Hebrews 6-7

Chapter 6

V. 1-2 - The elementary doctrines

He contrasts the fact that they ought to be teachers (5:12) with the fact that they are arguing the basics (6:1) which are “elementary” or first of the lessons.

Repentance from dead works (no longer relying on your own efforts)

Faith towards God (relying instead upon God)

Instructions about washings (There are no longer things declared unclean)

Laying on of hands

Resurrection of the dead

Eternal judgement

These are basic doctrines that we should all know.

Dead works -> Reliance on your efforts

Ritual washings -> Legalism

don’t work on Sunday

Don’t miss a Sunday

Dress up for Church

KJV is the only translation

rigorous Bible reading schedules

Faith in God

While the Lord wants me to do things, my efforts are acts of obedience, not conditions of salvation

The things I do (Sunday practices, Bible Translations, reading schedules, etc) are based on my faith in God and “failure” to do them is not failure of faith.

Laying on of hands:

Acts 6:6 “These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.”

1 Timothy 4:14 “Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.”

Acts 8:17 “Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.”

Resurrection of the dead

Jesus

Lazarus

Revelation 20:4–5 “Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years…”

Eternal judgement

Revelation 20:12 “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.”

Matthew 25:31–34 ““When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” , Matthew 25:41 ““Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

v. 4-12 - Apostasy

1 Timothy 4:1 “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,”

Colossians 1:21–23 “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

Paul talks about a man in 1 Corinthians that needed to be put out of the Church. He then stated in 2 Corinthians to invite this man back in after he repented.

These verses are speaking of 2 things:

It is impossible for us to restore them to repentance, they must do it.

Their hearts can become so hard that they may never do it.

In the context of these other verses, we can see that as long as we are alive, we have a path to restoration of salvation. However, hardened hearts can make that path very difficult.

Summary: Beware allowing your heart to harden because of sin. You may get to a point where you will not return to repentance.

13-20

Abraham is spoken of frequently in Hebrew because he was a man of faith that received a promise of God outside of the law.

V. 13-14 - God promised Abraham, and then swore by an oath.

v. 15 - Abraham’s patience:

Genesis 12:4 - Abraham was 75 when he received the promise from God to be a father of many nations.

Genesis 21:5 - Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born

Genesis 25:40 - Isaac was 40 when he married Rebekah and finally started the family that was promised to Abraham.

Abraham waited 65 years to see the promise fulfilled through a son.

V. 16 - People do not question oaths bound by people even though people can lie.

The Promise of Universal Blessing Through Abraham’s Offspring

God swore that “in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen 22:16–18)—a declaration repeated to Isaac and Jacob as well.

This same blessing appears in the initial covenant: “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen 12:1–3)

This promise ultimately finds its fulfillment in Christ as the singular offspring through whom all nations receive blessing.

Psalm 2 reinforces this when God declares to the Messiah, “You are my Son,” and promises “I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.”

The Davidic covenant extends this as God promised David that his descendant “shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” (2 Sam 7:12–16)

Isaiah prophesies the promise fulfilled in Christ: “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom.” (Isa 9:6–7)

The Oath Establishing Eternal Priesthood

Psalm 110:4 contains the divine oath: “The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.’”

This oath parallels God’s promise to Abraham.

Hebrews explains that God “guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, believers would encouragement. (Heb 6:13–20)

The connection is structural: just as God swore to bless Abraham’s descendants through an oath, God swore to establish Christ as an eternal priest through an oath.

Both oaths bind God’s character to the promise, making them unbreakable.

V. 19- The oath and the promise lead us beyond the curtain

Leviticus 16:12–16 states that Aaron (and therefore the Levitical priests) could not pass the veil except on one day each year to atone for the sins of Israel

Matthew 27:51 “And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.”

The hope we have in Jesus leads us to the presence of God as he is truly our high priest

Chapter 7

v. 1-3 - Melchizedek - Christophony

Gen 32 - Jacob wrestling with God, “I have seen God face-to-face”

Moses on Mt. Sinai met God

He was a priest of the Most High God and at the same time, the King of Salem.

No other held both titles until Jesus.

v. 4-10 - Jesus receives the tithe

Melchizedek received the honor of one tenth of spoils of war from Abraham.

v. 7 calls Melchizedek greater than Abraham, the father of Israel.

Greater to give than to receive

Acts 20:35 “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ””

Abraham submitted to Melchizedek and tithed out of the thankfulness for the blessing he received.

There is no question of what Melchizedek is doing with that tithe.

It only states that Abraham honors the Lord with the tithe.

Abraham also didn’t tithe to get a blessing.

No quid pro quo

We are called to be generous givers

Matthew 23:23 ““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”

The passages that address giving in the new covenant framework emphasize principles rather than percentages.

Paul taught that those proclaiming the gospel should receive their living from the gospel (1 Cor 9:7–14)

Paul instructed believers to share material blessings with those who teach God’s word (Gal 6:6)

Paul directed churches to set aside contributions on the first day of each week proportional to their income (1 Cor 16:1–2)

Paul emphasized that each person should give as decided in their heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor 9:6–14).

The scholarly sources are clear: Christians are no longer under the Mosaic law, meaning the tithe is not commanded as a requirement in the new relationship with God through Christ.

Instead, Paul wanted churches funded by heartfelt generosity from givers who give cheerfully rather than under obligation.

Jesus’ teaching on the tithe is that we should be generous givers, not tied to a percentage, but rather from a heart that understands that God is the provider of all things.

Abraham’s example here shows that He recognized that the “spoils” came from God and therefore he was honoring God with a portion of the spoils, not selfish it hoarding it all.

v. 11-28 - Melchizedek continued

V. 11 - First, it is clear that the Jews considered Melchizedek a High Priest because Abraham considered him to be that.

Melchizedek is the first priest mentioned in the Bible.

Second, the logical conclusion of the effectiveness of the law is that perfection could not be attained through Levitical priesthood.

Jesus was clearly a priest but he was not even of the tribe of Levi. This makes him a different order of priest.

Without Psalm 110:4 we can come to the logical conclusion that he is of the only other order of priest of the Most High God mentioned in the Bible, that of Melchizedek.

We have confirmation of that in Psalm 110.

V. 23 - the former priests were fallen too.

They had a beginning and an end.

It is not possible for the fallen to grant perfection, or atone for sins. Even if one could they would die and the next in line would not.

Jesus is eternal. He is the only one able to provide this grace.

V. 26 - holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens (made King).

The promise of Jesus came before the law:

Genesis 3:15 - he will crush your head and you will strike his heel

Genesis 12:3 “…in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 22:18 “and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.””

Numbers 24:7 “… his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.”

The oath came after the law (v. 28):

Psalm 110:4 “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.””