Bible Commentaries for December 16 – 22, 2024

Some Information About the Letter to the Hebrews

• Who was it written to? This epistle was certainly addressed to Hebrew Christians, who lived in some city or region and had formed an organized society or church, having their pastors already deceased, and now having teachers, whom, by the author's advice, the believers were to obey (Heb. 13:1, 17, 24). It has been generally accepted that these Christians resided in Palestine, perhaps in Jerusalem or Caesarea. However, some critics believe that the epistle was addressed to the converted Jews of Alexandria. Some assert that it was intended for the Romans, who had received the Christian faith, other writers say that it was in Antioch that those to whom the letter was first sent were located.

• When and where was it written? We cannot know for certain when and where this epistle was written. Only an indication of the place (uncertain) is given to us (Heb. 13:24): “(...) Those from Italy greet you.” But this may mean either those with whom the writer lived in Rome or some Italians were with the author at a certain location.

• When was it written? It is generally agreed that it was written not after the destruction of Jerusalem, but near that event. The author speaks of the Levitical ritual as still being in full force.

• Its author: With respect, to know who wrote the epistle, it has always been, from the earliest times of the church, a very uncertain thing. It has been attributed to Paul in the oldest translations. As to the community to which the epistle was first addressed, we find in these brief allusions that may direct, if they cannot entirely resolve, our inquiry. From what we read in Hebrews 13:7, it seems that it was an organized society or church that had existed for some time, with members of that church and teachers to whom obedience was due (Heb 13:17). These observations, however, can be applied to the Jewish Christians of Palestine (among them those in Jerusalem or Caesarea) as well as to those in the Dispersion.

• Regarding its subject matter, it can be divided into two main parts:

i) the first is mainly doctrinal (Hb 1 a 10:18);

ii) the second is mainly practical (Hb 10:19 a 13).

• The first part demonstrates the supreme authority and glory of the Christian dispensation, showing how superior its Mediator, the Eternal Son of God, is to the mediators of the old covenant, whether spiritual, like the angels, or earthly, like Moses. Although His sufferings were great and He humbled Himself even to death, this, far from diminishing His glory as Mediator, was the great means of accomplishing His significant Work of Redemption (Heb. 1 to 4:13). The comparison of Christ with Moses and Joshua is followed by another with Aaron. First, the author shows that Christ, like Aaron, was a true priest, appointed by God, and a true representative of man, and then shows that Jesus Christ far surpasses Aaron as a priest, reproducing the more ancient and noble priesthood of the king-priest Melchizedek. The new era, of which Jesus is the Head, invalidates and abrogates the old, as is proved by the Old Testament itself. And the intrinsic and perpetual efficacy of his one sacrifice, as a perfect propitiation for sin, is contrasted with the typical and ceremonial virtue of those often-repeated sacrifices which were now coming to an end (Heb 4:14 to 10:18). The preceding argument is interspersed with practical counsel and solemn warning. And in the conclusion of the epistle, the Hebrews are earnestly exhorted to continue their life of faith with patience and cheerful confidence amid present trials. Faith is shown to be an essential virtue in the participation of God's promised blessings, and its action and efficacy are exhibited in a long line of heroes, martyrs, and confessors, ending in Jesus, the great exemplar. And the Hebrew Christians are encouraged to suffer their trials also, as a fatherly chastisement, which should produce the highest goodness. The glorious privileges of the New Covenant are set forth, to make known the fearful danger of apostasy (Heb. 10:19-12). There follow some exhortations to the fulfillment of special duties, precepts, and rules of life, this recommendation being made with Pauline haste. And the writer closes this remarkable epistle in the manner of the apostle Paul: with a doxology and benediction (Heb. 13).

God's redemptive work is eternal and cannot become older

• In the text of Hebrews 1:10-12 we see the following expression: "(...) Your clothes have not worn out on you (...)" It is not by chance that this expression is in the Word. It is natural for clothes to become older! So we refer to the text of Deuteronomy 29:5, in which the Lord says that the clothes and shoes did not wear out during the 40 years in which the Lord sustained the people in the desert (Neh 9:21). These clothes that were on the people were not clothes that wear out. The same is true of the shoes. Just like everything that those people experienced in the desert: the pillar of fire in the middle of the camp every night; the cloud, providing shade during the day; the bread that fell from the sky every morning, and the meat at the end of each afternoon; fresh water that flowed from the rock that accompanied them in the desert (I Cor 10:3-4).

Some prophetic elements that Israel experienced on its journey:

Bread in the morning represented the birth of Jesus, the living bread that came down from heaven (John 6:51).

Meat in the evening represented His wounded flesh, His death.

• Those people were clothed with parts of eternity; the Lord's care was sent from His eternity. As we read in the Word: "there was nothing lacking", and if there had been anything lacking, the Lord would have added" (Deuteronomy 2:7). The text points to a church that is clothed with the eternal portions that the Holy Spirit brings daily and continually upon it, preserving it on its pilgrimage until it reaches the promised land.

