{"id":14514,"date":"2013-02-01T10:42:17","date_gmt":"2013-02-01T17:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scriptorium\/?p=14514"},"modified":"2013-02-01T10:42:17","modified_gmt":"2013-02-01T17:42:17","slug":"when-to-read-hebrews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scriptorium\/2013\/02\/when-to-read-hebrews\/","title":{"rendered":"When to Read Hebrews"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

(Reposted from 2010)<\/p>\n

Hebrews is a book of the Bible for people in hard times. Should you read it now, or later?<\/p>\n

In terms of the book\u2019s actual background, we don\u2019t know much for certain about the situation of those who first heard these words. There are dark suggestions of hardship in\u00a0a few verses<\/a>\u00a0of chapter 10:<\/p>\n

You endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The anonymous author calls his letter a \u201cword of exhortation<\/a>,\u201d using a Greek word that elsewhere is translated \u201ccomfort\u201d or \u201cconsolation.\u201d Encouragement under relentless pressure is the keynote of Hebrews. One commentator has noted that \u201cthe whole practical thrust of the epistle is to persuade those to whom it is addressed to resist the strong temptation to seek an easing of the hardships attendant on their Christian confession by accommodating.\u201d<\/p>\n

So when should you read a word from God that is about hard times?<\/p>\n

Option A:<\/strong>\u00a0Obviously, read it when you\u2019re having hard times. That\u2019s precisely when it is a word in season. But sometimes that doesn\u2019t work. Grief usually blocks us from being able to do hard mental work, and there is some hard thinking to do in Hebrews. Probably by the time you\u2019re in hardship, you should have already read and pondered this book. For example, standing at the graveside is not the most opportune time to work out the details of our theology of death. Grief can make you hard of hearing. Grief immerses you in the felt experience, but processing takes some abstraction or perspective.<\/p>\n

But pray for the miracle of hearing God\u2019s word, and maybe you can hear what you need in a difficult season.<\/p>\n

Another objection to Option A, by the way, is that not all hard times make a dramatic entrance, or come with a label. Some of them sneak up on you week by week, month by month, until you wake up somewhere in mid-life to find yourself lost in a dark wood with no sign of the pathway. You were in trouble all along, but you didn\u2019t know you were in trouble.<\/p>\n

Option B:<\/strong>\u00a0Read it in the calm, before hard times. Yes, that\u2019s precisely when you should prepare yourself for future affliction. But sometimes we can\u2019t make ourselves attend to difficult words when all is right with the world. Prosperity can make us hard of hearing. Sitting in your home while reading about people losing theirs; digesting a big meal while reading about the hungry; these are not things that give you a felt connection with the reality of hardship. Reading Hebrews with the air conditioning on. It makes perfect sense to do so, but it also gives you too much distance from the speaker\u2019s situation.<\/p>\n

But pray for the miracle of hearing God\u2019s word, and maybe you can hear what you need for future hardship, in a time of calm.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise that the solution in both cases is the same: pray for the miracle of\u00a0hearing God\u2019s word<\/a>. After all, this hearing is a major theme of the theology of Hebrews: \u201cToday if you hear his voice, don\u2019t harden your heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Reposted from 2010) Hebrews is a book of the Bible for people in hard times. Should you read it now, or later? In terms of the book\u2019s actual background, we don\u2019t know much for certain about the situation of those who first heard these words. There are dark suggestions of hardship in\u00a0a few verses\u00a0of chapter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen to Read Hebrews - The Scriptorium<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(Reposted from 2010) Hebrews is a book of the Bible for people in hard times. Should you read it now, or later? 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