The Book of Hebrews
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9wqN-nwSzE&sns=em
ch Nutshell
Key passage
OT references
Warning
1
Jesus IS God,
Creator,
Eternal, and
Messiah.
“In these last days [God]
has spoken to us by his Son,
whom he appointed the
heir of all things..After
making purification for sins,
he sat down at the right
hand of the Majesty on
high” (Hebrews 1:2-3).
“Long ago...God
“[The earth and the
spoke to our
heavens] will perish, but
fathers by the
you remain” (1:10)
prophets” (1:1),
Psalm 2:7, 2
Samuel 7:14, Psalm
97:7, 104:4, 45:6-7,
102:25-27, 110:1
2
Yes, Jesus
became a
man – for
us!
“Therefore he had to be
made like his brothers in
every respect, so that he
might become a merciful
and faithful high priest in
the service of God” (2:17).
Psalm 8:4-6, Psalm
22:22, Psalm 18:2,
Isaiah 8:18,
“offspring of
Abraham” (2:16),
“high priest” (2:17)
“Pay closer attention…lest
we drift away…[and]
neglect such a great
salvation” (2:1-3)
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Consider
Jesus! He did
what no one
else could
do. Do not
resist him.
“Consider Jesus…who was
faithful…worthy…For who
were those who heard and
yet rebelled? Was it not all
those who left Egypt led by
Moses?” (3:1-3, 16)
“Moses” (3:2-5),
Psalm 95:7-11,
“those who left
Egypt with
Moses?” (3:16-19)
“Today, if you hear his
voice, do not harden your
hearts…Take care,
brothers, lest there be in
any of you an evil,
unbelieving heart, leading
you to fall away from the
living God” (3:7-8,1213,15).
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The Book of Hebrews
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Stay the
course so
you can
reach the
“promised
land.” Draw
near to
Jesus.
Draw near to the throne of
grace that we may receive
mercy and find grace to
help in time of need”
(4:16).
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Jesus is your
High Priest.
You need to
learn this.
“And being made perfect,
he became the source of
eternal salvation to all who
obey him, being designated
by God a high priest…” (5:9)
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7
8
9
Psalm 95:11, “And
God rested on the
seventh day from
all his works” (Gen
2:2), “Joshua”
(4:8), “high priest”
(4:14)
“high priest” (5:1),
“Aaron” (5:4),
Psalm 2:7, Psalm
110:4,
“Melchizedek”
(5:10, Gen 14:18)
Be faithful
“We who have fled for
Abraham (Genesis
to Him as He refuge might have strong
22:17), “behind the
is faithful to encouragement to hold fast curtain” (6:19),
you.
to the hope set before us”
Melchizedek
(6:18).
(Genesis 14:18)
There is OT
"Melchizedek towers out of Melchizedek
precedent
the past—without record of (Genesis 14:18-20),
for Jesus'
family ties, no account of
Psalms 11:4, Levi &
preisthood.
beginning or end. In this
Aaron (Numbers
way he is like the Son of
18)
God, one huge priestly
presence dominating the
landscape always" (7:3).
The OT looks "But Jesus’ priestly work far Moses (Exodus
forward to
surpasses what these other 25:40), Jeremiah
his better
priests do, since he’s
31:31-34
priesthood.
working from a far better
plan" (8:6).
The OT was
"If that animal blood and
Temple/sacrifice/p
preparing
the other rituals of
riesthood (Exodus,
humanity for purification were effective
Leviticus,
Jesus.
in cleaning up certain
Numbers)
matters of our religion and
behavior, think how much
more the blood of Christ
cleans up our whole lives,
inside and out" (9:13).
“Let us fear lest any of
you should seem to have
failed to reach [God’s
rest]…Let us therefore
strive to enter that rest,
so that no one may fall by
the same sort of
disobedience…” (4:1,11)
“About this we have
much to say, and it is hard
to explain, since you have
become dull of hearing”
(5:11).
“But if it bears thorns and
thistles, it is
worthless…and its end is
to be burned” (6:8).
"Now if perfection had
been attainable through
the Levitical priesthood…
what further need would
there have been for
another priest…" (7:11).
"And just as it is
appointed for man to die
once, and after that
comes judgment, so
Christ…will appear a
second time, not to deal
with sin but to save those
who are eagerly waiting
for him" (9:27-28).
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The Book of Hebrews
10 Jesus is the
only Savior.
"But when Christ had
offered for all time a single
sacrifice for sins, he sat
down at the right hand of
God...For by a single
offering he has perfected
for all time those who are
being sanctified" (10:12,
14).
Psalm 40:6-8,
Jeremiah 31:33,
Habakkuk 2:3-4
"For if we go on sinning
deliberately after
receiving the knowledge
of the truth, there no
longer remains a sacrifice
for sins, but a fearful
expectation of
judgment…" (10:26-27).
11 People have
always been
saved by
faith in
God's
promises.
12 Stay the
course with
Jesus…
"These all died in faith, not
having received the things
promised, but having seen
them and greeted them
from afar" (11:13).
Too many to list!
"And without faith it is
impossible to please
[God]" (11:6).
"Let us also lay aside every
weight, and sin which clings
so closely, and let us run
with endurance the race
that is set before us,
looking to Jesus, the
founder and perfecter of
our faith..." (12:1-2)
Proverbs 3:11,
Esau (Genesis
25:33), Exodus 19,
Abel (Genesis 4:10)
"See that you do not
refuse him who is
speaking. For if they did
not escape when they
refused him who warned
them on earth, much less
will we escape if we reject
him who warns from
heaven" (12:25).
13 By living
honorably.
"Now may the God of
peace...equip you with
everything good that you
may do his will, working in
us that which is pleasing in
his sight, through Jesus
Christ..." (13:20-21)
Joshua 1:5, Psalm
118:6
"Do not be led away by
diverse and strange
teachings…" (13:9)
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The Book of Hebrews
One Walk Through Hebrews…
DON’T FORGET: “We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest
we drift away from it” (2:1).
D. A. Carson: “People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from
grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness,
prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord.
We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward
disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and
call it faith.
We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation;
we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into
thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness
and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”
JESUS FREED ME: “Since the children are made of flesh and blood, it’s logical that
the Savior took on flesh and blood in order to rescue them by his death. By
embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil’s hold on death and
freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death…he didn’t go to all this
trouble for angels. It was for people like us” (2:14-16)
JESUS IS HELPING ME NOW: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne
of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (4:15).
JESUS SUFFERED FOR ME: “He learned obedience through what he suffered. And
being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him”
(5:8-9).
HE WANTS ME (ready, willing): ““Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired…in
burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I
have come to do your will, O God” (10:6-7).
FOLLOW JESUS: “Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the
founder and perfecter of our faith” (12:1-2).
AND FIND PEACE: “Be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never
leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper;
I
will not fear;
what can man do to me?’”
IN HIS PERSPECTIVE: “Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand
what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in
the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were
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The Book of Hebrews
transients in this world. People who live this way make it plain that they are
looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could
have gone back any time they wanted. But they were after a far better country
than that—heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a
City waiting for them” (11:13-16).
Questions for Discussion
1. Has anything from last semester’s study come to mind or been particularly
helpful over the break? Or has God used some other message to impact you
over the holidays?
2. What do you find most interesting or confusing, comforting or disturbing
about Hebrews?
3. What has been especially stressful for you lately? What makes that issue
stressful? How could time spent with Jesus in God’s Word affect the way you
see that issue?
4. Think about where you spend your time each day. Which what activities fill
most of your time? Which box of the Covey chart do they fall in? Are there
things you could trim from your schedule to spend more time in the
“Important” categories?
5. What are the red flags (in your attitude or decisions or relationships) that
alert you that you’ve started to drift from following Jesus and keeping him
first in your life?
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