Hebrews 8:10-12 : For the shall all know me?

[margoeli]

Hebrews 8:10-12 : What does it say about witnessing?

Hello all,

I came across this scripture when reading the other day and found it interesting, particularly Verse 11.

Hebrews 8:10-12 (ESV)
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.

11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.

12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.”

In Verse 11, when it says

“and they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying ‘Know the Lord,’ “

do you think this means that Christ brings each one of us to him in his own way, in his own time and that man isn't meant to interfere? If this is the case, does that mean that we are not meant to witness with intent but instead to live by example by showing the love of Christ?

 

[B-A-C]

Rom 10:13; for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."
Rom 10:14; How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?
Rom 10:15; How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!"

Mark 16:15; And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

Luke 10:2; And He was saying to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

Still here in the US, most people have heard of Jesus. So why don't they get saved? The most common reason I've heard from people is that Christians are
hypocrites. They claim to be Godly people, but they smoke, drink, curse, live together unmarried, and act just like me and my friends. So yes, part of our witness
is the way we live around them, and yes love is a part of it too.

 

[RJ]

• Hebrews 8 is a cross reference with the phropecy in Jeremiah 31:31-34 “
• The writer of Hebrews was conveying to the Church that Jesus fulfilled Jeremiah's prophecy of the Old Testament , for which, they all were very familiar with the prophecy.
• That Jesus was now the High Priest of the New Covenant and a High priest for ever more, because unlike the Priests of the Old Testament, when Jesus completed his work and sat down by the Father.
• Priest's of old never sat down because right after the "day of Atonement", their work began immediately to prepare for the next years atonement.
• Nothing more, nothing less!

 

[Justin15]

Hello all,

I came across this scripture when reading the other day and found it interesting, particularly Verse 11.

Hebrews 8:10-12 (ESV)
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.

11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.

12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.”

In Verse 11, when it says

“and they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying ‘Know the Lord,’ “

do you think this means that Christ brings each one of us to him in his own way, in his own time and that man isn't meant to interfere? If this is the case, does that mean that we are not meant to witness with intent but instead to live by example by showing the love of Christ?

Hey, No this scripture is not saying we are not to witness verbally and only by example. Morality is rampant in today's world. Morality is not Christianity. Also Morality is not Righteousness. The only Righteousness a believer can bring forth is in Christ. The Bible teaches we need to hear the Gospel to believe Romans 10:17. Verbal proclamation through the instrumentation of godly Pastors and Teachers, and evangelists, is the structure of the command to, " Go out into the world and preach the gospel" Eph 4:11 Mark 16:15. We are to share the Word in love Eph 4:15 yet confront the ungodly world with biblical sound doctrine containing mans need of a Savior because of their sin condition and repentance of sin. This is demanding preaching that the world does not want to hear and that's why Paul said they will not endure sound doctrine but heap for themselves teachers. 2 Tim 4:3. So there is no question as to if we're to share the Word of God through proclamation. This particular verse is taken out of Jeremiah 31:31-34 God is sharing through prophecy the coming of the New Covenant of Grace Jeremiah 31:34 or Hebrews 8:12, opposed to the Old covenant which Israel failed to keep. Notice in the first few verses that God is talking to His Elect, or His Own people. That is the key to this interpretation, The Covenant of Grace will impart into the believer a Gift of the Holy Spirit Lev. 26:12 which will be his Teacher. This verse also doesn't negate the reality that we are part of the Body of Christ and need the ministry of teaching.

 

[margoeli]

I like what you say @B-A-C

Still here in the US, most people have heard of Jesus. So why don't they get saved? The most common reason I've heard from people is that Christians are
hypocrites. They claim to be Godly people, but they smoke, drink, curse, live together unmarried, and act just like me and my friends.So yes, part of our witness
is the way we live around them, and yes love is a part of it too.

Sometimes it can be so hard to not be dragged down by the world and to have faith in Jesus's love no matter what, but for me God's glory and Christ's love is a huge part of witnessing. I think often times Christians (myself included) can get so caught up in what they think it is to be a Christian that they lose sight of the message. Jesus was so loving!
Love speaks so loud and can touch every human heart. These verses come to mind.

​

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect - 1 Peter 3:15
​

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. - Matthew 5:16

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. -Colossians 4:5-6​

​

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2: 8-9​

​

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. -John 4:6

​

There are so many more but.... last and certainly not least :​

​

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:37-39

​

In regards to the verse above

Loving God to the degree of loving him with all your heart can be daunting. It's easy to love a puppy, spouse, or child because you can physically see them, but putting God before all else is easier said (literally, it's easy for Christians to talk about) than done. We can talk about how much we love God until we are blue in the face, but are we actually doing it is the question.

