Hebrews Unveiled

By Jim Taylor

In Hebrews Unveiled and Revealed, Jim Taylor succeeds in shining fresh light on a 2000-year-old epistle; a document that was directed to first century Christian Jews leaving Moses to follow Christ, but is as applicable today to "all seeking a way out of sin and death". This book contains spirited discussion about the authorship of the Book of Hebrews, an intriguing treatise on the kingly priesthood of Melchizedek and how that foreshadowed Jesus, as well as an in-depth look at each chapter of Hebrews. The book's organization and accessibility make it ideal for either a personal or small-group Bible study.

• Language: English
• Publisher: New Harbor Press
• Release date: Oct 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393917885

Jim Taylor

Jim Taylor is Vice Chairman of Harrison Group and one of the country’s leading experts on marketing, branding, and wealthy consumers. Doug Harrison founded Harrison Group in 1996 and develops branding strategies for some of the world’s most successful companies. Stephen Kraus has a Ph.D. in social psychology from Harvard University and leads Harrison Group’s training and wealth consultancies.

Book preview

Hebrews_Unveiled_Large_Front_RGB.jpg

g

Praise for Hebrews Unveiled and Revealed

In Hebrews Unveiled and Revealed, Jim Taylor succeeds in shining fresh light on a 2000-year-old epistle; a document that was directed to first century Christian Jews leaving Moses to follow Christ, but is as applicable today to all seeking a way out of sin and death. This book contains spirited discussion about the authorship of the Book of Hebrews, an intriguing treatise on the kingly priesthood of Melchizedek and how that foreshadowed Jesus, as well as an in-depth look at each chapter of Hebrews. The book’s organization and accessibility make it ideal for either a personal or small-group Bible study. Each chapter of the book corresponds to the Biblical chapter, with a clear statement of the overarching theme followed by in-depth discussion of all the verses. Jim Taylor provides solid Biblical references from both Testaments as well as sage spiritual advice developed over a quarter century of pastoring and many more years leading people to Jesus in Mexico. His book will challenge you to look at Hebrews with new eyes.

­—Debra Archibald, Writer, Editor,

Owner of Pikes Peak Pen, LLC.

Jim Taylor’s new book Hebrews - Unveiled and Revealed, presents and explains the Hebrew letter in a comprehensive and easy to read manner which will be a great help to any Bible student studying this letter. The author’s use of easy to understand terms and clear explanations help make the Hebrew letter much easier to read, study, and understand.

Mr. Taylor’s book searches, reveals, and helps clarify the book of Hebrews. It is refreshing to see how the author accepts the Bible for exactly what it says and the way it says it. The writer presents a well written treatise on the authorship of Hebrews which has often times seen many varying opinions on this topic.

Mr. Taylor clearly points out that Hebrews pertains to us today as it did in Abraham’s time. He emphasizes that Hebrews closes the door to the dispensation of Moses because it was lacking and imperfect and it opens the door to the Christian age which is complete and perfect.

The message of Hebrews pointed out is that we must greatly fear leaving Christ for any other religion, for the only other place to go is into eternal punishment, into the land of the lost - eternal death.

Mr. Taylor emphasizes that the promise of Hebrews applies to God’s family, the church today.

­—Ian B. Stewart, MS, DVM, Lieutenant Colonel, USAR, Retired, and elder, Mountain View Church of Christ, Buena Vista, CO

Hebrews Unveiled and Revealed

LEVITICUS FULFILLED BY

THE COMING OF JESUS

n

Jim Taylor

New Harbor Press

Rapid City, SD

Copyright © 2020 by Jim Taylor.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

Taylor/New Harbor Press

1601 Mt. Rushmore Rd, Ste 3288

Rapid City, SD 57701

www.NewHarborPress.com

Ordering Information:

Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the Special Sales Department at the address above.

Hebrews Unveiled and Revealed / Jim Taylor. —1st ed.

ISBN 978-1-63357-347-5

All scripture quotations are taken from the American Standard Version of the Bible (ASV) (Public Domain).

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED to the Mountain View Church of Christ in Buena Vista, Colorado, and to the Poncha Springs Church of Christ in Poncha Springs, Colorado — for all the help and support those two churches have given for many years to support the work of the Church of Christ in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico, and the church in Villa Union, Sinaloa, Mexico.

