THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE
TO THE
HEBREWS
Written by Dr. Johnny Hudson
Introduction
The book of Hebrews is an excellent book to read. It is a bridge between Old Testament books such as Exodus and Leviticus, and New Testament books such as Romans, James, and Revelation. Throughout this book Christ’s name is lifted far above any other name. Therefore, the theme of the book may be summarized in two statements: (1) Jesus Christ is better than anything; (2) Jesus Christ is better than anyone! It can also be seen that God and Christ are one (1:8). It is the purpose for writing this commentary not only to help you fall in love with the book of Hebrews, but with the entire Bible; and to help the reader to draw closer to their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
There is some speculation on the authorship of this book. Hebrews was written much differently then the other books in the New Testament in that the human author remains unnamed. The reason I feel why God allowed the human author to remain anonymous is the very fact that the name of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, is exalted far above any other name. We see in verse 6 of chapter 2 that a person, remaining nameless, is quoted. Looking in the Old Testament, we find that the quote was taken from the Psalmist David in Psalm 8:4. Then, three verses later, the author writes "
But we see Jesus."There are a lot of good men today that differ on whom they believe the human author really was. Many speculate either Paul, Apollos, Silas, Aquila and Priscilla, Luke or Barnabas wrote the letter although no one knows for certain seeing there is none mentioned. The predominant view is that the human writer is Paul, although that could not be stated dogmatically. I personally believe that the Apostle Paul was the human author of this great book. There are several reasons why I take this position. First, Paul was a friend of Timothy (13:23). Second is because Paul was well versed in the Old Testament. The author used the same Old Testament quotation that Paul used on two occasions: "
The just shall live by faith" (Hebrews 10:38; Galatians 3:11; Romans 1:17; Habakkuk 2:4). Also, the author wrote about "many things hard to understand" (5:11), while Peter said the same exact thing about Paul (II Peter 3:15, 16). Finally, I believe that Paul was the human author, but remained anonymous because the book of Hebrews was written primarily to the saved Jew, and Paul was a minister primarily to the Gentiles.There are some interesting high points in the book of Hebrews that I would like to examine now. First, the word "better" is used often in this book, signifying the fact that whatever Christ gives is better than what the Old Testament had to offer. There are nine "betters" given that shows Christ is superior to the Old Testament. The nine "better’s" that Christ gives the believer that is superior to the Old Testament are Christ is better than the angels (1:4), Christ gives us better things (6:9, 11:35, 40; 12:24), Christ brings a better hope (7:19), Christ brings us a better covenant (7:22), Christ brings better promises (8:6), Christ purifies with a better sacrifice (9:23), Christ brings believers to a better possession (10:34), Christ gives us a better country (11:16), and Christ gives us a better resurrection (11:35).
There are also what are called "parenthetical warnings" in the book of Hebrews as well. These warnings are placed strategically throughout the book, and serve as a severe warning for those who would walk away from Christ and the salvation that He offers. I see six parenthetical warnings in this book. These warnings are the danger of drifting away from salvation (2:1-4), the danger of unbelief (3:7-19), the danger of faithlessness, missing God’s rest (4:1-13), the danger of falling away (5:11-6:8), the danger of apostasy, drawing back from Christ (10:26-39), the danger of refusing to listen and obey God (12:25-29).
The book of Hebrews also contains quite a few "exhortations", or urgings to the readers to go forward in their faith in Christ. These include: consider Jesus Christ (3:1), hold fast our hope to the end (3:6), let us fear (4:1), let us labor (4:11), let us come boldly to the throne of grace (4:16), let us go on to salvation and maturity (6:1), let us draw near to Christ, (10:22), let us hold fast to our profession of faith without wavering (10:23), let us consider one another (10:24), let us lay aside all weights and sin and run the race (12:1), let us receive grace (12:28), let us go forth bearing His reproach (13:13), and let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually (13:15).