ROOT OF BITTERNESS
Wednesday – July 18, 2018, Av 6, 5778
Greetings and welcome back to this faith building Bible Study of the Book of Hebrews. The featured picture was taken at Ocean Point Inn a few years ago when Patti and I visited. God is so good to give us His Word. Will we put His Word to work in our lives or will we passively receive the Word saying how good it is but not putting it to work and seeing it bear fruit in our lives? I am moving forward in our study, moving off of the chastening of the Lord into new territory. Let’s go ahead and read our primary Bible text below aloud so that the Truth is in our eyes, in our ears, and in our mouth.
Hebrews 12:14-17 (KJV)
14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
As we examine our text above, let me ask, whose responsibility is it to pursue peace with others and holiness? It is our responsibility! Pursuing peace with others and holiness bears the fruit of days of prosperity and years of pleasure (Job 36:10-12). That is not to say the enemies of our soul will not seek to mount attacks which is why we are constantly vigilant on the mountain and in the valley. I believe that most people are seeking to be at peace with others and to be holy as our Father is holy. However, without constant diligence we may not understand or recognize what is light and what is darkness. If we receive darkness as light then we will tend to receive more darkness and the light we have will be lost. We must be diligent to study and rightly divide the Word of Truth. Being slack about the Word of God does not mean we are headed to Hell but it does mean that we accomplish little to nothing for the Kingdom and our lives are a mess in one fashion or another. The door for the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy is wide open and the door of abundance is closed. When we are told in verse fourteen that without the pursuit of peace and holiness no person will see the Lord, I do not believe that is talking about Heaven but the manifestation of the Lord in our lives here in the earth.
As we move to verse fifteen we see that we have a responsibility to the people around us. We are to be vigilant on each other’s behalf. Problem is this, many people do not appreciate or receive observations from others very well which may actually be a chastening of the Lord. When was the last time that you were tickled when someone critiqued something in your life? Hopefully, we all understand that there are ways of bringing things to peoples’ attention without a full-frontal assault. The Lord will give us the perfect opportunities and methods of helping our fellow Christians. Likewise, He will try the gentle approach in our own lives, be attentive, ready to receive, and ready to change. When the peace (tranquility) is broken between individuals or groups of peoples occurs, there can be a contamination effect which our text refers to as others being defiled. We want to get others to agree with us and we want allies when we are not seeking after peace and holiness. This causes splits in marriages, long-time friendships, and Churches.
When the initial wedge is applied to a relationship that of course is the best time to guard against a rupture of the peace in that relationship. We must refuse to fall out of Godly love and refuse to pass judgement on others. Otherwise, a root of bitterness will develop in ourselves. The other party or parties may be totally unaware of what is going on in us but we are in the process of bringing the enemy into our life. The more we ruminate, talk about the situation, and avoid the person(s) the deeper the root goes and the greater the defilement. This is exceedingly dangerous brother and sister. It may not keep us out of Heaven but it will keep us out of the fulness of God in our lives.
As our Hebrew text progresses we find a mention of fornicators and profane persons such as Esau mentioned. As you will recall Esau for a bowl of soup sold his birthright to Jacob. The birthright was the double portion. He did not lose out entirely concerning an inheritance from Isaac but he did not receive what was his by tradition. Later Jacob as instructed by his mother Rebekah tricks Isaac and also obtains the blessing of the firstborn as well. Again, it was not that Esau did not get a blessing he just did not get the blessing of the first born. This was all told to Rebekah by the LORD as the two struggled in her womb before birth. God, the LORD, knew something about the character of Esau before birth that would not allow him to be the patriarch to bring the Hebrew peoples forward on the path to the Messiah. Esau despised or thought little of his birthright and by the will of God lost out on the blessing of the firstborn. Esau sought after the blessing with many tears but the blessing of the firstborn was done.
I don’t know that the mention of fornicators is necessarily referring only to sexual sin but instead refers to any turning aside to other gods. Likewise, our lack of a whole-hearted pursuit of the Word of God and obedience to the Word of God can result in us not walking in all that Christ Jesus paid for at Calvary. We too are entitled to the blessing of the firstborn which is Christ Jesus and we too are entitled to the birthright (inheritance) of the firstborn which is Christ Jesus. Being slack like Esau, and like some of the tribes of Israel in the Promised Land, will leave us lacking the fullness of that blessing and birthright. I don’t know about you but I want it all, I want to excel for the Kingdom of God, for my Savior and Lord.
Until our next publication, I speak this Scriptural prayer for your life right now, receive it in the name of Jesus, confess it, and walk it out with thanksgiving.
Ephesians 1:16-17 (KJV)
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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