The Warnings of Hebrews
Goal:
Contrasts 3 perspectives on how the dire warning
passages in Hebrews should be interpreted.
Scripture
Basis:
The Book of Hebrews
Reference
Materials:
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Electronic Edition
Introduction:
In this paper I will seek to define, describe, and defend
different interpretations of the warning passages of Hebrews which pivot on who
they are addressed to. The warning passages are;
1.
Hebrews
2:1-4 ….. …..A warning against drifting away
2.
Hebrews
3:1-4:16 …... A warning against developing a hard heart
3.
Hebrews
5:11-6:20 …. A warning against dullness
4.
Hebrews
10:19-29 …. A warning against willful
sin
5.
Hebrews
12:12-25 …. A warning against not
pursuing various aspects of sanctification and refusing to heed the words of
God
Observations
from the NASB Text:
§
The
recipients of this letter apparently
valued the words of prophets and angels in the past. The author also seems to
make considerable effort to place Christ above the angels in importance. This
would indicate a Jewish heritage.
Warning 1: Hebrews 2:1-4
§
The
Reason for Warning 1 is given in 2:1 .. ie. (more attention to what we have
heard is needed lest we drift away from it.) The force of warning #1:is in v2:3 .. "how shall we escape (escape what, what is the object here) if we neglect so great a
salvation" .
§
It
appears to be referring to "escape every transgression receiving a just
recompense" from 2:2. So it appears to be "how shall we escape just
recompense for transgression". What does this mean? Options might include
loss of rewards, loss of salvation already granted, or loss of salvation not
yet taken hold of. The reference
"transgression receiving just recompense" seems to speak of the
penalties of sin. Rewards are not in view but rather transgressions (ie. sin).
§
Also
the "words not paid close enough attention to" were "spoken by
the Lord" and "confirmed by those who heard" along with
"miraculous signs" but there is no reference to them being believed.
These 2 grammatical points taken together would tend to indicate the intended
recipients of the 1st warning are not yet believers. .
§
However the comparative reference to "escaping
just recompense" for transgression might be interpreted "if under the
old system the angels told us that every transgression would have just
recompense, then how shall we escape "recompense of some sort" if we
neglect our great salvation. This would make the intended recipients of warning
#1 believers. I wonder which is right?
Warning 2 Hebrews 3:1-4:16.
§
Chapter
3:1 begins with the addressing of the recipients of this warning as holy brethren, partakers in a heavenly
calling. This language could be addressing believers yet it might also be
addressing Jews who are a "holy people" as God's chosen people the
Jews. (Rom 10 if the root is holy (Abraham) so are the branches (Jews).
§
.Being
a partaker in a heavenly calling could refer to a pre-salvation state rather
than meaning a partaker in salvation. Here the word "partaker" has to
be studied. When I did that I found that all times in Hebrews the word is
translated partaker using the 1st
definition of metachos, "sharing in". Only once is metachos
translated "partner" and this is in Luke used to describe of a
partnership of fishermen who worked together. Much has been made of the concept
of the metachoi but the NASB dictionary's definition does not compel me to paint a permanent spiritual relationship
because of the term. Because the reference to the spirit in v7 this could be
pre-salvation oriented as without the Spirits efforts none would believe.
§
However the following request to
"consider Jesus" combined with the description of his position as our
High Priest does compel one to see the recipients of this warning as believers.
The warning itself in V7 ,
"therefore today if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart."
does suggests the author is speaking to people who at one time had a soft
(believing) heart .
§
V6
indicates that Christ is faithful over his house whose house "we"
are. This would indicate an ownership of the recipients by Christ along with
the author. This is supported by v14 where it says "we have become
partakers" However the conditional "if we hold fast our
confidence" .. (in Christ is inferred) until the end" indicates that
we are only "His house" if we hold firm.
§
V14 also repeats a similar conditional clause
- we have become partakes in Christ but partakers only if ….this begs the
question "partakers in what" ; this could be partakes in all aspect
of Christ including salvation, or perhaps it could mean partakers in some
privilege he offers to those who hold fast. The analogy of the Israelites not
being able to enter the land of Canaan could support the privilege view .
