Ezra Continued

The Hebrews placed Ezra-Nehemiah in the Writings just after Daniel and just before the books of Chronicles.

There were three specific returns of Jews to the land of Judah.

The first was led by Zerubbabel and involved an initial rebuilding of Jerusalem.

The second was led by Ezra who oversaw the rebuilding of the Temple and the reinstitution of the sacrifices.

The third was led by Nehemiah and involved the rebuilding of the defensive walls of Jerusalem.

There are three major points to Ezra:

 1. The Sovereignty of God. The Lord is seen to be directing the events of history as He moves pagan kings to do His will (Proverbs 21:1).

2. The Continuing Need for a Land. God’s plan called for a return of the Jews to the land. They had been taken away as a punishment for their idolatry. They are now brought back so that they might serve Him and worship them in the land. This would be necessary so that the Messiah could be born in Bethlehem.

3. The Grace of God.  He was bringing the people back into the land to give them another chance to serve Him and to follow Him. They had formerly sinned in their idolatry. Now there is a call to renewed purity.

Ezra is a book of covenant renewal. The people return to their covenant relationship with God and renew their promises to follow Him.

Ezra can be outlined like this:

A.  Chapter 1 – 6: The First Return to Jerusalem under Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel

                       

Chapters 1 – 2: The Return from Babylon

                                    Chapter 1: The Edict of Cyrus

                                    Chapter 2: The Exiles who Returned

                       

Chapters 3 – 6: Rebuilding of the Temple

                                    Chapter 3: Construction Begun

                                    Chapter 4: Construction Opposed

                                    Chapter 5: Construction Delayed

                                    Chapter 6: Construction Completed

           

B.  Chapters 7 – 10: The Second Return to Jerusalem under Ezra

                        Chapters 7 – 8: The Return from Babylon

                                    Chapter 7: The Decree of Artxerxes

                                    Chapter 8: The Journey to Jerusalem

                        Chapters 9 – 10: The Restoration of the People

                                    Chapter 9: The Problem of Mixed Marriages

                                    Chapter 10: God’s Solution to the Problem

In this post we will deal with chapters 7-10.

Chapter 7

Verses 1-10 – Our first introduction to Ezra is in the seventh chapter of the book that bears his name. We see Ezra's priestly pedigree. We also see that he was a student of the Word of God. We no longer need the office of priesthood, because we are each priests in every sense of the word. As priests, one of our duties is to feed on the meat of the Word of God.

Verses 11-26 – King Artxerxes sent a letter to Ezra giving him permission to bring the Jews to Jerusalem, their most sacred place of worship. Our place of worship is in our hearts and in the church. The word for church in the Greek is ekklesia, meaning “the called out gathered”.

Chapter 8

Verses 1-14 – This is the roster of who Ezra brought with him to Jerusalem. It is meticulous. Meticulousness is part of God’s character. It is what brought the universe into being. If He were not meticulous, our salvation would be in doubt or altogether impossible. It was His perfect plan that afforded us salvation in Christ.

Verses 15-36 – Here we have the detailed account of the trip to Jerusalem.

Chapter 9

 Verses 1-15 – In these verses, we find Ezra in deep sorrow over the intermarriage of the Jews with pagans. He prays exhaustively about this sad situation. God required His people to be pure; perfectly pure from morning to night in every possible way.

With respect to marriage, God knows that when one of His unites with someone who is not his it is difficult to raise the unbeliever up (unless he turns to Christ in faith). Most often the believer is brought down, emotionally and spiritually. That is why Paul wrote: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.” (2 Corinthians 6:14).

In the Bible, marriage is always a picture of our relationship to God. It is to be like the union of Christ and the church, for whom He died. God hates divorce because it pictures that Christ’s love for the church can somehow be broken.

The Jews were semi-pure at times and very impure at other times. Like us, they just could not keep God’s law perfectly.

When Ezra was informed that the people had sinned against God by marrying their heathen neighbors, he learned that the leaders (priests, Levites, princes, and rulers) had "been foremost in this unfaithfulness." The very people charged with the responsibility of modeling obedience to the law violated that trust by transgressing the law. Their disobedience no doubt emboldened others to do the same. We must keep in mind that God will hold leaders accountable for the example they set.

All the time, God was revealing His plan of salvation, as he forgave Israel over and over again for their trespasses.  He forgives us our trespasses through the shed blood of Jesus at the cross of Calvary.

Chapter 10

Verses 1-17 – Ezra’s actions and prayer had a tremendous impact on the people. Their consciences were awakened to the seriousness of the problem.

Shecaniah stepped forward to make a penitent proposal. He was a man who was not only willing to admit sin, but to do something about it. He proposed that the offenders "put away [divorce] all the [pagan] wives and their children."

