This is one of the hardest passages in Scripture to interpret and it has caused many a conscience to shake in fear they have passed the point of no repentance, i.e. John Bunyan (read Grace Abounding). One thing I noticed recently while reading through this chapter was the verse that followed this very serious warning to Christians (that’s who the book was written to, right?). Verse 7-8 state “For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.” The idea here I think is not one of someone who committed a very bad sin that may be unforgivable, or even one of someone who slipped into a temporary season of sinning (even on purpose!). Notice that the author points out that the people that he is talking about received the rain “often” most likely over a period of time. But even after all the rain and cultivating and care by the sower, the ground still yields nothing but thorns and thistles, and is worthless.
The rain here signifies the blessings received from hearing and being taught the gospel: “…have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come.” Instead of softening the ground (the heart of the hearers) the rain and seed were met with hard ground and thorns. This should point us back to Jesus’ parable of the soils where the seed that fell amongst the thorns was choked out by the cares of this world and fell away from their belief in the good news, which is exactly what the author of Hebrews is talking about here.
We should take much care when we sit under the gospel to receive it with meekness and thankfulness so that the ground of our hearts would be softened with the exhortations and warnings of Scripture.
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