Category Archives: Bible

Have you ever been so hungry that you will eat whatever happens to be on hand? More than that, whatever you try to eat tastes delicious, at least for those first few bites? That’s the way I am handling Hebrews. Something good, anything good, is going to feel like a feast to me.

And Lord knows I need a feast right now…

Chapter 9

We get a quick rundown of how tabernacles are constructed, including the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. There is a lot of detail given, of which I will pass on none.

In the tabernacle, the high priest uses blood sacrifices to be cleansed of their transgressions. However, this did not make the conscience of the worshiper completely clean, since the offerings were only of food and drink. But by giving his own blood, Christ made everyone who believes in him blameless, forgiving all of their sins.

Chapter 10

The first half of the chapter is a repeat of the last two. The author is really trying to drive home the point that Jesus is the high priest who sacrificed himself, cleansing the sins of everyone who believed in him. As such, believers can enter into the sanctuary.

Interesting note here: A person who keeps sinning after they have had their sins washed clean is screwed. “For if we choose to go on sinning after we have received the full knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but only a terrifying prospect of judgment and a raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” I definitely don’t remember that from Sunday school. Nor do I remember that from any of the New Testament. That doesn’t even ring true with Chapter 8, where God said that he would show mercy for those who sin.

Of course, I am being silly by figuring there will be some type of internal consistency in the New Testament.

Chapter 11

I love this chapter. There is a conceit that is established in verse four and runs throughout the rest of the chapter. Each verse starts out with “By faith…” and details a prophet and their struggle or accomplishment. Verse 4: “By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did…” By faith, Enoch did not experience death. By faith, Noah saved his family. By faith, Abraham went into the wilderness. By faith, Sarah conceived a child. I think you get the idea.

This conceit runs through verse 31, and is exceedingly well done. If you’ve been reading these updates for a while, you know that I can be sarcastic and cynical. However, I am being honest here. This was a remarkable chapter.

The chapter turns a little gruesome towards the end, as it describes some of the punishments and tortures that people of faith endured (including being stoned and sawed in half!!!). It also marks the rewards that were reaped, including conquering kingdoms and winning battles. It is a person’s faith that allows them to attain paradise or endure hell.

Up next: Damn, what’d Esau do to you?

New installments of The New Testament In Review will be posted each Monday and Thursday. The new posts will always be on my blog, http://biffster.org. The entire series is accessible via http://biffster.org/ntir. If you are one of my Facebook friends, you can get an advance preview on my Facebook page. You can also follow me (@biffster) on Twitter to be alerted to new posts.

The Hebrews need to be convinced that Jesus is their high priest and should be followed because he is of the covenant and is appointed by god and blah blah blah blah. My dear lord, this book is going to crush my soul!

Chapter 6

The unknown author won’t leave the babies unfed, though. He lists the truths that will be revealed, including baptism, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, etc. Resurrection is, of course, a touchy subject. There are two camps among the early churches: those that believe people’s bodies will be resurrected from the dead, like Jesus and Lazarus. Others see this as a spiritual resurrection, with the body left behind as dust and ashes. The author of this letter apparently believes that resurrection of the body should be a major tenet of the new church. I can foresee problems…

I brought that up because the end of the chapter is heavy on Jewish teachings. In the first, the author mentions God’s promise to bless Abraham with a multitude of descendants. God fulfilled this promise, but in his time frame, not in Abraham’s. Abraham was patient, however, knowing that God’s oath was unbreakable.

Chapter 7

Whoever wrote this letter knew scripture and how to use it to influence believers. The author presents an argument for why Jesus should be considered the everlasting high priest, appointed by God. As is his wont, the author again brings up Melchizedek, a former high priest who lived at the time of Abraham. Melchizedek was also appointed by God, and was also an outsider. Abraham agreed to pay a tithe to Melchizedek, which the author of this letter says proves that Abraham accepted Melchizedek.

