After the "Mystery Body of Christ" is raptured there will be people who receive Christ as the Messiah and Savior during the period that follows. Of course the mystery program will be over as we know it now, so these believers will need new instructions on how to live until the Second Coming of Christ to the earth. From my study it appears that Hebrews through Jude will be the "go to guide" for these believers. My purpose in this post will be give some examples from Hebrews on how believers after the rapture will find instruction on how to conduct themselves until the Second Coming of Christ. Please consider the following examples from Hebrews.
First, consider Hebrews 10:25. " Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." The churches John writes to in Revelation 2 and 3 will see the Day of the Lord approaching and should assemble to exhort one another during their time of tribulation. As a side note, how many times have you heard Hebrews 10:25 taken out of context and applied to the "Mystery Church" of the dispensation of grace. The "Mystery Church" is raptured, so it will not see the "day" approaching.
Second, Hebrews is written with the context of the "Last Days" in mind. Consider Hebrews 1:1-2:
[1] God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
[2] Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
The last days would have been accomplished in the first century had Israel accepted her Messiah, but Israel rejected Christ during the period of the Gospels as well as in the book of Acts. Sometime late in Acts or after the Acts period it is revealed to Paul that the "last days" have been postponed and are now to occur in the future. Consider 2 Timothy 3:1: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." The believers in Revelation will once again be in the last days (see Acts 2:17-20 & Revelation 6:12-13) and will need the book of Hebrews for instructions.
Third, Hebrews speaks of a rest that pictures the 1,000 year reign of Christ. Consider Hebrews 4:1-4:
[1] Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
[2]
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word
preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that
heard it.
[3] For we which have believed do enter into rest,
as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my
rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
[4] For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
The believers in Revelation will be looking for the Second Coming of Christ and the "rest" He brings during the 1,000 year reign on earth (see Rev 20:1-2). The book of Hebrews will encourage them in this hope.
Fourth, Hebrews warns of an unpardonable sin that can't be repented of (see Hebrews 6:4-6). I believe this corresponds with the only unpardonable sin that I am aware of in the book of Revelation which concerns that taking the mark of the beast. Consider Rev 14:9-12:
[9] And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice,
If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his
forehead, or in his hand,
[10] The same shall drink of the
wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the
cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and
brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the
Lamb:
[11] And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for
ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the
beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
[12] Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Fifth, Hebrews reminds, especially Jewish believers in Revelation, of the New Covenant that Israel will experience after the Second Coming. Nationally, Israel's sins will be blotted out at the Second Coming of Christ (see Acts 3:19). This New Covenant is better than the Old because it is based on the blood of Israel's New Testament (see Matt 26:27-29). Hebrews 9:14-15 states:
[14] How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the
eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
[15] And
for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of
death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the
first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of
eternal inheritance.
Paul explained in Galatians that the first covenant was associated with
the Law and bondage while the new one is associated with freedom (Gal
4:24-26). Paul wrote Galatians before national judgment was pronounced on Israel. In light of this fact, the initial message of Galatians would apply to believers that would need to leave the bondage of the Old Covenant (Gal 5:1) and would experience the freedom of the New Covenant that would be established if Israel had repented during Acts. In hindsight, with Israel's final rejection of Christ at Acts 28, the grace Paul preached in Galatians and other pre-Acts 28 Epistles becomes the foundation for the dispensation of Grace and the Mystery program of this present age.
The last thing I will mention, although much more could be said, is that Hebrews reminds the believers of Revelation of a heavenly city awaiting for them to experience. Hebrews 12:22 states, " But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels." We see an early glimpse of this city in heaven. Revelation 14:1-3 states:
[1] And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and
with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name
written in their foreheads.
[2] And I heard a voice from
heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great
thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
[3]
And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the
four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the
hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
This city comes down out of heaven in Revelation 21:2 which states, "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."
I hope you see from the above examples how the believers in Revelation will find doctrine, instruction, and comfort from the book of Hebrews. Lord willing I may do some follow up posts showing how James through Jude will also be books of doctrine and comfort for those believers that will see the day of the Lord approaching.
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