While this proposal seems harsh by modern standards, the religious identity of the Jewish people was at stake. Shecaniah exhorted Ezra to act on his proposal and promised him the support of the people. Ezra responded by calling upon the people to take an oath to put Shecaniah's proposal into action.

Verses 18-43 – This list of those who had intermarried shows that none of them were able to hide their sin. They were exposed.

Sin is not to be trifled with and it cannot be hidden from God. When man sins, his only recourse is to repent and trust fully in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary.

A Study in Hebrews-Week 13

(Get your Bible out and read the verses as we study )Hebrews Chapter 13

The Verses
Verses 1-3 – We are to love each other. Paul also emphasizes the importance of loving strangers, in order that we might witness to them as he admonished us in chapter 12:15. That would not have occurred to many “religious” Jews.

Chapter 10 was the “privileges” chapter; chapter 11 was the “faith” chapter; was the “hope” chapter. And now we come to chapter 13, which is the “love” chapter. You will remember that it was chapter 13 of I Corinthians that was its “love” chapter. In Romans, it was chapter 12. In II Corinthians chapter 8 was the love-in-action chapter, as was Galatians 6. In Ephesians the practical aspect of love was emphasized. Paul was big on love. And so he is in Hebrews.

Jews had the idea that you should love your friends and hate your enemies. Jewish Christians might have had a hard time throwing off this concept. Jesus had taught “love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44). Here Paul addresses the need to love self, each other and strangers.

Verses 4-6 – Here Paul speaks of marriage as he did so often, particularly in Ephesians 5:21-32 and Colossians 3:16-25. Because he is speaking to Jews, he keeps it short and to the point: you be personally responsible for keeping your marriage honorable…free from adultery (in thought or deed), and don’t make money the central theme around which it is built.

Verses 7-8 – This love is to extend to your leaders (and here he is talking about your church leaders). You owe “followship” to your spiritual leaders, so long as they do not lead you away from God’s Word, into illegality or to immorality.

Verses 9-10 – DO NOT BE INFLUENCED BY THOSE WHOSE DOCTRINS ARE DERIVED FROM SOME PERVERSION OF THE MEANING OF GOD’S WORD OR BY SOME VISION OR “SPECIAL” REVELATION. 1 Timothy is ALL about being sure to teach right doctrine and to pick leaders who will do so.

Christian fellowship is when we gather around the Word of God and it brings you to the person of Christ.

Verses 11-14 – The priests of the Old Covenant made their sin offerings in a specific place, at the altar in the temple. There is no New Covenant altar. Our altar is the sacrifice of ourselves at the Throne of Grace. Jesus made His sacrifice outside of the city. He was the sin offering. We are to go to Him.

Verses 15-16 – The only sacrifice we have is ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-4) and our praise that confesses His name.

Verse 17 – We are to make our pastor’s work an absolute joy. We are to help him and stand beside him.

Verses 18-19 – Paul desired the prayers of God’s people.

Verses 20-21 – Paul asks that God would equip us with everything we need to accomplish His will, and that we will strive to do what is pleasing to Him.

Verses22-25 – Paul actually had much more to say, but he wanted to get this much out immediately. He reminds the reader to lovingly greet their leaders and God’s people from Italy, who send their greetings. He closes with a prayer for God’s GRACE to be with every one of them.

That’s love.

The case for Paul’s authorship of Hebrews.

The writer was known by the readers            Paul was known by the readers

The writer was in Italy                                     Paul was in Italy

The writer knew Timothy                               Paul knew Timothy (and was his spiritual father)

The writer had to understand Judaism         Paul would have understood the Hebrew mind set

The writer had converted from Judaism        Paul converted from Judaism going to Damascus

The writer followed Paul’s usual pattern       Hebrews is a perfect commentary to Jews on Romans

A Study in Hebrews-Week 11

(Get your Bible out and read the verses as we study )

Hebrews Chapter 12 Part 1

As your study this chapter, try to put yourself in the place of a Jewish reader. Try to understand this passage from a Jewish perspective.

The Verses

Verse 1 – Once again Paul uses his signature connective “Therefore” (“Wherefore” in KJV). Since all of these Old Covenant people had joined us in their faith in Messiah, as “witnesses” (not spectators, but active in their lives), we are to throw off those things that attach us to the world.

Verse 2 – “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus” is a continuation of the “therefore” in verse 1. He is the Pioneer (KJV “author”). That is He is the originator of and the focus of our faith. He authored our faith before the beginning of time. He is also the “Perfecter” (KJV: “finisher”) of our faith. He has finished the work of redemption and now sits at the right hand of God.

Verse 3 – Believers are now in both a contest and a conflict. Jesus knows our struggle and the hurdles we have to overcome.

Verse 4 – There is still a struggle with sin in our lives and we are tempted just as He was in His 40 days in the wilderness. But the shedding of our blood is insufficient to cover sin.  Only the shedding of HIS blood is adequate.

