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POSTED
12 JANUARY, 2011
The Message of Hebrews
by
J.K. McKee
editor@tnnonline.net
The Epistle to the Hebrews is probably the
second most difficult text of the Bible for
today’s Messianic Believers to really
understand. As many have desired to recapture a
forgotten emphasis on the Hebraic and Jewish
Roots of our faith, Hebrews forces us to
consider a part of the First Century world that
many would like to think does not really exist:
the Jewish Diaspora.[1]
I remember when I purchased my leather bound
edition of the Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible
back in 2000, and read a statement for its
introduction to Hebrews: “It is certainly a
superb, literal Greek masterpiece which is
well-organized, logical, and comprehensive.”[2]
Having encountered this, I realized that one day
as Messianic engagement with the Scriptures
improved, this was going to prove to be a
problem because various people in our faith
community hold to a steadfast, ungodly prejudice
against anything that is not “Hebrew.” Several
years later my suspicions were confirmed when a
particular Messianic false teacher claimed that
the text of Hebrews was unreliable, and its
inclusion within the Bible should be severely
questioned. Those with appropriate training in
Biblical Studies could see right through the
overblown claims made against Hebrews, which if
unfortunately applied across the board could be
used to question the integrity of every book of
the Bible.
The most significant thing, for any reader of
Hebrews to recognize, is that the author of
Hebrews relies upon the unique renderings of the
Greek Septuagint, the ancient translation of the
Hebrew Tanach into Greek, dating three centuries
before the ministry of Yeshua. Those unfamiliar
with the LXX might think that the author has
misquoted from the Hebrew Tanach, when in fact
he only uses the canonical Scriptures of the
Diaspora Synagogue.[3]
(Of course, the Epistle to the Hebrews is not
the only place where the Septuagint is used in
the Apostolic Writings, as many Messianic
prophecies referenced in the Gospels are quoted
from the LXX.) Likewise, a working knowledge of
Greek is important for readers of Hebrews, to
note any biased translations into English that
can be rendered a bit better (8:13), or to
detect words added to an English translation
that do not appear in the source text (i.e.,
8:7, 13; 9:1, 17, 24; 10:1).
If there is anything that is absolutely true
about the Epistle to the Hebrews, it is that its
author does believe Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus
Christ) to be superior to all things. The author
is a second generation Believer who is reckoned
among those who heard the good news from those
of the first generation who encountered the Lord
in person (2:3).[4]
He is definitely concerned about the possibility
of many of his brothers and sisters leaving
faith in Yeshua (2:1; 3:12; 6:6; 10:35). It is
rightly concluded that the main audience of
Hebrews were Jewish Believers in the Diaspora,
with a wide number of interpreters thinking that
it was written to those in Rome (cf. 13:24). For
some reason or another, these Believers are
being tempted to leave faith in the Messiah and
return to a previous, Messiah-less experience in
the Synagogue. Given the author’s observations
of the Temple service in Jerusalem still
operating (8:13), it is probable that Hebrews
was written in the mid-to-late 60s C.E., against
a backdrop of the Jewish uprising in Judea soon
to occur.
The author of Hebrews
knows that something big is soon to occur, and
with it there will be no safety net in the minds
of many Jewish Believers—who while having faith
in Yeshua, still knew that animal sacrifices
were occurring in Jerusalem. This was something
comforting for them.
What would happen if
these sacrifices were suddenly gone? This
would be uncharted territory for many of them,
given the relative unestablishment of the
Messianic community. Some Jewish Believers would
choose to cast aside the Messiah and return to
the familiarity of the Synagogue, while others
would be forced to recognize the magnanimity of
His final sacrifice at Golgotha, providing for a
permanent atonement. There would be no more
operating Levitical priesthood, but only
Yeshua’s priesthood operating and interceding
before the Father in Heaven (7:25).
Would
they be spiritually mature enough to be able to
handle this?
Hebrews is frequently
read as sometimes opposing the commandments of
the Torah of Moses, yet the author of Hebrews is
quite insistent that the Law has not been
abolished, twice quoting the critical New
Covenant promise of Jeremiah 31:31-34 that
Moses’ Teaching is to be written on the hearts
and minds of God’s people (8:8-12;
10:16-17)—something the Messiah has inaugurated
by His priesthood. Much of the argumentation
style of the Epistle to the Hebrews has
sometimes been taken as being anti-Judaism and
anti-Temple, but in actuality he employs a
common Rabbinic qal v’chomer or classical
a fortiori approach, demonstrating great
respect for the institutions and historical
figures of Ancient Israel in order to precisely
show how much greater and grand the Messiah
actually is.
The author of Hebrews
recognizes the ongoing plan of not only
salvation history, but most especially God’s
revelation to humanity: “In the past God spoke
to our forefathers 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
he made the universe” (1:1-2). His treatise is
certainly going to include some material that
demonstrates how God’s plan has moved forward,
and that there are some new realities that His
people will have to contend with. Soon there
will be no more Temple, no more sacrifices, and
with it the realization that all Messiah
followers will have no choice but to look to
Yeshua exclusively for their sin covering.
Yeshua as the Son of
God represents His Father fully (1:3a), and His
intention was to enter into this world and
provide permanent purification for sins, later
to return to Heaven and sit at His Father’s
right hand (1:3b). Because of Yeshua’s supremacy
as the Son, He is to be regarded as superior to
angels (1:4-5; cf. Psalm 2:7; 2 Samuel 7:14; 1
Chronicles 17:13), and the angels are actually
directed to worship Him as Divine (1:6; cf.
Deuteronomy 32:43, LXX). While the angels are to
be regarded as important servants of God (1:7,
14; cf. Psalm 10:4), the Son is directly
regarded as being “God,” whose “throne will last
for ever and ever…” (1:8-9; cf. Psalm 45:6-7).
The ultimate end of the Earth and greater cosmos
is contrasted to the great power and permanence
of the Messiah (1:10-12; cf. Psalm 102:25-27).