But when it happens, when I love God anyways, it creates this peace of mind within which allows for change to start to occur, you actually start to receive strength from God! Grace, I'd like to think. This for me is step one to witnessing, perhaps a lot of us (myself included) skip that step and when we do, it messes everything else up.

but...

When we can remember there is this unsurmountable love coming towards us from God, that Jesus loves and and has saved us, and that the Holy Spirit will guide us, then all personal agendas of being a follower of Christ dissolve.

I actually want to write more but will save it for another topic at another time, just one last note that John 14 speaks a lot to me about witnessing as well.

-Margo
​

 

[RJ]

I like what you say @B-A-C



Sometimes it can be so hard to not be dragged down by the world and to have faith in Jesus's love no matter what, but for me God's glory and Christ's love is a huge part of witnessing. I think often times Christians (myself included) can get so caught up in what they think it is to be a Christian that they lose sight of the message. Jesus was so loving!
Love speaks so loud and can touch every human heart. These verses come to mind.

​

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect - 1 Peter 3:15
​

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. - Matthew 5:16

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. -Colossians 4:5-6​

​

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2: 8-9​

​

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. -John 4:6

​

There are so many more but.... last and certainly not least :​

​

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:37-39

​

In regards to the verse above

Loving God to the degree of loving him with all your heart can be daunting. It's easy to love a puppy, spouse, or child because you can physically see them, but putting God before all else is easier said (literally, it's easy for Christians to talk about) than done. We can talk about how much we love God until we are blue in the face, but are we actually doing it is the question.

But when it happens, when I love God anyways, it creates this peace of mind within which allows for change to start to occur, you actually start to receive strength from God! Grace, I'd like to think. This for me is step one to witnessing, perhaps a lot of us (myself included) skip that step and when we do, it messes everything else up.

but...

When we can remember there is this unsurmountable love coming towards us from God, that Jesus loves and and has saved us, and that the Holy Spirit will guide us, then all personal agendas of being a follower of Christ dissolve.

I actually want to write more but will save it for another topic at another time, just one last note that John 14 speaks a lot to me about witnessing as well.

-Margo
​

There a many Christian in name only and are far from saved.

• Revelation 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
• Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
  

 

[margoeli]

• Hebrews 8 is a cross reference with the phropecy in Jeremiah 31:31-34 “
• The writer of Hebrews was conveying to the Church that Jesus fulfilled Jeremiah's prophecy of the Old Testament , for which, they all were very familiar with the prophecy.
• That Jesus was now the High Priest of the New Covenant and a High priest for ever more, because unlike the Priests of the Old Testament, when Jesus completed his work and sat down by the Father.
• Priest's of old never sat down because right after the "day of Atonement", their work began immediately to prepare for the next years atonement.
• Nothing more, nothing less!

@Justin15 @ RJ Thank you for sharing

• I have read into the context of the verses but still am unaware of how it negates the meaning of the words. How are the meaning of the words diminished?

10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.

11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.

12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.”

 

[RJ]

@Justin15 @ RJ Thank you for sharing

• I have read into the context of the verses but still am unaware of how it negates the meaning of the words. How are the meaning of the words diminished?

10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.

11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.

12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.”

I am not sure of what you are refering to? If I may, 2 things:

• I know of no diminishing of the "words" ?
• What do these"words" mean to you?

 

[Justin15]

