Hebrews (authored by I don’t know who actually)
Making old stuff into new stuff is all the rage. This letter to the Hebrews is all about taking things that are old and outdated and making them into new creations. The author of the book was a 1st-century Jewish guy who also happened to believe that Jesus was the savior the world had been waiting for. On one hand, he really loved ancient Jewish scriptures and traditions—so timeless and vintage . On the other hand, Jesus had said and done a bunch of very good new things. The author uses all his creative know-how to take the old covenant God made with his people and give it a couple little tweaks. Back in the first five books of the Bible (also known as the Torah), God gave the world a bunch of laws to follow. Sometimes people followed them, and sometimes they didn't. According to Hebrews, the law-breakers in the bunch were really getting God upset. But instead of tossing out the people, God decided just to add a little life to them. That life was named Jesus. As Hebrews tells it, he came to Earth to right all the wrongs that couldn't be fixed by the law. When he died, he got rid of sin. Anyone who believed in him got to be part of the new covenant and eventually got to read a book called the New Testament. Sure, Christians still hung onto Jewish scripture, but they made sure to tell everyone that it was the Old Testament. Just like today.. people don’t like change.
So hear this. If you love the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, and the human drama of athletic competition, then you're really gonna love the Epistle to the Hebrews. This book is all about endurance. Back in the 1st century, it was tough to be a Christian. After all, when you're part of a religious minority, not too many people are rooting for you to pull out a win. Sure, Christianity was the underdog, but these guys weren't gonna go down without a fight. Being a Christian is tough today too! Christians were trying to go the distance in a tough race. The Roman Empire couldn't stand 'em because they wouldn't play ball and worship Roman gods. And many Jewish folks were pretty ticked about how they'd been trash-talking Jewish law. But these believers had one guy on their side(lines) and his name was Jesus. Here's the kicker: if the Christians could keep their eyes on the ball and come out victorious, they'd get way more than they ever expected. They'd get eternal happiness. Gotta love that!
In the beginning, God did a whole bunch of stuff. That's the short version, at least. And I did tell you very briefly about the beginning. Basically, God created the world and then made an agreement with the people living in it: if they put their faith in him, he would be their God. It was a pretty good deal, but things weren't working out so well. The people didn't always trust in God…and God wasn't super psyched about that. Enter the New Testament. According to this collection of books, when God saw that his old covenant with the people was not working, he sent his one and only Son to Earth...where he was promptly put to death. On a cross. It was all part of God's plan, though: turns out that Jesus' death actually saved the world. Quick review ok: back in the day, people could make up for their sins and get right with God by offering animal sacrifices in the tabernacle. A high priest would go into the special inner sanctuary of the tent and sprinkle animal blood on the Ark of the Covenant. According to the New Testament, when Jesus came to Earth, he acted in the role of the high priest. He went into God's sanctuary (i.e., Heaven) to put in a good word for humanity. This time, he didn't bring any animal blood with him—he used his own blood!
God was so thrilled that he totally forgave everyone's sins and decided to start over fresh. Now, says Hebrews, because of Jesus, human beings are living under a "new covenant" with God. Of course, that doesn't mean people are off the hook. People still need to put their faith in Jesus in order to get in good with God. That means keeping the faith even if it means being shunned, thrown in jail, or even killed.
A long time ago, God spoke to the Jewish people and told them all about himself. As you might imagine, the story was pretty epic. Lately though, says Hebrews, God's tale has taken a little twist: now he has a son. God's son is awesome, too. He's God's heir and he helped co-create the world. He's also exactly like his Father in every way and he keeps the world running with his mighty words. This son did some awesome work on Earth. His death wiped away all sin, and afterwards, he got to rise up in Heaven at the right hand of his Father.. He's even superior to the angels. Superior to the celestial beings who float around in the presence of the Almighty all day and night. He never once called angels son or I am your Father...No. On the contrary, when God brought his firstborn son into the world, he told the angels to bow down and worship him.
Hebrews continues: God's son rules over the entire world now and forever. Everything in the world will die one day, but the son is just gonna hang around forever and ever. Seriously, did God ever take an angel aside and tell it to sit itself down next to him so he could make its enemies into an ottoman for the angel to rest its tired little feet on? Nope. God created the son to rule and the angels to serve. Hmmm…now we're starting to see why Lucifer got angry.