None of the angels are to be considered as ever
having sat down at the Father’s right hand
(1:13; cf. Psalm 110:1). Similar to the angel
worship problem at Colossae (Colossians 2:18),
there were some among Hebrews’ intended audience
who may have only thought of Yeshua as being a
nominal intermediary force, but not God Himself.
Our author notes that
angels were present in the giving of the Torah
to Moses (2:2; cf. Deuteronomy 33:2; Acts 7:54).
If violation of God’s Law was met with severe
penalties, then “We must pay more careful
attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so
that we do not drift away…[H]ow shall we escape
if we ignore so great a salvation?” (2:1, 3a).
The gospel message that Hebrews’ audience has
encountered has been attended by the great
miracles and the presence of the Holy Spirit
(2:3b-4). As serious as dismissing the Torah is,
dismissing the good news would bring with it
even more severe consequences! Yeshua the
Messiah has come into the world to bring a
realization to humanity of the great things in
store for the redeemed in the future (2:5-8; cf.
Psalm 8:5-7). Yeshua Himself participated in the
human experience (2:9), precisely so many may be
brought into glory. Yeshua’s identification with
humanity in His ministry service is critical,
not only so that we might emulate Him and look
to Him for guidance, but that we might
understand His priestly service before the
Father in Heaven (2:10-18; cf. Psalm 22:22;
Isaiah 8:17; 8:18).
One of the most
important figures in the Bible is undeniably
Moses, and the author of Hebrews has a very high
view of him. Still, in demonstrating great
respect for Moses and what he did for the Lord,
the more significant person to whom Believers
must direct their attention is obviously Yeshua
the Messiah:
“Therefore, holy
brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix
your thoughts on Yeshua, the apostle and high
priest whom we confess. He was faithful to the
one who appointed him, just as Moses was
faithful in God’s house. Yeshua has been found
worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the
builder of a house has greater honor than the
house itself. For every house is built by
someone, but God is the builder of everything.
Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s
house, testifying to what would be said in the
future. But Messiah is faithful as a son over
God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on
to our courage and the hope of which we boast”
(3:1-6).
There is no
denigration at all of the figure of Moses in
these statements, but Moses was a servant
contrasted to Yeshua Himself who is God’s Son.
While proper honor is due to Moses, our faith
and confidence are to be placed in the Messiah.
If not, the author of Hebrews warns that people
might fall into the same predicament as the
Ancient Israelites who rebelled at Meribah and
Massah did (3:7-11; Psalm 95:7-11). This
important scene is used to communicate how
severe it would be to reject Yeshua—especially
if for a previous generation God “declared on
oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my
rest’” (3:11). The writer urges, “See to it,
brothers, that none of you has a sinful,
unbelieving heart that turns away from the
living God. But encourage one another daily, as
long as it is called Today, so that none of you
may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness”
(3:12-13). The need to persevere in one’s trust
in Yeshua is clear: “We have come to share in
Messiah if we hold firmly till the end the
confidence we had at first” (3:14). He repeats
the need to learn from this past incident,
because if a generation of Ancient Israelites
did not enter into the Promised Land and its
rest because of unbelief, what will face those
who reject God’s Messiah (3:15-19; cf. Psalm
95:7-8)?
Learning from the
errors of previous generations is imperative to
the author of Hebrews, and those in the First
Century will be held every bit as accountable as
those in Israel’s past. He observes how “since
the promise of entering his rest still stands,
let us be careful that none of you be found to
have fallen short of it” (4:1). This rest,
however, is not entry into the Promised Land but
entry into the Kingdom of God itself. The
Ancient Israelites apparently “had the gospel
preached” to them the same as Hebrews’
generation, but they are to be regarded as those
“who heard [but] did not combine it with faith”
(4:2). The basic news that redemption and
blessing would be brought by the Lord is the
same for any time period; the specificity that
this is to come about in Yeshua the Messiah
requires the stakes to be higher. Those who know
Him and believe in Him enter into the promised
rest (4:3; cf. Psalm 95:11), something which has
been typified by the institution of the Sabbath
day (4:4-7; cf. Psalm 95:7-8). While there is
surely a great eternal “rest” to be experienced
by those in the Messiah, it would be difficult
to argue that the author of Hebrews is
“anti-Sabbath”—given the fact that by resting
once a week, Believers can experience a
small
taste of future eschatological realities
(4:8-11). The message of the Word of God, in
what it communicates and how it challenges His
people, is something that cannot go unheeded
(4:12-13).
It is much more
difficult for modern people, who live in an age
when animal sacrifices seem out of place and
largely taboo, to identify with our writer’s
description of Yeshua as High Priest, than First
Century Jews, Greeks, and Romans for whom these
things were far more commonplace. Yeshua, as the
Son of God in Heaven (4:14), is to be regarded
as the High Priest with whom we can relate,
precisely because He has participated in
humanity and can convey our needs before the
Father (4:15). Messiah followers should be able
to “approach the throne of grace with
confidence, so that we may receive mercy and
find grace to help us in our time of need”
(4:16).
The author of Hebrews
recognizes the value of the Levitical priesthood
in stating, “Every high priest is selected from
among men and is appointed to represent them in
matters related to God, to offer gifts and
sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently
with those who are ignorant and are going
astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.
This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his
own sins, as well as for the sins of the people”
(5:1-3). Yeshua’s service as High Priest before
the Father is consistent with Aaron’s own
appointment (5:4-5; Psalm 2:7). Yet, Yeshua
serves as a priest after the order of
Melchizedek (5:6; Psalm 110:4), something
validated by His own Earthly ministry and
obedience to the Father through suffering
(5:7-10). For some reason or another, though,
the author of Hebrews expresses doubts that his
audience can really understand all of the
details and significance of this, still needing
to be fed from proverbial “milk” rather than
“meat” (5:11-14).
