Hebrews

I am looking forward to this series. I don't know if it is because I felt directly spoken to yesterday or what. I am a sprinter also and right now I am in the "flame out" phase of my sprint at work. I am thankful God has surrounded me with an awesome support in my family, work, and in church. Without it I would go to very rough, dark places very quickly.
I sat down last night with some texts and I wanted to share a few things that I picked up if you don't mind. First of all I had a "Duh" moment so in the spirit of full disclosure this what I learned. No one knows who wrote Hebrews. Of course there is speculation but everyone agrees it looks like it wasn't Paul for alot of reasons, things discussed, different literary style, etc. It was written not so much as a letter but a sermon. It was written to Jewish people who had converted to Chritianity. Hence the name "Hebrews." This was my "Duh!" moment. I had not realized or thought about it before. Obviously I am not a Biblical scholar. Now we have that out of the way. Thank you for letting me share my limited brain with you. :)
These second generation believers were having a hard time. Remember the "drift away" Larry spoke about. You will find it addressed right away in chapter 2. Also these believers were struggling because they were used to the traditions of the old covenant and obedience to the law. They were having a hard time accepting the new covenant of Jesus' grace. They also, as the first Christians, worshiping in "house churches" and it likely bothered them to see Herrod's temple. They probably felt a little paltry in comparison. The first chapters open up and talk about angels and then Moses for the reason of showing Jesus' superiority to them. Angels were original prophets in the OT and Moses was a great leader. The words Jesus is "better than" is used 13 times in this book. It was very important to get that through their heads.
A couple more things in the first chapters I wanted to share with you. In your reading I want you to note how in the single verse of 1:3 .Christ is established right off the bat as Prophet, Priest and King.
Also note that in 1:14 it gives the case for guardian angels.
The first verses of Chapter 2 give the first of 5 warnings in the book-don't drift
Chapter 3:7-8 gives the 2nd warning-don't harden your hearts.
One last thing and I hope I can be brief. (I doubt it:)) I love the original Greek and whenever I can share it I look forward to the opportunity. Chapter 3:8 says "do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion during the time of testing in the desert, "This is refering to the 40 years the Israelites spent in the wilderness. The "testing " means that the Israelites but God to the test not the other way around. A situation allowed God to demonstrate who he is an how faithful he is to his people. In verse 9 it refers to what the Israelites saw. The Greek word is horao-this word carries the idea of seeing perceiving, understanding, experiencing and assimilating into one's self. The grammar indicates a constant, continual, nonstop seeing and experiencing God's works. God provided manna, quail and water to 3 million people each day for 40 years. Ponder this, one scholar estimated that it would take 4,500 tons of manna to feed the children of Israel each day. This means that God fed his people 65,700,000 tons of manna over 40 years. The Israelites grew up thinking it was normal for 4,500 tons of manna to appear out of thin air each and every morning. I won't even get into the numbers of quail, and the amount of water He provided. And yet at it seems at every turn they were whining to Moses or building an idol out of something. The word "hardened" is a Greek medical word to describe something hard like a callous or also can be translated to "stiff necked." Over time the word came to depict a person who was thick skinned, indifferent, or insensitive. If you like I are thinking "How can they be so hard hearted after all God has done for them?" let's take a moment and stop to ask ourselves that question. I know, I don't like to think of it either. But there is hope. If you daily recount the blessings of God and express your gratefulness to him you will avoid falling into the hard heartedness trap of the Israelites.
Wow this is really long and I even cut some out. I guess I am making up for missed posts. :)
Take care and I look forward to your thoughts.
joy