Overview & Additional Resources
Book Overview
The letter to the Hebrews was written to encourage Christians who were facing difficult trials. The letter focuses on Jesus as being sufficient to provide for anyone’s needs and supreme to the "many times and in many ways," God has revealed himself and helped his people in the past. God’s son Jesus is shown to be supreme to Angels who deliver God’s words, Moses the prophet, Abraham the heir of promise, and Melchizedek the priest. Jesus Christ, is the "exact imprint" of God's nature and who "upholds the universe by the word of his power" (1:1-3). So the writer constantly urges and warns us against turning away from him, saying not to "neglect such a great salvation" (2:3; 5:12-6:20; 10:19-39). Rather we should imitate those who lived by faith and where “commended through their faith” (ch.11) in the midst of suffering. This letter, whose author is unknown, was probably written between a.d. 60 and 70.
Themes to Look For:
Assurance / Confidence / Clean Conscience
Neglecting Salvation / Not Listening
Jesus Greater than Angels, Abraham, Moses, Aaron, Temple
Faith in Suffering
Covenants
Blood Sacrifice
Faith
Important Definitions:
Angels – a supernatural messenger of God, often sent to carry out his will or to assist human beings in carrying out his will. Though angels are more powerful than humans and often instill awe, they are not to be worshiped.
Covenant – a mutual promise or an agreement made between God and people, where God promises to save or bless people in return for their promised obedience or faith.
Day of Atonement – The holiest day in the Israelite calendar, when atonement was made for all the sins of Israel in the past year.
Exodus – the departure of the people of Israel from Egypt and their journey to the promise land under the leadership of Moses.
Faith – trusting commitment of one person to another, particularly to the person of God.
Grace – unmerited favor
Mercy – compassion and kindness towards someone experiencing hardship, sometimes even when such suffering results from the person’s own sin or foolishness.
Oracle – The word oracles in the New Testament most often refers to the teachings of God in the Old Testament. It may refer to Christian teachings, too.
Passover – annual celebration commemorating God’s final plague on the Egyptians leading to the Exodus, in which an Angel of death “passed over” houses who spread blood from a lamb on their doorposts. All who did not obey this command suffered the death of their firstborn.
Priests – In Old Testament Israel, the priest represented the people before God and represented God before the people. Only those descended from Aaron could be priests. Their prescribed duties also included inspecting and receiving sacrifices from the people and overseeing the daily activities and maintenance of the tabernacle or temple
Prophet – one who received and declared a word from the Lord through a direct prompting of the Holy Spirit. Prophets did more than predict the future; their messages called Israel. Their prophecies were not general principles but specific words corresponding to Israel’s historical context.
Propitiation – the appeasement of wrath by the offering of a gift or sacrifice
Repentance – a complete change of heart and mind regarding one’s overall attitude towards God and/or one’s individual actions.
Sabbath – Seventh day rest mirroring God’s rest on the seventh day after creating the world. Believers look forward to an eternal sabbath rest.
Salvation – deliverance from consequences of sin; ultimately the eternal consequences of sin by Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Transgression – sinning by overstepping the limits of God’s law.
How to Read NT Letters
Questions to ask for understanding:
What specifically does this say about Jesus / God?
What specifically does this say about human nature?
What warnings are there?
What sins should we avoid?
What commands or examples are there to follow?
Things to look for while reading NT Letters:
Repeated words or phrases (Ex: “Neglect Salvation”)
Applying a shared truth (Ex: OT reference)
Comparing and Contrasting Ideas
Vivid Imagery
Patterns or Mirroring
Interruptions in Pattern
Themes (Ex: “blood sacrifice”)
Bible Project Resources:
Reading NT Letters - Literary Context
Reading NT Letters - Historical Context
Reading NT Letters PDF - Study Notes
Another Detailed Study –