A Study Of The Apostle Paul’s Letter To The Hebrews

1. Don’t fall away! Don’t Depart! Don’t neglect your salvation! Don’t cast away your confidence! Don’t harden your heart! Don’t drift away! AStudyOf TheApostlePaul’s LetterTo The Hebrews How can we neglect so greata salvation? ~ Hebrews 2:3

2. Hebrews: Christ Is Superior! Superior Person (1:1—4:13) Superior to Prophets (1:1-3) Superior to Angels (1:4—2:18) Superior to Moses (3:1-19) Superior to Joshua (4:1-13) Superior Priest (4:14—7:28) Superior to Aaron (4:14—6:12) Superior to Melchizedek (6:13—7:10) Superior to Levi (7:11-28)

3. Hebrews: Christ Is Superior! Superior Pact to Moses’ (8:1—10:18) Superior Promises (8:1-13) Superior Sanctuary (9:1-15) Superior Sacrifice (9:16-28) Superior Results (10:1-18) Superior Principle (Faith) to Moses’ (10:19—13:25) Superior Things (10:19-39) Superior Actions (11:1-40) Superior Relationship (12:1-29) Superior Way of Life (13:1-25)Today we finishupwithverses18-25!

4. As mentioned in the introduction of our studyonverses 9-17,chapter13 de-monstratesthatTheFaith-PrincipleofChristIstheBasisforaSuperiorWayof LifetothatpossibleunderMoses.And… As we consider the last verses, we’ll find that Paul, as was his custom, con-cluded with various greetings, bless-ings, and miscellaneous exhortations; so he began to end by asking them to pray for him.

5. Hebrews 13:18  Pray for us, for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably.

6. This word is in a tense that indicates they were already praying for Paul, so he wanted them to continue that noble and much appreciat-ed deed: keep pray-ingforusistheidea. Nowthinkaboutthis request for a second: if the inspired, mira-cle-working, apostle Paul needed prayer, surely we do too! Pray for us, for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably.

7. Since Paul couldn’t very well vouch for the good conscience of others, and since in the next verse he applied this to him-self, these pronouns are probably editori-al in nature; i.e., using we instead of I is more pleasing when one is asking for something of a selfish nature. Pray for us, for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably.

8. Since the good con-science phrase is modified by the living honorably phrase,Paul seemed to be saying that he was living his entire life with only honor-able motives, which included the writing of this letter with its many instructions and warnings. So… Pray for us, for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably. …since he had no- thing but their spirit- ual&eternal welfare in mind, that should motivate them to want to continue praying for him.

9. An interesting thing to note here is that evenafterallthereprimandsandwarn-ings of this letter, Paul demonstrated that they were still … at this point … in covenant relationship with God thru Jesus Christ; otherwise, I doubt very much that Paul would have asked for their prayers. Isn’t it amazing what God puts up with?! This should make us feel better about our relationship with Him.

10. Hebrews 13:19  But I especially urge you to do this that I may be restored to you the sooner (ASAP).

11. As far as where Paul was at the time he wrotetothesebreth- ren in Judea (probab- ly in Jerusalem itself), we’ll discuss when we get to verse 24. Rightnowwecanbe assured of this:  But I especially urge you to do this that I may be restored to you the sooner.

12. Paul had been with these brethren at some point in the past, and he was planning on return-ing to visit them soon; so since this seemedtobeimpor- tant to him, he asked thattheyspecifically remember to pray for that plan to see fruition. Yes…   But I especially urge you to do this that I may be restored to you the sooner.

13. He wanted their prayers in general, but (probably due to their precarious, spiri-tual circumstances) he especially wanted them to pray that his return trip might be expeditious. But I especially urge you to do this that I may be restored to you the sooner.

14. Why might not his return to them be expeditious? Per-haps he was in pri- soninRome;ormay- be he was in the middle of something that he didn’t feel he could leave un-finished; or maybe he just desired to arrive without another ship wreck or similar delaying mishap.Anyway… But I especially urge you to do this that I may be restored to you the sooner.

15. What isvery appar-ent from these last few verses is that thesebrethrenknew exactly who this writer was, and they knewhimwell,obvi-ously recognizing him to be one with authority. But I especially urge you to do this that I may be restored to you the sooner.

