Here are our notes for reading Hebrews holistically. There are three main areas in this guide, chapter by chapter synopses, a short thematic section, and finally a detailed outline of the book with scripture references.
Who? By an unnamed pastor to a group of persecuted Jewish Christians.
Goal? To convince these Christians to persevere because of the work and nature of Christ and the mission of the Church are the completion of the Old Testament.
Chapter Synopses:
(With links to NLT Chapters of Hebrews)
Chapter 1: Jesus is the son of God and is greater than the angels. (Some thought Jesus was merely an agent of God and therefore of the same rank and stuff as the angels.
Chapter 2: Jesus was completely human and still is. (Some thought that he only appeared human or took on a flesh-shell for a little while. For instance, in the second century, the docetic Gospel of Peter was wildly popular and assumed that Christ only appeared human.)
Chapter 3 and 4: Jesus is the greater than Moses and Joshua. He will lead the children of God to the true promise land. These chapters draw off of Moses/Joshua stories that were so very important for Jewish identity.
Chapters 5-7: Jesus is the true high priest in the order of Melchizedek. The Law said that the priests must only come from the sons of Aaron, while the like of Kings were to come from the House of David. Jesus, being from the House of David, was therefore ineligible to be a high priest of God. The author of Hebrews gets around this by pointing out that Psalm 110 alludes to the king being a high priest of God in the line of Melchizedek, the priest that Abraham went to visit to offer sacrifices up to God before there was an Israel or even a Moses. This priesthood depended upon the call of God alone, not blood lines.
Therefore Jesus is perfectly able to be the one true high priest.
Chapters 8-10: Jesus’ sacrifice and the New Covenant. Jesus is the last and final sacrifice, the only one that was/is effectual for the reversal of sin. Jesus’ sacrifice fulfilled the covenants of the Old Testament (Mosaic and Abrahamic) and ushered in a New Covenant, one that is open to all and will last forever. It is wider in scope than the Mosaic covenant and is the means through which "all nations will be (are) blessed" as promised in the Abrahamic covenant.
Because of everything Jesus is and has done, the author argues, we should be a faithful people and not shrink back.
Chapters 1-10 Summary: – So far, Jesus is the Son of God, who is truly human, and leads his people to their promised land of true rest and is available to all people and all time as the one true high priest through which God is made accessible. He is also the perfect sacrifice and entrance into the new and everlasting covenant of faith. Jesus is the one that that Old Testament anticipated through which is fulfilled. Because of this, Jesus is the one we should follow.
Chapter 11: The heroes of faith. Jewish lists always climax on the ultima, the final item. After the well-known heroes of Judaism are praised for their faith, the author climaxes and eclipses them with Jesus at the beginning of chapter 12. After listening these amazing examples of faith, the writer says that they did not even have the example and work of Jesus yet. They were all looking forward to this thing that was coming (Jesus). We have an advantage that they do not, we have Jesus… how much greater should our faith be!
Chapter 12: This is one of the most encouraging chapters in all of the New Testament for me. The author implores us to run after Jesus will all our might. The rest of the chapter exhorts us to persevere in the face of adversity and to view it instead as strengthening exercises.
Chapter 13: Now that the author has convinced you to remain in the faith of Jesus and convinced you to be strengthened by your struggles, he then exhorts moral behavior. He challenges the reader to be bold and live out their faith.
Book Summary:
So far, Jesus is the Son of God, who is truly human, and leads his people to their promised land of true rest and is available to all people and all time as the one true high priest through which God is made accessible. He is also the perfect sacrifice and entrance into the new and everlasting covenant of faith. Jesus is the one that that Old Testament anticipated through which is fulfilled. Because of this, Jesus is the one we should follow.
Because Jesus is the one we should follow, let us follow him well. You will encounter difficulties, but they are strengthening exercises designed to discipline you. If you are to follow Jesus, let me tell you how to live an ethical life. Be faithful in marriage, show hospitality, remember your leaders, etc.
Themes
Key Theme 1: Re-reading the Old Testament. The book of Hebrews challenges us to reread the Hebrew Bible with the work of Christ in mind. It presents the Old Testament as an unfinished story which reaches its conclusion in the work and person of Jesus Christ.
Chapter 1: OT: All angels are under someone.Hebrews: This person is Jesus
Chapter 2: OT: The whole world is under the subject of the human race, but this is not true in general today. Hebrews: Because Jesus is fully human and lord over creation, this has come true.
Chapters 3-4: OT: The OT speaks of a time of rest even after Israel has entered the promise land, so there must be some future rest coming. Hebrews: Jesus is the one who, like Joshua/Moses and Israel leads us to the real promise land in heaven. The work of Jesus makes this possible, just like the work of Joshua made entrance into Canaan possible.
