The Surprising Secret of Freedom
Introduction
‘I have on my table a violin string,’ wrote Rabindranath Tagore. ‘It is free to move in any direction I like. If I twist one end it responds; it is free. But it is not free to sing. So I take it and fix it into my violin. I bind it and when it is bound, it is free for the first time to sing.’
True freedom comes when we bind ourselves to Jesus and fix our eyes on him. As the violin string comes alive when bound into the violin, so we come alive in Christ. Jesus is the great liberator. He sets us free.
At the heart of Christianity is a relationship with Jesus. Jesus died for you. He was raised to life and he is alive today. You cannot see him physically, but you can see him with the eyes of faith.
In today’s passage, the writer of Hebrews says, ‘we see Jesus’ (Hebrews 2:9). Later, he writes, ‘let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith’ (12:2). He is both the author of our faith and the author of our salvation (2:10), described earlier as such a ‘great salvation’ (v.3).
What does this salvation involve? What are we freed from?
Proverbs 26:13–22
13 A sluggard says, “There’s a lion in the road,
a fierce lion roaming the streets!”
14 As a door turns on its hinges,
so a sluggard turns on his bed.
15 A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
16 A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
than seven people who answer discreetly.
17 Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears
is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own.
18 Like a maniac shooting
flaming arrows of death
19 is one who deceives their neighbour
and says, “I was only joking!”
20 Without wood a fire goes out;
without a gossip a quarrel dies down.
21 As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.
22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
they go down to the inmost parts.
Commentary
Freedom from fear
As Christians, we should be fearless. We should never allow fear of the enemy to slow us down.
The writer of Proverbs says, ‘A sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!”’ (v.13). Every Christian ministry faces ‘fierce lions’. Don’t be put off by fear, which leads to inertia and lack of activity (vv.14–15). Jesus sets us free to advance without fear of the opposition.
Freedom is the antithesis of apathy. The writer goes on to warn against every kind of laziness. He warns us not to get involved with other people’s arguments (v.17). He warns also against jokes that involve telling lies (v.19).
The best way to heal a quarrel is to stop gossiping. Without gossip a quarrel dies down just as without wood a fire goes out (v.20). It is so tempting to listen to gossip because ‘the words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts’ (v.22). But listening to gossip is as bad as gossiping – rather like receiving stolen goods is as bad as theft.
Here is wisdom about how to heal a quarrel: never add fuel to the fire but rather be a peacemaker.
Prayer
Lord, thank you that through Jesus I can be set free from my fears. Help me to be bold in the face of opposition and never allow fear to slow me down.
Hebrews 2:1–18
Warning to Pay Attention
2 We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
Jesus Made Fully Human
5 It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. 6 But there is a place where someone has testified:
“What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
a son of man that you care for him?
7 You made them a little lower than the angels;
you crowned them with glory and honour
8 and put everything under their feet.”
In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. 9 But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. 11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. 12 He says,
“I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;
in the assembly I will sing your praises.”
13 And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again he says,
“Here am I, and the children God has given me.”
14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil — 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Commentary
Freedom from sin and death
The letter of Hebrews is written to warn against drifting away (v.1). Most people do not suddenly give up being Christians, but we can drift. The author of Hebrews includes himself in this warning: ‘We must pay careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?’ (vv.1–3a).
In the first chapter of Hebrews, the writer establishes the divinity of Jesus. In this chapter, he establishes his humanity: ‘he had to enter into every detail of human life’ (v.17, MSG).
Jesus became like us in that he:
- became, for a while, lower than the angels (v.9)
- is of the same family (v.11)
- calls us brothers and sisters (v.11)
- shares in our humanity (v.14)
- was made like us in every way (v.17)
- suffered when he was tempted (v.18).
But, he adds, although Jesus was tempted in every way just as we are, he was ‘without sin’ (4:15). This shows that temptation is not sin. Do not allow the devil to condemn you just because you are tempted. The fact that Jesus himself was tempted means that he is able to help you when you are tempted (v.17).
He was like us but different from us in regard to sin. It is so encouraging to know that Jesus has experienced the full range of human experience and emotion – he understands and sympathises with you. It is also important that he was sinless. We do not just need a friend who can sympathise with us; we need a saviour.
Jesus was both fully divine and fully human. This is what made it possible for him to achieve such a great salvation through his death and resurrection. He is able to bridge the gap between you and God.
In this passage, the writer tells us a number of things about the death of Jesus. On the cross, he:
- tasted death for everyone (2:9)
- destroyed the devil (v.14)
- freed us from the fear of death (v.15)
- made atonement for our sins (v.17)
- pioneered our salvation (v.10)
- was made perfect through suffering (v.10).
A free person is not afraid to think about death. It has been suggested that ultimately all our fears are related to the fear of death. In setting you free from death and the fear of death, Jesus has enabled you to be set free from all your other fears.
The writer of Hebrews says that Jesus tasted ‘death for everyone’ (v.9) so that by ‘embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the devil’s hold on death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death’ (vv.14–15, MSG).
God testified to what Jesus had done – this great salvation – by ‘signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will’ (v.4). If the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for those other than the apostles, surely signs, wonders and miracles are also. We should still expect them today to accompany the preaching of the message of Jesus and his great salvation.
Prayer
Thank you, Jesus, that you were willing to suffer and taste death for me. Thank you for setting me free and making it possible to enjoy freedom from the results of sin and the fear of death.
Obadiah 1–21
Obadiah’s Vision
1 The vision of Obadiah.
This is what the Sovereign LORD says about Edom —
We have heard a message from the LORD:
An envoy was sent to the nations to say,
“Rise, let us go against her for battle” —
2 “See, I will make you small among the nations;
you will be utterly despised.
