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HEBREWS

(RASV – 1901)

Note: Read only the underlined passages for an overview of Hebrews-

“1 God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, ²has at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the worlds. ³Who being the brilliance of his glory, and the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.

⁴And having become by so much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they. ⁵For unto which of the angels has he said at any time, You are my Son, This day have I begotten you? And again, I will be to him a Father, And he shall be to me a Son? ⁶And again, when he brought the firstborn into the world he said, And let all the angels of God worship him. ⁷And of the angels he said, Who makes his angels spirits, And his ministers a flame a fire: ⁸But of the Son he said, Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; And the sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of your kingdom. ⁹You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; Therefore God, your God, has anointed you With the oil of gladness above your fellows. ¹⁰And, You, Lord, in the beginning did lay the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of your hands: ¹¹They shall perish; but you continue: And they all shall wax old as does a garment; ¹²And as a mantle shall you roll them up, As a garment, and they shall be changed: But you are the same, And your years shall not fail. ¹³But of which of the angels has he said at any time, Sit on my right hand, Till I make your enemies the footstool of your feet? ¹⁴Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation?

2 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, unless by chance we drift away from them. ²For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; ³how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? Which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; ⁴God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.

⁵For not unto angels did he subject the world to come, whereof we speak. ⁶But one has somewhere testified, saying, What is man, that you are mindful of him? Or the son of man, that you did visit him? ⁷You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor, And did set him over the works of your hands: ⁸You did put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he subjected all things unto him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we see that all things are not yet subjected to him. ⁹But we behold him who has been made a little lower than the angels, even Jesus, because of the suffering of death—crowned with glory and honor: That by the grace of God he should taste of death for every man.

¹⁰For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to be made the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings. ¹¹For both he that sanctifies and they that are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, ¹²saying, I will declare your name unto my brethren, In the midst of the congregation will I sing your praise. ¹³And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold, I and the children whom God has given me.

¹⁴Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might bring to nothing him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; ¹⁵and might deliver all them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. ¹⁶For truly not to angels does he give help, but he gives help to the seed of Abraham. ¹⁷Wherefore it behooved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, *** to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.

3 Wherefore, holy brethren, *** partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus; ²who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also was Moses in all his house. ³For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by so much as he that built the house has more honor than the house. ⁴For every house is built by some one; but he that built all things is God. ⁵And Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken; ⁶but Christ as a son over his house; whose house are we, if we hold fast our boldness and the glorying of our hope firm unto the end.

⁷Wherefore, even as the Holy Spirit said, Today if you shall hear his voice, ⁸Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, Like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness, ⁹Where your fathers tried me by proving me, And saw my works forty years. ¹⁰Wherefore I was displeased with this generation, And said, They do always err in their heart: *** But they did not know my ways; ¹¹As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.

¹²Take heed, brethren, unless by chance there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God: ¹³but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called Today; unless any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin: ¹⁴for we are become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end: ¹⁵while it is said, Today if you shall hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. ¹⁶For who, when they heard, did provoke? No, did not all they that came out of Egypt by Moses? ¹⁷And with whom was he displeased forty years? Was it not with them that sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸And to whom did he sware that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that were disobedient? ¹⁹And we see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief.

4 Let us fear therefore, unless by chance, a promise being left of entering into his rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. ²For indeed we have had good tidings preached unto us, even as also they: but *** the word of hearing did not profit them, because it was not united by faith with them that heard. ³For we who have believed do enter into that rest; even as he has said, As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest: *** although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. ⁴For he has said somewhere of the seventh day on this way, And God rested on the seventh day from all his works; ⁵and in this place again, They shall not enter into my rest. ⁶Seeing therefore it remains that some should enter thereinto, and they to whom the good tidings were before preached failed to enter in because of disobedience. ⁷He again defines a certain day, Today, saying in David so long a time afterward (even as has been said before), Today if you shall hear his voice, Harden not your hearts.

⁸For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken afterward of another day. ⁹There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. ¹⁰For he that is entered into his rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from his.”

aaron- Then Here in verse eleven, we are again reminded of the many problems that were experienced by our visible example—Israel. (Ref.Heb.3:19; Rom.11:20, 23 and 32) But at the very same time, we must also remember that Israel’s experiences that have been recorded in the Scriptures, are all recorded principally for our benefit and admonition. (Ref.1Cor.10:1-11)  

“¹¹Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, that no man fall after the same example of disobedience. ¹²For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. ¹³And there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

¹⁴Having then a great high priest, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that has been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need.”

aaron- These first four chapters of Hebrews have given us the foundational principles for this dispensation of grace. At the very first, it gave the details that are involved in the propitiatory work of Jesus. And then secondly, it goes on to tell us that it was through His obedient suffering, even unto death, that He has become our great High Priest who has passed through the heavens. Then the apostle here in Hebrews, very much like the books of Romans and Galatians before, spends a considerable amount of time on developing the transitional distinction between the natural and the supernatural. That is, that the visible and the invisible are of distinctively different offices. The visible is primarily reflecting the natural and earthly, and the invisible is primarily reflecting the supernatural and heavenly. But then we find that there are some elements of God’s dispositions that are common to them both. God now sets out to explain this marked distinction between the visible and the invisible: Which is that evident distinction between the natural and the supernatural.  