Verse 5 & 6 – We have been made God’s children.

It is a mistake when the world says, “We are all God’s children.” Only those who have received the gift of His salvation through faith in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary are His children.

Here Paul quotes from Proverbs 3:11 & 12.

The word “discipline” does NOT mean “punishment.” It is the same root as “disciple,” one who trains Himself to follow Christ. However the word for “punishment” used in verse 6 means to train (Greek-paideuo) and the word “punishes” or “scourgeth” (Greek-mastigoo) means to press into your mind by force, in a whip-like manner.

(NOTE: Almost all translations try to make this verse mean “gives a whipping to,” which is not the picture it is conveying).

Verse 7 – This really clears the matter up, as it is a continuation of the same thought and tells us that when hardships occur we should see them as opportunities to deepen our faith.

Verse 8 – Further explains that if you are not disciplined (properly trained), you are a fake Christian. (Could this be a strong argument for a Discipleship Training Ministry?)

Verse 9 – Fathers discipline [train (as in Proverbs 22:6)] their children. Properly disciplined (trained) children respect their fathers more than untrained children do. Likewise, we should be trained by God and should submit ourselves to His training.

Verse 10 – As with high school or college, there is an end to the training period, but the learning never stops.

Verse 11 – Discipline is hard to endure. An football player must train for his sport with weight lifting, running, pushing the blocking sled, etc., and it is tough. But the rewards are great when he gets to play in the Super Bowl. Discipline in God’s ways produces “…a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who are trained by it.”

Verses 12-13 – Do what it takes to strengthen yourself so you can be useful in the healing of others by introducing them to God’s salvation.

A Study in Hebrews-Week 10: The Hall of Faith

(Get your Bible out and read the verses as we study) 

Hebrews Chapter 11

This chapter is often called “The Hall of Faith.” It is important to remember that Hebrews was written to Jews and Jewish Christians. They would have immediately understood the references.

Verse 1 – The definition of faith is found in this verse. In the King James, faith is “substance” (Greek: hupostasis-a scientific term meaning the opposite of a theory or title deed). Faith is also “evidence” (Greek elegchos) is a legal term; it is evidence that is accepted for conviction.

Verse 2 – It was their faith that got the “ancients” (also called “Elders”) that got them “commended” in God’s eyes, not their behavior.

Verse 3 – This is a critical verse regarding the application of our faith. This verse reminds us that God creates, He does not just rearrange what already is.When there was no such thing as light, God spoke it into being.

Verses 4-32a – Each of these people represent a different characteristic of faith:

Abel – the worship of faith (Genesis 4:1-5). For Abel to have faith was amazing. He was the first man to really exercise positive faith in God. He not only believed he bet his life on it.

Enoch – the walk of faith (Genesis 5:21-24). What pleases God is when you walk by faith. Coming to God by faith and walking with God in faith pleases God. Enoch pleased God. Enoch lived in faith, believing God.

Verse 6 – tells us we come to God only by faith. The emphasis is not on His existance or His rewards, but on His being.

Noah – the witness of faith. Is he perfect? Oh no he was guilty of a sin. He was caught naked and drunk. Noah’s not a perfect man before men, but he is a perfect man before God because by faith, righteousness was credited to his account.

Abraham – the obedience of faith. Abraham was not righ­teous because of his personal holiness. He was righteous because he was a man of faith and God imputed righteousness to him.

Sarah – the power of faith.

Isaac – the willingness of faith (Isaac was grown when Abraham offered him on the altar. Abraham believed in the resurrection.).

Jacob – the future of faith.

Joseph – the fulfillment of God’s promises.

Moses – the sacrifices of faith.

Joshua – the irrationality of faith (How absurt to think one could bring down a city by marching around its walls). Faith is not about “reason,” it is about following God’s plan.

Rahab – the unlikely place of faith. Can a harlot be saved? You betcha.

Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, Samuel – faith in action.

David – An imperfect man whom God called “…a man after my own heart” because of his faith. The man from whose line came Messiah (Jesus).

Verses 32b-38 – The persecution in store for people of faith.

Verses 39-40 – These are not necessarily heroes of faith, but this is what faith has done in the history of man under different circumstances in different periods through different individuals.

Faith has no merit in itself. Faith’s merit is in the object of faith, Jesus Christ.

In other words, we musn’t have faith in our faith, but in Christ, His finished work at the cross of Calvary and His resurrection.

A Study in Hebrews Week 9

Hebrews Chapter 09

Many people seem to think that the New Testament is just an extension of the Old Testament. That's what the Judaizers of Galatia thought. They were dead wrong. They thought that since the Old Testament had certain rules, that Christians had to follow those rules. They thought Christians had to be circumcised. They thought Christians had to worship according to an Old Covenant pattern. They thought Christians had to tithe their income. They thought the Old Covenant was still applicable. As we saw in Hebrews 8:13, the Old Covenant has been made obsolete. 

