Title Page
Lesson Ten
Hebrews 11:32-34
Hebrews 11:32-34
32 And what shall I more say? for the time
would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak,
and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also,
and Samuel, and of the prophets:
33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms,
wrought righteousness, obtained promises,
stopped the mouths of lions,
34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the
edge of the sword, out of weakness were made
strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight
the armies of the aliens.
Hebrews 11:35-37
Hebrews 11:35-37
35 Women received their dead raised to life
again: and others were tortured, not accepting
deliverance; that they might obtain a better
resurrection:
36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and
scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and
imprisonment:
37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder,
were tempted, were slain with the sword: they
wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins;
being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
Hebrews 11:38-40
Hebrews 11:38-40
38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they
wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in
dens and caves of the earth.
39 And these all, having obtained a good report
through faith, received not the promise:
40 God having provided some better thing for
us, that they without us should not be made
perfect.
Focus Verse
Matthew 13:16-17
But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and
your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto
you, That many prophets and righteous men
have desired to see those things which ye see,
and have not seen them; and to hear those things
which ye hear, and have not heard them.
Focus Thought
We have God’s best—the new-birth
experience of the Holy Ghost. This is the
ultimate experience for which others in
times past longed.
Introduction
Introduction
The Book of Hebrews was written to first-century
Jews who had accepted Jesus as the Messiah, had
been baptized in His name, and had been filled with
the Holy Spirit. Its target audience was probably the
Jewish believers living in and around Jerusalem;
but like the other epistles, believers undoubtedly
copied and dispersed it throughout the
Mediterranean region. We should not conclude,
however, that the message of this book is
exclusively for Jewish Christians. Like the rest of
the Bible, its message has application to all
believers of all generations.
Scholars are uncertain who authored the Book of
Hebrews because there is no salutation. All
indicators, however, point to Paul. For example,
Peter referenced a letter that Paul wrote in which
there were “some things hard to be understood,” an
apt description of the Book of Hebrews. (See II
Peter 3:16.) The style of the Book of Hebrews is
more poetic than that of Paul’s other epistles, but
Hebraic forms of expression tended to be more
poetic than that of the Greeks and Romans.
Introduction
Furthermore, at the end of the epistle, the author
had knowledge of Timothy’s release from prison
and expressed his hope that he and Timothy would
soon visit those to whom he was writing (Hebrews
13). It is hard to imagine that this could be anyone
but Paul.
Introduction
The situation that the author of the Book of
Hebrews was addressing concerned the inclination
of some Jewish Christians to retreat from their life
of faith back to the Judaic ceremonial system,
referred to as simply “the law.” Many of them had
suffered great persecution for their acceptance of
Jesus as the Messiah, and some were caving in to
the pressure.
Introduction
By going back to the ritual offerings, the holy days,
and other elements of the Mosaic law, they could
avoid the hardships and mistreatment that came
continually upon the Christians. The problem was
that as believers they could not have it both ways.
Believers cannot live simultaneously by religious
ritual and by faith in Christ, for the one cancels out
the other. As Paul warned the Galatians, “Christ is
become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are
justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace”
(Galatians 5:4).
Introduction
The choice that these people faced was between
shadows and substance. The shadows of the law
had served their purpose for a time, but now that the
substance had arrived—the Messiah who had come
and poured out His Spirit—the shadows had lost
their purpose and ceased to be effective. This meant
that anyone retreating to the shadows was
abandoning God’s current plan for the salvation of
mankind.
Introduction
Today we can apply the principles of the Book of
Hebrews to anyone who is seeking salvation
through any means other than faith in Christ. This
could pertain to any system based on rules and
ceremonies (known as “legalism”) rather than grace
and truth. Such systems focus on the outward man
and can never effect change in the heart.
Introduction
This is not only the basis of denominational
Christianity but also the mindset of some
Pentecostals. It is possible to retreat from an active,
living, spiritual relationship with Christ into the
practice of mere Pentecostal ritual (raising hands,
singing songs, even mindlessly speaking in
tongues); but this is no different from those firstcentury Jews who retreated into the shadows of
Mosaic law.
Introduction
Paul declared to the Galatians, “Received ye the
Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of
faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit,
are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians
3:2-3). Fleshly religion, regardless of the name we
put on it, can never bring about spiritual growth and
maturity, which comes only through Jesus Christ.
