6. AT HEBREWS TO REVELATION WITH TOC
HEBREWS BACKGROUND
HEBREWS 1V1-14
HEBREWS 2V1-9
HEBREWS 2V10-18
HEBREWS 3V1-9
HEBREWS 3V10-19
HEBREWS 4V1-8
HEBREWS 4V9-16
HEBREWS 5V1-14
HEBREWS 6V1-8
HEBREWS 6V9-20
HEBREWS 7V1-14
HEBREWS 7V15-28
HEBREWS 8V1-13
HEBREWS 9V1-14
HEBREWS 9V15-28
HEBREWS 10V1-18
HEBREWS 10v19-39
HEBREWS 11v1-19
HEBREWS 11v20-40
HEBREWS 12v1-17
HEBREWS 12v18-29
HEBREWS 13v1-12
HEBREWS 13v13-25
JAMES BACKGROUND
A Comparison between James and Matthew 5-7
JAMES 1V1-12
JAMES 1V13-27
JAMES 2V1-13
JAMES 2V14-26
JAMES 3V1-12
JAMES 3V13-18
JAMES 4V1-8
JAMES 4V9-17
JAMES 5V1-10
JAMES 5V11-20
1 PETER BACKGROUND
1 PETER 1V1-9
1 PETER 1V10-25
1 PETER 2V1-12
1 PETER 2V13-25
1 PETER 3V1-12
1 PETER 3V13-22
1 PETER 4V1-9
1 PETER 4V10-19
1 PETER 5V1-14
2 PETER BACKGROUND
2 PETER 1V1-11
2 PETER 1V12-21
2 PETER 2V1-11
2 PETER 2V12-22
2 PETER 3V1-9
2 PETER 3V10-18
1 JOHN BACKGROUND
PARALLELS BETWEEN JOHN’S GOSPEL AND EPISTLE
1 JOHN 1V1-10
1 JOHN 2V1-14
1 JOHN 2V15-29
1 JOHN 3V1-10
1 JOHN 3V11-24
1 JOHN 4V1-10
1 JOHN 4V11-21
1 JOHN 5V1-10
1 JOHN 5V11-21
2 JOHN BACKGROUND
2 JOHN 1V1-13
3 JOHN BACKGROUND
3 JOHN 1V1-14
JUDE BACKGROUND
JUDE 1V1-12
JUDE 1V13-25
REVELATION BACKGROUND
REVELATION 1V1-8
REVELATION 1V9-20
REVELATION 2V1-11
REVELATION 2V12-29
REVELATION 3V1-13
REVELATION 3V14-22
REVELATION 4V1-11
REVELATION 5V1-14
REVELATION 6V1-8
REVELATION 6V9-16
REVELATION 7V1-8
REVELATION 7V9-17
REVELATION 8V1-13
REVELATION 9V1-10
REVELATION 9V11-21
REVELATION 10V1-11
REVELATION 11V1-10
REVELATION 10V11-19
REVELATION 12V1-8
REVELATION 12V9-17
REVELATION 13V1-10
REVELATION 13V11-18
REVELATION 14V1-10
REVELATION 14V11-20
REVELATION 15V1-8
REVELATION 16V1-10
REVELATION 16V11-21
REVELATION 17V1-9
REVELATION 17V10-18
REVELATION 18V1-12
REVELATION 18V13-24
REVELATION 19V1-10
REVELATION 19V11-21
REVELATION 20V1-6
REVELATION 20V7-15
REVELATION 21V1-14
REVELATION 21V15-26
REVELATION 22V1-10
REVELATION 22V11-21
HEBREWS AT COMMENTARY
HEBREWS BACKGROUND
Resources
- Philip Mauro’s commentary
- Ye are come to Zion by Austin Sparks
The letter to the Hebrews chapter twelve, verse 22: "Yearecome unto mount Zion" - "I lay in Zion a chief corner stone" - "Ye arecometo Zion". This letter to the Hebrews (as it is traditionally called but, as it has proved to be in the dispensation, this most serious document for the church) was written at a crisis. It had to do, and it will again have to do, with a crisis; a turning point in the dispensation. It is not sure, to our knowledge, when the letter was written. Opinion differs, but the difference only amounts to a matter of perhaps two or three years, but it is very strongly believed that it was written about the year 69 A.D.; in the year 70 A.D. the whole Jewish system - as centred in Jerusalem and the temple and the priesthood - was swept away. That was the year when everything changed from what it had been for many centuries: an established system, a recognised and accepted world system of religion with its teaching and its practice. In A.D. 70 it was swept into the vortex of that overflowing of the pagan world: hostile to God. And from that day to this, there has been no temple in Jerusalem. The nation has been scattered, and the Jewish system has been practically inoperative as it was before. Anticipating that turn in the centuries, in the dispensation, the Holy Spirit led to the writing of this letter; the producing of this document. If read in the light of that great, historic event, it is much better understood, appreciated; its significance is more clearly grasped. Yes, a mighty age crisis is represented by the letter to the Hebrews - nothing less than: The Passing of a System or an Economy. If we look into that and examine it as to what it was that was passing, what that signified, we shall get the real, abiding message of this letter and we shall see that what is here in its real significance and abiding meaning, will lie behind another crisis - which crisiswe are in our day seeing. Dear friends, it is no exaggeration to say that you and I have comeactuallyto live in a time when the whole complexion of things in Christian tradition is changing. [Sparks] /
