Hebrews 1:2

Heb. 1:2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world

Now carrying on with last time’s conversation, we are told that God has spoken. He has spoken many times and in many different ways, He has spoken to the ‘fathers,’ He has spoken to us, He has spoken to us through the prophets, and now He has spoken to us through His son, Jesus. Now we are told He has spoken to us in the “last days.” F.F. Bruce, a Christian author and commentator, says this phrase is “used in the OT to denote the epoch when the words of the prophets will be fulfilled, and its use here means that the appearance of Christ ‘once for all at the end of the age’ has inaugurated that time of fulfillment.”

Later, in chapter 11 we will read:

Heb. 11:39-40 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.

The OT saints were given promises they did not receive (more on this in later chapters). They looked forward to them, but their fulfillment did not happen in their lifetimes. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is a good example. We will get into this idea later in Chapter 8 when we look at the temple and its sacrificial system: the shadow and the image. Again, this is another contrast, this time between the sacrifices of the priests and, quite literally, the sacrifice of the Son.

We are told that he has spoken to us in His Son. You may have noticed that “His” is in italics. This word is added in English to help the sentence make sense to us. The original language was Greek and has a different structure than English, so translating can have its challenges. Let’s look at the phrase without this help:

Heb. 1:2 in these last days has spoken to us in Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world

This may be an argument for the Trinity. We want to draw such a hard line between the Father and the Son that often we focus on the personhood and forget the substance. Let’s see what the Westminster Shorter Catechism (WSC) says about the Godhead:

Question 9: How many persons are there in the Godhead?
Answer: There be three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one true, eternal God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory; although distinguished by their personal properties.

For those of you who are not familiar with the WSC, you might be wondering why I would be quoting something with the word Catechism in it. A Catechism is simply a list of questions and answers used to help people memorize truths. In our family devotions we are working our way through a book called Training hearts training minds. The Scriptures and readings for the week are based on the question for the week. By the end of the week we usually have the question and answer pretty well memorized. It is great for when your little ones have questions. When we read Bennett will often ask questions like, “What is sin? (you’ve gotta love their inquisitiveness)” To which I will answer, you know what sin is. What is sin (WSC question #24)? Bennett will then answer, “Sin is disobeying or not conforming to God’s law in any way.” So at the ripe old age of 3, he as a definition for what gets us all into trouble. It is my hope and prayer that this truth will lead him to the cross.

The ‘His’ is added in English to help us, but I didn’t want us to miss the possible intention of the writer. Since the Godhead is one in essence, but three in person, God spoke to us through the personhood of Jesus. Jesus is God. There are many other places where this truth is evidenced so I will move on.

God, who spoke in the OT through the prophets, has spoken in Son in these last days. This is also the Person He appointed heir of all things and through whom He also made the world. So Jesus is the heir of all things? We will be referring to Psalm 2 a few times early in this book. Lets take a look at verse 7 which it is likely what the author of Hebrews is referring to.

Psa. 2:8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

Did you catch that? It seems so obscure that it is often over looked. Read it again. That’s right, “the heathen!” God is going to give people to Jesus as his possession/inheritance. Here are some more:

Psa. 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

Psa. 94:14 For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.

How does He bridge the gap between imperfect people and Himself?

Eph. 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

And….

Eph. 2:4-5 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

He has brought us out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of the Son whom He loves!

We are also told that He (God) made the world through Him (Jesus) See Colosians 1:16-17.
Col. 1:16-17 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

This mighty Jesus, who made all things has reconciled us to God through His blood shed on the cross. What a great example of love. Jesus said:

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Amazing love, how sweet the sound! I am so thankful for this fact. Are you? Did you know He chose people for His inheritance? And these people were not perfect in themselves? That’s right He has made provision. He has made a covenant and paid the price for that covenant. What a great God we have who would come down and give us what we could not attain and could not pay for. I am so thankful that I can trust Him and that He loves me enought to go through all of that!

Enough for now.