16. Hebrews 13:20  May the God of peacewhobrought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shep-herd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant…

17. Verses 20-21 are obviously a prayer; so after Paul asked them to pray for him, he penned his own prayer for them. May the God of peacewhobrought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shep-herd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant…

18. Since he called God the God of peace in connection with His raising up of His Son (the Prince of peace, Isa. 9:6) from the dead (Acts 2:24 &Rom. 1:4), then he very likely had verti-cal peace (man’s peace with God), not horizontalpeace (man’s peace with man) in mind here (cf. Rom. 5:1). May the God of peacewhobrought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shep-herd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant…

19. As Colossians 1:20 teaches, God made it possible for man to be at peace (or in harmony) with God by virtue of the blood His Son shed on a cross. I.e….  May the God of peacewhobrought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shep-herd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant…

20. Sin—that which se-parated man from God (Isa. 59:2)—is that which Jesus took upon Himself and died with (Rom. 6:6), thereby mak-ing it possible for any free-will indivi-dual to be reconcil-ed to his Creator (Rom. 6:10-11). May the God of peacewhobrought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shep-herd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant…

21. This phrase—beingplural—literallymeans out from among the dead ones; in fact, this phrase is found 56 times in the NKJV of the New Testament, and it means this every time. So…  May the God of peacewhobrought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shep-herd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant…

22. The exact idea here isn’t that Jesus was raised from the state of death, but that He was raised up from among dis-embodied spirits. What spirits? The righteous ones in Paradise of Hades. May the God of peacewhobrought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shep-herd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant… This point is significant because it demon-strates that Jesus’ spiritual, not His physi-cal, resurrection was the primary goal!

23. Jesus Himself spoke of going to Paradise after He died (Luke 23:43), and concern-ingChrist’sresurrec-tion, Peter said thatHissoulwasnot left in Hades (Acts 2:31). May the God of peacewhobrought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shep-herd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant…

24. Even though in Eng-lish it looks as tho this phrase is con-nected to the God of peace, in the Greek it’s clear that it modifies Jesus who called Himself the goodShepherd(John 10:11-14), whose coming was prophe-sied (Eze. 34, et. al.). Furthermore…  May the God of peacewhobrought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shep-herd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant…

25. Peter not only called Jesus the Shepherd (1 Pet. 1:25), but also the Chief Shepherd(1 Pet. 5:4). May the God of peacewhobrought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shep-herd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant…

26. This phrase is in the locative case, mean-ing that Jesus’ blood is (figuratively, of course) found within (of = in) the ever-lastingcovenant as opposed to the temporary cove-nant; i.e., His blood is found in the New Covenant, not in the old one. May the God of peacewhobrought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shep-herd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant…

27. According to the ori-ginal, this phrase is connected with this verse, not the next, meaning that Jesus was made the great Shepherd of the sheep by shedding His blood for those sheep, correspond-ing perfectly with Acts 20:28, which incidentally is also the context of shep-herding sheep. May the God of peacewhobrought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shep-herd of the sheep, throughthe blood of the everlasting covenant…

28. Hebrews 13:21  20May the God of peace … 21make you complete in everygoodworkto do His will, work-ing in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

29. I think some other versions render this more clearly as May Godequip you with everything good to do His will (cf. ESV, NIV, RSV, et. al.). And through what means would/could He do this? Let us remind ourselves of the context: He’d do this through…   … make you com- plete in every goodwork to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

30. ~His Word(2 Tim. 3:16-17, cf. Heb. 13:22), ~their prayers(2 Cor. 13:9, cf. " 13:20f), ~theirsuffering (1Pet.5:10, cf. "12:5ff), ~spiritual members(Gal. 6:1, cf. " 12:12ff), ~their leaders(Eph. 4:11-12, cf. " 13:17). And, with all that in mind… Let’s not forget that these brethren lived duringmiraculoustimes (cf.1Cor.14). So… Since these brethren were in need of ma-turity (5:11ff) which would aid them to be faithful through their difficulties, Paul prayed for that here.

31. This clause indicates that, apart from God & His Son, man can-not please His Crea-tor; so, after having exhorted them con-cerning what they needed to do, he then asked for God to help them where-in they were lacking theability. The word working might be better as producing. … make you com- plete in every good work to do His will, working in youwhat is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

32. As Paul wrote to the Philippian Christi-ans, it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (2:13); but, on the other hand, as the verse just before this one indicates, God will not do this apart from man’s free-will: work out your own salvation (2:12). I.e., God only helps those who help themselves, doing for them what they cannot do alone. Furthermore…

33. Not only can man not please His Crea-tor apart from God and Christ, but this verse also indicates that God does not and cannot work on, in, by, with, thru, or for man apart from Jesus—the very One many of those brethren had al-ready forsaken.

