Introduction: Jesus told the Pharisees, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39). The scriptures that Jesus was referring to were the books of the Old Testament. Those books pointed forward to the coming of the Messiah who would triumph over evil and save the human race from their sins. Then in the New Testament, we are informed of how our Creator accomplished this feat by becoming human and taking the penalty for sin upon Himself. The books of the New Testament explain the events that changed the history of humankind from Jesus’ birth to the outpouring of His Spirit and the formation of His people from the melding of Jewish and Gentile believers into the church. But what has Jesus been doing in the approximately 2,000 years since that time? Did Jesus ascend to heaven and leave the Holy Spirit to do the rest of the job of taking care of the human race alone? How can we know what has been going on in heaven all this time? There are two books of the Bible that speak of Jesus’ present-day activities on behalf of humanity—Revelation and Hebrews. However, Revelation can be confusing with its symbology and prophecies about the future, which makes the letter to the Hebrews crucial to the Bible student’s understanding of Jesus’ place in our present and future salvation.
Author: There is disagreement as to who wrote the book of Hebrews. This is a relatively modern controversy. The original readers knew exactly who wrote the book. At the end of the letter it says, “Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner” (Hebrews 13:18-19). The writer assumes that the readers will know who to pray for and the situation that might keep him or her from being restored to the recipients of the letter. Until the nineteenth century, church tradition firmly gave credit to Paul as the author of Hebrews. In fact, in the ancient New Testament canon, the book of Hebrews was placed right after Paul’s epistle to the Romans rather than at the end of all of Paul’s epistles where we place the book today.
What happened? Why did Biblical scholars decide that Hebrews was not a Pauline epistle? Basically, they started analyzing the writing and comparing it to the other epistles. When they studied the style of the original Greek, they found that the language was more sophisticated and artistic than the content of Paul’s other letters. They noticed that the syntax (vocabulary and word arrangement) used was somewhat different, as well. Thirdly, the topics covered in Hebrews differ significantly from the other Pauline epistles. Hebrews is unique among the books of the Bible in some of its topics and arguments. Since the letter to the Hebrews does not begin with a greeting that identifies the author, we are left with a mystery. The majority of Bible scholars today refuse to give Paul credit for writing the letter to the Hebrews. They either strongly argue for another author, or they say that while it is possible that Paul wrote the letter, it is equally likely that someone else was the author.
However, there are also a significant number of scholars who strongly believe that Paul was the author. The first argument in support of Paul’s authorship is one that has already been mentioned. Early collections of scripture included Hebrews together with the rest of Paul’s letters. Secondly, the difference in styles is not a decisive argument since it is well-known that Paul used co-authors in other letters. That is, he used secretaries at times to write the letters for him. Each person has a unique writing style, so a secretary with higher literacy and more educated vocabulary would affect the syntax and sophistication of the writing. In addition, although it was a letter, Hebrews was written as a sermon rather than as a personalized epistle to a church addressing specific problems that had arisen in Paul’s absence. Any author will vary his or her own style and vocabulary depending on audience and purpose. Thus, the combination of having a co-author/secretary and a unique purpose could easily account for the variations in language between Hebrews and Paul’s other letters. In addition, deeper analysis of the book of Galatians and Hebrews has revealed that the topics in Hebrews are not as different from Paul’s other epistles as scholars had originally thought. Modern commentators concede that the author of Hebrews was using arguments similar to the ones that Paul used in Galatians. In fact, many of the Old Testament quotes used by Paul in other epistles are also cited in Hebrews to support his arguments. Finally, the letter to the Hebrews may not begin like Paul’s other epistles, but it ends with Paul’s usual style, including a reference to Paul’s favorite traveling companion, Timothy. “I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon” (Hebrews 13:22-23). My personal opinion is that Paul is the author of Hebrews, but if you disagree with me, you are in good company.
