Hey Friends. Here is another Bible Thought for you. 🙂
I hope these thoughts are interesting and help you
understand our Bible better.
And I hope they encourage you! 🙂
Who exactly was the letter to the Hebrews written too?
That is Another Great question!
It’s obvious from the title that it was written to a community of Jewish Christians.
Paul uses examples from the Temple and the sacrifices to show Christ’s ministry
to bring Salvation to all of we Believers.
I have read that Paul’s quotation of Jeremiah 31 (We see that in Hebrews 8:8-
12), is the longest Old Testament quotation in the New Testament!
It is Quoted here in the ESV2011 from theWord Bible Software at
https://www.theword.net/. It’s a Great Source and Free. I use it in preparing my
Bible Studies!
Heb 8:8 ESV2011 For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days
are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the
house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
Heb 8:9 ESV2011 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day
when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they
did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares
the Lord.
Heb 8:10 ESV2011 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and
write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Heb 8:11 ESV2011 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each
one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the
least of them to the greatest.
Heb 8:12 ESV2011 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will
remember their sins no more.”
So can we tell for sure which Jewish Community was the initial target?
I don’t know if we can be certain beyond all doubt. But there may be some
hints in the letter. 😀
UNDERSTAND – A lot of people who don’t think Paul wrote the Hebrews letter
also think it was written to Jewish Christians in perhaps Rome, or another
Gentile city.
I do believe that Paul wrote this letter to the Hebrews.
And I think that Paul knew his letters to the various churches were being
copied and sent around to other churches.
Col 4:16 ESV2011 And when this letter has been read among you, have it also
read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from
Laodicea.
So Paul knew that from the initial reading it would be copied and distributed by
some in the Church.
Look at the details of the Temple (which was in Jerusalem . . . ) and the
sacrifices that Paul talks about to these Jewish Christians –
Heb 9:1 ESV2011 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and
an earthly place of holiness.
Heb 9:2 ESV2011 For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the
lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy
Place.
Heb 9:3 ESV2011 Behind the second curtain was a second section called the
Most Holy Place.
Heb 9:4 ESV2011 having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the
covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the
manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.
Heb 9:5 ESV2011 Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the
mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
Heb 9:6 ESV2011 These preparations having thus been made, the priests go
regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties,
Heb 9:7 ESV2011 but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but
once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the
unintentional sins of the people.
To my mind that seems like a LOT of detailed knowledge about the Temple itself, and the sacrifices. And Paul expected these Jewish Christians to be very
familiar with all of this.
Who better to know about all of that detail than the Jewish people in Jerusalem
where the Temple still existed and where the sacrifices were still being offered
for the people??
Paul shows that some of these Jewish Christians were being tempted to leave
their Christianity and go back to Judaism.
Heb 10:25 ISV not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but
encouraging one another even more as you see the day of the Lord coming
nearer.
Heb 10:26 ISV For if we choose to go on sinning after we have learned the full
truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
Heb 10:27 ISV but only a terrifying prospect of judgment and a raging fire that
will consume the enemies of God.
Heb 10:32 ISV But you must continue to remember those earlier days, how
after you were enlightened you endured a hard and painful struggle.
Heb 10:33 ISV At times you were made a public spectacle by means of insults
and persecutions, while at other times you associated with people who were
treated this way.
Heb 10:34 ISV For you sympathized with the prisoners and cheerfully submitted
to the violent seizure of your property, because you know that you have a better
and more permanent possession.
Heb 10:35 ISV So don’t lose your confidence, since it holds a great reward for
you.
Heb 10:36 ISV For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will
you can receive what he has promised.
And the Christians in Jerusalem were persecuted by the Jewish authorities.
Paul himself persecuted the Jewish Christians until he became a Christian
himself.
Well, that’s my thoughts on the Question Friends.
What do you think about it all?
God Bless You as you keep on studying your Bible!
The Bible Map of Jerusalem is used courtesy of David P. Barrett/Biblemapper.com
and Free Bible Images.
Thank you very much!
