Having made his point about Esau’s forfeiture of the spiritual blessing in the last paragraph, the writer again warns his audience by contrast against forfeiting the grace of Christ’s new covenant for the now defunct one.

God’s trains believers for a purpose. To strengthen us, helping us to pursue holiness and clear the way for spiritual health. To keep us on the lookout so that none of us fall short of grace, as Esau missed out.

The corrections of the Lord for His people can be through analysis, instruction, conviction or discipline. These facts belong to God’s children. We must not leave the training in our faith if we are to grow in the faith.

Having written a brief review of faithful believers, the writer now connects the lives they lived by faith with our own Christian living by faith. He points to the Superiority of Christ, to Whom we look, His triumph for us.

The record of deliverance by faith continues, then, abruptly, those who were not delivered in this life but endured by faith are marched before us; nameless on paper but not in heaven — before and after Messiah.