(The following is from John MacArthur)
I have titled this study of the book of Hebrews, “The Preeminence of Jesus Christ.” Jesus Christ is superior to and preeminent over everyone and everything.
Studying Hebrews is a thrilling adventure. Part of that adventure is due to the difficulty of the book. It is a book that has many, many deep truths that are difficult to grasp and that demand diligent and faithful study. There are things here that are beyond understanding apart from complete reliance on God’s Spirit and sincere commitment to understand His Word.
My former Old Testament professor, Dr. Charles L. Feinberg, often said that you cannot understand the book of Hebrews unless you understand the book of Leviticus, because the book of Hebrews is based upon the principles of the Levitical priesthood. It contains the ceremonial symbols for which Hebrews presents the realities.
[The following is from Jack Hyles: “There is no conclusive evidence of who wrote it. From earliest times it is attributed to Paul, but if it was, this is the only letter he wrote where he does not identify himself. I have no problem with it being written by Paul. His imprint is all through it. The theme of his other letters is emphasized as well as the OT prophecies, here in this one book. Here in Hebrews we have the sum total of all the teaching of Christ, both from the OT and NT.”]
There are no references to Gentiles in the book. Problems between Gentiles and Jews in the church are not mentioned or reflected here, indicating almost certainly that the congregation being addressed was strictly Jewish. To these suffering Jewish believers—and some unbelievers—are revealed the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ and the New Covenant, in contrast to the Old Covenant, under which they had so long lived and worshiped.
We do not know the exact location of this group of Hebrews. They were perhaps somewhere near Greece. We do know that this community had been evangelized by apostles and prophets (2:3-4). By prophets, of course, is meant New Testament prophets (Eph. 2:20). Evidently this church had been founded fairly soon after Christ’s ascension. By the time the letter was written, a small congregation of believers already existed there.
Also addressed in the letter are unbelievers, who evidently were a part of this Jewish community. Unlike many Jews in Palestine, these had never had opportunity to meet Jesus. Anything they may have known about Him was secondhand (Heb. 2:3-4). They of course had no New Testament writings, as such, as a testimony, for it had not yet been brought together. Whatever they knew of Christ and His gospel they knew from believing neighbors, or perhaps directly from the mouth of an apostle or prophet.
The letter had to have been written after Christ’s ascension, which was about A.D. 30, and before the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, since the Temple must still have been standing. I believe it was probably written close to 70, perhaps as early as 65. We know that there were not any apostolic missionaries from Jerusalem until at least seven years after the church there had been founded. Likely it was some time later that they would have reached this Jewish community, perhaps many miles away. And, after they had been reached, the believers would had to have had a certain amount of time to have been taught, as reflected in the letter itself.
[It was probably written from Italy (13:24) as Paul salutes them for the saints in Italy. (Hyles)]
(E.L. Bynum)
“The book was written to prove that a certain proposition is true. It is stated in the following words: “He (Christ) is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises” (8:6) “By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament” (7:22). “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah” (8:7-8). “He taketh away the first (covenant), that he may establish the second” (10:9). The proposition is, therefore: “The New Testament in Jesus’ blood is superior to and supplants the First Testament in Animal blood.”
The book of Hebrews is not an assault against the Old Testament and the Jewish sacrifices. The Old Testament sacrifices were a type, and the New Testament gives us the reality. While under the old symbolic sacrifices there is the promise of salvation, the actual salvation comes from the new. Without the cross, there is no salvation for anyone, past, present or future.
Chapter One
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
God spake: “Here is an indication of how God wrote the Old Testament. Its purpose was to prepare for the coming of Christ. Whether by prophecy or type or principle or commandment or whatever, it made preparation for Christ.
The senses of man, marvelous as they are, are incapable of reaching beyond the natural world. For us to know anything about God, He must tell us. We could never know God if He did not speak to us. Thus, in the Old Testament, the writer reminds us, “God . . . spoke.”” (John MacArthur)
God spoke in divers manners: “Sometimes it was in a vision, sometimes by a parable, sometimes through a type or a symbol. There were many different ways in which God spoke in the Old Testament. But it is always God speaking. Even the words spoken by men and angels are included because He wants us to know them.” (John MacArthur)
Spake by the prophets: “This He did through the words of the Old Testament. He used men as instruments, but was Himself behind them, enlightening and energizing them. The deists teach that God started the world going and then went away, leaving it to run by itself. But God is not detached from His creation; He is not uninvolved in our world. The true and living God, unlike the false gods of man’s making, is not dumb or indifferent. The God of Scripture, unlike the impersonal “First Cause” of some philosophers, is not silent. He speaks. He first spoke in the Old Testament, which is not a collection of the wisdom of ancient men but is the voice of God.” (John MacArthur)
Is God still speaking today? Does He speak by ‘prophets’, apostles, those with special gifts? Does He speak through the Bible via the Holy Ghost?
2 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;
These ‘last days’ began while Christ was still on the Earth.
The clearest evidence of Jesus’ position as a full Member of the Godhead is given in these early verses, as we see who Jesus is, all He accomplished, and all that will be His. (The Teacher’s Commentary)
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Sonship entails heirship. Therefore the author supplements the son’s communicative superiority to the prophets with the superiority of God’s, having put his son in the position of an heir, such as the prophets were not. (Roberty L. Gundry)
“God’s full, perfect revelation awaited the coming of His Son. God, who used to speak in many different ways through many different people, has finally spoken in one way, through one Person, His Son Jesus Christ.
The whole New Testament is centered around Christ. The gospels tell His story, the epistles comment on it, and the Revelation tells of its culmination. From beginning to end the New Testament is Christ. No prophet had been given God’s whole truth. The Old Testament was given to many men, in bits and pieces and fragments. Jesus not only brought, but was, God’s full and final Revelation.” (John MacArthur)
Luke 20:13 Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. 14 But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.
When Christ comes to earth again, He will completely and eternally inherit all things. And, wonder of wonders, because we have trusted in Him, we are to be “fellow heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:16-17). When we enter into His eternal kingdom we will jointly possess all that He possesses. We will not be joint Christs or joint Lords, but we will be joint heirs. His marvelous inheritance will be ours as well. (John MacArthur)
It may be true that the universe was formed with reference to the glory of the Son of God, and that this world was brought into being in order to show his glory. (Barnes’ Notes)
John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Jesus Christ made the ‘worlds’; that is, the Universe…all the planets and all the stars…and anything and everything that is in existance outside of the Triune Godhead.
Jesus Christ is responsible not only for the physical earth; He is also responsible for creating time, space, energy, and matter. Christ created the whole universe and everything that makes it function, and He did it all without effort.
(end John MacArthur running quotes)