The Hebrew Perspective

This is an important distinction to be made at the beginning of any concerted study of the Bible. By and large, it was written by Jews, and Jews are historically relational.

This means they highly value the relationship between God and man, and between men. The effects of a given event on the relationships is often the key point to the Hebrew mind, not the logical structure or order of the event. The history of the Israelites was passed along from father to son, and grandfather to grandson. The printing press is a pretty new invention, and long before it existed, the ancient scriptures were read aloud. This is why scripture memorization was so prevalent – the devout Jew learned it by rote, by repetition, and the people were hungry for it, as you can see in Nehemiah 7:73-8:12.  In summary, the Jewish people are more focused on the relational component of an event than they are in the factual accuracies.

“The Greeks developed an entirely new way of thinking about the world and the place of human beings in it, characterized by a critical spirit and the use of reason to understand reality. Their ideas about logic, reasoning, and the pursuit of knowledge have profoundly influenced Western thought and continue to underpin Western intellectual traditions.”

“A History of Western Philosophy” — Bertrand Russell

This relational component can be contrasted with the Greek mindset.  Todays western mind is still profoundly influenced by the Greeks, their methods of logic and reasoning have become the backbone of western education. This logical, factual and orderly perspective on life may or may not be why so many people like the Gospel of Luke, precisely because it was written by a gentile. We prefer the order and “correctness.”

Inclusion in the Biblical Canon

At the time our Bible was being assembled, there were several criteria required for the books being considered for inclusion. Each book needed to be in common use among the churches and it needed to have a clear apostolic link, meaning one of Jesus disciples was linked to, and therefore, responsible for the book. Scholars don’t actually know with any certainty who wrote Hebrews, and although the church fathers were uncertain who wrote it, the decision to include it in the Biblical canon shows the high regard it was held in by the early church. 

Occasion

The book of Hebrews is written to the Messianic Jew. The word “Hebrews” refers to the Hebrew-language speaking Jews. These would be Jewish people steeped in religious history, so the elementary gospel as described in chapter 6 addresses some Jewish specific topics, such as dead works, but also addresses Christian-specific topics that apply to all new believers. We can contrast the Hebrew Jews with the Hellenistic Jews, those from the diaspora (defined: the dispersion of Jewish people) who were often very influenced by the Roman culture and who may or may not have spoken Hebrew.

This is not to imply that we should change our ways, or that there is anything wrong with technical accuracy, rather, we highlight this distinction to emphasize the Hebrew focus on relationship. Read this book with relationship in mind.  This is a book about relationship. 

Finally, it is unlikely that God is impressed with our intellect. We must remember that the purpose of our study here is to draw us nearer to Jesus. Not merely to seek knowledge, but to equip us for the good work of the gospel. You cannot be a man or woman after God’s own heart, if you only seek Him with your mind.

Building a suitable temple

We begin life as babes, and just as a baby knows little about the world, new believers often don’t know much about the new world their belief has thrust them into. But just as a baby grows and matures, so to should believers, the Bible even commands it throughout the New Testament. 

“But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head —Christ. From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.” 

— Ephesians 4:15–16

Paul repeats this call to maturity in his letter to the believers at Colossae.  

“For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.” 

— Colossians 1:9–10

And then finally in Hebrews chapters 5-6, the author describes spiritual growth and maturity and articulates a list of beliefs defined as elementary. This book seeks to examine these elementary teachings of the first century believers as a springboard into our own journey of faith, allowing us to build a strong foundation from the list provided for us in Hebrew 6:1-3.

“We have a great deal to say about this, and it’s difficult to explain, since you have become too lazy to understand. Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food. Now everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced with the message about righteousness, because he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature—for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil. Therefore, leaving the elementary message about the Messiah, let us go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, faith in God, teaching about ritual washings, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And we will do this if God permits.” 

— Hebrews 5:11–6:3