Hebrews | Chapter 1 – Scripture Supply

Hebrews

“Christ the Champion”

Introduction

We come now to the introduction of a new study in the book known simply as To Hebrews. It is never an easy task as far as a student to start a new study. There are specific steps that must be followed that enable the student to properly investigate the book. These steps include knowing:

The type of literature
The author
The original readers
The location and time of writing among many other things.

All of these play an important role in determining the context of the passage under investigation. Then there is the time-consuming exercise of dividing the book into sections which will enable a further detailed study. In the case of Hebrews with its 13 chapters, (the 3^rd longest letter in the New Testament behind Romans and 1 Corinthians), no easy task. Further complicating our investigation into this amazing book is that though it is a letter the common elements of ancient letter writing were not followed. This letter has no introduction with which most letters started with. The introduction of the letter is where we normally learn of who the author is as well as who the original readers were. Second there is no clear “statement of purpose” where the student would discover the clear reason for writing. What we do have is only two aspects of a normal New Testament letter:

1:1 – 13:17 A body of teaching that starts immediately in chapter 1 verse 1 and continues through chapter 13 verse 17
13:18-25 A closing where the writer asks for prayer from his readers mentions a common acquaintance (Timothy) and mentions a greeting from fellow believers in Italy.

What this means is that our examination lacks the normal elements which help give us the context.

Authorship

The first example of this is in determining the writer. Since the writer doesn’t choose to introduce himself we are left with only historical and internal evidence which is vague at best. Further more because the author is uncertain, we are also left with uncertainty with regards to:

Where it was written
When it was written
Whom it was written

This has led some to question the book of Hebrews placement in the New Testament, but it must be noted that this book had the full support of early church fathers such as Clement of Rome. It wasn’t accepted in the West until the 4^th century when it received the full support of both Jerome and Augustine. But the Eastern Church had no such issues because it regarded the book as the 14^th letter from Paul.

The issue of its acceptance again came up during the Reformation where it overcame its anonymity and passed the test of inspiration due to its quality and spiritual depth. An examination of this letter reveals that this letter was NOT anonymous to its original readers: The author asks for prayer from the readers in 13:18, indicating that he is looking forward to being “restored” to them soon. They also shared a mutual friend in Timothy (13:23) as well as those in Italy. Yet with those clues the question as to authorship still remains, largely being divided between Paul, Luke, or Barnabas.

The internal evidence is less than conclusive, as some aspects of the style, language, and theology are very similar to Paul as well as the author’s mention of Timothy who was Paul’s son in the faith. But there are significant differences as well: The lack of Paul’s common salutation which included his name in the 13 letters he wrote churches and individuals. The Greek style in Hebrews is far more refined than found in Paul’s known letters. In Paul’s other letters, he was far more insistent upon being an apostle of Jesus and hearing from the Lord directly. Whereas in Hebrews the author states that Jesus was confirmed by those who heard Him. Paul in his other writings would quote the Old Testament scriptures using both the Hebrew text as well as the Greek translation of the Hebrew text but in Hebrews, only the Greek translation is quoted which suggests that the author only knew the Greek translation.

All of this suggests that the author was greatly influenced by Paul but most likely wasn’t written by him. One of the possible answers to authorship is an ancient reference from Clement of Alexandria 150 – 215 AD where he says that the Letter to the Hebrews was written by Paul but that it was written for Hebrews in the Hebrew language and that Luke carefully translated it for the Greeks and that it purposefully didn’t bare the name of Paul as the writer as the original in Hebrew was absent these normal markings due to the prejudice and suspicions held by the Jews against Paul.

Location, Time and Original Readers

Like the authorship, many destinations have been suggested as the locality of the original readers. But none can be determined absolutely! Some suggest Jerusalem but this location has been all but eliminated by most scholars due to internal and external evidence. The other popular locations are Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome, all of which had substantial Jewish populations that had come to recognize Jesus as their Messiah.

Rome is by far the most popular location by scholars as the salutation in 13:24 makes it obvious that the writer was in company with certain Italian believers who were sending their greetings back to Rome. What we can determine in this letter about the original readers of this letter is that they were believers (3:1) who had come to Christ through those who were eyewitnesses of Jesus. According to chapter 5 verse 12, they were not “new believers” but were stunted in their maturity. According to chapter 10 verses 32-34 they had gone through great trials because of their faith as well as their association with the writer who was in chains. Yet with that said that had become dull of hearing 5:11 and in danger of drifting away 2:1 and departing from the Living God 3:12. The author feared that renewed persecution would further their decline 12:4-12 and needed exhortation 13:22. We can reasonably guess the date of the letter by examining the other evidence as Hebrews is quoted by Clement of Rome in A.D. 95, furthermore the fact that there is no mention of the ending of the sacrificial system which occurred in A.D. 70 when the temple was destroyed indicates that the letter was written before its destruction. Timothy was still alive, persecution was mounting and the Jewish system of sacrifice was seen as ending all point to a date around 64-68 A.D.