God bless,

Jeromy

Hebrews 1:1

I would like to start by expressing the goal of this blog. I have been wanting to do a Bible study in our home for some time but have not been able to make it happen. It is my hope that this will serve as a similar forum and, it is my hope that you, the reader, will get involved and comment! Let’s "increase in the knowledge of God" (Col 1:10) together!

I have loved Hebrews from the first time I read it nearly 12 years ago. I loved how heavily it leaned on the Old Testament (OT) and the historical angles it uses. It is my desire to work through this book and learn. I do not have it all figured out, but I have a passion for it as I believe it to be one of the most interesting, important, and complicated books of the New Testament (NT). This book deals with difficult subjects such as the supremacy of Christ, how the OT sacrificial system relates to the Cross of Christ, eternal salvation, and others. I look forward to your comments and I will not mediate them unless necessary.

And with that, on to the scripture…

Heb. 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

The author of Hebrews begins his work assuming the existence of God. This is most likely due to who his audience was. I used the word “work” intentionally. This book does not begin like the other epistles of the NT. There is no salutation or greeting. He starts right off in the first verse with a theme we will revisit throughout this book: the supremacy of Christ above all else, above the fathers, angels, and even above Moses (remember the audience was first century Jewish Christians). Interesting, but we will get to this in due time.

It will probably be of note for some readers that I will be using the masculine to describe the author. I believe it is most likely given the internal (Heb 2:3) and external evidence that the author was not one of the apostles or Paul. Aside from this it is unclear who actually penned the book. Cases have been made for many different authors including Barnabas, Priscilla and Aquila, Luke, Clement of Rome, Gamaleil (Paul’s mentor Acts 22:3), and others. The audience apparently heard the Gospel from people who heard Jesus for themselves. And Timothy is mentioned as still being alive setting its date within his lifetime (Heb 13:23).

The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians who were experiencing persecution and considering going back to Judaism. This letter was written to encourage these believers not turn back to the shadow but to run to the very image, who is Christ (Heb 10:1).

From verse one we are told that God has spoken. And that he has not just spoken but has spoken at many times and in many ways. It is interesting that the author starts out with God speaking (Gen 1 and one?). The Greek word used here is Laleo. When ascribed to God it emphasizes the idea that He spoke rather than keeping silent. He has not left us to try to figure out if there is a god, and if we decide there is, what he is like. Instead He has spoken not just once and too bad if you missed it, but he has spoken many times and in many different ways. What a loving God we have to not only speak but to speak many times and in different ways. Sometimes we need things said to us in different ways so that we will understand them. Sometimes we need things said to us many times before we get them. He has gone to great lengths to communicate with us! What an honor!

He spoke in the past to the "fathers" through the prophets. In the OT God would speak through people called prophets. These were people He chose to share His message. They were also often one of the same people they were sent to reach. This might sound confusing, but what I mean is, these people were familiar to them, they knew them, and as a result many times the prophet was not respected or listened to. Jesus spoke of how this happened even to Himself when he said “a prophet has no honor in his own country (Jn 4:44).”

Many of them were even killed:
Matt. 23:29-34 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city.

The blessing of God was seen as an offense. Are we like that? Do we appreciate His correction? What does this correction mean? What is the relationship it defines? All questions we will deal with in Hebrews.

Here is a tease:
Heb. 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

…and what is the purpose?

Heb. 12:10 “…that we might be partakers of his holiness.”

He wants what is best for us. What a relief. I don’t even always want that. I am so thankful that I can trust Him for my well-being. Imagine that, the Creator of the universe is concerned with me. What a great hope we have!

Keep plugging on. You can do it. No matter what life’s challenges are He’s on His son’s and daughter’s side. No matter what!

We did it! One verse down 302 left to go.

Take care and God Bless,

Jeromy

Welcome!

I have been wanting to do a bible study and thought this might be a good outlet. It is my hope that I can post new content weekly and moderate an inductive style bible study using the modern tool of the blog. Hopefully this will spark some useful discussion of the Scriptures and produce more light than heat! Stay tuned. If you have a book you would like to study I am open to suggestions, but want to get started soon so send in your votes!

Be safe and God Bless,

Jeromy