Introduction To The Book Of Hebrews

This is an expanded outline of material covered in our first class.

INTRODUCTION

A.  Who wrote this letter?

     1.  During the first two centuries church fathers strongly leaned to Paul as the author.

     2.  Others names as possible authors, Barnabas, Apollos, Luke, Silas, Aquila and Priscilla, and Philip.

     3.  Deut. 29:29a “The secret things belong to the Lord…

B.   When was it written?

     1.  AD 65 to 66

     2.  Reasoning

                .  Clement of Rome used Hebrews…so prior to A.D. 95

                .  The Temple and Temple sacrifices were still in place (Temple destroyed in A.D. 70)

                .  They had apparently suffered one period of persecution already.  10:32-34

                .  But not to the point of shedding of blood.  12:4

                .  The persecutions under Nero and Domitian were filled with the blood of Christians.

                .  During the reign of Claudius Jews were expelled from Rome, including Jewish Christians.

                .  Acts 18:2 Aquila and Priscilla were among them.

                .  These were second generation Christians. 2:3

     3.  Time Line:

30 A.D. __________________49 A.D.________________64 A.D.____66 A.D____68 A.D.___70 A.D.

                . 30 – Jesus Crucified

                . 49 – Persecution under Claudius

                . 64 – Nero – a part of Rome is destroyed by Fire and Nero blames the Christians

                . 68 – Nero Dies

                . 66 – 70 Rome/Jewish wars. Four sieges of Jerusalem

                . 70 – Temple destroyed Jewish nation overcome by Armies of Rome.

C.    To Whom was it written?

     1.  Hebrew Christian who may have been considering a return to Judaism.

     2.  A specific group of believers:

                .  Gospel was preached to them by eyewitnesses 2:4

                .  They had seen signs and wonders 2:4

                .  They knew the first principles of the faith 6:1

                .  They had ministered to people who had been mistreated 10:32-34

                .  The writer knew of their earlier days 10:32, previous persecutions 10:32, 12:4

                .  The writer also knew their state of mind 5:11-12; 6:9-12.

                .  This was a group that the writer had visited before and hope to see again 13:19, 23

     3.  A group that was a part of a larger community.

                .  He had expected them to be teachers by now 5:12.

                .  This might imply that they were a house church group in a city with other house groups

D. Destination? Unknown

E. Key Words in Hebrews:

     1. Better: 13 times (Gr. Kreisson): Not always translated Better

                .1:4 “So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to                                          theirs.”

                . 6:9 “we are confident of better things in your case”

                . 7:7 as to Melchizedek and Abraham “the lesser person is blessed by the greater.”

                . 7:19 “and a better hope is introduced,”

                . 7:22 “Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.”

                . 8:6 “But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is                                  mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises”.

                . 9:23 “with better sacrifices than these”. (Latter called a “sacrifice of himself: V.26)

                . 10:34 “because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.”

                . 11:16 “they were longing for a better country”

                . 11:35 “so that they might gain a better resurrection.”

                . 11:40 “God had planned something better for us .”

                . 12:24 “blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

     2. Perfect: 14 times (Gr. Terleioo: Not always translated perfect.)

                . 2:10 “perfect through suffering.”

                . 5:9 “once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”

                . 6:1 “go on to maturity,”

                . 7:11 “If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood …”

                . 7:19 “(for the law made nothing perfect),”

                . 7:28 “appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.”

                . 9:9 “sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper.”

                . 9:11 “he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made,”

. 10:1 “can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those    who draw near…”

                . 10:14 “because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”

                . 11:40 “so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”

                . 12:23 “spirits of righteous men made perfect,”

                . 13:21 “equip you with everything good for doing his will,” 

     3. Eternal: 5 times (Gr. aionics)

.               . 5:9 “he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”

                . 9:12 “once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.”

                . 9:14 “who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, “

                . 9:15 “that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance,”

                . 13:20 “who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus

     4. Confidence: 5 times (Gr. parresia)

                . 3:6 “if we hold on to our courage and the hope  …”

                . 4:16 “approach the throne of grace with confidence”

                . 10:19 “since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,”

                . 10:35 “So do not throw away your confidence”

                , 13:6 “So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.” 