Introduction
A Better Salvation
I. A Better Salvation (A)
The argument that the Book of Hebrews uses to
persuade its readers to persevere in the faith is
founded in the superiority of Jesus Christ over
every element of Old Testament Judaism. For
example, the first two verses emphasize the Son’s
superiority over all of the prophets. The balance of
chapter one describes His superiority over the
angels.
I. A Better Salvation (A)
After all, if the heavenly angels worship this Man,
then He must be greater than they! In chapter three,
the Son of God is said to be greater than Moses; in
chapter four He is described as greater than Joshua;
and in chapter five, He is described as greater than
Melchizedek, the mysterious priest-king who
greeted Abraham with bread and wine.
All of these Old Testament figures—the prophets,
the angels, Moses, Joshua, and Melchizedek—
served as types and shadows of the One who was
to come, Jesus Christ. They each had something to
teach us about Christ, providing glimpses into His
character and work, but they all were subordinate
to Christ Himself. They served as an outline, but
Jesus is the fleshing out of the essay. They
provided a future portrait, but Jesus is the reality.
I. A Better Salvation (A)
As we look further into the Book of Hebrews, we
discover other important types and shadows that
have found their fulfillment in Christ. We should
keep in mind that all of these were highly valued
elements of the Jewish religion. To the Jews, to
undermine their religious value was tantamount to
undermining God Himself.
I. A Better Salvation (A)
When Paul came to Jerusalem, for example, the
religious people accused him of teaching the Jews
who lived among the Gentiles to “forsake Moses”
(Acts 21:21). This teaching was a crime that they
considered punishable by beating and death. We
must never underestimate the hold that religious
traditions and rituals can have in the hearts of those
who highly esteem them.
I. A Better Salvation (A)
A. A Better Priesthood
I. A
Better
Salvation
(A)
At the
time the Book
of Hebrews was
written, the
Old Testament figures mentioned above were from
the past, long gone from the current religious
scene. However, a priesthood was still at work in
Jerusalem overseeing the Temple worship as it had
for hundreds of years. Every day, these priests
sounded the holy trumpets, received the holy
sacrifices, and led the Jews in their various
ceremonies and traditions.
I. A
Salvation
(A) as was
TheyBetter
were an entrenched
part of Jerusalem
the Temple itself. However, this Old Testament
priesthood had an inherent shortcoming in that it
could “never take away sins” (Hebrews 10:11).
I. A
Salvation
(A)was
The Better
work of these
Old Testament priests
merely a portrait of that which was to come. (See
Hebrews 10:12, 14.) The priesthood of Jesus Christ
is infinitely superior to the temporary priesthood of
the Temple.
I. A
Better
Salvation
(A)
Because
He continues
forever, Jesus
has an
unchangeable priesthood and is therefore “able also
to save them to the uttermost that come unto God
by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for them” (Hebrews 7:25). The exhortation of the
Book of Hebrews is this: Why look to a temporal
human priest when the eternal High Priest is so
close at hand?
B. A Better Tabernacle
I. A
Better
Salvation
(B)
The Temple in Jerusalem was built according to the
same pattern given to Moses in the wilderness for
the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle had been a portable
dwelling place for God during the time when the
Israelites were a nomadic people, but once they
settled in the Promised Land, they constructed the
Temple to serve as a permanent dwelling place.
I. A
Better
Salvation
(B)
However, from God’s perspective, He intended
neither the Tabernacle nor the Temple to be His
permanent residence on earth. Instead, Christ came
“by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not
made with hands, that is to say, not of this
building” (Hebrews 9:11).
The tabernacle that Jesus provided was His own
body: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt
among us” (John 1:14). The word dwelt literally
means “tabernacled.” When Jesus visited
Jerusalem, He declared, “Destroy this temple, and
in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). John
then explained, “But he spake of the temple of his
body” (John 2:21). The exhortation of the Book of
Hebrews is this: Why look to a temporary earthly
temple when the eternal temple made without
human hands is so near?
I. A Better Salvation (B)
C. A Better Sacrifice
I. A Better Salvation (C)
From the days of Abel in Genesis 4 to the time of
the writing of the Book of Hebrews, animal
sacrifice was a central element in Israel’s worship
of God.
Hebrews 10:3-4
“But in those sacrifices there is a
remembrance again made of sins
every year. For it is not possible that
the blood of bulls and of goats should
take away sins” (Hebrews 10:3-4).
