Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
What would be the reasons to give up meeting? And a sub question, How can we motivate others for Sunday worship for denominations which have Sunday worship?
Why did the author make this statement? By reading before and after this verse, we can get an idea of his mindset when he wrote it.
The beginning of the chapter tells us that the worshipers in the OT had to keep sacrificing animals every year, having no consciousness that their sins were forgiven. But we may come to church with the sense that the blood cleanses us from all sins. Perhaps some were staying away because they felt too sinful to come.
v14 tells us that we have been perfected forever, especially those who are being sanctified, who have set themselves apart for Christ's purposes. Perhaps some are staying away from church because they are filled with their own purposes. By participating in church activities, we'll find Christ's church-building purposes fulfilled through us.
in v26-ff, we find that we can be deceived by sin and stay away from church, and forget that we were cleansed from sin, and therefore set ourselves up for an awful judgment. The church is a place to hear the preaching of the Word, which can point out our sins and keep us repenting of sins. Perhaps some Hebrews could have been recovered from their sin if they had continued.
These are several situations the author may have had in mind when he wrote the passage; he encouraged the Hebrews to continue attending and strengthening other believers while there.
Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV)
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Background: The author of this book is unknown. Some proposed authors are Apostle Paul, Clement of Rome, Barnabas etc. Since the book focuses more on the tabernacle, it might have been written before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. The intended audience is possibly the Jewish Christians because gentile audience may not understand the tabernacle system. It was the time when Christianity was spreading like fire. The Jewish Christians were still finding difficulty to adjust themselves with the new faith.
Explanation: This verse contains many important elements. Let's dissect them and see what they mean.
Spurring one another: The writer wants to encourage the new believers in Christ to maintain the love relationship among themselves and to keep on doing good works, helping others in need.
Not giving up meeting together: This does not explicitly mean the Sunday worship. Sunday, of course was the day when they used to meet each other, not on Sabbath (see Acts 20:7 ). This simply means to meet each other whenever possible in order to increase the love relationship and helping each other. Without meeting together, how could they know the needs of their fellow Christians? The writer also pointed out that some of the brethren were getting lazy to meet the other Christians. It was the concern of the writer to encourage them again in this matter.
Encouraging one another: Christians need to encourage each other always through spiritual guidance and prayers. Without encouragements, it is difficult to grow in Christ individually. The writer was really concerned about this, it seems.
The Day approaching: We don't know what this Day meant. There are two possibilities.
Another possibility I have always considered is that the assembling together could have referred to the Feasts found in Levitucus 23, which were actually the only assemblies that were commanded and required of ancient Israel.
Sunday worship was totally foreign and since the Biblical day begins at sundown, the Acts 20:7 reference, could even refer to early believers meeting Saturday evenings after normal traditional Jewish sabbath services had concluded.
My understanding of this verse was that it was a warning for the church not to forget or divorce itself from its (Romans 11) Jewish roots by forgetting the Leviticus 23 meetings, sabbath and feasts, which were the appointed times according to the bible- which sadly, the church clearly did not heed this warning in Hebrews.
There are individuals who reasoned out that they can worship God in the privacy of their homes of which basing on Hebrew 10:25 is discouraging us. Attending church services is one way of fellowshipping with fellow believers thus strengthening our faiths. It’s also a way of discovering the needs of fellow members and you can extend your help.
