BLOG

The meat of the word, part 1, Introduction

In Hebrews 5:11-14, the anonymous author complains that many of his readers were having difficulty understanding the deeper truths of the word which he describes metaphorically as “solid food.” The apparent reason for this deficiency is that the “milk” of the word had not been understood properly, making them unprepared to comprehend those deeper things. So he refers to them as babies needing milk rather than “solid food” (NASB) or “meat” (KJV).

The milk of the word, he says, consist of six primary truths, listed in Hebrews 6:1, 2, which we covered in our first study. The present study will focus on the meat of the word.

Hebrews are Immigrants

The book of Hebrews is the book of “better things,” as it compares Old Covenant practice with New Covenant alterations in the law. The study of these “better things” properly begins in Hebrews 5, where the author (Paul, I believe) presents Jesus Christ as the better high priest, coming from a better priestly order—the Order of Melchizedek, rather than of Aaron.

From there the author discusses a better form of worship (Hebrews 9) and a better sacrifice (Hebrews 10).

After telling us that we ought to be able to handle solid food, we are not told directly what that solid is. It is left to us to understand that he was ready to serve solid food to his readers and that this was the main underlying purpose of the book of Hebrews.

A “Hebrew,” of course, is an immigrant. Abraham was a Hebrew (Genesis 14:13), because he immigrated from Ur of the Chaldees to the land of Canaan. He was not an Israelite, because the first Israelite was his grandson, Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel (Genesis 32:28). Neither was Abraham the first Jew, as many have been taught. The first Jew was Judah, the great-grandson of Abraham.

The Call to a Greater City

In Paul’s context, the meat of the word was for those who were able to immigrate, as it were, from the Old Covenant to the New, as if they were part of Abraham’s household of faith journeying from Ur to Canaan, the Land of Promise. So toward the end of the book, Paul invites them in Hebrews 13:13, 14,

¹³ So let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach, ¹⁴ for here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.

Just as Christ carried His cross outside the city where He was crucified, so also are we required to seek a better city and a better form of worship than was found in Jerusalem itself. We are to immigrate from the earthly Jerusalem to the heavenly city, even as Abraham in Hebrews 11:10,

¹⁰ for he was looking for a city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

One of the main points of the author of Hebrews was to issue a call to leave the earthly Jerusalem in favor of the heavenly Jerusalem. The earthly city is under the dominion of Mount Sinai in Arabia, the inheritance of Ishmael (Galatians 4:25; Hebrews 12:18-21). We are called to “Mount Sion” (Hebrews 12:22 KJV), which is Mount Hermon (Deuteronomy 4:48), the place where Jesus was transfigured and where He was pronounced “My beloved Son” (Matthew 17:5).

There is, therefore, a crucial difference between Mount Zion in Jerusalem with its demands and Mount Sion which represents the heavenly Jerusalem and its promises.

Modern Zionism, then, is a call to establish the earthly Jerusalem as the rallying point for the coming of Christ. We, on the other hand, are Sionists, for we have eaten the meat from the table of the Lord, where we are seated as sons of God.

This is an overall look at the “meat” of the word as it is set forth in the book of Hebrews. There are many other truths that are related to this, but this call to the greater Mount is the call to repentance—a new way of thinking. It is, in fact, the deeper truth of the gospel of the Kingdom.