Okay, so God's Son is important—that's why his followers need to pay really close attention to what they've been taught about him. Otherwise, they might start getting a little lazy about following God. No one wants that. After all, says Hebrews, God gave the world the Torah (a.k.a. the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) to tell us to expect his son. And the Jewish prophets backed him up. Then God allowed all kinds of miracles happen to show the truth. Finally, he went and gave the world the Holy Spirit. Quick side note: people who believe that Jesus is the son of God tend to interpret the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament as a precursor of the New Testament—they believe that parts of the Hebrew Bible predict the birth (and story) of Jesus and that the New Testament is basically a fulfillment of the Old. But people who just use the Hebrew Bible (namely, Jews) would argue that Christians are projecting this reading onto the scripture where it doesn't exist. For our part, we don't really care who thinks what—we're reading this as literature, and we're going to analyze it as such. Back to Hebrews: when the world needed a savior, did God send an angel? Nope. He sent his son. Even though Jesus is totally equal with God, there was a time when he "was made lower than the angels". After he suffered and died (see the Gospels for the full story there), Jesus got all kinds of glory and honor from God. He also performed something amazzing. When he died, Jesus "tasted death for everyone." Basically, that just means that, by suffering and dying, Jesus became "perfect," and was able to show the rest of the world how to perfectly follow God as well. But why do it? Well, Jesus and the rest of the world have one Father: God. That means every single human being is like Jesus's brother or sister. Jesus needed to save God's children, so he became just like them—i.e., flesh and blood. He died, just like regular people, so that he could destroy the devil and make it so that no one ever had to be afraid of dying again. Remember, Jesus didn't come to help the angels—he came to help people. That's why he became a human being and not an angel. Jesus became like a Jewish high priest who made a sacrifice for all the people. In this case, the sacrifice wasn't a ram or a goat—it was himself. Since Jesus lived and suffered and died just like humans do, says Hebrews, he totally feels people's pain when they've got a problem.
So, Jesus has a lot going for him. He's an apostle. A high priest. A very faithful guy. He's just like Moses. Oh, except way better. See, Moses was a good and faithful servant to God. But Jesus? Well, he's God's son. And if you ask the master of the house who he likes better—the guy who works for him or his own son—you can probably guess who he's gonna pick. That means that people need to stay on the Jesus train. If they hear God speaking to them about Jesus, they might want to clean the wax out of their ears because that's important info right there. If you remember way back in Numbers, the Israelites were on their way to the Promised Land and they started doubting God. The Almighty got a little mad and forced them to wander around in the desert for forty years until the older generation died off. Anyway, just take it as a warning, says Hebrews. Don't lose faith in God because the God is really into saving us.
More advice from Hebrews: help other Christians stay faithful, too, so that you don't all start sinning up a storm. Christians are Jesus' partners in this thing called life and you definitely want to keep it that way.
All that stuff in Numbers happened a really long time ago. It doesn't mean anything for the Christians this book is addressed to, right? Wrong. Anyone who's faithful can still get the good stuff that God had promised to the Israelites. If they had listened to him, they would have been able to stroll into the Promised Land and "enter [God's] rest." What does that mean? Basically, the author of Hebrews thinks the ancient Israelites were unfaithful to God. They knew what he wanted them to do, but they decided they'd rather be doing other things (like sinning). That's why they couldn't make it into the Promised Land to rest and relax. But even though the Jewish people settled in for a little down time a long time ago, God's still offering the chance for his people to "enter his rest" today. Huh? Well, remember back in Genesis? On the seventh day "God rested" . Well, the author thinks that's the kind of rest that the faithful should be aiming for. After God created the entire world, he entered into a peaceful state of calm and relaxation. He just was. And that's the kind of rest that Christians should be looking for through Jesus, says Hebrews. The ability to just sit and be with God. If you want to make it to this restful place, it continues, you've got to keep the faith (unlike the ancient Israelites). If you don't, God will know—it's pretty tough to hide stuff from him. Why? Because his word is alive and working in the world. Remember, since Jesus became human, he knows how everyone struggles with this whole sin thing. Sure, he didn't ever sin himself, but he knows it's tough and he totally sympathizes. In conclusion: if you're in need of grace and mercy, you know whose throne you should be heading over to.
