Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Hebrews 1 and 2 NLT

Outline
I.                  Prologue: The Superiority of God's New Revelation (1:1-4)
                         II.         The Superiority of Christ to Leading Figures under the Old Covenant (1:5;7:28)
A.    Christ Is Superior to the Angels (1:5;2:18)
1.     Scriptural proof of his superiority (1:5-14)
2.     Exhortation not to ignore the revelation of God in his Son (2:1-4)
3.     Jesus was made a little lower than the angels (2:5-9)
4.     Having been made like us, Jesus was enabled to save us (2:10-18)
B.    Christ Is Superior to Moses (3:1;4:13)
1.     Demonstration of Christ's superiority (3:1-6)
2.     Exhortation to enter salvation-rest (3:7;4:13)
C.    Christ Is Superior to the Aaronic Priests (4:14;7:28)
1.     Jesus is the great high priest (4:14-16)
2.     Qualifications of a priest (5:1-10)
3.     Exhortation to press on toward maturity (5:11;6:12)
4.     The certainty of God's promise (6:13-20)
5.     Christ's superior priestly order (ch. 7)
                                                            III.         The Superior Sacrificial Work of Our High Priest (8:1;10:18)
A.    A New Sanctuary and a New Covenant (ch. 8)
B.    The Old Sanctuary (9:1-10)
C.    The Better Sacrifice (9:11;10:18)
                                         IV.         A Call to Follow Jesus Faithfully and with Perseverance (10:19;12:29)
 .      Having Confidence to Enter the Sanctuary (10:19-25)
A.    A Warning against Persistence in Sin (10:26-31)
B.    C. Persevering in Faith under Pressure (10:32;12:3)
1.     As in the past, so in the future (10:32-39)
2.     Faith and its many outstanding examples (ch. 11)
3.     Jesus, the supreme example (12:1-3)
C.    Encouragement to Persevere in the Face of Hardship (12:4-13)
D.    Exhortation to Holy Living (12:14-17)
E.    Crowning Motivation and Warning (12:18-29)
                        V.         Conclusion (ch. 13)
 .      Rules for Christian Living (13:1-17)
A.    Request for Prayer (13:18-19)
B.    Benediction (13:20-21)
C.    Personal Remarks (13:22-23)

D.    Greetings and Final Benediction (13:24-25)


Hebrews 1 NLT
1 Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. 
2 And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. 
3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. 
4 This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names. 
5 For God never said to any angel what he said to Jesus: “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father. ” God also said, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son.”
6 And when he brought his supreme Son into the world, God said, “Let all of God’s angels worship him.” 
7Regarding the angels, he says, “He sends his angels like the winds, his servants like flames of fire.” 
8 But to the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. You rule with a scepter of justice. 
9 You love justice and hate evil. Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.” 
10 He also says to the Son, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands. 
11 They will perish, but you remain forever. They will wear out like old clothing. 
12 You will fold them up like a cloak and discard them like old clothing. But you are always the same; you will live forever.” 
13 And God never said to any of the angels, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.” 
14 Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.

Hebrews 2 NLT
1 So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. 
2 For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. 
3 So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? 
4 And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose. 
5 And furthermore, it is not angels who will control the future world we are talking about. 
6 For in one place the Scriptures say, “What are mere mortals that you should think about them, or a son of man that you should care for him? 
7 Yet you made them only a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. 
8 You gave them authority over all things.” Now when it says “all things,” it means nothing is left out. But we have not yet seen all things put under their authority. 
9What we do see is Jesus, who was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. 
10 God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation. 
11 So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.
12 For he said to God, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters. I will praise you among your assembled people.” 
13 He also said, “I will put my trust in him,” that is, “I and the children God has given me.” 
14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 
15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. 
16 We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. 
17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. 
18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.
Posted by at No comments:

Summary of the Book of Hebrews

Summary of the Book of Hebrews

This summary of the book of Hebrews provides information about the title, author(s), date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the Book of Hebrews.

Author

The writer of this letter does not identify himself, but he was obviously well known to the original recipients. Though for some 1,200 years (from c. a.d. 400 to 1600) the book was commonly called "The Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews," there was no agreement in the earliest centuries regarding its authorship. Since the Reformation it has been widely recognized that Paul could not have been the writer. There is no disharmony between the teaching of Hebrews and that of Paul's letters, but the specific emphases and writing styles are markedly different. Contrary to Paul's usual practice, the author of Hebrews nowhere identifies himself in the letter -- except to indicate that he was a man (see note on 11:32). Moreover, the statement "This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him" (2:3), indicates that the author had neither been with Jesus during his earthly ministry nor received special revelation directly from the risen Lord, as had Paul (Gal 1:11-12).
The earliest suggestion of authorship is found in Tertullian's De Pudicitia, 20 (c. 200), in which he quotes from "an epistle to the Hebrews under the name of Barnabas." From the letter itself it is clear that the writer must have had authority in the apostolic church and was an intellectual Hebrew Christian well versed in the OT. Barnabas meets these requirements. He was a Jew of the priestly tribe of Levi (Ac 4:36) who became a close friend of Paul after the latter's conversion. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the church at Antioch commissioned Barnabas and Paul for the work of evangelism and sent them off on the first missionary journey (Ac 13:1-4).
The other leading candidate for authorship is Apollos, whose name was first suggested by Martin Luther and who is favored by many interpreters today. Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, was also a Jewish Christian with notable intellectual and oratorical abilities. Luke tells us that "he was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures" (Ac 18:24). We also know that Apollos was associated with Paul in the early years of the church in Corinth (1Co 1:12; 3:4-6,22).
One thing is evident: The author was a master of the Greek language of his day, and he was thoroughly acquainted with the pre-Christian Greek translation of the OT (the Septuagint), which he regularly quotes.

