Hebrews 13:4-6: Be Content with Such Things As Ye Have
2024-02-24
This next section deals with being content with your life and not being covetous.
Hebrews 13:4
Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. (Hebrews 13:4)
In our time, you cannot review what the definition of marriage is enough, since so many out there want to change it for their own purposes. Consider what the Bible says about marriage here.
The word for “honourable” is also translated as “dear” and “precious.” It is to be held sacred. Our own marriages must be protected and cultivated. We also need to respect other people’s marriages. “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD” (Proverbs 18:22). “House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD” (Proverbs 19:14).
We must be content with whom God gave us. “Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth” (Proverbs 5:18).
Everything in the world system is trying to ruin your marriage. “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:16). Protect it.
Perhaps “the bed undefiled” refers to sexual purity in marriage, keeping away from all the forms of adultery and sexual immorality. We should shun anything that might lead us away from our wives. Our marriages must be pure because they reflect the ultimate pure marriage, Christ and the Church.
It is obvious what an adulterer is. A “whoremonger” might not be so obvious, and it sounds like a really terrible term, and it is. Elsewhere, the word for “whoremonger” is translated “fornicator.” Here we see that sexual immorality, be it between married or unmarried people, is an abomination to the Lord. It is in stark contrast to an undefiled marriage.
“...whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.” It should not seem strange that God punishes the sin of violating a marriage covenant. How many people are damaged because of such betrayal? It is the spouse, it is any children there are, there are children born out of wedlock that may grow up without two parents. Sexual immorality is to show contempt for many people and is only self-centered.
Hebrews 13:5
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Hebrews 13:5)
Your “conversation” is not limited to speech when you see the word in the Bible. It is your entire way of life. “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27). Here, we see that the brothers’ conversation should be appropriate for a Christian, namely, their daily affairs, their unity as a church, and their faith.
In the case of the Hebrews, their way of life, comprehensive in every respect, should be completely free of covetousness. Whatever we have at the moment is what we should be content with, not desiring something else out there that God has not given us.
See the discussion on being content here.
“...for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
What does this have to do with being content and not being covetous? When we are covetous, we are saying that Christ is not sufficient. If He is not sufficient, there is something else out there somewhere that we must acquire. Recall the Scripture, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). This is why covetousness is idolatry. God gives us what we have, and then we say, well, that’s not enough.
The reference for this is Deuteronomy 31:6. Consider the context in Deuteronomy 31:1-6. Moses was old and God specifically had said that he would not go into Canaan (cf. Numbers 20:12). However, the LORD would go before them and destroy the nations of Canaan so they could dwell in the land. God gave them a foretaste of this on the east side of the Jordan with the defeat of Sihon and Og, which were miraculous defeats from the Lord. God showed Himself faithful in the past and will continue to do so in the future. In addition, Joshua would succeed Moses as a leader. Therefore, they could have courage because God would accomplish what they needed. “...he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
Moses’ statements were necessary because the people already had difficulty trusting the Lord. If Moses their chief would die, what would they do then? This reassurance shows that the LORD’s faithfulness does not change. Without Moses, God would bring them in to Canaan and fulfill His promises.
Now what about these first century Hebrews or for us today? If God did not fail to deliver on His promises through fallible mediators such as Moses and Joshua, how much more through the mediator who is the perfect Son of God? Jesus did not remain on this earth, but unlike Moses, Jesus remains our intercessor in heaven and left His Spirit behind within us. This is just as He promised, “lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:20). This is how He remains always Immanuel, God With Us.
Why else is this included here? This passage is about covetousness. But what is one reason (among many) that people are covetousness? People want to increase money and things because it is insurance against hard times in this life. I get this false sense of security that if I store enough money away, I can make it through anything. We think that God cannot provide for us, so we must do it ourselves.
The Lord tells us that we do not have to worry about stashing away enough goods to get through the hard times. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:33-34).
This does not mean we should neglect saving and being financially responsible. What this means is that we do not make an idol out of security and growing financially.
Hebrews 13:6
So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. (Hebrews 13:6)
The quotation here is from Psalm 118:6. Consider the discussion here.
Notice here that we can “boldly say” that the Lord is our helper. Notice that when we called upon the Lord, He set us in the largest place, the Lord Jesus Christ. “I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place” (Psalm 118:5). Throughout the entire epistle, we have seen that we should never stop having confidence in the Lord. Jesus is exalted far above every angel and principality and power. He is superior to the Old Covenant, Moses, Joshua, the tabernacle, and so forth, as we have seen. We must maintain bold confidence in Christ until the end.