Welcome to The Hebrews Bible Study!
Welcome to the Bible Study I’m hosting on the Book of Hebrews!
Every Tuesday of this summer, we’ll be looking at one chapter of Hebrews and pulling truths from each.
Here’s how it’s going to work:
You’re going to read one chapter of Hebrews every week, which I’ll link to at the beginning of each post. There, it’ll be easily accessible and you can easily click back over here.
I’ll write a study guide for that chapter every Tuesday on my blog, the two aligning.
At the end of each study’s post, I’ll have a series of questions that you can answer in your head, in a notebook, or in the comment section. Or social media. That totally works too.
I’m hoping this’ll be fun, insightful, and challenging!
What’s the point of all this? I believe that the Bible is something to be enjoyed – not in an entertainment aspect alone, but as a way of soaking up truth. Learning things that directly pertain to the Christian life. Growing in our faith day by day.
That, friends, is something to relish.
You’re welcome to jump in at any time and join us. You don’t have to have read each previous study to read the current one, for they’ll be somewhat independent of one another. However, reading from the beginning, of course, will be beneficial. At the beginning of each study, you’ll be able to click on previous ones.
So please, grab a cup of coffee or tea, a favorite quiet spot, and discover truth with me. Let your mind unwind and prepare to read truth!
An Introduction to Hebrews
If you hadn’t seen from previous blog posts, comments, or tweets, I adore the book of Hebrews in the Bible.
Why? Because some of the most imperative truths in the Bible are contained in this book. It covers practically everything: from the Creation of the universe to Old Testament Law, High Priests and blood sacrifices, prophecy, Jesus, and what grace looks like for us now. What could be better?
While reading through this book for the past two weeks, I noticed patterns and revelations, and things that I’d never noticed before. So why not share everything I’ve learned?
Before we start, it’s vital to take some background into consideration.
1) This book is written to Jewish (Hebrew) Christians. What does that mean for us? It means that as we read it’s important to keep in mind that this book wasn’t written for us Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians, it’s a progression for the Jewish believers that had followed God’s laws for thousands of years.
They knew of all the prophecies about Jesus, and here He was. Some were wondering who the heck He was, and if His claims were true. Was He really their long-awaited Messiah?
Others were piecing together the prophecies with the events and saying, whoa, this guy REALLY is who we’ve been waiting for! This is incredible! And that’s exactly how it was supposed to be.
Hebrews confirms for the Jewish Christians that yes, Jesus really was the Promised One. He really was the real deal. And He was not a disappointment in any way, as so many had thought because He never physically conquered their oppressors.
2) When we see reference to Old Testament Law (the Ten Commandments, Sabbaths, Priests, sacrifices, etc.), they’re referenced in a way that shows they point to Jesus.
In short, these laws written here, straight from the Old Testament, do not apply to us anymore.
Before you get all up in arms, defending why the law is important, think about why the law was given.
*It was given to govern; namely, keep a covenant with the Hebrew people and God, and define morality.
*It was given to show the people their sin; because God knew we could never keep His laws perfectly because of our sin natures, He used it to show that no one is righteous, and therefore, we need a solution.
Jesus was that solution. And the Old Covenant has been replaced with a new one.
Which one is that? The covenant of grace. This is why I talk about grace so often as opposed to “why we should be honest” or “why we should rest on Sundays” or “why coveting is wrong.”
It’s not because I don’t believe those things are right; OF COURSE THEY ARE! But now, our focus is on so much more than just obedience – it’s on faith. Believing in Jesus, that HE was our once-and-for-all sacrifice.
Obeying the Ten Commandments isn’t where it stops anymore. The emphasis is no longer on how we can measure up to God’s standards, but on how Jesus measured up for us.
So many people teach the Old Testament as “we must obey every commandment given in the Old Testament,” whereas it should be taught now as what we now see as pointing to Jesus, and not our morality.
Let’s Get Started!
