Review

Chapter 1 – Jesus superior to the Angels.

Chapter 2 – Jesus suffered to save us – his brothers and sisters.
Chapter 3 – Jesus is superior to Moses.
Chapter 4 – The rest that remains. The author discusses the rest that God promises, he uses the passage
from Psalms to show that even in David’s time, the rest was available.
Chapter 5 – The qualities of a high priest.
Hebrews 5:1-10
Verse 1-4: So in this section we see the qualities of the high priests.
1) High Priest is taken “from among men
2) We see the high priests job is to offer atonement for sins for everyone.
3) The last qualification is that no one makes themselves high priest but God appoints them high
priest.
Verse 5-10 – now the author makes the case for why Christ is our high priest based on the criteria he
just laid out.
- Verses 5-6: Christ did not make himself high priest but God chose him.
- Jesus offered up himself as a sacrifice for all mankind.
- Jesus – being man – suffered all the we suffered.
- And then finally in verse 10 he says he was designated by God according to the order of
Melchizedek. What is the order of Melchizedek?
o The Jewish priests were Levites based on the lineage of Aaron. Jesus was not a Levite
and so would not ordinarily have been eligible to be a priest. The order of Melchizedek
refers to priesthood outside of that lineage. Just like Melchizedek was a priest but not in
the line of Aaron. So the author here is saying that a new order of priesthood has been
established. One not based on the lineage of Aaron that will last forever.
- So we see that Jesus was of man, he provided sacrifice for the people, and he was chosen by
God.
Hebrews 5:11-14
The author goes off on a side note here to discuss the readers understanding. He wants to continue on
explaining this topic but admits it would be hard because they are now “dull of hearing.” They were not
always this way but have become dull.
- Verse 12 says that they have had enough time to be teachers. In the mindset of the time, being
a teacher means to have a maturity of thought. He is saying you guys are not thinking like
reasoning adults but like children. They took the right steps before and hence are Christians but
now are moving backwards. The author says you have to relearn the elementary principles of
the oracles of God. They have to relearn from the beginning.
- Verse 13 says that do not partake in solid food are not accustomed to the word of
righteousness. The verbiage here meaning that they are unskilled in the ways of righteousness
or that they lack experience. The term he uses at the end of the verse for child – nepios - means
 to be without power, impotent. The author is saying you guys are useless right now in God’s
word. You should be mature and doing God’s works but instead you need to be babysat.
- Verse 14 – but solid food is for the mature, who have trained themselves. He just said they were
unskilled, now says that mature Christians are trained to distinguish good from evil – talking
about doctrine at this point. He is coming back to the readers position as Christians leaning back
towards Judaism saying you can’t distinguish the right teaching anymore.
Hebrews 6:1-12
- Verse 1 – the author previously criticized the readers for being children, now he urges them to
move forward. They are stuck on these elementary issues. And he is not planning on going over
them again.
- Verse 1-2 – He names some of the elementary topics and it is by no means an exhaustive list.
The somewhat strange thing about this list is that it is not inherently Christian but really these
principals belong to both the Christian and Jewish faith.
- The list is 6 items and they come in pairs.
- 1) Repentance and Faith. Repentance, as Terry has said in many lessons, is more than being
sorry for sin, it is turning back towards God and sinning no more. Hence here repentance from
dead works most likely means from sin. Faith here is specified faith towards God, but keep in
mind that faith towards God inherently means faith in Jesus, his messenger.
- 2) Washings and the laying on of hands. Washings here comes from the word Baptismon, the
plural form of baptismos that normally refers to Jewish ceremonial washings although there are
some instances of reference to baptism. (Baptisma normally refers to Christian baptism.) Hence
some translations say “cleansing rites” or “ablutions.” There have been some explanations as to
why the word is plural here, for instance, a three-fold baptism in the name of the father, son,
and Holy Spirit, and inner and outer purification, and similar conclusions. However, in the
context of the epistle, this term is appropriate because baptism and other washings are in
focus. Laying on of hands were used in the old testament to appoint men to the callings such as
the laying of hands on the Levites in Numbers 8:10. In the New Testament it is used to give
someone the Holy Spirit as well as bless them. It was often combined with prayer and so the
laying on of hands being an outward symbol of prayer.
- 3) Resurrection and judgement are big talking points for Christian authors. Paul mentions that
our faith hinges on Christ’s resurrection and that’s the center of much of the Christian faith. So
obviously this is an elementary topic because you won’t get far as a Christian without the belief
of Christ’s resurrection.
- So again, this list is not meant to be a thorough list of the basics, but just a quick point saying
“do not go back to these basics but push ahead to the more complicated topics.”
- Verse 4-8 – after just warning about not moving backwards, he gives a warning about falling
away. He says those who have been enlightened and have partaken in the Holy Spirit and then
fall away, it is impossible to renew them to repentance.
- Does this verse mean it is really impossible to save those who have fallen away?
- Several possible explanations are offered for this verse:
o 1) Yes, the author really means that it is impossible.
 o 2) The word impossible is really meant to mean difficult and not to be taken literally.
o 3) That the impossibility is with men, not with God. Meaning we can only do so much to
save someone who has fallen away. The rest is up to God.
o 4) An alternative translation is that “while” they continue to crucify the son of God,
repentance is impossible.
o 5) Each of these is a possible solution; Niel Lightfoot, the author of this book (Jesus
Christ Today) suggests that since, when talking about renewal, the author switches from
past tense to present tense that he is saying a man cannot continually fall away, be
saved, fall away, be saved, and on and on. At some point, it becomes a trifle and his
heart is disingenuous.
- Keep in mind the author is talking about apostasy, not just sin, and the author talks about
apostasy in reference to giving up this new life and completely turning from God.
- Verse 6 – They who become apostates crucify the son of God. He making it known just how
serious a crime this is, even specifying Christ as the son of God here for emphasis. He also says
they crucify Christ to themselves – meaning to their own detriment.
- Verse 7-8 – Bring up images of parables of Jesus. He reminds the readers on the subject of
apostasy that good Christians who “drink the rain” should bear fruit.
- Verse 9-10 – At this point the author turns in his tone, calling them beloved, and assuring that
he believes better things are in store for them. He reminds them that God will not forget the
good they have done for their Christian brethren. Though are struggling with doctrine, their
faith shows practical results, having just talked about yielding crops.
- Verse 11-12 – The author states his desire that with the same heart that the serve others, they
will cling to the word God has given them. The word desire here is a deep longing. It is the same
word Jesus used when he said he longed to eat Passover with his disciples. It is a term of
affection and concern. He earnestly wants all to be saved and cares for each of them. He again
reminds them not to be sluggish, he said before they were dull of hearing, but follow the
example of those who, by faith, inherited God’s promises.
Hebrews 13-20
- Verse 13-14 – These refer to God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 22:16 when Abraham offered
up Isaac. In the verse, God says “By myself I have sworn.” You wouldn’t think God would need to
swear by anything but he does this for Abraham’s benefit because mankind take oaths more
seriously. But remember, this was a promise that took a long time to fulfill, but before his death
he could see through Isaac how God would fulfill that promise.
- Verse 16 – A general statement is made here that mankind take oaths very seriously, the term
“as conformation” here has a meaning of being legally binding. In some places oaths would be
put on a terms of sale as a guarantee of sale. The author says that in a dispute, when one man
swears it puts an end to the dispute because the truth is assured.
- Verse 17 – The heirs of his promise are not just the children of Abraham but all of us.
- Verse 18 – The two unchangeable things – God cannot break a promise. And God cannot make
a false oath.
- -Verse 20 – Jesus has entered the veil, the holy place, where he has set the way for us to go.