HebrewsPersevere in Jesus

Introduction

• Survey– Helps us determine the context or

the circumstances of the work– These kinds of data enrich our

understanding and help us in questions of interpretation.

– The Problem with Hebrews is:• We do not have much survey

information.

More Questions than Answers• Who wrote Hebrews?

– There’s no inscription– The author knows Timothy (13:23)– Many guesses, lots of interesting discussions, nothing rationally binding. – By AD 250 Origen (Alexandrian Christian Philosopher) says: “...but who

wrote the Epistle, God only knows certainly.”

• To Whom was Hebrews written?– Donald Guthrie suggests a small, definite group of people with whom the

author is familiar:• References to their having suffered previously• The author knows they ought to be teachers by now• The personal greetings

– Probably second generation Christians (2:3) • neither the writer nor the readers witnessed His earthly ministry.

More Questions than Answers

• Where was it written?– Some suggest Alexandria

• all Old Testament references come from the Septuagint (LXX), which was highly exalted there.

– It might have been somewhere in Italy based on 13:24• although “those from Italy” might have been just visiting wherever the

author happened to be.

– Without knowing more about the author...

• What is its literary form?– It begins like a sermon and ends like a letter

• there’s no inscription, addressee etc.• but it calls itself a letter of exhortation (13:22)

More Questions than Answers• What was its purpose?

– Some scholars want to ask the question: ‘Is it practical or doctrinal?’– But it seems me that all Scripture is both (1 Tim 3:16). There’s no teaching

that’s not meant for us to apply in some way God’s love and truth to our seeking of His holiness.

– It puts the major Pharisaical/Levitical authorities in the perspective of Christ Jesus, and from that basis exhorts this group not to fall back, but to press on. • Some say in a time of civic peace for Christians• Others say in preparation for the Fall of Jerusalem.

• When was it written?– Clement of Rome in his Epistle to the Corinthians (I Clement) cites Hebrews in

AD 95. He treats it like Scripture. – There is no direct reference to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple—

This seems to be a pretty conspicuous silence.

The Real Answers

• Hebrews 1:1-3 NKJ Hebrews 1:1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

The Word of God• What is a Prophet?

• In what ways did God use the prophets to speak to the fathers?

• The NET footnotes indicate that the word represented by “various times” could actually be indicating “various portions,” that it communicates the fragmentary nature of OT revelation.

• Notice the connection by verse 2:– The author already begins the project of showing the connection between the OT and

the person of Christ Jesus and His ministry:• God was speaking to the fathers in this way,• NOW He has spoken to us through His Son.

• If the OT was fragmentary, then Jesus Christ is the full and present fufillment. In other words, the whole OT revelation comes together in Him.

The Word of God• If a Prophet is God’s mouth-piece What is Christ Jesus?

• Hebrews 1:2b His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; – The Son of God– The Heir of all things– The Mediator or Medium of Creation

• Hebrews 1:3a who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person,– The word for “brightness” is an allusion to Wisdom 7:26 For she is the

brightness of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodness.

– “...bears the exact imprint of [the Father’s] being from eternity.” S.J. Kistemaker

The Word of God

• What does he do?• Hebrews 1:3b and upholding all things by the

word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,– Sustaining all things– Purges our sins: (summary of His High-Priestly

Function)– Has the place of Honor (first allusion to Psalm 110).

Summing Up Vv. 1-3

• Most recently, God reveals Himself to us,– not by a the scattered witness of the

Prophets– but by the fullness of His Son– Who is Alpha and Omega,

• through Whom all was created• Who is heir of all things

– Who is the wisdom and Word of God– Who is radiance of His glory– Who represents Him perfectly – Who sustains all things– Who atones for sins– Who is honored at the Right Hand of

Majesty

For Two Weeks From Now

Read Chapter 1 at least 4 times throughout the 2 weeks.

Check a couple different translations if you canalso Read Psalm 110

For Two Weeks From Now

Read Chapter 1 at least 4 times throughout the 2 weeks.

Check a couple different translations if you canalso Read Psalm 110