Remember when the author said that Jesus was like a Jewish high priest? Well, let me explain…High priests are kind of like a go-between for the people and God. They offer gifts and sacrifices in the temple so that anyone who's sinned can make things right with God. They also have to be gentle when they're dealing with these sinners because, hey, they're sinners themselves. One does not simply walk into a temple and one does not simply appoint himself to be the high priest. Jesus is no different. The high priest doesn't get elected. He's hand-picked by God, just like Aaron was in Exodus and just like Jesus was. So, God appointed Jesus to be the high priest for all the people in the whole world. He never sinned himself, but he earned his stripes by becoming human, obeying God, suffering, and dying. The author thinks they're a bit like little babies who aren't quite ready for solid food yet. Mature Christians, on the other hand, know the difference between good and evil and can handle solid food.
Even though he's talking to a bunch of spiritual babies, the author's not gonna go back over lots of basic Christian teachings—baptism, resurrection, judgment. Instead, he'll just press ahead towards perfection. Okay, then. For the author, being perfect means staying faithful. That means Christians need to keep the faith in Jesus no matter what hardships they're up against. It's impossible for any Christian who turns away from Jesus to come back into God's good graces. After all, Christians have heard all the good stuff about Jesus and even got a little taste of salvation. If they turn your back on those things, says the author, they're just as bad as the people who mocked and crucified Jesus. It's kind of a like a field on a farm. If the ground drinks up rain and grows crops, then it's in good shape. But if it starts growing stubborn weeds…well, then the only thing left to do is to burn it all down. But the author is confident that they can do it. God's won't back down from his promises if the Christians don't back down from theirs. Remember when he promised Abraham that he'd have tons of kids and grandkids (way back in Genesis? Well, Abraham kept the faith and God totally delivered. Now, God has promised the world salvation through Jesus, and he's not about to quit on that promise.
Again, the author goes back to the idea of Jesus as a Jewish high priest; specifically, "a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." In case you're not up on your biblical figures or characters, that's a reference to a guy who appears briefly in Genesis to bless Abraham. He's also mentioned in one line of the Psalms. Seriously, blink and you'll miss this.. I did. Why is this Melchizedek so important? Well, the author explains that Melchizedek was a guy whose name means "king of righteousness" and "king of peace." He was never born and he never died , but on the plus side, that means he got to stay a priest forever. In Leviticus God appointed descendants of Jacob's son Levi as the new priests of his tabernacle—and the people were supposed to tithe to them (i.e., pay them ten percent of their earnings). In Genesis, Melchizedek blessed Abraham and Abraham gave him ten percent of his money. Jewish law came down while the Levite priests were in power. But that law didn't do anything to stop sin, did it? In fact, says Hebrews, Psalm 110 (read it) points out that there would be another high priest coming. One who was just like Melchizedek. One who wasn't part of the Levi's tribe at all. One who would fix everything. Now, Jesus wasn't a Levite. He was an ancestor of Jacob's son Judah (just like King David). No one from Judah's tribe has ever served as high priest, but the author knows that the high priest that God appoints is going to be just like Melchizedek. He's not gonna come by bloodlines, but through the power of God himself. See, says the author, Jewish law was imperfect. But Jesus is perfect, and he's come to bring the world a new and better covenant with God. He won't be like the old priests either who were always dying off and changing. Jesus gets to hold onto his position forever, which means anyone who comes to him can be saved at any time. Jesus also never sinned, so he doesn't have to offer sacrifices for his own bad deeds like human high priests. He doesn't have to keep burning rams and goats at the altar for everyone else because he made himself into a sacrifice by dying on the cross. His work here is done.
What's the point of all this high priest talk? Well, just that Christians have the best high priest possible. One who's "seated at the right hand of the throne of Majesty in the heavens." See, the Jewish high priests in the old days worked in the tabernacle (the tent that God instructed the Israelites to assemble in the desert after the exodus from Egypt, I wrote about that way back in the beginning). They had to offer gifts like rams and goats to atone for their sins and follow Jewish law while doing it. But Jesus works in the "true tent." That's not a place set up by people, but by God himself (no longer need a tent, God is everywhere ). He's in charge of a better covenant with way better promises, says the author. If God's first stab at a covenant with his people had worked, there wouldn't be any need for Jesus. But it didn't, so it's on to Plan B. The author quotes the prophet Jeremiah and explains that God himself told the people that one day he would make a new covenant with them. This new deal wouldn't be like the old one. God planned to write his law on their hearts, not on stone, as the ten commandments were. People wouldn't have to tell each other about God—they'd just know him. Needless to say, the author pretty much thinks that this is what God has done with Jesus. The old covenant is out and the new one is in. One of the marks of the new covenant is not only that God gives us eternal life, but also that God commits himself because of Christ to keep us from doing anything that would jeopardize our eternal life.
