Hebrews

The author of Hebrews wrote this letter to Roman Jews who were struggling. They were shallow Christians who were veering back toward the Judaism that they had formerly left in order to embrace Christ. The author argued that Christ is better than the priestly system...

Chapter 11 is the most well known portion of the book of Hebrews. Some have referred to it as the Faith Hall of Fame. Some people also have viewed the first verse as a definition of faith. Advancing either of those two ideas, however, does not appear to be the...

Ever since explaining the order of Melchizedek at the beginning of chapter 7, the author has unveiled more and more detail in the comparison of the old Hebrew form to that of Christ’s high priestly ministry. Chapter 7 showed how Christ’s priesthood was superior....

When discussing chapter 7, we skimmed over one thought to which we will now return for a moment. In the first few verses of that chapter, the author recounts almost all we know of Melchizedek from the Old Testament. The portion not specified has to do with the very...

In chapters 5 and 6 of Hebrews, we learned that Jesus was a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. That statement, quoted in 5:6 from Psalm 110:4 and repeated in 5:10, and 6:20, begs the question concerning what exactly the order of Melchizedek is. Perhaps the...

In Hebrews 5:11, the heart of the author begins to come through. And it is in this verse that we begin to see the dual purpose of this letter. So many scholars have found it difficult (and even impossible, considering the current lack of consensus) to organize the...

Verse 14 of chapter 4 seems rather abrupt in turning our attention to the thought of Christ as high priest. The suddenness, however, may be striking to only us 21st century Christians. Remember that one of the reasons we believe that the recipients of this...

The author of Hebrews has emphasized the Sonship of Christ as the reason for his superiority to angels. In patrimony, position, and privilege, Christ is better precisely because he is Son. That means that the discussion does not dwell on Christ’s superiority in his...

In our last study, we concluded that the epistle to the Hebrews was written in the late AD 60s to the Jewish Christians in Rome. By this time, the Christian community of Rome had probably been in existence for 30 to 40 years. The emperor Claudius had expelled the...

Many scholars believe Hebrews to be the most profound of the New Testament books. The study of the book may yield rich results, but an approach of less than full commitment often leads to frustration. The epistle is not ordered in what we may consider a traditional...