The Book of Hebrews
The authorship of the book of Hebrews has always been subjected to speculation since the early churches, but its canonicity has been quite well established. While the early churches, in general, attributed the book to the Apostle Paul as the writer, one of the early church fathers, Origen said, “Who wrote it, God only knows”. The book is dated certainly before 90 A.D. as Timothy was still alive at the time (13:20).
From the contents of the letter, we know that it is a personal letter addressed to a group of Jewish Christians. It is helpful to bear in mind its purpose and who the first readers of the letter were in order to understand the flow of arguments and the interpretation of the letter. Consider that the recipients
- might have slipped back into Judaism (or at least in danger of doing so), and
- were having doubts about the divinity of Christ, hence nullifying the merit of His Atoning sacrifice on the cross.
The bulk of the writing therefore deals with
- The superiority and divinity of Christ
- The completeness of His redemptive work (versus the incompleteness of OT sacrifices) and
- The horrible danger and consequences of wavering or falling away from one’s faith in Christ Jesus.
God Spoke to Us in These Last Days:
(1) God speaks to us (vv. 1-2a)
a. How does this opening remark show us that the recipients of the letter were Jewish?
b. How does this opening remark affirm the role of the prophets in the Old Testament?
c. Who is Jesus Christ? How different is He from the prophets of old?
d. How has God spoken “by His Son”?
e. What might you understand by the term, “last days”?
(2) Who Jesus Christ is (vv. 2b-3)
a. What is His relationship with the all (created) things? (v. 2b)
b. In saying that Christ is “the heir” of all things, what does the Bible mean? (see Jn. 1:1-2; Col. 1:16)
c. Who is the Son in relation to Father God? (also see Jn. 1:14, 18)
d. What is Christ’s continuing work in the universe?
e. How is redemptive work described?
f. What does the sitting down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven signify?
(3) Christ’s name is above that of the angels (vv. 4-6)
a. What name has Christ inherited?
b. In quoting Psalm 2:7 and 1 Chronicles 17:13, how does the author of Hebrews prove his point? (v. 5)
c. What is the other name used in 1:6 to describe the Son?
d. How is He above the angels? (v. 6—note that the quotation is a “close approximation” of Ps. 97:7 and Deut. 32:43 in the Septuagint. This is not apparent in our reading of most English translations. [Guthrie, TNTC, 74])
(4) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.” (Heb. 1:3)
One of the main emphases of the book of Hebrews is the affirmation of the divinity of Jesus Christ which is powerfully asserted in the opening remark of the book, especially in 1:3. Allow me to quote from Guthrie in this respect:
“This (1:3) specifically brings out the fact that the one who reflects God’s glory shares His nature. The word used here for stamp (charakter) is the word for a die or an engraving. It is highly expressive since a stamp on a wax seal will bear the same image as the engraving on the seal. The illustration cannot be pressed too far, for it must not be supposed that the Son is formally distinct from the Father as the stamp is from the impression it creates. There is nevertheless an exact correspondence between the two. This statement itself contains a deep truth, for the exact resemblance relates to God’s nature…The statement is not unimportant to the theological thinker, for it supports the view that Jesus was of the same nature of God. If so, no difference can be made between the nature of the Father and the nature of the Son.”
(Guthrie, TNTC, Hebrews, 66-67)
Continued: 1:7-9—Christ, the Son Versus Angels
(1) Who are angels? (v.7; see Ps. 104:4)
(2) What is the point the author is making?
(3) In contrast, how does the use of “throne” and “scepter” point to who the Son is? (v. 8; Ps. 45:6)
(4) How does v. 9 (i.e. Ps. 45:7) make a further contrast between the Son and angels?
1:10-12—More than the King, but the Creator God
(5) Who is the Creator of the earth and the heavens?
(6) What will happen to the earth and the heavens?
(7) How is the Creator compared to His creation?
Continued: 1:13-14—Christ, the Son Versus Angels
(8) What did God say to the Son concerning His work of salvation? (v. 13; Ps. 110:1)
(9) What role do angels play in the work of our salvation? (v. 14)
(10) Why do you think it is important to distinguish between Christ, the Son, and the angels?
(11) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“To which of the angels did God ever say, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet '?”. (Heb. 1:13)
It is interesting to read that in affirming the Son's divinity and His one-in-nature with the Father, the author of the book of Hebrews makes a clear and powerful distinction between Christ, the Son, and the Angels in his opening chapter.
