The Book Of Hebrews – An Overview

| by | Scripture: | Series:

Hebrews
Hebrews
The Book Of Hebrews – An Overview
Loading
/

In this message we get an overview of the entire book of Hebrews, and then an in depth look at 7 aspects of the glory of Jesus Christ in Hebrews 1:1-3.

 

The Book Of Hebrews – An Overview

 

Today we begin a study of the book of Hebrews.  Several people have asked me if we could study this book, and now that the series on Christianity 101 is finished, it seemed like a good time to embark on a new book study.  This morning I’m going to take some time to give you an overview of the book of Hebrews. This will take some time. Then, we will meditate on the first three verses of this wonderful epistle.

 

1. What kind of document is this?

 

Is it a letter?  It seems different from typical letters in the New Testament. The author never gives his name or gives a greeting. He just plunges right into his letter filled with lofty doctrine.  It ends a little more like an epistle in 13:23-25. The author mentions Timothy. He tells them to greet all their leaders and saints.  He sends greetings to them. And, he ends with a prayer-blessing “Grace be with you all.”  Best way of describing this document is vs.22 – “word of exhortation.”  One ancient letter writing form was the “letter-essay” which in early Judaism and Christianity would have resembled a sermon. Hebrews is probably such a letter-essay.  Although there is much strong doctrine in this letter, there is also much practical exhortation.

 

13:22 tells us this letter is a “word of exhortation.”  The author loves to exhort! He brings thirteen different exhortations to persevere in this letter!

 

4 times the reader is told to hold fast!

  • Heb 3:6 “but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.”
  • Heb 3:14 “For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end”
  • Heb 4:14 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.”
  • Heb 10:23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful”

 

13 times he brings an exhortation beginning with “let us.”

  • Let us fear – 4:1
  • Let us be diligent to enter that rest – 4:11
  • Let us hold fast our confession – 4:14
  • Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace – 4:16
  • Let us press on to maturity – 6:1
  • Let us draw near with a sincere heart – 10:22
  • Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering – 10:23
  • Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds – 10:24
  • Let us lay aside every encumbrance and sin – 12:1
  • Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us – 12:1
  • Let us show gratitude – 12:28
  • Let us go out to Him outside the camp – 13:13
  • Let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God – 13:15

 

2. Who is the author writing to?

 

From time memorial the title “Hebrews” has been ascribed to this document.  The first time the word “Hebrew” appears in our Bible is in Gen.14:13. There we read of  “Abram the Hebrew.”  Abraham and his descendants are referred to as Hebrews, Jewish believers.

 

3. Where were the Hebrews he was writing to?

 

Hebrews 13:24 says, “Greek all of your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you.”  Apparently, the author was writing from Italy, and that’s why he told them that those from Italy greet them.  In that case, perhaps the author was writing from Rome, the capitol city of Italy.  In the final analysis, we just don’t know where these Hebrews were located. There is nothing in this letter that gives us that information.

4. Who was the author?

The short answer is that no one knows for sure. The author never gives his name. The early church fathers are not unanimous on this.  Some believed Paul was author; others that Barnabus or Luke were the author.  One church father, Tertullian, believed it was Barnabus. Martin Luther thought it was Apollos.  Some editions of the King James Version introduce this letter with the byline, “The epistle of Paul the apostle to the Hebrews.”  Are there any good reasons for believing Paul wrote this epistle?

  • 13:23 “Take notice that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you.” Whoever the author was, he was knew and traveled with Timothy
  • 13:25 “Grace be with you all.” Notice what Paul says in 2 Thess. 3:17-18 “I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write. The greace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”  Paul ends every one of his letters with a prayer wish that God’s grace would be with them.  However, the other epistles in the New Testament like James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1 2 and 3 John and Jude never end in this way.  It seems like that was Paul’s own trademark signature ending to his letters. And we have that trademark signature ending here at the end of the book of Hebrews. Now, that does not prove that Paul wrote this letter, gives it gives that theory weight.
  • 13:24 – May have been written from Italy, where Paul was a prisoner on more than one occasion.
  • Early church fathers. By 150 A.D. Pantaenus, leader of Alexandria, stated it was generally accepted as of Paul. Only 70 years after Paul’s death! Clement of Alexandria adds “the men of old handed it down as Paul’s.” Clement of Alexandria (150-215) suggested it was written by Paul in Hebrew and later translated to Greek. By the 4th century Augustine and Jerome accepted Pauline authorship.
  • If Paul was the author, why would he omit his name? Because he was the apostle to the Gentiles, and the Jews were prejudiced against him, and if he had included his name it may have prevented its usefulness.