Hebrews 9 lays out some very specific distinctions between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. 

The Verses

Verse 1 – Here we see a contrast being set up to distinguish the “earthly” sanctuary from the heavenly sanctuary. We also see the contrast between the “first” covenant (Old Covenant) and the New Covenant.

Verse 2 – The tabernacle is used to picture the spiritual. Here we see the floor plan and the furniture. God is always organized and concerned with details. Check out the detail He laid out for the building of the temple in 1 Kings 6.

Verses 3-4 – The “Golden censer” (KJV) is the Most Holy Place. It is an altar of incense. It speaks of prayer.

Verse 5 – Paul (whom I believe wrote Hebrews as a commentary on Romans to the Jews) does not want to go into detail about the tabernacle because it is not the subject. The subject is the priesthood…specifically the priesthood of Christ.

Verses 6-10 – The “Holy of Holies” was a temporary, makeshift arrangement. Only Christ can bring us to God (John 14:6)

Verse 11 – The better tabernacle does not belong to this natural creation.  The better tabernacle is both spiritual and literal…it is real. It is, in fact, not an "it," but a "who." His name is Jesus.

Verse 12 – Christ did not depend on the blood of animals, but on His own blood. “…having obtained eternal redemption…” is not a reference to Christ being redeemed, but of the completeness of His work to obtain redemption for His redeemed. His is a superior sacrifice to the earthly sacrifices of animals.

Verses 13-14 – If the blood of animals could produce redemption, there would have been no reason for Christ to die on the cross.

Verse 15 – Christ is now the mediator of the New Covenant.

Verses 16-17 – When we make a will, it does no good while we are yet alive. So Christ’s will was “made active” through his sacrificial death.

Verses 18-22 – The word “blood” occurs six times in this section. There was the ritualistic blood of the Old Testament contrasted with the saving power of the blood of Christ under the New Covenant.

Verse 23 – Earthly things need cleansing because of “original sin.” The Old Testament holy sacraments,  artifacts and ceremonies were only pictures of the spiritual things to come.

Verse 24 – Christ did not enter heaven through earthly, man-made sacrifices, but through the perfect sacrifice of Himself. It is through Him that we, too, must enter the heavenly sanctusry.

Verse 25 – The priest had to repeatedly enter the sanctuary.

Verse 26 – Christ entered only once…and that for eternity.

Verse 27 – Christ had failed to save in His death at His first coming, there would be nothing afterward but judgment. He is not coming back to die.

Verse 28 – This is not a reference to the Rapture, but His coming as Sovereign to

judge the earth. Believers will not come into judgment.

A Study in Hebrews-Week 5

(Get your Bible out and read the verses as we study.)

Hebrews Chapter 05

The definition of a priest is important, because Paul calls Christ a priest. A priest engages in Sacrifice; Substance; and Prayer. A Priest is one who offers gifts and sacrifices. He must be: 1) Taken from among men…he must be a person; 2) Be acceptable to God…ordained by God and 3)Be ordained for man…Representing man to God

A priest goes from man to God to represent man to God. A prophet comes from God to man with a message from God. A priest does not tell us what God has to say. He represents us before God. The only one who can represent us is the Lord Jesus, Christ. The priesthood is not for lost sinners but for saved sinners.

We tend toward either an emotional or a ritualistic approach to worship. We need to come to Him simply and rid ourselves of the meaningless trappings.

The verses:

Verse 1 - The gift Christ offers to God for the forgiveness of our sins is Himself. No other gift would have been sufficient. He is our advocate (lawyer), and the best advocate there is.

Verse 2 - Jesus was sinless, but can have compassion on those who commit sins of ignorance (Leviticus 4:2.). Christ takes care of those sins. He does not lecture us about how badly we have behaved…he just cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

Verse 3 - The priest had to make sacrifices for himself as well as for others. Christ did not have to make an offering for Himself.

Verse 4 - He is the highest priest because He is acceptable to God

Verse 5 - The beginning of His priesthood has to do with the resurrection.

Verse 6 - Aaron’s order is not adequate…Christ is a Son, Aaron was just a servant. Melchizedek is only mentioned in Genesis 14. He brought forth food and wine for Abraham as the priest of the Most High God. Psalm 110 the prophecy of Christ in the order of Melchizedek.

Verse 7 - Three occasions Jesus wept: At the grave of Lazarus; over Jerusalem; In the Garden of Gethsemane. Some theologians teach that “Let this cup pass” refers to His dying in the garden; that He did not want to die there. Actually, if when He prayed in the garden to “let this cup pass” and that meant He didn't want to die on the cross, His prayer was not heard. In a very real sense, He wanted to go to the cross! He found the cross joyful…He submitted to God. That is unfathomable to us.