There are many things
classified as being “elementary teachings about
Messiah” that the writer lists, including: “the
foundation of repentance from acts that lead to
death, and of faith in God, instruction about
baptisms, the laying on of hands, the
resurrection from the dead, and eternal
judgment” (6:1-2). Hebrews’ audience did not
have an adequate understanding of these things
and many Believers today do not either.
(Even our own Messianic community has divergent
opinions on some of these foundational
subjects.) Still, the key is to advance beyond
the essentials of faith into the more complex
and detailed issues (6:3).
One of the most
disputed areas of the Epistle to the Hebrews is
where the author asserts, “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, if
they fall away, to be brought back to
repentance, because to their loss they are
crucifying the son of God all over again and
subjecting him to public disgrace” (6:4-6).
Those who believe in a doctrine of eternal
security, more popularly called “once saved,
always saved,” have tended to have difficulty
with this. Those who believe in the possibility
that the spiritually regenerated can lose their
salvation look here for support, although they
would commonly emphasize that blasphemy of the
Holy Spirit would be grounds for redemption lost
(Matthew 12:31). Someone would really have to
declare that the salvation experienced in Yeshua
is really something worthless. Eternal
punishment can only await (6:7-8).
The author of Hebrews
is confident that his audience will do the right
thing: “Even though we speak like this, dear
friends, we are confident of better things in
your case—things that accompany salvation”
(6:9). They have already been faithful to love,
help others, and demonstrate proper works
becoming of true saints (6:10). They are
encouraged to continue doing the good things
they have been accomplishing (6:11-12). God’s
nature requires Him to be faithful, just as He
was to Abraham (6:13-15; cf. Genesis 22:16-17).
He Himself had to be the Guarantor of Abraham’s
blessing (6:16-17). With God being incapable of
lying, the hope that is offered to people is
found in Yeshua, who serves as a high priest
before the Father, similar to Melchizedek
(6:16-20).
Melchizedek is a very
interesting, albeit elusive figure, who is
encountered in Genesis 14:18-20. He was a priest
of the Most High God, to whom Abraham gave a
tenth of the spoils after freeing Lot from
captivity (7:1-2a). He is testified to be a
“king of peace” (7:2b), with some kind of
mystery surrounding him as nothing is stated
regarding his origins (7:3). Abraham
acknowledged Melchizedek’s significance in
tithing to him, something to be regarded as the
Levites having paid a tithe to him as Levi was
present in Abraham’s loins (7:4-9). The
importance, more than anything else, is to
highlight that there has been a transition of
priesthoods from Levitical to Melchizedekian,
because of the arrival of the Messiah (7:11-17;
cf. Psalm 110:4). The author of Hebrews speaks
about there being both “a change of the
priesthood” and “a change of the law” (7:12).
While Moses’ Teaching as a whole—especially
statutes like the Ten Commandments—is not to be
cast aside as irrelevant or unimportant, changes
regarding animal sacrifice, the Levitical
priesthood transitioning to Yeshua’s priesthood,
and most especially the Messiah’s permanent
atonement have been enacted, as salvation
history has progressed forward.
The author of Hebrews
could observe how “The former regulation [of the
priesthood] is set aside because it was weak and
useless” (7:18a), with asthenes kai anōpheles
perhaps better translated as “weak
and unprofitable” (HCSB). The further
observation “the law made nothing perfect”
(7:18b) is not a negation of Psalm 19:7,[5]
but rather an assertion of how “the
Torah
did not bring anything to the goal” (CJB) as it
is powerless in and of itself to bring final
redemption. The audience of Hebrews is told, “a
better hope is introduced, by which we draw near
to God” (7:19c), this Hope being none other than
the Messiah Yeshua Himself and His
Melchizedekian priesthood (7:20-22):
“Now there have been
many of those [Levitical] priests, since death
prevented them from continuing in office; but
because Yeshua lives forever, he has a permanent
priesthood. Therefore he is able to save
completely those who come to God through him,
because he always lives to intercede for them.
Such a high priest meets our need—one who is
holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners,
exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high
priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices
day after day, first for his own sins, and then
for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for
their sins once and for all when he offered
himself. For the law appoints as high priests
men who are weak; but the oath, which came after
the law, appointed the Son, who has been made
perfect forever” (7:23-28).
The awesome importance
of not only Yeshua’s
single sacrifice for
human sin providing permanent atonement, but
also His priestly service in Heaven, is
explained as “The point of what we are saying”
(8:1a). Our writer explains the greatness of the
Messiah, who is “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 man”
(8:1b-2). It is asserted that Yeshua serves as
High Priest of the Tabernacle in Heaven, because
the Levitical priests on Earth actually serve a
copy of the true Heavenly Tabernacle (8:3-5; cf.
Exodus 25:40). The author of Hebrews will
explain how the ministry in which the Messiah
serves is superior (8:6), precisely because
Yeshua’s Melchizedekian priesthood has brought
about the promised New Covenant.
A translation
challenge is present in 8:7, though, because as
the NIV renders it, “For if there had been
nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place
would have been sought for another.” The Greek
Ei gar hē prōtē ēn amemptos actually
reads “for if
that first were faultless” (YLT) with no
associated noun. While “first” can be
diathēkē/covenant, the feminine
prōtē
could also speak of the
skēnē/tabernacle,
hierōsunē/priesthood, or even
leitourgia/ministry. It is far better, given
the limitations of the human priests who
occupied the Levitical service (7:28), for
prōtē
in 8:7 to be associated with the Earthly
Tabernacle, priesthood, or ministry of the
Levitical service—not the covenant made by God.
The problems that God had are asserted to be
with the people (8:8). With a second
tabernacle/priesthood/ministry established, the
result is that the New Covenant has been
enacted. The author of Hebrews quotes from
Jeremiah 31:31-34 (LXX) to substantiate that the
time when a permanent forgiveness for sins would
be available
has now arrived:
“The time is coming declares the Lord, when I
will make a new covenant with the house of
Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not
be like the covenant I made with their
forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead
them out of Egypt, because they did not remain
faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from
them, declares the Lord.[6]
This is the covenant I will make with the house
of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I
will put my laws into their minds and write them
on their hearts. I will be their God, and they
will be my people. No longer will a man teach
his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying,
‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest. For I
will forgive their wickedness and will remember
their sins no more” (8:9-12).
