The text in the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us that Jesus, our High Priest, is over the House of God (Hebrews 10:21), which in the Gospel narratives always referred to the Temple or Tabernacle of God (Matthew 12:4; Mark 2:26; Luke 6:4). However, Paul intends for us to understand that he is speaking of the spiritual ‘House’ of God, and that refers to the believers in Christ (Hebrews 3:3-6). It is Jesus who is building this House (Matthew 16:18; cf. 1Timothy 3:15). Elsewhere Paul refers to the believer as the Temple of God (1Corinthians 3:9-17; 2Corinthians 6:16-17; Ephesians 2:19-22), concerning which Peter also writes (1Peter 4:17; 2Peter 2:5).
At this point, and in the context of the Tabernacle of God, where Jesus sits on the Mercy Seat, Paul first tells his readers to draw near (Hebrews 10:22), i.e. to God, whose Presence appears above the Mercy Seat. Then, he tells believers to hold fast or keep possession of the profession (G3671) of our faith (Hebrews 10:23), which has to do with what we confess (G3671) before others (1Timothy 6:12-13), and that pertains to our subjection to the Gospel (2Corinthians 9:13). Finally, Paul tells believer to provoke one another to love and to do good works (Hebrews 10:24), which in the context of the Tabernacle of God refers to presenting our bodies as a living sacrifices to God, according to the “new and living way” (Romans 12:1; Hebrews 10:20), which is our reasonable service.
If Paul’s advice was followed by believers in the first century (Hebrews 10:25), they would not forsake (G1459) the gathering of themselves together (G1997). But, what does “gathering of ourselves together” mean in the context of Paul’s point in Hebrews 10? Most folks today believe Paul was speaking of attending regular worship service each week, but this simply isn’t correct. For one thing, not many believers encourage one another to attend weekly worship service. Nor is there a command to attend every Sunday or Saturday, as the case may be. The Greek word that Paul uses for gathering together is episunagoge (G1997) and is used only here in Hebrews 10:25 and in 2Thessalonians 2:1. In 2Thessalonians, Paul wrote to believers in Europe about the coming of Christ: “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together (G1997) unto him.” In this context, Paul couldn’t be referring to a weekly worship service, and neither could he be doing so in Hebrews 10:25, because such a thing would be completely foreign to the context of his epistle.
The Epistle to the Hebrews is an apologetic concerning the greatness of Christ, and why he is better than all other things that were important to the Jews, whether angels, Moses, Aaron, the Levitical priesthood, even the Temple itself. To think Paul at this point wants to encourage believers to meet together on a regular basis simply doesn’t fit. Notice that in verse-23 Paul tells his readers to hold fast the profession of faith, because “he is faithful who promised.” Certainly, Paul was speaking of Jesus, but what did Jesus promise? He promised to build his church, and the gates of hell would not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18), meaning persecution would attend such a construction (Matthew 16:24-26). Nevertheless, he would come in the glory of his Father with his angels and reward every man according to his works (Matthew 16:27-28). In other words, Jesus promised vindication for those who believe and endure until the Lord’s judgment upon those who persecute the elect. Therefore, in Hebrews 10:25 Paul was telling his readers that, if they didn’t forsake their gathering together (G1997) to Christ upon his return, they would be vindicated, and this is pretty much the reason Paul wrote to them in the first place, because the manner of some was to give up their confession of faith, and forsake the promise of Jesus’ return.
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