Contents

Praise for Hebrews Unveiled and Revealed

ABOUT THIS BOOK

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1: Jesus the Creator, who is Greater than Angels, is the Redeemer of the Creation

Chapter 2: The Price the Creator Paid to Redeem His Lost World

Chapter 3: Christ is Greater than Moses

Chapter 4: The Importance of Entering God’s Rest

Chapter 5: Jesus the Christ; a Priest after the order of Melchizedek

Chapter 6: Pressing on to Perfection in the Promise of God — God’s Promise to Abraham

Chapter 7: The Priesthood of Aaron, the Priesthood of Melchizedek, and the Priesthood of Jesus

Chapter 8: The New Covenant Jesus made with his Church is Greater than the Old Covenant God made with Moses and Israel

Chapter 9: The Temple of Christ is Greater than the Tabernacle of Moses and Aaron

Chapter 10: Christ’s Sacrifice is Greater than all the Levitical Sacrifices that were Continually Offered

Chapter 11: Jehovah’s Hall of Fame

Chapter 12: Never Leave Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of the Christian Faith

Chapter 13: Love God, Love One Another, and Keep the Faith

Conclusion

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Other books by Jim Taylor

g

ABOUT THIS BOOK

This book was written

with the intent that it could be easily read and understood. It describes the Hebrew letter in simple terms so a new Christian and a beginning Bible student can understand that great epistle. Many books have been written on Hebrews, and many highly qualified men have taken great pains to explain the meaning of that epistle; such men as Delitzsch, Bales, Barnes, Clark, Lenski, Spurgeon, Bruce, Milligan, and countless others. The point is: they all have different views, and so they create many different opinions as to what the scriptures actually teach, or what they don’t teach, and so one must select the opinion they believe to be right. This book does not quote other authors or compare other authors for verification; rather it will search the Bible for other scriptures that make a difficult scripture more understandable, and that is why as one reads this book they will see it is full of many scriptural references. Also, some of the authors change the scriptures to say something that is more logical, or more acceptable to them, because the way some scriptures are written they are not so difficult to understand, they mean exactly what they say; but they are very difficult to accept because of the prejudice view a person already has. For instance, this is the Bible description of Melchizedek: For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham divided a tenth part of all (being first, by interpretation, King of righteousness, and then also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God), abideth a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth out of the chief spoils (Hebrews 7:1–4).

The author of this book accepts that scripture for exactly what it says the way it says it: Melchizedek did not have a mother or father — he was not born, he had no beginning of life, and he did not die or have an end to his life. Whereas most authors explain that scripture to mean his father and mother were not recorded in the Bible, and neither were his birth or his death recorded, it is just as if he had none of those, and therefore he was just some normal man. Melchizedek was most definitely not some normal man! I believe it to be a great error and disrespectful to the Almighty to not accept the Bible for exactly what it says the way it says it. Chapter seven is this author’s view of Melchizedek.

Another case is about the author of this great epistle. There are many people who think Paul wrote the letter. I can see why. If it were not for one scripture in the Bible I would fully agree, for this epistle sounds like Paul, looks like Paul, and feels like Paul. But Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, and Peter was the apostle to the Jews (Galatians 2:6–9). Therefore, maybe Peter wrote the letter. Also, when Paul wrote his epistle to the Thessalonians, he said, The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write (2 Thessalonians 3:17). The English Standard Version of the Bible, published by World Bible School translates that verse as follows: I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness of every letter of mine; it is the way I write. Paul, nor did anyone else except God sign the Hebrew letter (Hebrews 1:1). If Paul had written it, he said he would have signed it. If it were not for that one verse of scripture, where Paul said he did not write Hebrews, I would fully believe Paul was the author.

The Thomas Nelson American Standard Bible (ASV) was used for all scripture quotations in this book; the New American Standard Bible calls the American Standard Bible, "THE ROCK!"

g

PREFACE

Two of the great

mysteries of the Hebrew letter, or Hebrews, are: Who wrote this great letter? The other mystery is: Why was it addressed to the Hebrews, and not to the Jews?

Many great men of God who have taken a great interest in the Bible and have studied it diligently, and have written great commentaries on the Bible, have ventured to answer the question as to who wrote this great Epistle. Martin Luther said Apollos was the author of Hebrews, a man mighty in the scriptures (Acts 18:24).Tertullian, a North African scholar of 190–200 A.D. thought Barnabas was the Hebrew author. Harnack, a German scholar of the nineteenth century credited Barnabas as the author. Others attribute the letter to the Hebrews to Luke, or Paul, or other great men. The problem with such reasoning is — even if we guess the correct author there is no way of proving it to be the right answer. Some have said Paul wrote it, but Paul did not write it because he said he did not write it. Paul said, "The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all" (2 Thessalonians 3:17–18). The English Standard Version, published by World Bible School, translates that verse as follows: "I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness of every letter of mine; it is the way I write." Therefore, if Paul had written Hebrews he would have signed it with his name just as he signed all of his thirteen epistles which he most certainly wrote. If it can be firmly established that Paul was not the author of Hebrews, then all further inquiries about its authorship must be abandoned. If it were not for that one verse in Second Thessalonians, I would have no problem whatsoever believing Paul was the author. This entire letter sounds just exactly like Paul, but there is nothing in Hebrews that could pertain only to Paul and to no one else. Paul was called up into heaven (2 Corinthians 12:1–5) and he wrote of his experience. Even though the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and those words Paul wrote were inspired by the Holy Spirit, no other person could have written those words — for they applied only to Paul. I believe the Bible to say and mean just exactly as it is written, and that is the only reason I cannot accept Paul as the author, I sometimes wish I could.

