Crash Course in Hebrews, Pt 1

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

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Hebrews is a fascinating book due to its high theological themes regarding Jesus, the atonement, the finality of His redemptive work and the fact that He is so much higher than all created beings, including angels. However, there are some things about Hebrews that have confounded people for decades. It’s interesting to see how convoluted some of the arguments are regarding aspects of the book of Hebrews. Some believe that it teaches salvation can be lost. Others believe that, while salvation cannot be lost, they believe that those who walk away from the faith were never truly saved in the first place.

I think the main problem with understanding Hebrews has to do with failing to fully comprehend the background and context of that particular book of the New Testament. Once we successfully zero in on the actual background (what the people of that day were dealing with), and the context itself (including who the book of Hebrews was actually written to), the so-called problems or issues within Hebrews are immediately clarified.

I attended a local Bible study recently in which Pastor Tom literally provided a crash course on the book of Hebrews. He had just returned from a missionary trip to Honduras where he taught a group of pastors there what he believes is the actual meaning/understanding of the book of Hebrews.

Even though I have a Bachelor’s in Bible degree, a Masters in Biblical Studies and a Doctorate of Theology, I learned something new and I want to share it with you. What I’m going to reiterate here is what Pastor Tom taught and interestingly enough, while his presentation was under an hour, I came away with an entirely new understanding of the contents of Hebrews. What I’m sharing here are, in my own words, what Pastor Tom shared with us.

Probably the most important concept to comprehend with respect to Hebrews falls into two areas, both connected. We need to consider what was going on externally for the people the writer of Hebrews wrote to, and we need to understand their particular mindset, which provides insight into why the writer of Hebrews wrote what he wrote. I’m not going to get into who might have written Hebrews. I have no idea. I simply know that God directed that book to be included in the Canon of Scripture. The fact that no name is attached to Hebrews must mean God did not think it important for us to know. Suffice it to say that ultimately, God wrote the book of Hebrews, as He wrote every other book that is considered part of the authorized Scriptures. When we get to heaven, we can certainly ask Him which human author penned it, but not knowing the name of that person takes nothing away from Hebrews.

Let’s start with the books name: Hebrews. Clearly, the book was originally written to Jewish believers, aka Hebrews. This word hearkens back to the Old Testament use and pinpoints those who came from Abraham’s, Isaac’s, and Jacob’s loins to form the nation of Israel. That is the very first step in understanding why this book was written. It was to offer solace, teaching and warnings to those Hebrews who were on the verge of considering something. What were they considering? It appears from the text that at least some were considering returning to the Mosaic sacrificial system and abandoning the all-sufficiency of Jesus’ atonement. Okay, hold onto that thought for a moment.

Now externally, what was happening in the world around those particular Hebrews? Well, if we go back to Matthew 24-25 and Luke 21, we learn from Jesus Himself that due to the fact that the religious leaders representing the nation of Israel, fully and completely rejected Jesus as Messiah, Jesus clearly stated that judgment was coming to the nation of Israel.

“Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:2 Berean Study Bible)

“As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.” (Luke 21:6 Berean Study Bible)

In the above two verses, Jesus is specifically referring to the Jewish Temple that Herod built during Jesus’ day. He said that there was coming a time when there will be total destruction of the Temple that was then standing. When did that happen? It happened in AD70 when Roman armies surrounded Jerusalem and literally destroyed the city and the temple. Again, this would occur because God used the Roman armies as His arm of judgment. He did this many times where Israel was concerned, using foreign armies to rain down God’s wrath against recalcitrant Israel, who constantly and continually refused to obey God, in spite of the fact that their ancestors had entered into a covenant with Him on Mt. Sinai.

So, we have two areas of context: first, the readers of Hebrews in that first century were Jewish Christians, and second, since we know the letter to the Hebrews was written in the AD60s, it was only a few years from the time when Rome would absolutely sack and destroy Jerusalem. With this in mind, we can now move into the text of Hebrews in which several chapters highlight specific warnings to the Hebrew readers. But what are those warnings about and what were those warnings attempting to achieve?

The book of Hebrews contains warnings to its readers in Hebrews 2, 4, 6, 10 and 12. It is extremely easy to miss the point of the warnings by taking from them meaning that doesn’t belong if people fail to comprehend the background and context of the situation. I don’t have time or space to go over each chapter and every verse. Suffice it to say that Hebrews opens with the writer expressing the fact that Jesus is supreme and His supremacy is over all things and all religious systems, including the Mosaic sacrificial system. This point is brought out in various ways throughout Hebrews and we need to take note of it.

The first warning issued by the writer of Hebrews is found in Hebrews 2:1-3.