Reason For Writing

Among the many challenges that Jewish believers faced that Hebrews addresses is:

How is Jesus to be understood in relation to the teachings of many Old Testament passages, especially the New Covenant spoken of by Jeremiah?
How were these Jewish believers to interpret their religious and cultural expression practiced by their fathers in their new realization of Jesus as their Messiah?
How were they to understand their persecution from their fellow Jewish brethren and avoid the temptation of abandoning their new faith in Jesus as Messiah?
How are they to understand the old practices of sacrifices in light of the sacrifice of Christ?
How were they to engage with gentile believers who didn’t share their culture or former religious practice?

These are the questions that come up in this letter but behind it is the practical question of: What can the author do to encourage specifically Jewish believers to live like what they say they believe? They had like so many professing believers today begun to “drift away” from their faith. They had lost the sense of relevancy of their faith to everyday life and had begun to go back to the outward religious performance of their formal religious expression. They faced doubts both from alternative philosophies and increased persecution that made abandoning their profession and practice of their faith in Jesus easy to succumb to. The cost of faith in Christ was just too much and with their Jewish brethren advancing this agenda some had begun to doubt the message of eyewitness testimony and began to think that the truths about Jesus were an elaborate hoax in which they had been deliberately deceived.

To these pressures that the Jewish believers faced the writer without apology stressed Jesus Christ as the answer to their doubts and fears. There is no book in the New Testament that better presents the availability and adequacy of Jesus than the book of Hebrews. Jesus alone is our champion who is incomparable to any person or religion in setting men free as well as granting them unrestricted access to the Living God. The author achieves this by contrasting Jesus with what these Jewish believers were tempted to go back to. Thirteen times In Hebrews the author uses the word “better” to show the superiority of Jesus Christ to what they were tempted to return to. Jesus is better than angels, He offers a better hope because He is a mediator of a better covenant established by better promises. Another word the author repeatedly uses to express Jesus’ superiority is the use of the word “perfect” which he uses 14 times. Here the contrast is between what could never be accomplished by their former religious observance but can be accomplished by Jesus’ “Perfect” work! The third word the author uses is the word “eternal” where the author seeks to show the permanence of the work of Christ when compared to the temporary work that they were being tempted to return to. Yet with those three words emphasizing the superiority of Christ five times throughout this letter, the author issues warnings about rejecting the truth once and forever delivered to the saints. In each of these warnings, these are admonished to heed God’s word!

Hebrews 1:1-3

“The Final Word”

II. Introduction

III. 1 Progressive revelation

IV. 2-3 Seven superiorities of Jesus’ revelation

II. Introduction

For the sake of examination, I divided the book of Hebrews into three sections. I choose to use one of the author’s favorite words “BETTER”.

From chapter 1 verse 1, through chapter 4 verse 13, the focus is upon Jesus being a “BETTER PERSON”. The first way in which Jesus proved Himself a “BETTER PERSON” is in the area of communication between the Godhead and His creation.
The second division of the book of Hebrews starts at chapter 4 verse 14 and runs through chapter 10 verse 18where the author delivers upon another area of Jesus’ superiority as He offers a “BETTER PERFORMANCE” as our High Priest.
In the last division of this book, I believe that the author reveals to his readers one last area where Jesus is better than anything or anyone that came before Him and that is Jesus in chapter 10 verse 19 through chapter 13 verse 25 offers a “BETTER PRACTICE” in which we can place our faith in.

The very first book of the Bible and its very first verse starts with God’s communication to His creation saying, “In the beginning God…” Here in Hebrews, the author wastes no time in this letter with an introduction whereby he would have made himself known to his readers. Instead, the author is consumed with a much larger picture to write about; the “Creator’s heart and desire to make Himself known to His creation”. One of the primary aspects about God as our creator is that He was not content with merely creating all that exists out of nothing, instead His very nature is to reveal Himself to His creation. The author of Hebrews in the first three verses of chapter 1 shows Seven Superiorities of Jesus as communicator above the prophets of the First Testament or Hebrew Scriptures. That is not to say that the First Testament isn’t inspired but that God’s way of communication through the prophets had limitations when compared with His communication with His creation through His Son.