I. A Better Salvation (C)
At the time of this writing, the Jewish priests
offered a continual parade of animals on the large
bronze altar that stood before the white marble
Temple. However, only a reminder of sins was in
those sacrifices. This does not mean that
forgiveness was unavailable during the Old
Testament period but only that it did not derive
from animal blood.
I. A Better Salvation (C)
According to the Scriptures, Jesus Christ was
“slain from the foundation of the world”
(Revelation 13:8). This means that in the mind of
God, the blood of Jesus has always been the basis
of salvation, even before the actual shedding of
His precious blood.
I. A Better Salvation (C)
The Temple sacrifices were merely shadows of the
sacrifice of Christ (Hebrews 9:23). The Temple
was only a pattern—an exhibit for imitation—of
the spiritual temple. Being a shadow, the shadows
ceremonially purified it. The exhortation of
Hebrews is this: Why rely on temporal animal
sacrifices when the eternal, all-sufficient sacrifice
of Christ is so readily available?
A Better Covenant
II. A Better Covenant (A)
In the days surrounding the writing of the Bible, a
covenant was an absolute commitment between two
parties—like a modern contract, but with more
severe penalties for failing to keep it. In some
circumstances, the breaking of a covenant was
punishable by death.
The Book of Hebrews speaks of two covenants—
the old and the new. The old covenant, declared and
initiated by Moses, was between God and the
people of Israel. It is variously known as the first
covenant, the law of Moses, or simply the law. The
new covenant is more commonly called the New
Testament. Like a last will and testament, it was
declared by Jesus Christ and initiated upon His
death. It stands today as the divine relationship
between God and all who obey the gospel,
regardless of ethnic origin. (See Galatians 3:28.)
II. A Better Covenant (A)
The blood of bulls and goats inaugurated the old
covenant, and the blood of Jesus inaugurated the
new covenant. Contrasting Jesus with Moses, the
Book of Hebrews informs us that Jesus has a “more
excellent ministry” and is the “mediator of a better
covenant, which was established upon better
promises” (Hebrews 8:6). The writer further
declared, “For if that first covenant had been
faultless, then should no place have been sought for
the second” (Hebrews 8:7). What is it then that
makes the new covenant so superior to the old?
II. A Better Covenant (A)
A. Laws Written in the Heart
II. The
A first
Better
Covenant
(A)
attribute we notice of the old covenant is
that it was “written and engraven in stones” (II
Corinthians 3:7). Perhaps this is because it was for
a people whose hearts were hard like stone. Like
the law that called for all adulterers to be stoned to
death, the old covenant eventually became little
more than an instrument of spiritual death,
effective in condemning the guilty but impotent in
restoring the condemned.
II. InAcontrast
Better
Covenant
(A)
to the old covenant, God says of the
new, “I will put my laws into their mind, and write
them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God,
and they shall be to me a people” (Hebrews 8:10).
This was accomplished by the Holy Spirit, which
not only writes the law on the heart but also
transforms the heart from a heart of stone to a heart
of flesh. (See Ezekiel 11:19.)
II. One
A ofBetter
Covenant
(A)
the great superiorities of the new covenant
over the old is that it contains power to change the
heart. When the rule of God merges with a soft and
yielded heart, living out the righteousness of God
is not difficult but comes as naturally as breathing.
B. New Testament Established
II. Some
A Better
Covenant
(B)
believers have
received the Holy
Spirit but,
like the Galatians, still hold onto some of the
elements of the old covenant. For example, some
today insist that believers should keep the Sabbath.
Others believe that the means to developing
spiritual people is simply by imposing rules on
them. However, the Book of Hebrews proclaimed,
“He taketh away the first, that he may establish the
second” (Hebrews 10:9).
II. The
A old
Better
covenantCovenant
served its purpose(B)
for its time,
but in the end it proved to be weak and
unprofitable, making nothing perfect or mature.
For the new and better to be established, it was
necessary to remove the old. By bringing in a new
covenant, God has implicitly declared the previous
covenant to be old.
II. The
A Bible
Better
Covenant
indicates
that there was a (B)
transitional
period when both the old and the new were
practiced by some Jews. But as the new began to
proliferate, the old began to fade away. (See
Hebrews 7:18; 8:13.)
II. The
A old
Better
(B)
covenantCovenant
and all that it carried
with it—
including the whole concept of leading people only
by the imposition of rules—is finished forever. It
has been divinely disannulled (canceled, put away).