§
Now
V4:1 indicates that one (not all) may come short of the promise to "enter
His rest". This promise of rest seems to be a better rest than that
associated with entering the land of Canaan as seen in 4:8. Where if Joshua had
actually brought true rest there would be no need for another day to find it in
the future.
§
V4:3
The danger of not entering the rest is averted by those who believed. Again
here is verse 2, we find that those who heard the word did not profit from it
in the OT case of entering Canaan This indicates that they did not believe
because it say's "it (meaning the hearing) was not united with
faith".
§
However
this can be antithetical as Vs 3 says "For we who have believed".
Here the way the author uses the OT story takes on a pattern. He uses them an
antitheses and examples of why we should not act that way since God will have a
response if we do. However the author does not condemn the reader to the same
fate as the OT Israelites, but rather tells them that rest cannot be entered
without faith . What is meant by the Sabbath rest. The word V4:16 might be
helpful in determining the meaning of rest.
§
The Greek word for rest here is katapausis.
It means to recline and rest but to a Hebrew it also can carry the connotation
of an abode, a place of reposing or
resting. This might lead one to think of the rest as heaven and the
"coming short" as failing to enter heaven. V4:12-13 hold a discussion
of the ability of the "word of God" (which may refer to Jesus) to
judge the inner thoughts and intentions of the heart. Such a discussion would
be appropriate for those who were among believers yet were not or those who
might be playing around the edge of a salvation belief. In V11 The example
given from the failure to enter the land of Canaan, mentions disobedience as
the reason. This disobedience was their disbelief that they could enter the
land by God power. For a Jew this could be a parallel between Jewish
self-righteous thinking and the message of the gospel.
§
However the adjective Sabbath preceding
rest may be more influential in marking
this rest as a temporal rest that is available to one who has a need. This
would be more consistent with V16's conclusion of the matter which says - Let
us therefore draw near .. that we might find grace and help in time of need.
(i.e. enter a time of rest for you
which cannot be entered unless you believe he can help you.) This would be consistent with the antithesis
story of entering Canaan and the persecution underway in the recipients
culture.
Warning 3: Hebrews 5:11-6:20
§
V5:12
indicates that by now the recipients ought to be teachers but rather they still
need to taught the elementary principles of the oracles of God - what are these
oracles? Also what is the word of righteousness and why is the "babe"
not accustomed to it?
§
V6:1
there let us press on not laying again the foundation of repentance from Dead
works - (self righteousness) and of "faith toward God" (ie. the
opposite). This indicates the author does not think this is important to do
again.
§
V6:4-
6 seems like a different group of people is being referred to since "those"
is a more distant 3rd party reference as compared to the "you who are our beloved" mentioned in v9 which the
author has better hopes for.
§
V4&5's words like tasted the heavenly gift , been
enlightened, been made partakers in the Holy Spirit, the good word of God and
the powers of the age to come all point to these recipients being believers.
§
V6 indicates it is not possible to renew the
"fallen away" to repentance
(from dead works is probably inferred from verse 1 because to attempt to do so
would put Christ to shame in front of others. This could mean that someone who
is fallen away is impossible to restore to the pre-fallen away state but it
could also mean that you don’t deal with a fallen away person this way rather
V7&8 define how God deals with such a person who has become useless.
§
Vs
7& 8 seems like an analogy or metaphor, yet the words "closed to being
cursed" could indicate that those who the verse is applied to are
believers that are close to some peril. In context with 4-6, it would seem to
indicate that those who have been made "partakes in the holy spirit (if
this is a reference to post salvation indwelling then these are converted
Christians being talked to - if this
partaking refers to pre-salvation enabling, then they may still be
non-newborn Christians in danger of
loss of salvation.) are now seen as worthless and are in danger of being
cursed. The burning may be just part of the analogy or may relate to hell. But
another possibility is -- The useful person will receive blessings while the
useless person may be cursed and
ultimately end up being burned (like a useless field). Here the farming
metaphor requires research. Clearly when we say a field was burned it is not he
soil that is destroyed and discarded but rather the poor crop burned,
the blackened remnant turned under and the soil worked that it might become
productive. A piece of land was valuable.
In this context the metaphor points toward the land going through a
difficult reparative process.
§
Up
to the point of 6:9 the author seems to have
given warnings covering all the
possibilities from the drifting away of
the core beliefs of the gospel, being hard hearted and falling away back into
disbelief or back into ignoring God up to becoming dull and not moving beyond spiritual
infancy. His tone seems a little angry and disappointed but here in 6:9 he
suddenly refers to his readers as the people he loves and V10-12 clearly refers to them as 'beloved' as those who have
loved Gods name and have ministered to the saints. Is this a shift in
addressee's, is the author now moving on from the spiritual babes of the
congregation to the leaders who may have co-ministered with him.
Warning 4: Hebrews 10:19-29
§
10:10-26
is addressed to the brethren who are being encouraged to continue meeting
together.
§
10:26-31
is clearly speaking to Christians and yet it is also clearly speaking to Jewish
Christian who understood the concepts of judgement in the lives of the Israeli people as they willfully sinned,
were judged and many times outright destroyed as a nation.
§
The words "no longer remains any sacrifice for sins" does not
appear to be reference to Christ's
sacrifice but to the OT concept that God got sick and tired of meaningless
sacrifices and then laid corporate discipline on Israel.
§
10:26-28
therefore states the handling of willful sin in the OT and v29 hinges to the NT
and warns of discipline with reference to Christ.
Warning 5 Hebrews 12:12-25
§
The
context of chapter 12 in V12:1 speaks of running a race of endurance. And
laying aside the sins that so easily entangle.
§
12:14
warns to pursue the "sanctification" (speaking of that whole
sanctification process that moves us towards a holy life), that process without
which no one would be able to see the Lord.
§
V15
coming short of the grace of God. What does this mean. Could mean not living up
to the obligation inferred by the grace of God. This would be consistent with
the obligatory aspect of sanctification.
§
V25
refers to Christ and warns the recipients not to refuse the Lord for his focus
is on what cannot be shaken so we should listen and not refuse for the sake of
what can be shaken. This is clearly written to Christians and is rewards
oriented.
Abbreviated
Study of Key terms
Warning 1:
§
salvation in v2:3 G4991: soteria;
deliverance, salvation
§
transgression, in v2:2-2:3 G3847
:parabasis; a going aside, transgression.
Warning 2:
§
partakers, calling, in 3:1 G3353
metachos ,partakers in V14, All Hebrews passages are def 1 (sharing in or
(partakers)) .. partner (def 2) is only
in Luke 5:7 as companion workers.
§
falling way in v3:12 (G868) aphistemi.. depart from; and G570
apistia, to unbelief
§
rest G2663 (katapausis); repose,
rest (but to a Hebrew also an abode, a
place of reposing.)
Warning3:
§
Fallen away : v6:6 G3895 parapipto to
fall in, away; to fail.
Conclusion of
Cultural Context Research
I
find it interesting that here virtually all the background in ISBE [1] is deduced from the text itself. Not one
piece of external data save Clements use of the letter is used to qualify the
recipients. In this, I must assume that
the only understanding we can have of
who the recipients are must be textually deduced . I also think that the letter
had a non specific local perhaps on purpose to make it more applicable many
churches. It is noteworthy The author does not address justification by faith
but rather a salvation accomplished by cleansing, sanctification, and works.
These have their proper place in the frame of reference of sanctification
therefore the book would be addressed to Christians yet most undoubtedly Jewish
ones since the OT is quoted often as an example of what not to do and also as a
reference of how the OT is fulfilled by
what is happening today. These arguments would have been wasted on Greek or
Roman gentiles. Therefore I agree with ISBE. Hebrews was written to Jewish
Christians but he specific locality is unknown . I have attached the relevant
research material at the end of this
paper but wish I have time to find more external data if it exists.
Theological
Context
The
doctrines of eternal security and predestination are significant when
interpreting the warning passages of Hebrews. If you hold to predestination and
the total sovereignty of God over the elect, then the warning passages of
Hebrews must either relate to non-Christians or Christians about to lose
rewards. If you hold to a more free will oriented approach consistent with
Arminian thought you will tend to see more options for the warning passages and
may not be forced to get into the mind of the Jewish reader or author.
Historical/Political
context
Elements of persecution was common throughout the 1st
century but in Hebrews persecution is
spoken of as having been significant just after the recipients conversion and
now it was reappearing again. This might refer to the persecution by Nero in
64AD and then after a time of peace a new persecution under Domitian after
81AD. The text of Hebrews indicates that at the time of writing their leaders
were dead. Timothy and the author were
in prison and there is no mention of Paul yet some of his ideas are presented here but wrapped in a
new medium. Add to that disappearance of the Hebrews enthusiasm and all of this
points to the last 25 years of the first century. It is generally considered
that political system of this time was significantly persecuting of Christians.
Views on the
Context and Interpretation of the Warning Passages of Hebrews
The Calvinist
View
Those holding to a strict
Calvinist theology tend to believe the warning of Hebrews are addressed to
non-believers who are in the church.: A Calvinist will see the warning passages
of Hebrews as ultimately addressed to those who will not ultimately believe and
be saved. These people may be partakers in the sense of their inclusion in the
church or in their hearing of the message, but the Calvinist view of
predestination leaves no room for them to actually fall away from salvation
through ones own attitude or belief changing toward the gospel or God.
Calvinistic Interpretations of the Warnings
1. If
you neglect what you have heard and drift way from it you will miss being saved
2. If you let your heart get hard, you will not be able to believe
the gospel and therefore not enter heaven the place of Gods rest.
3. If
you let yourself get dull of hearing you can fall way from the message of
salvation and the efforts of the Holy spirit and not be able to be brought back
since your dullness can become permanent.
4. If
you go on sinning after receiving the message and knowledge of truth, you have
made a choice not to accept Christ and for you Christ's sacrifice is
ineffective since you don't really believe the truth.
5. If
you embrace godlessness and immorality like Esau you are clearly rejecting the
grace of God and you will not inherit salvation. You will not escape Hell if
you ignore the words from heaven.
Strengths :
§
The
penalties described in the early
warnings appear severe enough to constitute loss of eternal life or a least
loss of Gods working on their behalf. Since for their theology, this is not
possible for a believer, Hebrews must be written to non-believers.
§
The
concept of recompense for transgressions in v2:2 is inconsistent with the
gospel if the recipients are believers. Believers sins are forgiven not reckoned
against them
§
Entering
"rest" for a Hebrew had the connotation of entering the place of
rest. Certainly heaven fits this
concept which indicates the 2nd warning indicates one has
come short of salvation through unbelief. The words used like
"unbelief" and "not
united with faith" are basic salvation terms.
§
Only
non-believers are deemed worthless and end up burned in Hell so the metaphor or
the burned field in 6:7-8 indicates Warning 3 is directed a non-believers.
Deficiencies:
§
The
people addressed had too many of the earmarks of true Christians for at least
some period of time. The Calvinist model of eternal security and
predestination cannot be reconciled
with this.
§
The
OT references and OT models of thought are not seen in proper context.
Ascribing Christ's sacrifice to 10:26-27 rather than it being an OT reference
is an example. Another is the allocation of rest to eternal life in heaven.
More getting into the head of a 1st century Jewish believer is
needed.
§
The
interpretation of how rest is being paralleled misses the point of the argument
in 4:16. The Sabbath view of rest is in view not heaven as evidenced by the
further discuss on why Joshua's rest was not sufficient.
The Arminian View
Those who hold to an Arminian view of
theology tend to consider Hebrews as addressed to believers who because of
their backsliding are about to lose their salvation. One with this view holds
sufficiently to grace being conditional and mans will being free that the
warning passages of Hebrews are intended to prevent the recipients from losing
the salvation they gained through one of a series of errors. The
recipients are seen clearly as
Christians but they currently are in such a mode that should they continue in
it they stand to forfeit eternal life.
Arminian Interpretations of the Warnings
1. If
you neglect what you have heard and drift way from it you will lose your
justification and be recompensed for all your sins.
2. If you let your heart get hard, you can fall way from belief in
the gospel. believing the gospel. This will disqualify you from salvation and
eternal life in heaven.
3. If you let yourself get dull of hearing you can fall way from God
becoming useless. This will disqualify you from salvation and eternal life and
you not be able to be brought back since your dullness can become permanent.
4. If you go on sinning after receiving the message and knowledge of
truth, you have made a choice to deny Christ and Christ's sacrifice for you is
now ineffective. This will disqualify
you from eternal life.
5. If you fail to embrace
discipline, strengthen yourself spiritually and pursue your sanctification and
rather embrace godlessness, bitterness or immorality like Esau you are clearly
rejecting the grace of God and you will lose your salvation. You will not
escape Hell if you ignore the words of discipline from heaven.
Strengths
§
Since
the people addressed are refereed to as having many of the earmarks of
believers and yet the early warning passages infer significant a loss of great
privilege, the book of Hebrews must be written to believers who are about to
lose their eternal life and position in Christ.
§
The
reference in 4:6 to not being able to return one to repentance, is evidence of
lost salvation. Repentance was associated with Jewish conversions in Acts 2:38
(ie. repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and you will
receive the Holy Spirit)
§
The
severe reference to "insulting the spirit of grace" and having
"no sacrifice left for sins" and being in the hands of God being
terrifying" all point to loss of salvation since the persons blameless
position in Christ is clearly lost.
Deficiencies
§
Insufficient
weight to the implications of how God judged and disciplined Israel in OT times
while not abandoning them as his people is not given. The OT references and OT
models of thought are not seen in proper context.
§
These
passages are not clear enough to build a case for being able to lose your
salvation in the face of other clearer passages in scripture, therefore the
interpretation is based on pre-supposition. There are too many ways to lose it
if this is the case.
§
Insufficient
contextual analysis is evident from the conclusions drawn. Too many references
to regression in faith and behavior are evident for the dangers to be relegated
to loss of salvation.
Rewards View
Like the Arminians, people who hold the rewards
view consider the recipients of Hebrews
to be Christian believers yet since they also old to doctrines of eternal security
for the believer they see Hebrews in
the context of sanctification and therefore conclude it is addressed to
believers who are about to lose privileges in Christ other than eternal life.
They usually focus on the loss of rewards or loss of some aspect of their
inheritance in Christ. One with this
view holds that the Book of Hebrews is addressed more specifically to those who
are about to lose some of their fellowship with Christ and their inheritance in
Christ because of their current state of thinking.
Rewards Interpretation of
the Warnings
1. In the same way we used to be recompensed
for our transgressions in the O.T., if you neglect your salvation and what you
have heard and drift way from it you will not escape being recompensed for you
lack of deeds at the judgement seat of Christ.
2. If you let your heart get hard, you will not rest from the
difficulties you are now undergoing but rather will live you life in the
wilderness of difficulty are perhaps die there. Instead consider drawing near
to Jesus through faith that you might enter a time of rest and help in your
time of need.
3. If you let yourself get dull of hearing you can fall way from
maturity in Christ and become useless like the ground that produces no
fruit. You then will be in danger of being
discipline harshly by God even through a curse and should this dullness become
permanent you can end up having your life being worthless at the judgement seat
of Christ.
4. If you go on sinning after receiving the message and knowledge of
the gospel do you think you will be better off than they who willfully set
aside the law of Moses in the days of the OT. No, for you are trampling the
work of Gods son and insulting the spirit of Grace and God will judge you and
discipline you for it.
5. If you fail to embrace discipline, strengthen yourself
spiritually and pursue your sanctification and rather embrace godlessness,
bitterness or immorality you are forfeiting a wonderful new birth right you
have as a believer, your inheritance in Christ. This inheritance is there for those who heed the words from
Heaven but those who don’t will not escape the loss of them.
Strengths
§
Consistently
handles the many references to the recipients being believers
§
An
absence of discussion of justification by faith and how to be saved
§
Proper
understanding of how the OT is used and how the arguments of the warnings would
affect a Jewish believer
§
Consistent
with doctrine of sanctification built by Paul and other NT authors
§
The
interpretation of the warnings are more consistent with the conclusion
statements for each argument. (Ex. verse 4:16 relative to Warning 2).
§
Consistently
applies grammatical and historical hermeneutic.
Deficiencies:
§
Very
few people would understand the book this way without deeper study. The surface messages are more easily seen as
salvation related.
