Hebrews 10:30 Commentary and Bible Study

To show that the sorer punishment that he has spoken of is real, the writer quotes from Deuteronomy 32:35-36: ‘To me belongeth vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.’ These words are addressed in the song of Moses as a warning to those in Israel who were in danger of committing apostasy or already guilty of it. Earlier in the same song Moses had said, ‘But Jeshurun [upright one – a poetic name for Israel] waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not’ (Deuteronomy 32:15-17).We who are believers in Christ know the God who gave such fearful warnings long ago. He has not changed his character, nor has he changed his response to such behaviour in those who claim to be his people today. Scripture contains solemn warnings against apostasy, and sometimes these need to be brought even before true believers. They become the means that God uses to turn them away from an evil path. The writer to the Hebrews does not hesitate to bring such a fearful outcome before his readers, even though he is about to say that he does not believe that it applies to them. But why bring it unless he intends us to take it heart, see it as a real warning, and turn away with horror from following the same path as those apostates.