Angels were obviously revered in Judaism. The Lord often appeared in the form of “the Angel of the Lord” (Gen. 16:7, 22:11 etc.). Although this character is understood by Christians as Jesus Christ appearing in the OT, Judaism obviously does not have the same concept except that the appearances heighten their sense of reverence to the angels. Even the Apostle John was tempted to bow at the appearance of angels. (Rev. 22:8-9). Therefore, to regard Jesus Christ as one of the angels or even chief of the angels may not appear to be too demeaning to Christ. And yet, the author of Hebrews sees the follies of such heresies, because it goes against the very nature of Jesus Christ who is none other than the “exact representation” of the being of Father God (Heb. 1:3); in fact, He is the Creator God (Heb. 1:2, 10-12).
However, there is a very practical ramification as well in that only Christ’s complete work on the cross as God can bring about salvation of mankind, while angels serve only as ministers to us who are beneficiaries of Christ’s salvation (Heb. 1:14). To reduce Christ to a mere angel would nullify the entire plan of salvation of mankind and the defeat of God’s enemy, Satan (Heb. 1:13).
2:1-4—Salvation through Christ Cannot be Ignored
(1) The author is comparing the message given through the angels with the salvation wrought by Christ (v. 2)
a. What is the message given by the angels? (see Gal. 3:19)
b. What is the punishment for not obeying the Law? (v. 2; see Gal. 3:10-13)
(2) The difference of the salvation through Christ (vv. 3-4)
a. Who first announced the message of salvation to the world?
b. Who were the first hearers who confirmed the message to us?
c. How did God testify the truthfulness of this salvation through Christ?
d. How then is this salvation different from the message given by the angels?
e. What is the consequence should we ignore this great salvation?
f. In what way(s) can one “ignore” this great salvation?
2:5-9—The “Must” of Incarnation (I)
(3) The author uses Psalm 8 to talk about Christ’s incarnation.
a. How does Psalm 8:4-6 talk about man in relation to angels? (v. 7)
b. What is God’s plan concerning man and God’s creation? (v. 8)
c. According to the author of Hebrews, has this plan of subjecting everything to “him” materialized yet? (v. 8)
d. In whom has this plan of subjecting “everything under him” been materialized now? (v. 9)
e. How? (v. 9)
f. Does “everything” refer only to this visible created world? (v. 5)
(4) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?” (Heb. 2:3)
In pointing out the fact that Jesus Christ is far superior than the angels, the author goes on to talk about the “must” of Christ in becoming a man and that He suffered and died in obedience to the Father (Hebrews 2). He prefaces this great message with calling this completed work of Christ a “great salvation” which cannot be and should not be ignored (2:3).
It is interesting to note that he chooses to use the word “ignore” and not the word “reject” to denote the action of those who would not believe in Jesus Christ and His salvation, and yet, the consequence is the same. Those who ignore such a great salvation cannot escape the “just punishment” which is eternal death (Jn. 3:16ff).
Many people think that they are not “ready” to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior yet and somehow have to “wait” until they are ready. Often I press such a “procrastinator” to tell me what they are really waiting for and if they are honest, they would have to admit that they really do not know for what they are waiting. The truth of the matter is, they are using this as an excuse to reject Christ, because by not responding in faith to Christ, they are in fact “ignoring” Him. The consequence could be dire, because no one can be sure when they will die, and I have certainly come across such “procrastinators” who end up missing the opportunity of accepting such a great salvation when they could have!
The “Must” of Incarnation (II)
(1) The “fitting” suffering (v. 10)
a. Who is the “author” of our salvation?
b. What will this salvation do to us, “the many sons”? (v. 10)
c. Why then is it “fitting” that God should make this author of our salvation perfect through suffering? (v. 10)
d. While a “suffering Messiah” is foreign to the Jewish mind, how important is it that Christ must suffer?
e. Within the context of this “fitting” suffering, why does the Bible emphasize that Father God is the One “for whom and through whom everything exists”? (v. 10)
(2) Brotherhood (vv. 11-12)
a. Who were we who have been made holy by Christ?
b. Should He be ashamed to call us His brothers? (Ps. 22:22) Why or why not?
(3) His Children (vv. 13-18)
a. In what sense are we His brothers, and in what sense are we His children? (v. 13; Isa. 8:18)
b. The sharing of the children’s humanity:
- What has the death accomplished for His children? (vv. 14-15)
- Beyond the destroying of the devil, and freeing us from death, what is the reason for Christ to be like His brothers in every way? (v. 17)
- Why? (v. 18)
- In what capacity did Christ accomplish His service to God? (vv. 16-17)
(4) How important is it to you personally that Christ has shared your humanity in every way?