Date

Hebrews must have been written before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in a.d. 70 because: (1) If it had been written after this date, the author surely would have mentioned the temple's destruction and the end of the Jewish sacrificial system; and (2) the author consistently uses the Greek present tense when speaking of the temple and the priestly activities connected with it (see 5:1-3; 7:23,27; 8:3-5; 9:6-9,13,25; 10:1,3-4,8,11; 13:10-11).

Recipients

The letter was addressed primarily to Jewish converts who were familiar with the OT and who were being tempted to revert to Judaism or to Judaize the gospel (cf. Gal 2:14). Some have suggested that these professing Jewish Christians were thinking of merging with a Jewish sect, such as the one at Qumran near the Dead Sea. It has also been suggested that the recipients were from the "large number of priests who became obedient to the faith" (Ac 6:7).

Theme

The theme of Hebrews is the absolute supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus Christ as revealer and as mediator of God's grace. The prologue (1:1-4) presents Christ as God's full and final revelation, far surpassing the revelation given in the OT. The prophecies and promises of the OT are fulfilled in the "new covenant" (or "new testament"), of which Christ is the mediator. From the OT itself, Christ is shown to be superior to the ancient prophets, to angels, to Moses (the mediator of the former covenant) and to Aaron and the priestly succession descended from him. Hebrews could be called "the book of better things" since the two Greek words for "better" and "superior" occur 15 times in the letter. A striking feature of this presentation of the gospel is the unique manner in which the author employs expositions of eight specific passages of the OT Scriptures:
Practical applications of this theme are given throughout the book. The readers are told that there can be no turning back to or continuation in the old Jewish system, which has been superseded by the unique priesthood of Christ. God's people must now look only to him, whose atoning death, resurrection and ascension have opened the way into the true, heavenly sanctuary of God's presence. To "ignore such a great salvation" (2:3) or to give up the pursuit of holiness (12:10,14) is to face the anger of the "living God" (10:31). Five times the author weaves into his presentation of the gospel stern warnings (see note on 2:1-4) and reminds his readers of the divine judgment that came on the rebellious generation of Israelites in the desert.

Literary Form

Hebrews is commonly referred to as a letter, though it does not have the typical form of a letter. It ends like a letter (13:22-25) but begins more like an essay or sermon (1:1-4). The author does not identify himself or those addressed, which letter writers normally did. And he offers no manner of greeting, such as is usually found at the beginning of ancient letters. Rather, he begins with a magnificent statement about Jesus Christ. He calls his work a "word of exhortation" (13:22), the conventional designation given a sermon in a synagogue service (see Ac 13:15, where "message of encouragement" translates the same Greek words as "word of exhortation"). Like a sermon, Hebrews is full of encouragement, exhortations and stern warnings. It is likely that the author used sermonic materials and sent them out in a modified letter form.

Outline

  • Prologue: The Superiority of God's New Revelation (1:1-4)
  • The Superiority of Christ to Leading Figures under the Old Covenant (1:5;7:28)
    • Christ Is Superior to the Angels (1:5;2:18)
      1. Scriptural proof of his superiority (1:5-14)
      2. Exhortation not to ignore the revelation of God in his Son (2:1-4)
      3. Jesus was made a little lower than the angels (2:5-9)
      4. Having been made like us, Jesus was enabled to save us (2:10-18)
    • Christ Is Superior to Moses (3:1;4:13)
      1. Demonstration of Christ's superiority (3:1-6)
      2. Exhortation to enter salvation-rest (3:7;4:13)
    • Christ Is Superior to the Aaronic Priests (4:14;7:28)
      1. Jesus is the great high priest (4:14-16)
      2. Qualifications of a priest (5:1-10)
      3. Exhortation to press on toward maturity (5:11;6:12)
      4. The certainty of God's promise (6:13-20)
      5. Christ's superior priestly order (ch. 7)
  • The Superior Sacrificial Work of Our High Priest (8:1;10:18)
    • A New Sanctuary and a New Covenant (ch. 8)
    • The Old Sanctuary (9:1-10)
    • The Better Sacrifice (9:11;10:18)
  • A Call to Follow Jesus Faithfully and with Perseverance (10:19;12:29)
    • Having Confidence to Enter the Sanctuary (10:19-25)
    • A Warning against Persistence in Sin (10:26-31)
    • C. Persevering in Faith under Pressure (10:32;12:3)
      1. As in the past, so in the future (10:32-39)
      2. Faith and its many outstanding examples (ch. 11)
      3. Jesus, the supreme example (12:1-3)
    • Encouragement to Persevere in the Face of Hardship (12:4-13)
    • Exhortation to Holy Living (12:14-17)
    • Crowning Motivation and Warning (12:18-29)
  • Conclusion (ch. 13)

From the NIV Study Bible, Introductions to the Books of the Bible, Hebrews
Copyright 2002 © Zondervan. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)