No one can honestly
argue from Hebrews 8:9-12 that the New Covenant
is something separated from the commandments and
instructions of God’s Torah. The essence of the
New Covenant is not only the promise of
permanent forgiveness for sins—something clearly
available in the sacrificial work of Messiah
Yeshua—but that
“I will put my laws in their
minds and write them on their hearts”
(8:10). It is a sad fact that when many good
Christian people read about the New Covenant in
the Bible, they jump right over this fact.
Similar to 8:7
preceding, 8:13 and 9:1 following are another
location where “covenant” (NASU) has been
added to most English translations, where the
subject matter from 8:13-10:18 largely concerns
the limitations and transitory nature of the
Levitical priesthood to the permanence of
Yeshua’s priesthood. 8:13 especially has some
transmission issues into English. Its opening
clause en tō legein kainēn is simply “in
the saying ‘new’” (YLT), with no noun provided.
Kainēn
should be understood as applying to the
tabernacle/priesthood/ministry of the Levitical
service, given what 8:13b says:
to de
palaioumenon kai gēraskon engus aphanismou.
While often rendered with “what is obsolete and
aging will soon disappear,” the verbs
palaioō[7]
and gēraskō[8]
both meaning “to age.” To regard the Levitical
service as “obsolete” is too strong, whereas the
NEB offers the much better rendering,
“growing old and ageing.”[9]
The Levitical service would have been older in
its time of service than Yeshua’s priestly
service in Heaven (although it has been based on
Melchizedek’s priesthood), and it would
disappear at the time of the fall of Jerusalem
in 70 C.E., a timestamp on when Hebrews was
composed in the late 60s C.E.
It is much easier to detect in 9:1 that the
subject matter is not “the first covenant” (NIV),
but rather how Eiche men oun [kai] hē prōtē,
“Now even the first…” pertains to the Levitical
priesthood and with it its “earthly sanctuary. A
tabernacle was set up” (9:1b-2a). The author
lists some of the main pieces of the Tabernacle
furniture (9:2b-5a),[10]
but mentions that for the sake of his audience
“we cannot discuss these things in detail now”
(9:5b). Within the Levitical priesthood the high
priest had to enter into the Holy of Holies once
a year, but could not offer a permanent
cleansing of the conscience (9:6-10). In
contrast to this, Yeshua entered into the
Heavenly realm and presented His own blood to
obtain eternal redemption for all who would
believe in Him (9:11-14). By this priestly work
“Messiah is the mediator of a new covenant, that
those who are called may receive the promised
inheritance” (9:15a).
Speaking of a covenant
made (diathēkē), the author of Hebrews
expresses, “it is necessary to prove the death
of the one who made it” (9:16). 9:17 is a most
difficult verse to detect a mis-translation,
appearing in the NASU as “For
a covenant is valid…when men are dead,
for it is never in force while the one who made
it lives.” While to some readers it may seem
that a last will and testament which people make
is in view, nekrois is simply a plural
noun for “dead (ones).” What is more in view
here is “dead victims” (YLT) in reference to
animals, and William L. Lane’s paraphrased
offering in his Word Biblical Commentary
volume captures what 9:17 is communicating much
better: “for a covenant is made legally secure
on the basis of the sacrificial victims, since
it is never valid while the ratifier lives.”[11]
In instances like
Genesis 15:9-21, those who made the covenant had
to agree to be like the animals broken up into
pieces, if the b’rit/diathēkē were
ever broken
The author of Hebrews
highlights the significance of shed blood to
secure an agreement between God and His people,
making light of the Sinai Covenant (9:18-21).
The Torah certainly did offer a degree of
cleansing by its prescribed animal sacrifices
(9:22-23), but not the permanent cleansing
offered in the sacrifice of the Son of God.
Yeshua died in humanity’s stead for violation of
God’s statutes, providing for there to be a
one-time offering for final atonement:
“For Messiah did not enter a man-made sanctuary
that was…a copy[12]
of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now
to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he
enter heaven to offer himself again and again,
the way the high priest enters the Most Holy
Place every year with blood that is not his own.
Then Messiah would have had to suffer many times
since the creation of the world. But now he has
appeared once for all at the end of the ages to
do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself”
(9:24-26).
As important as
Yeshua’s offering is for the progression of
salvation history, and with it the inauguration
of the New Covenant—more is still to come. The
Lord will return, and the salvation of persons
is to be consummated at the resurrection (9:28).
Once again as
Twenty-First Century readers, we have to be
reminded that the Epistle to the Hebrews was not
written directly to us; Hebrews was written to
an ancient audience for whom animal sacrifices
were quite important. 10:1 in the NASU again
adds unnecessary words in attesting, “For
the Law, since it has only
a shadow of
the good things to come…,” as the Greek source
text simply has Skian gar echōn ho nomos tōn
mellontōn agathōn, lacking “only.”
Still, it is very true that the Torah has
shadows of “the good things that are coming—not
the realities themselves. For this reason it can
never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly
year after year, make perfect those who draw
near to worship” (10:1b). The author asks, “If
it could, would they not have stopped being
offered? For the worshippers would have been
cleansed once for all, and would no longer have
felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices
are an annual reminder of sins, because it is
impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to
take away sins” (10:2-4). If the Torah’s animal
sacrifices could offer what the sacrifice of
Yeshua has provided, then a single, one-time
sacrifice would be all that was needed for
redemption.
