Just one new thought

 I enjoyed listening to the podcasts about Hebrews 6-13 this week, and taught my junior Sunday school lesson about Hebrews 11, focusing on Faith.  The main thing that was a new insight to me this week, however, was sparked by a comment by Lynn Wilson that wasn't even related to the reading.  Lynn Wilson is a brilliant scriptorian.  She has an interesting way of speaking that takes a little getting used to, but often has the best insights of all the podcasters I listen to.  

The thing that sparked my interest was when she was talking about how the temple worship in the Old Testament foreshadows Christ.  She said that even the mercy seat, i.e. the cover of the ark of the covenant, had two angels facing each other.  That foreshadowed when Mary Magdalene looked into the tomb and saw two angels, one at the head and one at the foot of where Jesus had lain (John 20:12). The mercy seat looks forward to the resurrection of Christ, when the angels looked down and saw the tomb slab empty. Somehow, that one statement blew my mind.  I have thought of it over and over this week because I believe it gives us a key to understanding Old Testament symbolism.  In the Old Testament God is painting pictures.  Then later in the New Testament he is painting a new picture that looks enough like the old picture, that we recognize it.  We say, Oh, this was what he was talking about. This is what that was talking about all the time. 

I think I talked about, in a previous blog, (sorry, I couldn't find it again to link to it) the picture of the Passover compared to the picture of the crucifixion.  In the Passover, the Israelites had to take hyssop, dip it in the blood of a sacrificed lamb, and hit it on the post and lintels of their homes. Then the destroying angel would pass over them.  Later, when Jesus was on the cross, all the same elements were there.  There was blood and a wooden cross bar, and the person who dipped a hyssop into the vinegar and lifted it up.  God is saying, "That Passover symbolism was looking forward to this."

I also wrote about the day of Pentecost.  How the cloven tongues of fire came an entered into the people as a symbol of the holy spirit. That reminded the Jews of the fire that came out of the tabernacle and later the temple to show God's presence. 

I feel like almost all the modern temple ceremony is the same way.  It is something that we need to learn to be sensitive to. 

Hebrews 1-6: some random thoughts

 This week in Come Follow Me we started reading the books of Hebrews.  I had a lot of different thoughts about Hebrews 1-6, but they aren't very connected, so I will just list them here. 

Who wrote the book of Hebrews: All of the podcasters mentioned that the authorship of the book of Hebrews is widely debated.  Few scholars believe it was actually Paul who wrote it. Some of the reasons they doubt Paul's authorship are that some terms are used differently here than in the epistles clearly attributed to Paul.  Also, it lacks some of the Pauline conventions, like how Paul always started his epistles by introducing himself and closed with best wishes to the saints.  There are a host of other reasons as well.  Some have speculated that it might have been written by one of Paul's close associates, like Luke, Barnabas, or Apollos. I am totally OK with not knowing who wrote the book.  We don't know who wrote most of the Old Testament, but we still recognize it as scripture.  Hebrews contains wonderful doctrines beautifully written.  It feels inspired to me. 

Why is it written to the "Hebrews":  This is a point brought up by Lynn Wilson of Scripture Central. The descendants of Abraham were called Hebrews.  I never understood why they would be called that until I read some of the Old Testament in Hebrew and realized that the word translated as Hebrews came from the word for Abraham.  In Hebrew it means, "Abraham-ites". After the Babylonian captivity, only the people of Judah and a few others returned to Jerusalem.  From the time they returned on they were called Jews, not Hebrews.  Why, then, didn't the author of the book call it the book of Jews?  I think he called them Hebrews to remind the Jews of their roots and ties to Abraham. The whole book is structured to show how Jesus fulfilled and surpassed the major tenants of the Law. (see below)

The structure of the Book of Hebrews: I got this mostly from the Bible Company summary of the book of Hebrews but other of the podcasters mentioned it as well. The book of Hebrews is structured to convince those who were well versed in Jewish scripture and law that Jesus was better than all the most important icons in their worship.  Jesus is better than angels (Ch 1-2), Jesus is better than Moses (Ch 3-4), Jesus is higher than the Aaronic Priesthood (Ch 5-7) and Jesus is better than Mosaic sacrifice and covenant (Ch 8-10).  

One translation issues: I read Hebrews 1 in Greek this week. In Hebrew 2: in the JKV it says: "(God) Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;"  That last word, translated as "worlds" is "αιωνας" which means, not the physical world, but the ages, or epochs.  It is like we would use the word "world" in the term, "the Roman world" or "the modern world". So an interesting question is how Jesus created the "worlds
" in which the writer was living. Is it foreshadowing the huge impact that Christianity would make on all that followed the meridian of time?

Similarities to modern temple ceremonies: In the Old Testament we associate temple worship with making animal sacrifices.  One of the podcasters, Mike Dunford, always talks about how there were other ancient temple ceremonies where kings were anointed and crowned, and then sat on a throne representing God to the people, and the people to God.  We see this imagery in Hebrews 1. The author is comparing Jesus to the Angels.  While the angels are messengers, Jesus is the son.  As the son, he is anointed (v 9), given a throne and scepter (v 8) called an heir (v2).  The image of being crowned as a king and receiving power to rule goes along with Brother Dunford's idea of the kingly temple rites. This kind of language is also found in modern temple covenants, especially the sealing ordinance. 

Like I said, these are just random thoughts, but I wanted to remember them for future times when we will be studying Hebrews again.