Now that we’ve gotten through the introduction, I’d like for us to hop into Hebrews 1. If you’ve got a Bible, feel free to pull it out, or just click on this link right here.
Did you read it? Great. Me too. (No, seriously, if you didn’t just read it, go ahead and do it now. I’ll wait.)
Let’s go for real now.
While I could do a verse-by-verse interpretation, plenty of other people do that, and I’m not planning on doing it. However, I’d like to pull some important points out of the chapter.
Number One:
Jesus really is God. The exact representation of His being. (Hebrews 1:3) He’s not an angel. Not a “good moral teacher.” Not a human who pretended to know what He was doing.
For some, that’s almost impossible to grasp. How could a man be God? How could God be a man?
Let’s not let the “how” perplex us. If we believe that God is all-powerful, what would stop Him from coming to our level in order to save us?
Additionally, here’s something to wrap our brains around: we were made in the image of God, and God (Jesus) came from Heaven in the image of man. If Jesus is the exact representation of God, and also appeared human to us (who were made in the image of God), it’s absolutely reasonable that Jesus was unquestionably God. There’s no debate over its impossibility if we believe this.
I don’t know about you, but that totally blows my mind.
Number Two:
Through Jesus, God made the universe. (Hebrews 1:2)
This confirms creation, it confirms Jesus’ power, and it confirms His place in the Trinity.
Jesus is no “meek and mild wimp” Son of God. He holds just as much power and say as God the Father does.
He knew what would happen to the world He was creating.
He knew all about the sin that would pollute creation.
He knew He’d come to earth to die an underserved death, and He did it willingly.
Number Three:
Jesus is eternal. (Hebrews 1:8-12) His death on earth did not affect His Kingship.
Because God is an eternal Being, His death was the only one ever that could overpower sin. Because God is holy and sinless, His death was the perfect sacrifice.
The eternity of God directly pertains to the significance of salvation: Because He rules in Heaven (and later on earth) for all eternity, His life and death on earth was only a bridge for what is to come.
Because God lives forever, He is eternally significant. He is forever our Ruler. Forever our Savior. Forever the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Forever the only thing that gives our lives true significance.
Recap:
*Jesus really is God.
*Through Jesus, the universe was made.
*Jesus is eternal, and therefore our only true King.
In short? Jesus changes everything.
Questions of the Week:
- Which point stood out to you the most, and why?
- Had you ever thought about us being under a new covenant, the covenant of grace?
- What was your favorite verse from today’s chapter?
Scattered Journal Pages 
Amanda! Thank you for fighting for a right division of the Word of God! How He wants so much for us to see with precision and with a “1080 HD” clarity who The Lord Jesus Christ truly is. May He abundantly bless you for your love and devotion to Him and underscoring JESUS as very man, and very GOD. For me, Verse 3 of chapter 1 sets JESUS apart from all others. This verse reminds me so much of John chapter 1. He is the only begotten Son of God, He bore all our sin, and if we want to see God clearly we will see Him in Jesus through a study in Hebrews. I can not wait for Tuesday’s this summer!
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Thank you for so much encouragement! The more I read, and the more I write, the clearer Jesus becomes to me, and it just makes me want to share it with others.
I love that verse too! It’s great. ❤
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Man Amanda. You need to write like a bible study guide for like every book of the Bible. This was awesome and I will be doing this for sure. I will look forward to Tuesday’s!!!!!
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Eep! Hannah. You’re so nice. ❤ Thank you thank you thank you! I'm excited to do this!
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Your welcome! Tomorrow I will start Hebrews….. I think I might have done it once with my youth group but it wouldn’t hurt to read again 🙂
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Wow, great post Amanda! My dad just finished going through Hebrews at our church so this couldn’t have been more perfect timing! I also love Hebrews and can’t wait to hear more from this book!