Yeshua the Messiah
entered into the world to accomplish His
Father’s will, because of the ultimate
limitations of the animal sacrifices (10:5-9a;
cf. Psalm 40:6-8, vs. 6, 7 again). It is
attested how “He sets aside the first to
establish the second” (10:9b), with the old
order of sacrifices put away in order for
Yeshua’s own sacrifice to stand. Note that the
issue is not the commandments of God’s Law
regulating human ethics, morality, or even
things like the Sabbath, Biblical holidays, or
kosher. The issue in view is what the
Messiah’s sacrifice has specifically done for
the atonement of sin, and how “we have been
made holy through the sacrifice of the body of
Yeshua the Messiah once for all” (10:10). The
author of Hebrews compares and contrasts the
Levitical priest who has to offer up sacrifices
constantly, while the Messiah has ascended into
Heaven waiting only to return to the Earth and
defeat His enemies (10:11-14; cf. Exodus 29:38;
Psalm 110:1). The validation of the Messiah’s
work is found in the essence of the New
Covenant, of the Lord writing His Law onto the
hearts of His people and forgetting all of their
lawless acts against Him (10:15-18; cf. Jeremiah
31:33-34). To give up these things not
only for Hebrews’ ancient audience—but even for
us as today’s Messianic Believers—would be
most reckless. The author exhorts his
readers to have the steadfast assurance that
they can approach the Father via the work of His
Son:
“Therefore, brothers,
since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy
Place by the blood of Yeshua, by a new and
living way opened for us through the curtain,
that is, his body, and since we have a great
priest over the house of God, let us draw near
to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of
faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us
from a guilty conscience and having our bodies
washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly
to the hope we profess, for he who promised is
faithful” (10:19-23).
The attention of
Messiah followers should be “how we may spur one
another to love and good deeds” (10:24), with
regular times of fellowship and accountability
most important (10:25). The challenges of
denying the Lord Yeshua, His permanent
atonement, and regarding what He has
accomplished as utterly worthless—are even more
severe than what happens to those who disregard
Moses’ Teaching:
“If we deliberately
keep on sinning after we have received knowledge
of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but
only a fearful expectation of judgment and of
raging fire that will consume the enemies of
God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died
without mercy on the testimony of two or three
witnesses. How much more severely do you think a
man deserves to be punished who has trampled the
Son of God under foot, who has treated as an
unholy think the blood of the covenant that
sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit
of grace? For we know him who said, ‘It is mine
to repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge his
people.’ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God” (10:26-31; cf.
Deuteronomy 32:35, 36; Psalm 135:14).
For some reason or
another, not stated in the text explicitly, many
within Hebrews’ audience had grown a little
tired or weary of their Messiah faith and were
tottering. So the author naturally asks them to
“Remember those earlier days after you had
received the light, when you stood your ground
in great contests in the face of suffering.
Sometimes you were exposed to insult and
persecution; at other times you stood side by
side with those who were so treated. You
sympathized with those in prison and joyfully
accepted the confiscation of your property,
because you knew that you yourselves had better
and everlasting possessions” (10:32-35). These
Believers were steadfast and eager in their
faith, willing to endure whatever was required
for the cause of the good news. They endured
some degree of insults and beatings, and even
illegal procurements of what they owned. Now
with the Second Temple soon to be gone, some
were wondering: Is belief in Yeshua really
valid?
The author of Hebrews does not even entertain
that his largely Jewish audience will
apostatize, and return to a Synagogue experience
without Yeshua.[13]
He just says, “So do not throw away your
confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need
to persevere so that when you have done the will
of God, you will receive what he has promised”
(10:35-36). Yeshua will return to the Earth, and
ultimate salvation will be found in those who
enter into His Kingdom (10:37-39; cf. Habakkuk
2:3-4; Isaiah 26:20).
One of the most
important and encouraging parts of the Holy
Bible for Believers since the First Century has
undeniably been Hebrews 11, commonly referred to
as the “Hall of Faith” or the “Hall of Fame of
Faith.” It begins with the assertion, “Now faith
is being sure of what we hope for and certain of
what we do not see. This is what the ancients
were commended for. By faith we understand that
the universe was formed at God’s command, so
that what is seen was not made out of what was
visible” (11:1-3). Faith regards those realities
that we cannot fully understand as limited human
beings, those aspects of our lives and
experiences on Earth which require us to place
our trust entirely in the hands of an Eternal
Creator—the One who made the universe not out of
some pre-fabricated elements as Greco-Roman
mythology taught, but out of nothing.
To argue that “faith”
(pistis) is just some New Testament
concept, while popular among many Christians
today, is something that the author of Hebrews
would utterly reject. To substantiate his view
that his audience, with all of the unknowns they
would be facing, must turn to God like never
before, he makes considerable effort to
reference figures from the Tanach or Old
Testament who expressed complete trust in Him.
As he says, “without faith it is impossible to
please God, because anyone who comes to him must
believe that he exists and that he rewards those
who earnestly seek him” (11:6). These include:
Cain (11:4), Enoch (11:5), Noah (11:7), Abraham
and Sarah (11:8-12, 17-19), Isaac (11:20), Jacob
(11:21), Joseph (11:22), Moses (11:23-28), the
Ancient Israelites in the Exodus (11:29), those
who witnessed the fall of Jericho (11:30), Rahab
(11:31), and various other figures from both
Ancient Israel and Second Temple Judaism
(11:32-38). These were people who knew that they
needed to look beyond the current terrestrial
sphere and to a greater Heavenly reality for
God’s promises to be truly realized (11:13-16).
As the author describes, “These were all
commended for their faith, yet none of them
received what had been promised. God had planned
something better for us so that only together
with us would they be made perfect” (11:39-40).
Ultimate redemption can only come when God’s
people from all ages, of both the departed and
the living, are brought together at the Second
Coming (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:17).