Chapters 5-7: OT: The Old Testament speaks of a priest who is a king, but this is not allowed under the law. Hebrews: This can only be possible in the case of Jesus, who combines the priesthood of Melchizedek and the kingship of the house of David, drawing off of Psalm 110.
Chapters 8-10: OT: The Abrahamic Covenant speaks of all nations being blessed through Abraham’s descendants, but the Mosaic Covenant was only focused on the maintenance of Israel’s relationship with God. The Old Testament also speaks of a coming covenant that will take away sin once and for all, implying that the Mosaic covenant was temporary. Hebrews: Jesus and faith in him is this new covenant, the one that completes the Abrahamic covenant and is entered into by faith in him.
Key Theme 2: The Nature of Sacrifice. We moderns have a problem. We really don’t know what sacrifice is. This is partly because of the work of Jesus, but never-the-less, we don’t sacrifice. Heck, we often don’t even want to pay taxes to the state in return for its services!
Sacrifice is a fundamental recognition of God’s place and our relation to him. It is not limited to the atonement of wrongs, but is wider in scope; it is an acknowledgement that the one you are sacrificing to is greater than you.
When we bring a symbol of the created world before the creator God in gratitude and offering, we are symbolically saying that we have no rights over creation apart from God.
Sin, in addition to separating us from God, marrs our conscious with guilt and shame, which in turn pollute every facet of our lives. The only was we can be cleansed of these other effects of sin is to completely offer our lives to God as a sacrifice.
However, because of the effects of sin, we cannot fully do this. However, as a filly human person, Jesus was able to do so. He fully devoted his life to God and was killed for it. This is why his sacrifice is greater than goats or grain; this is why this sacrifice can take away our guilt and shame, purifying our hearts and minds from the effects of sin (in addition to restoring us in God’s eyes).
Key Theme 3: Hebrews in wider biblical theology:
Humans were to be priests over all of creation offering creation’s worship up to God.
But our sin ruined this!
Israel was to be priests of the human race offering humanity’s worship up to God and enacting God’s solution to sin.
But Israel was sinful!
The House of Aaron was to be priests of Israel, offering up Israel’s worship to God and enacting God’s solution to sin.
But the house of Aaron was sinful!
Therefore, God sent Jesus to be both high priest and perfect sacrifice. He was successful.
Jesus’ sacrifice is the one moment when the human race fully offered itself to the creator and rights the above series of wrongs.
Outline of the Book of Hebrews:
I. Introduction / Purpose (1:1-4)
II. Son’s Superior Personhood (1:5-4:16)
- Son superior to the Angels (1:5-2:18)
- Son superior to Moses/Joshua (3:1-4:16)
- Comparison to Moses
- Rest and Priesthood
III. Son’s Superior Priesthood
- Son is the high priest in the order of
Melchizedek (5:1-7:28) - Son’s superior Covenant (8:1-10:18)
- High Priest of Superior Covenant
(8:1-13) - Tabernacle (9:1-10)
- Death of Christ (9:11-28)
- Sacrifice of Christ (10:1-18)
IV. Therefore be a Persevering People
- Do not Shrink Back (10:19-29)
- Examples of Perseverating Faith (11:1-39)
V. How to Persevere (12:1-28)
- Enduring Suffering as God’s
Discipline - Calls to Ethical Imperatives (13:1-21)
Posted by Scott on February 23, 2009 at 11:55 am
Thanks for posting this, Henry.
Posted by Scott on February 23, 2009 at 1:37 pm
I had a free hour, so I read Hebrews. Take that Sunday school class! Honestly, it was a lot cooler than I remembered (perhaps because of the lesson on it). The imagery of Jesus as being both the sacrificer and the sacrifice was really good. I especially enjoyed the end, maybe chapters 10-13.
Hebrews 10:34–”You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.” Accepted it with joy!
Hebrews 11:24-25–”It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin.” I don’t often think of Moses in terms of his being basically a Prince and then choosing what’s right rather than what’s pleasurable.
As for Hebrews 12:5-11, are we to take from this passage that all hardship is God’s discipline?
Posted by Henry Imler on February 24, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Scott,
Glad you got something out of it. I was surprised how quickly it went by when I was reading it too.
I agree with you there. 1-10 were good, but the last 3 chapters are amazingly powerful!
On your last point. I don’t know. It is hard to see every hardship as a strengthening excersize from God, as if he designed all of these mean tests for us. However, it might be something along the lines of Gen 50, where something intended for evil is transformed into something for good by God. Who knows?