“AS YE SEE THE DAY APPROACHING”
“AS YE SEE
THE DAY APPROACHING”
“Not
forsaking
the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but
exhorting
one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
(Hebrews
10:25)
This is
the
favourite verse used by many to urge the ‘lapsed’ church attender back
into the
fold. Is this the correct verse to use? No … it isn’t.
The Book
of
Hebrews is not written to Christians, but to those who were
considering
to becoming one.
The
recipients of this epistle to which Paul writes, were fed up with the
harsh
restrictions of following the Old Testament hardliners under Moses and
had left
to follow Jesus their Messiah.
But since
Christ had died, they were now faced with the prospect of becoming a
Christian …
and having Christ as their Saviour … not just as their Messiah.
So in
their
dilemma as to whether they would retreat back into Old Testament
Judaism, they
had been searching out what the Christians were doing in their church
meetings.
It is in
this regard that Paul writes to these unsaved but Messiah believing
Jews …
urging them to continue to fellowship with Christians.
So what is
this day approaching?
Christians
think that this day is the rapture … but it’s not.
In simple
terms, it is these unsaved Messiah believing Jews day of salvation
that
was fast looming on the horizon … whereby they would have to make a
decision to
have Christ as their Saviour … and not simply be followers of him as
their
Messiah … or indeed retreating back under the umbrella of Moses.
When
trying
to ascertain the meaning of a word or Bible phrase, one of the rules of
Bible
study is look for meaning in the verse itself, the paragraph
in
which it is contained, the chapter, and indeed the Epistle/Book
in which it is found.
The word “day”
appears seventeen times in the Book to the Hebrews … and in
this
context, it is about Israel having to make a decision to obey
God
(Hebrews 3:7, 8, 13, 15; 4:7, 8; 10:25) … in this case salvation in
Christ.
Paul says
“Look,
while you are thinking about whether to take the next step and become
Christians, please keep YOUR coming to OUR Christian
meetings and
church gatherings. But be bold and step forward into a new
and
living way into Christ (Hebrews 10:19) with full assurance
(Hebrews
10:22) and without wavering (Hebrews 10:23). Let us … you and
us, me
Paul, other Christians … OURSELVES … keep meeting.”
As ye see the
day of your salvation to becoming a Christian approaching … do not
be
afraid … and stop listening to those that exhort the opposite
(Hebrews
10:25).
Harley
Hitchcock
May 2024
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