Giving up on Yeshua
means failing those who have preceded us in the
legacy of faith. The author of Hebrews, as a
good exhorter of the Messianic community, will
not allow this, and so he says, “Therefore,
since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of
witnesses, let us throw off everything that
hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,
and let us run with perseverance the race marked
out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Yeshua, the
author and perfecter of our faith, who for the
joy set before him endured the cross, scorning
its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the
throne of God” (12:1-2). Giving up on the
Messiah means utterly insulting everything that
He endured to secure final redemption for fallen
humanity, and would mean that His ascension into
Heaven is utterly meaningless. So the writer
poignantly directs, “Consider him who endured
such opposition from sinful men, so that you
will not grow weary and lose heart” (12:3).
The author of Hebrews
wonders how much his audience has really endured
for the cause of Messiah. He probes them: “In
your struggle against sin, you have not yet
resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
And you have forgotten that word of
encouragement that addresses you as sons”
(12:4-5a), acknowledging from the Tanach how God
only disciplines His true children (12:5b-6; cf.
Proverbs 3:11-12). Discipline from the Heavenly
Father is never something that is pleasant, but
nevertheless true Believers are to “Endure
hardship as discipline; God is treating you as
sons. For what son is not disciplined by his
father? If you are not disciplined (and everone
undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate
children and not true sons” (12:7-8). Those who
are true children of the Holy One of Israel
undergo His chastisement (12:9-11), but such
discipline via hardship is much preferred to
eternal punishment. The objective of those
Believers in Yeshua who may undergo temporary
rebuke is to “strengthen your feeble arms and
weak knees. ‘Make level paths for your feet,’ so
that the lame may not be disabled, but rather
healed” (12:12-13).
It should not be
surprising that the author of Hebrews, likely a
colleague of the Apostle Paul, sounds very much
like him in terms of the instruction he issues
about general morality, including: being at
peace with all (12:14), realizing the power of
God’s grace (12:15), and avoiding sexual
immorality (12:16-17).
Our author is quite
keen on his audience understanding the realities
of God beyond this dimension. As significant as
it is for Messiah followers to understand,
respect, appreciate, and heed what the Torah
instructs about the Ancient Israelites at Mount
Sinai—even more critical to heed are the
realities of the Heavenly Jerusalem, angels,
and departed saints worshipping before the
throne of God:
“You have not come to
a mountain that can be touched and that is
burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm;
to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking
words that those who heard it begged that no
further word be spoken to them, because they
could not bear what was commanded: ‘If even an
animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.’
The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, ‘I
am trembling with fear.’ But you have come to
Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city
of the living God. You have come to thousands
upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to
the [congregation] of the firstborn, whose names
are written in heaven. You have come to God, the
judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous
men made perfect, to Yeshua the mediator of a
new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that
speaks of a better word than the blood of Abel”
(12:18-24; cf. Exodus 19:12-13).
Rather than focus on a
Jerusalem Temple and Levitical priesthood about
to fall, the attention of Hebrews’ audience
needs to instead be considering the Heavenly
Jerusalem where not only Yeshua the Messiah and
the Heavenly host reside, but all of those who
have preceded them in faith. If members of
Hebrews’ audience were to give up on Yeshua,
then they would not only
never see
the Lord, but they would also
never
see their departed predecessors and loved ones
again. Such persons, while “made perfect”
(12:23), obviously await the next stage of
salvation history when Yeshua returns “with all
His saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:13, NASU) at the
Second Coming and resurrection of the dead. The
author’s logic is quite sound: if one were to
reject the Lord’s words from Sinai,
how much
worse is it to reject His words from Heaven?
He describes,
“See
to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If
they did not escape when they refused him who
warned them on earth, how much less will we, if
we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?
At that time his voice shook the earth, but now
he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not
only the earth but also the heavens.’ The words
‘once more’ indicate the removing of what can be
shaken—that is, created things—so that what
cannot be shaken may remain”
(12:25-27; cf. Exodus 19:18; Judges 5:4; Psalm
68:8).
The author’s
confidence in his audience is once again noticed
as he only says “since we are receiving a
kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be
thankful, and so worship God with reverence and
awe” (12:28). While “God is a consuming fire”
(12:29), the significant majority of Hebrews’
readership will never have to experience this
firsthand. Even if they may have to be
temporarily chastised via certain Divine means,
the writer ultimately expects his readers to
make the right decision in choosing Yeshua the
Messiah.
Hebrews ch. 13, as the closing section of our
author’s treatise, understandably includes
various general instructions and ethical
exhortations for his audience to behave properly
as due spiritually transformed Messiah
followers. The Believers are to love (13:1), be
hospitable (13:2), and remember those in prison
(13:3). “Marriage should be honored by all…”
(13:4), people should not love money (13:5) and
be content with what God has given them (13:6;
cf. Psalm 118:6). Leaders in the faith are to be
respected (13:7), and the ever-present and
unchanging nature of Yeshua is to be recognized
(13:8). There were evidently some false or
strange teachings circulating among Hebrews’
audience regarding what people ate, and while
there are various opinions of this among
interpreters, we should not regard this as
mainline kosher eating but instead esoteric
and/or mystical views of animal sacrifice or the
Passover offering (13:9-10).[14]
What would be among
the biggest issues for the audience of Hebrews
to consider? The author tells them something
that will be difficult to consider: “The high
priest carries the blood of animals into the
Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the
bodies are burned outside the camp. And so
Yeshua also suffered outside the city gate to
make the people holy through his own blood”
(13:11-12). The final redemption for all of
humanity was accomplished outside of the city of
Jerusalem, meaning outside of the main centers
of Second Temple Jewish religiosity. With this
in mind, the audience is to “go to him outside
the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore” (13:13).
This does not mean that the First Century Jewish
Believers were to cast aside their heritage in
Ancient Israel, somehow regarding it as
worthless or meaningless.
But, if
they were loyal to the Messiah they would find
themselves outside of their proverbial “comfort
zones,” something that their Lord exemplified in
being executed outside of the Holy City of
Jerusalem. The ultimate reality is how “here [on
Earth] we do not have an enduring city, but we
are looking for the city that is to come”
(13:14).