In case you're not familiar with exactly what went on in the tabernacle under the old covenant, the author breaks it down for you. Back in Exodus, God gave Moses the instructions to make a tent. He built it so that God could be properly worshipped while the Israelite people were on their way to the Promised Land (it took a while—forty years to be exact). Inside the tent there was a lampstand (or menorah), a table, and some bread. The author calls this "the Holy Place." There was also a curtain or veil that separated out another section of the tent: the Holy of Holies. This was the V.I.P. section that held the Ark of the Covenant. The only person who could ever enter this area was the high priest, and he could only peek in once a year on Yom Kippur It was very exclusive. When the high priest went into the Holy of Holies, he took blood from a bull and a male goat. Once inside, he would sprinkle the blood on the Ark of the Covenant . The idea was that this ritual would help the priest and the people atone for their sins and get right with God again. Needless to say, the author is pretty critical of all this. He doesn't think these rituals can help bring people closer to God. What will? According to Hebrews, Jesus. See, Jesus was a high priest, but he didn't go into a tent in the desert help people. He used "the greater and perfect tent." That's not something that people made but that the Creator himself made. Jesus also didn't mess around with animal blood. He went straight for the good stuff and used his own blood to atone for everyone's sins. When Jesus sacrificed himself, he didn't just purify people's bodies; he also worked his magic on our minds, spirit, and conscience. Now, believers are freed from performing "dead works" and they can put their faith in a God who's alive. Think of it this way, says Hebrews: Christians are God's kids and they're entitled to inherit all the good things he has. But generally, you can't claim an inheritance until someone dies. So it's kind of like God wrote a will for humanity and then, when Jesus died, we got to cash in. Bottom line: someone has to die. The author is pretty sure that you need a little blood spilled to start up a new covenant. After all, when Moses announced God's plan for the people, he sprinkled blood all around the tent and on their holy items. Clearly, Jesus was just following Jewish law when he died on the cross. Except he did the law one better. He didn't stroll into some tent in the desert. When he died, Jesus waltzed right into Heaven and put in a good word for all of humanity with the God. And while the high priest has to do the same ritual year after year, Jesus' sacrifice was so awesome that he only had to do it once to accomplish the same results. People only get to set foot on this Earth once, but Jesus will come back. Last time, he sacrificed himself for our sins. The next time he makes an appearance, says the author, he'll save all the people who had faith in him.
The author says that Jewish law could never do all this good stuff. Jesus is the real deal here. If the law worked, priests wouldn't need to offer the same sacrifices day after day and year after year. People would have been free of sin and lived holy lives. But the system was broken, and Jesus had to fix it. Jesus knew that God didn't want a whole bunch of animal sacrifices and burnt offerings lying around every day. And he was up for doing God's will because he knew that his death would make things right. Out with the old and in with the new. Seriously, says the author, the Jewish priests have been trying to take away sins for centuries. Day in and day out. But Jesus goes and dies once—once!—and problem solved. Remember, says Hebrews, God already told the world all this stuff. It's all written in the Hebrew Bible. He said that he would make a new deal and people wouldn't have to worry about the law anymore. You get forgiveness! You get forgiveness! Everyone gets forgiveness! Pretty sweet deal. Okay, so that means that it's all good in the Christian world. Because of Jesus, Christians totally have an in with God. So Christians shouldn't spend a whole bunch of time doubting and worrying whether or not God will do the things he promised. Because He will. Christians should also be super nice and loving to each other, too. They have to keep each other's spirits up until Jesus makes his encore appearance. After all, believers know the truth about God now, so it would be silly for them to turn their backs on him now and start living a bad lifestyle. Remember, God is sort of…judgmental when it comes to stuff like this. He was pretty hardcore about punishing sinners back in the days of Moses, so you can bet he'll be pretty ticked by anyone who turns their back on his son. Getting on God's bad side is no piece of cake —remember that when the going gets tough and you're thinking about ditching this whole believing-in-Jesus thing. The Christians this book is addressed to have had some hard times. They've suffered, been publicly ridiculed and persecuted by friends, sent to prison, and had their stuff taken. But even during all that, they still kept feeling happy and cheerful. See, they knew that they had something much better than a good reputation, freedom, or fancy terra cotta pots in on their mantles. They had Jesus. So, says the author, just hold on a little longer. Things may be tough, but if you keep on keeping on you'll get that big ol' medal at the end of the race.