 

What are the arguments against Paul as the author?

  • The Greek style is very different from Paul’s other letters. Hebrews is written in a highly polished and sophisticated Greek, whereas Paul’s other letters are more conversational and rugged in style. Some early church fathers noticed the difference in style and commented on it, like Origen.
  • All of Paul’s letters clearly identify him at the beginning of each letter. This one doesn’t.
  • Hebrews appears to have been written by a 2nd generation believer. Hebrews 2:3 “After it (the gospel) was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to US by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” The author seems to differentiate between himself and the Hebrews he was writing to, and those who heard the Lord directly as an eye-witness. But Paul insists that he received the gospel directly from the Lord Himself (Gal.1:12).

 

So, even after 2,000 years of investigating this question, there is no solid answer generally agreed on by the whole church.  We have to leave it as an open-ended question.

5, What are the Key Words of the Letter?

Better – this word occurs 13 times!  This book speaks of a better hope, covenant, sacrifice, possession, country, and resurrection.

Faith – this word occurs 33 times, 25 of which are found in chapter 11 alone. 30 of those 33 references to faith are found in the Application section of the book which begins at 10:18.

Jesus Christ – Jesus is the grand theme of the book.  In this book we are told that Jesus is

  • the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of God’s nature
  • the Son of God
  • The High Priest of God
  • The apostle and High Priest of our confession
  • The guarantee of a better covenant
  • The author and perfecter of faith
  • The mediator of a new covenant
  • The same yesterday, today and forever
  • The great Shepherd of the sheep

 

6. Background and Theme

 

Hebrews deals with the tremendous struggle involved in leaving one religious system for another.  There is the violent wrenching of old ties, the stresses and tensions of alienation, and the formidable pressures exerted on the renegade to return. They were leaving Judaism for Christ, and this involved leaving shadows for the substance, ritual for reality, the temporary for the permanent, in short, the good for the best.  It also involved leaving the popular for the unpopular, the majority for the minority. The letter was written to people of Jewish background.  These Hebrews had heard the gospel preached by the apostles and others during the early days of the church, and had seen the mighty miracles of the Holy Spirit confirming the message.  They had responded to the gospel in one of three ways:

  • Some believed and were converted.
  • Some professed to become Christians, were baptized, and took their place in the local assemblies. However, they had never been born again by the H.S.
  • Others flatly rejected the message of salvation.

 

Hebrews deals with the first two classes – truly saved Hebrews and those who had nothing but an outward veneer of Christianity.

 

When a Jew left the faith of his forefathers, he was looked on as a turncoat and an apostate was often punished with one or more of the following:

  • Disinheritance by his family
  • Excommunication from the congregation of Israel
  • Loss of employment
  • Mental harassment and physical torture
  • Public mockery
  • Imprisonment
  • Martyrdom

 

Of course there was always the escape route. If he would renounce Christ and return to Judaism, he would be spared from further persecution. Others brought strange teachings that might seduce them – 13:9. There were strong arguments used to persuade him to return to Judaism:

  • The rich heritage of the prophets
  • The prominent ministry of angels in the history of God’s ancient people
  • Association with the illustrious lawgiver Moses
  • National ties with the brilliant military commander Joshua
  • The glory of the Aaronic priesthood
  • The sacred sanctuary where God chose to dwell among His people
  • The covenant of the law given by God through Moses
  • The divinely appointed furniture in the sanctuary, and the magnificent veil
  • The services in the sanctuary, and especially the ritual on the great Day of Atonement.
  • God’s miracles on behalf of Israel (parting of the Red Sea, giving of manna and water from the rock, cloud that guided them, etc.)