• The garments that do not grow old are the Blood of Jesus;

• Shoes that do not wear out are the Eternal Gospel;

• Manna is the Word that reveals Jesus and sustains the soul;

• Fresh water is the continuous action of the Holy Spirit.

• Cloud during the day is the hand of the Lord freeing us from the "heat of the day", from trials.

• Cloud of fire is the presence of the Holy Spirit preventing the spiritual coldness that plagues all around; revelation that frees us from reason; security in the presence of the Lord.

Jesus, our Redeemer

• The Mosaic law determined that each living being has a corresponding counterpart. Therefore, if someone caused the death of a neighbor's ox, he should provide a comparable replacement. The same was true for sheep and other animals. The law also established that if someone caused harm to another person, he would receive the same harm. If he injured his eye, his eye would be injured; if he injured his hand, his hand would be injured. This is known as the law of retaliation, which in Exodus 21:24, we read: “eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot”. Thus, the similarity between the substitute and the one replaced was necessary. In the text of Hebrews 2:17, we read: “Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren... to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Heb 2:17). The text in Exodus prophesied that the Lamb of God who would come to redeem man would have hands, teeth, and feet, that is, he would be similar to man in all his characteristics and needs: he would see the world from the bottom up and not from the top down, like God.

i) He would have teeth because he would feel hunger and the need to eat like everyone else (Matthew 4:2);

ii) He would have hands because he would work, as everyone needs to work. And he was experienced in work (Is 53:3).

iii) He would have feet, because he would live in this world and conduct himself in it, like all men (Jn 12:3).

• In everything Jesus was similar to us, his servants:

i) He would feel cold (spending the nights praying to the Father on the mountain - Luke 6:12);

ii) He would feel pain (from the lashes, blows, crown of thorns, nails in his hands and feet - Is Isaiah 53:4);

ii) He would be afraid (praying to the Father in Gethsemane - Luke 22:42),

iii) He would be so tired (that he would sleep on a boat in the middle of a bad storm - Matthew 8:24);

iv) He would be hungry (as we saw after his prolonged fast - Matthew 4:2);

v) He would be thirsty (he showed this on the cross - John 19:28)

• He became like a man in this world to die in man's place and will make a man like himself, to live in his eternity. (Psalm 17:15; 1 John 3:2).

Our resting place is eternal life with God

• The Lord has prepared a resting place for man since the foundation of the world. The land of Canaan given as an inheritance to the people of Israel is an allegory, a symbol of the promised land, not in this world, but in heaven. The good news was first preached to the Hebrews in the Old Testament, but they did not enter the land of Canaan because of disobedience (Heb 4:6 in a quote from Num 14:30). So David's advice, cited here in this book, is for man not to harden his heart, like the people in the past, whom the Lord said were “stiff-necked”.

• Israel did not understand the Lord's purpose. The land of Canaan was not the definitive resting place for Israel. There, the Lord would establish a priestly nation, which through it, humanity could reach the true promised land, wide and spacious, where milk and honey flow from the rock. This resting place is God's eternity. The resting place of the living God. Eternal in the heavens. Where all sustenance for the soul emanates from the Rock of salvation. The man lost his right to this resting place because of disobedience and will only be able to return through obedience. The entire generation that died in the desert typifies the disobedient man, the old man. The one who needs to die during the journey towards the Holy Spirit. The newly born, the one who is generated by the Spirit for obedience, is the one who will enter the eternal rest that awaits him (I Peter 1:2).

The value of God's inheritance for the faithful servant

• In the text of Genesis 25:34 it is written that Esau despised and sold his birthright. In the text of Hebrews 12:16, the Lord calls Esau a profligate and profane, for having exchanged the birthright for a meal, or repast. With this attitude, Esau becomes a typifier of religion, because it exchanged spiritual and eternal blessings for material and ephemeral things. Human beings without communion with God have long been occupied with meeting the desires of secular life, such as housing, land, food, clothing, etc. This concern must exist, it is a social action. However, it is not the role of the church to concern itself only with these and to leave aside the project of Salvation, which should be our first concern (Matthew 6:33). In addition, there are government agencies, entities, and foundations that do this work.

• The church has received a specific and much more important mission from the Lord, which is to make disciples, preach the everlasting gospel, baptize converted believers in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach everyone to keep the prophecy about the return of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20). Esau did exactly the same thing that many are doing, especially when he gave up being called Isaac's firstborn. At that moment, he was not just giving up the title; it was no joke. He assumed responsibility for a sequence of events that would begin to happen. In addition to the inheritance of his father Isaac being transferred to Jacob, Abraham's spiritual inheritance also passed to Jacob. Esau would become Israel. Esau would form the tribes of Israel. Esau would give his name to a glorious nation. From Esau would come the prophets, the kings, the priesthood, the law, and especially the Messiah. All of these things were erased from their history and transferred to the one who loved God's plan. He who loves the Lord's plan, even without deserving it, receives everything that was despised by the unfaithful (I Sam 15:28; Acts 18:6).