III. 1 Progressive revelation

Vs. 1 The statement from the author is simple and blunt: The creator has always been interested in communicating with His creation and the word of God shows that it is a cornerstone of His nature. It is important to make the distinction between “revelation” and “discovery” as they are opposite. REVELATION is God who is making himself known whereas DISCOVERY, is dependent upon mankind to discover God. Up first the author in verse 1 speaks on how the Creator spoke through the prophets and the limitations of this form of communication. Such a challenge should not be lost upon us as we have all experienced the difficulty of getting our information across to others. We all realize that there are various roadblocks to communication such as a person’s age, culture, and education.

The first thing we are told is that the initiator of this communication was GOD, it was the creator who initiated the communication to His creation and not His creation trying to communicate to the creator. I find it interesting in light of organizations like SETI whose purpose is stated as a; “Scientific search for intelligent extraterrestrial life as they monitor electromagnetic radiation for signs of transmissions from civilizations on other worlds.” Here is a bunch of very smart people spending every day listening to white noise hoping to hear something that indicates intelligent extraterrestrial life when all they needed to do is open their bibles and read about the Most Intelligent Life there is who is trying to see if there is any intelligent life left of the planet He created. Next, we are told that God spoke at “various times” and in “various ways”. The Greek is far more exacting than the English as the author’s point is not that God spoke, but that it was at “various times” and in “various ways”. The author is NOT combating the denial of divine revelation, instead, he is preparing the reader that God has now through Jesus given His final word in revealing Himself. This twofold statement is a comparison of the limitations of how God spoke in times past in the “First Testament”:

“Various times”: The word is a compound word made up of two words “many” and “parts or portions”. The point of the author is that God didn’t speak all at once, but in separate revelations each of which set forth only a part of His will. One writer of the first testament was given a revelation, and another was given another element of truth about the Creator at another time.
“Various ways”: This word is also a compound word that means “many” and “manners or ways”. This doesn’t refer to different ways in which God imparted truth to the writers of the First Testament but to various revelations in content and form. In the First Testament God didn’t choose to communicate once and for all but only gave one writer some information and then another writer further information. He spoke to Moses one way and time them Isaiah at another way and time etc. It is also obvious to those who examine the scriptures that at the beginning of God’s revelation that what He presented to the writers of the First Testament was more basic and as time went on what He gave other writers was a more developed revelation.

The First Testament revelation was “progressive” in nature as no one writer could understand or write about the revelation of God at once. The revelation was given many parts as well as many different types or modes: To one writer it was given as a law, to another it was given as history, another it was a poem, another a typology or parable and still another a prophecy. To the people of the 1^st Testament God’s communication was like listening to a grandfather clock as they had to wait tell the chime at the hour and the rest of the time was waiting till the sound was heard.

The phrase “in times past” is also a compound word made up of “times” and “past”. These two words are very similar:

“Times”: “Old in the point of TIME”
“Past”: “Old in the point of USE” Meaning, worn out, ready to be replaced by something new”.

The close association of these two words suggests that the writer wanted to convey that the First Testament was not to be cast aside but that it was time for a new revelation to be given, on that would be God’s final word and complete the first one.

Next, the author says “God having spoken, spoke” and by this word links the two revelations the 1^st and the new. God did this “to the fathers of Israel” by the prophets. John the Baptist confirms this, being the last of those who in John 1:23 said that was, “A voice of One who is crying out in the wilderness.” The Greek has that as John was one of many voices which God had used in the 1^st Testament.

IV. 2-3 Seven superiorities of Jesus’ revelation

Vs. 2 The phrase “in these last days” again links the times in which God had spoken in the past through the prophets to the end of those times because He is now speaking through His Son. The fact that it said “THE prophets” set them off in a class by themselves but notice that the author doesn’t say “THE Son” which means that the author is drawing the distinction NOT on CLASS but upon CHARACTER and NATURE Jesus stands at the end of the future as he is also at the beginning of the past, for he is the creator of the worlds. So here are the Seven Superiorities of Jesus as communicator above the prophets of the First Testament or Hebrew Scriptures:

Vs. 2 “Has in these last days spoken to us by His Son”: The FIRST WAY in which Jesus is superior to the first testament prophets: They were “mouthpieces of God”; Jesus the Son is God communicating to His creation. The revelation God has given us through His Son is not superior merely in WHAT HE said but Who He is! The revelation is superior in PERSONALITY! A revelation made by the only One who in all He said and did revealed the Father. The Son as God, expressed all that God is, Jesus said in John 14:9 “He that has seen Me has seen the Father.” Or in John opening statement in his gospel John 1:1 “On the beginning was the word(LOGOS), and the word (LOGOS) was with God, and the word (LOGOS) was God.” This is why Jesus is the final revelation to His creation.
Vs. 2 “Whom He has appointed heir of all things”: The author quickly moves into the SECOND WAY Jesus is superior: The prophets were part of the inheritance but the Son inherits all things. The dominion promised to Adam was lost due to sin the prophets didn’t regain what Adam lost but Jesus through His incarnation, death and resurrection has alone regained what was lost. This makes Jesus better than the prophets as they could only communicate truth where as Jesus PERFORMED what He communicated.
Vs. 2 “Through whom also He made the worlds”: The THIRD WAY Jesus is superior is that He created all things and is the One that operates and manages all things. The use of the word “through” in the Greek speaks of the fact that Jesus is the creator but not just a mere instrument or passive tool in creation. Further more the Greek speaks of the fact that in Jesus all the laws and purposes which guided creation resided in Him. The word “worlds” includes all elements such as time and space as well as matter. What this suggests is that all things exist under these but these operate under Him and are a part of His on going and unfolding plan. The Son is not only the divine agent of all of creation but the sustainer of the continual operation of all the creation.
Vs. 3 “Who being the brightness of His glory”: The FOURTH WAY Jesus is superior is that He shares the same glory of the Father and as such is co-eternal and co-existent processing the same glory not merely reflecting it like a moon does the sun. None of the prophets came any where close to this. The Greek construct of the word “brightness” is best summed up in the authors statement in Hebrews 12:29 where he writes “Our God is a consuming fire”. One Greek scholar summed it up by saying that this word states that “The Son of God is, in His essential majesty, the expression and sole expression of divine light.” The Greek word for “glory” speaks of the collective divine attributes. This is different than Paul’s words in Philippians 2:6 where Paul says that Jesus, “being in the FORM God..” as the word there is immediate and speaks of the personal divine essence in His inmost being. Here the idea is that the glory is attached to His deity!
Vs. 3 “And the express image of His Person”: The FIFTH WAY, Jesus is superior to the prophets is that He is the exact impression of the Person and character of God. The prophets are clearly not! The writer was not content with speaking only of the glory of God as it relates to Jesus but now moves to the character of God. The word “express image” in the Greek was used of an engraver who made a stamp of coins. Metaphorically it revered to a “distinctive mark” and was used in classical Greek of a “person’s personal features”. “Of His Person” in the Greek is a compound word made up of “under” and “to stand” or “that which stands under”! The idea is that of a foundation that God placed in His Son as a distinctive stamp of attributes and characteristics that bear His exact image.
Vs. 3 “And upholding all things by the word of His power”: The SIXTH WAY Jesus is better than the prophets is that He not only carries the weight of all of the creation, He maintains its coherence and development of it. Which of the prophets could make that claim? The idea here is not like the Greeks Atlas who sustained the dead weight of the world. Instead the idea is that Jesus sustains the movement of all of creation with all of its changes and transformation through out time. Paul wrote of this in Colossians 1:17 where he said of Jesus that, “In Him all things CONSIST.” Jesus holds all things together in their proper relationship to each other by His power, He alone is the BOUND in all of creation every where! He alone is the sustainer and maintainer of all of creation, holding it all together by His word.
Vs. 3 “When He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”: The SEVENTH WAY Jesus is superior is that He alone shed His own blood of the cross to put away our sin and no prophet could ever do that. The author has so far focused upon Jesus superiority in creation the final area is a look at His ability in re-creation! The words “When He had purged our sins” in the Greek indicate that He did so acting in His own interest and offering Himself which is what the author continues to insist in chapter 10 verse 12. Sin could only be eradicated by His blood, the bloods of bulls and goats only pointed towards the only cure of the LAMB OF GOD. Sin established its self through Adam’s disobedience and could only be cured by Jesus obedience. Our salvation through Jesus blood breaks the penalty and power of sin through our trust in Jesus. And when we leave this body, we will forever lose our old sin nature and in our glorified body only have His divine nature. The Greek has this as a once-for-all act and the fact that He has “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” indicates that Jesus work if for ever finished where as the Levitical work was never finished.

God did speak in times past in many ways:

The palmist wrote: Ps 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God”
Paul wrote in Romans 1:19 that, “What may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.”
The angels have many times declared as Luke 2:10 records “I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.”
The prophet’s countless times spoke of His glory as in Isaiah 6:3 where we read, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.” He spoke to Moses in a storm and thunder and to Elijah in a still small voice.