“5 1For every high priest, being taken from among men, is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: 2who can bear gently with the ignorant and erring: The same infirmity he himself is also compassed with, 3and by reason thereof is bound. So as for the people to offer for sins, so also for himself. 4And no man takes the honor unto himself, but when he is called of God, even as was Aaron. 5So Christ also glorified not himself to be made a high priest, but he that spoke unto him, You are my Son, This day have I begotten you: 6as he said also in another place, You are a priest for ever After the order of Melchizedek. 7Who in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear, 8though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered; 9and having been made perfect, he became unto all them that obey him the author of eternal salvation; 10named of God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.”  

aaron— We must now carefully consider the priesthood that is to come through the order of Melchizedek. First, we are told that Jesus, according to the prophets (Ref.Ps.110:4), has been appointed the high priest of this special priestly order. But then secondly, we must also understand that this special priesthood must include more than just the high priest alone. Priesthood by definition has many members. Now the New Testament Church as a whole, has erroneously concluded that the entire institutional Church, in order to be considered legitimate, must belong part and parcel of this high priestly line. Yes, it is true that the ELECT priestly line (Ref.1Pe.2:9; Rev.1:6, 5:10 and 20:4—6) is wholly formed and participating members within this very special Melchizedekian group, but what about all of the rest of God’s peoples? What about the descendants of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them? (Ref.Isa.65:23 and 66:22) What about those who are identified as the people of the saints? (Ref.Dan.7:27) What about those who fear His name? (Ref.Rev.11:18) What about all of the institutional peoples of God who are legally bound to His Abrahamic Covenant of Grace? (Ref.Gen.17:1—27; Rom.11:26; Ezek.34:1—31, 36:1—38, and 37:15—28)  

“11Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to interpret, seeing you have become dull of hearing. 12For when by reason of the time you ought to be teachers, you have need again that some one teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of solid food. 13For every one that partakes of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness; for he is a babe. 14But solid food is for full—grown men, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

aaron— This last statement pertains to the failure of many to grow in the grace of God and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Their evident failure to move on in the sanctification process. It would seem that they were unable to move on from the comfort of their justification: They were refusing to grow—up.

“6 1Therefore leaving the doctrine of the first principles of Christ, let us press on unto perfection; not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3And this will we do, if God permit.

4For as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, 6and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. 7For the land which has drunk the rain that comes often upon it, and has brought forth herbs, meet for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receives blessing from God: 8but if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and near unto a curse; whose end is to be burned.”   

aaron— This portion of Scripture has been very troubling throughout the entire history of the Christian Church. But this trouble that they are having, would appear to spring out from their superficial definition of this passage. What does "and then fell away" specifically mean? The meaning here is surely much deeper than simply one’s back—sliding or falling into some sinful condition. It would have to go much further, such as one who would proudly flaunt their sinful ways in the face of God. This one that "fell away" would have had to have had a complete change of mind. That is, they would no longer believe in the God of Abraham or in Abraham's Seed—Christ. (Gal.3:16)  

“9But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, the things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak: 10for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and the love which you showed toward his name, in that you ministered unto the saints, and still do minister.”  

aaron— Exactly who are these that continue on ministering to the saints? What the apostle is essentially doing here, is exhorting the institutional corporate peoples of God to keep on—keeping on:  

“11And we desire that each one of you may show the same diligence unto the fullness of hope even to the end: 12that you be not sluggish, but imitators of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. 13For when *** God made promise to Abraham, since he could swear by none greater, he swore by himself, 14saying, Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you. 15And thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16For men swear by the greater: and in every dispute of theirs the oath is the final confirmation. 17Wherein God, being minded to show more abundantly unto the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath; 18that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us: 19which we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and entering into that which is within the veil; 20where, as a forerunner, Jesus entered for us, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.”  

aaron— We must consider that the New Testament Church has defined the institutional peoples of God in a very restrictive way. That is, they have defined the whole population of God’s peoples in almost a singular way. It is their opinion that the only people who legitimately belong to the New Testament Church, are those who can claim membership within what they have loosely interpreted as the true Church. But in this New Testament description of this Melchizedekian order, we are being introduced principally to God’s special invisible priestly line. The institutional peoples of God are evident throughout the entire Bible, but the special identity of the invisible elect priesthood of God requires considerable explanation and even more mental dexterity on the part of the hearer: