"FORSAKE NOT THE ASSEMBLING TOGETHER" (HEBREWS 10:25a)

 

In these COVID years, I would imagine that this verse has been quoted from the pulpit more than once in order to urge parishioners to start coming back to the church building for worship no matter what the alert level happens to be. When I was a kid, our pastor used to quote this verse in order to criticize church members who failed to show up for Sunday morning church services, Sunday school class, and Wednesday evening service each week. So you see that the historical context can have a drastic effect on how this verse is applied.

What was the situation the author of Hebrews was facing at the time of the writing? Commentators have offered a number of possible suggestions:

    Lane: “But the indelible memory of past suffering and loss may account for some now deserting the assembly and a general inclination to avoid contact with outsiders...the assembly was in crisis. Their numbers had been depleted and those who remained were subject to a loss of confidence in their convictions.”

    “Buchanan: “Some, who had lost hope, had given up regular attendance at congregational meetings. This was a certain way to lose the promise. Meeting together provided an opportunity for members to encourage one another, stimulate one another, and help each other to keep from becoming discouraged.”

    Stibbs: In consideration of the previous verse, it means that they “should not, therefore, copy the custom of some and cease attendance at Christian meetings, but rather use such opportunities for mutual encouragement.”

    Bruce: “A vainglorious sense of superiority, and of being able to dispense with the spiritual aid of the society, was also the means of inducing many to withdraw from fellowship and from the common worship. Many, too, were actuated by fear of the authorities; they shunned attendance at public worship...to avoid being recognized as Christians.” “Under the various pressures which were being brought to bear upon them, to withdraw from the society of their fellow-believers was to court spiritual defeat.” Bruce also explains that some of them may have mistakenly thought that Christianity was like some of the Roman and Greek mystery religions in which one no longer needed to associate with other believers once you had been initiated into the secrets of the cult.

    Ellingworth: “The mutual care which the author has commended to his readers in v. 24 cannot be sustained unless members of the Christian community meet to encourage and exhort one another. Failure to do so is associated with apostasy (vv. 26-28) although the author does not claim a direct causal link between the two.” Ellingworth offers two additional reasons why some had stopped coming: laziness (see Hebrews 6:12), or in order to form a rival group (I John 2:19,24).

The immediate context of v. 25a should provide the greatest clue as to the meaning of the author's words. But there are two possibilities presented here and Ellingworth has picked up on both of them. If one looks at vv. 24 and 25b, they both stress the idea that mutual assembly provides the best opportunity for mutual encouragement. However, if you consider vv. 23 and 26-31 instead, then the warning against assembling becomes even more serious because it may indicate apostasy from the ranks of believers. I don't know if we need to chose between the two possibilities since both provide good reasons to keep up church attendance.

Having said the above, in the times we now live in there are other serious considerations to take into account. One of the gentlemen in our Sunday school class died of COVID, and he didn't really take the threat to his health seriously enough and could have spread it to others at church. I have not attended church or Sunday school in person for over a year, although I watch it through live streaming. The reason is that my wife is immune-impaired and has been warned by her neurologist not to come in contact with anyone who has not been vaccinated and wearing a mask. I certainly miss the personal contact, the group worship in singing, and the uplifting discussions during Sunday school. But I have made the decision that my wife's health is a paramount consideration.

Therefore, I have utilized e-mail and posts such as this one to share encouragements and thoughts with others instead, and I thank God for such modern conveniences. We should keep in mind that even Paul shared much of his admonishments and consolations with congregations scattered throughout the Roman Empire, not in person but through his letters.

So in conclusion, although we should look for the danger signs in ourselves of becoming lax in our Christian beliefs and practices, we should not go to the other extreme and condemn those who have chosen to abstain for a while in meeting with other believers due to other important reasons. And we need to become a little more innovative in exploring new ways to spread the Word and encourage our fellow-believers.