The letters of the New Testament tend to end in a similar fashion: the author wraps up the letter’s content, revisiting the letter’s dominant themes while also throwing in any … Continue reading Closing Thoughts
Tag: hebrews
On Discipline
Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11, … Continue reading On Discipline
The Hymn of Faith
Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel— according to the author of Hebrews, these figures all share a defining characteristic: faith. … Continue reading The Hymn of Faith
Persecution? It’s Complex.
The latter half of Hebrews 10 reveals a major problem facing the letter’s intended audience, a problem that should resonate strongly with modern American Christians: complacency. As verse 32-35 put … Continue reading Persecution? It’s Complex.
Fire and Brimstone
A curious thing happened as our group read through Hebrews 10:19-39 Sunday night. While the passage offers themes of sacrifice and redemption and perseverance, one set of verses reached out … Continue reading Fire and Brimstone
What Did Jesus Change?
For as in painting, so long as one only draws the outlines, it is a sort of “shadow,” but when one has added the bright paints and laid in the … Continue reading What Did Jesus Change?
On Sacrifice
Hebrews 9 retells this tale from Exodus: After Moses had received the Law, he made a sacrifice. After this, he took the blood, mixed it with water, and (using hyssop … Continue reading On Sacrifice
Better than We Can Imagine
I never dreamed how much Greek philosophy we’d discuss in a study of Hebrews, but it’s hard to make sense of this chapter without at least dabbling in the world … Continue reading Better than We Can Imagine
“Melchize-who-now?”– How Hebrews uses an obscure Old Testament figure to point us to Jesus
The book of Hebrews continually references one obscure figure, a man of somewhat mythic proportions who appears in only 4 verses of the Old Testament: Melchizedek, the priest/king of Salem. … Continue reading “Melchize-who-now?”– How Hebrews uses an obscure Old Testament figure to point us to Jesus
Hope, Faith, and Other Tools for Difficult Times
Hebrews 6 concludes with a message of hope. The passage opens by revisiting God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 22 that Abraham’s descendants would number more than the sands on … Continue reading Hope, Faith, and Other Tools for Difficult Times