The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown (158 page)

The last exhortation, “And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works” (10:24), introduces the final section of the letter. It is dominated by an increased ratio of second person plural verbs (“you”), as the application of the sermon is now fully in view.
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The unit 10:26—39 is made up of two paragraphs: the first warns (10:26—31); the second encourages (10:32—39). Perhaps drawing on Num 15:27—31, this warning is probably the most urgent. The distinction between “unintentional” and “defiant” sins does not seem to be in view here but rather the rejection of Christ (in Num 15:30, the sinner “blasphemes the LORD”). The person who rejects Christ after hearing the gospel “has trampled on the Son of God, regarded as profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and insulted the Spirit of grace” (10:29). The point is simply that if one rejects the sacrifice of Christ, no other sacrifice remains. The terrifying prospect is that of falling into the hands of the living, almighty God without having proper covering for one's sin.

The second paragraph (10:32—39) softens the blow with an encouragement to those who have not rejected Christ. The author called them to remember the former days when they were treated harshly but responded in joy, and he encouraged them not to throw away their confidence. Instead, they had need of endurance, which the author connected to faith (see chap. 11). Hence the writer did not put the majority of his readers in the category of those who drew back: “But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and obtain life” (10:39).

Beginning with the definition of faith (11:1), the author recounted the faithful endurance of believers in the past in five movements.
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The chapter includes an introduction (11:1—3); preliminary examples from the patriarchs to Abraham (11:4—12); a description of their pilgrim status (11:13—16); more examples from the patriarchs from Abraham forward (11:17—31); and finally the continuation of the faithful up to the time of the writer (11:32—40). The pivot seems to be Abraham, who is the prime example of the one who overcame “by faith” (a phrase used 18 times in this chapter). By faith, Abraham looked beyond the earthly to the heavenly city; all believers, like him, do the same.

The exhortation that flows from having such a “large cloud of witnesses” (12:1) is to follow their example and to run the race with endurance, looking to Jesus who also endured great suffering. Importantly, the kind of faith required of the readers was the exact same faith exhibited by OT believers, a powerful point to make if the recipients were Jewish
Christians. Thus, the author argued that having the same faith Abraham had means to believe in Jesus, who had already come to make perfect atonement for sin. Reverting back to Judaism, therefore, is not a legitimate option because this would not only mean drawing back from Christ but also falling short of the type of faith displayed by Abraham. To be a true descent of Abraham, subsequent to God's revelation “by His Son” (1:2), means to believe in Jesus.

B. The Course Set Before Us (12:1—40)
Hebrews 12:1—2 describes running the race set before believers. The rest of this major section describes running that race. This involves enduring the discipline of God in everyday life and making every effort to hold on to his grace. The author described the Christian life as a marathon (12:1—13) where one does not compete against the other runners but encourages them to run the race as well (the idea of the competition is resumed in 12:12—13). This paragraph describes the significance of, the purpose of, and the response to divine discipline.
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The significance of discipline is that being subjected to such discipline proves that one is the child of God (12:4—10). The purpose of discipline is that, in due course, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness (12:11).The proper response to the discipline of the Lord is to encourage one another to persevere and endure (12:12—13).

The final section of this unit contains three paragraphs. The first is made up of three commands pertaining to the stability of the community (12:14—17). The first command is to pursue peace and holiness (12:14). The second is to encourage others (12:15), realizing that falling short of the grace of God as a believer means not using the grace given by God to believers to pursue peace and holiness. Thus the resulting bitterness causes trouble and defiles many. The third one is to remember those who did not possess true faith, such as Esau, who was the antithesis of those who endured, having sold his birthright for one single meal.

The second paragraph in this section (12:18—24) builds on the previous one by giving the grounds for the exhortations found there: believers have not come to the Mount of Terror (Sinai) but to the Mount of Joy (Zion) where Jesus works in believers to accomplish his will. The final illustration is that Abel's blood cried out for vengeance, while Christ's blood cries out for grace. The third paragraph in this section (12:25—29) contains the last warning passage of the book. The warning is not to reject Christ, the one who speaks. In essence, since believers have received an unshakable kingdom, they must hold on to grace.

