Today, rather than writing more on the shadow of the old covenant in contrast with the reality of the new, I want to focus on the Christian response to these things, as highlighted in verses 19 to the end of the chapter.
The author of Hebrews is very concerned with living in response to proper theology (something I think most of us should probably do a better job with--either on the living side or on the proper theology side). As a result of Christ as the high priest of the new covenant, we are able to draw near to God (v. 22) which at least partially happens through meeting together with other believers (vv. 24-25). And why should we continue meeting together? To prevent the warnings in verses 26-31. In other words, we meet together to encourage each other from falling away so that we will be able to take advantage of the access granted to us through Christ's sacrifice.
In the modern West, not attending church tends to be an issue driven by laziness more than anything else. However, the end of chapter 10 indicates that was not the problem for these readers. They were being actively persecuted for meeting together and thereby identifying themselves as Christ followers. For them, meeting together was a very serious matter. Yet they were encouraged to meet together. How much more so for us today when our biggest obstacles are sleeping in or catching the football game?
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