But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of affliction. Hebrews 10:32
Time for a little Greek lesson; we are going to look at the word ‘illuminated’ that appears in our text. This is translated from the Greek word ‘photisthentes’. If the first part of this word looks a little familiar, you are right. It comes from the same Greek form where we get the word ‘photograph’. Photisthentes means having been enlightened. It is in the past tense, meaning it is something that happened in the past. Just like a photograph provides a permanent, lighted image of something in the past, so the enlightenment being referred to in our text tells of something that has happened in our past, something that has an enduring effect on us today. We remember, don’t we, when we were in the darkness of our sins, and when the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God shone onto us (2 Corinthians 4:4) and we were saved. That was our illumination, our photisthentes. Our text is telling us to look back to those days and appreciate the remembrance of them. But it is also telling us to remember the struggles that came afterward.
We all love a good testimony meeting, don’t we? It’s good to hear how others were brought to repentance and faith in Christ. And it does our souls good to tell others, as we look back and remember how God’s goodness to us brought us to Himself. A testimony is always a good Gospel message, as sinners are told not only of a concept from the Bible but also of how lives were changed and God’s salvation took on a personal meaning. Our recall of those former days is described in Ephesians 5:8: ‘But ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of light’. Our recall of the time of our salvation not only warms our souls but it also encourages us to godly living and faithful service to our Lord.
The great fight of affliction that is referred to in our text is also something to remember. This book of Hebrews was written specifically to Jewish believers, those who were once participants in the Jewish religion but who responded to the Gospel and became Christians. For those folks, their illumination led to an affliction that most Gentiles know nothing about. They endured rejection by their families, threats on their lives, and the loss of everything that was related to their former lives. We admire them for enduring that great fight of affliction. But for us as well, there was a fight of affliction, as we discovered the need as new believers to cast aside those things of the former life that would impede our Christian testimony. Some of us lost relatives, friends, and various associations because of our faith. We were no longer welcomed at some of our favourite places, and some new Christians found themselves no longer able to work at employment that would compromise their testimony. We all had to go through some of those changes, although for those of us brought up in Christian homes, the changes were not as dramatic. But if we call to remembrance those days, it will help prevent us from allowing those things that we escaped from to come back into our lives and spoil our testimony.
As Christians, we have much to look forward to. But it also does us good to look back at the photograph of what God has already done for us. – Jim MacIntosh