A Forty-Day Study of the Book of Hebrews: The Superiority of Christ

By Rick Jory

Can Christians lose their salvation? Are there such things as guardian angels? Can those in heaven see the happenings on earth? How were the Old Testament saints saved since Jesus hadn’t been born yet? Jesus said to the thief on the cross, “Today you shall be with me in paradise,” but he wasn’t raised from the dead until three days later and didn’t ascend into heaven until many days after that—did Jesus lie? Using an in-depth study of the book of Hebrews, Dr. Jory explores answers from the Bible for these and a host of other questions about God and the Christian faith.

Biblical commentaries come in all shapes, sizes, and levels of detail and complexity. Dr. Jory’s approach is to ratchet down the complexity. It seeks to present material with these questions always in focus: What would I want to learn from the Bible? How would I want it to be taught to me?

The material is presented in short lessons structured to be covered over a forty-day period and is geared for both individual and small-group Bible studies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Jun 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781489723499

Rick Jory

Dr. Rick Jory has authored the two-volume work, A Forty-Day Study of the Biblical Story as well as A Forty-Day Study of John’s Gospel, A Forty-Day Study of the Book of Hebrews, and A Forty-Day Study on Sin, Salvation, and Sanctification. This book completes this series. After forty-three years in the business world, upon the sale of his company, Dr. Jory formalized his passion for studying the Bible. He received his Master of Arts degree, Biblical Studies - New Testament, from Denver Seminary in 2012; the Doctor of Ministry, with emphasis in Theological Exegesis, from Knox Theological Seminary in 2017, and his Doctor of Educational Ministry, with emphasis in Adult Christian Education, from Dallas Theological Seminary in 2019. His ministry today includes teaching pastors and church leaders in Vietnam. He is the founder of Friends of Vietnam Ministries, a non-profit organization aiding several Vietnamese faith-based centers that provide care to Vietnamese orphans and at-risk children, as well as scholarships to help young Vietnamese attend Bible college.

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AUTHOR’S FOREWORD

Another commentary!

When I was at seminary for my master’s-level degree, I remember taking a course on 1st Peter. We went through the biblical text verse-by-verse—and often word-by-word—both in the original Greek and in English. Our weekly homework was to read ahead the verses scheduled for the upcoming class and also read commentaries from various authors analyzing this same text. The goal was to use five different commentaries for each week’s assignment—without duplicating the use of any one commentary or author at any time during the semester.

Are there really that many commentaries on 1st Peter? Granted, our library focused on the field of theology—but the commentaries on 1st Peter alone occupied over ten feet of shelf space! John H. Elliott’s commentary is two and a half inches thick and runs some 956 pages in length! In my Bible 1st Peter takes up a mere five pages. This implies Elliott’s work offers two hundred pages of commentary and discussion for each page of the 1st Peter text of my Bible!

With all of these commentaries out there, is there still more to be said? Perhaps. But I haven’t written this as an attempt to add to the scholarly body of knowledge that already exists—and exists in abundance. Nor is this an attempt to join in academic discourse. Instead, this is centered on what I’ve discovered from my students as a Bible teacher and is structured around the level of detail that students seem to want—and addresses ancillary questions that students routinely ask.

Those who study the Bible are usually intrinsically motivated to learn what’s in it. Yes, my students do want to go verse-by-verse and have a solid understanding of the text—especially if they, themselves, will someday be teachers and preachers. This commentary will strive for this.

But I also find students have questions that are quite diverse and quickly expand far beyond the text being studied. They don’t just want the nuts and bolts—they want to know where everything is headed and how it all fits into the grand scheme of things.

Let’s look at a few of the questions generated through teaching the book of Hebrews:

Do we have guardian angels? Can angels die? Isn’t Satan an angel? In the garden of Eden, why didn’t Satan just appear as an angel? Or why didn’t he appear as a human instead of a snake? What’s up with this serpent thing?

"Can those in heaven see what’s happening on earth?

Why are there different Bible translations? What are the differences? Is one translation better than another? Which one? Why? And it appears the books in the New Testament aren’t in chronological order. How are they organized?