 

We can almost hear the first century Jews presenting all these glories of their ancient, ritualistic religion, then asking with a sneer, “And what do you Christians have?  We have all this. What do you have? Nothing but a simple upper room, a table, and some bread and wine on the table! Do you mean to say that you have left all this for that?”

 

The epistle to the Hebrews is really an answer to the question, “What do you have?”  In a word the answer is Christ!  In Him we have One who is better than the prophets, angels, Moses, Joshua, Aaron, the sanctuary, the old covenant, and the animal sacrifices. Just as the stars fade from view in the greater glory of the sun, so the types and shadows of Judaism pale into insignificance before the greater glory of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus.

 

For those who were only nominal Christians, persecution resulted in the apostasy of many.  After professing to receive Christ, they might utterly renounce Him and return to ritualistic religion.  For this willful sin there was no repentance or forgiveness.  Against this sin there are repeated warnings in the Letter to the Hebrews.

  • 2:1 – do not drift away from the message of Christ
  • 3:7-19 – do not harden your hearts
  • 6:6 – do not fall away and commit apostasy
  • 10:25 – do not forsake the assembling together with the church
  • 10:26 – do not go on sinning willfully
  • 12:16 – do not sell your birthright
  • 12:25 – do not refuse the One who is speaking from heaven.

 

When we understand that the author is continually urging his readers not to forsake Jesus and go back to Judaism, it will help you understand some difficult passages in this book like 6:4-6 and 10:26-31. So, keep this in mind as we go through the book.

 

7. What is the Outline of the Book?

 

  1. Christ Superior in His Person (1:1 – 4:13)
  1. Christ Superior to the Prophets (1:1-3
  2. Christ Superior to the Angels (1:4 – 2:18)
  3. Christ Superior to Moses and Joshua (3:1 – 4:13)

 

  1. Christ Superior in His Priesthood (4:14 – 10:18)
  2. Christ’s High Priesthood Superior to Aaron’s (4:14 – 7:28)
  3. Christ’s Ministry Superior to Aaron’s (Chap. 8)
  4. Christ’s Offering Superior to Old Testament Sacrifices (9:1 – 10:18)

 

  1. Exhortation to Persevere In Faith (10:19 – 13:17)
  2. Exhortation Not to Despise Christ (10:19-39)
  3. Exhortation to Faith by OT Examples (Chap.11)
  4. Exhortation to Hope in Christ (Chap.12)
  5. Exhortation to Various Christian Graces (13:1-17)

 

  1. Closing Benediction (13:18-25)
  2. Style of Writing:

Now, having give you an overview of the entire book, let’s spend the remainder of our time in God’s Word meditating on the first three verses.  I want to give you seven brief truths about Jesus Christ from these verses.

  1. Jesus is God’s Final Revelation:

God is not silent; He communicates. The true & living God is a speaking God. He’s not just an idea to be thought of, but Person to be listened to, and obeyed. Note how God has spoken in 2 ways and periods of time – before the coming of Jesus into the world, and through the coming of Jesus.

Many portions: this describes the size of food on your plate. The idea is that God spoke through many different and separate revelations. Each of God’s revelations set forth a portion of the truth.

Many ways:  God spoke audibly to Moses face to face, through dreams to Joseph and Daniel, through visions to Ezekiel, through poetry (Job & Psalms), through proverbs, through history.

Last days: implies something important happened when Christ spoke. He is the climax and culmination of all God’s revelation. There are no days after Him in which God will speak. Jesus has brought the fulness of God’s revelation to man. When the word of Jesus was recorded in New Testament Scripture, the canon of Scripture was closed forever, because God had spoken the culmination of His revelation in His Son. There is no more revelation for Him to give us.  Jesus never wrote single verse of Bible, but God spoke through Him and the entire New Testament is the result.

  1. Jesus is the Heir of All Things:

Now we are being told why there could never be any revelation superior to Christ’s.  All things belong to God. Jesus is God’s only Son. Thus, Jesus inherits everything! To Him belongs the entire universe, lordship over all angels, all men, all animals and plants, all events, and all the starry heavens.