3 The pride of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rocks
and make your home on the heights,
you who say to yourself,
‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
4 Though you soar like the eagle
and make your nest among the stars,
from there I will bring you down,”
declares the LORD.
5 “If thieves came to you,
if robbers in the night—
oh, what a disaster awaits you!—
would they not steal only as much as they wanted?
If grape pickers came to you,
would they not leave a few grapes?
6 But how Esau will be ransacked,
his hidden treasures pillaged!
7 All your allies will force you to the border;
your friends will deceive and overpower you;
those who eat your bread will set a trap for you,
but you will not detect it.
8 “In that day,” declares the LORD,
“will I not destroy the wise men of Edom,
those of understanding in the mountains of Esau?
9 Your warriors, Teman, will be terrified,
and everyone in Esau’s mountains
will be cut down in the slaughter.
10 Because of the violence against your brother Jacob,
you will be covered with shame;
you will be destroyed forever.
11 On the day you stood aloof
while strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.
12 You should not gloat over your brother
in the day of his misfortune,
nor rejoice over the people of Judah
in the day of their destruction,
nor boast so much
in the day of their trouble.
13 You should not march through the gates of my people
in the day of their disaster,
nor gloat over them in their calamity
in the day of their disaster,
nor seize their wealth
in the day of their disaster.
14 You should not wait at the crossroads
to cut down their fugitives,
nor hand over their survivors
in the day of their trouble.
15 “The day of the LORD is near
for all nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you;
your deeds will return upon your own head.
16 Just as you drank on my holy hill,
so all the nations will drink continually;
they will drink and drink
and be as if they had never been.
17 But on Mount Zion will be deliverance;
it will be holy,
and Jacob will possess his inheritance.
18 Jacob will be a fire
and Joseph a flame;
Esau will be stubble,
and they will set him on fire and destroy him.
There will be no survivors
from Esau.”
The LORD has spoken.
19 People from the Negev will occupy
the mountains of Esau,
and people from the foothills will possess
the land of the Philistines.
They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,
and Benjamin will possess Gilead.
20 This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan
will possess the land as far as Zarephath;
the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
will possess the towns of the Negev.
21 Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion
to govern the mountains of Esau.
And the kingdom will be the LORD’s.
Commentary
Freedom from injustice
We live in a world of terrible injustice. To take one example – it is estimated that there are still over 20 million people in forced labour worldwide. 2 million children are trafficked every year. There are more people in slavery today than in the 350-year history of the transatlantic slave trade.
The book of Obadiah promises that the world will not always be like this. One day, when God’s kingdom comes in its fullness, there will be justice for all.
The name Obadiah means ‘one who serves and worships Yahweh’. In this, the shortest Old Testament book, Obadiah, about whom we know virtually nothing, foretells the downfall of one of the enemies of God’s people.
The people of Edom were descended from Esau, Jacob’s twin. They were always felt to have a real kinship with the people of Israel. However, this often showed itself not so much in mutual assistance as in hostile recriminations and charges of treachery. The two neighbouring peoples – Israel and Edom – had a long history of war and rivalry.
Pride was the downfall of Edom: ‘You thought you were so great... Thinking to yourself, “Nobody can get to me! Nobody can touch me!”’ (vv.2–3, MSG). Pride is the opposite of love. Love is not proud. It does not boast (1 Corinthians 13:4).
Obadiah suggests that when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonian army in 587 BC the Edomites did nothing to help and they may even have taken advantage of Judah’s fate.
He writes, ‘You shouldn’t have gloated over your brother when he was down-and-out’ (Obadiah v.12, MSG). He goes on to say, ‘As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head’ (v.15). We should never gloat when an enemy falls. Rather, we should extend the same compassion as God extends to us.
Obadiah speaks of the great deliverance (vv.17,21) that will take place on the day of the Lord (vv.8,15). He writes, ‘The day of the LORD is near’ (v.15). On that day the great deliverance will take place:
‘The remnant of the saved in Mount Zion
will go into the mountains of Esau
And rule justly and fairly,
a rule that honours God's kingdom’ (v.21, MSG).
One day, God’s people will take on the reins of government and administer God’s justice. They will represent God’s rule in God’s kingdom.
With the coming of Jesus the kingdom of God has broken into history. When Jesus returns, we will see the kingdom of God in all its fullness. On that day, all the prophecies of Obadiah and others will be fulfilled. We will be freed from all injustice.
Prayer
Lord, thank you that, one day, justice will come for all. In the meantime, help us to fight injustice wherever we see it.
Pippa adds
Proverbs 26:20 says, ‘Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.’
We have a choice each time we hear a piece of gossip whether to fuel it or whether to pour water on it and extinguish it.
App
Download The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel app for iOS or Android devices and read along each day.
Subscribe now to receive The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel in your inbox each morning. You’ll get one email each day.
Podcast
Subscribe and listen to The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel delivered to your favourite podcast app every day.
Website
Start reading today’s devotion right here on The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel website.
Read now
Book
The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel Commentary is available as a book.
- Buy from the Alpha Shop
- Buy from CLC Bookshops
References
Charles Allen, Raj a Scrapbook of British India 1877–1947 (Penguin Books, 1979).
Child Trafficking stats: Accessed via, https://www.stopthetraffik.org/about-human-trafficking/the-scale-of-human-trafficking/ [Last accessed October 2018]
https://arkofhopeforchildren.org/child-trafficking/child-trafficking-statistics [Last accessed for research: October 2018]
The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel (commentary formerly known as Bible in One Year) ©Alpha International 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Compilation of daily Bible readings © Hodder & Stoughton Limited 1988. Published by Hodder & Stoughton Limited as the Bible in One Year.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.