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Hebrews 13:20 Now
the
God of
peace, who
brought up from
the
dead the
great
Shepherd of the
sheep
through the
blood of the
eternal
covenant, even
Jesus our
Lord,
(NASB:
Lockman) |
Greek:
O
de
theos
tes
eirenes,
o
anagagon
ek
nekron
ton
poimena
ton
probaton
ton
megan
en
aimati
diathekes
aioniou,
ton
kurion
emon
Iesoun,
Amplified: Now may the God of peace [Who is the Author
and the Giver of peace], Who brought again from among the dead our
Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood [that
sealed, ratified] the everlasting agreement (covenant, testament)
(Amplified
Bible - Lockman) |
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NOW THE GOD OF PEACE, WHO BROUGHT UP FROM THE
DEAD THE GREAT SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP: O de theos tes eirenes, ho anagagon (AAPMSN) ek nekron
ton poimena ton probaton ton megan:
1Pe 2:25,5:4; Jn10:11; Isa 40:11; Ps 23; Jer 23:1-3; Ez e34:12, 15) (cp
Ezek 20:37)
The God of Peace - In the
context of what the writer has been expounding on the better
priesthood of Christ and the better covenant (the new), this title for
God is surely a reference to the peace such as Paul described in
Romans 5 writing...
Therefore (see note
Romans 4:25)
having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ (see note
Romans 5:1)
Paul uses this great title of God
numerous times...
Now the God of peace be with
you all. Amen. (see note
Romans 15:33)
And the God of peace will
soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with
you. (see note
Romans 16:20)
(Comment: This verse offers a clear allusion to the promise of
Genesis 3:15, anticipating the final victory of Christ over Satan,
when the Seed of the woman will crush the head of that old serpent
[see Revelation 20:2,10]. In the meantime, believers, who also in a
sense are the woman's seed, can achieve local victories over Satan and
his wiles by resisting him "steadfast in the faith" [see note
1 Peter 5:9].
If we resist him with Scripture as Jesus did, testing and refuting his
enticements with the Word (Mt 4:4,7,10), then he will flee from us
[James 4:7], just as he did from Jesus, "until an opportune time"
[Luke 4:13).
God is not a God of
confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. (1Cor
14:33) (Comment: Confusion here refers to churches with
uncontrolled and disorderly manifestations of tongues and supposed
prophecies.).
Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made
complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God
of love and peace shall be with you. (2Cor 13:11)
The things you have learned and
received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the
God of peace shall be with you. (see note
Philippians 4:9)
Now may the God of peace
Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body
be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. (1Thes 5:23)
Now may the Lord of peace Himself
continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with
you all! (2Thes 3:16)
Hebrews 13:20-21 rank among the most powerfully worded blessings found
in the Scripture. They gather up the passionate concern of the writer
for his readers’ spiritual growth and stress the major factors that
make such growth possible: the God of peace, the blood of the eternal
covenant, the resurrection of Jesus, his Shepherd care for his sheep,
the indwelling life of God himself, the equipping of the Spirit, the
aim to please God, and the eternal glory and lordship of Jesus. It is
all there in one glorious outpouring of good wishes and confident
certainty.
THROUGH THE BLOOD OF THE ETERNAL COVENANT EVEN
JESUS OUR LORD: en haimati diathekes
aioniou ton kurion hemon Iesoun:
Through the blood - this
recalls all the writer has said in Hebrews 8-10 in which he explains
how a new and living way has been opened into the presence of the
living God.
Compare the eternal covenant
to that prophesied in Jer 32:40
And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do
them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they
will not turn away from Me.
The everlasting covenant in
Jeremiah 32:40 is the New Covenant (New Testament) sealed by
the blood of the Lamb.
Eternal (166)
(aionios from
aion)
means perpetual eternal, everlasting, without beginning or end (as of
God), that which is always. Eternal is a key word
Hebrews: blood of eternal covenant (see
note Hebrews
13:20).
He offered Himself through His eternal spirit (see note
Hebrews 9:14)
and has become the Author/Source of eternal salvation (see note
Hebrews 5:9).
He has obtained eternal redemption (see note
Hebrews 9:12)
and enables men to receive of the eternal inheritance (see notes
Hebrews 9:15;
13:20).
Covenant
( 1242)
(diatheke from dia = two + tithemi = to place
pictures that which is placed between two Thus, a covenant is
something placed between two, an arrangement between two parties.) was
a commonly used in the Greco-Roman world to define a legal transaction
in settling an inheritance. Diatheke denotes an irrevocable
decision, which cannot be cancelled by anyone. A prerequisite of its
effectiveness before the law is the death of the disposer and thus
diatheke was like a "final will and testament". In reference to
the divine covenants, such as the Abrahamic covenant, diatheke is not
a covenant in the sense that God came to agreement or compromise with
fallen man as if signing a contract. Rather, it involves declaration
of God’s unconditional promise to make Abraham and his seed the
recipients of certain blessings.
