Building Faith (AM/PM)

Hebrews 2:1-8 (AM) 9-18 (PM)

English Standard Version Chapter 2

AM

1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,

3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,

4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

PM

English Standard Version Chapter 2

9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

10 For it twas fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,

12 saying,

“I will tell of your name to my brothers;

in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

13 And again,

“I will put my trust in him.”

And again,

“Behold, I and the children gGod has given me.”

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.

17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest pin the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

18 For because he himself has suffered qwhen tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Chapter 1 is our preface to the letter, and tells the readers that the approach in the letter is professing Jesus as the Christ and God-man. Ch. 1 is basically a recap of the OT and reminds the readers who the scriptures have always been pointing to (Jesus).

Hebrews is theologically rich and according to:

Discovering the New Testament: An Introduction to Its Background, Theology, and Themes, Volume III: General Letters & Revelation The Use of the Old Testament in Hebrews

In Hebrews alone there are around thirty-eight quotations, as many as fifty-five allusions, and many echoes of passages from the Old Testament.

The text is written to Jewish Christians, specifically, the text that we read in ch. 2, we can understand that this is meant to clarify the beliefs. We are reminded that in Acts, there were Christians worshipping and having someknowledge, but not knowing all like Apollos in Acts 18:25–28

“He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.” )

Written between 60 and 70 AD (within a generation of the resurrection) Additionally, one of the wonderfully unique things about Hebrews is there is no author attributed to the letter. Like Judges, there’s not one who tags the letter. Some historians attribute the letter to Paul given the pattern and recall of the OT prophecies. Some have attributed the letter to Barnabas and even some to Priscilla and Aquila. That said, we know who the author of ALL scripture is! As Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness”, so we know that the author is undeniably God, and understanding the importance of the scripture is imperative especially to know that had God not intervened, it may be possible that Hebrews would have been discredited.

Verses 1-4 have to be read together, but we dissect them separately for one cohesive idea.

v. 1 “1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. tells us that we must not deter from what we know.”

If we are to believe that these are Jewish Christians, meaning they are not Gentile, then they have a foundation to believe and the author is validating the scriptures. In most chapters of the letter, the author proves the scriptures, using the scriptures, and shows that truth that Jesus validates them, and then proves them by being their fulfillment. Here, what the author shows is that there is some kind of circulation of letters amongst Christians even in the early days of the Church! So here, the author is reminding the Christians to rely on the scriptures they have as well as the traditions they have been brought up in.These bring them to the truth, but do not replace the truth as the Law has with Jews and the Torah. The Law is meant to point people to God, to make them fall in love with Him, not replace Him. This is why He gives the direction through Micah 6:8,

English Standard Version Chapter 6

He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the LORD require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,2

and to walk humbly with your God?

Therefore, the Law must point to the Truth, and so must the letters being circulated amongst the Church and that’s how we should approach the modern day! Our traditions and practices should be God honoring, not replace the God who gave them to us, just as the Israelites were given the Law and forsook God (not all, but some).

What happens when we drift from God’s truth? We substitute the world with our own version of God rather than God who is supposed to be the focus! Drifting happens, though this is not what the author is speaking of when he writes about those who have come to know the truth, see the truth, but do nothing with it will fall away (Hebrews 6:4–6 “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.” )

The truth must be kept in our hearts. We cannot stray from the truth given to us by our Heavenly Father. We must be disciplined in loving God and loving His word, prayer, and blessings.

Verses 2-4 are read as one sentence, however when we unpack them separately, we get to unpack the scriptures in a better way so that we have a better understanding of what the author intends, and more importantly, what God intends for us to gain from the Scripture.

v. 2 explains the why, If we are meant to “pay much closer attention” to the teaching, we should better understand the purpose. Again, the Scriptures point to our Heavenly Father who loves us so much He provides a way for us to be saved (John 3:16). So, if v. 2 says that 2 “For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,” then we need to know that the word revealed to us is in-fact true! We see 5 separate times in the scriptures, a version of “Do not add to the scriptures and do not take away from the scriptures (Deut. 4:2, Deut 12: 32, Pro. 30:6, Rev. 22:18, 2 Tim 3:16) because the scripture are divinely inspired and are good for all of the things life throws our way! So with this in mind, the Old Testament was more than enough to reveal the prophecy about the Messiah, the Gospel as fulfilled by Christ, and then how the scripture has survived since, tell us of the importance of the Word in more than just a tangible way. What ever letters were being circulated and the scrolls of the OT show that these were letters that have been inspired by and protected by God, hence their reliability and their proving of the promises of God.

Now, the part of the scripture that “every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution” is a tough pill to swallow. On its own, it asks the question: If the scriptures are indeed reliable and inspired by God, then aren’t the consequences promised by God also sure to happen? Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The scriptures speak about the cause of our downfall and the solution for it. Again, if you’ll recall, that God knows that our hearts are selfish and evil from our beginning (Gen. 8:21) and the God, being gracious and merciful, provides the law that will atone for the evil and the sin we hold onto. Paul Washer says it this way, “The problem isn’t sin, its that we are sinful creatures serving a perfect God”. That’s true to an extent. The problem is sin, but the relevance is that God is perfect and because we cannot hope to be perfect, we cannot hope to atone for sin on our own! Even though God gives a perfect Law, and He provides His mercy through the law, that doesn’t take away the fact that without atonement, there is indeed death. Without being justified as God has deemed necessary, we are bound for eternal death. This is where the next two verses bring clarification.

v. 3 and 4 tell us the truth: How is it even possible for us to turn away from the Promise of God? Since v. 1 sets the stage for us by telling us we need to better understand what God has given to us. V. 2 Begins this section of scripture and gives us the basis of “if it is true that sin is what separates us from God, but God has given us the answer to fix the issue, then why would we not take it” is where v. 3 comes in. The author of Hebrews makes this profound statement at the beginning of v. 3. How do we escape death if we neglect the salvation given by God! This is a salvation that comes from God, as He Himself attests to the salvation by giving the scriptures that we have now

V. 5 is a direct quotation of Psalm 8, (Psalm 8:4–6 “what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,”)

V. 12 is direct quotation of Psalm 22:22 “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:”