The Letter to the Hebrews Don t Forsake Jesus by Robert J. Koester Leader s Guide Lesson One Hebrews 1:1 2:4 Don t forsake Jesus he is greater than the angels... 4 Lesson Two Hebrews 2:5 3:6 Don t forsake Jesus no matter how humble he seems... 6 Lesson Three Hebrews 3:7 4:13 Don t forsake Jesus true rest is found in him... 9 Lesson Four Hebrews 4:14 6:12 Don t forsake Jesus then you would have no High Priest and no sacrifice... 12 Lesson Five Hebrews 6:13 7:28 Don t forsake Jesus the High Priest of a new order... 14 Lesson Six Hebrews 8:1 9:10 Don t forsake Jesus he established the new covenant... 17 Lesson Seven Hebrews 9:11 10:18 Don t forsake Jesus in every way he offers you perfect hope... 20 Lesson Eight Hebrews 10:19 11:6 Don t forsake Jesus without him there is no hope for the future... 22 Lesson Nine Hebrews 11:7-40 Don t forsake Jesus follow the example of others who held fast to him... 25 Lesson Ten Hebrews 12 Follow Jesus the foundation on which our hope is built... 28 Lesson Eleven Hebrews 13 Follow Jesus always and give him glory forever... 31 All rights reserved. New edition, 2008 Northwestern Publishing House 1250 N. 113th St., Milwaukee, WI 53226-3284 2001 by Northwestern Publishing House. Published 2001 Printed in the United States of America ISBN 978-0-8100-1354-4
The Letter to the Hebrews Leader s Guide Page 2 Using the computer CD included in this Bible study kit Thank you for purchasing an NPH Bible study kit. The computer CD included with this Bible study offers resources to help you prepare to teach God s Word to his people. What will I find on the CD? Each CD contains two text files, GUIDES.TXT and RESOURCE.TXT, and two directories, GUIDES and RESOURCE. Read the short text files first. The GUIDES.TXT file tells you what is in the GUIDES directory. It lists the various formats for the student s guide copy masters. The RESOURCE.TXT file tells you what is in the RESOURCE directory. It contains a list of articles and resource material you may find helpful in preparing to teach the course. How do I open the text files? There are no programs on this CD. In other words, there is nothing you need to install on your computer and run. These are simple files, such as a letter or sermon you might save on your hard drive. To use these files, simply open them as you would any other file. Most word processors have a menu from which you can navigate to various places to locate files. You will need to tell your word processor that you want to find a file on the drive in which you inserted the Bible study CD. This will usually be drive c: or d:. If you are using a Windows word processor, click on drive c: or d: in the Open File window. When you have selected the appropriate drive, it will list the files and directories that are on the Bible study CD. What if no files or directories appear? Some word processors are set to show only files created by or for that program. You need to indicate that you want to see all the files on the CD. A pull-down menu in the Open File window gives you the options for the types of files you want the program to list. Choose all files or the equivalent. All the files and directories on your CD should appear. At this point you should be able to open the two text files. By navigating to the GUIDES and RESOURCE directories, you will be able to view the file names and open their contents as well. How do I use the files in the GUIDES directory? The GUIDES directory contains the student s guide copy masters and leader s guide. The files in the GUIDES directory are provided in both RTF and PDF formats. We have made every effort to provide you with the capability of adapting this Bible study to your needs. However, some degree of reformatting may be necessary to use the RTF files on your computer.
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The Letter to the Hebrews Leader s Guide Page 4 Introduction Jesus told us that if we stand firm in our faith, we will inherit a crown of life. Lesson One Hebrews 1:1 2:4 Don t forsake Jesus he is greater than the angels Standing firm to the end is the greatest task facing Christians. We are living in a world that grows more wicked by the day. Christians are tempted with greed, illicit sex, pride, human ambition, and lust for false teachings. It does not help when the people around us engage in these sins and find approval for doing so. Nor does it help when Christians are considered foolish and outmoded when they refuse to go along with the crowd. Hebrews was written to Christians under fire Christians who were tempted to follow the easy path. It was also written to encourage and strengthen them so they wouldn t forsake Jesus. Imagine what it must have been like for a Jewish Christian living in Judea in the years after Pentecost. The church was being persecuted. Jewish Christians had adopted a humble religion. Apart from the apostles miracles, there was nothing outwardly grand about the Christian faith. Christians had little by way of ceremony, especially compared to the rich worship of the Old Testament. The sacrifices, the richly robed high priest, the festivals, and the ceremonies all surpassed the Christians household meetings, in which there was only preaching, hymns, and the Lord s Supper. How would the Jewish Christians cope with the continual pressure to forsake Christ and return to their old religion? Hebrews gives the answers. Background Author We don t know who authored this book Audience From the content it is clear that the book was written for early Jewish Christians who were being persecuted and were tempted to forsake the faith. Date Probably sometime before the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70 (since this event is not mentioned in the book) and after the church began to endure persecution, which for Christians in Palestine and Syria started as early as the persecution under Saul. For Christians in general, persecution started under Nero around A.D. 64. Purpose To encourage Jewish Christians and all Christians to hold on to their faith in Jesus. 1:1-3 Jesus superiority Verses 1,2 Think of some of the various ways God spoke through the prophets. He spoke to Moses face-to-face. He spoke directly to men such as Samuel. He guided David and others to write psalms, no doubt much like he guided New Testament men to write letters. He appeared in fantastic visions to men like Daniel and Ezekiel. As you read the next verses, list how the writer describes Jesus, through whom God has revealed himself in these last days. Verse 2 Jesus is appointed to inherit all things at the end of the world. Jesus made the world. Verse 3 Jesus is the radiance of God s glory.
