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Overview
Pastor John MacArthur will take you through the book of Hebrews, passage by passage, so that you can better understand the author's message, the cultural context, and the perfect sufficiency of Christ.
The early Jewish believers had come from a background of legalism and works. When God came to earth in human flesh as the New Covenant, these believers discovered the freedom they could have in Jesus and the relationship they could enjoy with Him. Yet in the midst of persecution and rejection, they were often tempted to hold on to the former symbols, rituals, and traditions grounded in the requirements of the Old Covenant.
The unknown author of Hebrews sought to address this problem by contrasting the Old and New Covenants, brilliantly showing that Christ is higher than any Old Testament character, priest, ritual, or sacrifice. Because of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, He is the perfect sacrifice and our own High Priest. And He has given all believers unfettered access to God!
—ABOUT THE SERIES—
The MacArthur Bible Study series is designed to help you study the Word of God with guidance from widely respected pastor and author John MacArthur. Each guide provides intriguing examinations of the whole of Scripture by examining its parts and incorporates:
- Extensive, but straight-forward commentary on the text.
- Detailed observations on overriding themes, timelines, history, and context.
- Word and phrase studies to help you unlock the broader meaning and apply it to your life.
- Probing, interactive questions with plenty of space to write down your response and thoughts.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780718035341 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperChristian Resources |
| Publication date: | 06/28/2016 |
| Series: | MacArthur Bible Studies |
| Sold by: | HarperCollins Publishing |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 144 |
| Sales rank: | 601,799 |
| File size: | 885 KB |
About the Author
Widely known for his thorough, candid approach to teaching God's Word, John MacArthur is a popular author and conference speaker. He has served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, since 1969. John and his wife, Patricia, have four married children and fifteen grandchildren. John's pulpit ministry has been extended around the globe through his media ministry, Grace to You, and its satellite offices in seven countries. In addition to producing daily radio programs for nearly two thousand English and Spanish radio outlets worldwide, Grace to You distributes books, software, and digital recordings by John MacArthur. John is chancellor of The Master's University and Seminary and has written hundreds of books and study guides, each one biblical and practical. Bestselling titles include The Gospel According to Jesus, Twelve Ordinary Men, Twelve Extraordinary Women, Slave, and The MacArthur Study Bible, a 1998 ECPA Gold Medallion recipient.
Read an Excerpt
Hebrews
Christ â" Perfect Sacrifice, Perfect Priest
By John MacArthur
Thomas Nelson
Copyright © 2007 John F. MacArthur, Jr.All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-7180-3534-1
CHAPTER 1
Christ: Better than the Angels
Hebrews 1:1–2:18
Drawing Near
Many opinions abound about who Jesus is. List some common ideas about the identity of Jesus that you've heard.
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Who do you believe Jesus is? Why?
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As you begin this study of Hebrews, what do you hope to learn? Ask God to lead you and show you deeper truths to apply to your life.
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The Context
The overarching theme of Hebrews is the supremacy or preeminence of Christ. He is higher than any Old Testament character. He is superior to any Old Testament institution. He is greater than any Old Testament ritual. He is better than any Old Testament sacrifice. His life, death, and resurrection make Him preeminent.
The writer immediately gets to his main point: Christ is the pure revelation of God, the epitome of all truth, and more. God has fully and completely expressed Himself in Christ. These verses either mention or allude to a number of the unique attributes of Christ — His part in creation, His glory and essence, His governance of the universe, His sacrifice, His exaltation.
The remainder of the first two chapters focus on showing that Christ is superior to angels. If the writer of Hebrews was going to persuade his fellow Jews that Christ is the Mediator of a better covenant than the one given through Moses, he would have to demonstrate that Christ is superior to the angels. There is a warning to the unconvinced Jews reading or hearing the epistle — do not neglect so great a salvation. There is only one Savior who can salvage man's lost destiny; only one perfect Savior. He is Jesus Christ.
Keys to the Text
The Hebrews: The letter was primarily addressed to Hebrew Christians, who suffered rejection and persecution by fellow Jews (10:32–34), although none as yet had been martyred (12:4). They were an immature group of believers facing the temptation to hold on to the symbolic and spiritually powerless rituals and traditions of Judaism. The letter's purpose was to give these believers encouragement and confidence in Christ, their Messiah and High Priest.
Angels: These are spirit beings created by God to minister to Him and do His bidding. The Jews held angels in very high regard as the highest beings next to God. Because of the Talmudic writings and popular rabbinical teachings, the Jewish people at the time this epistle was written had begun to embellish the basic Old Testament teachings about angels. This resulted in a number of dangerous misconceptions that had begun to spread. One sect of Judaism had even established a community at Qumran that taught that the archangel Michael's authority rivaled or surpassed that of the Messiah. The writer of Hebrews clearly disclaims any such concept. The Son of God is superior to the angels.
Unleashing the Text
Read 1:1–2:18, noting the key words and definitions next to the passage.
Hebrews 1:1–2:18
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5 For to which of the angels did He ever say: "You are My Son, today I have begotten You"? And again: "I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son"?
6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him."