From the book of Hebrews to the end of the NT it is all about true faith and enduring faith.
See Mauro's excellent commentary on the book of Hebrews. / This volume does not contain an exposition of Hebrews. Its purpose is rather to carry out, so far as the Lord may enable, the injunction to exhort one another daily, so long as it is called “Today.” Another “Day” is soon coming; indeed, we can clearly see it approaching. In that day it will be too late to give heed to the exhortations found in this portion of God’s Word, and to gain the recompense of the reward that depends upon the heed given thereto. The Epistle is addressed to “Hebrews,” and the individual most frequently and most prominently mentioned in it is Abraham, who is specifically designated “the Hebrew” (Genesis 14:13). Those acquainted with the Hebrew tongue tell us that the word signifies one who passes over or through. We may, therefore, regard a Hebrew as a “passenger”; and certainly the message of the Epistle is for those who are passengers in this age, who have here no continuing city, but seek one in the age to come. The message is not for Israelites, who have a place in the world and a mission to the nations thereof, but for Hebrews, who are simply passing through the world, having no place or standing therein. The true Hebrew is one who has come out of the country of his birth, leaving all its advantages and associations, because he has heard and believed the report of a better country which he has never seen; and he is now passing through the intervening territory, not settling therein, and not mindful of the country whence he came out, though having opportunity to return thither. Of such it is written that God is not ashamed to be called their God, and He has prepared for them a city. Abraham was not an Israelite. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Sarah, Isaac, Rahab were not Israelites. Moses was, rather a Hebrew than an Israelite, for he never had a place in the Land of Promise. These were all true Hebrews, who had seen by faith the far-off promises, and were persuaded of them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. The Scriptures speak of many things that God has prepared for them that love Him — things which are in the nature of rewards, not gifts, and are quite distinct from remission of sins and eternal life. These latter are gifts bestowed upon all who believe; but not all believers will obtain the rewards. Great is the reward promised to those who maintain the character of Hebrews “to the end”; and correspondingly great is the loss that will be incurred by those who, through neglect or unbelief, turn aside from the pilgrim’s path. In view of this, we would point out, as plainly as possible, the dangers to which God’s pilgrims are exposed, and the provision that He, in wondrous grace, has made to safeguard them from those dangers. May it be the purpose of both writer and readers to be “not slothful, but followers of them who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises”“ It may be of interest to the reader to learn that the writing of this book was begun and finished on the memorable voyage of the Steamship Carpathia which was interrupted by the rescue of the survivors of the Titanic, and by the return with them to the port of New York. This is not the place to speak of the harrowing scenes and distressing incidents of the four days of that return trip. But that event — the sudden and dramatic overthrow of the latest and greatest human achievement of its kind, the most