A Study Of The Apostle Pauls Letter To The Hebrews

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AStudyOf TheApostlePauls LetterTo The
Hebrews
How can we neglect so greata salvation?
Hebrews 23
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Hebrews Christ Is Superior! Superior Person
(11413) Superior to Prophets
(11-3) Superior to Angels (14218) Superior
to Moses (31-19) Superior to Joshua
(41-13) Superior Priest (414728) Superior to
Aaron (414612) but Well only get to
41453 today. Superior to Melchizedek
(61375) Superior to Levi (76-28)
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Hebrews Christ Is Superior! Superior Pact to
Moses (811018) Superior Promises
(81-13) Superior Sanctuary (91-15) Superior
Sacrifice (916-28) Superior Results
(101-18) Superior Principle (Faith) to Moses
(10191325) Superior Things (1019-39) Superio
r Actions (111-40) Superior Relationship
(121-29) Superior Way of Life (131-25)
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The last two sections we studied (37-19
41-13) concern the reward of spiritual and
eternal rest that God has provided for those who
are faithful to Him regardless of the
circumstances.
Now ? ? ?
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Beginning with 414 (which should pro-bably be
51), Paul resumed the topic of Christs
priesthood that he began in 217, because the
High Priesthood of Jesus is the main subject of
Hebrews In 81-2 Paul wrote, This is the main
point of the things we are saying We have such a
High Priest who is seated at the right hand of
the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a
Minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle
which the Lord erected and not man.
So ? ? ?
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Lets read 217-18 to get us back on track In
all things He had to be made like His brethren
that He might be a merciful and faithful High
Priest in things pertaining to God, to make
pro-pitiation for the sins of the people. For in
that He Himself has suffered being tempted, He is
able to aid those who are tempted. After warning
them to remain faithful, Paul now, in 414-16,
indicates that Jesus was willing and anxious to
aid them in all their troubles.
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Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who
has passed thru the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold fast our confession.
Hebrews 414 ?
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Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who
has passed thru the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold fast our confession.
So far Paul has demonstrated that Jesus is
superior to angels, the prophets, and even Moses
and Joshua now he pro- ceeded to prove that
Jesus is superior to Aaron, the very first high
priest and the father of the Leviti-cal
priesthood (Lev. 21). Notice the as-cending scale
of im-portance ? ? ?
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Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who
has passed thru the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold fast our confession.
The prophets gave the Word to Israel the Word
was given to the prophets thru angels Moses led
Israel out of Egypt and Joshua led the nation
into Canaan. But ? ? ?
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Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who
has passed thru the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold fast our confession.
All this was worth-less if Israel didnt have a
high priest to mediate for them, so Aaron
occupied the high point of importance among the
servants of God.
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Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who
has passed thru the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold fast our confession.
Why is Jesus great (or greater) than the
Levitical priest-hood? Because, un-like the
Levites who were sons of a mere human, Jesus is
the Son of God!
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Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who
has passed thru the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold fast our confession.
By saying this (cf. Acts 19-11), Paul was saying
that Jesus was in the third Heaven (cf. 2 Cor.
12 1-4) at Gods throne, giving Him the
auth-ority and power to fulfill the divinely
promised rest.
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Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who
has passed thru the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold fast our confession.
Unlike Aaron who could only go to the typical
mercy seat in the holy of holies and offer the
blood of animals, Jesus went straight to the real
mercy seat in Heaven to offer His own blood.
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Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who
has passed thru the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold fast our confession.
Later Paul wrote of Jesus that with His blood He
entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having
obtained eternal re-demption (912).
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Paul began Hebrews referring to Gods Son as
having purged our sins and sat down at Gods
right hand (11-3). Then in 29 he used the name
Jesus to bring His humanity to mind. Then in 217
he brought up the concept of a new High Priest.
Now, so that there was no mis-taking what all he
had been getting at, Paul here brought it all
together in one verse he wrote of Jesus
(humanity) being the Son of God (deity), making
Him the perfect High Priest or Media-tor between
God and man.
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Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who
has passed thru the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold fast our confession.
This phrase means to cling to some- thing
tenaciously so, as when we studied 31, they
were cau-tioned to cling bull-doggedly to the
con-fession they made about Jesus when they were
initially saved.
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For we do not have a High Priest who cannot
sym-pathize with our weaknesses, but was in all
points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Hebrews 415 ?
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For we do not have a High Priest who cannot
sym-pathize with our weaknesses, but was in all
points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
This original term for sympathize means to suffer
with, not merely due to His knowledge of us as
our Creator, but due also to His common
experience with us in being human Him-self (the
point Paul also made in 217-18).
