Context continues to be a theme and ultimately a lesson as I work through the Bible. I came to Hebrews 12, and I was instantly taken back to high school track. Every spring, there’s a point where the weather just feels like track season. It brings up some unpleasant physical feelings that always make me laugh since I was average, at best, at track and all things running. It’s uncanny timing because the high school state track meet took place back in Nebraska recently and was graduation the week before that. This is all relevant to Hebrews 12 because it’s the place where I can recall verse one of this chapter being used more than once.
“Let us run with endurance the race set before us.” Hebrews 12:1 (ish) ESV
While there’s nothing inherently wrong with using this verse in an athletic endeavor, there’s a lot getting left out. And by a lot, I mean about 45 verses of context, conviction and instruction. That short snippet is exactly that, just a snippet of verse one and leaving out verse two, I believe, is incorrect.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so a great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Romans 12:1-2 ESV
To make things easy, I’m going to break this down one line at a time. Let’s start with the word “therefore.” When you’re reading the Bible and you see this word, you should always ask yourself, what’s it there for? This requires a rewind to the previous chapter. Sometimes that rewind is only a verse or two, but in this case it’s all the way back to verse one of chapter 11. This chapter is called the hall of faith because it takes us through the Old Testament stories of blind faith that we should be encouraged by. For the sake of brevity, and to encourage you as a read of the Lord’s words and not my own, here is a synopsis of chapter 11. Surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses:
Abel’s sacrifice (Genesis 4)
Noah’s ark (Genesis 6-9)
Abraham’s promised land & lineage (Genesis 15)
Sarah’s baby (Genesis 21)
Joseph’s staff (Genesis 39)
Moses’ exodus (Exodus)
Red Sea crossing (Exodus 14)
Jericho’s walls (Joshua 5-6)
Rahab’s loyalty (Joshua 2)
It's extremely important to note that most of these faithful brothers and sister didn’t receive what they were promised. Neither Moses nor Abraham ever saw the land they were promised up close. What God promised them on earth was a way to grow them up in their faith so that their eyes would be opened to better things. Those things being their reward in heaven. If you read those stories fully, one common theme, sometimes easy to find and difficult in others, will be the mental shift. They continue following the Lord’s guidance to pursue those earthly promises, but at some point, each one casts off those earthly desires because the promise of eternity becomes more appealing and thus the focus. This is just one of many reasons why the prosperity gospel is so unbelievably outrageous. Nothing on earth will ever come close to the promise of eternity but more importantly, a close, personal relationship with God is superb to even our wildest dreams of prosperity.
To review, this information came from digging into the first word of the verse in question. Let’s keep digging: since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin that clings so closely…
Everyone listed in the hall of faith represents that great cloud of witnesses. What are they witnesses to? God’s faithfulness to us and thus a good reason to lean into our own faith in God’s promises on earth and in heaven. To dig even deeper, I wound up comparing verse one and two:
Verse 1 | Comparison | Verse 2 |
Cloud of witnesses | Examples of faith | Jesus |
Weight, sin | Burden | The cross |
Run | Strive, move to attain | Joy |
Race | Fighting the good fight | Despised (thinking little of) the shame |
Set before | Appointed, destined | Set before |
With endurance | Remain under challenges allotted by God | Endured |
This comparison is significant because 1) it instructs us how to walk out and through hard things just like the great cloud of witnesses and 2) it points us to Jesus who did it for us first and to the highest degree. Some of those witnesses in the Old Testament were faithful even to the point of death. Just like Jesus was appointed and destined for the cross, so are we for the path before us. This includes every weight and sin that could find us as we run this race of life. Jesus thought little of the shame He bore on the cross because of the example of faith He was setting for us by following the will of God to the point of death to buy our freedom.
Basically, this verse has almost nothing to do with physically running a race. Instead, it has everything to do with the spiritual race we’re engaged in until death. I understand why this verse is used in relation to track and cross country, but it’s undeniably important to, at the very least, use the full verse. I believe that works to preserve a small fraction of the author’s intent when the opportunity to dig deep into a verse can’t be achieved on the back of a t-shirt. To wrap this up in a not-so-pretty-bow, here are some word definitions that might further illustrate why and how the author wasn’t talking about track and field when he wrote this verse:
Run = advance speedily like an athlete moving forward with full effort and directed purpose; strive hard, spend strength
Endurance = remaining behind, steadfastness, remaining under the challenges God allots in life with patience
Race = amid all hinderances let us exert ourselves to the utmost to obtain the goal of perfection set before followers of Christ; fighting the good fight of faith
Endure: bear bravely, calmy; remain under the Lord; uniquely happens by God’s power
Never forget that you were specifically chosen to carry the weight of your steadfast faith. Jesus went ahead of us as the perfect example of how to do this. When we seek the will of God and walk out our obedience in that, we’re in good company. Spend all your strength, patiently enduring the challenges God allowed (He didn’t send them, simply allowed them) in your life.
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