Lesson 2
Last weeks review:
Our Purpose of this class is to STUDY THE BOOK OF HEBREWS together. Our Goal is not to just learn a bunch of facts and details about this book. As we talked about last week, we live in an information age and all to often in practice we believe that information is the answer to all of our problems. But, as we began to see last week the writer of the Hebrews will show us that as important as correct knowledge is, it is a relationship with God through His Son that makes the difference!
Last week as we were studying together, several things came up and were discussed that I thought were important to review. One of them was that God is BIGGER than our mind. Therefore, we need to see Him and His plan for our life not only with our mind, but by other means also. Not excluding the mind, but remembering that the HEART may more fully comprehend God and His ways.
This book was written to Jewish Christians. These Christians were serious about following the Lord. They wanted to know the TRUTH ABOUT THE GOSPEL! The writer of the Hebrews will tell them that the TRUTH is found in understanding Jesus Christ. We can learn a lot from them.
Key Verses used as Theme for study:
We are likening our study to the theme that our church is using in reference to the Christian life or the Christian JOURNEY….THE GREAT ADVENTURE. Pastor Steve coined this phrase and I want you to IMAGINE being on a Journey/ Adventure in YOUR Christian LIFE as we travel through this book. One of our key verses in found in Heb. 11:13-16. This passage has been an inspiration to me for much of my Christian life. Read Prepared for them a city…Jn 14:1-3
· Remember if you understand this concept that this world is not your home, you will be out of step with the world’s perspective… The world will call you to come, but a true believer will not follow. 1 Jn. 2:15-7 1 Jn.3:1 1Jn. 4:4-6
· Remember, Jn. 10:27-8 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow me… To do this we must have a personal relationship with God through His Holy Spirit.
Heb. 4:12 The Word of God IS Living and POWERFUL…able to leap tall buildings in a single bounce! The Word of God can be powerful in YOUR life…if you let it!
Also, the Holy Spirit is ALIVE and wants to be your teacher.
Study is ESSENTIAL (READ) 1 Timothy 2:16
· Studying, pondering and meditating. Musing over a verse or passage allows the Holy Spirit to commune with you over spiritual truths. NO LANGUAGE is perfect. Every earthly language is imperfect and may not fully express the meaning of a spiritual TRUTH. Musing over a verse or ruminating over a verse can draw out a spiritual truth that you can apply to your life. Remember the Holy Spirit is your Teacher and is Personally instructing you, if you let Him. (READ Jn. 14:26)
Background
The book of Hebrews was probably written in approx. 64-68 AD. Some scholars, even good ones date this book after 70 AD. Why do we know/assume this? But, most scholars date it earlier than 70 AD because there is no mention in this book about the destruction of the temple, and they feel that with an event of that magnitude, if it had occurred, surely would have been talked about or mentioned.
At the time of the writing of this book, We can assume from other historic writings and scripture references, that things were beginning to HEAT UP for the Christians. We know that persecution began almost right out of the GATE! So, some of them were possibly suffering some form of persecution at this time. Tension came to a head in 70 AD by the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. The Church at that time was an interesting mix of Jew and Gentile believers.
MAKE NOTES. Mark your Bible! The Bible is meant to be used to place God’s Word in your heart. Bibles can be replaced with a new one, and should be, when marked up past recognition. A fresh Bible can give you a “fresh” start so to speak.
Heb. 1:1-2 Old Testament prophets pointed DIRECTLY to this ONE and in these last days we get to hear directly from the source. The writer of the Hebrews will unfold his argument why these Jewish Christians need to transfer their focus from what they had been taught to THIS Person-Christ. HE IS NOT ASKING THEM TO FORGET THEIR HERITAGE. To the contrary, he is saying that this is the completion/fulfillment of what they had been taught.
v.3 What were some to the beginning arguments/reasons that they needed to see Jesus as special? (READ chapter 1 unhurriedly) What is the significance of the end of verse 3? Is this important to establish this fact in the beginning? Why?
v. 4 The writer of Hebrews now begins his comparison with things that they understand to challenge them to place Jesus at the forefront of their thinking. Is this IMPORTANT? Why is this so important??
He is asking us to consider the same. It was not uncommon for these Jewish Christians to in practically put other things on a par level with Christ. What might be some examples of this? Moses, Angels, David, Elijah, the Law… The writer of the Hebrews will use these as examples, putting them side by side in comparison.
We do the same. Actually, some things in our life are placed higher than Christ in our focus. The writer of the Hebrews will encourage us to consider moving Christ to the forefront of our thinking.
Heb. 1:6 As we said before, Many of these verses cannot be fully understood just with the mind. To conceptualize how God the Son stuffed Himself into human flesh is beyond our comprehension. And yet, by faith we CAN fully understand and acknowledge it. As we study and learn about God, part of learning about Him is learning to Worship Him. When God took on the form of human flesh He told the Angels to DO THE SAME. WORSHIP HIM! Think of it… even the angles, with their untarnished view could not fully understand what happened when God became man, or how it even occurred. Nor, did the angels take an uninterested position. They did try to understand this historic event, but came up short in being able to figure it out. At the end of the process… all they could do was Worship and wonder.
Heb. 1:7-8 God acknowledges what He purposed for angels when He made them. To them He acknowledged his creating them, and that He made them Powerful, ie. Flames of Fire.
But, unto the Son He did not call Him a flame of fire, But acknowledged His Kingship, sitting down at His right hand! Ps. 45:6-7 It would be easy to liken Jesus to some great bible character or creation. What did Jesus ask Peter in Matt. 16:13-6?
Some of the Jews, even though they may revere Christ as special, may have acknowledged Him as some great prophet. THE END OF V.9 says above ALL.
Heb. 1:10-2 The writer of the Hebrews has already established that this One called Christ is Creator of ALL we see. Now he restates this fact to make several very important points:
· He created ALL things
· ALL of these things SHALL parish – discontinue - pass away
· HE shall REMAIN (Ponder/meditate on this!)
· 2 Pet. 3:10-4
v. 13-4 Christ given SPECIAL prominence, the ONLY One. By the way, the real purpose of angels … ministering spirits. The human race needs to be thankful for our position in God’s creation. Created in God’s image…made for FELLOWSHIP.
2:1 The first WARNING to his readers!!! This is the first of six warnings that he gives to his readers. Every warning he will give to them is current and applicable to us. What was the first warning? Is it important to hold onto and apply these truths to our lives? Next week we will see how important this warning is. It will be a consistent theme throughout this book.
Note: The book of Hebrews is chuck full of solid doctrinal statements.
· Can you list the three doctrines we stated in this section of scripture, chapter 1?
o God/Jesus created all things.
o ONLY God is worthy of Worship…the angels told to worship Jesus!
o God NEVER changes
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