C Go with Jesus Outside the Camp (13:1—16)
The first paragraph of this section (13:1—4) is an exhortation to remember brotherly love. This is spelled out as (1) remembering strangers; (2) remembering prisoners; and (3) remembering spouses (marital fidelity). The second paragraph (13:5—16) revolves around commands relating to matters of doctrine. The first command (13:5—6) urges believers to forsake the love of money. The
second (13:7—8) encourages them to esteem their leaders and to imitate their lives because Jesus does not change. The third injunction (13:9—15) is to hold fast to correct doctrine. Finally, the author encourages believers to continue in good works (13:16).

IV. Conclusion (13:17-25)

The conclusion of the book makes two requests. First, the readers were enjoined to obey their leaders (13:17). Second, they were to pray for “us,” whoever the intended beneficiaries of these requested prayers may be (13:18—19). Finally, the author ended with concluding exhortations and pieces of information (13:20—25), asking his readers to receive his “word of exhortation” (describing the nature and purpose of the work) and giving notice that Timothy was out of prison and was on his way to them. Final greetings and benediction close out the book.

THEOLOGY

Theological Themes

The God Who Speaks in Scripture
The major source of the theology of Hebrews is clearly the OT Scriptures as interpreted in the light of Christ's coming.
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The use of the OT in Hebrews proceeds from the assumption of its enduring validity as the word of God (see 1:1; 3:7; 4:12; 13:7). In most cases, an OT quotation is cited as God or the Holy Spirit “speaking,” so that it is ultimately not the human authors of a given book of the OT that are speaking in and through the text but God who still speaks to God's people (including the readers) today.
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This striking feature affirms that the OT is God speaking.

On the basis of this premise, the author also hinted at revelation beyond the OT, for God is said to speak in the present economy of salvation “by His Son” (1:2; see 2:1—3). Thus it is both the word mediated by angels—the law—and the word spoken by God through the Son that are to be obeyed, with serious repercussions in the case of disobedience. The speaking God must be heeded. However, since the author makes no reference to specific words of Christ, only to the gospel message in general, the written word of God in the Hebrew Scriptures seems to take precedence.

Frequently, the author's use of the OT represents a straightforward interpretation of the text (e.g., the application of Jer 31:31-34 in Heb 8:8-13). At other points, the Christological
significance is elusive to modern Western readers (e.g., 2:13), and it is not always clear which passage is being cited (e.g., 1:6).
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Some have tried to link the author's use of the OT to an underlying background of thought similar to Philo of Alexandria, a highly educated Jewish writer of the first century (20 BC—AD 50). Specifically, Philo's appropriation of Platonic philosophy has often been seen as having influenced the writer of Hebrews.
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However, Barrett seemed to speak for many when he suggested that the background of thought was not Platonism but mainstream Christian tradition closer to Jewish apocalypticism.
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The use of the OT in Hebrews reflects its early Greek translation and displays features in common with Jewish and early Christian usage.
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The Superiority of the Person and Work of Christ and His High Priesthood
The first major theme of the letter is the supremacy of the person and work of Christ. Christ is the eternal, preexistent Son of God, who created the world and was made human to provide atonement for his people, and then sat down in order to return at the end of time for judgment and salvation. The book opens with a series of contrasts demonstrating the superiority of Christ. Jesus is not merely a servant like the prophets; he is the unique Son of God. While God spoke in the past through various prophets, in these last days he spoke by His Son. As the maker of the universe, Christ is also its heir. The angels are merely ministering servants who worship the Son. Moses was a servant in God's house; Christ was the Son over the house.