The Letter to the Hebrews Leader s Guide Page 5 Jesus is the exact representation of God s being. Jesus sustains all things by his powerful Word. Jesus is now sitting at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 1:4-14 Jesus is superior to the angels This may have been one of the challenges leveled against Christians by their Jewish neighbors: Perhaps Jesus is just an angel, capable of powerful signs, but hardly the Son of God. How do the following verses show that Jesus is superior to the angels and is true God? Verses 4,5 Jesus Is superior to the angels, for the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. Note: Jesus is always God s Son, eternally begotten of the Father. This verse, however, refers to the time when Jesus was born and carried out his work of salvation. At this time God declared him to be his Son and exalted him. (See Acts 13:33.) Verse 6 God has commanded all the angels to worship Jesus, which shows us that Jesus is not an angel. Verses 7-9 Jesus is called God, whose throne will last for ever and ever. Note the meaning of righteousness: these are the right things God does on behalf of his covenant. In this context wickedness refers to everything Satan does in his attempts to thwart God s covenant plans. Verses 10-12 Jesus made the heavens and the earth. Jesus never changes, and he will continue to live eternally. This verse is very important for understanding who Jesus is. Note the context of Psalm 102. Although the word LORD (Yahweh) is not used in the section the writer of Hebrews quotes, it is used in verse 22 of Psalm 102. Clearly, the God of verse 24 is the LORD (Yahweh) of verse 22. Call the class attention to this note. This passage shows beyond any argument that Jesus is true God, equal with the Father. In the verses of Psalm 102 that come right before the verse quoted in Hebrews, the psalmist calls the person he is talking to the LORD. There is no break in thought as the writer pens the words quoted in Hebrews 1:10-12, and these words are applied to Jesus. Jesus is the LORD, the covenant God of the Old Testament. Verses 13,14 God tells Jesus to sit at his right hand. From verses 7 and 14, state the nature and purpose of the angels. The angels are servants, sent to serve those who will inherit eternal salvation (Christians). 2:1-4 Don t drift away Verse 1 What causes Christians to drift away? When we fail to pay attention to the good news about Christ, our religion drifts into legalism and work-righteousness. The people to whom the writer was talking were in danger of drifting away from Christianity and going back into Judaism. Verse 2 The writer is referring to the Law. See Acts 7:53 and Galatians 3:19 for references to the Law being given by God to Moses through angels. Verses 3,4 Which sin is worse disobeying God s law or rejecting his gospel? The writer here contrasts the punishment due to a person who disobeys God s law with that due to a person who ignores the
The Letter to the Hebrews Leader s Guide Page 6 gospel. The implication is that those who reject the gospel of God s grace will face a greater punishment. These are strong words of warning that will be repeated throughout this letter. According to these verses, why did Jesus perform miracles? Also, what is the purpose of spiritual gifts? God empowered Jesus, the apostles, and others to perform miracles to testify to the truth of the gospel. All spiritual gifts are given so that the gospel can be spread. Summary Jesus is superior to all creatures. He himself brought all things into being. He is Jehovah himself, who came to save us by shedding his blood. We must never confuse Jesus with angels, and we must never drift away from the salvation he has won for us. For next time Read the People s Bible commentary on Hebrews to review this section. Also read Hebrews chapters 2 and 3 several times. Lesson Two Hebrews 2:5 3:6 Don t forsake Jesus no matter how humble he seems Introduction Why would early Christians join a religion that was persecuted, that offered none of the grandeur of the Jewish religion, and that had as its head a crucified carpenter? Why? Because of who that carpenter was. He was not an angel as some suggested our writer s point in the previous lesson. Nor are his lowliness and horrible death reasons to abandon him. In fact, these are among the reasons we worship him. 2:5-9 God has put everything under man s feet Verse 5 There is another way the angels are inferior to Jesus (and to us). What way is that? See Genesis 1:26. God did not make the world subject to angels but to mankind. Verses 6-8 When Adam and Eve sinned, we humans lost the image of God; we are no longer holy and righteous by nature. And, to a great extent, we lost control over God s world. For this reason God, in love, sent a second Adam, a man who could restore to us God s image and put the world back under our control. The writer uses Psalm 8 to make this point. The psalm could refer to mankind if we had not fallen into sin. Yet the New Testament applies this psalm to the restoration of all things under Christ. In him, we will be restored to our original glorious position, and someday we will rule over all things. Read Matthew 21:15,16. How did these children in Jerusalem fulfill the first two verses of Psalm 8? (The first two verses of