Verse 8 - He only offers eternal salvation. If you can lose it tomorrow, it wasn’t eternal, was it? (See John 3:16)

Verse 9 - Why did the Son of God need to learn obedience by suffering? The only answer is that God got something out of  the death of Christ that has made Heaven more wonderful.

Why did the one who was perfect need to be made perfect? These are two significant mysteries. Lots of theologians have given their answers, but none of them can even begin to be satisfactory.

Verse 10 - “Designated” comes from the word for “salute.” Melchizedek was a “type” of the priesthood of the Lord, Jesus, Christ.

Verse 11 - As a group, we are not very good learners. We are “dull of hearing.”

Verse 12 - We think we are teachers, when we, ourselves still need to be taught. What we need to learn is not the depth of the Word. Paul says we need to learn the elementary truths of the Word…milk, not solid food. And we need it again and again. We may move to more solid food, but we will forever need the milk as well, to remind us of what Christ has done for us.

Verse 13 - Turn this around and realize that too many of us teach what we call “righteousness” when it is really nothing more than “behaviorism.” Not the same thing at all. Righteousness is imputed to us by Christ, not something we achieve.

Verse 14 - Ask yourself the question: Am I mature enough to absorb the solid food of the Word?

If we are not growing, we are dying, both personally and corporately as the church. Let us grow as the Body of Christ, into mature, Word-filled people of God.

A Study in Hebrews Week 4

Hebrews Chapter 04

Hebrews was not written to Gentiles, it was written to Jews.

 1 .     All of Hebrews is about Jesus. None of it is really about us.

     a.      It makes reference to Christians only on its way to referencing Jesus.

     b.     The book is explaining to Jews (Christian and non-Christian) how Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Covenant by becoming the person of the New Covenant.

2.     Jews would have quickly recognized the language and illustrations of Hebrews.

a.      "Paying attention to what we have heard" references the stories and prophecies of the Old Testament.

b.     Those stories and prophecies point to one greater who is to come: Messiah.                                

3.     Jews would have understood the references to the Old Covenant.

4.     We, as Gentiles, must learn the references and terminology to understand what Paul is writing about.

5.     The very idea that Jesus was greater than Moses would have enraged unsaved Jews. It would have challenged Jewish Christians.

6.     That He was greater than Melchizedek (chapter 7) would have been intolerable to unsaved Jews. Saved Jews would have been amazed at its teaching and implications.

7.     Chapter 1 begins the teaching of Jesus’ superiority.

8.     Chapter 2 begins, “…therefore.” That means from the ideas in chapter 1, the teachings of chapter 2 follow logically. It is about what they had heard from their forefathers through the prophets (chapter 1).

9.     Chapter 3 begins, “Therefore…” indicating that it is the logical conclusion to draw from chapters 1 and 2, that is: They told of the coming one who would be greater than Moses.

10.  Chapter four begins the same way, reasoning its truths from the first 3 chapters.

a.      Jews would have understood the “Sabbath rest” as a picture salvation by means of Messiah.

b.     They would know exactly what “…enter my rest” meant: salvation.

11.  In the middle of chapter 4 there is another conclusion to be drawn from the first 3 chapters and the first part of chapter 4.

Their new High Priest would be one who understands their problems, but the idea that through Him they could approach the throne of grace would have been unthinkable to them! They had been taught that one could not do that. Now they’re being taught that if they have received Christ they can go to God through Him.

Let's look, now, at chapter 4

Hebrews Chapter 04

Verse 1: “Let Us” be careful (KJ: fear)-that we are really saved. Several kinds of “rest.”

Verses 2-3: (Vs 2): We have heard the gospel. We will never be able to stand before God and say that we have not heard the good news. This has to do with putting your absolute trust in Christ.

Verses 4-8: This references Sabbath rest. The Sabbath is not a day you keep. The real Sabbath is knowing what it is to trust Christ and find eternal rest in Him. It is a day of grace for every day. (God rested, not because he was tired, but because he had completed the work of salvation.

Verse 7: “Today” is emphasized because TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION.

Verse 8: “Joshua” means “Jesus” or “Savior.” But Joshua was not able to secure salvation. Jesus is.

Verse 9: People of God will find a heavenly rest…deep joy.

Verse 10: Once you enter into the rest of salvation, you realize that your own works are virtually worthless. This is the rest of completeness. The only work God is involved in now, is the work of a “new creation.” Romans reminds us: “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation…”

Verse 11: This is not a suggestion that one can work for salvation. It is a recognition that one cannot rest from rest, one can only rest from work.

The “disobedience” referenced here is the unpardonable sin: the sin of unbelief. It is the Greek word, apeitheia, which means “unbelief.” In fact, the King James has this properly translated as “unbelief.”

Verse 12: “For” is the cement that holds Paul’s argument together. It is the conclusion from what came before. We serve a living (quick) Savior, and He is active in the lives of His children. God knows your heart…He really knows it. You cannot hide anything from God: no thought; no deed; no attitude…nothing.

