hebrews 13:20-21

Pondering Hebrews 13:20-21 20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Yeshua our Lord, 21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Messiah Yeshua, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. These awe-inspiring words form the benediction or the concluding statement. They form a summary of what the author of Hebrews prayed for the Messianic Jews. In this benediction he indicates seven key points that he had already raised in his letter: God of Shalom The phrase the God of peace is strangely almost absent from the rabbinical writings. The apostle Paul uses it several times (Romans 15:33; 16:20; Philippians 4:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:23), and it occurs once in the Tanach (Older Testament), in Judges 6:24 when Gideon built an altar to the LORD and called it ‘Adonai-Shalom’. Shalom is considered one of the names of Messiah (Isaiah 9:5-6), and indeed when He will come as King to Zion He will proclaim a world-wide shalom to the nations (Zechariah 9:10). Shalom is not just the absence of war, but brings with it rest and security. Shalom is found in the Aaronic benediction (Numbers 6), where God blesses us with His Shalom, and it is the blessing to the disciples after the resurrection of Messiah (John 20:19, 21, 26). In light of the later, the writer is saying that despite the troubles and hardship, if you are brought into Messiah through His blood, you have been justified by faith and will have His Shalom (Romans 5:1). Brought up Yeshua from the dead When God raised Messiah from the dead, His role as prophet came to an end and He became our sympathetic High Priest in Heaven (Hebrews 4:14-16). Messiah was the first-fruits of the first and permanent resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:23) and we, his followers, will be raised because He has been raised. As such, for believers in Yeshua, the second death (Revelation 21:8) holds no power over us at all. Yeshua is the power now of our future resurrection, according to His promise (John 11:25-26). God demonstrated that Yeshua is the Son of God (Romans 1:4) by His resurrection, and by his resurrection He becomes our justification (Romans 4:24-25), and guarantor of our future resurrection (2 Corinthians 4:14). Great Shepherd Despite the fact that we all like sheep have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6; 1 Peter 2:25), it is His continual desire to be our Lord the Shepherd who leads us (Psalm 23). Yeshua calls Himself “the Good Shepherd” (John 10:1-18), even when we stray. His desire remains to gather us (Matthew 23:37).  He is also called the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4) who wants to reward the faithful with crowns of glory that will never fade away and a crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8), or the crown of life (James 1:12). The shepherd watches his flock even when they may be in tough times. David recalls this in Psalm 23 as the “valley of the shadow of death”. Yet in this psalm we see the shepherd is protected by His rod from the enemy (wolfs and bears). He brings corrections to the sheep with His staff. These are not huge sticks, as such He is near to us. This title, “the Great Shepherd,” would have been a comfort to the 1st century Jewish believers. With the up and coming destruction of Jerusalem and the troubles that flowed from that, they too needed to not fear evil. He was with them to bring comfort. Blood of the Eternal Covenant Twice before the author had mentioned the blood of the covenant (Hebrews 9:19-20, 10:22). This was based on Exodus 24:8, where Moses “took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, behold the blood of the covenant.” That was for the First Covenant (Hebrews 9:18), which was now fast becoming obsolete as it was growing old (Hebrews 8:13). This is in contrast to the New Covenant that was promised (Jeremiah 31:31-34). It was inaugurated at the last Passover Yeshua celebrated on earth (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24 & Luke 22:20) and it will find its fulfilment in the Kingdom to come (2 Samuel 23:5). In Ezekiel 37:24-26 we see some of these themes tied together. In verse 24 the LORD mentioned the One Shepherd,that is Messiah. Then in verse 26 “I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever,” where Yeshua serves as our King and High Priest. He brought in the blood of the eternal covenant to the Holy of Holies in the heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews chapters 8 & 9). Yeshua our Lord Yeshua as LORD was described in Hebrews 1:2-4, 3:6. Here He is OUR Lord, and therefore desires our obedience (Hebrews 5:9). In light of what He has done, bringing us to salvation (Titus 2:11) and what He will do, bringing us to glory (Hebrews 2:10), how much more should we be willing to serve Him. We should serve Him willingly and fervently. David said “Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling”.  Fear here is יִרְאָה (yirah) reverence. I recommend the excellent teaching of Rabbi Dr. Baruch Korman on fear which is on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/CrXo9p-Xvx0 Equip you God, who made peace with us through the blood of the eternal covenant and the resurrection of Yeshua the Lord, does not want us to sit and warm seats. He wants us to serve Him and one another. The resurrection of Yeshua guarantees power for service (Ephesians 1:17-20). It is for the perfecting of the saints, so that in all things we can bring glory to the Lord. He equips US, not just leaders, but each of us. Together we can build up the body of Messiah (1 Corinthians 12:1-11) and share the good news of Yeshua, the good and faithful shepherd. To whom be glory forever and ever, amen.  This closing benediction belongs to Yeshua the Messiah, the great Shepherd of the sheep, through whom all grace and good things come. The author had indicated that Messiah’s glory is God’s glory (Hebrews 1:3, see also James 2:1), and that when He became part of His creation He became lower than the angels, even though He is “crowned with glory and honour” (Hebrews 2:7-9). As such, we who understand who He is, ought to give Him the glory both now and forever more. By closing with the word “Amen” the writer is inviting the readers to respond and affirm all that he has said about Yeshua. As such, I hope that you too will add your Amen to it. Blessings in Yeshua the Great Shepherd Paul