On the basis of his uniqueness as a person, Christ also rendered a unique work, described in Hebrews against the larger backdrop of the high priesthood of Christ.
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While this emphasis is virtually unparalleled in the NT, it does not represent an innovation by the author. To the contrary, the author's use of Ps 110:4 in his argument finds support in Jesus' own application of the figure mentioned in Ps 110:1 to himself (see Matt 22:41—45 and parallels). From this it was only a small step to conclude that the oath of God to this figure also pertained to Christ. Hence, Jesus is a priest forever like Melchizedek, as the author of
Hebrews argued on the basis of the two major OT passages dealing with this priest-king (Gen 14:18-20; Ps 110:4).

SIDEBAR 16.2:
THE USE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT IN THE BOOK OF HEBREWS

Hebrews is unmatched in its rich diversity of methods for appropriating the OT Scriptures. Characteristically, the author did not simply quote a text but used the OT in a variety of ways to make his point. The following nine types of approaches can be identified:

1. Dispelling confusion (2:8-9)
   
2. Reinforcement using an OT text to support an exhortation (10:19-39)
   
3. Drawing implications (8:8-13)
   
4. Employing the literal sense of a word or phrase (7:11)
   
5. Early rabbinic rules of interpretation, including
   
   1. Qal wahomer
      , an argument from lesser to the greater (2:2—4)
      
   2. Gȇzerâ “sāwâ
      , the use of verbally analogous words to draw attention to the relationship between two passages (4:1—11)
      
6. Chain quotations or “pearl stringing” (Hb. haraz) of several passages (1:5—13)
   
7. Example lists (11:32-38)
   
8. Typology, when historical entities correspond in redemptive plan of God (8:1-5)
   
9. Homiletical midrash, interpreting a biblical text in preaching (6:13-20).
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Lane, Hebrews, cxxi.

The first reference to Christ's priesthood involved his sacrifice. Christ redeemed his “brothers” (i.e., human beings) in that he tasted death for everyone, and thus he functioned as their high priest in making the sacrifice (see 2:17). That Jesus was a high priest like Melchizedek means that he was superior to the Levitical priesthood. The author argued that the Melchizedek of the Genesis account was a superior priest because Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek through Abram and Melchizedek blessed Abram; thus the greater blessed the lesser (7:7).

Christ was a priest like Melchizedek in that he did not descend from Levi, but even more so because of his eternal existence—he will never die again. As an eternal priest, he represents a far superior priesthood. The Levitical priests had to offer sacrifices for their own sins; Christ did not. Their sacrifices made no one perfect; they had to keep making them year after year; Christ's priesthood was once for all. The Levitical priests had to be continually replaced because of death; Christ lives forever. Finally, the Levites served in the midst of “shadows” under a covenant that had become obsolete; Christ is the fulfillment of OT typology, the minister of the new covenant, which is far superior to the old.

Jesus was prepared for his priesthood (and qualified for it) by becoming human and by suffering in this life like all other human beings.
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He was also installed by the oath of God (stated in 5:5 and 7:20; clearly the implication of Psalm 110) as a permanent, that is, eternal priest (7:24,28). His offering is presented in terms of fulfilling the OT typology of the Day of Atonement. Jesus brought his sacrifice outside the camp and carried his blood into the holy of holies (13:12—13; see Lev 16:27). As a high priest, he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God and lives forever to make intercession for his people.

Perseverance and Christian Assurance
As the author desired to encourage believers to adhere to their confession and progress to maturity, it is necessary to address the very nature of salvation. A key component of his argument is to warn his hearers of the dangers of not heeding his call. The author accomplished this in alternating blocks of exposition and exhortation.
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Within the exhortations of Hebrews are a group of passages (the warning passages) that sternly warn the hearers about the dangers of not heeding God's word.
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These warnings are deemed so strong that they become a common thread in the age-old debate over the preservation of believers.
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Most likely, the writer did not warn Christians about the possibility of apostasy but rather enjoined them to examine the condition of their faith and the repercussions of not moving on to maturity. Two critical considerations point in this direction.