Verse 13: When the Bible says something once it is important. When it says it twice, you better listen up! The idea here of being laid bare is that God can “see right through you.” Don’t you think you can compartmentalize you life and keep some of it from God.

Verse 14: Jesus is our Great High Priest. He is superior to the Levitical priesthood. Paul’s conclusion is that because of all he has written in verses 1-13, we must hold fast; trust in; live by our faith…not our faith in our faith (such as is the case with the heretics of the Word of Faith movement), but our faith in Him.

Verse 15: Jesus knows every struggle we go through. He was tempted in every way in the wilderness, but He did not succumb to the temptation.

Verse 16: We do not serve an unapproachable God. He is the One we can come to with confidence and assurance that He will receive us. He understands us. He gives us mercy and grace in our times of need.

Jesus the High Priest

Hebrews chapter 3 review

 Verse 7-11:  As we learned from Jeremiah, we must not harden our hearts against God as the Jews did when they heard His Word. (Psalm 95:7). They doubted God and never entered the land of Canaan.

Vs 10. The Holy Spirit was grieved by Israel’s unbelief. (Eph 4:30-grieve not the Holy Spirit)

Verse 11: The “rest” referred to here is the “rest” of salvation. You can’t belong to Jesus and not place your faith in Him.

Verse 12: We are to encourage one another so that we will be certain that our salvation is not only head knowledge of Christ but is unwavering heart knowledge of Him.

Verse 14: Here is one of the strongest passages in all of scripture that once we are saved we cannot come unsaved. “If we hold firm till the end…” we are saved. If we do not hold firm to the end, we are not saved. If you are saved, you WILL hold firm to the end.

Verse 15: From Psalm 95:7-8. Be certain that when He speaks, you hear His voice and when you hear His voice that you listen and follow Him. He has said what He has to say in His Word.

Verses16-19: The Jews were the very people God had led out of Egypt…His chosen people. Yet, they did not trust Him.

Unbelief will keep a person from Heaven. Trusting Him will open the gates of Heaven and you will hear God say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

Hebrews Chapter 04

Verse 1: “Let Us” be careful (KJ: fear)-that we are really saved. Several kinds of “rest.”

Verses 2-3: (Vs 2 ) We have heard the gospel. We will never be able to stand before God and say that we have not heard the good news.

This has to do with putting your absolute trust in Christ.

Verses 4-8: This references Sabbath rest.

The Sabbath is not a day you keep. The real Sabbath is knowing what it is to trust Christ and find eternal rest in Him. It is a day of grace for every day. (God rested, not because he was tired, but because he had completed the work of salvation.

Verse 7: “Today” is emphasized because TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION.

Verse 8: “Joshua” means “Jesus” or “Savior.” But Joshua was not able to secure salvation. Jesus is.

Verse 9: People of God will find a heavenly rest…deep joy.

Verse 10: Once you enter into the rest of salvation, you realize that your own works are virtually worthless. This is the rest of completeness. The only work God is involved in now, is the work of a “new creation.” Romans reminds us: “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation…”

Verse 11: This is not a suggestion that one can work for salvation. It is a recognition that one cannot rest from rest, one can only rest from work.

The “disobedience” referenced here is the unpardonable sin: the sin of unbelief. It is the Greek word, apeitheia, which means “unbelief.” In fact, the King James has this properly translated as “unbelief.”

Verse 12: “For” is the cement that holds Paul’s argument together. It is the conclusion from what came before.

We serve a living (quick) Savior, and He is active in the lives of His children.

God knows your heart…He really knows it. You cannot hide anything from God: no thought; no deed; no attitude…nothing.

Verse 13: When the Bible says something once it is important. When it says it twice, you better listen up! The idea here of being laid bare is that God can “see right through you.” Don’t you think you can compartmentalize you life and keep some of it from God.

Verse 14: Jesus is our Great High Priest. He is superior to the Levitical priesthood.

Paul’s conclusion is that because of all he has written in verses 1-13, we must hold fast; trust in; live by our faith…not our faith in our faith, but our faith in Him.

A Study in Hebrews-Week 3

 (Get your Bible out and read the verses as we study.)

Hebrews Chapter 03

In chapter 1 we found Christ superior to prophets. In chapters 1 & 2 we found Him superior to the angels.  Now we find Christ superior to Moses.

Verse 1: The word “therefore” is Paul’s way of presenting his linear logic (just as he did in Romans). He demonstrates that his following statements are the result of his previous statements. “Holy” means separated or set apart unto God.

Israel had an earthly calling. Their call was to bring Messiah into the world. Messianic Jews (we, too) have a heavenly calling in Christ. We are called to “Fix your thoughts on Jesus”…He must be our constant focus.

