Hebrews 12:4-13:25

What’s Happening?

The previous chapter of Hebrews celebrated Israel’s lineage of faithful sufferers who looked beyond temporary pain and into a lasting inheritance. These people bore scars of endurance as proof that they belonged to God's family (Hebrews 11:35-38). Now, in the letter’s final chapters the author encourages his persecuted audience with a deeper truth: suffering doesn’t just mark them as part of God’s family—it transforms them into his holy children, ready to inherit his unshakable kingdom.

The author tells his readers to endure hardship as discipline, because it is their heavenly Father’s act of love (Hebrews 12:7). A father’s correction prepared his child for maturity and responsibility. In the same way, God’s discipline is not punishment for wrongdoing but training for holiness (Hebrews 12:8-10). The road of suffering is painful and difficult, but the destination is worth it. Through endurance we become God’s child who shares his holiness and inheritance (Hebrews 12:11-14).

The author then shares the story of Esau from Genesis as a sobering warning. When Esau was hungry he traded his birthright—his rightful inheritance as the firstborn—for a bowl of stew (Hebrews 12:15-17). He would not even endure through a little hunger to receive his massive inheritance. The author of Hebrews uses Esau’s story to plead: don't sacrifice eternal joy for temporary relief. A holy inheritance awaits those who endure suffering and discipline. 

This holy inheritance is life in God’s presence. But this life in God’s presence is better than anything the author’s Jewish audience had experienced before. To prove this he brings in the story of God’s presence descending on Mount Sinai in Exodus. There, Israel was brought to a fearful mountain that shattered with the voice of God. There, God’s people shook with terror in his presence (Hebrews 12:18-21). But this is not the holy inheritance of God’s presence for those who endure in following Jesus. Our inheritance is a place of joyful worship. It is not Mount Sinai, but Mount Zion. This is the heavenly city which is full of angels and holy people praising Jesus and enjoying his glory (Hebrews 12:22-23). It is an unshakable kingdom, unlike the temporary joys of this world, destined to crumble. Most of all, our holy inheritance is God himself. He will be the reward for our endurance (Hebrews 13:5).

The call is clear. Don’t give up your holy inheritance for a bowl of soup. Instead, persevere in strength and keep running toward the eternal city as all your ancestors in the faith have done before (Hebrews 12:12-13). Suffering and hardship are not obstacles to our holy inheritance but are God’s way of making us like him and preparing us to reach our holy inheritance.

Where is the Gospel?

Jesus is the proof that enduring suffering leads to glory and an eternal inheritance. Unlike Esau, Jesus refused to trade God’s promise for temporary pleasures. Instead, he accepted his Father’s discipline and plan for his life. He endured the cross. Yet now, Jesus sits at the right hand of God, having inherited all things (Hebrews 12:2-3). His suffering was not meaningless; it paved the way for his exaltation. In the same way, our suffering is not wasted. It is God’s loving discipline, preparing us to share in our inheritance of holiness and joy.

In our pursuit of this holiness the writer of Hebrews tells us to go to Jesus “outside the camp.” This is where Jesus suffered—outside the city walls, rejected by men but accepted by God (Hebrews 13:13). It is there, in our suffering, that we meet Jesus in his suffering. For it is not only the discipline of our Father that prepares us for our inheritance, but mainly it is the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from our sins and prepares us to enter our inheritance with him. Moreover, when we see Jesus suffering outside the city walls, we know that we are not alone in our suffering. We can be content, knowing that we have what we most need and want, God’s presence with us (Hebrews 13:5,6).

Remarkably, this is a privilege the high priests in the Old Testament could never access. They served in the Holy of Holies, the epicenter of God’s presence on earth. Yet, in Jesus we are offered a more intimate experience of his presence. The priests may have been allowed to offer sacrifices and eat from them in the places of the temple (Hebrews 13:10-11). But now, through Jesus, we go to an even more holy place—the place of his sacrifice which we get to eat from. We experience a communion with Jesus that the priests never knew. In our own suffering we get to join Jesus outside the city walls and be with him, enduring for our inheritance. Jesus is not distant in our trials. He is with us in them, shaping us into his holy likeness and guaranteeing our inheritance.

As the author of Hebrews says, God is shaking the heavens and the earth to expose what is temporary and leave what is eternal. The world will crumble, but our inheritance is secure (Hebrews 13:14). Jesus endured the ultimate shaking—death on the cross—to establish an unshakable kingdom (Hebrews 13:20-21). And now, he invites us into a life where suffering leads to holiness and prepares us to dwell with God forever.

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who lovingly disciplines his children. And may you see Jesus as the one who endured suffering to secure your holiness and inheritance.