§
The
concept of recompense for transgressions in v2:2 is inconsistent with the
gospel if the recipients are believers. Believers sins are forgiven not
reckoned against them
§
Entering
"rest" for a Hebrew had the connotation of entering the place of
rest. Certainly heaven fits this
concept which indicates the 2nd warning indicates one has
come short of salvation through unbelief. The words used like
"unbelief" and "not
united with faith" are basic salvation terms.
Personal
Interpretation
Hebrews is written to Christians of Jewish
background who have within their church believers at differing levels of
spiritual maturity. There are just too many aspects of true Christians
mentioned in connection with the warnings to find them non-believers or near
believers. Further the authors warning passages show a concern for both
spiritually immature as well as those more mature that have different kinds of
problems preventing them from becoming fruitful. Some of these are likely due
to persecution especially in the less mature but other aspects of worldliness
like bitterness and immorality are also dealt with. The authors progression
from dealing with less mature to more mature is apparent with warnings 1
through 3 focused on the immature having problems with the core beliefs of the
gospel, being hard hearted or just
becoming dull and not moving beyond spiritual infancy. Warning 4 deals with
people who should know better than to willfully sin but don’t and warning 5
encourages more mature believers to move on in their sanctification. The progression follows the pattern of the
seeds of Matthew 13 and deals with exactly what Jesus predicted
would be in the early Jewish churches in Matt 13. It also follows the pattern
of other NT Pauline epistles books first dealing with the Churches worst
problems in more sever tones and them moving on to less sever ones. It is noteworthy that prior to V6:9 the
author seems to be more impersonal and more disgusted with his audience. He
addresses the recipients in very
distant 3rd party terms as
"those who" or "how shall we". This "we" does not seem inclusive of the authors
personal state but rather more his inclusion as a Jewish Christian. Yet in V6:9
he points out that among these recipients are people he loves and V10-12
clearly refers to the 'beloved' as those who have loved Gods name and have
ministered to the saints. These he has better hopes for. This verse for me is a
structural hinge between two classes of warnings. Prior to v6:9
the warning passages are
warnings directed against the less
mature and after v6:9 directed to the more mature even perhaps being
congregational leaders who he may have co-ministered with. I have always
thought that the early passages were focused on non-Christians so this realization
was important for me. Because these
recipients are clearly Christians, I was forced to look for other alternatives
to what the warning passages could mean. Of greatest significance for me was
the awareness that the author was not quoting from the Old Testament not as
examples of Judiastic thought that might be pulling a Jew back into Judaism but
rather as simple examples of what not to do today. I also saw that the author
was drawing parallels as a reference of how the OT was either fulfilled by what is happening at that time or how God
was working similarly in similar situations in that day. This helped me see
that the dangers associated with the warnings are not justification related but
rather privilege related. I think the way a person handles the authors jumps in
and out of OT references is significant in how the passage will be
interpreted. In the end there are
viable grammatical options for each warning dealing with some aspect of a
Christians loss other than that his
basic salvation (his justification). These are detailed in my observations by
warning above and present in my description of the interpretations of Rewards
View.
Theological
Principles Drawn:
1.
If
you neglect your salvation and what you have heard you will drift way from it
and you will not escape being recompensed for your lack of deeds at the
judgement seat of Christ. Be Diligent in your faith,
2.
If
you let your heart get hard, you will not rest from the difficulties you are
now undergoing Instead consider
drawing near to Jesus through diligent faith that you might enter a time of
rest and help in your time of need.
3.
If
you let yourself get dull of hearing you can regress away from maturity in
Christ and become useless like the ground that produces no fruit. You then will be in danger of being
disciplined harshly by God. Yet you are still valuable and he will disciple you
even harshly if necessary that you might become fruitful again but should this
dullness become permanent you can end up having your life being worthless at the judgement seat of
Christ.
4.
If
you go on deliberately sinning you are trampling the work of Gods son and
insulting the spirit of Grace and God will judge you and discipline you for it. (“there remains no sacrifice for
sins” is not a promised loss of salvation but a parallel reference to the
attitude of the Jews in the OT as described in Isa. 1.)
5.
