Hebrews 5:11, 12 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing you are dull of hearing.… We have here - I. A LARGE TOPIC. Much had to be said in the times of old concerning the scope of the priesthood. Many instructions had to be given as to various offerings and various seasons. And. not one of them was without some reference to the higher and abiding priesthood of Jesus. As the writer of the Epistle thought of all the tabernacle furniture of the holy of holies - ark, mercy-seat, lamps, table of shewbread, altar of burnt offering, priestly garments, ephod, breastplate, Urim and Thummim - and. considered how all these things shadowed forth some office, some relation, of Jesus, what wonder that he should try to stir up the languid intellect of his readers by announcing how much had to be said! Multum in parvo, it is true, but still multum. And we have to rejoice that as much has to be said, so in the New Testament much is said. No time is spent over useless knowledge and. speculation, things conjectural, things to please; everything is bent to setting forth the large needs of man and the comprehensive fullness of Christ. II. A SPECIAL DIFFICULTY IN DEALING WITH THE TOPIC. Those who are addressed will not give proper attention. We are reminded of the words of Jesus, "He that hath ears... let him hear." Progress in the apprehension of Christian truth, true progress in theology, depends on our own disposition. Great attainments in human sciences are not for all, or even for many. They demand a certain degree of intellectual power, a certain amount of leisure, and perhaps other facilities; so that it is quite certain all men cannot be learned any more than all can be rich. But God has made progress in Christian truth to depend on the state of the heart. He has ordered things so that those who are babes in this world's knowledge may be as giants in the knowledge of God in Christ Jesus. Spiritual things are spiritually discerned; and if God has given his Holy Spirit that we may be led into all the truth, and if nevertheless we stumble among misapprehensions, then assuredly we are to blame, and especially will blame fall upon us when the element of time is brought into consideration. Here were people who had had gospel truth a long time before them, and yet knew little more than the alphabet. Still learners when they ought to be teachers? What worse reproach could there be - seeing how much spiritual ignorance there is in the world, and how much error, and how many there are busy in misleading men? Nor must we omit to notice how this gentle yet searching rebuke of the writer here shows his own advanced attainments. He is writing of things which he well understands, and knows what he means. His topics are not mere trifles. They are very practical, and point forward into the developments and occupations of the future. - Y. Parallel Verses KJV: Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.WEB: About him we have many words to say, and hard to interpret, seeing you have become dull of hearing. |
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