Hey everyone, check out Matt 7:22, "many will say to me in that day Lord Lord did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out many demons in your name, and in your name do many wonderful works?' the previous verse says, "not everyone that says lord lord but those who do the will of my Father. " But the answer to the rejection is given in the last verse Matt 7:23, 'Then i'll declare to them, depart from you who work lawlessness, i never knew you!" The word lawlessness simply means, 'without law'. This is not a reference to the Mosaic Law which no one could keep perfectly therefore all of mankind was cursed Romans 3:20. Lawlessness is simply not acknowledging Christ's Lordship over the believer's life and thereby denying Christ. Romans 10:9. People today (due to the false grace gospel) desire to have Christ as Savior but not as Lord. Which simply means they want to be saved but don't want to surrender their life to the Lord Jesus Christ; their sinful desires and follow after righteousness. The question is if Salvation is a gift of God and not by works, how can we reconcile verses like Luke 14:26-27, John 12:25, and many others that demand a surrendering of one's life for salvation. To explain this let's take a look at the Old Covenant. This covenant was never intended on saving anyone, because it can not. It revealed man's sin and desperate need for a Savior, It showed man that attempting to achieve salvation in their own power was futile and not even possible, due to the dominating control of sin. Ultimantly the Law (old covenant) left man realizing they could not change themselves and needed God's mercy for Justification. The only problem is God alreadly revealed He would not justify the wicked Exodus 23:7. God cannot justify someone out of mercy and just overlook justice. That is not a Just God. Therefore God in His Wisdom came as a Man, Jesus Christ, to fulfill the Law that held us captive by it's demand for Holiness and went to the cross, and on that cross God the Father exhausted His wrath on His Son to satisfy His justice and impute Christ's Righteousness (righteous life) to those who believe in Jesus Christ! God judged His Son in our place. But Christ didn't come only to save the World from the penalty of sin (Savior), but also from the control of sin (Lord) 1 John 3:8. Those that are dominated by sin and live a lifestyle of sinful practices are still under the control of sin, and make it evident they don't truly believe in the Jesus Christ of the Bible, and therefore have never repented genuinely in godly sorrow and received the gift of Salvation and became a new Creation, with a desire to love righteousness and hate sin. 1 John 3:9. The old person, dominated and controled by sin, loved sin and hated righteousness, the new creation, in submission and service to Christ John 14:21, loves righteousness and hates sin. Romans 6:15-16. So the answer is supernatural. God's grace transforms a person supernaturally by regeneration. 2 Corinth 5:17 People cannot and will not give their life to God by their own power, but by God's grace He will transform a person into a servant of righteousness! Titus 2:11-12

 

[margoeli]

I am not sure of what you are refering to? If I may, 2 things:

• I know of no diminishing of the "words" ?
• What do these"words" mean to you?

@RJ

• sorry to imply... :smiley:
• What it means to me

Israel received their instructions from God on stones and they had to follow many strict laws, ones in which no one could perfect. The new covenant in which these verses speak of are in relation to Christ. How the truth will now be written on our hearts and in our mind. We are given an extension of forgiveness, and that God wants us to be in a relationship with him. What I do not understand is verse 11 where it says

And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.

This part seems to be saying not to teach, because of the covenant everyone will know of God.Then the verse John 6:44 popped up in my mind

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

I don't mean to imply that we aren't meant to witness the gospel, I know this is stated in the bible very clearly, I am just trying to understand and am wondering if this ties in with divine grace on some level. Hope this makes some sort of sense as I am trying to understand it myself.

 

[RJ]

@RJ

• sorry to imply... :smiley:
• What it means to me

Israel received their instructions from God on stones and they had to follow many strict laws, ones in which no one could perfect. The new covenant in which these verses speak of are in relation to Christ. How the truth will now be written on our hearts and in our mind. We are given an extension of forgiveness, and that God wants us to be in a relationship with him. What I do not understand is verse 11 where it says


And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.

This part seems to be saying not to teach, because of the covenant everyone will know of God.Then the verse John 6:44 popped up in my mind

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

I don't mean to imply that we aren't meant to witness the gospel, I know this is stated in the bible very clearly, I am just trying to understand and am wondering if this ties in with divine grace on some level. Hope this makes some sort of sense as I am trying to understand it myself.

If I may, I tried to explain it in post #3 but , I will try it again:

• All these words that you qouted in Romans was a repeat from the prophecy in Jeremiah. It is hard to put this in such a short text, because so much scripture is involed, in order to fully understand it but I will try.
• Jesus is responsible for all of this:

1. I will put my laws into their minds,
   and write them on their hearts,
   Unlike in the Old Testament when this prophecy was written, this is actually talking about a time to come when God means he would put himself inside the person, hence now (In the Romans verse), the true Christian. When you believe and as a part of God's grace, his gift to you, he gives his Holy Spirit to live in you; this is the trademark of a Christian. With God in you he puts his laws in your heart and mind and you become a repentant and regenerated person....the old is gone and the new has come.
2. and I will be their God,
   and they shall be my people.
   And like no time before you recognize him as your God and we are his people.
3. 11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
   and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
   for they shall all know me,
   from the least of them to the greatest.
   And now, your verse 11. So God is talking now just about Christians. He is not talking about teaching each other ( Christians) about his word, that we are to do. And, he is not talking about non-Christians, who don't know him yet, those for sure we are to teach them to know the Lord. if you stop and think about it, as a Christian and in your own way, you know the Lord. I like to say that before I knew of the Lord but now I know the Lord; this verse confirms that in me.
4. Yes, all this is tied directly into devine grace, all of this is God's free gift to us....all we have to do is take the gift!

 

[margoeli]

@RJ
Thank you for that RJ, brilliant response.