(5) What is the message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Heb. 2:18)
The religion of Islam considers God as so holy and awesome that they cannot accept Jesus as God because He has become a man. To them to believe that God can become one of us, sharing our humanity is blasphemy. However the author of Hebrews explains that it is a must for God to become one of us in order that He could make atonement for the sins of the people (2:17). But he further shows that it is fitting for Him to share our humanity in every way, especially in experiencing our sufferings because “He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted” (2:18).
I was sharing through an interpreter this very message to a group of illegal immigrants with an Islamic background who were held in a detainment center. When I told them Jesus was once a detainee in a jail cell, I could tell I got their attention. I explained that it was because He was once a detainee, He would understand what they were going through because He’d been there. He is a God who cares, not a God far removed from our sufferings. Of course, He had to become a man so that He could die for our sins and make atonement for them.
At the end of the service, quite a few chose to stay behind and talk to our counsellors, because they simply could not ignore such a loving God, such a great salvation.
Previously the author has argued that Christ must suffer and die for His brothers as God’s high priest (2:9-18). Now he urges us to fix our thoughts on Him:
(1) What might be the implications in calling his recipients “holy brothers”?
(2) What is the heavenly calling all believers share in? (v.1)
(3) He urges us to “fix your thoughts on Jesus”
a. What is meant by to "fix our thoughts on Jesus"?
b. Who is the Jesus to whom we confess?
(4) In what way is Jesus compared to Moses? (v. 2; Num. 12:7)
(5) While Jesus is certainly greater than the angels (chapters 1-2), how is He compared to Moses? (v. 3)
(6) Why?
(7) In using the builder’s analogy, who, in essence, does the author say Jesus is? (v. 4)
(8) 3:5 asserts that Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s household testifying to what would be said in the future (v. 5).
a. What would be said in the future?
b. How does Moses’ faithfulness serve as a testimony in this respect?
(9) In comparison, how different is Christ’s faithfulness (v. 6), in terms of:
a. Who He is in God’s house?
b. What does it mean that we are God’s house?
c. Is 3:6b a condition? Why or why not?
(10) What is the main message to you today, and how may you apply it to your life?
“Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as a house has greater honor than the house itself.” (Heb. 3:3)
We may take for granted that Christ is greater than Moses which should need no argument. But for those, for whatever reason, who were in danger of falling back into Judaism, this is of utmost importance, because of all OT characters, Moses was the one who brought them the Law and the one God used to bring them out of Egypt into the Promised Land.
The author of Hebrews powerfully demonstrates that Jesus is far superior to Moses in that
- Both the Law of Moses and the exodus event serve to testify “what would be said in the future” (3:5), which refers to the fulfillment of all the requirements of the Law by the death of Jesus and the “promised rest” (4:3) which under the leadership of Moses was never accomplished.(3:18-19) But it has been made possible by the salvation through Jesus; and
- Moses was only a servant in God’s household, while Jesus is the Son — in fact, the very builder of the house (3:4-6).
To us who are not in danger of falling back into Judaism, the comparison of Jesus’ faithfulness to that of Moses’ serves to remind us that Jesus did not really have to go through His suffering and death except for His love for us. In calling us His brothers (2:11) and in bringing us into the heavenly household of God (3:6), He, indeed, is worthy of greater honor than Moses.
For the author of Hebrews, the comparison of Jesus to Moses serves as another chance to launch a warning to the people from falling away from their faith in Christ’s redemption and back into Judaism. The launching pad is the failure of Israel in entering into the “rest” that God desired for them due to their disobedience in the desert.
(1) The warning of Psalm 95:7-11—In urging his readers to “hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast” (3:6), the author cites the warning from the captioned psalm (vv. 7-11).
a. Who is the true author of the Psalm? (v. 7)
b. From the exhortation that follows in the rest of the chapter, one of the main emphases of this quote from the Psalm is the word, “today”.
- Which particular period of time of testing of the Israelites does He refer to? (v. 8)
- What does the Holy Spirit describe the 40 year experience in the desert as? (v. 9)
- What had these forefathers seen in the 40 years? (v. 9, Neh. 9:19-21)
- In spite of what they saw, what had they chosen to do? (v. 10)
- What was the result of their rebellion? (v. 11)
- What does the Holy Spirit call us to do upon the hearing of these words? (vv. 7-8)
(2) Application (vv. 12-14)—the author of Hebrews now applies this warning to us.
a. What does he call the kind of heart that turns away from the Living God? (v. 12) Why?
b. He urges us not to be hardened by sins’ deceitfulness. (v. 13)
- How should we do so?
