A Study Of The Apostle Paul’s Letter To The Hebrews

Don’t fall away! Don’t Depart! Don’t neglect your salvation! Don’t cast away your confidence! Don’t harden your heart! Don’t drift away! AStudyOf TheApostlePaul’s LetterTo The Hebrews How can we neglect so greata salvation? ~ Hebrews 2:3

Hebrews: Christ Is Superior! Superior Person (1:1—4:13) Superior to Prophets (1:1-3) Superior to Angels (1:4—2:18) Superior to Moses (3:1-19) Superior to Joshua (4:1-13) Superior Priest (4:14—7:28) Superior to Aaron (4:14—6:12) Superior to Melchizedek (6:13—7:10) Superior to Levi (7:11-28)

Hebrews: Christ Is Superior! Superior Pact to Moses’ (8:1—10:18) Superior Promises (8:1-13) Superior Sanctuary (9:1-15) Superior Sacrifice (9:16-28) Superior Results (10:1-18) Superior Principle (Faith) to Moses’ (10:19—13:25) Superior Things (10:19-39) Superior Actions (11:1-40) Superior Relationship (12:1-29) Superior Way of Life (13:1-25)Today we’ll consider verses 1-8.

After presenting numerous examples of faithinchapter11, andafterpresenting many encouragements of faith in chap-ter 12, Paul concluded in chapter 13 by presentingsomeevidencesoffaith,evi-dences that God expected to exist in their lives if they were really walking by faith and not by sight. Another way to look at chapter 13 is that (as mentioned in our introduction to Hebrews)…   

After Paul demonstrated in chapter 12 that TheFaith-Principle of Christ Estab-lishes a Better Relationship with God than what was possible through Moses, he concluded in chapter 13 by demon-strating that The Faith-Principle of Christ Is Also the Basis for a Superior Way of Life than what was possible under Moses.

Hebrews 13:1  Let brotherly love continue.

The original term is philadelphia, from philia referring to fondness and adel-phia referring to siblings, literally those from the same womb; it’s trans-lated as brotherly kindness in Second Peter 1:7. So by this Paul was indicating at least two things… Let brotherly love continue.

1. They were expect-ed to act as siblings would act. And…    Let brotherly love continue.

You know… 2. They were brethren, people with the same parent; in this case, of course, that parent was God, im- plying that it was love among Chris- tians, not non- Christians, that Paul had in mind. Let brotherly love continue.

Even though siblings may fight, just let a non-sibling come between them, and watch what happens—one sibling will protect the other! In fact… This is the very reason I believe Paul usedphiliainstead ofagapehere; i.e., he wasn’t referring so much to how theytreatedeach other as much as to how they protectedeach other from outsid-ers (e.g. the Jews [and soon the Romans as well] who wanted to destroy Christianity, cf. 12:12-17).

The original term here means to sur-vive and is translat-ed as endure in First Peter 1:25. Speakingof loveand endurance… Let brotherly love continue.

Since Jesus prophesied of these dark days that the love of many will grow cold, but he who endures to the end shall be saved (Mat. 24:12b-13), Paul, as he concluded his letter, commanded them to work on keeping this fire alive. Paul later spoke of this to Timothy in, what we believe to be, his last letter penned in the mid 60’s. Notice that the only love some folks would have would be love for themselves:   

In thelast daysperilous times willcome: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blas-phemers, disobedient to parents, un-thankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, [and] lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (2 Tim. 3:1-4). So… While they would love themselves, they wouldn’t love others or even God.

Hebrews 13:2  Do not forget to entertain strang-ers, for by doing so some have un-wittingly enter-tained angels.

Now, moving from love for those fami-liar to them, Paul went on to include an admonition to show concern for those unfamiliar to them, viz. Christian brethren from other places. (Verses 1 and 3 are about Christians.) Do not forget to entertain strang-ers, for by doing so some have un-wittingly enter-tained angels.

In Galatians 6:10 Paul wrote, As we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially those … of the household of faith. In James 2:15-17 James wrote, If a brother or sister is … destitute … [and] you do not give them … the things that are needed for the body, what does it profit? And… In Matthew 25:34-40 Jesus said…  

Then the King will say to those on His right hand, “Come … inherit the kingdom pre-pared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in pri-son, and you came to Me.” Then the right-eous will [ask Him, “When did we do these things?”] And the King will answer, “… inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to Me.”

So I believe that Paul’s main point to these Hebrews concerned outpost brethren; i.e., in their time there were many itinerant preachers who needed places to stay (cf. 3 John 5-8), not to mention brethren who had been driven from their homes (as we talked about when we considered 10:33). Besides that, as Revelation 18 indicates, Jerusalem was a great trade city, so many Chris-tians were likely traveling through.