     5. Impossible: 4 times (Gr. adunatos)

                . 6:4 “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened”

                . 6:18 “it is impossible for God to lie”

                . 10:4 “because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

                . 11:6 “without faith it is impossible to please God,” 

     6. The importance of these words is magnified knowing the problems being addressed.

F. Five warnings are interspersed through out the text of the letter.

     1. Don’t drift from the Word – 2:1-4 (neglect)

     2. Don’t doubt the Word – 3:7-4:13 (hard heart)

     3. Don’t allow dullness toward the Word: -5:11-6:20 (sluggishness)

     4. Don’t despise the Word-10:26-39 (willfulness)

     5. Don’t defy the Word – 12:14-29 (refusing to hear)

     6. These show a progress that leads one away from the Lord.

G.  Exhortations are frequent in Hebrews.  (Let us…)

     1. 4:1, 11, 14, 16

     2. 6:1

     3. 10:22, 23, 24

     4. 12:1a, 1b, 28

     5. 13:13, 15

H. Hebrews is not written in the style of other New Testament letters.

     1. It is more a sermon than a letter.

     2. You can picture a speaker standing before a small group of believers teaching and exhorting.

     3. Writer describes his letter as, “Brothers, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written you only a short letter.” 13:22

I. Occasion and Purpose

 Frances Taylor Gench said, “Recently, I heard (Ed) Craddock observe, in his inimitable way, that different letters in the New Testament were no doubt sent with different degrees of haste to those who received them. He says that when Paul, for example, wrote his angry letter to the church at Corinth, he probably let it sit on the desk for a few days. (“Its one thing to write a letter like that—it’s another thing to send it.”) First Thessalonians consists almost entirely of prayers, songs, confessions, and words of praise, and Paul probably said to the postal carrier when he mailed that one, “Just as long as it gets there by Sunday—they’ll want to use it.” The letter to Jude? “There’s no telling what the writer thought, but if it never got there, it wouldn’t hurt!” And Hebrews: “very heavy, very ponderous—put it on the scales and it took three extra stamps.” But Craddock says even though it cost a lot, stamped by the writer on the outside of the folder were the words, “Special delivery, Overnight Mail, Federal Express, Get it There!”

These were dark and perilous times for Christians. When the Book of Hebrews was written, the ages were colliding and society seemed to be shaking. The persecution that had begun at the death of Stephen has continued for over 35 years. The Book of Hebrews is addressed to a second generation of Jewish Christians who had experienced loss and persecution as others before them. The Roman Empire permitted conquered nations to practice their original religions, but no new ones were allowed. Early Christianity had been able to slip under Rome’s radar and flourish under the umbrella of Judaism. However, all that was about to change. Christians were now being faced with a coming persecution by both Jews and the Romans. Nero will make it his obsession to wipe out these catacomb dwellers once and for all. So on the horizon looms another more devastating period of persecution, and this time they are questioning if it is worth paying the price.

Judaizers had long tried to entice these Jewish Christians to return to the old sacrificial system of their fathers, and they had refused, but now with more persecution on the horizon the old and familiar ways of the past didn’t seem so bad after all. The splendor of the temple worship and their discouragement due to persecution became the basis for many of them to consider returning to Judaism.  Tom Long observes, “The threat to this congregation is not that they are charging off in the wrong direction; they do not have enough energy to charge off anywhere . . . (they are) Tired of walking the walk, many of them are considering taking a walk, leaving the community and falling away from the faith.”

Could it be that God is shaking up their world so they will learn to live by faith and not by sight? Could it be that He has a plan for their lives that will be built on the eternal and not the unstable shakable world in which they live?

 

J.  What’s in it for us?

 

Persecution that had been faced and was to come for the Hebrews is not apart of the world in which we live. Few if any of us have a former religion to look longingly back too, as they did.  What may pull us back today, are things like a former lifestyle, materialism, or the culture of worship of self.  It is also easy to get caught up in the world’s system and put our confidence in money, buildings, programs and other passing material things. The message of Hebrews speaks to the superiority of Christ over all things, and that only in Him can we find forgiveness and a life that satisfies. He alone deserves our adoration, worship and praise.

 

When God shakes up our world there is a reason. He wants us to turn loose of those things that we are depending on and clinging to for our security and turn and trust him. The situation in our world today is nothing like theirs, but it does have its own challenges.  A young man in a bible group once asked the question, “Why doesn’t the world believe what we have to say? Then he added, “I think it’s because so many Christians don’t act like they believe it themselves.” Then he asked the logical but thorny question, “How can we make Christians believe what they believe?”

 

This is the very theme of the book of Hebrews! The world is waiting to see Christians living their faith before them. Jesus Christ is the total answer to every human need. No book of the New Testament focuses upon Christ like the book of Hebrews does.