:25, is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 where it is very clear that the assembling, or gathering together, relates to the "rapture" of the saints: “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him…”
We at BibleTruthForToday believe that it is most likely that Hebrews 10:25 is NOT primarily speaking about a Sunday morning church meeting, worship service, etc., but rather, it is reminding the saints to not neglect the truths regarding the Lord's certain return - and the need to exhort one another all the more as you see THAT Day approaching, "that Day" most likely being the Day of the Lord's return and the subsequent day of judgment. Paul continues the above verse to the Thessalonians with: “we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has [already] come”. That "Day" is a future event which is referred to in Titus 2:11-15 as our “blessed hope”, and we are exhorted to wait patiently, yet expectantly, for His return! (Luke 12:37-38 says "Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching.... And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants".)
Titus 2:11-15 - "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works."
Please notice in these preceding verses that the nature of exhortation (teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age) is linked to the blessed event. Stated another way, in light of the drawing near of "that Day", there is a need for intensified exhortation to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.
Paul is not the only one who seems to point out the need for exhortation in view of the approaching return of the Lord. Peter writes the following:
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:10-18).
This same link between the approaching "Day" and the need for increased exhortation in light of that approaching Day is what we find in Hebrews 10:24-25. "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."
What is your level of expectancy regarding the Lord's imminent return?
Are you waiting and watching with great expectancy?
If so, then please accept the challenge to exhort all the more since you DO see that "that day" is approaching.
Have you "fallen asleep" so that you give little or no thought to the Lord's promised return?
Won't you pay attention to the Word of God and awaken from your sleep? Be assured that the Lord WILL return, and blessed are those who are found watching when He DOES return.
Paul writes: "Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober"(1 Thes. 5:6). "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand..." (Rom. 13:11-12a)
Or have you forsaken/abandoned the truth of His return so that there is no hope in it for you?
Every word of God is true. Believe it!
"Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men" (2 Peter 3:1-7).
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?"(2 Peter 3:10-12).
"...and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe..." (2 Thes 1:7-10a).
Are you engaged in exhorting one another?
"Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching" (2 Timothy 4:2).
Are you engaged in provoking others to love and to good works?
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).
Regarding the presuppositions mentioned at the beginning of this page:
For more information regarding the Lord’s Day or Christian Sabbath, click here.
For more information regarding the Lord’s house, click here and also here.
Hebrews 10:25 may be one of many Bible verses which illustrates how it is possible to interpret the Bible based upon a set of pre-suppositions - a practice which can keep us from correctly understanding (and teaching) the true meaning of a particular Scripture.
The immediate context is set in verses 24-25, as follows:
"And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."
The verse at hand is most often used (or perhaps abused) to enjoin people to be in attendance at weekly Sunday (and Wednesday) church services. In fact, if you do a Google search on “Hebrews 10:25”, you will find more than five million responses, most of which will use the verse for that purpose. The pre-suppositions which are most common in regards to this verse are: (1) that the Lord’s Day (sometimes called the Christian Sabbath) is the right day for Christians to meet and (2) that the church buildings (God’s house) of established church organizations are the right places for those meetings to occur. For more information about these pre-suppositions, please see the links at the bottom of this page.
We at BibleTruthForToday believe that Christians DO need to meet together and DO need to encourage one another, exhort one another, provoke one another unto love and good works. But we do NOT believe that Hebrews 10:25 should be used, or misused, to achieve attendance requirements at “churches” – we should be free from such bondage. And we need to be careful about the pre-suppositions through which we often read God’s Word.
In the broader context of the letter to the Hebrew believers, the topic is the sacrificial system, the priesthood and related subjects. The grave danger for these Hebrew believers was the idea of them returning to the Jewish sacrificial system and forsaking the truth that Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient! Those who went back to the sacrificial system, and perhaps in other ways also reverted to what was old and had now been replaced, may also have ceased to meet with those who continually, faithfully preached the message that the letter to the Hebrews contains. An admonition such as that found in Hebrews 10:25 might have addressed such a situation. Or, perhaps, such an admonition might have been used to address Jewish believers who may have avoided meeting with Gentile believers, rather than demonstrating by their actions that they were now one in Christ.
Furthermore, we believe that there is continuity throughout the letter to the Hebrews, such that the "exhorting" which is enjoined in Hebrews 10:25 can be related back to that portion of the letter in Hebrews 3:12-13 where we read: "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Consider further that believers meeting together to encourage, exhort, provoke unto love and good works does NOT automatically imply the context of the Sunday church service on the first day of the week as many pre-suppose. Jesus Himself said: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them”! (Matthew 18:20). There are many different places, many different contexts, in which these activities (exhorting, encouraging, etc.) can (and do) take place - house churches, breakfast, lunch or dinner "gatherings/assemblies", specific times set aside for discipleship and/or true Christian fellowship are but a few examples where the exhorting of one another can take place. Getting back to the Greek word used for “assembling together” or “gathering together”, some commentators suggest that the compound word episunagoge is used instead of sunagoge (from which we get our word "synagogue") in order to avoid a word with Judaic association. Others feel that the word sunagoge might have been more suggestive to them of a building and formal meetings rather than the more generic concept of meeting together as believers in whatever venue might be appropriate.
Please consider:
The only other New Testament use of the Greek word episunagoge, which is translated “assembling together” here in Hebrews 10:25, is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 where it is very clear that the assembling, or gathering together, relates to the "rapture" of the saints: “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him…”
We at BibleTruthForToday believe that it is most likely that Hebrews 10:25 is NOT primarily speaking about a Sunday morning church meeting, worship service, etc., but rather, it is reminding the saints to not neglect the truths regarding the Lord's certain return - and the need to exhort one another all the more as you see THAT Day approaching, "that Day" most likely being the Day of the Lord's return and the subsequent day of judgment. Paul continues the above verse to the Thessalonians with: “we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has [already] come”. That "Day" is a future event which is referred to in Titus 2:11-15 as our “blessed hope”, and we are exhorted to wait patiently, yet expectantly, for His return! (Luke 12:37-38 says "Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching.... And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants".)
Titus 2:11-15 - "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works."
Please notice in these preceding verses that the nature of exhortation (teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age) is linked to the blessed event. Stated another way, in light of the drawing near of "that Day", there is a need for intensified exhortation to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.
Paul is not the only one who seems to point out the need for exhortation in view of the approaching return of the Lord. Peter writes the following:
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:10-18).
This same link between the approaching "Day" and the need for increased exhortation in light of that approaching Day is what we find in Hebrews 10:24-25. "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."
What is your level of expectancy regarding the Lord's imminent return?
Are you waiting and watching with great expectancy?
If so, then please accept the challenge to exhort all the more since you DO see that "that day" is approaching.
Have you "fallen asleep" so that you give little or no thought to the Lord's promised return?
Won't you pay attention to the Word of God and awaken from your sleep? Be assured that the Lord WILL return, and blessed are those who are found watching when He DOES return.
Paul writes: "Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober"(1 Thes. 5:6). "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand..." (Rom. 13:11-12a)
Or have you forsaken/abandoned the truth of His return so that there is no hope in it for you?
Every word of God is true. Believe it!
"Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men" (2 Peter 3:1-7).
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?"(2 Peter 3:10-12).
"...and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe..." (2 Thes 1:7-10a).
Are you engaged in exhorting one another?
"Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching" (2 Timothy 4:2).
Are you engaged in provoking others to love and to good works?
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).
Regarding the presuppositions mentioned at the beginning of this page:
For more information regarding the Lord’s Day or Christian Sabbath, click here.
For more information regarding the Lord’s house, click here and also here.