Meditations

Referenced Text:

Hebrews 12

  1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,  -kjv

Question from moody radio listener on openline Jan 27, 2018:

The scripture reference is Hebrews 12:1 and my question is when we all die and go to heaven, are we able to look down on our family and friends and  see how they are doing, where it talks about a great cloud of witnesses, are we that great cloud of witnesses?

Answer from Dr Michael Rydelnik:

Well, we have to read that in context. The context tells me no.  When you read Hebrews 12, it says therefore since we all also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us but where is the surrounding us? It’s in Hebrews 11. When we think of witnesses, we think of people watching us but what do a witness do in a court?  He testifies or she testifies. In Hebrews 11, it gives the history of people who testify to the value of faith. And it starts right there in the beginning with Abel, offering to God in verse 4 a better sacrifice and goes all the way through with Noah and Abraham and Sarah and so on and so on and finally it’s almost near the end of the chapter and the writer of Hebrews says, what more can I say time is too short for me to tell of Gideon, Barack , Samson, Jephtah, David, Samuel, Prophets and goes on and even talks about events that happened in the inter-testamental  period between the old and the new. And he says all these were proved through faith and then he says in 12 he makes his application to his audience, therefore since we all have a large crowd, a group of witnesses, that’s all the people in Hebrews 11, who testify of the value of faith, they surround us, then what we have to do is to lay aside incumbrance, every weight that so easily ensnares us and run the race with endurance. The idea there is let’s take the testimony of all those who have lived by faith and say we too will live by faith with endurance. Now, the question then comes what do people who have gone before us to the Lord, can they see what’s going on here? There’s nothing in the bible that says so.  They will be comforted, They will see us again, great reunion, it’s going to be wonderful. But, they are not watching us because when we get to glory, we don’t become like little gods. God is omniscient, so he could see, they are in a whole different dimension and they are with the Lord. Because God is omniscient, he knows what we are doing but they are not God, so they are not omniscient. They can only see what they are in, which is in the presence of the Lord and that’s certainly satisfying to them. And so don’t stress about someone we love not being able to see us, they are completely satisfied.