Hebrews 5

This week we will take a little adventure into the desert. We are going exploring the world of some of the Old Testament men and women and rituals that are referred to in Hebrews. My hope is this improves our context for understanding some really powerful teachings in Hebrews.

First we will look at important characters in the OT reintroduced in the coming chapters of Hebrews. As you look at these scriptures look for the answers to the following questions.

Abraham Gen 12:1-5,21:1-7,22:1-19

Sarah Gen 181-16, 21:1-7

Who is the son of God's promise?

How does Abraham show is faith in God?

What makes Abraham righteous?

Isaac Gen 24:62-66  25:19-34 What is birth right and why is it important?

Jacob 35:23-29 46:8-27 List the sons of Jacob. How many are there and why are they important names?

Joseph Gen 38 and 50:22-26 Where does Joseph end up living and why is that important to the next part of the story?

Key things to understand: the line of descendants from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the origin of 12 tribes of Israel and why they were in Egypt for Moses to set free.

Second we need to understand a bit about the Levitical priesthood

Aaron Ex 17:1-11   Numbers 3:1-10 and ver 38

See how Aaron is be chosen by God and how that is affirmed.

Consecrating the priesthood Numbers 9:1-24, 10:1-3 and 8-11

Did every priest appointed by God get to keep his job? Example

What is the required payment for sin? (blood) Gen. 3:21-24 and Gen 15:1-21 and Gen 17:1-10 and all the blood you already read about. How did Aaron become a priest? How are other priests chosen?

Leviticus 16:2-34 Day of Atonement. Notice how much blood is shed. How many types of animals die? Whose sins are they sacrificed for? Who carries out the procedures?

Key point is to understand the difficulty of being a human high priest and that they must be cleansed and sacrificed for before they can sacrifice for others. And that the sacrifices must continue to be made daily, at holidays and big ones annually.

Thirdly we take a look at the Tabernacle

Exodus 25 List the furnishings in each section. What are they made of? Why choose these materials? (because they were the Louis Vitton of the day :) )

Exodus 26 The Tab, Do you remember where they got all this treasure? Ex 12:31-37

Ex 27:1-8 Bronze Altar

Ex 30:1-10 Altar of incense

Find or draw a picture of the tent and the court yard and where the furniture goes.

Key points: to get an idea what it looked like, how valuable it was and who provided the treasure, talents to build and the blue prints.

Hope you enjoyed this trip to the desert. It will help w the context of Hebrews to come. Have a good week! love h

Hebrews 6

            Welcome back from the desert!  Now you have a bit more insight to the priesthood in the Old Testament and the sacrifices that were in place around the time of Christ. Of course they now had a stone temple in Jerusalem, not as nice as Solomon’s temple, but a place w a courtyard and the furnishings and a Holy Place and a Most Holy Place. You know that the priests are from the tribe of Levi, a son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham chosen by God. Think about this as you start reading the first section of today’s lesson. Also ponder, what tribe was Jesus a descendant of?

Heb.5.1-14.ESV  For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He (the high priest) can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because (he is weak and human) of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.

Time for a note, who is Aaron? What tribe is he from and how did he come to be appointed priest? Read Exodus 4:14 and 28:1

So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”  

Who is the He speaking the quoted statements above? Who is Melchizedek? How do you even pronounce that name? You may as well find out because it comes up a lot in Hebrews. Read Psalm 110:4 and Gen 14:18-20. What duty did Mel provide for Abraham?

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him(God) who was able to save him (Jesus) from death, and he(Jesus) was heard because of his reverence. Although he (Jesus) was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Above we mentioned the tribe of the priests came from. Was Jesus from that tribe? How could he hold a priestly office if that was his lineage? God had that all figured out in Genesis 14.

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Ouch! Here is a sharp change of subject! This topic continues into chapter 6 thru verse 3. How about you? Where are you living on solid food and where in your spiritual life are you still drinking mild? God wants us to keep growing. How are you doing?

See you next week, love h

Hebrews 4

Welcome back ladies, thanks for joining us again.

Heb.4.1-16.ESV Therefore**, while the promise of entering his (God’s) rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

What is the therefore, there for? What good news do we have? The Israelites had a promise of salvation too. From the literal slavery of Egypt. Why did they not receive the benefit?

For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.”  Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he (God) appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

Today, God keeps “renewing the appointment” as the Message so eloquently puts it. God keeps renewing the promise and resetting the day as today. I am not that patient w perceived offence. And the Israelites offenses were real, not perceived. How do you respond when you are offended? How would you like to respond?

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.  Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

Again, what was the disobedience? Do you have bouts of unbelief aka doubts? That is normal and expected. See Mark 9:23&24.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his (God’s) sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him (God) to whom we must give account.

There will be no faking it when we stand before God. His Word is living and active and He knows our hearts. Is this a scary or a peaceful thought for you today?

 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

The priest that speaks to God on our behalf is Jesus. He is not just a beloved leader like Moses or David, He is God’s own Son. He also knows first-hand what it is like to be fully human and how hard it was to make it thru a day without sinning. I can’t, but He can and did. Perfect qualifications for a high priest.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Grace is getting what we do not deserve. Mercy is not getting what we do deserve. We get to enter into God’s place of rest. We cannot earn it, but He is God, a merciful and loving God.

Oh how He loves us!

Hebrews 3

Hello study sisters !

 In our group on Wednesday we reviewed a bit of the Old Testament concerning Moses and who he is and how he fit into God’s plan for the Israelites and for us :). If you are not familiar w Moses take a gander at Exodus 17:1-7 or your sermon notes from the Tab series on the book (granted that will not be a quick effort but enlightening).

 Moses led the Israelites for 40 years on a journey that should only have taken 3 months as the crow flies. They were going to the Promised Land, a place of rest from their journey. Who got to enter the Promised Land? Who did not?

 This journey is a shadow of our lives on earth and our rest eternally in Heaven when we exit the desert of this life. Remember how God was w the Israelites every day in the desert, He fed them every morning. He was their GPS by day and their night light every night. He was visible and powerful and yet they did not all see Him. Just like we can miss seeing Him in the day to day business of being us.

Hebrews.3.1-19.ESV Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who (Jesus)  was faithful to him (God) who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son.

How do a servant and a son have different investment in the house they share?

And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.  Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.  Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’   As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”

Take a minute and turn to Psalm 95:7-11. Again we see the Old Testament and the New Testament weaving together the history of God’s people. Also as you look at this verse and the verse before it do you see the Trinity mentioned?

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Great reminder to have other sisters in Christ who knows us well. It is so easy to convince ourselves that our sin isn’t really sinful, or not that bad. We need each other.

For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”  For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he (God) provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he (God) swear that they would not enter his (God) rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Who are they?

The nation of Israel is referred to as God’s chosen people, chosen for a specific purpose and a specific time. We are chosen too. Chosen for a specific time and purpose.Their leader was Moses, a servant in the house of God; ours is Jesus the Son of God and builder of the house. To whom much is given , much is required. We have been given much.

Read 1 Peter 2:9&10 and Luke 12:48

Do you feel chosen? Do you see your night light or use your GPS?

What have you been given?

What is your purpose? How is God calling you to use it?

God loves you and so do I, h