><> ><> ><>
F B
Meyer - Our Daily Walk -
THE GREAT SHEPHERD
IT IS most
comforting that our Heavenly Father is "the God of Peace.'" He is the
God of the gentle zephyr, of the evening glow, of the mother's
brooding care; and may be trusted by His gentleness and patience to
make us great. Bruised reeds are not trampled beneath His feet, and
the smoking flax is fanned into a flame. Do not be afraid of God--He
is the God of Peace!
He brought again
from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep. As our
Lord descended into the Valley of Death, He breathed His departing
spirit into the Father's hands. He knew that the path of life would
unfold before Him. He knew that the Father's welcome awaited Him. And
God did not fail Him! However low He went, when He descended into
Hades, the Everlasting Arms were always beneath Him; and Him did God
raise up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not
possible that He should be holden of it.
And will God do
less for the Flock! There are many of the sheep that have been
scattered in the cloudy and dark days. Will every sheep and lamb be
recovered, and led to the green pastures and beside the quiet waters
of Paradise? Yes, every one! The great Shepherd would not be content
if one were missing of those whom the Father has given Him (Joh
10:28-29). Remember His own parable of the Shepherd who left the
ninety and nine to recover the one. If you have come to Him by your
will and choice, you are included in the Father's gift.
We are secure in
the position which His grace has given us. It is secured not only by
the promise of God, but sealed by the Blood of the Cross. That is the
meaning of the words: "The Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the
blood of the eternal covenant." Note that word eternal, which carries
us back to the timeless past, when this compact was made. We may
therefore humbly believe that our names are written in the Book of
Life of the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world (Rev
13:8; Rev 21:27). But we are saved to save others! It is thus that we
make our calling and election sure (2Pe 1:10).
PRAYER -
We thank Thee, O blessed
Master, not only that Thou hast cleansed us from our sins, but that
Thou hast entered into, and ratified by Thy precious blood, the
eternal covenant which has made us Thine for ever. AMEN.
><> ><> ><>
F B Meyer
- Our Daily Walk -
DISLOCATED LIMBS
THE GREEK word here rendered
perfect really means "to put in joint, to complete." In his original
creation man's will was intended to register the Will of God, to say
Yes to it, and to pass the divine impulses and commandments to the
rest of our being. Sometimes on board ship, before the phone made it
possible for the captain to speak to every part of the ocean-liner, I
have heard Him quietly utter his orders to a subordinate officer
beside him, who in turn repeated them in a loud voice through a
speaking-trumpet or tube. That intermediary may represent the will
which was intended to receive its directions from the Will of God, and
pass them throughout the economy of our being. Such was our Lord's
attitude throughout His earthly life. He said: "My meat is to do the
will of Him that sent Me"; "I seek not My own will, but the will of
Him that sent Me"; "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt."
But in the Fall, the dominance
of God's will and the loyal response of man's will became disorganised;
and the human will instead of functioning in harmony with the Will of
God, began to obey the will of the flesh in its grosser or more
refined forms. Not what God wills, but what 'T' Hill, has become the
working principle of the great majority. Thus it has come about that
the will, by constant misuse, has become dislocated, warped, "out of
joint." Tennyson says: "Our wills are ours to make them Thine!" Just
so, but they are too stubborn for some of us to manage. Hence the
suggestion that we should pass the matter over to the "God of Peace,
who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus."
Sometimes at football, or on the
ice, a player may lose his balance, or be tripped up, and in the fall
his shoulder may become dislocated. His arm is still in the body, but
out of joint, so that it hangs useless by his side, until the surgeon
by one strong wrench forces the bone back into its proper place. Is
not that true of us? We are in the Body of Christ by redeeming grace,
but we need to be set, i.e., to be brought into articulated union with
the Will of God in Christ Jesus. Let us humbly ask the great Surgeon
of sods, by the pressure of His strong and gentle hands, here and now,
to joint our wayward wills with the Will of God, and then to work in
us and through us that which is well-pleasing in His sight!
PRAYER -
Gracious Father! I yield to
Thee my will and desires, my members and faculties, the life of my
body, the thoughts of my heart, and the aspirations of my
spirit--perfect, I pray Thee, that which concerneth me. AMEN.
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EQUIP YOU IN EVERY GOOD THING
TO DO HIS WILL: katartisai
(3SAAO) humas en panti agatho eis to poiesai (AAN) to thelema autou:
Equip
(2675)
(katartízō from katá = with + artízō =
to adjust, fit, finish, in turn from ártios = fit, complete)
means to fit or join together and so to mend or repair. Katartízō
conveys the fundamental idea of putting something into its appropriate
condition so it will function well. It conveys the idea of making
whole by fitting together, to order and arrange properly. When applied
to that which is weak and defective, it denotes setting right what has
gone wrong, to restore to a former condition, whether mending broken
nets or setting broken bones.
To make fitted
or equipped for a duty or function.
To make someone
completely adequate or sufficient for something.