conspicuous objectin the world — which stirred all Christendom to an unprecedented degree, served to impress powerfully upon the writer’s mind the truth that the day is at hand for the shaking of all things, when the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; and they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth for fear of the LORD and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth. The destruction of the Titanic is a foreshadowing of what is about to happen to the great “civilization” upon which man has expended his energies, and in which he puts his confidence. For the unconverted, the obvious lesson of this tragic event is to inquire concerning the lifeboat. But there are also solemn and important lessons in it for the saints of God. Some of those lessons the writer has endeavored to set forth in the following pages. [Mauro] /
Consider this section from the epistle to the Philippians to be an important “key” to understand Hebrews:
“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature be thus minded; and if in anything you are otherwise minded, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brethren, join in imitating me, and mark those who so live as you have an example in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ”(Philippians 3:7–20; some key words and phrases emphasised by myself). [Friedel Hansen] /
Genesis: man ruined, Exodus: man redeemed, Leviticus: man worshiping.
EXODUS
Exodus offers pardon
God’s approach to man
Christ is Savior
Man’s guilt is prominent
God speaks out of the mount
Man is made nigh to God
LEVITICUS
Leviticus offers purity
Man’s approach to God
Christ is Sanctifier
Man’s defilement is prominent
God speaks out of the tabernacle
Man is kept nigh to God
The five offerings and the law of them. Sweet savor offerings (person of Christ), Burnt offering (Christ our substitute), Meal offering (loveliness of Christ), Peace offering (Christ our peace), Non-sweet savor offerings (work of Christ on cross), Sin offering (sin as a nature), Trespass offering (sin as an act). [Vernon McGee] /
Time: AD 67-69 (21st)
Stats: 13 chapters/303 verses/6 913 words/17 question/270 verses of history/9 verses of fulfilled and 24 verses of unfulfilled prophecy
Key People:
Abel—son of Adam and Eve; offered a more acceptable sacrifice to God than his brother did (11:4; 12:24)
Enoch—lived in close fellowship with God; taken up to heaven without dying (11:5)
Noah—obeyed God and built the ark (11:7)
Abraham—followed God to become the father of the Jewish nation (2:16; 6:13–11:19)
Sarah—trusted God to give her a child in her old age (11:11)
Isaac—son of Abraham and Sarah; blessed his sons, Jacob and Esau, according to the will of God (11:9–20)
Jacob—son of Isaac; blessed and adopted Joseph’s sons before his death (11:9, 20–21)
Joseph— believed God would deliver the nation of Israel out from Egypt (11:22)
Moses—courageously served God and led Israel out of Egypt (3:2–16; 7:14–12:25)
Rahab—obeyed God by sheltering Israelite spies in her home (11:31)
Old Testament people of faith—accomplished great deeds for God and also suffered great persecution (11:32–40)
Key Term: “Better” (1:1-3). This book repeatedly makes the case that Christ and Christianity is better or superior to the old way of the old covenant. The word ‘better’ (Greek, kreitton or kreisson) appears twelve times.
Key Words:
Covenant: Greek diatheke—8:6, 8–10; 9:4; 10:16, 29; 12:24—literally, “agreement,” “will,” or “testament.” In 9:15–20, the author of Hebrews explains why the New Covenant (8:7) has completed the first covenant made at Mount Sinai. The author uses the word diatheke throughout the section as an analogy to a “will.” Just as the contents of a will go into effect when a person dies, so Christ’s death initiated the New Covenant that frees us from bondage to the first covenant.