It’s very likely that Paul was thinking of Genesis 18 & 19 when Abe and Lot entertained angels without realizing it, at least at first. Do not forget to entertain strang-ers, for by doing so some have un-wittingly enter-tained angels.

During the time these Hebrews lived—the time when supernatural occur-rences were coming to an end yet still in existence (cf. 1 Cor. 13:8-13 & Eph. 4:7-13), there may very well have been a chance for those brethren to encounter angels unknowingly; after all, as we noticedwhenstudying1:14,angelshad a closer relationship to them than they do to us today. So, NO, …   

Even if those brethren could’ve literally entertained angels as Abe and Lot did, I don’t believe we ever do that today; although, however, we may obtain blessings from our visitors just as Abe and Lot did from theirs, which was pro-bably Paul’s main point. Incidentally… Although I believe this principle of hos-pitality applies today, I also believe the principle of Matthew 7:6 applies today:Do not … cast your pearls before swine … lest they turn and tear you in pieces; i.e., we must use good judgment.

Hebrews 13:3  Remember the prisoners as if chained with them and those who are mistreated, since youyourselvesare in [the] body also.

Common sense alone tells us that this command included more than just thinking about tor-mented and impris-oned Christians from time to time; i.e., it obviously in-cluded praying for them, as well as visiting them and taking things such as food and clothing to them if possible. Remember the prisoners as if chained with them and those who are mistreated, since youyourselvesare in [the] body also. This idea here is much like in James 1:27 where the term visit means more than just checking on someone.

By the way… By penning these two phrases, Paul was reminding them of their Savior’s teaching to treat others the way they would want to be treated if they were in their shoes (Mat. 7:12), in which, es-pecially at this time, they could very well have found them-selves! Remember the prisoners as if chained with them and those who are mistreated, since youyourselvesare in [the] body also.

I placed brackets around the definite article the here be-cause it isn’t in the original, meaning that Paul wasn’t referring to the church body, but to the physical body. Remember the prisoners as if chained with them and those who are mistreated, since youyourselvesare in [the] body also.

One reason I believe Paul had Christians in mind in this verse is because he said theprisoners; be-sides,theimmediate context (as well as the entire context of Hebrews) suggests that Paul was writ-ing about the en-couragement of per-secuted Christians. Remember the prisoners as if chained with them and those who are mistreated, since youyourselvesare in [the] body also.

Hebrews 13:4  Marriage is honor-ableamongalland the bed undefiled; but fornicators andadulterers God will judge (condemn).

Well… Although before studying this verse I believed it was sim-ply a declarative statement, I now believe it’s anim-perativestatement; i.e., I believe that the first part of this verse should read, Letmarriage be honorable among all, andletthe bed be undefiled. Why? Marriage is honor-ableamongalland the bed undefiled; but fornicators andadulterers God will judge.

1. Interlinears and most versions render it as a command. 2. This corresponds to the flow of the entire chapter that’s full of exhorta- tions to do this or that.

3.Every verse immediately surrounding this one indicates that it was also meant to be in the form of a command: Let brotherly love continue (v. 1), Don’t forget to entertain (v. 2), Remember the prisoners (v. 3), and Let your conduct be without covet- ousness (v. 5). And… 4. Before the word fornicators, Nestle’s text has the Greek wordgarwhich means for or because; i.e., let the marriage bed be undefiled because God will punish fornicators.

It has been suggest-ed that this clause was penned by Paul to counteract the mistaken belief by some (e.g. Origen and theEssenes)that celi-bacy was more hon-orable or holier than marriage; after all, Paul did tell Timothy that some people would come along and forbid marriage: Marriage is honor-ableamongalland the bed undefiled; but fornicators andadulterers God will judge.

In another last days passage from Paul to Timothy, he wrote that The Spirit ex-pressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons (cf. Heb. 13:9a), speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own consci-ence seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to bereceived… (1 Tim. 4:1-3a).

What’s the differ-ence between these two? Well, adultery is to commit any sexual act against a biblical marriage. Marriage is honor-ableamongalland the bed undefiled; but fornicators andadulterers God will judge.

Fornication is to commit any unlaw-fulsexualactperiod. So fornication is adultery, incest, homosexuality, pre-marital sex, besti-ality, etc., which is why the NKJV usu-ally translates the original term here as the sexually im-moral (cf.1Cor.5:10). Marriage is honor-ableamongalland the bed undefiled; but fornicators andadulterers God will judge.

