Of all the wonderful promises given to us by our Savior, perhaps the most profound is, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” These words give us comfort and hope during challenging times, but have you ever examined the context of when this verse is given to us?

This promise is in the final chapter of Hebrews, most likely written by the apostle Paul. Hebrews 13:5 says: “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’”

The gospel writers do not record Jesus Christ saying those exact words, but similar promises are recorded, such as, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). The words in Hebrews 13:5 apparently are quoted from the Lord’s promise to Joshua after the death of Moses. “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you” (Joshua 1:5, emphasis added).

The Rock of Israel, the YHWH of the Old Testament, the one who became Jesus Christ, spoke these words to Joshua (2 Samuel 23:3, 1 Corinthians 10:4). But now they are given to us.

In order to understand and apply this profound promise, the background and setting of Hebrews is vital. While no exact date can be certain, the internal evidence of Hebrews is that it was a message to the Church in Jerusalem and Judea right before the city’s destruction by the Romans in A.D. 70. Due to the detailed analysis of the role of the High Priest and the Day of Atonement in Hebrews, I would conclude that it likely was read as a sermon or special message on the Day of Atonement in Jerusalem in the late A.D. 60s.

The Roman Siege of Jerusalem

In A.D. 66 the Jews of Judea rebelled against their Roman masters. In response, the Emperor Nero dispatched an army under the generalship of Vespasian to restore order. By the year 68, resistance in the northern part of the province had been eradicated, and the Romans turned their full attention to the subjugation of Jerusalem. Just when it looked like Jerusalem would fall, Emperor Nero died by his own hand in the spring of 68, creating a power vacuum in Rome. Nero left no heir, and there were four men who wanted to be Caesar. After 10 months of battles and chaos, Vespasian was declared emperor and returned to the Imperial City with much of his army. The siege of Jerusalem was lifted, and the Jews celebrated, claiming that God had delivered them from the Romans and given them victory.

Their celebration was short lived. Less than a year later the new Emperor sent his son, Titus, in command of five Roman armies that besieged Jerusalem and eventually destroyed the city and temple in the summer of A.D. 70.

According to the fourth century church historian Eusebius, during the temporary lifting of the Roman siege the Church at Jerusalem was warned to flee for their safety. “The people belonging to the church at Jerusalem had been ordered by an oracle revealed to approved men on the spot before the war broke out, to leave the city and dwell in a town of Peraea called Pella” (Eusebius History iii:5). The destruction of the city, Eusebius says, came only after the Jerusalem Christians had made their escape. Hebrews 13:13-14 is recognized by some scholars as an admonition for the Church to flee Jerusalem: “Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.”

In fact, one plausible summary of the book of Hebrews is “Jerusalem and the temple will be destroyed, but it will have no effect on Christians because we have a heavenly temple, spiritual High Priest, and look for a future city.” It was time to leave the beautiful physical temple and city that had been the focus of Jewish religion for 1,000 years and Christianity for 37 years.

So in this time of war, people fleeing their homes, destruction, and uncertainty, the writer of Hebrews gives Christians a list of important things to do so that they can continue in God’s grace and serve Him. Although we are being besieged by the forces of Satan instead of the forces of Rome, the list is profound for the times in which we live.

The specific purpose statement or summary statement of the message is given in Hebrew 12:27-28: “Now this, ‘Yet one more,’ indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”

Then chapter 13 continues with the writer’s list of important things not to forget during this time of upheaval. The list includes:

• Entertaining strangers—refugees and those in need would be frequent
• Remembering Christians in jail for their beliefs
• Keep your marriage honorable—avoid adultery
• Don’t be covetous of physical possessions—live by faith that God will provide
• Remember the ministry that Jesus Christ established and has provided for the direction and teaching of the Church. We are admonished to follow their example. This is the only admonition that is repeated, and it is repeated twice. Verse 17 adds: “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.”
• Reject different and strange doctrines
• Give thanks to God continually
• Do good and forget not to fellowship (referring back to 10:25, “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together”)
• Pray for the ministry
• Embrace—warmly receive—the ministers who guide the Church (verse 24).

This is how the writer concludes this incredible treatise of truth written to a Church that is on the precipice of experiencing chaos and upheaval.

In victory, the Romans slaughtered thousands. Of those spared from death, thousands more were enslaved and sent to toil in the mines of Egypt. Others were dispersed to arenas throughout the Empire to be butchered for the amusement of the public. The temple’s sacred relics and gold were taken to Rome where they were displayed in celebration of the victory, and that vast wealth was used to build the Colosseum where Christians were later slaughtered and fed to wild beasts.

The Judean Church, though, was for the time safe in Pella. Those who followed as the writer of Hebrews admonished were spared and able to continue teaching and spreading the gospel.

Today many would observe that we are on the precipice of upheaval and perhaps wars. We are not living in a city surrounded by hostile armies quite yet, but the signs of impending disasters are rampant.

The world’s economy is based on paper money and mountains of debt that could fall in an instant. The modern nations descended from Israel are rapidly losing the blessings of Abraham as a result of national sins. The fulfillment of the curses in Leviticus 26:14-38 are starting to come to pass.

During this time prior to the great tribulation and eventual return of Jesus Christ many are asleep (Matthew 25:1-5). Hebrews warns us to awaken out of sleep.

“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:11-12).

Remember that Jesus Christ promised never to leave us or forsake us, but that promise carries with it our responsibility to continue in the faith and obey and serve Him from the heart.

Let me suggest that all of us need to examine our lives in comparison to Hebrews 13. We each need to ask how we are doing in obeying this list of vital things to do as the day of Christ approaches.