- Why does he make an emphasis on “daily” and “today”?
c. Is 3:14 a condition? Why or why not?
(3) Failure to enter God’s rest (vv. 15-19)—He reiterates the failure of the Israelites under Moses.
a. What was the first rhetorical question? (v. 16)
b. What was the second rhetorical question? (v. 17)
c. What was the third rhetorical question? (v. 18)
d. Why is the entrance into the Promised Land called entrance into “God’s rest”?
e. What conclusion does the author draw? (v. 19)
(4) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Heb. 3:13)
Basically the first ten chapters of this letter are devoted to arguing about the superiority of Christ and His completed work of redemption. From this, one can sense the urgency and seriousness of the potential apostasy posed by the danger of the relapse into Judaism by some these early Jewish Christians. As much as the arguments are said to have been presented in the best of koine Greek and are the clearest arguments in the New Testament, it is important to note that time and again, the author of Hebrews put the ultimate task of the prevention of apostasy into the hands of fellow believers:
“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Heb. 3:13)
“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Heb. 10:25)
In other words, while the exhortation is directed to individual believers, it takes the entire corporate body of Christ to strengthen one another so that we may all hold on to the hope and faith we confess (3:6). It is far too easy for us to criticize others of their errors, but it is far more important for us to recognize that it is our job to jump into action in preventing others from falling by seizing the opportunity of “Today” to encourage one another in Christ.
4:1-3—We Have Entered God’s Rest
(1) Why does the author say, “we who have believed enter that rest”? (v. 3a)
a. What is meant by “that rest”?
b. How have we entered?
(2) Why couldn’t the people led by Moses out of Egypt enter God’s rest? (v. 2)
(3) What lesson should we then learn from them? (v. 1)
4:4-11—The Sabbath Rest
(4) Since Genesis 2:2
does say that God rested from all His work on the 7th day of
creation (Heb. 4:4), and that Jesus asserts that “My Father is always at His work to
this very day and I, too, am working” (Jn. 5:17), consider the following questions.
a. Why did God’s rest from His work of creation form the basis of the Sabbath rest? (Exod. 31:17; see Note below)
b. What work is God still and always doing?
c. What then is the true meaning of God’s rest we are called into?
(5) While those under Moses’ leadership did not get to go into the Promised Land, what about those under Joshua’s leadership? (v. 8)
a. Did they enter into the Promised Land?
b. Did they enter into God’s rest? (v.8) Why or why not?
(6) The true meaning of entering into God’s rest (vv. 9-11)
a. What is the kind of work that a person rests from that allows him to enter God’s rest? (v. 10)
b. How can one “make every effort to enter that rest”? (v. 11)
c. For the Jewish Christians:
- How had they entered into God’s rest in the first place? (see 4:3)
- If they fall back into Judaism, what kind of work will they resume that prevents them from enjoying God’s rest?
(7) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
In using His example of resting on the 7th day of creation as the basis of instituting the Sabbath rest, God signifies that He has created all that is needed to sustain life, and by observing the Sabbath rest, the people of God would be demonstrating their complete trust in God for all their needs.
“There remains, then a Sabbath rest for the people of God for anyone who enters into God’s rest also rest from his own work, just as God did from His.” (Heb. 4:9-10)
To understand the argument of the author of Hebrews in urging us to enter God’s rest, we need to remember the error that his immediate audience, the Jewish Christians, were in danger of committing. By falling back to Judaism, they would be forsaking the salvation by grace through faith in Christ (Eph. 2:8), and returning to a work-based salvation through the observance of the OT laws and rituals. That would mean that they have not rested from their work—the unending work of relying on the observance of the Law of Moses to gain righteousness. They cannot therefore enter into the rest of God.
On the other hand, if they are willing to give up their work-based effort to gain salvation, and “do the work of God” which is “to believe in the one He has sent” (Jn. 6:28-29), they will enter into God’s rest—the complete trust in the finished work of His Son on the cross.
Therefore these Jewish Christians were facing the choice of
- Either being hard-hearted in disobeying the work of God—the complete work of redemption through His Son, or
- Being obedient and putting their trust in Christ alone for their salvation, thereby resting from their own effort in gaining a righteousness of their own.
On
the surface, it is really an easy choice, but in these days, many still prefer
to trust in anything to save their souls except putting their faith in
Christ Jesus. However, this invitation to
enter His rest still stands:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28)