Useful Bible Studies > Hebrews Commentary > chapter 13
People like to live in cities because cities seem so strong, wealthy and permanent. A city seems to offer everything that people need. And there are many opportunities to become rich there.
But these ideas are not the reality. The safety that a city seems to offer is not real. Enemies have destroyed completely every city that has existed in the past. In fact, that has happened many times to most ancient cities. We should not imagine that modern cities will really last.
The wealth is not real, too. Most people in any city are poor. Even the richest people can lose their wealth in a moment. Whole cities become poor when businesses fail. Even our systems of money can fail (Hebrews 12:26-27).
If our cities are weak, then our lives are even weaker. God only allows us to live for a short time (Psalm 90:10). We do not know how soon we shall die (Luke 12:16-20). We cannot establish a permanent home anywhere, because we ourselves will not be on this earth permanently.
The Bible teaches that God is establishing a city (Hebrews 11:16; Hebrews 12:22-23; Revelation chapters 21 and 22). That city really will be permanent, because it is God’s work. And he will give it real wealth, and real security.
The citizens of that city will be the people that God has saved. They are the people who have faith (active belief and trust in God) – Hebrews chapter 11. By their deeds, they are not good enough to deserve a home in that city. But Christ, God’s Son, died so that God could forgive them. So they have confessed their evil deeds to God, and they have invited him into their lives. And God has promised that they will always live with him (John 3:16; John 14:1-3; Revelation 22:1-5).
Next part: How Christians worship God (Hebrews 13:15)
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© 2014, Keith Simons.