Jesus is the next Melchizedek. An outsider (wait… Jesus was Jewish, a member of the house of David….) appointed by God. Jesus should be elevated above Melchizedek, however, since Jesus is eternal. Jesus lives forever, so his priesthood is eternal.

I dunno. Are there any Jewish readers who can provide more context? Does this seem like an argument that might conceivably change someone’s mind?

Oh, this chapter also contains a line that made me giggle: Hebrews 7:23 “There have been many priests, since they have been prevented by death from continuing in office.” Very droll, but a very funny one-liner.

Chapter 8

Ummm…. Okay. Something about a covenant. Best not to dwell…

Oh, wait, I just switched to a different translation of the New Testament, and it suddenly makes a lot more sense. That’s what I get for trying out the WEB translation. Back to the International Standard Version (ISV) for me! But that is pretty meta, and I digress.

Apparently the Hebrews of this period needed some convincing to accept Jesus. The author tries to win these arguments, declaring that Jesus is a high priest, but a heavenly high priest, not an earthly high priest. Just like a tabernacle is a shadow of the true tabernacle in heaven, so a high priest is a shadow of Jesus.

It is also apparent that many of the Hebrews didn’t believe that any change needed to be made, since they were covered by the first covenant. The author reminds everyone that their ancestors abandoned the original covenant and turned from God. As a punishment, God abandoned and forget about them. God then swore he would create a new covenant, one in which everyone would know God’s laws both in their minds and in their hearts. Sins will be forgiven, mercy will be shown.

Up next: By faith, this book was saved

New installments of The New Testament In Review will be posted each Monday and Thursday. The new posts will always be on my blog, http://biffster.org. The entire series is accessible via http://biffster.org/ntir. If you are one of my Facebook friends, you can get an advance preview on my Facebook page. You can also follow me (@biffster) on Twitter to be alerted to new posts.

I just this very minute realized that the Hebrews this letter is written to are Jewish. Hence all of the messages tailored for Jewish people. Allow me to take a picture in my dunce cap, and then remove it. Time to move on now.

Chapter 3

I joked about this earlier, but now I must ask: do Unitarians hate this letter? Or do they pick and choose a verse here and there to try and hold on to? Because Hebrews distinguishes God from Jesus Christ fairly strictly. Chapter 3 throws another wrinkle into the Unitarian theory: the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit seems awfully similar to God, though; I can see both being different names for the same entity.

The author chronicles the Holy Spirit speaking to Jews. It states that their ancestors “provoked” “tested” and angered God. They did this even though they had seen God’s wonders for 40 years in the wilderness. God turned away from them, and swore that they would never enter God’s rest. Unbelief was their downfall, it was the cause of their ruin.

Chapter 4

I have a feeling that Hebrews is going to be one of those books that pisses me off with horribly structured sentences. Like, say, 4:10-11: “the one who enters God’s rest has himself rested from his own works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest….”

Ugh.

The word of god will separate soul from spirit, joints from marrow. Everyone is naked before him, no creature can hide from him. Kinda boilerplate stuff.

Chapter 5

This is kind of a bipolar chapter. It starts out continuing to paint Christ as a mortal man who was called to divinity. Hebrews is littered with references to Christ as the High Priest who was called by God, almost as many times as Christ is referred to as the son of God. I could be 100% wrong on this, but it feels like the author of Hebrews was trying to paint things from a Jewish perspective. And that meant not harping on Jesus being the promised one or the messiah.

Back to the chapter: the author decides it is time to insult everyone reading the letter. He says that the people of the Hebrew church have “become too lazy to understand.” They are like babies, who need milk instead of solid food. They have to mature and understand the message of righteousness.

HARSH!

Up next: Boring, boring, boring…

New installments of The New Testament In Review will be posted each Monday and Thursday. The new posts will always be on my blog, http://biffster.org. The entire series is accessible via http://biffster.org/ntir. If you are one of my Facebook friends, you can get an advance preview on my Facebook page. You can also follow me (@biffster) on Twitter to be alerted to new posts.