Mediator: Greek mesites—8:6; 9:15; 12:24—literally, “a go-between” or “intermediary.” Paul characterizes Moses as a mediator of the covenant at Mount Sinai. Moses acted as a communication link between God and the Israelites. He informed the Israelites of their covenant obligations and also appealed to God on Israel’s behalf (see Galatians 3:19–20). Acting in the same position, Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant. He activated this covenant through His own sacrifice on the cross. He now sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us (7:25).
Redemption: Greek apolutrosis—9:15—literally, “redemption.” When used by the New Testament writers, this word, and its related term, lutrosis, signify redemption. Redemption reflects the act of freeing, releasing, or buying back by paying a ransom price. The ransom price for humanity’s sin is death. Yet, Christ paid this ransom price through His own sacrifice (1 Peter 1:18–19) and thus freed us from the bondage of sin, to be brought back into the family of God (Galatians 3:13; 4:5).
Key Text:
Hebrews 1:1-3 Nadat God baiekeer en op baie maniere in die ou tyd gespreek het tot die vaders deur die profete, het Hy in hierdie laaste dae tot ons gespreek deur die Seun 2 wat Hy as erfgenaam van alles aangestel het, deur wie Hy ook die wêreld gemaak het. 3 Hy, wat die afskynsel is van sy heerlikheid en die afdruksel van sy wese en alle dinge dra deur die woord van sy krag, nadat Hy deur Homself die reiniging van ons sondes bewerk het, het gaan sit aan die regterhand van die Majesteit in die hoogte,
Provocation & Context:
Extensive use of the Old Testament, an emphasis on the Levitical priesthood and on sacrifices, as well as the absence of any reference to the Gentiles, support the conclusion that a community of Hebrews was the original recipient of the epistle. Although these Jews were primarily converts to Christ, probably a number of unbelievers were in their midst who were attracted by various degrees to the message of salvation but who had not yet made a full commitment of faith in Christ.
The contents of the epistle make it clear that this community of Hebrews was facing the possibility of intensified persecution (10:32–39; 12:4). Under this pressure, the Hebrews were tempted to cast aside any identification with Christ. They may have considered demoting Christ from God’s Son to a mere angel. Others had certainly done so. These kinds of doctrinal aberrations would explain the emphasis in Hebrews on the superiority of Christ over angels.
Since the time of Cain and Abel two diametrically opposed tendencies are seen in the human race. We see them in the history of Israel. There always was the remnant in Israel, a little group which offered the symbolic sacrifices as an indication of a real living faith in the future substitutionary sacrifice, and there was always the larger group, which, while it went through the ritual of the Levitical sacrifices, yet exercised no heart faith to appropriate a salvation offered in grace on the basis of justice satisfied by the atonement, but depended upon personal merit and good works for salvation. These two groups were in existence in Israel in the first century. An illustration of the first is found in such believers as Zacharias, Elizabeth, the disciples other than Judas, etc. An illustration of the second we find in the priests, Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Herodians, who while observing the sacrificial ritual of the temple yet ignored its significance and depended for salvation upon personal merit and their own good works. From this latter group came two attacks against N.T. truth inspired by Satan, two attempts of the Adversary to destroy the newly-formed Christian church. One of these was the attempt to substitute good works for faith in Christ. This was met by the letter to the Galatians (or to add good works to faith). The other was the attempt to invalidate the atoning worth of the Cross by urging the Jewish wing of the church to return to the Levitical ritual of the Temple. This was met by the book of Hebrews. The first was aimed at the Gentile wing of the church, the second, at the Jewish group in the Church.
Paul: The Judaizers, knowing that Paul was the chief exponent of grace tried to discredit him by two methods:
- They endeavoured to depreciate Paul’s apostolic position and set up ‘the 12’ as the real interpreters of Christ
- They substituted a salvation-by-works system for the doctrine of pure grace which Paul preached.
One Sentence Summary: Jesus Christ, who is better than the angels, Moses, Joshua, and the Hebrew high priests, made a better sacrifice and established a better covenant, ensuring that the old way is obsolete and that faith is the better way to live.