Yet in none of these ways: Creation above, conscience within, angels from on high or prophets in our midst was the message ever complete. Only in Jesus have do we as John 1:14 declares that we “beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus is God’s final word to humanity, there is nothing more to be said, there is nothing more unsaid, it has all been said in Jesus!

Hebrews 1:4-14

“Better than angels”

V. Introduction

VI. Vs. 4-5 Better name

VII. Vs. 6 The One worshipped

VIII. Vs. 7-9 Better nature

IX. Vs. 10-12 Superior existence

X. Vs. 13-14 Greater destiny

V. Introduction

The author established a sevenfold superiority of Jesus over the prophets with regards to a communicator of a completed revelation instead of a progressive revelation. Now he focuses upon Jesus’ superiority over the angels. The abruptness of verse 4 when the author had been just discussing the prophets would cause most of us English readers confusion. “Why does the author now bring up a comparison between Jesus and the angels.” The subject matter has been God’s direct desire to communicate with His creation whom we are told has done so at “various times” and “various WAYS”. The author clearly established the perfection of Jesus as the Son of God as being greater than the imperfection of mere men, the prophets. But the author knows his readers and presupposes a question these Jewish believers would have asked, “What about God’s use of angelic beings to make himself known to His creation in the 1st Testament?”

There are 13 such examples in the First Testament where God revealed Himself in or through angelic form to Israel, without becoming the Son of God, which the author’s readers would have been aware of. (Gen. 18:2-15, 16:7-14, 19:1-22, 28:10-12, Ex. 3:1, Num. 22:31-55, Josh. 5:13-15, Jud. 2:1-4, 6:11-24, 13:6-21, 2 Sam. 24:16, Dan. 6:21, Zech. 2:3) So what we now see is that to the author “The FOCUS of the subject HAS changed (prophets to angels) while the subject has NOT (Jesus’ superiority as God’s final revelation)!” The comparison in these next verses is that God no longer accommodated the limitations of mankind with the use of angels because of His Son’s incarnation. The connection between these two sections is still the author showing the superiority of the New Testament revelation from the 1^st Testament revelation and this time because the Son is superior to angels. To do this the author will quote seven 1^st Testament scriptures that point to Jesus’ superiority.

Vs. 4 The author starts off by saying that Jesus had “become so much better than angels..”: At issue for the writer is the exact time in which Jesus showed Himself to mankind as greater than angels. The writer is not denying that Jesus has always been better than angels He is talking about when mankind recognized this as John says in 1:14 “We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father..” The answer as to when this occurred is the very next words, “As He by INHERITANCE obtained a more excellent name than they.” Jesus showed himself much better than the angels after his death burial and resurrection where He sat down at the right hand of the Father.

Vs. 5 Staying on this theme the writer of Hebrews asks and answers a rhetorical question, “For to which of the angels did He ever say: You are Mt Son, today I have begotten You.” The first quotation is from Psalm 2:7. The word “Son” in Greek is in the emphatic position which is far different than how the angels as they were sometimes referred to as the “sons of God”. In the case of angels the term “sons of God” is collective as a group where whereas when applied to Jesus “Son of God” is unique and individual, as the words “You are MY SON” imply. The word “BEGOTTEN” in Greek does not refer to either Jesus’ eternal generation for the Father or His incarnation in time when He became the Son of Man. Instead this phrase is in the context of the Psalm of celebration when Solomon was ascending the throne of his father David. So the “begotten you” has to do with Jesus as the perfect King of Kings. It’s Jesus’ coronation that was begotten not His physical presence. The writer’s point is NOT Jesus’ entrance into LIFE but His entrance to His office as King of Kings. The reminder to the readers is “What angel ever ascended to the throne of God”? Jesus has a greater relationship with the Father than do angels and “blood is always thicker than water!” C.S. Lewis points out that, “When we make something with our hands it is always something different than what we are. But when we have children through our bodies they are always dearer to us than what we have made with our hands because they are a part of us.” The angels were made; the Son was begotten and what we beget always has the same nature we have.

The second quote in verse 5 is from 2 Sam 7:14 and again is placed into the context of Solomon. But when you look at the history of Solomon the kingdom will become divided where as Jesus’ kingdom is eternal. The writer leaves out a part of this scripture applying only the words “I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son.” This was never said of the angels as they were sons of God be creation and Jesus is the Son of God three unique ways:

By eternal generation: Always has been always will be
By His incarnation: The only perfect sacrifice to take away the sin of man
By His relationship as Messiah at His resurrection. Showing that His sacrifice was accepted

This is how Jesus inherited a better name than the angels.