Not Exactly

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you,”  Hebrews 13:5  NASB

Desert/ Abandon – The author of the letter to the Hebrews does what so many ancient writers of sacred texts tended to do, i.e., use the Tanakh for their own agendas without regard to what we call “proper citation.”  In other words, this verse seems to suggest that God said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you,” but, in fact, this is a mixture of Deuteronomy 31:6 and Joshua 1:5, smashed together in order to support the claim.  Let’s look.

Deuteronomy 31:6  NASB

Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or in dread of them, for the Lord your God is the One who is going with you. He will not desert you or abandon you.” 

Joshua 1:5  NASB

No one will be able to oppose you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not desert you nor abandon you. 

You will notice that the passage from Deuteronomy is not God speaking.  It’s Moses.  Moses is the one telling the people that God (He) will not desert or abandon them.  But the author of Hebrews puts these words in God’s mouth.

Now look at Joshua 1:5.  Here God is speaking, but He’s not speaking to the people.  He’s speaking particularly to Joshua.  His promise of faithfulness is directed only to Joshua, but the author of Hebrews uses this first-person declaration as if it applies to everyone.

It should be obvious.  There is no Scripture that specifically states, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you” that includes all the faithful.  Either we have Moses’ words or we have Joshua’s promise.

Does that mean the author of Hebrews was wrong?  No.  It means that authors of ancient texts felt no compunction about massaging the words to fit their agendas.  For them, the biblical texts were malleable.  They could be reshaped as needed—and no one objected.  Today we live in a scriptural straitjacket.  We aren’t free to mold the text to fit our needs.  We’ve purchased scriptural certainty at a great price—creativity.  Our texts are historical, not experiential.  We have a lot of “old” letters and “old” stories, so we have to rely on creative sermons to provide the contemporary faith we desire, and most of the time, those sermons are laced with heavy-metal doctrines, eventually toxic to the soul.  What do you suppose would happen to faith if we adopted the imaginative exegesis of the original authors?  Do you think God would be mad at us for quoting Him incorrectly, or would He smile and say, “You know, I’m glad you thought of it that way”?

Topical Index: citation, certainty, imaginative exegesis, desert, abandon, Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5