Introduction to Hebrews

              For several years I have done expository preaching through the books of the Bible.  I have covered almost all of the New Testament as well as much of the Old Testament.  Lately I have been doing short series on topics of Biblical interest.  This week I will start a short series that will give and overview of the Book of Hebrews.  A more detailed study may be done soon in a Sunday School class, but this will give an overview.

              I am choosing this book because of the overall message and theme that it contains.  We will get into that in just a little bit.  I want to encourage you to read the Book of Hebrews in its entirety to become acquainted with the message.  Much of it may be strange to you as it requires an understanding of the Old Testament to comprehend the images and lessons it teaches.

              I have several areas that I want to discuss this morning as I introduce this book to you.

              First, I want to tell you that we don’t know who wrote the book, we don’t know the specific location of the people to whom the book was written, we don’t know the exact date of the book, and we don’t know what specific problems arose that caused the book to be written. 

              However, though we cannot know the specifics, we can narrow down the possibilities.

              First, the author knew Timothy, the writer of 1 and II Timothy and an associate of the apostle Paul. I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you. (Heb. 13:23).  Timothy has obviously been in prison and may travel to where they are.  When he does the writer of the letter may come with him.  Timothy was younger than Paul.  We can anticipate that Timothy had ministered for some time.  We have no note other than this of his imprisonment, which we would expect from Paul some reference if it had happened.  We are now talking about a date for Hebrews of later than 60 AD.

              Second, the author was an educated man.  William Lane said, “The language of Hebrews constitutes the finest Greek in the NT, far superior to the Pauline standard both in vocabulary and in sentence-building.”  The writer talks about a ship missing the harbor,  We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. (Heb 2:1). He talks about an anchor gripping the seabed,  We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, (Heb 6:19). In 4:12 about the double-edged sword, or in 4:13 about the wrestler, in chapter 6 about the crops and weeds. Of the 4,942 words used in Hebrews, the writer uses 1038 different words, 169 are found only in Hebrews in the New Testament.

              The writer is also a student of the Old Testament.  He speaks of angels, Moses, the Levitical priesthood,  Melchizadek, the sacrifices and the role of priests.  He quotes from the Psalms, 2 Samuel, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Genesis, Exodus, Jeremiah, Habbakkuk, and Haggai.  He was certainly well read in the Old Testament.

              Among the people identified as the author are Paul, Barnabas, Luke, Clement of Rome, Apollos, Silvanus, the deacon Philip, Priscilla and Aquila, Jude, Aristion and others.  It is best to take the author as unknown and go from there.

              So who is receiving these letters?  It is a guess, but it appears that it is some group along the Appian Way, or in a city in Italy.  We find this in Hebrews 13.

              First, these are Christians he is writing to.  The whole book presupposes a relationship with Jesus Christ.

              Second, these Christians appear to live in a city or along the Appian Way, the major highway from Rome to Greece. Verse 2: 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Most people who would travel would stop wherever they could, but people in a city setting or along a major highway would be more apt to have Christian strangers looking for hospitality.

              Verse 3:  3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow-prisoners, and those who are ill treated as if you yourselves were suffering.  It is not necessary that there be a prison where these people are, but it appears that they know several people, perhaps from their congregation, who are in jail.  It may be that they are in that city and would be dependent on the Christian family to help them.

              Temptations for adultery and making money would be more prevalent in a city setting where there are more people and greater opportunity to make money.  Verse 4-5,  Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.  Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

               The people from Italy or Rome send greetings.  This is probably an Italian congregation, perhaps in another part of Italy, or just outside of Italy.    Verse 24-25 Greet all your leaders and all God’s people. Those from Italy send you their greetings.  Grace be with you all. (Heb. 13:1-25). The phrase, “from Italy” was a common expression as the phrase, “from Rome”, which was the capital of the Roman Empire.

              There is a problem in this church.

              First, there is a problem between the leaders and the people.  7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever. 9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them...  17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

              The people were not obeying nor submitting to the authority of the leaders in the church.  In context, I do not believe that this lack of obedience or submission had anything to do with the budget or how to get the Lord’s work done. 

              Rather, the lack of obedience and submission to the leaders was not to the leaders, per se, but to the word of God that they were speaking as we note in verse 7.    Verse 9 shows that the people were being carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.  These strange teachings were in opposition to the word of God spoken by the leaders.

              So the problem between the leaders and some of the people is that they were not accepting the word of God, but were being carried away by some other teachers.

              In the whole book of Hebrews we get the picture that these strange teachings were an attempt to get the Jewish Christians to return to Judaism and give up on Jesus all together. 

              The second problem is that the Christians were suffering and some were dying because they were Christians.    11 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. Here the admonition is not to quit the faith, but to follow Jesus in the midst of suffering.  Here the challenge is not to avoid embarrassment, but to bear disgrace for the sake of Christ.  In reality, the Book of Hebrews is a call to toughness and faithfulness in the face of ridicule and personal danger.

              They had done so before, but now they were wearing out under the strain.  Notice a picture of this congregation given in Hebrews 10:32-39.  32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

              This is what this series will be all about.  Some of you have made professions of faith in Jesus Christ.  You have walked with him.  But for some reason, you feel under pressure to return to your old beliefs.

              It may be an age thing.  It may be that you feel you have violated your families heritage in becoming a born again believer.  You are tempted to float back to what you were before because you have spent most of your life there.  It is your comfort zone.

              It may be a pressure thing.  Others don’t understand your salvation, your baptism, you adherence to Christian teaching.  Frankly, you are tired of that pressure as well.  It appears more attractive to give in than to fight it.  It may even mean that you are suffering persecution because of your commitment to Christ.  People are giving you a hard time about your decision to follow Christ.  And the temptation is there.

              The challenge I will lay out to you is to stay the course.  Don’t fall back.  Stick with it.  Don’t give up.