Why is the word ‘lord’ sometimes shown in all-capitals?

"Hebrews 5:8 (‘Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered’) says Jesus had to learn obedience. Since he is God, why did he have to learn anything at all—much less obedience?"

"Hebrews 4:15 (‘…who was tempted in every way that we are…’) says Jesus was tempted in every way—and that we, too are tempted in every way. Are we really tempted in every way? Was Jesus tempted to not do homework or to spend time on video games?"

How were the Old Testament saints saved since Jesus had not yet died on the cross? Or were they saved?

Jesus said to the thief on the cross, ‘Today you will be with me in Paradise.’ And yet, he told Mary, three days later, not to touch him because he had not yet ascended to the Father. Is this a biblical inaccuracy and a mistake?

"Hebrews 6:4-6 says, ‘It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age— and then have fallen away—to be restored again to repentance, …’ Doesn’t this teach that Christians can backslide and lose their salvation? I’ve always been taught ‘once saved, always saved.’"

"Hebrews 9:27 (‘Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment …’) implies Christians will be judged. I thought we escaped judgment when we believe in Jesus?"

The questions are not trivial. They deserve answers—and the answers must not come from what we think or assume or postulate. If we are to be true to the teaching of God’s word, they must come from God’s word. Finding answers by going down various pathways of biblical discovery provides an exciting journey and a more complete understanding of God’s revelation. The process helps illumine the unified message found in Scripture. So, in the study that follows, we’ll answer questions such as these—plus many more.

I have also found in teaching that attention spans are relatively short (and they seem to be getting shorter and shorter with each new class of students!). With this in mind, I’ve divided this study into short lessons. Each can be completed in just a few minutes a day—with this entire volume completed in just over a month (specifically, a forty-day period if you do a lesson a day, which is roughly reading only five pages each day). Some might find this format useful, then, as part of a daily devotional. For those involved in small-group Bible study, the material is easily handled over a six- to eight-week period and suggested questions for small group discussion have been included in the appendix.

In what follows we’ll study the fascinating book of Hebrews—and we’ll also take side journeys along the way to round out the biblical story and God’s revealed truths.

Because you are reading this, you have an interest in God’s word. The Creator God has shared with us his word through many spokespeople, in many ways, over a long period of time. If this sounds familiar, this is a paraphrase of the first verse of Hebrews!

My goal is to help build upon your interest in what God has shared, and hopefully help you develop an absolute passion in what God has communicated to us and what it reveals. We are dealing with the Creator God who made the heavens and all that there is—including bringing you and me to life. We are looking at His story, His revelation, His truth. And this is a God who, in these latter days has spoken to us through His Son (a paraphrase of the second verse of Hebrews, chapter 1). A journey through biblical discovery brings us to the mind of God. We learn about our past, our present, and even the certain future that lies ahead. What more could we ask for? It’s an amazing story and an awesome God.

I’m looking forward to our journey together as we study God’s word as given to us in the book of Hebrews.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rick Jory spent 43 years in the business world, holding positions in engineering, quality assurance, manufacturing management, and business management. For the last nineteen years of this career he was president and CEO of a medical device manufacturing company headquartered in the outskirts of Denver, Colorado.

Dr. Jory received a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering degree from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1970, followed by a Master of Business Administration from Georgia State University in 1972. His interest in using his God-given gifts and God-provided opportunities led to an active involvement in marketplace ministry, business as mission, and church ministry. He received his Master of Arts degree (Biblical Studies - New Testament) from Denver Seminary in 2012; the Doctor of Ministry, with emphasis in Theological Exegesis, from Knox Theological Seminary in 2017, and his Doctor of Educational Ministry, with emphasis in Adult Christian Education, from Dallas Theological Seminary in 2019. His ministry work today includes the teaching of pastors in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vietnam. He is the founder of Friends of Vietnam Ministries, a non-profit organization providing assistance to several Vietnamese faith-based centers caring for Vietnamese orphan and at-risk children, as well as a scholarship program to help young Vietnamese attend Bible college. More information can be found at the organization’s website: www.friendsofvietnam.org.

