Strong Meat

Heb. 5:10-14 - Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. 11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. 12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

An introduction to the passage before us:

1. Heb. 1 speaks about the majesty of Jesus Christ as the son of God, better than the angels, whom the angels worship. Christ has an eternal throne, a sceptre of righteousness, with which He has laid the foundations of the world, which will perish, but Christ and His eternal habitation will never perish.

2. Heb. 2 speaks about how we ought to pay attention to the majesty of Christ (through God) because we will face the eternal judgment of God if we fail to heed His message. It is a glorious thing to behold the lowly condition of fallen man, and to see Christ coming to the earth in the form of sinful mankind, partaking of his flesh and blood dying for unworthy sinners to deliver them from death. The sacrifice of Christ was not for the angels. Christ “bypassed” them and died for mankind, who were lower than the angels.

3. Heb. 3 speaks as if the readers had believed in Christ and received eternal salvation. The message is one of not taking the salvation they have received in Christ for granted, but realizing that, because they now believe and have eternal life, they should not harden their hearts against God and His rightful place in their lives. If a believer hardens their heart, they have the example of the “fathers”, who also hardened their hearts and died in the forty years wilderness wanderings.

4. Heb. 4 continues the message of chapter 3, explaining that the people of God have entered into rest, unless they harden their hearts and fail to trust the graces of God for everyday living. We must labor to enter into the rest of God because it is normal and natural for every saved person to continue trusting their own minds. Why do we have this rest? Because of Christ. The believer must learn to trust God for all his everyday needs. The believer must understand that their redeemer understands what they are going through and what they need in this life. The believer must understand they can boldly come before the throne of God, confessing their continued wretchedness, and asking for grace and mercy in this present life.

5. Heb. 5 continues the thought about how Christ is greater than any priest who is after the law of Moses. Christ is greater because He didn’t have to offer a sacrifice for Himself, as the Levitical priesthood had to do. Another difference between “Aaron” and Christ is the sacrifice Christ offered only had to be offered one time, while “Aaron’s” sacrifices had to be offered over and over again. Christ is of a greater priesthood - after the order of Melchisedec, which the people don’t understand because they haven’t continued in the faith of Jesus Christ as they should have.

6. Verse 14 of our text fits in exactly with the II Peter 1:3, 4. Living by the promises of God enables us to be partakers of the divine nature. This heavenly nature has senses, (just like the natural body has senses) which when exercised, enables the believer to discern both good and evil.

7. Chapter 6.

8. Paul declares this people uses the milk of the word, and cannot handle meat. Milk is described in chapter 6, verse 1,2 as being some of the elementary doctrines of the Word of God, which are; the fundamental doctrines of salvation, faith toward God (both for salvation and for daily living), baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

9. I do not believe this strong meat is the doctrine of the Sovereign grace of God in salvation, which some men call the five points of Calvinism. I do not believe this strong meat is any doctrine, but rather a way of living so as to proclaim Christ and to recognize Christ in our everyday lives. It is a way of seeing God working in the circumstances of our lives, like in the Sermon on the mount. It is recognizing the men of God as men of God and understanding their position in the everlasting scheme of God’s providence, and understanding how we fit in with them in the eternal plan of God, as Abraham gave tithes to Melchisedec. Some men count what they believe about Supra-lapsarism or Sub-lapsarism to be the meat of the Word. I think that sort of thing is foolishness, and endless genealogies.

10. In Heb. 6:3-6, Paul states that because it is impossible for these “babes in Christ” to lose their salvation (to choke to death on the strong meat of the Word of God), he is going to give them a taste of what they are missing, to whet their appetite for better things.

11. In Heb. 6:7,8, Paul understands there are some superficial believers who will “choke to death” on the Word of God, but in verse 9, Paul expects better things of them, because He believes them to be true believers: their works showing this fact.

12. For an example of superficial believers who will choke to death on the Word of God, see Matthew 23:23 - Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

13. It is at this point (verse 12) that he first speaks about the promises of God as a subject. Paul alludes to the promises of God and how they are connected to resting in the Lord in Heb. 4:1, but leaves that thought to lay more foundation before he proceeds. The promises of God are directly related to who Christ is, that He is greater than the law, greater than Aaron, or any of the Levitical priesthood.

14. So here is the dividing line with superficial believers (who are really lost people) and true believers who are babes in Christ on one side of the line and grown up children of God, who are resting in Christ (on the promises of God, which are given because of Christ) on the other side of the line.

15. The point here is that superficial believers and babes in Christ appear to be the same on the outside, as they live their lives in these earthly bodies. It is grown up children of God who appear in these earthly bodies to be true believers.

A full reading and understanding of Hebrews 6 goes a long way to explaining what strong meat is.

Heb. 5:3 - Paul is going to go ahead with his discussion.

Heb. 6:4-6 - Paul is not worried about their being lost because they don’t understand what he has to say. He is not worried about losing them because they don’t understand what he has to say. He is not worried about their ceasing to be active in church worship services because of what he has to say. He knows he is going to give them more than they can understand because it is new to them. It should not be new, but because they haven’t devoted themselves to Bible study like they should, they won’t understand. A physical example: Paul is going to give a baby meat to chew on. He knows they won’t be able to chew it up, but it will give them something to gnaw on that is adult food. They will get some of the juices from what he has to say, but they will get very little of the adult nourishment, because they are just babies.

Heb. 6:7,8 - Paul declares there are a lot of different kinds of food in this world, and the natural man rejects the bad and receives the good. Paul knows this same thing about these babies in Christ. There are a lot of different kinds of spiritual food in this world, and the spiritual man rejects the bad and receives the good.

The practical application of strong meat.

Heb. 5:13 - People who do not believe what God said look at circumstances.

Numbers 16:34 - verse 23-27 - Separating Korah from all Israel. Israel believed they would also die, even though God said they wouldn’t.

Ex. 19:21-25 - The people would pass God’s boundaries and go up Mount Sinai.