Hebrews, the anonymous book making known the person of Christ. It was written to Jewish Christians facing pressure to convert back to Judaism. Through its pages, believers of all generations are reminded that the Old Testament pointed to Christ, that Jesus is superior to all, and that faith empowers us to endure all things with the hope of Zion. Read Hebrews and see God’s mission fulfilled through Jesus.
1. The Old Testament is a picture of the New
The rituals, blood sacrifices, and Holy men often steer us away from the Old Testament, but God chose these seemingly archaic acts to symbolize his son's work. Some have claimed the God of the Old is angry and unjust while Christ is all about love. Each book of the bible reveals an aspect of God. His character is consistent throughout. Hebrews reminds us of the necessity of the old covenant and its fulfillment in the new. When you include the Old Testament in your regular bible reading, the New Testament will grow clearer and more meaningful to you.
Ours is a religion revealed through stories. Our God, the same through each chapter. He chose to reveal himself through the priesthood so we could clearly recognize his son as the true bridge of heaven and earth. He chose the continual blood sacrifices of goats to atone for the Israelites' sin so that we could see the complete sacrifice of Christ on the cross making us blameless of all sin. He chose to build Solomon’s grand temple to host his presence so that we could see the privilege of God making his home in our hearts. God made heavenly realities plain in the Old Testament. God has been making himself known since Genesis, his greatest revelation is his son Jesus Christ.
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Hebrews 1:1-3
2. The Supremacy of Christ
If you want to know what God is like, look at Christ. Hebrews takes us back to the Old Testament to show us the work of Christ long before he was born. First through a key Jewish man, Moses, and secondly through the mysterious non-Jewish priest Melchizedek.
The Jews relied on the divine teachings revealed through Moses to understand their God Yahweh. Their way to access God was through the law God instituted. Perfect as the law was it couldn’t turn the Israelites' hearts towards God. God freed them from the enslavement of the evil Pharaoh, but he had a grander plan to free them from the same evil that existed in their own hearts. In the past, the gap between man’s sinfulness and God’s holiness was bridged by priests specifically the Levite priesthood instituted in the Mosaic law. This priesthood failed on many occasions. Thus, the crevice between God and man grew wider until he stopped speaking in the years preceding the New Testament. If man couldn’t come near God, then God would have to come near man.
This coming of God is prophesied in Psalms 110:4 describing him as an eternal priest in the line of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was the King of Salem (ancient Jerusalem). He is described in Genesis 14 as Priest of God Most High before the Levite priesthood was even established. He blesses Abraham then disappears for the rest of history only to be likened to Christ in Hebrews 5. He is a mysterious by very significant figure.
Abraham honors Melchizedek with a gift of a 10th of all his wealth. This was a kind of tithe that would later be offered to Levite priests. The great Abraham blesses this non-Jewish man as greater than himself. The founder of 3 major world religions acknowledges Melchizedek as a man from God Most High. Therefore, all world religions stemming from Abraham; Judaism, Islam and Christianity cannot find completion without this prophesied high priest from the line of Melchizedek, Jesus. Jesus’ priestly role as intercessor between God and man is superior to any other because God designated him to be a high priest in the order of Melchizedek a priesthood with no end(Hebrews 5:10). Christ is forever interceding to God on our behalf therefore we always have access to God through Christ.
Twice through the laws and priesthood the author of Hebrews shows us that our ways to come near God will fail without God coming near to us first. The Old Testament shows the bent of the human heart away from God. Story after story we see humans grappling with sin, unable to attain the holiness of God. Even today we fall short of pure goodness. What is needed is a new covenant mediated by a perfect high priest.
Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.
Hebrews 10:11-14
3. Enduring faith
In light of this Hebrews urges us to draw near to God with sincere hearts knowing that through faith in Christ our sins have been wiped away. We have faith that God will fulfill his promises to us now that we have been reconciled back to him. Yet it struck me that those commended for their faith in Hebrews 11 rarely received what was promised to them the moment God gave them the promise. It would take generations for their fulfillment, many dying before getting to the promised land with the time in between often marked by exile and bareness. Is this the same God whose promises we are to believe in? For this answer, we look to the great father of faith Abraham.
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Hebrews 11:8-10
We receive more by believing in God than by acquiring the thing we are praying for. Abraham’s faith was not in vain though he lived in a tent. Faith begins with trusting God’s character and ends with believing his promises. The promises of God can include earth blessings, and answers to prayers now like how Abraham received Isaac, the son he prayed for. But Abraham's real hope was in the promised land where God was preparing a place for all his descendants.
God’s greatest promise isn’t the answer to one of our prayers it is the answer to all of them.
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Revelation 21:1-5
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever. The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”
Revelation 22: 3-7
Our answered prayers, though comforting, do not solve the fractures we see all over this broken world. Hearts still break, and people still die. We see how this world is not as it should be. Therefore, the greatest hope there is the hope of Eden. A holy city where God looks down and says it is all good.
The faithful in Hebrews are commended for believing in this. They only saw it from afar and welcomed it. Today, we Christians have it better. We have more than belief, we see Christ's redemptive work in our hearts. We see him making us new, changing our thoughts and actions day by day to match the good he created us to be. We glimpse Eden every time we let Christ work in and through us. Indeed, through Christ, God’s kingdom has already begun (John 17:3) Therefore, we look to Christ to strengthen us through our journey to the New Jerusalem.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12: 1-3
That is the beauty of faith; it makes concrete the Holy City we have not yet seen. (Hebrews 11:1) It assures us that we are not alone as we sojourn in a messy world. It enables us to trust God even if our prayers are not answered now because we know that God is preparing a home for us where pain can never find us. Where we will be with him, our soul's greatest desire. This promise is why we endure.
Hebrews tells us of the power of Christ through the eyes of the Old Testament. Let us endeavor to turn the pages back to stories of old. See God weaving a story of redemption from the very beginning. With the lens of faith let us continually fix our eyes on that glorious city where all will be made good once more.
Fantastic exposition of Hebrews and of our hope, our savior Jesus Christ, his undying love for us and the work he is doing in our hearts to bring us to himself. Thank you for this.