Any attempt to drag it into the present is an affront
to the grace and truth established in the new
covenant for our salvation.
A
Better
Experience
III. A Better Experience (A)
The Book of Hebrews informs us that one of the
key reasons why the new covenant is better than the
old is that it was established on “better promises”
(Hebrews 8:6). What are these promises, and how
do they impact the spiritual experience that God has
made available to mankind? To understand this, we
should look at some familiar characters of the Old
Testament.
A. Looking Forward in Faith
III. A Better Experience (A)
We often refer to Hebrews 11 as “The Hall of Fame
of the Faithful.” The chapter begins by defining
faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).
III. A Better Experience (A)
It then describes the men and women of the Old
Testament who walked by faith, concluding with
the words, “And these all, having obtained a good
report through faith, received not the promise: God
having provided some better thing for us, that they
without us should not be made perfect” (Hebrews
11:39-40).
III. A Better Experience (A)
From Abel through the patriarchs, Moses, David,
the prophets, and others who persevered through
great persecution, there remained a promise of God
that they could see only from a distance, unable to
receive and possess it.
III. A Better Experience (A)
These Old Testament brothers and sisters based
their faith primarily on what they heard rather than
what they experienced. The Spirit certainly spoke
to them, but the Spirit did not indwell them as it
does believers today. We do well when we follow
their example and base our faith not on subjective
spiritual experiences, but on the Word of God. Let
us establish our experiences by truth, not truth by
our experiences.
B. Desiring the Ultimate
III. Jesus
A Better
Experience (B)
told His disciples, “For verily I say unto you,
That many prophets and righteous men have desired
to see those things which ye see, and have not seen
them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and
have not heard them” (Matthew 13:17). Throughout
the ages, godly people looked ahead to the promise
of the coming Messiah. They longed to see Him
and to experience His heavenly presence.
III. Jesus
A Better
Experience (B)
declared to the Jews, “Your father Abraham
rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was
glad” (John 8:56). However, the writer stated,
“These all died in faith, not having received the
promises, but having seen them afar off, and were
persuaded of them, and embraced them, and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on
the earth” (Hebrews 11:13).
III. The
A promises
Betterincluded
Experience
(B)
the coming of the
Messiah—God manifested in flesh—and the
redemption from sin that He would provide through
the new-birth experience, including receiving the
Holy Spirit with the initial sign of speaking in other
tongues.
III. These
A Better
Experience (B)
messianic promises, when fulfilled, would
bring heaven’s ultimate to mankind. Knowing this,
we ought to have even greater appreciation for our
own revelation of the oneness of God in Christ and
our redemptive experience with the indwelling
Spirit of God.
C. Being Born Again
III. A
(C)
FromBetter
the eternalExperience
perspective, to be born
is good,
but to be born again is vastly better because “that
which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6), and “flesh
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (I
Corinthians 15:50). To be born spiritually is a
prerequisite for inheriting the kingdom of God:
“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John
3:5).
The promise of a new birth—a new start, a new
life—is the “better thing” that God has provided
for us through the new covenant (Hebrews 11:40).
It was not that the Old Testament believers could
not receive eternal life; it was that they could not
receive the divine power that would transform their
lives. It was not that they could not know the true
God at all; it was that they could not know Him
intimately through the indwelling Spirit. It was not
that they had no knowledge of the Messiah; it was
just that they could see Him only afar off as a
distant figure yet to come.
III. A Better Experience (C)
III. A
Better Experience (C)
In contrast, we can look back and see Him clearly
as the virgin-born Messiah who had miraculous
power yet submitted Himself to beating and
crucifixion—all that we might receive something
better than what was available under the old
covenant.
A Better Hope
IV. A Better Hope
To many people today, hope is little more than
wishful thinking. Many people say that they hope
certain things will happen, but they have little
confidence that those things will occur. In the
Bible, hope is something else altogether. Biblical
hope always is based on a promise of God. In other
words, the reason we can hope for something is
that God has promised it.
IV. A Better Hope
For example, if God says He will heal us, then we
can have hope in the midst of our sickness. If God
says that He will provide for us, then we can have
hope even when we have no food or money.
Without an explicit promise of God there is no
basis for hope.
Hebrews 7:19
“For the law made nothing perfect,
but the bringing in of a better hope
did; by the which we draw nigh unto
God” (Hebrews 7:19).
