A LETTER TO SOME HEBREWS

ACTS 6:1–7

So the Word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith

(Acts 6:7).

We find in our Bibles a letter called “Hebrews” right after Paul’s letter to Philemon. Nowhere in this particular book does it say to whom it was written, but the traditional name is “To the Hebrews.” Because of the intensely Jewish concerns found throughout the work, it seems clear that it was indeed written to Jewish believers.

Three groups of Jewish believers have been identified as possible recipients. First, the traditional view is that Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians living in Palestine, who were constantly tempted by the Judaizing heresy. The point of the book is that Christ completes the revelation of God, and that a return to the pre-Christian rites of Leviticus would entail a rejection of what Jesus accomplished. The book warns against falling away, since the priestly work of Jesus surpasses the old priesthood.

A second view is similar. It holds that the book is addressed in a more focused fashion to those priests who converted to the faith, mentioned in Acts 6:7 for example. Most priests were of the sect of the Sadducees, while the Judaizers were usually Pharisees. The orientation of the book of Hebrews toward the temple and the sacrificial system might indicate a priestly audience.

Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the late 1940s a third view has come into prominence. The scrolls were written by a group of Jewish ascetic heretics, the Essenes. This sect was fascinated with angels. Some scholars now think that Hebrews was written to Christian converts from this kind of Judaism because of the stress on angels in the early chapters of the book. Of course, the Judaizing heresy as it is described in Colossians also focused on angels, so perhaps after all it is the Judaizers who are being addressed and warned against.

We cannot be certain of the precise audience. We can be sure, however, that Hebrews draws together all the lines of typology and symbolism, as well as other avenues of revelation, found in the Old Testament. The audience addressed by Hebrews was fully conversant with the liturgy of the old covenant and needed to be shown more fully how Christ fulfilled it.

CORAM DEO

2 Samuel 15 Psalms 3; 63

Hebrews is an exciting book precisely because it is so complex. It is a challenge to the mind and heart. As we study it, we shall become more familiar than ever with the typology of the Old Testament and its fulfillment in Christ. Prepare your heart to receive these riches.

For further study: Romans 4:1–15 • Galatians 1:6–9; 3:1–14

friday

april