34. This clause gram-matically applies to God the Father, but it may also apply to His Son, of course (cf. 2 Pet. 3:18, et. al.). … make you com- plete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

35. Hebrews 13:22  I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation, for I have written to youinafewwords.

36. W. E. Vine wrote in his dictionary that the verb form of the original term for exhortation here means to urge one to pursue some course of conduct; so it’s a strong term, related, in fact, to the term translated appeal in this verse when Paul said, Iappealto you! Our English word exhortation is from the Latin word hortatorius which refers to that which incites or provokes some-one to behave in a desired manner. So interestingly…   

37. While we today (due to our ignorance of Jewish thinking, etc.) may primarily think of this letter in nature as didactic (infor-mative or instructive), Paul, by calling it his word of exhortationtothemintheirtime, indicatedthat he regarded it in nature as hortative—something meant to provoke them to remain faithful to their confession of Jesus as the Christ (cf. 4:14 & 10:23).

38. Another one of the numerous reasons I believe that Paul wrote Hebrews is be-cause he used this exact same phrase intheonlyotherplaceit’sfound:inActs 13:15 he used it to speak of a hortatory speech. Much like a hortatory speech, Hebrews is a letter that could’ve been a mere hour-long hortatory sermon. Actually…

39. If Paul meant for this letter to be didactic in nature, it probably would’ve been much longer when one takes into account the weightiness of the subject-matter: con-cerning just one topic, for example, in 9:5 he made the statement that of these things we cannot now speak in detail. This, I believe, is why this letter (longer than most of his) was thought of by Paul to be a short one (one of few words). I.e…. It was considered short because it only touched on very deep OT topics (topics they already knew something about) merely in order to exhort them to persevere.

40. This phrase was a kindwayofcharging them to simply do what he asked of them;infact,theex-act opposite phrase is found where Paul wrote of those who would not bear with sound teaching(2 Tim. 4:3). I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation, for I have written to youinafewwords.

41. This clause is from the termepistello, the verb form of epistolefrom which we get our word “epistle” (a letter). You know…   I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation, for I have written to youinafewwords.

42. It used to be said that there have been people who thought that epistles were wives of apostles. Now although… We know that epistles aren’t people & therefore can’t be related to human be-ings in such a fashion, yet the words epistle and apostle are related in the sense that they both carry the idea of something or someone sent. I.e…. An epistle was a letter that had been sent from one party to another, while an apostle was a person who was sent from one party to another.

43. Hebrews 13:23  Know that our brother Timothy has been set free, with whom I shall see you if he comes shortly.

44. Since this phrase comes from a term that can refer to a release from prison as well as to being sent away on a mis-sion, it’s impossible to be dogmatic as to its meaning here. Know that our brother Timothy has been set free, with whom I shall see you if he comes shortly.

45. Since Timothy was probably Paul’s closest companion, it certainly isn’t a stretch to believe that he spent some time in prison just as Paul did. But… It’s also believed that it was at this time when Paul sent Timothy on a mission to Macedonia to discover how the brethren there were getting along (Php. 2:19-24). Personally…   

46. For the reasons presented by A. Barnes (which I’ll not repeat here), I believe that Paul had reference to this journey from which Timothy would soon return. Either way, however… Paul’s point is clear: his plans were to revisit these Hebrew brethren as soon as he and Timothy met up once again.

47. Hebrews 13:24  Greet all those who rule over you and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you.

48. This term (like the Hawaiian word Aloha) could be used to say (in our American ver-nacular) Hello when meeting, or Good-bye when parting; it meant I hope you’re doingwell,or I hope you do or fare-well. Greet all those who rule over you and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you.

49. Unless someone is trying to prove that Paul wasn’t in Italy (Rome) when he wrote Hebrews, this sentence would be taken in its usual manner: i.e. he was writing from Italy, and those from Italy wished their Hebrew brethren well. See… Greet all those who rule over you and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you. some hold that Paul merely had some Italian brethren with him when he wrote this letter. So… 

50. Perhaps in order to alleviate a problem some have with the word from here, some versions read, Those of Italy greet you. By the way, the sameGreektermfor from here is found in Acts 17:13 where Paulreferred tomen from Thessalonica even tho they were still in Thessalonica. Greet all those who rule over you and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you. This means that, just as in our vernacular today,thewordfromin such a case can re-fer to people who arein the place that they are from. Besides…