A Forty-Day Study of the Book of Hebrews

Another commentary! When I was at seminary for my master’s-level degree, I remember taking a course on 1st Peter. We went through the biblical text verse-by-verse—and often word-by-word—both in the original Greek and in English. Our weekly homework was to read ahead the verses scheduled for the upcoming class and also read commentaries from various authors analyzing this same text. The goal was to use five different commentaries for each week’s assignment—without duplicating the use of any one commentary or author at any time during the semester. Are there really that many commentaries on 1st Peter? Granted, our library focused on the field of theology—but the commentaries on 1st Peter alone occupied over ten feet of shelf space! John H. Elliott’s commentary is two and a half inches thick and runs some 956 pages in length! In my Bible 1st Peter takes up a mere five pages. This implies Elliott’s work offers two hundred pages of commentary and discussion for each page of the 1st Peter text of my Bible! With all of these commentaries out there, is there still more to be said? Perhaps. But I haven’t written this as an attempt to add to the scholarly body of knowledge that already exists—and exists in abundance. Nor is this an attempt to join in academic discourse. Instead, this is centered on what I’ve discovered from my students as a Bible teacher and is structured around the level of detail that students seem to want—and addresses ancillary questions that students routinely ask. Those who study the Bible are usually intrinsically motivated to learn what’s in it. Yes, my students do want to go verse-by-verse and have a solid understanding of the text—especially if they, themselves, will someday be teachers and preachers. This commentary will strive for this. But I also find students have questions that are quite diverse and quickly expand far beyond the text being studied. They don’t just want the “nuts and bolts”—they want to know where everything is headed and how it all fits into the grand scheme of things. Let’s look at a few of the questions generated through teaching the book of Hebrews: “Do we have guardian angels? Can angels die? Isn’t Satan an angel? In the garden of Eden, why didn’t Satan just appear as an angel? Or why didn’t he appear as a human instead of a snake? What’s up with this serpent thing?” “Can those in heaven see what’s happening on earth? “Why are there different Bible translations? What are the differences? Is one translation better than another? Which one? Why? And it appears the books in the New Testament aren’t in chronological order. How are they organized?” “Why is the word ‘lord’ sometimes shown in all-capitals?” “Hebrews 5:8 (‘Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered’) says Jesus had to learn obedience. Since he is God, why did he have to learn anything at all—much less obedience?” “Hebrews 4:15 (‘…who was tempted in every way that we are…’) says Jesus was tempted in every way—and that we, too are tempted in every way. Are we really tempted in every way? Was Jesus tempted to not do homework or to spend time on video games?” “How were the Old Testament saints saved since Jesus had not yet died on the cross? Or were they saved?” “Jesus said to the thief on the cross, ‘Today you will be with me in Paradise.’ And yet, he told Mary, three days later, not to touch him because he had not yet ascended to the Father. Is this a biblical inaccuracy and a mistake?” “Hebrews 6:4-6 says, ‘It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age— and then have fallen away—to be restored again to repentance, …’ Doesn’t this teach that Christians can backslide and lose their salvation? I’ve always been taught ‘once saved, always saved.’” “Hebrews 9:27 (‘Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment …’) implies Christians will be judged. I thought we escaped judgment when we believe in Jesus?” The questions are not trivial. They deserve answers—and the answers must not come from what we think or assume or postulate. If we are to be true to the teaching of God’s word, they must come from God’s word. Finding answers by going down various pathways of biblical discovery provides an exciting journey and a more complete understanding of God’s revelation. The process helps illumine the unified message found in Scripture. So, in the study that follows, we’ll answer questions such as these—plus many more. I have also found in teaching that attention spans are relatively short (and they seem to be getting shorter and shorter with each new class of students!). With this in mind, I’ve divided this study into short lessons. Each can be completed in just a few minutes a day—with this entire volume completed in just over a month (specifically, a forty-day period if you do a lesson a day, which is roughly reading only five pages each day). Some might find this format useful, then, as part of a daily devotional. For those involved in small-group Bible study, the material is easily handled over a six- to eight-week period and suggested questions for small group discussion have been included in the appendix. In what follows we’ll study the fascinating book of Hebrews—and we’ll also take side journeys along the way to round out the biblical story and God’s revealed truths.