Jesus is the High Priest to whom we must confess our sins. There is no longer an earthly priest to whom we confess.

“Apostle” means one who is sent. Earthly apostles saw Jesus, Jesus is THE sent one. Apostle comes from God to man. The High Priest represents man to God. That’s Jesus.

Verses 2-5: Moses was the one chosen to bring God’s Law to His people. Jesus must be greater than Moses, or he is not a useful savior.

Moses made mistakes: he smit the rock when he was told not to; he lost his temper; but he was faithful to God. That faithfulness was his trust in the Messiah God would send.

Who built your house? Most people know, and more people know the builder than know about your house. So it is with Jesus. He is the builder of everything (John 1:1ff).

Verse 6: Moses was a servant in God’s house. Jesus is the Son in God’s house. To whom does a good father give more honor, his son or his servant? The phrase “…if we hold on…” is not the conditional, but the logical.

The proof that you are a child of God is your faith, not in your own power or faith in faith, but faith in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary.

 Verse 7-11:  As we learned from Jeremiah, we must not harden our hearts against God as the Jews did when they heard His Word. (Psalm 95:7). They doubted God and never entered the land of Canaan.

Vs 10. The Holy Spirit was grieved by Israel’s unbelief. (Eph 4:30-grieve not the Holy Spirit)

Verse 11: The “rest” referred to here is the “rest” of salvation. You can’t belong to Jesus and not place your faith in Him.

Verse 12: We are to encourage one another so that we will be certain that our salvation is not only head knowledge of Christ but is unwavering heart knowledge of Him.

Verse 14: Here is one of the strongest passages in all of scripture that once we are saved we cannot come unsaved. “If we hold firm till the end…” we are saved. If we do not hold firm to the end, we are not saved. If you are saved, you WILL hold firm to the end.

Verse 15: From Psalm 95:7-8. Be certain that when He speaks, you hear His voice and when you hear His voice that you listen and follow Him. He has said what He has to say in His Word.

Verses16-19: The Jews were the very people God had led out of Egypt…His chosen people. Yet, they did not trust Him.

Unbelief will keep a person from Heaven. Trusting Him will open the gates of Heaven and you will hear God say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

An Overview of Hebrews - Week 2

Hebrews Chapter 02

The key concept in the book of Hebrews is "better." Thirteen times Paul exalts Jesus as “better than.”

Jesus is better than angels, Moses, Joshua, and Aaron. He has better promises, is a better sanctuary, a better sacrifice, and achieves better results.

Chapter two continues the comparison of Jesus to the angels and then turns the corner to His power to save.

01.    Verses 1-2  “The ‘attention’ we must pay” is referring to what we have heard

about Jesus. Paul’s “For if the message spoken by angels was binding…” tells

us that nothing else can provide salvation for us.

“What we have heard” is a reminder that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s Word

spoken by and through the prophets.

02.    Verses 3-6 If we don’t accept the salvation offered by Christ, there is no hope for us. We will perish with all of those who reject Him.

Not only did those who listened to God’s Word hear about His salvation plan, it was testified to through His miracles and by the fact that the Holy Spirit has given us gifts, according to His will.

03.    Verses 7-9 Again, Hebrews makes it clear that we are not saved by angelic beings, or by some adherence to a set of rules, but by the power of Jesus, Himself.

Paul quotes Job 7:17ff and references Psalm 144. This helps us remember our deep need for salvation, as well as reiterating Christ’s position above all things, us included.

Everything is subject to Him.

Jesus became lower than the angels to be born a man, and did so for the crown of glory that would be His for what He accomplished in His death, burial and resurrection.

04.    Verses 10-13 Jesus’ suffering (not our own) is what makes us perfect, if we are in right standing with Him.

He tells us that we are all one family…joint heirs with Jesus.

05.    Verses 14-18 Continues the “family” theme and describes what Christ has accomplished through His sacrifice: absolute power over Satan (death); and the freedom of His disciples (us).

He did this, not for the angels, but for those who would accept His offering of salvation through trusting in, and only in, His finished work at the cross of Calvary.

By His suffering, He identifies with and understands everything man has ever been through, is going through now and ever will go through.

An Overview of Hebrews - Week 1

(Get your Bible out and read the verses as we study.) 

The authorship of the book of Hebrews has been argued by so-called "scholars" for ages. The argument will be settled in this post (although the so-called "scholars" will probably continue to argue about it).

This we know: the writer had been in bonds (Hebrews 10:34); he wrote from Italy (Hebrews 13:24); his companion was Timothy (Hebrews 13:23); and Peter identifies Paul as the writer (2 Peter 3:15, 16 and 1 Peter 1:1)

Paul had been in bonds, had written from Rome, was Timothy's spiritual father, and is the one referred to in 1st and 2nd Peter.

We also know that the writer was deeply familiar with the ins and outs of the work and beliefs of the Pharisees. You will remember that Paul called himself a "Hebrew of Hebrews...a Pharisee" (...circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee (Philippians 3:5).

The book of Hebrews parallels the book of Romans. In fact, it reads as a commentary to the Jews on the book of Romans. While Romans was about Law and Grace, Hebrews is about the Law versus the New Covenant (which is also grace). Covenant is something every Jew would understand and every Pharisee, Sadducee and Levite would know everything there is to know about.

The style of the book is exactly what the style would be if it were written by a knowledgeable Jew to Jewish leaders. It was not written to Gentiles, but to Jews, thus its Jewish terminology and flavor.

So, it is settled. Paul wrote Hebrews. If you disagree, that's OK. This is America and you have the right to be wrong.

Scholars divide Hebrews into two main sections: 1. The didactic (designed or intended to teach), made up of the ten first chapters; 2. The parainetic (offering strong encouragement) from the 19th verse of the tenth chapter to the end of the Epistle.

Hebrews is ALL about Jesus. It is a message to the Jews (and us) of Jesus’ superiority.

1 Jesus, son of God, greater than all 1:1-2:18

 The greatness of the Son 1:1-3

 Jesus is superior to angels in his person 1:4-14

 Jesus is superior to angels in his message 2:1-4

 Jesus is superior to angels as a human being 2:5-18

2 The superior apostle 3:1-4:13

 Jesus is superior to Moses 3:1-6

 Warning against unbelief 3:7-4:2

 Warning not to miss God’s promised rest 4:3-13

3 The greatest chief priest 4:14-7:28

 Jesus is superior to Aaron 4:14-5:14

 Jesus is superior in promises 6:1-20

 Jesus is superior to Melchizedek (the greatest Hebrew high priest ever) 7:1-28

4 Jesus is the better mediator 8:1-10:39

 A new and better agreement 8:1-13

 A new way to praise God 9:1-28

 A new sacrifice and way to life 10:1-39

5 The better way 11:1-13:25

 The way of trust and hope 11:1-40

 The right way to live 12:1-29

 The way of love and serving God 13:1-25

Hebrews Chapter 1                                                                                                                                                   

Verses 1-2 – The prophets, such as Jeremiah were God’s vessels to carry His message. God often 
spoke to the Hebrews in the past. He spoke to them in different ways. God gave them dreams (Ezekiel & Daniel), sent angels to bring his words and used events to teach his people. He gave them his laws and taught them by the prophets. He spoke through all kinds of men and women. But now He has spoken through His Son, Jesus.

The phrase ‘in the last days’ often meant the time of the Messiah. The writer uses it here to show that the Messiah has come. The Jews were always expecting this person to come. He will bring a new age to them. He will be their king and he will overcome all their enemies. The Hebrews did not understand the real nature of the Messiah. He is the Son of God, Jesus Christ. It was by him that God created everything in space and time John 1:1ff).

Verses 3-4 – Jesus is the exact representation of God. Here is a strong Biblical declaration that
God and Jesus are one. We are under the authority of Christ, not the Law. Do not think that the Law
has been done away with. It has been fulfilled in Christ, that is: He does the fulfilling because we
can’t. According to Romans and Galatians, the purpose of the Law is to reveal our sin and to point us
to Christ.

Verses 5-12 Here Paul “compares” Jesus to the angels by pointing out that there is no comparison

between Him and the angels. Here we also find that Christ is the perfect embodiment of God. In Him

the majesty of God is seen. In Him the glory of God is shown.  Until Christ, one could not look upon

the glory of God. In Christ we can see it plainly. He is light and in Him is no darkness at all. In Him

what had always been a mystery is solved. In Him is life.

Verses 13-14 Jesus’ position is equal to God and no angel can say that. The angel’s purpose is to
serve you and me (“…those who will inherit salvation”). This comes from Psalm 110:1, a direct
reference to Christ. No angel can experience salvation, and thus they miss the joy of being saved. But
they can assist us in opposing Satan and can defend us from him.  Because of sin, mankind has been
banished from God’s kingdom. But through Christ, we can find reconciliation with Him.

Although it is often applied legalistically and to support some faith in some ethereal “God,” the one
and only point of the book of Hebrews is to present to the Jews, Jewish Christians and to you and ne
the absolute superiority of Jesus. He is to be the in-all, of-all, by-all and through-all of everything
we have been, are now or ever will be. He is King over all of the kings of all time, past, present and
future put together.

Christ is God’s final Word. There have never been any further revelations from God because His
revelation in Christ is sufficient. Neither Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science), Charles Russell
(Jehovah’s Witnesses) nor Joseph Smith (Mormons) have received any further revelation from God.
Any “revelation” they or anybody else claim beyond the absolute completeness of Christ, Himself, is
a lie…period. God has said ALL HE NEEDS TO SAY in the finished work of Christ at the cross of
Calvary.