If
you fail to embrace discipline, strengthen yourself spiritually and pursue your
sanctification but rather embrace godlessness, bitterness or immorality you are
forfeiting a wonderful new birth right you have as a believer, your inheritance
in Christ
Personal
Application
This study has emphasized for me the importance of applying diligent
effort in pursuing the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. I have seen
sanctification as something to be diligently sought but rather as wholly the
work of the Holy Spirit. This view I held so as to avoid a works perspective
and arrogance growing in myself which so easily can happen when I do well. However this study points not so much toward
more works but towards more applications of faith and the perseverance and
godliness it produces. These are
different vectors of growth from works as they seldom produce arrogance.
Correlation
§
Diligence
in the faith..-- 2 Peter chapter 1
§
The
problems of the hearers -- Matt 13 parable of the seed
Appendix A :
Cultural Context Research
According
to the ISBE, and relative to the recipients being Christians it records;
" The readers, like the
writer, received the gospel first from “those that heard it” (Heb 2:3), who
were most likely disciples of the Lord, but were not of their local
congregation. They had witnessed signs
and wonders as well as powers and gifts of the Holy Spirit” (Heb 2:4). Their
conversion had been thorough, and their faith and Christian life had been of a
high order. They had a sound knowledge of the first principles of Christ (Heb
6:1ff). They had become “partakers of Christ,” and had need only to “hold fast
the beginning of (their) confidence firm unto the end” (Heb 3:14). They had
been fruitful in good works, ministering unto the saints (Heb 6:10), enduring
suffering and persecution, and sympathizing with whose who were imprisoned (Heb
10:32-34). All this had been in former days which appeared now remote. Their
rulers and ministers of those days are now dead (Heb 13:7). And they themselves
have undergone a
great
change. While they should have been teachers, they have become dull of hearing,
and have need again to be taught the rudiments of the first principles of the
gospel (Heb 5:12), and they are in danger of a great apostasy from the faith.
"
Relative to their Jewish-ness it records;
"It is the whole argument of the
epistle, rather than any special references, that produced the tradition, and
supports the view, that the readers were Jews. The entire message of the
epistle, the dominant claims of Christ and of the Christian faith, rests upon
the supposition that the readers held Moses, Aaron, the Jewish priesthood, the
old Covenant and the Levitical ritual, in the highest esteem. " …………. ."If the writer had been dealing with
Gentile Christians who were in danger of relapsing into heathenism or of
falling into religious indifference, his argument from the shadowy and
temporary glories of Judaism to the perfect salvation in Christ would avail
nothing, because, for such, his premises would depend upon his conclusion. But
if they were Jewish Christians, even though leaning toward heathenism, his
argument is well calculated to call up on its side all the dormant force of
their early religious training. He is not arguing them out of a “subtle
Judaism” quickened by the zeal of a propaganda (Moffatt, Introduction, 449-50),
but from “drifting away” in Heb (2:1), from “neglect” (2:3), from “an evil
heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God” (3:12), from
“disobedience” (4:11), from “a dulness of hearing” (5:11), but into “diligence
… that ye be not sluggish” (6:11 f), into “boldness and patience” (10:35 f),
and to “lift up the hands that hang down, and the palsied knees” (12:12); and
this he might well do by his appeal to their whole religious experience, both
Jewish and Christian, and to the whole religious history of their race."
Relative to locality it offers;
"The question of the
locality of these “Hebrews” remains a matter for mere conjecture. Jerusalem,
Alexandria, Rome, Antioch, Colosse, Ephesus, Berea, Ravenna and other places
have been suggested. ….. Rome has lately found much favor. We first learn of
the existence of the letter at Rome. The phrase “they of Italy salute you” (Heb
13:24) implies that either the writer or his readers were in Italy. A Roman
origin might explain the use of Hebrews
by Clement. But the letter might also have come to Rome by Clement’s time, even
though it was originally sent elsewhere. The slender arguments in favor of Rome
find favor chiefly because no arguments can be adduced in favor of any other
place. In all this there is little or nothing to help to fix the destination of
the letter, for it might be true at some time or other of any church."
SELECTED
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Orr
, James A. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Electronic Edition
Cedar Rapids: Parsons Technology, 1998.
[1] Orr, James, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Cedar Rapids,
1998), Epistle to the Hebrews