Hebrews 13:5a  Let your conduct be without covet-ousness, and be content with such thingsasyouhave.

Although this word literally referred to the love of money (as in 1 Tim. 6:10), the word came to refer to a yearning for better circum-stances in general, which is obviously what Paul had in mind here for the following reasons:  Let your conduct be without covet-ousness, and be content with such thingsasyouhave.

1.The wordhave re-fers to that which presently sur- rounds someone, i.e. his current situation, which is reminiscent of Philippians 4:11 where Paul wrote, I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find my- self. Let your conduct be without covet-ousness, and be content with such thingsasyouhave.

2.IntheimmediatecontextPaulwrote of God helping them and never leaving them (vv. 5b-6) as well as the fact that they could find themselves mistreated and in prison (v. 3). And… 3. In the remote context—the entire letter, Paul had been encouraging them to press onward through whatever negative circumstances they foundthemselvesinforChrist’ssake. So…   

Since this simply means to live your lives, then Paul was in essence telling them to live your lives without yearn-ing for better physi-cal lives under Mos-es (at least what was left of it), because that would result in forfeiting better, spiritual, eternal lives under Christ with God. Now…  Let your conduct be without covet-ousness, and be content with such thingsasyouhave.

Why did Paul feel it necessary to give them this exhortation? Because the indication back in 10:33-34 was that some of these brethren had lost much for Christ; so Paul was probably en-couraging them here to not use up their time and energies trying to get back what they once had, especially at this point in time when things would likelyonlygetworse.Sowecouldpara-phrase it like this: Just be content, placing your lives in the hands of God.

Hebrews 13:5b-6 ForHeHimselfhas said,“I will never leave you nor for-sakeyou”(Deu.31: 5-8). Sowemay boldly say, “The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear! What can man do to me” (Ps. 118:6)?

Letmebeginhereby saying that in Eng-lish a double nega-tive equals a posi-tive; e.g., to say “He hasn’teatennothing” actually means that he has eaten some-thing. However, in Greek the opposite is the case; i.e., the more negatives, the greater the empha-sis. Now…    ForHeHimselfhas said,“I will never leave you nor for-sakeyou”(Deu.31: 5-8). Sowemay boldly say, “The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear! What can man do to me” (Ps. 118:6)?

In our translation of verse 5b, there’s only one negative— never, but in the original there are two negatives be-fore the word leave and three negatives before the word forsake. So what’s the significance? Well…    ForHeHimselfhas said,“I will never leave you nor for-sakeyou”(Deu.31: 5-8). Sowemay boldly say, “The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear! What can man do to me” (Ps. 118:6)?

A more literal trans-lation would have Godpromising—with strong emphasis— something along these lines: I will never, never leave you! I will never, never, never forsake you! By the way…  ForHeHimselfhas said,“I will never leave you nor for-sakeyou”(Deu.31: 5-8). Sowemay boldly say, “The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear! What can man do to me” (Ps. 118:6)?

The word forsake is very strong in the original, referring to leaving someone totally helpless or in dire straits. ForHeHimselfhas said,“I will never leave you nor for-sakeyou”(Deu.31: 5-8). Sowemay boldly say, “The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear! What can man do to me” (Ps. 118:6)?

The word boldly re-fers to courage; i.e., Paul was saying, So we—with courage—may say…. So…  ForHeHimselfhas said,“I will never leave you nor for-sakeyou”(Deu.31: 5-8). Sowemay boldly say, “The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear! What can man do to me” (Ps. 118:6)?

The whole point here is that, as long as they trusted in God, they needed no oneandnothingelse; i.e.,covetousness (which implies worry & anxiety) for better earthly/physical circumstances was detrimental and wholly unnecessary! Paul’s attitude was, as having nothing, yet possessing all things (2 Cor. 6:10). And…   

We might add to this the comforting promise of Romans 8:28: All things work together for good to those who love God (or to those who are faithful). Jesus said to His apostles, I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Mat. 28:20). And… I love the exclamation of Isaiah 12:2: God is my salvation! [So] I will trust [in Him] and not be afraid!

WhatawonderfulwayforPaultobegin closing his thoughts to these weary brethren! No matter what happened to them,theLordwouldnever,neverleavethem!TheycouldleaveHim (which is why this book was penned), but He would never, never, never forsake them!

Hebrews 13:7  Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the Word of God toyou,whosefaith follow, consider-ing the outcome of their conduct.

A Study Of The Apostle Paul’s Letter To The Hebrews