Through Term 1, we'll be preaching from the book of Hebrews.
Hebrews is one of the books that brings the story of the Bible together in one place. The author marvels that 2000 years of Old Testament history is brought into clear focus through - God is speaking to humanity - bringing unity, forgiveness, confidence and purpose.
There's a little bit of a learning stretch for you if you're not familiar with Jewish Old Testament history. Presumably, the writer is a very devout, religious Jew. He excitedly unpacks how all the important Jewish traditions are either surpassed or fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus is the greater Moses, the greater High Priest, the greater tabernacle, the greater covenant....and so on! Jesus, therefore, is the greatest motivation to do anything and everything!
Through this book, I hope you can challenge traditions or principles you hold. Are the things you live for fulfilling in Jesus, or are you living for less than the best?
Here’s some tips as you get started reading in Hebrews.
THE STRUCTURE OF HEBREWS
Hebrews has a thematic idea of Jesus being greater than anything that came before. My guess is that this author really wanted to write about Jesus SUPERCEDING all the Jewish traditions established in the Old Testament Covenants. That’s the middle chunk of Hebrews - from about Chapter 4 to Chapter 10. You will find a fair bit of overlap in those chapters, but they are the major thrust of Hebrews.
THE STYLE OF HEBREWS
There’s generally 3 types of sections in each chapter of Hebrews. I’ve found that paying attention to the first two types of writing helps focus on the key messages of the book.