IV. A Better Hope
The “better hope” was the Holy Spirit, which is
available to us through the redemptive work of
Jesus Christ. This gift alone has the power to
“present every man perfect in Christ Jesus”
(Colossians 1:28).
IV. A Better Hope
When Peter proclaimed the availability of the Holy
Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, he said, “For the
promise is unto you, and to your children, and to
all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our
God shall call” (Acts 2:39).
IV. A Better Hope
Because God has promised this life-transforming
Spirit to all who obey the gospel, New Testament
believers have a better hope than those of the Old.
This better hope not only pertains to our future
eternal life but also to our present life and the
possibilities now available to us through the Spirit.
IV. A Better Hope
The Holy Spirit has the power to change believers
today. Our hearts do not have to remain hard like
stone; our minds do not have to remain darkened
with such limited understanding. Today we can
become like Jesus—transformed by the renewing
of our minds (Romans 12:2), which results in our
being “conformed to the image of his Son”
(Romans 8:29). We can now display the fruit of the
Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
IV. A Better Hope
Today we have available to us “all things that
pertain unto life and godliness, through the
knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and
virtue” (II Peter 1:3). Because we have this hope of
a transformed life, we are inspired to draw near to
God, who is able to save every one of us to the
uttermost.
In addition to these things, our hope of eternal life
is intricately connected to the second coming of
Christ. Whereas the Old Testament believers had a
vague hope of life after death, we have a specific
hope that when Jesus comes, He will “change our
vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his
glorious body, according to the working whereby
he is able even to subdue all things unto himself”
(Philippians 3:21). Therefore, “unto them that look
for him shall he appear the second time without sin
unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:28).
IV. A Better Hope
Reflections
The Old Testament priesthood was designed to teach
us about the work of Christ and His relationship to
us as the mediator between God and mankind (I
Timothy 2:5). Both the Tabernacle and the Temple
were designed to teach us about the body of Christ
and our need for separation from the world.
Reflections
The animal sacrifices taught us about God’s
judgment on sin, the cost of forgiveness, and our
responsibility to sacrifice for the work of God. Each
was only a shadowy portrait of the reality that is
now available to us in Jesus Christ.
Reflections
As the exhortation of the Book of Hebrews
proposes, why live under the earthly priesthood,
worship at the earthly Temple, or offer up earthly
animals when the heavenly priesthood of Jesus, the
living tabernacle of the body, and the sin-removing
sacrifice of Calvary are available? Why settle for the
good now that the better has come?
Reflections
Jesus taught the principle that “unto whomsoever
much is given, of him shall be much required”
(Luke 12:48). Compared to what was given to the
Old Testament believers, every believer today
qualifies as one who has been given much. This
means that much will be required of us.
Reflections
“Therefore we ought to give
the more earnest heed to the
things which we have heard,
lest at any time we should let
them slip” (Hebrews 2:1).
Reflections
The writer then warned that if the old covenant was
steadfast and every disobedience justly
recompensed, “how shall we escape, if we neglect
so great salvation; which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by
them that heard him . . .?” (Hebrews 2:3). The
message to us is that if those who disobeyed the law
of Moses were condemned, how shall we who have
been given so much more escape the righteous
judgment of God if we fail to earnestly heed the
Word of the living God?
Reflections
We have seen that the elements of the new covenant
are universally superior to those of the old. But in
the same way, we must not fail to understand that
the judgments of the new also are superior to those
of the old. If the rejection of the shadow brought
severe judgment, how much more severe would be
the rejection of the substance? (See Hebrews 10:2829.)
Reflections
During the period of the old covenant, God winked
at many of the failures and transgressions of His
people, tolerating conduct that is completely
unacceptable today. But for those of us to whom
much has been given, from us much will be
required. Therefore, under the old covenant, God
prohibited adultery; but under the new, He also
prohibits sexual lust. Under the old, He prohibited
murder; but under the new, He also prohibits wanton
anger.
Reflections
Under the old, He required love for one’s neighbor;
but under the new, He also requires love for one’s
enemies. Jesus described this as a kind of
righteousness that exceeds “the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees” (Matthew 5:20).
Reflections
Everything about the new covenant is better than the
old—a better priesthood, a better tabernacle, a better
sacrifice, a better covenant, a better promise, a better
experience, a better hope, and a better expectation.
Moreover, we also have received a better and more
glorious revelation of the only true God, who has
revealed Himself to all mankind as the Lord Jesus
Christ.