Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
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Analytical
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Openness
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Remember the Audience
A Christian Jew living in the mid-1st century under the Roman Empire.
Still held on to Jewish practices/traditions because its how they know and understand God
Roman Empire was familiar with Jews and Jewish practices but NOT of the developing fraction between Jews & Christians
Jews received some lenience from Rome.
New and developing Christian Practices fell outside of Jewish norms and therefore fell outside of the lenience offered by Rome to the Jews.
Christian-Jews were challenged to uphold their faith and different practices or concede to the pressures and return back to Judaism.
Hebrews was written to the Christian Jew who was facing the pressure and it encourages them to adhere to their faith despite the sacrifices they will face.
OPENING QUESTIONS: Whose word will you follow?
Who is an authority figure in your life and what impact have they had on your life?
Why do you trust them and the lessons they have imparted to you?
What are the blessings and pitfalls of strictly adhering to an individual?
Revelation of God to the Jews
QUESTION: Apart from God who did the Jews look to as an authority?
How did God reveal himself to the Jews of the OT
prophets: Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Isaiah
angels: Stephen right before being stoned convicted them of not believing the angels who were sent to them
The many ways God revealed Himself to us in OT
He revealed Himself in many ways, using oracles, poetry, parables, visions, proverbs, discourse
Despite the various ways God revealed Himself to us, they were incomplete.
BUT now He has revealed Himself to us in the most complete way…His Son.
Description/Qualifications of the Son
Heir of all things
maker of the worlds
Brightness of His glory
Image of His person
True light of true light
Glory
Upholder of all things
Purger of sins
Better than the angels
Seated at the right hand!
Remember: Jews believed the humanity of Christ but not the divinity....therefore Paul is highlighting His divinity.
The Supremacy of Christ over the Prophets and angels
in V. 5-14 the author uses well known bits of Jewish history and shows how Christ is supreme to them.
David and the angels are the primary subjects
These are what any Jew would hold on to faithfully even to a fault.
ex.
present day adherence to the Coptic Church
Church of the Martyrs
The Bishop said...
My priest told me...
“Blessed be my people Egypt”...
I learned this hymn from my teacher this way...
Two comparisons
David and the Messiah
David was the greatest King in the history of Israel
David was anointed by God because of his righteousness, but David’s kingdom eventually came to an end.
The kingdom of the Messiah will have no end
Angels and the Messiah
The angels who delivered messages to the prophets divinely acknowledged as authoritative.
In chapter 1 perspective is given as the creator and sender of the angels has visited His people to speak to them directly.
First Warning: Don’t Neglect
Angels were sent as messengers many of whom spoke of what was to come.
As events transpired, those sayings were found to be true giving credibility to the angels.
Sodom and Gomorrha
Also the Old Covenant between God and his people, if broken would incur a penalty, some of them being very severe.
NOTE: Old Covenant is described here as “the word spoken through angels’
so now if the consequence of not listening to angels was sever, how much more severe will it be if we do not listen to the incarnate God.
God himself communicated the new covenant to us (humanity) without any mediators or examples of the heavenly things.
Our faith is a pursuit of truth
In light of this warning its important to think about the dogma of the church.
Dogma are non-negotiable fundamental beliefs that form the foundation of our faith.
its in a desire to not ‘drift away’ that the church adheres to certain dogmatic beliefs till the point of death.
In that same vein, its because we are pursuing after the absolute truth about God, we must maintain some flexibility to course correct with some of our non-essential beliefs...
ex.
local flood v. global flood
ex.
authorship of biblical books
Unique relationship between God and Man
God has a special relationship with man which is different than that with angels.
The world was given to humanity, not to angels.
Humanity is consider ‘lower than the angels’
Hebrews 2:8 “8 You have put all things in subjection under his feet.”
For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him.
But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.”
All of this world was given to humanity, and it was subject to them.
Taking care of the plant and acting responsibly with this gift is part of our Christian Ethic.
Humanity is the ‘love of God’....God is the ‘lover of mankind’…’philanthropic one’
Humanity receives a special treatment from God.
Hebrews gives lines of reasonings as to how God incarnate is greater than both the angels and David.
Not only is He more supreme than them, but He is also so much closer to us as He became human for us in order to save us.
Take home point.
As our belief in Christ will lead us to crossroads and many difficult decisions that come at cost, we must remember that He doesn’t ask us to sacrifice anything He hasn’t already sacrificed.
This is a major leap for the Christian Jew who knew God through angels and prophets....but now they can know God directly
The same for us.
we know of God through a variety of means, but they are all incomplete or can only paint a partial picture for us of God…We must take a step towards a personal relationship with God.
Its only in knowing God personally that we will be able to make the sacrificial steps need.
Next week: Read ch 3-4
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