7 And of the angels He says: "Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire"
8 But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions."
10 And: "You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
11 They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment;
12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail"
13 But to which of the angels has He ever said: "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool"?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?
2.1 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.
2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward,
3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,
4 God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?
5 For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels.
6 But one testified in a certain place, saying: "What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You take care of him?
7 You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of Your hands.
8 You have put all things in subjection under his feet" For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him.
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
12 saying: "I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You."
13 And again: "I will put My trust in Him" And again: "Here am I and the children whom God has given Me."
14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
1) What does it mean that God "has in these last days spoken to us by His Son?"
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(Verses to consider: John 1:1–14)
2) Summarize all the ways Jesus is described here.
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3) What does it mean that Christ has been appointed heir of all things?
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(Verses to consider: Ps. 2:8–9; 89:27; Rom. 11:36; Col. 1:15–18)
4) Why did God create angels? What is their role?
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(Verses to consider: Deut. 33:1–2; Ps. 68:17; 97:7; 104:4; Acts 7:38, 53; Gal. 3:19)
5) What warning does the writer issue (2:1–4)?
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Going Deeper
For more insight into who Jesus is, read Colossians 1:13–20.
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
Exploring the Meaning
6) In what ways does this passage echo the themes expressed in Hebrews 1 and 2? What new truths are mentioned?
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7) What does it mean to you that Jesus has reconciled you to God?
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8) Read Isaiah 61:1–3. How did Jesus Christ fulfill this ancient messianic prophecy?
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(Verses to consider: Isa. 9:6; Jer. 23:5–6; Luke 4:16–21)
9) Read Psalm 102:25–27. What does this passage suggest about Christ's beginning and end?
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(Verses to consider: 2 Pet. 3:10–12; Rev. 6:14)
Truth for Today
Someone has said that Jesus Christ came from the bosom of the Father to the bosom of a woman. He put on humanity that we might put on divinity. He became Son of Man that we might become sons of God. He was born contrary to the laws of nature, lived in poverty, was reared in obscurity, and only once crossed the boundaries of the land in which He was born — and that in His childhood. He had no wealth or influence and had neither training nor education in the world's schools. His relatives were inconspicuous and not influential. In infancy He startled a king. In boyhood He puzzled the learned doctors. In manhood He ruled the course of nature. He walked upon the billows and hushed the sea to sleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for His services. He never wrote a book and yet all the libraries of the world could not hold the books about Him. He never wrote a song, yet He has furnished the theme for more songs than all songwriters together. He never founded a college, yet all the schools together cannot boast of as many students as He has had. He never practiced medicine and yet He has healed more broken hearts than all the doctors have healed broken bodies. This Jesus Christ is the star of astronomy, the rock of geology, the lion and the lamb of zoology, the harmonizer of all discord, and the healer of all diseases. Throughout history, great men have come and gone, yet He lives on. Herod could not kill Him. Satan could not seduce Him. Death could not destroy Him. And the grave could not hold Him.
Reflecting on the Text
10) How has your view of Jesus Christ changed as a result of these chapters? Explain.
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11) Given the excellency and supremacy of Christ, why do you think human beings still tend to trust other things more?
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12) In what areas of your life do you need to recognize that Christ is far better than everyone and everything else you might put your faith and trust in? Take time to praise God for the wonderful, matchless gift of His Son.
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Personal Response
Write out additional reflections, questions you may have, or a prayer.
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CHAPTER 2Christ: Better than Moses
Hebrews 3:1–19
Drawing Near
Think about Moses, the Old Testament character who led the Hebrew people out of Egypt. Jot down any facts you recall about his life. Why was he so esteemed by the Hebrew people? What would you say were his greatest strengths? His biggest weaknesses?
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The Context
Having argued for the supremacy of Jesus (who is shown to be superior to the prophets and the angels), the Spirit-led writer of Hebrews makes the case for how Christ is better than Moses, the one through whom the first covenant came. God had miraculously protected Moses as a baby and personally provided for his burial. Between those two points in his life, history records miracle after miracle. God spoke to Moses face to face. Revered as the one who led Israel out of Egypt and to the Promised Land, Moses received the Ten Commandments from God, as well as the plans for the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant. He wrote the entire Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament), which lays out all the laws that governed daily Jewish life.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Hebrews by John MacArthur. Copyright © 2007 John F. MacArthur, Jr.. Excerpted by permission of Thomas Nelson.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction to Hebrews, 1,1 Christ: Better than the Angels Hebrews 1:1–2:18, 5,
2 Christ: Better than Moses Hebrews 3:1–19, 17,
3 A Better Rest Hebrews 4:1–13, 25,
4 Our Great High Priest Hebrews 4:14–5:10, 33,
5 Full Commitment to Christ Hebrews 5:11–6:20, 41,
6 Christ Above Melchizedek Hebrews 7:1–28, 51,
7 A Better Covenant Hebrews 8:1–13, 61,
8 A Better Sanctuary Hebrews 9:1–14, 69,
9 A Better Sacrifice Hebrews 9:15–10:18, 81,
10 All About Faith Hebrews 10:19–11:40, 93,
11 Perseverance Hebrews 12:1–29, 109,
12 Christian Behavior Hebrews 13:1–25, 119,
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