1 We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every transgression and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

The point being made is often taken out of context, especially at the end of verse 1. There, the writer says we should not “drift away.” Many take that to mean that salvation, once embraced, can be lost. Is this what the writer is actually saying? I do not believe it is. The writer appears to be speaking to Hebrews who were considering going back to the Mosaic sacrificial system. If they chose that path, they would actually have to travel back to and live in or near Jerusalem. If they did that, those Jews who always rejected Jesus would see that and say, “Ah, Jesus isn’t enough? So we were right!” This then would bring dishonor to Jesus and it would be tantamount to saying that the old Mosaic code was superior to what Jesus accomplished.

Does this mean that had any Hebrews that went back to Jerusalem and rejoined the sacrificial system, they would have lost their salvation? No, it does not mean that.

If we consider King Saul, he started out very well, but then over time, started making very bad decisions, which ultimately caused God to reject Saul as king, replacing him with David. Does this mean Saul lost salvation? If he had it, then no.

How about Moses? He was doing very well until Numbers 22, when he “struck” the rock instead of speaking to it. This was so egregious to God (and Moses should have known better), that God said Moses would never enter the promised land. Does this mean Moses lost his salvation? No, because we see him along with Elijah and Jesus on the Mt. of Transfiguration seen in  Matthew 17:1–8, Mark 9:2–8, and Luke 9:28–36. Had Moses lost his salvation, he would not have been there, but it is clear he was already enjoying the Presence of his Lord and Jesus’ kingdom.

But there is a larger reason the writer of Hebrews presented this warning in Hebrews 2. He was trying to dissuade those Jewish believers from turning back to a system that was already gone and no longer applicable. Under the old covenant, sins were only covered, they were never expunged. It was only when Jesus died, paying the full price for our sin, that our sins were able to be completely forgiven and expunged. Until that time, God exercised forbearance toward sinners who came to him in faith.

The writer of Hebrews was trying to point out to the Jewish believers that if they deliberately chose to return to Jerusalem and once again participate in the old sacrificial system that had become thoroughly outdated and no longer in use as far as God was concerned, they would experience God’s judgment or punishment for doing so. What would that punishment/judgment look like?

Well, since it is clear that judgment on Israel (Jerusalem) was coming, as prophesied by Jesus Himself, we know (looking back), over 1,000,000 lives were lost due to Rome’s assault on Jerusalem and the surrounding area. So any Jewish believer who purposefully decided to return to the old sacrificial system meant deliberately returning to Jerusalem to practice it. This would also likely mean they would be killed by Roman armies. That is the judgment or punishment the writer of Hebrews was referring to here. It is similar to what Paul wrote in his letter to the Corinthian believers when he noted that some of them had “fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 11:30), and it was specifically due to their irreverent behavior during the Lord’s Supper. Some had approached it with a callous attitude, using it as a reason to pig out instead of eating at home first. In essence, their utter disrespect for the Lord’s Supper resulted in God calling them out of this life earlier than He might have had they not become so callous in their disregard for Him.

So the Hebrews were being warned that if they chose to go back to the old sacrificial system by relocating to Jerusalem, it would not go well for them. We now know that just about anyone in the vicinity of Jerusalem died at the hands of the Roman armies.

I believe the writer of Hebrews was specifically stating that if any Jewish believer chose to neglect so great a salvation as we have in Jesus and start looking elsewhere (like the Mosaic sacrificial system), God would choose to discipline/punish and judge that person. Remember, this was not a decision that would have been entered into lightly by someone. A Hebrew believer would have not gone down that road accidentally. It would have been done through the deliberate choice to outwardly abandon Jesus in exchange for the sacrificial system of old.

Someone who makes a mistake and does something wrong is far different than someone who thinks carefully about a decision and then proceeds to follow through on that. In both cases, there is sin, but in the latter, the sin is deliberate and well thought out before entering into it.

Can Christians experience this problem today? No, not really and I’m talking about going back to the Mosaic sacrificial system here. We cannot because that was never part of our lives in the first place. The entire book of Hebrews is written to people who were Jewish first and then became Christians. For them, due to the persecution of the Jewish religious leaders, many of these people were kicked out of the synagogues and were not allowed into the Temple at all. This never happened to Gentiles who became Christians. They had no practical experience with the old sacrificial system, nor do we.

A similar situation might exist today with people who have claimed to be Christians for years or decades and then they come to a point where they walk away. They often become atheists or agnostics. Even though they don’t go back to a sacrificial system, they still go back to the life they lived prior to being a Christian. They do not lose their salvation (if they actually had it), but God reserves the right to punish them in this life and He may well do just that.

There are several other warnings that we will go over in this short series. Next time, we will deal with the warning in Hebrews 4.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective