Be Greatly Encouraged: Seven Studies In The Book Of Hebrews
By Freda Hawkes
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About this ebook
This study is for those of us who have chosen to follow Jesus and sometimes get discouraged. Hebrews is a letter written to Christians in the first century AD whose lives changed when they chose to follow Jesus. They believed that Jesus was the Messiah (the Christ), predicted by the prophets and sent by God. But Jewish society taught that Jesus was a fraud and that to believe in him was ridiculous. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews gave them encouragement, warnings and solid information so they could hold on to their courage, hope, confidence and faith in spite of difficulties. Why do believers in Jesus have a hard life? What has God given us to help us in our situation? Have other believers had difficulties but still stayed strong? Does it matter if we drift away? If these are our questions, this letter can help us. It will teach us more about Jesus, who he is, what he has done for us and what he is doing for us now.
Hebrews was written by a man who cared deeply about his dear friends, and wanted to give them reasons and resources to keep on believing. As a by-product we get many insights in to the meaning of the Old Testament law relating to sacrifice and the priesthood, but technical information was not the main purpose. The writer explains what it means to us that Jesus, God’s Son, became human, the great salvation he achieved for us, the amazing access to God this brings us and the privilege of having Jesus as our great High Priest. He warns us seriously that we can drift away, and give us practical advice on how to avoid this.
You can use these studies individually or as a small group. Each study should take about 1 hour. There are notes helping you understand the context and unusual words. Reading the living and active word of God will always help us. Enjoy Hebrews.
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Be Greatly Encouraged - Freda Hawkes
Be Greatly Encouraged:
Seven Studies In The Book Of Hebrews
Published by Freda Hawkes at Smashwords
Copyright 2016 Freda Hawkes
ISBN: 9781311108487
* * * * *
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
Thank you for downloading this eBook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.
Contents
Preface
Study 1 Hebrews chapters 1 and 2 Jesus the Son of God - Jesus the Son of Man
Study 2 Hebrews chapters 3 and 4 Jesus and Moses - Israel and Us
Study 3 Hebrews chapters 5 and 6 Jesus and Melchizedek - Abraham and us
Study 4 Hebrews chapters 7 and 8 Jesus and Melchizedek - the better covenant and us
Study 5 Hebrews chapters 9 and 10 Christ entered the Most Holy Place - we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place
Study 6 Hebrews chapter 11 and 12:1-13 Their faith commended – our faith (and their faith) perfected
Study 7 Hebrews 12:12-29 and chapter 13 Make every effort to live in peace and to be holy
Postscript
Appendix
Preface
This study is written for people who have personal experience of the Christian faith. We are looking at a letter written to Christians in the first century AD whose lives changed when they chose to follow Jesus. If you haven’t heard the good news about Jesus yet, this study is not the best place to start. Instead it would be really good for you to read the four accounts of Jesus’ life in the New Testament of the Holy Bible, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. If possible, you could join a course like Christianity Explored, or find a Christian church and ask questions of the people you meet there. Or perhaps you would like to study the Bible using the eBooks The Bible from Start to Finish
or What Christians Believe
, followed by the book of Acts in the New Testament using the studies in the eBook How the Church Began
. You can download all of these free at www.smashwords.com
This study is for those of us who have chosen to follow Jesus and sometimes get discouraged. We have experienced God’s goodness to us in forgiving our sins and giving us his Holy Spirit. But our friends, colleagues, the society we live in, possibly even our families, do not understand our choice. Perhaps you came to believe in Jesus when you were in another country and have now returned home – maybe you find your new beliefs do not fit in with your normal busy life. The letter called Hebrews
was written to Jewish Christians who knew all about the ancient Jewish faith in the part of the bible written in the Hebrew language, our Old Testament. They believed that Jesus was the Messiah (the Christ), predicted by the prophets and sent by God. But Jewish society taught that Jesus was a fraud and that to believe in him was ridiculous. The Jewish faith already had 2000 years of history - why leave that rich heritage and follow a man who was crucified? You are going against your own culture! And why make life difficult for yourself? The Roman government executed Jesus as an enemy of the State. It would be much easier to forget about Jesus and fit in with your own cultural background. Can this happen to us who have believed in Jesus today? Or maybe you have been hurt by someone within the Christian community and the easiest thing would be to walk away. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews gives encouragement, warnings and solid information so we can hold on to our courage, hope, confidence and faith.
Introduction
Hebrews is a letter written within a generation of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The letter was written to people who had a very good knowledge of the Jewish Hebrew scriptures (the Christian Old Testament). These people believed that Jesus was God’s