A Courageous Life and the Book of Hebrews

By M.R. Hyde

Christianity takes courage. No one knew this better than the writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews. Written primarily to Jewish Christians, this letter is filled with the rich history of the Hebrew religion and how Jesus Christ impacted those religious practices by his superior nature and sacrifice. How might have this letter impacted the lives of first-generation converts? With a combination of Christian historical fiction and solid Bible study, you can experience the book of Hebrews. Meet Itzak and walk with he and his family through the troubled times of Roman persecutions as they learn from this powerful letter. Discover the hope of Jesus Christ found in the book of Hebrews and a courageous life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: M.R. Hyde
• Release date: Feb 5, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310797279

M.R. Hyde

M.R. Hyde celebrates and explores the known and spiritual world by writing for Christian religious purposes and by penning fiction for the sheer joy of words. She is also an active artist.View the online gallery now at https://www.redbubble.com/people/mrHydeArt/shop.

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A Courageous Life and the Book of Hebrews

M.R. Hyde

Copyright 2015 M.R. Hyde

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This book is available in print at most online retailers.

Other Books by M.R. Hyde

Non-Fiction

Exploring the Nicene Creed

Exploring the Lord’s Prayer

Who is God? A Devotional Exploration Through Genesis and Exodus

Who is Jesus? A Devotional Journey Through the Gospel of Matthew

Who is the Holy Spirit? A Devotional Journey Through the Book of Acts

6 Verses for Preaching: A Primer for New Preachers

Fiction

She: Stories of a Woman

Mercy and Truth: A Collection of Short Stories

Wife of Lappidoth: A Mountain Tale

Tall Pauley

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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 1995 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. The NIV and New International Version trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica.

Use of either trademark requires the permission of Biblica.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 – Hebrews 1:1-3:6

Chapter 2 – Hebrews 1:1-3

Chapter 3 – Hebrews 1:4-14

Chapter 4 – Hebrews 2:1-4

Chapter 5 – Hebrews 2:5-18

Chapter 6 – Hebrews 3:1-6

Chapter 7 – Hebrews 3:7-4:16

Chapter 8 – Hebrews 5:1-6:12

Chapter 9 – Hebrews 6:13-20

Chapter 10 – Hebrews 7:1-11

Chapter 11 – Hebrews 7:11-28

Chapter 12 – Hebrews 8

Chapter 13 – Hebrews 9:1-10

Chapter 14 – Hebrews 9:11-22

Chapter 15 – Hebrews 9:23-10:18

Chapter 16 – Hebrews 10:19-39

Chapter 17 – Hebrews 11:1-12:3

Chapter 18 – Hebrews 12:4-13

Chapter 19 – Hebrews 12:14-29

Chapter 20 – Hebrews 13

Bibliography

About the Author

End Notes

Introduction

Greetings, dear readers. You are presented with a spiritual journey through the New Testament book of Hebrews. Hebrews, like Romans, is a very theological book that appears to be a letter. So there will be no easy narrative to carry us through it, as we find in many of the Old Testament books or in the Gospels. There is no typical greeting as in other New Testament letters, although there are some endnotes that make particular mention of people with whom the author was acquainted. Because of this, it appears to be a letter written to a particular group of people. Many scholars believe that Hebrews was written to a group of Jewish converts to Christianity. This is primarily due to the significant amount of Old Testament Scriptures quoted and to the many references to the forms and symbols of the Jewish religion. Other scholars believe that it could have been, or was also, written to a group of Gentile Christians who were becoming Christians while living in a Jewish community.

One way or the other the modern non-Jewish reader is presented with some particular difficulties. We will have to do some good, hard work at understanding the ancient Jewish religious practices, symbols and traditions—some of which are still practiced today. When we do this good historical work through Scriptures and commentaries we will be able to better understand how the Holy Spirit can and does apply this Scripture in our world today. The book of Hebrews is rich and deeply textured with theology about Jesus Christ. I believe that there is much we can gain from a good, thorough meditation and study of this New Testament book.

Let’s begin by engaging our Biblical imaginations. A narrative about a fictional character named Itzak has been created. We may dip in and out of Itzak’s life throughout our study to try to grapple with how this text was heard and applied when it was first read. There will be some difficulties with this, because we have not lived during the time of the writer of Hebrews. But this kind of imaginative exercise, if steeped in facts (as I will attempt to do) can bring us closer to understanding the writer’s intent and help us to make the interpretation of the meaning of Hebrews in modern times as accurate as possible. We will, of course, be entirely dependent upon the Holy Spirit for direction, correction and final interpretation. I pray that anything that is not of the Holy Spirit will be edited out in our hearts and minds as we take this journey through Hebrews. May God bless the reading and study of his wonderful Word!