Jesus said in Mt.28:18, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me…”

Psalm 2:8 gives the words of God to Jesus, “Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession.”

  1. Jesus is the Creator of All Things:

Heb. 1:2 “through whom also He made the world”

Jn.1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”

Col.1:16 “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him.”

 

This Jesus that we worship is the Creator!  He made the ground He walked on, the tree He died on, and the people that crucified Him.

 

  1. Jesus is the Image of the Invisible God:

 

He is the radiance of His glory.  The word “radiance” means brightness that shines out from a source. The sun is the source, and the light shining from it is the radiance. You can’t separate the light from the sun, but the light is what you actually see and experience. Jesus is the visible expression of God’s glory. He is God’s light shining out in a way we can see.

  1. There is no time that the sun exists without the beams of radiance. They cannot be separated.  The radiance is co-eternal with the glory.  Christ is co-eternal with God. Christ is eternally begotten of the Father, not made.  
  2. The radiance IS the glory radiating out. It is not essentially different from the glory.  Christ is God, a separate person, but the same essence as the Father.
  3. We see the sun, by seeing the rays of the sun. So we see God the Father, by seeing Jesus.  The rays of the sun arrive here about 8 seconds after they leave the sun, and the round ball of fire that we see in the sky is the image – the exact representation of the sun.  It is the sun streaming forth in its radiance.  John 1:18 says, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

 

He is the Exact Representation of His nature.  The Greek word for “exact representation” refers to minted coins that bear the image of a sovereign.  It refers to a precise reproduction of the original.  The Son is completely the same in His being as the Father.  Just as an imprint is the same as the stamp that makes the impression, yet both exist separately.  The Son is not the Father, but proceeds from the Father and is a separate Person.  Yet He who sees the Son has seen the Father – Jn.14:9.

  1. Jesus is the Upholder of All Things:

He upholds all things by the word of His power.  The whole universe hangs on the Word of Jesus for its moment by moment existence. Col.1:17 says, “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” . He keeps the world from dissolving, falling apart, and disintegrating. Behold His power!

  1. Jesus is the Purifier of Sins:

He made purification of sins.  This is speaking of Christ’s atoning work, making satisfaction for sins, and removing the guilt and stain of sins. Doesn’t say He is making purification, or will make purification. Speaks of a once for all perfectly completed work! That’s what we are going to read later in 10:12-14, “He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”

  1. Jesus is the King of the Universe:

He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.  Jesus sitting down is in contrast to the Old Testament priests. There was no chair in the holy place. Their work was never finished, because it never took away sin. But Jesus sat down. How could He do that! Only because His work was finished! Everything necessary to make purification of sins was accomplished at the cross.

When Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, He sat down at the place of honor and glory (the right hand).  Eph.1:20-22 says, “God raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

Application: 

I just want to leave you with one thought this morning. Christ is superior to everything else! He is superior to the prophets, the angels, Moses, Joshua, Aaron, the Old Covenant, the Aaronic priesthood, the Old Testament sacrifices – everything!  That’s why these Jewish believers must not leave Jesus and go back to Judaism. They already have everything in Christ. If they leave Him, they have nothing.

The same is true of us. If you have Jesus Christ, you have everything. You can have all the rituals and trappings of religion and still have nothing. You can have your sanctuaries, statues, icons, priests, robes, incense, holy days, feasts, fastings, sacraments, etc. But if you don’t have a living, vital, true and real saving relationship with Jesus Christ, all that means NOTHING! On the other hand, you could have no religious trappings, but if you have a true and saving relationship to Jesus Christ you have EVERYTHING!

My friends, learn to find all of your hope, joy, peace, and fulfillment in the Person of Jesus. Christ is all! Make up your mind, once and for all, here and now, that you will NEVER leave Him, despise Him, forsake Him, for anything this world can offer. Because nothing in this world will ever compare with Him.

 

 

 

______________________________

 

© The Bridge

 

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by The Bridge.

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)