To thoroughly
prepare something to meet demands.
To supply that
which is missing.
Wuest
adds that katartízō
has in it the idea of equipping
something or preparing it for future use." (Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans
or
Logos
Vincent
says that katartízō
signifies to readjust, restore, set
to rights, whether in a physical or a moral sense." (Vincent, M. R.
Word Studies in the New Testament. Vol. 1, Page 3-317)
Westcott
writes that the word
includes the thoughts of the
harmonious combination of different powers, the supply of that which
is defective, and the amendment of that which is faulty.
Hiebert
notes that katartízō can also mean
to bring to completion a process of
making whole already begun" as in Jesus statement that "A pupil is not
above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully
trained (katartízō), will be like his teacher. (Luke
6:40)
Katartízō
was sometimes used metaphorically of restoring harmony among
quarreling factions in a dispute.
Katartízō
was used in secular Greek to describe a trainer who adjusts parts of
the body, as a surgical term of the setting of a broken bone or
putting a dislocated limb back in place or of the repairing and
refitting of a damaged vessel (ship).
Katartízō
is used in other contexts of the strengthening or sustaining of a worn
down people, of the mixing of medicine or of politicians appeasing
factions and restoring unity (used by Herodotus for composing civil
disorder)
Like a doctor
setting a broken bone, God will mend our broken lives and make
us whole.
That God would equip believers so
they might be made ready to fulfill their purpose! Joshua was to do
his part by not letting the law depart from his mouth, but to meditate
on it daily and God would then do His part in equipping Joshua in
every good thing to do His will and to step out onto the territory
that was already his by God's promise (Jos 1:3).
Katartízō
is the same word the
writer uses to describe God preparing the world (see note
Hebrews 11:3).
If God can
katartizo
world out of things not seen by His spoken WORD, He is
certainly able to equip us whatever task He has for us to do (see
note
Ephesians 2:10). What God
requires He inspires and empowers!
Paul uses a related verb
exartizo describing the power of the Living Word to equip
the saint for service writing that...
All Scripture is inspired by God
and profitable for teaching, for reproof , for correction, for
training in righteousness so that the man of God may be
adequate, equipped (exartizo = to completely outfit,
furnish fully) for every good work. (see notes
2 Timothy 3:16;
3:17)
WORKING IN US
THAT WHICH IS PLEASING IN HIS SIGHT
THROUGH JESUS CHRIST
TO WHOM BE THE GLORY FOREVER & EVER AMEN: poion (PAPMSN) en hemin
to euareston enopion autou dia Iesou Christou o e doxa eis tous aionas
(ton aionon), amen:
Working in us
means the Christian life is not us living "like Jesus" trying to do
our best for Him but that it is the Spirit of Christ
living in and through us. This simple truth is the key to
understanding and appropriating the Christ Life. The idea is that we can't
live this Christian life but He did and He will live it through us.
That's supernatural life and is what the world needs to see, for when
they see us living that way, they will see Him, Christ in us the hope
of glory.
The Spirit of Christ now
living in me enables me to do what He has commanded me to do. We must
come to the end of ourselves and realize that we cannot live the life Christ
lived unless He lives it through us, in His power, and for His
Father's glory.
The trap we
often fall into is
trying to "clean ourselves up" so that we appear more holy. We stop
going to R-Rated movies, stop cursing, etc and think that because we have
abandoned a few behaviors we are "better". This behavior
borders on legalism, living by keeping rules or a set of do's and
don'ts. The Christian life is no
longer a matter of stopping some things and starting some others. Our
ability to sin or not is the result of the Holy Spirit in us creating
in us the desire and empowering us to be like Christ.
The "separation" from the world and who we present our members to
(see note
Romans 6:13,
6:19,
12:1;
12:2) is a daily (Mk 8:34,35) even moment by moment
choice which is led and empowered by the Holy Spirit. With the discernment of
the mind of Christ (see notes
Philippians 1:9;
1:10) we
"cooperate" with the Spirit (filled with the Spirit like a "drunk"
man is controlled by what fills him). We have to
continually, daily die to the flesh (death to self), saying "yes" to
Jesus (Note the order in Jn 3:30 He must increase and we must
decrease) and "no" to what the flesh strongly desires or lusts for and
then we begin to experience living His life through us.
Ray Stedman
sums up this section writing that...
With such marvelous resources as
these, who can excuse any failure to become the man or woman God
intends you to be? We may well adopt for our own the words of J. I.
Packer: “My task is not to dizzy myself by introspecting or
speculating to find (if I can) what lies at the outer reaches of
consciousness, nor to pursue endless, exquisite stimulation in the
hope of new exotic ecstasies. It is, rather, to know and keep my place
in God’s cosmic hierarchy, and in that place to spend my strength in
serving God and men” (Your Father Loves You. Ed. and compiled by Jean
Watson. Wheaton, Ill.: Harold Shaw. 1986). (Hebrews 13:20-21 A Gathered-Together Prayer) |
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