The audience of
Hebrews is to surely “Through Yeshua, therefore,
let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of
praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.
And do not forget to do good and to share with
others, for which such sacrifices God is
pleased” (13:15-16). By placing Yeshua at the
absolute center of their being, they can
accomplish all things that the Father intends!
This includes a healthy respect and obedience
for various leaders, given the reality that they
have been committed to the well being of the
readers of the letter (13:17).
In the closing
salutation, the author of Hebrews asks for
prayer for himself, his colleagues, and to
remember how he says “We desire to live
honorably in every way. I particularly urge you
to pray so that I may be restored to you soon”
(13:18-19). Even though the author of Hebrews is
unknown specifically by name, he was known by
the audience, presumably given his style of
communication and the various admonitions that
he issued. The final word he issues is one which
commits them fully to the Lord,
“May the God of peace,
who through the blood of the eternal covenant
brought back from the dead our Lord Yeshua, that
great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with
everything good for doing his will, and may he
work in us what is pleasing to him, through
Yeshua the Messiah, to whom be glory for ever
and ever. Amen” (13:20-21).
As the Epistle to the
Hebrews closes, we get the distinct impression
that the author could have said more, and that
he has actually kept his message rather short
(13:22). He tells his audience that Timothy has
recently been released from prison, a good
indication that Hebrews’ main audience is the
collection of Jewish Believers in Rome (13:23;
cf. 2 Timothy 4:9). The author extends greetings
to his audience’s main leaders (13:24a), and how
“Those from Italy send you their greetings”
(13:24b). While this may mean that the letter
was written from Italy, “Those from Italy” might
also be a reference to Priscilla and Acquila,
Diaspora Jews originally from Rome (Acts 18:2),
and that the letter is written to Roman Jews.
The author of Hebrews being a colleague of
Paul’s is confirmed by the similar closing
greeting seen in the Pauline letters: “Grace be
with you all” (13:25).
What does the Epistle
to the Hebrews mean to today’s Messianic
movement? Admittedly, it is a text of Scripture
which asks us many questions that various
persons in our midst are unable—and sometimes
entirely incapable—to answer. The author of
Hebrews places the sacrifice and priesthood of
Messiah Yeshua at the very center
of his message. He warns against any dismissal
or abandonment of the Messiah with the
destruction of the Second Temple in view, as any
return to a Messiah-less Synagogue Judaism could
mean some significant consequences to be
experienced in eternity. The issue is not First
Century Jewish nationalism, nor Jewish Believers
expressing an appreciation in their Biblical or
ethnic heritage; the issue is casting aside the
Jewish Messiah for a more “convenient” and
“established” path.
In this second decade of the 2000s, the second
generation of today’s Messianic movement has
already started to take shape. Many people are
being “lured” by Judaism in ways similar to
Hebrews’ First Century audience. Various
families and persons think that they can be a
permanent part of the Jewish Synagogue and
maintain some degree of Messiah faith. While
no one is asking or should even think
for today’s Messianic Jews to be totally cut off
from the worldwide Jewish community,
or
even for the broad Messianic world to be cut off
from supporting the State of Israel—there are
those who would prefer to live in an almost
homogenous Jewish environment, failing to
recognize any attendant problems. If some of
today’s Messianic Jews prefer to focus their
daily and weekly spiritual experiences in a
local synagogue that does not recognize Yeshua
as Messiah, then there will be definite lures
present for families to be taken away from
Yeshua if their association is too close—because
Yeshua is likely to be an afterthought to
their daily and weekly routines. There are First
Century examples in the Apostolic Scriptures of
how groups of Messiah followers (i.e., the
Corinthians in Acts 18:1-7) had to leave the
local synagogue because of Messiah faith.[15]
As we seek to
adequately apply the Epistle to the Hebrews, we
need not think that its author is anti-Torah,
anti-Jewish, or even anti-sacrifice.
He is
not! But, all of these things have their
various limitations in view of the all-Righteous
One, Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ). Various
Messianics who struggle with statements that
appear in Hebrews are those who may ultimately
not put the Messiah first in their lives
and in their reading of the Bible, and who
frequently wrestle with God’s plan of salvation
history and what Yeshua
has accomplished on
behalf of sinful humanity. Those who have
disregarded the value of the Epistle to the
Hebrews are those who have been offended by the
truth of statements such as: “it
is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats
to take away sins” (10:4), “the
Torah
did
not bring anything to the goal” (7:19, CJB), and
especially “when the priesthood is changed, of
necessity there takes place a change of law
also” (7:12, NASU). These are all statements
made concerning Yeshua’s sacrifice for
humankind, and our instinct mortal inability to
attain complete redemption on our own merit.
Reflecting upon
Hebrews myself, I know that today’s emerging
Messianic movement is precisely that: emerging.
It is only a faith community that God Himself
could put together, and it is only something
that He can see come to full fruition as we
approach the return of His Son to the Earth.
Just as the original First Century audience of
Hebrews had to learn to deal with the
uncertainties of what it would be like to
believe in Yeshua without an operating Temple or
sacrificial system in Jerusalem, so do many of
us have to learn what it means to basically be a
merger of Judaism and Christianity. We need to
exhibit great faith as we employ the
considerable strengths and virtues of our Jewish
and Christian forbearers, as we enter into the
final stretch of salvation history before the
parousia.
There are a wide array
of challenges facing the Messianic movement in
the Twenty-First Century. Too many, in spite of
the diverse Biblical admonitions that one will
encounter for perseverance—are going to just
give up. They will not be able to consider the
example of the faithful men and women who have
preceded us in the faith, and eliminate anything
that hinders them from accomplishing the
Heavenly Father’s objectives:
“Do you see what this
means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all
these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd
better get on with it. Strip down, start
running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat,
no parasitic sins” (12:1, The Message).
One of the main
reasons, why observers claim that today’s
Messianic movement is “messy,” is because too
many of our constituents, most sadly,
cannot handle the strain of the great uniqueness
and power that is witnessed when
all
followers of the Messiah Yeshua come together.