M.R. Hyde

Chapter 1 - Hebrews 1:1-3:6

Let’s try to scroll back in time to around 72 AD—that is, around 72 years after Jesus Christ walked on this earth, died and rose again. Imagine with me the Middle East at that time. There are only dirt or brick roads. Donkeys are like economy cars carrying people from town to town. Carts pulled by massive oxen are loaded with fresh produce being taken to open air markets. Roman soldiers are stationed everywhere you look because the Roman Empire is the dominant political, cultural and military force of that region.

The area is populated by people from many different parts of the world—Greek, Roman, Jewish, Ethiopian, Turkish among others. With these ethnic representations came also a wide variety of religious persuasions. There were groups of secular philosophers traveling throughout the region seeking out new disciples. There were temples built to multiple gods—many of their images were the pillars of the pagan temples. People were constantly coming and going at these places. Then there were the Jewish synagogues.

Inside the synagogues groups of men gathered frequently to read the Torah—the Holy Scriptures of the ancient and modern Jews. They knew it as The Law. These teachings are the words that Moses had written to their ancestors many centuries earlier—Genesis, the beginnings; Exodus, the deliverance; Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, the ceremonial, civil and moral laws of the people chosen by God. Generation after generation of Jewish people had followed these same laws. There was to be no breaking of them because if broken the entire relationship with God was severed. So, they revered, studied, followed, and obeyed—just as their grandparents, great grandparents and great, great grandparents had.

The synagogues, the religious gatherings of Jews since the Temple had been destroyed in 70 AD, were run by particular groups of Jews—these were the Priests, Levites and Scribes. These men had been set apart since the time of Moses to serve in the Tabernacle and the Temple. They were to be exclusively dedicated to God's work. Both the Priests and Levites kept the Law before the people and acted as the representatives of the people before God. The Scribes were teachers of the Law who also made written records of the legal decisions, based on the Law, which were made by the Jewish leadership. Later, and during the time of the book of Hebrews, other groups developed within these groups—the Pharisees and Sadducees.

As we read the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and the book of Acts we can see many places where Jesus and the Apostles preached in synagogues. It is recorded that during these encounters many Jews became Christians. While most of the conflicts we see in and around the Temple are between Jesus, the Apostles and the Jewish religious leaders, it cannot be far off the mark to imagine that some of them came to believe in Jesus Christ. We can read in John 7:25-31 and 8:12-30 where many in the synagogues believed. While we cannot know the outcome of Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus (John 3:1-21, 7:45-52, 19:8-41), we know that some like him had become Christians.

Now let's engage our Biblical imaginations. Imagine one man in particular among these groups of religious leaders. Let's call him Itzak.

Itzak was a faithful priest. He loved God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength. It was a true privilege for him to work in the synagogue as his father and grandfather before him. Itzak was aware of a group of people that seemed to be causing the Israelites consistent trouble over the last sixty years. They were called Christians. They followed the teachings of a man named Jesus—who they said was the Messiah. From Itzak's perspective a man from Nazareth being the Messiah was just preposterous. It was clear that a man, especially from Nazareth, could not be the Messiah!

Itzak had some cousins who had left the fold, so to speak. Sixty years earlier one of his uncles had a conversation with a Christian about this Jesus. And then he had converted to Christianity. The family was outraged, mortified and in despair. This uncle had been teaching about Jesus to anyone he could. He raised his children with these teachings. After this conversion to Christianity Itzak was not allowed to play with or even go to his cousins' homes. He missed his cousins, and particularly Asher with whom he had many wonderful adventures as a young child.

One day, after many years had passed, Itzak was eating at a local market and overhead two men discussing this man Jesus. They were so passionate and convinced about Jesus actually being the Messiah that Itzak couldn't help but listen in. They noticed his eaves-dropping and invited him into the discussion. Once he really listened to them tell the story of Jesus and saw their commitment and their love for this Jesus, he was intrigued. They told him that if he asked Jesus to forgive him of his sins he would no longer have to offer sacrifices, he could believe by faith—right there and right then—that Jesus was the Messiah, that he accepted and loved Itzak because Jesus had died and rose again for everyone providing the final sacrifice for sins.

Now for any good God-loving Jew this story was outrageous. Except for Itzak there grew a hunger in his heart to experience what these men so convincingly spoke about. Walking home from the market, Itzak did something that would have his parents moaning in anguish—he stopped by his cousin Asher's house. He just wanted to learn more about this Jesus. All the years of following the letter of the Law, all the hundreds of times he performed his duties at the synagogue, still left him with a hunger in his heart for more.

His spiritual hunger was becoming insatiable and it seemed like everything that Asher described about this Jesus became more and more the food that his soul needed.