A Letter That Can Help Us to Endure

 "We hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at the beginning." - HEBREWS 3:14.

Hebrew Christians living in Jerusalem and Judea went through hard times in the years following Jesus' death. Soon after the Christian congregation was formed, intense persecution arose against it. (Acts 8:1) The some 20 years later, Christ's followers faced serious economic hardships, possibly caused by a famine that had previously afflicted the land. (Acts 11:27-30) However, about 61 C.E., Christians were experiencing a time of relative peace compared with what was to come. During that period, they received an inspired letter from the apostle Paul-a letter that would prove very timely. 

The letter to the Hebrews was timely because the peace that the Christians were experiencing would not last. Paul provided practical counsel that would help those Christians to endure the tribulation that they would soon face. The destruction of the Jewish system of things, which Jesus had foretold, was approaching. (Luke 21:20) Of course, neither Paul nor the Christians in Judea knew exactly when that destruction would occur. Nevertheless, those Christians could use that the time remaining to prepare themselves by building up such qualities as faith and endurance. - HEBREWS 10:25; 12:1, 2. 

We are about to face a tribulation far greater than the one experienced by the Hebrew Christians. (Matthew 24: 21; Revelation 16:14, 16) So let us consider some of the practical counsel that Jehovah provided for those Christians that can benefit us too. 

Next time: "PRESS ON TO MATURITY" 

From the jw.org publications