Dr. Jory is married to his wife Maria and has a daughter and four grandchildren.

ABOUT THE SERIES

Plans are to include the following in this series:

A Forty-Day Study of THE BIBLICAL STORY: The Story of Christ

A Forty-Day Study of THE BOOK OF JOHN: Who is Christ?

A Forty-Day Study of THE BOOK OF HEBREWS: The Supremacy of Christ

A Forty-Day Study of THE BOOK OF ROMANS: What is a Christian?

A Forty-Day Study of SALVATION AND SANCTIFICATION – Our Journey in Christ

CONTENTS

Chapter 1    Why Study Hebrews?

Chapter 2    Background – When was it written?

Chapter 3    Background – To whom was it written? Why was it written?

Chapter 4    Background: Who wrote Hebrews?

Chapter 5    Hebrews Chapter One – The Supremacy of the Messiah (1:1-4)

Chapter 6    Hebrews Chapter One: Christ the Son of God (1:5)

Chapter 7    Hebrews Chapter One: Christ Exalted Above the Angels (1:6—13)

Chapter 8    Hebrews Chapter One: Guardian Angels? (1:14)

Chapter 9    Hebrews Chapter Two: A Warning for Believers (2:1-4)

Chapter 10    Hebrews Chapter Two: The Humanity of Jesus (2:5-18)

Chapter 11    Hebrews Chapter Three: Jesus is Greater than Moses (3:1-6)

Chapter 12    Hebrews Chapter Three: A Second Warning to the Believers (3:7-19)

Chapter 13    Hebrews Chapter Four: Rest (4:1-11)

Chapter 14    Hebrews Chapter Four: The Word of God (4:12-13)

Chapter 15    Hebrews Chapter Four: Jesus, Our High Priest (4:14-16)

Chapter 16    Hebrews Chapter Five: Jesus, Our Better Priest (5:1-10)

Chapter 17    Hebrews Chapter Five: Another Warning (5:11-14)

Chapter 18    Hebrews Chapter Six: Maturing in the Faith (6:1-12)

Chapter 19    Hebrews Chapter Six: Our Security in Christ – A Brief Digression

Chapter 20    Hebrews Chapter Six: Maturing in the Faith (6:1-12)

Chapter 21    Hebrews Chapter Six: The Certainty of Promises that God Makes (6:13-20)

Chapter 22    Hebrews Chapter Seven: Melchizedek (7:1-10)

Chapter 23    Hebrews Chapter Seven: The Priesthood of Jesus and Melchizedek (7:11-28)

Chapter 24    Hebrews Chapter Eight: The New Covenant (8:1-6)

Chapter 25    Hebrews Chapter Eight: The Foretelling of a New Covenant (8:7-13)

Chapter 26    Hebrews Chapter Nine: Worship in the Earthly Tabernacle (9:1-10)

Chapter 27    Hebrews Chapter Nine: The Blood of Christ (9:11-18)

Chapter 28    Hebrews Chapter Nine: Without the Shedding of Blood, there is No Forgiveness (9:19-28)

Chapter 29    Hebrews Chapter Ten: Τετέλεσται (10:1-18)

Chapter 30    Hebrews Chapter Ten: So, What Now? (10:19-39)

Chapter 31    Hebrews Chapter Eleven: Faith (11:1-6)

Chapter 32    Hebrews Chapter Eleven: Faith in Action (11:7-31)

Chapter 33    Hebrews Chapter Eleven: What is Faith? (11:32-40)

Chapter 34    Hebrews Chapter Twelve: An Encouragement (12:1-3)

Chapter 35    Hebrews Chapter Twelve: God Disciplines His Children (12:4-13)

Chapter 36    Hebrews Chapter Twelve: Encouragement (12:14-17)

Chapter 37    Hebrews Chapter Twelve: Approaching God (12:18-29)

Chapter 38    Hebrews Chapter Thirteen: Conclusions (13:1-19)

Chapter 39    Hebrews Chapter Thirteen: The Benediction (13:20-25)

Chapter 40    Let us…

Appendix A       Small Group Bible Study

Appendix B      What We Learn About Christ from the Book of Hebrews

Appendix C       The Place Of The Dead

1

WHY STUDY HEBREWS?

