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| Hebrews 1 Memory Verses: 1 John 1:5-7 Good Morning Brothers and Sisters, Today we start a new book! I am excited and I am a little bit overwhelmed with this one. This is a book that I studied shortly after being saved, and went over it with a fine tooth comb. It is a book that was written to the Hebrews, showing them how to compare the Messiah with Jesus Christ. It is a book on evaluation of the Lord Jesus Christ compared to the law and the prophets. It is a book of encouragement for the Jewish believers to walk back with the Lord. Imagine if you will, at that time, there were people being persecuted for their faith. The Jewish faith looked much more appealing since people were not being fed to lions and such. For an example, I was searching out a question that Erik wrote me about yesterday and referred to Fox's Book of Martyrs. Have you ever looked into what happened to the apostles and the New Testament leaders? It is incredible, to give you an idea of the intense persecution, look in the first chapter of Fox's Book of Martyrs, a copy can be found online on www.crosswalk.com under study aids, then under history a. d. Several were beheaded, several were crucified, one had his brains dashed out with a club, another dragged to death, another was hanged. Then there was John, who miraculously avoided being boiled in oil, then disappears off the scene on the island of Patmos. It was not popular to be a Christian, and Nero was determined to exterminate this faith by going after the leaders. It was not popular to be a Christian, and Christians who professed their faith didn't grow old. This book looks forward to the future, to our lives with Christ, and exalts the mighty God that we serve. I referred to commentaries in preparing this introduction, and the information was overwhelming. As far a authorship goes, it is difficult to determine. I always thought that Paul wrote it, but it seems according to the commentaries the authorship is not determined. You can't really prove that Paul wrote it, and you can't really disprove it either. It seems to carry more of a concentrated focus than what you see in Paul's writing, yet according to the commentaries, due to the different pet phrases included either Paul wrote it, or someone who he discipled wrote it. This book seems to have been written around the end of the first century, before the temple was destroyed. Which would place the date before AD 70. Which also places the writing right in with Nero's reign where the apostles were being persecuted and killed. So much for dissecting the authorship, and purpose, it is time to get into our study. Hebrews chapter 1 is a overview of Jesus Christ, His work is recognized, and He is compared to the angels. The reason behind this was because the angels had a great role in the history of the Jewish nation. All through history the angels were used to deliver messages, to fight off evil, and to herald the coming of the messiah. Hebrews 1:1-2 "God" the first word, establishes the authority that this book is written upon. God personally spoke to the prophets and fathers, careful studies will reveal that God spoke to the prophets in various ways in the Old Testament, ranging from speaking to man face to face, to speaking to man in dreams. Yet here we are clearly told that God spoke to us through His son, Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1:2b-3 Here we have a list of the attributes of Jesus Christ. It is an interesting study. Hebrews has a tremendous amount of information compacted into small spaces. "He appointed heir of all things" Remember Mark 12:7? Here the very Son of God has come to witness to us after God sent the prophets so long ago. Now His very heir came to speak to the world. What is the position of Christ in this? Romans 8:17 As we learned in Romans, Jesus is the second Adam. The first Adam sinned and sold his birthright to Satan. The second Adam, Jesus Christ paid the penalty for sin and purchased the birthright with His blood. He has made salvation available to all men, paid the price for sin, and regained the birthright for the earth. Romans 5:6-21; Colossians 1:15ff "through whom also He made the world." John 1:3; 1 Cor 8:6; Col 1:17-18 Jesus was the creator of the universe. It is interesting that the one who created the universe was the same one who paid the price for redeeming the world. "And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature" Jesus was God the Father's exact copy. Through the Gospel of John we are told that if you have seen Jesus you have seen the Father. John 8:16; 10:30 "and upholds all things by the word of His power" Col 1:17 It is interesting that in the Colossians verse, the Bible says that in Jesus all things consist or are held together. What is the binding force of the atom? All the little parts and widgets that make up an atom have been figured out, but what makes the critter hold together? Sarah says that it is a profound mystery, they still can't figure it out. Perhaps they need to read Colossians 1:17 and Hebrews 1:3 "When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high," Colossians 1:13-14 Jesus finished the job. He completed the forgiveness of sins by offering the final sacrifice, nothing more needs to be done. Hallelujah. Hebrews 1:4-14 Here we see the mission of the Angels, they were His ministers, and their sole design was to worship God. It is much the same with us. Our sole purpose in life is to bring worship to the Lord our God. When you boil it down, to the most basic concept, our purpose once we receive Jesus Christ as Lord is to glorify and worship God. We also see the Godhead of the Son listed, Jesus is listed as begotten of the Father, as a Son to the Father, as God, and as being worthy of the Throne of God, As ruling with a righteous scepter, again as being God, as being the creator of the world, as being an eternal being who existed before the world was created and will be here after the world perishes. He is noted to sit at the right hand of the Father. In all of these verses, we see almost all of them were directly quoted from the Old Testament. Jesus is verified in the scriptures. I apologize for cutting this study short, the beeper got me once again, I will be writing again tonight for tomorrows study. So hang in there, keep after the memory verses. Lord, as we start the book of Hebrews, enable each one of us to learn what You have for us. Open our eyes that we can understand what is written and how it applies to each one of our lives. In Him, Joe Turner |
| Joe, Thanks for the study in Hebrews 1. What is your sense about the location to which it was written and the people to whom it was written? Lifted up the requests. IHG, Erik |
| Hi Erik, I'm having a little trouble with that one, the commentaries seem to feel that it was somewhere possibly a second generation from the original disciples, possibly 100 ad. I think that it may have been earlier than that, possibly around 60 ad or so. The reason I think this is the referal of witnesses of those that confirm what Jesus had said in chapter 2. On the other hand, the church seems to have matured, as referenced to those falling away from the faith. That could place it later since the original zeal is wearing off. Hard question for a novice. It does make you think though. What is your take on it? Joe. |
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