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For we do not have a High Priest who cannot
sym-pathize with our weaknesses, but was in all
points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
The original term for weaknesses refers to
everything which has to do with our
susceptibility to sin. So ? ? ?
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For we do not have a High Priest who cannot
sym-pathize with our weaknesses, but was in all
points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Paul was saying that, although Jesus didnt have
the same sus-ceptibility to do the deedcommit
sinthat we do (else He wouldve sinned), He was
still tempted in the same way we are. I.e. ? ?
?
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For we do not have a High Priest who cannot
sym-pathize with our weaknesses, but was in all
points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
He was also tempted with the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1
John 216) and, because of who He was, He was
very likely tempted in ways we cant even imagine!
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For we do not have a High Priest who cannot
sym-pathize with our weaknesses, but was in all
points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
In 726 Paul wrote, Such a High Priest was
fitting for us a High Priest who is holy,
undefiled, and separate from sinners.
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For those who might say something like, Well, if
He never sinned, then He doesnt really
understand and sympa-thize, think about this One
who has never been beaten in a fight knows more
about the strength of his oppo-nent than one who
has experienced defeat. Why? Because he had to
with-stand the most that the opponent could dish
out. So ? ? ?
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Christ, having never fallen to tempta-tion, knows
more about the strength of temptation than the
vilest sinner, especially since He was tempted by
Satan personally and perhaps with more vigor than
we ourselves have ever experienced since we
arent God like He was (and is). So Jesus is
bet-ter qualified to understand our temp-tations
than anyone else. As Westcott once wrote ?
? ?
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Sympathy with the sinner in his trial doesnt
depend on the experience of sin itself, but on
the experience of the strength of the temptation
to sin which only the sinless can know in its
full in-tensity. Besides, sin dulls sympathy by
obscuring the idea of evil. By the way, there are
myriads of scho-lars who believe in The
Impeccability of Christthe belief that, because
He was 100 God (as well as 100 man), He could
not sin.
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Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace that we may ob-tain mercy find grace to
help in the time of need.
Hebrews 416 ?
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Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace that we may ob-tain mercy find grace to
help in the time of need.
The original term for let us come literally means
to let us keep on coming and is a reference to
the idea of approaching God through a
sin-sacrifice under the first covenant this was
an animal, while now its Jesus Christ.
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Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace that we may ob-tain mercy find grace to
help in the time of need.
This original term for boldly doesnt mean
arrogantly, but with confidence, more confidence
than they could ever approach God through the Old
Testament high priests who were mere humans.
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Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace that we may ob-tain mercy find grace to
help in the time of need.
This is the real thing in Heaven typified by the
ark of the mercy seat in the holy of holies in
the tabernacle, that which only the high priests
could ap-proach (925). As a reminder ? ? ?
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In the Old Testament economy, there was the high
priest, regular priests (the Levites), and the
people in the New Test- ament economy we no
longer have a se-paration of regular priests and
the peo-ple, for all Christians are priests (1
Pet. 25 9), with Jesus as our High Priest.
This means that were not restricted ac- cess to
Gods throne through any human being rather, we
have free or direct access to the High Priest
Himself who intercedes mediates our case before
Gods throne of grace (cf. Eph. 218 312).
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Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace that we may ob-tain mercy find grace to
help in the time of need.
Mercy is aid related to past offenses, while
grace is aid for future toil, tempta-tation, and
trial.
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Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace that we may ob-tain mercy find grace to
help in the time of need.
The original wording for this clause refers to
help before its too late in this con-text it
refers to help for them to avoid apostasy while
there was still time to en-ter Gods rest.
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For every high priest taken from among men is
ap-pointed for men in things pertaining to God
that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for
sins.
Hebrews 51 ?
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For every high priest taken from among men is
ap-pointed for men in things pertaining to God
that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for
sins.
The original term for for here, of course, means
because i.e., Paul was providing more reasons
why they could come to the throne of mercy and
grace with con-fidence.
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For every high priest taken from among men is
ap-pointed for men in things pertaining to God
that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for
sins.
Though Jesus was unlike the Levites in that Hes
the Son of God (414), He is like them in that He
was also the Son of Man (214-17), someone who
experienced the weaknesses of the human
condi-tion (415). Notice also that the high
priest is for us , not for God.
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For every high priest taken from among men is
ap-pointed for men in things pertaining to God
that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for
sins.
In this very sentence this phrase is defin-ed as
the offering of gifts and sacrifices for sins
i.e., those priests ministered in regards to
mans re-lationship with God.
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For every high priest taken from among men is
ap-pointed for men in things pertaining to God
that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for
sins.