Religious history proves that it is only in
an environment of “conflict” where “progress”
can be made. Too many people, because of
various insecurities and a lack of patience,
cannot really process the magnanimity of what it
means for those, who have at least acknowledged
the God of Israel as the Supreme One (Jews and
Christians), coming together and implementing
all of the gifts and talents and skills of His
people to His glory—as they look toward the
restoration of all Israel (cf. 8:8ff).
The Epistle to the Hebrews undeniably asks us
many questions that we might not be able to
answer at this present time. Some have taken the
“easy,” and what we would rightly call the
chicken way, out by ignoring or even
casting aside this text of Scripture.[16]
Those of us who are willing to stand for the
truth know what Hebrews admonishes us about
faith—“Now
faith is being sure of what we hope for and
certain of what we do not see” (11:1)—and how
all things will work for God’s glory if we
simply exhibit the required patience. If Yeshua
the Messiah and what He taught us and
demonstrated for us are
the most important
things, then those who will make it to the
end and endure—in spite of any criticism or
naysayers—may literally
be unstoppable.
We are to continue running the race, steadily
moving forward, never losing sight of the finish
line.
The message of Hebrews
is to never quit having faith in the Messiah
of Israel!
Indeed, let us remain constant in our faith in
Him, and in the objectives that we know are to
be achieved in this final hour.
J.K. McKee
(B.A., University of Oklahoma; M.A., Asbury
Theological Seminary) is the editor of TNN
Online (www.tnnonline.net) and is a Messianic
apologist.
He is a 2009 recipient of the Zondervan Biblical
Languages Award for Greek.
He
is author of
numerous books, dealing with a wide range of
topics that are important for today’s
Messianic Believers. He has also written many
articles on theological issues, and is presently
focusing his attention on Messianic commentaries
of various books of the Bible.
NOTES
[1]
In my personal estimation, the top five
most difficult books for the Messianic
movement to understand are: Galatians,
Hebrews, Ecclesiastes, Romans, and 1
Corinthians.
[2]
Zodhiates, Hebrew-Greek Key Study
Bible, 1618.
[3]
Cf. summary in Garrett,
Archaeological Study Bible, 1995.
A useful tool to have, if you are
completely unfamiliar with the
Septuagint, could be Albert Pietersma
and Benjamin G. Wright, eds.,
A New
English Translation of the Septuagint
(Oxford and New York: Oxford University
Press, 2007).
[4]
The fact that the author of Hebrews is
ultimately anonymous (although persons
such as Luke, Apollos, or even Priscilla
have been suggested) should not prove to
be a problem for its reliability. Over
half of the books of the Tanach are
strictly anonymous, and there is no
doubting that much of the prophetic
literature was not transcribed by the
Prophets themselves but instead their
various followers.
[5]
“The law of the
LORD is perfect, reviving the
soul. The statutes of the
LORD are trustworthy, making wise
the simple” (Psalm 19:7).
[6]
Hebrews 8:9b follows the Septuagint
rendering of Jeremiah 31:32:
“not according to the covenant which I
made with their fathers in the day when
I took hold of their hand to bring them
out of the land of Egypt; for they abode
not in my covenant, and I disregarded
them, saith the Lord” (LXE).
[7]
“to
be old
or antiquated” (LS, 586).
[8]
“to bring to old age” (Ibid.,
164).
[9]
Similarly appearing as “growing old and
aging” in Bruce, Hebrews, 187.
[10]
Do note that while often rendered as
“golden altar of incense” in 9:4 (most
versions), thumiatērion is
actually “a
vessel for burning incense, a censer”
(LS, 371). The KJV/NKJV correctly
has “censer.”
[11]
Lane, Hebrews 9-13, 229.
[12]
Grk. antitupa tōn alēthinōn;
“figures of the true” (YLT).
The NASU adds “mere” in
italics, followed by other versions
which add “only” (NIV), “mere” (NRSV),
or “merely” (CJB).
[13]
Keep in mind that elsewhere in the
Apostolic Scriptures, the temptation for
a non-Jew to become a Jewish proselyte
and be a part of a much more established
Synagogue than a still-developing group
of Yeshua followers, was very much
present. The dynamics in play in Hebrews
could just as easily regard non-Jewish
Believers not really knowing what to do
with the changing circumstances in
Jerusalem as well, with many just
wanting to go with their fellow Jewish
Believers into a Messiah-less Synagogue
experience.
[14]
Hagner, Hebrews, 240 reminds us,
“[B]ecause the doctrines are described
in this verse as
strange, it
seems unlikely that the dietary
restrictions of Judaism are in view in
the present context. More probably, here
as in verse 4 the writer may be
countering teachings derived from the
influence of an early Jewish Gnosticism
or the general religious syncretism of
the time.”
[15]
It is also very true that there are
various Messianic Believers who try to
live a Messianic Torah observant
lifestyle while still attending a
regular church. While less serious
because there are many Christians who
recognize that the so-called “moral law”
of the Old Testament is still valid for
Believers, and Jesus is legitimately
recognized as Messiah, it nonetheless
presents some serious challenges in
order for such people to remain
distinctly “Messianic.”
[16]
On a personal note, as much as I would
deny so-called Solomonic authorship of
the Book of Ecclesiastes (which is not
explicitly stated in the text, anyway)
and be quite skeptical of statements in
this text that could be taken as
anti-resurrection (i.e., Ecclesiastes
3:18-21), my regard for the canon of
Scripture is simply too high for me to
just disregard it entirely as deutero-canonical.
I am required as an exegete to more
carefully examine its verses and
triangulate various opinions and
positions that have been proposed in
contemporary scholarship.
For a further discussion, consult the
author’s article “The
Message of Ecclesiastes”
and his entry for the Book of
Ecclesiastes in
A Survey of the
Tanach for the Practical Messianic.
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