Okay, so you gotta have faith. But what is faith? In probably one of the most famous verses in this book, the author tells us, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Basically, it just means that, if we have faith, then we know for sure that everything we're hoping for and dreaming of will eventually come true. Even though we can't see the path ahead of us, faith tells us the road will be a smooth one. In other words: if you believe it, you will achieve it. All the stars of the Hebrew Bible had faith, the author tells us. The author name-drops a ton of them to prove his point: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets, and martyrs. Basically a who's-who of the faithful. Just one thing: these people all died before God gave the world Jesus. But Jesus' saving death applies to them, too. Even though they didn't know about it, they still lived their lives the way God wanted them to. That means they're all good with God.
Christians have tons of examples of faith, which means they shouldn't worry about little stuff like being persecuted or killed. They just need to look to Jesus and keep on running the race. After all, that's what he did. He died on a cross and his followers should be ready to follow in his footsteps if need be. You know, look at this persecution as a learning opportunity. Maybe this is God teaching you how to be a better person? See, says the author, God is our Father, which means Christians are his children. Human parents have to lay down the law for their kids every now and then. Even though their rules and punishments seem harsh, parental units just do it because they love you. It's the same with God. Maybe by going through all this suffering, Christians will come out more faithful in the end. If God didn't care, he'd just let people do whatever they want to. But he does care, so he has to set limits. So, keep your head up, the author continues. Don't be like Esau (from back in Genesis), who turned his back on God just to get a decent meal. Basically, you need to play the long game—don't give up on God just because you get something good in the short term. If you play your cards right, the rewards will be awesome. See, this isn't like way back in Exodus when Moses went up to Mount Sinai and everyone was freaked out. The people weren't even supposed to touch the mountain and even Moses was pretty terrified to go up there. Christians get to waltz up to Mount Zion instead. This is the place where God lives with his son and a huge entourage of angels. It's like the city of Jerusalem but totally perfect and heavenly. The author has another question: if you think that God was tough on people who didn't listen to Moses back in the Torah, what do you think he'll do to the people who don't listen to his son? We're guessing it's not good. Back in those days, he says, God's voice would shake the ground when he spoke. But soon, the world and everything in it will be gone. There will just be Christians, and they'll be chilling out in a heavenly city that's totally earthquake proof. Not to mention... No more night, a glorious body, a dwelling place for you, no more death, tears, morning, crying or pain... the throne of God is there.. with Jesus sitting right there with him along with other beleivers. And best of all, no Satan.
Now that we've gotten all that out of the way, the author has some practical advice. Love each other. Be nice to strangers. Don't forget about people who are in prison or being tortured. Marriage is a good thing, so don't fornicate in your free time. And watch out that you don't get greedy. Christians should also listen to the people in charge. That means that they don't need to be branching off and following all kinds of "strange teachings." They also shouldn't worry their heads about which foods they should and shouldn't be eating. Remember, says Mr. Hebrews, anyone who believes in Jesus has access to the best banquet there is anyway. Back in the old days, the high priest would burn animal sacrifices outside of camp. That's just like Jesus. He was crucified outside of the city of Jerusalem, and he saved the people, too. Christians should do just as he did. They need to take a stroll outside of camp and come to where Jesus is. Right now, Christians may be homeless, but soon they'll score the keys to a new place in a pretty exclusive city. The author also asks for the people who are reading this to pray for him. And he's got some prayers in return. Hopefully God will make them all perfect and help them to do what's right and good in this crazy world. He also wants them to pass on the good things they've heard in this book. Read it.. its awesome.. its life and how we should live it..