Paul wrote the entire letter of Second Thessalonians with his own hand. He probably wrote the Galatian epistle, or at least the last part of it with his own hand also — but Paul wrote with great difficulty because he had to write with large letters (Galatian 6:11). Paul had serious problems with his eyes (Galatians 4:13–15). That was probably the reason why Paul did not write Romans with his own hand; he wrote it by dictating the words to Tertius (Romans 16:22). The Spirit of God dictated the words that were written in the Roman letter to Paul, and Paul dictated them to Tertius, and Tertius put the words of God on the paper. But it was Paul the apostle who was the author of the Roman letter (Romans 1:1–7).

Robert Milligan wrote an excellent exposition on who the author of Hebrews was; his work and thoughts are the best I have ever read. Brother Milligan’s book, COMMENTARY ON HEBREWS, published in 1875, and later republished by Gospel Light is worth reading, if it can be found. Brother Milligan wrote, …if it can be shown that Paul did not write the Epistle, then indeed we may as well give up all further inquiry about its authorship (p. 5). Brother Milligan’s own personal view was Paul was most definitely the author. However, the conclusion he came to in his research was the same conclusion Origen, an early church father (213 A.D.) came to, which was, "Who wrote the Epistle only God knows with certainty:"

Another point is, whoever wrote the letter to the Hebrews, and did not sign it, did not seek any glory for himself. He must have been a very wise and humble man, like Moses (Numbers 12:3).

The unidentified author who wrote the letter to the Hebrews is not actually all that mysterious, because we know who wrote that mighty letter. It was the Holy Spirit, the One who wrote the entire Bible. The Bible says, "Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness. That the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Peter wrote,

And we have the word of prophecy made more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts: knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation. For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:19–21)

It was the Holy Spirit who gave us the Bible, and the Bible contains everything we need to know about Jesus, about his Father — the Almighty — and about our Counsellor and Comforter, the Holy Spirit.

The other mystery is: Why was this Epistle called the letter to the Hebrews, or Hebrews? This letter was written directly to the Jews, and so why wasn’t it addressed to the Jews; or maybe even the letter to the Israelites? However, the Jews, and the Israelites were most certainly Hebrews.

The Hebrew letter was written in the first century, and it was written directly to the Jews in Jerusalem and in the Palestinian area. It was written to them to help them overcome the problem they were experiencing in their very own time. That problem was created by the Jews who left Moses to follow Christ, and that one action immediately caused them to enter into a world of great persecution. They needed to know why that had happened, and why they should be tormented so just because they had become Christians. Why should any Christian be tormented just for believing in their Master? While they were Jews following Moses there was no persecution, and during that early time they were right with God under Moses’ Law, and they were happy. When they learned of the Christ they became Christians because they saw from what they had been taught, and from their Holy Scriptures, how Moses and his Law had been fulfilled by the coming of the Christ (Luke 24:44; Colossians 2:13–19). But because of the great persecution they were experiencing they saw no reason why they should not leave Christ and return to Moses and escape all their pain and trouble. The Hebrew letter has the answer to that question. So why was this epistle addressed to the Hebrews? There is good reason.

The Jews were all Israelites, but not all Israelites were Jews. The Jews came only from the tribe of Judah, the tribe from which came the Christ (John 4:22). All Israelites were Hebrews, but not all Hebrews were Israelites. The Israelites came from Israel, or Jacob who became Israel (Genesis 32:27–28). Jacob, or Israel, was the son of Isaac, and Isaac was the son of promise that Abraham brought into the world (Matthew 1:2; Galatians 4:22–28). Therefore all the Israelites were Hebrews because their father was Abraham, the Hebrew (Genesis 14:13); but there were Hebrews who were not Israelites because they did not descend from Isaac. The twelve tribes of Ishmael (Genesis 17:20), today the Muslims, had Abraham as their father, and therefore they were also Hebrews — but they were not descendants of Isaac and so just being a Hebrew was as far as they could go.

The Hebrew epistle was written directly to the Jews in Jerusalem and Palestine, for they were exactly the people who needed the letter, and they were the very people who received it in the very time it was so desperately needed. But this great Epistle is not limited just to the Jews to whom it was directly addressed; Hebrews was written to all people of all time on any part of the earth, and especially to any group of people who were experiencing the same problem the early Jews suffered, which was persecution.

Paul’s letter to the Romans, to the Corinthians, and all of his other epistles; and the epistles Peter wrote were written directly to a church, or to churches, or to a brother such as Timothy or Titus, and the purpose of all those epistles was to help correct the problems that the early churches had. The epistles to the Romans and to the Galatians were written to correct the problem of believing once a person became a Christian they still had to keep the Law of Moses. Not true, says those letters. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians was written to affirm the correction for the many serious problems the Corinthian church had. That church had problems in being divided (1 Corinthians 1:10–13); there was the problem of incest, or sexual immorality in the church (1 Corinthians 5:1–5); there was the problem of brothers going to law against brothers (1 Corinthians 6:1–8), and a problem in the way they worshipped God. They were making a mockery of the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:17–29).