Theme: Hebrews takes us past the cross to Jesus’ present ministry as our high priest and king. In the times of the Levitical priesthood, the roles of king and priest were distinct and separate. This was different from the surrounding cultures of ancient times. In most of those societies the role of priest and king were united. However, when setting up the worship services in the original tabernacle, God clearly differentiated between secular leadership and priestly leadership. Aaron was the high priest, and Moses was the governmental leader. Many centuries later, when King Uzziah arrogantly attempted to combine the roles of priest and king, God afflicted him with leprosy so that he could no longer rule as king, much less attempt to serve as priest. Thus, the author of Hebrews had to reach past the formation of the Levitical priesthood back to the time of Abraham to find an appropriate example of a priest-king devoted to the most high God—Melchizedek. Chapter eight of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the same kind of priest-king. He is seated at the right hand of God as King and administering in the sanctuary as High Priest. “Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being” (Hebrews 8:1-2). Even though this combination of leadership was contrary to the directives given in Moses’ time, it had been predicted in the promises given to King David and by the prophet Zechariah. “Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jozadak. Tell him this is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the LORD. It is he who will build the temple of the LORD, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two’” (Zechariah 6:11-13). Hebrews makes it clear that the Old Testament prophecies have been fulfilled in Jesus, both at the cross and in His activities after His ascension. “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe” (Hebrews 1:1-2). Hebrews tells us that we can have confidence in approaching God because our beloved elder brother is in the temple in heaven interceding for us as the representative of the human race. We are no longer rebels at war with God. We are no longer represented by a fallen angel who usurped authority from Adam. Jesus won back the title to this world for humanity and is representing us today before the throne of God where we can join Him through faith in the present time, and someday, we will be able to physically join Jesus to stand without harm in the presence of the glory of God.
Organization: Hebrews alternates back and forth between exposition and exhortation. In other words, the author explains doctrine extensively and then urges the reader to apply the lessons to his or her own life. Thus, Hebrews chapter one explains that Jesus has been enthroned as king, and Hebrews 2:1-4 exhorts believers to pay attention to God. Then Hebrews 2:5-18 describes how Jesus died to save us, and Hebrews 3:1 through 4:16 urges the believer to enter into the rest of God. Next, Hebrews 5:1-10 tells the reader how Jesus has been appointed as high priest, and Hebrews 5:11 through 6:20 exhorts the believers to continue growing spiritually and have confidence. The next exposition from Hebrews 7:1 to 10:18 centers around Jesus inaugurating the New Covenant, and the exhortation in Hebrews 10:19 to 12:28 pleads with the believers to hold fast to their faith. The final chapter bounces back and forth between quick exposition and numerous exhortations before ending with Paul’s usual closing remarks.
Logic of Hebrews: Much of Hebrews’ terminology and reasoning is centered around the temple services. Thus, it is important for students of Hebrews to familiarize themselves with the activities associated with the temple, especially the Day of Atonement. This was the one day of the year that a human could enter past the curtain into the Most Holy Place. Hebrews describes Jesus in terms of both the daily sacrificial system and the one time a year that the high priest entered the Most Holy Place to cleanse the sanctuary from all sin. Chapters five to seven point out the crucial moment when Jesus entered the Holy Place of the heavenly temple and was inaugurated as our high priest. Chapter seven refers to the numerous purification ceremonies that the high priest had to undergo and explains how Jesus had no need of these rituals because He was pure already and had provided Himself as the sacrifice. Hebrews twelve brings the reader to the Day of Atonement, which culminated in the temple and people of God being cleansed of all sin.
Jesus’ Roles in Hebrews: Chapter one first describes Jesus’ enthronement as King, but the majority of the book of Hebrews is taken up with Jesus’ duties as priest. The author of Hebrews builds up his arguments during chapters one to four in order to point to the entrance by Jesus into the presence of God upon His ascension to heaven. The profound significance of this action is that through our high priest Jesus, we ourselves are in the very presence of God. The message of Hebrews eight to ten is that Jesus has ascended into heaven as our Mediator to begin administering the benefits of the New Covenant that He has forged between God and man. That covenant was to write God’s law in our hearts and minds as predicted by Jeremiah. “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Hebrews twelve then brings us into the Most Holy Place for the Day of Atonement judgment. The author has foreshadowed this day in Hebrews 9:27-28 and 10:25, but in chapter twelve, he clearly warns believers not to refuse Him who speaks in judgment so that they can stand in the time when the earth and heaven are shaken, and they enter into the presence of the consuming fire who is God. It may be helpful to the reader to compare Hebrews twelve with Daniel seven as they both refer to the same events.
Conclusion: Hebrews is a complex, multi-layered reflection upon Jesus’ activities from His ascension to the present day and beyond. Some of the logic may be difficult to understand at first, but through re-reading, knowledge of the sanctuary services, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can comprehend the spiritual lessons of this unique book and enter with Jesus into the presence of the Father by faith.