Always Give Him Pleasure (Hebrews 10:38)

Hebrews 10:38 says, "Now the just shall live by faith; but if (any man) draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."

Over 95% of all quotations from the OT, in the NT, are taken from the LXX (Septuagint) and not the Hebrew text, but the Hebrew text of the OT gives color and understanding to the use of the Greek words, in both the OT and NT.

PLEASURE- All Believers want God to find "pleasure" with them, or to be pleased with them, as any child would desire their parent to show their approval towards them.

This word "pleasure", in the Latin Vulgate translation, is translated 10 different ways in it's 15 different occurrences in the epistles, and 5 different ways in it's 6 occurrences in the gospels, 3 of which are totally different from it's renderings in the epistles. In other words, out of 21 uses, the Latin Vulgate translates the Greek word  13 different ways! 

Legal Consent 

In historical Greek, the word is used in a legal setting, which has the meaning of giving "legal consent" to a person or action. This translates into our understanding, as giving "approval" to someone to carry out some action. This approval of the action, by association, means approval of the person or persons performing the action.

Being Pleased

The secondary idea, from this legal context, is that of "being pleased with" or "taking delight in" someone, who performs the action which you approved of, or gave your legal consent to.

To further understand the Greek usage of the word, it is helpful to understand the meaning of the OT Hebrew word, that the Greek OT used to translate from.

Debt

The Hebrew meaning of the word is rooted in the concept of sacrifice. It has as it's basic meaning, the idea of the payment of a debt. In relation to sacrifice, this has to do with the payment of the "debt" of sin; of not measuring up to the necessary standards of acceptability before God.

Accepted 

Once the debt, through sacrifice, has been paid, the secondary, but more significant meaning, is "to be favorably received", or accepted. In this understanding, comes the meaning, or translation, of "being pleased with" or finding "pleasure" in someone.

In the context of Hebrews 10:38, the "sacrifice", if any, that we make towards God, our Father, is simply believing- having faith - that the promises He has made to us, He will in fact perform. We don't have to try to do something in the flesh, to try to gain His favor, He is already favorably disposed towards us.

All that is required of us, [understanding the root meaning of faith], is to see Him as our heavenly Father, that securely carries us in His strong arms, having already provided everything for us that we will ever need, and from this relationship, we believe what He has said concerning us and accept it as the truth that will always come to fulfillment in our lives.

We give Him pleasure by believing what He says is true. This acceptance that we have before Him has everything to do with how we see God, our Father, because that determines how we think He sees us. If we have a distorted view of  our Father, we will perceive His actions towards us with the same flawed perspective. He accepts us, based on the relationship that we have with Him as our Father, through His Son, Jesus Christ.  We always give Him pleasure, when we believe in who He is.

You are God's Best and God's Best is Yours.