Hebrews was written two thousand years ago to a different people, living in a different place, within a very different culture, and struggling through an unusual problem.

Why on earth would we want to study this ancient writing?

And we don’t even know who wrote this, even though we find it in our Bible! [Whenever something appears in bold, additional information on that word or phrase is provided at the end of the lesson.]

Many pastors limit their teachings from Hebrews because it contains sections that can be confusing—not only to themselves, but also to those to whom they are teaching or preaching. This is especially true if one’s knowledge of the Old Testament is limited—which seems to describe all of us. And, as the title implies, the book is written to Hebrew people—to Jewish believers. Most of us are Gentiles. Can any of this be relevant to us, today, in our world and culture?

As we study this book, we’ll find the answer is: absolutely. Hebrews is an excellent book for discouraged Christians—those that may be stuck in a rut and are beginning to show indifference toward God and the salvation he has provided. It is a profitable book for disobedient Christians—those that slide back into lifestyles that are not God-honoring. And it is also an excellent book for believers who want to grow deeper into their relationship with Christ. A major focus of the book is its call to spiritual maturity—at the heart of which is obedience. All Christians need to hear this message. There is much to learn and much to look forward to in studying this book.

Hebrews centers on the superiority of Christ—who he is; what he has done; and what this means for those who have accepted him as Lord. It was written to early believers who came out of Judaism. Using prophecy from the Hebrew Scriptures (our Old Testament) it shows how Jesus is not only the fulfillment of Judaism—he far supersedes the things of Judaism. Hebrews reveals not only how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament, but how he has brought us into a New Covenant with God. And as we discover what this New Covenant means, our joy in Christ is strengthened and magnified.

Throughout this writing, we will find verses that we will want to remember. Look at the examples which follow. These are just a few short verses from the Hebrews’ text, and yet, when taken together they plainly declare the Gospel message:

1:1 On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets,

1:2 But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.

5:9 … He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.

9:12 He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.

7:25 Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.

One can’t help reading Hebrews without experiencing a sense of awe at who Jesus is and the wonders of the salvation that his finished work on the cross provides. Jesus is able to save completely those who come to God through him. The word completely can also be translated forever.

How do we come to God through him? Hebrews will answer this as well.

Hebrews 11:6 tells us . . . without faith it is impossible to please God. Now, we have to be careful here. Our faith does not save us. We are saved by the blood of Christ. And this salvation is a gift. There is nothing we can do to get God to give us this gift. God does this because He is a God of grace—and this word grace refers to God’s unmerited favor freely given to us. The gift is free to us, but it was very costly for God.

So, while our faith does not save us, it does validate the reality of our salvation, and the book of Hebrews will tell us much about this word faith.

There are other verses that are important to our Christian understanding and journey. In the verse we just read (Hebrews 7:25) the author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is able "to save completely or to save forever." And, Hebrews 9:12, also mentioned above, talks about our eternal salvation. Hebrews affirms that the salvation of a believer is secure. Nothing can take our salvation from us. This will be part of our study.

Hebrews 9:22 reminds us that …without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. As believers we should not shy away from talking about the blood of Christ. Paul tells us we were bought with a price (1st Corinthians 6:20)—the price was the blood of Jesus. Jesus inaugurates the New Covenant with his blood (Matthew 26:28) and it is his blood that purifies us (1st John 1:7).

Hebrews 1:14 asks the provocative question, Are not the angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? Who is this talking about? Aren’t believer’s the ones who will inherit salvation? This verse must be speaking to us. Who are these angels that minister to us? Does this teach us something about guardian angels? And look at Hebrews 13:2, Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. The book of Hebrews has something to teach us about angels, and we will discuss angels in some detail as part of our study.