Gifts refers to blood-less offerings, and since
it isnt linked to the phrase for sins, then the
gifts here likely refer to free-will
offerings. Sacrifices, however, does refer to
bloody offerings that were definitely for sins.
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He can have com-passion on those who are ignorant
and going astray, since he himself is also beset
by weaknesses.
Hebrews 52 ?
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He can have com-passion on those who are ignorant
and going astray, since he himself is also beset
by weaknesses.
While the word sym-pathy in 415 mere-ly means to
suffer with someone, the original term for
compassion here means to suffer with someone to a
limit. I.e. ? ? ?
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He can have com-passion on those who are ignorant
and going astray, since he himself is also beset
by weaknesses.
The emphasis in this verse is obviously on how a
morally weak high priest could have feelings for
those like him-self but, because he was high
priest with a job to do, he had to restrain his
emo-tions to be effective. I.e. ? ?
?
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He can have com-passion on those who are ignorant
and going astray, since he himself is also beset
by weaknesses.
Not only was he not to allow himself to be too
tolerant of sin, but he was also not to allow
himself to be too severe to-ward the ignorant and
erring.
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Before talking about the ignorant and er-ring, it
seems important to note that there appears to
have been three primary types of sin in the Old
Testament times (and may-be today as well). There
were sins committed in ignorance (Lev. 517-19),
sins committed in passion (Lev. 61-7), and sins
committed in rebellion (Num. 1530-31). It also
seems that, according to those passages, sins
com-mitted in ignorance or passion could be
atoned for, while those committed in an at-titude
of rebellion could not (cf. 1 Sam. 15 22-23
Psa. 1913). If thats the case, then Paul
obviously had the sins of ignorance and passion
in mind here.
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He can have com-passion on those who are ignorant
and going astray, since he himself is also beset
by weaknesses.
Since this word to-day is generally used as an
insult, it ought to be noted that Paul simply
used it in reference to some- one who lacked
knowledge later he wrote about sacri-fices
offered for the peoples sins com-mitted in
ignorance (97).
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He can have com-passion on those who are ignorant
and going astray, since he himself is also beset
by weaknesses.
While this phrase seems to imply that they had
not sinned yet, it actually comes from a term
which refers to erring ones or those committing
error or sin.
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He can have com-passion on those who are ignorant
and going astray, since he himself is also beset
by weaknesses.
This word comes from the same term translated
surround- ed in 121 however, there its used
posi-tively, while here its used negatively.
So ? ? ?
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The last part of 52 would be better un-derstood
today if beset were translated as plagued i.e.,
being human, the high priests were likewise
plagued by the moral weaknesses of the
flesh. This also brings to mind the idea that,
while the prophet cried out for the peo- ple to
repent or be destroyed, the priests were to be
sympathetic and cry out to God for those who
asked forgiveness. Speaking of priests sinning,
lets dont forget that Aaron was the one who
took the lead in making the golden calf!
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Because of this he is required as for the people,
so also for himself, to of-fer for sins.
Hebrews 53 ?
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Because of this he is required as for the people,
so also for himself, to of-fer for sins.
Leviticus 166 has God telling Moses to tell
Aaron to offer the bull as a sin-offering, which
is for himself, and make atonement for him-self
for his house.
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Because of this he is required as for the people,
so also for himself, to of-fer for sins.
Leviticus 97 has Moses saying to his brother,
Aaron, the high priest, Go to the altar, offer
your sin-offering and your burnt offering, and
make atone-ment for yourself.
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Because of this he is required as for the people,
so also for himself, to of-fer for sins.
Obviously this didnt apply to Jesus, be-cause
not only was He a High Priest, but He was also
the Lamb, and the lamb had to be without
blemishsin (cf. Lev. 2219 Heb. 415).
So ? ? ?
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In the passage we studied today... Paul, in
414-16, taught that since we have such a Great
High Priest in Jesus who is Gods Son, who was
tempted as a man just as we are, and who can
therefore sympathize with us, we should have
total confidence in com-ing to Father-God through
His Son at any time for any reason whatsoever.
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After that Paul, in 51-3, provided more reasons
why Jesus is a High Priest by comparing Him with
Aaron (1) both were selected by God from among
men (2) both were appointed to re-present people
before God (3) both were to pray and offer up
sacrifices (4) both were to demonstrate
compas-sion and (5) both experienced
infirmi-ties of the flesh.
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Later, in 54-10, Paul, demonstrating Jesus
superiority, went on to contrast Jesus and Aaron
(1) only Jesus is called Gods Son (2) only
Jesus was given an everlasting priesthood (3)
only Jesus was made a priest after the order of
Melchizedek and (4) only Jesus cried out to God
as He faced His demise as the Lamb as well as the
High Priest.