Part 35 - The Book of Hebrews

OUTLINE:

Theme:  Simplicity and Purity of Devotion to Christ
Your deliverance is a function of your focus on Christ.

How to Master the English Bible
– Dr. James M. Gray

How to Master the English Bible – Dr. James M. Gray
That dear old Scottish saint, Andrew Bonar, discriminated between a minister’s getting his text from the Bible, and getting it from God through the Bible; a fine distinction that holds good not only with reference to the selection of a text to preach upon, but with reference to the apprehension spiritually of any part of the Word of God.

If we wish to understand and receive God’s grace, it begins with understanding His Word.

Reading Your Bible
It is imperative that your read your Bible with the utmost good intention of reading for context. This implies you understand the theme, setting, writer’s intent, audience, etc. Furthermore, since all scripture is God-breathed (2Ti 3:16-17), interpreting a book, passage, verse, or word must seek harmony with the rest of the Bible.

The Book of Hebrews was like a dart thrown by a master dart player.

Homework: Blogs on “Context”
Who Wrote the Book of Hebrews?
There’s no consensus among theologians on who wrote the Book of Hebrews. In antiquity, arguments were made for Paul, Barnabas, Luke, and Clement of Rome. In recent times, Apollos, Sylvanus, Philip (the deacon), Priscilla/Aquila, Jude, Aristion, and others have been suggested. The writer is anonymous because we don’t have enough evidence to dogmatically support any one candidate.

The Writer of Hebrews
He was known to his audience (v13:19). He was a man (v11:32).

The Writer of Hebrews
He was part of what we might effectively call “the Pauline circle” (v13:22-23) who numbered himself among those who had heard the Gospel from those who heard it from Jesus, directly (v2:3-4).

The Writer of Hebrews
He wrote distinctly different than Paul, using imagery alien to Paul (v2:1, 4:12-13; 6:7-8; 19).

The Writer of Hebrews
He leaned heavily on Hellenistic Jewish cultic perspective to relate to his audience (ref: priesthood and sacrifices).

The Audience of Hebrews
The message was prepared for a specific local group who considered themselves Christians and were distinguished from leadership, though intimate with them (past and present). (Heb 13:17, 24)

The Audience of Hebrews
It is very likely that the local assembly was a house church located in an urban setting and that it had been depleted by defections. (Heb 10:25; 13:1-6, 14)

Apostate – from apostasia
Apostasy is defection from the Truth (1Th 2:3). An apostate is a person who once claimed to be a Christian but has since renounced the faith. This defection demonstrates their faith was never genuine. (1Ti 4:1; 1Jn 2:19)

The Audience of Hebrews
The social and religious roots of this congregation were likely traced to Jewish quarters and to participation in the life of a Hellenistic synagogue. Contextual references to priesthood, sacrifices, angels, Moses, and Jesus throughout the book are indicative of this (Ac 7:38, 53; Gal 3:19; Heb 2:2; 3:1-6; 8:1-7; 9:13; 10:28; 12:18-29).

The Audience of Hebrews
The audience was likely a house church among a multitude located in or near Rome, Italy, which also implies this congregation was originally Jewish and that their leadership had a strong Gentile bent to it by the time this message was sent (Ac 18:2; Heb 6:10-11; 10:32-34; 13:7,17,24; Ro 16:3-5,10,11,14,15).

The Audience of Hebrews
This was a church in crisis for several reasons:  it had lost its original leaders, it was under constant attack, some members were failing to fellowship together, and some had already defected (apostatized). There was a perfect storm brewing. (Heb 2:1; 3:12-15; 4:1-2; 5:11-12; 10:23-27; 12:12-17, 28-29; 13:7,17)

On the Genre of the Book of Hebrews
“[Hebrews is] the only completely preserved homily [from this period]” – H. Thyen
“[Hebrews is] a parenetic homily in the Jewish-Hellenistic tradition.” - Philo

The Difference Between Exposition and Parenesis
The goal of exposition is to explain something (e.g., when a NT writer explains an OT passage). The goal of parenesis is to persuade (e.g., when a writer knits together Biblical doctrines with circumstances to encourage someone to think or act a certain way).

The Purpose, Plan and Genre of Hebrews
Jewish-Hellenistic homilies drew heavily from the Pentateuch (first 5 books in the Bible) and Psalms, which is precisely what the writer of Hebrews did.

The Purpose, Plan and Genre of Hebrews
The overarching theme of the Book of Hebrews is parenetic (persuasive). Biblical and theological exposition was subordinate to the writer’s parenetical “word of exhortation”, which was meant to induce an emotional response. It is a homily (sermon), laced with rhetorical language, from a shepherd to a group of well-known sheep for the sake of encouragement. (Heb 13:22; 1:1-4; 1:5-4:16; 5-6; 7:1-10:18; 10:19-13:25)

Rhetoric
“Rhetoric” is defined as: the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.

The Rhetoric in Hebrews
The Best Encouragement - blog 4/29/23
If we truly wish to encourage a fellow believer, our greatest tool is the Word of God. A righteous person (who lives by faith) will always defer to God’s ability to deliver a person in time of need. Faith is the end goal; love is the motivation.

William L. Lane on the Book of Hebrews
“[Hebrews] conveys a word from God addressed to the Church in response to the sometimes harsh reality of life encountered by Christians in a fallen and insecure world.”

William L. Lane on the Book of Hebrews
“As an integral part of the NT canon, Hebrews adds its essential witness to the decisive eschatological character of God’s action through Jesus Christ and to the urgency of unwavering commitment to Him.”