Let’s begin. As with any journey through Scripture, it is beneficial to place the writing into historical, cultural, and biblical context. We want to find out who wrote what we are reading, to whom it was written, when it was written, and why it was written. We’ll cover these in our next two sessions together.

our Bible: I am always amazed at how often we turn to our bibles without really knowing much about how the bible is organized.

First, an overview. Since God is immaterial (that is, since God is not made of material) we can’t see him unless he manifests himself to us. How on earth (literally) are we to find out about God?

The Bible teaches that God has revealed himself to us through his creation. We learn something about God when we simply look around us at the amazing things He has created. We see beauty, we see design, we see purpose. And look at the variety of all that we see around us. Our God is a God of unimaginable creativity—a God who loves variety.

God also reveals himself to us through history. As one well-known example, God decided to choose a man out of Mesopotamia through whom all the peoples of the earth would be blessed: Abraham. As it has turned out historically, the Jewish people revere Abraham—the father of all Jews. The Muslims revere Abraham (Ibrahim)—the father of all Arabs. And yes, Christians revere Abraham as the father of faith.

God reveals himself to us in his word—a collection of writings that include those sacred to the Jewish people and Judaism—the Hebrew Scriptures (referred to by Christians as the Old Testament). Added to this, for Christian believers, are additional and more recent writings which are referred to as the New Testament.

And God reveals himself to us by his word becoming flesh—the incarnation of God Himself in the person of Jesus Christ.

So, the Bible is a collection of writings that is the written portion of God’s revelation to mankind. And it is specifically about Jesus. A more complete treatment of this topic can be found in A Forty-Day Study of the Biblical Story.

We refer to the collection of the sixty-six writings that make up the Christian Bible as books of the Bible. Some of these writings are letters, or epistles. Hebrews is one such letter. It was written to a specific group of people at a specific time for a specific reason. The term book and letter will be used interchangeably. It might be noted, if you read any of the letters in the New Testament, Hebrews does not seem to follow the format of the other letters. It reads more like a short sermon. And many scholars treat it as a sermon. Regardless, it is referred to both as a book and also as a letter.

Why is there a New Testament? Before his ascension Jesus gathered his disciples together and commissioned them to be his witnesses (see Acts 1:8). These sent ones were called Apostles—after the Greek word that implies sent. Some of these individuals recorded what they had learned while they were with Jesus: Matthew, John, and Peter were disciples of Jesus. James and Jude were brothers of Jesus. Paul, who had the Jewish name Saul, was at one time a Jewish zealot in opposition against the Jesus-followers. Paul saw and heard Jesus and quickly became an ambassador and Apostle (sent one) for Christ. Luke was a close friend of Paul and travelled with him on several journeys. Mark was also a friend of Paul—but also a very close friend of Peter. All of these wrote materials which ultimately became combined together to form the New Testament portion of the bible. All witness who Jesus is. In fact, the entire Bible—the Old Testament, and the New Testament are witnesses to Jesus.

What about Hebrews and its author? We don’t know who wrote Hebrews—although there are a number of educated guesses. Regardless, this writing, too, became part of the New Testament.

How did these New Testament writings get organized? The writings are not in chronological order. The writings that represent a historical account of Jesus come first—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We refer to these as the Gospels. In that Matthew, Mark, and Luke present very similar accounts, these are further designated as the synoptic Gospels— synoptic roughly meaning "same (syn) viewpoint (optic)." These writings are not letters, so we refer to these as books.

As to chronology, we believe the writing of Mark predates that of Matthew and that of the other Gospel writers—but Matthew is placed first in the New Testament because he has mainly targeted the Jew as his audience and uses many quotes from the Hebrew Scriptures (again, writings that we call the Old Testament). Placing it first, right after the Old Testament makes sense and connects the New Testament with the Old.

What follows the Gospels—the historical account of Jesus—is a second writing from the author Luke, called Acts—which is also a historical account . This, too, is a book and not a letter, and it describes events immediately following Jesus’ ascension into heaven, so it comes after the four books describing Jesus while he was on earth. Acts is an account of the early days of the church—and the works of the Holy Spirit through those sent