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That’s so amazing, Ashley! (And high fives for being pastor’s kids! ;)) I love perfect timing like this. Thank you so much for joining me, my friend! ❤
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This is truly a well put together post. Thank you for putting effort into this and working hard to share your thoughts about Hebrews chapter one. I look forward to reading the coming posts, keep it up!
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Thank you so much, Zachary! I appreciate the encouragement so much. Thanks for joining me; I’m so excited to see where this goes. God bless!
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This is great Amanda! I can’t wait for the next Tuesday. (and the next, and the next. 😉 )
I love the first couple of verses about Jesus. It is amazing to think “he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (verse 3)!!!
Looking forward to chapter 2! God bless! 🙂
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Thanks a bunch, Sarah Grace! *hugs*
Aren’t those first verses incredible? They’re my personal favorite too. It’s amazing to see such poetic, amazing words be 100% truth. 😀 Wow!
Thank you for commenting! It seriously means so much.
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Okay first off girl your devotional writing is something I aspire to. Way to go! 🙂
ALSO SO EXCITED FOR THE STUDY EEP. I totally agree with what you said about Hebrews being written to Jewish Christians. *nodnod* (Which…. I could list the other things I agree with but then the whole post would be down here. XD)
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EEP thank you ever so much. You’re too kind!
Haha, THANK YOU! Yeah, that’s so important to remember. A lot of people teach OT Law – written to Jews, not the rest of us – as what we have to live by. But no! We live by grace! *tiptoes off soapbox*
Ahem. If you couldn’t tell…that’s kinda important to me. xD But seriously, thank you for all that encouragement. It really helps! 😀
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Wow! Bold stuff, young lady! I’ve always loved Hebrews. Jesus changes everything! You are absolutely right! I’m not convinced all Christians really get that. It’s a huge challenge to our brains which think we still have do something to help God save us. We also have to remind ourselves that we live under a New Covenant law of love because it’s more comfortable to have it spelled out for us on stone tablets! 👍
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Thank you! 😀
I’ve only recently started digging into Hebrews and have enjoyed it SO much.
I totally agree with you there! So many people think salvation is Jesus + Our Good Deeds, when really, JESUS IS ENOUGH. 😀 Thank you so much for your comment!
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I’m so excited to join your bible study. It’s been a while since I was in a group study.
What stood out for me is vs. 1-2, on how God speaks to us. He spoke through prophets to the “fathers”, but to us, he speaks through Jesus. Many times Christians run around listening to all kinds of pastors and so called prophets, but we must remember that God, speaks to us through Jesus. The word of God should be our number one source of information, and we cannot stray from that. Just because someone is a good speaker or pastor, doesn’t mean we should listen to them without consulting back to God’s word. Without looking at what Jesus says, we might be tempted to just believe anything!
I have often thought about grace and faith here lately as I grow spiritually. I used to attend a church that always condemned sin all the time, to the point where it made you want to try and be perfect. While yes, sin is a horrible thing to have in your life, you should feel able to pray or tell someone about it, with out fear of being condemned by fellow church members. It took me several years to not try and serve God through works but through faith.
My favorite verse is verse 2. He, God, spoke words to me through Jesus, and He wrote the words, not man.
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Thank you so much for joining! It’s so great to have you. 😀
I love those verses too. We always have to remember where our teaching should come from – The Bible! – and not from humans alone. You’re so right on!
That must’ve been really hard. We should never have to fear being condemned, for God does not condemn us, and nor should we others! Grace is so amazing, because It says “I love you, even in the midst of your imperfection!”
Welcome to Scattered Journal Pages, and thanks for commenting! It’s so wonderful to meet you! 😉
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Nice to meet you too!
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I’ve always found the Book of Hebrews to be one of the most interesting books of the Bible, it also seems very Old Testament like.
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I enjoy it as well, and partially for this reason. It amazes me how well it ties the Old and New Testament together.
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Very true, you have a great blog. My blog is also a Christian one, and so I love going around wordpress and seeing other Christian blogs. Nice stuff.
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I appreciate that! I’ll be sure to check yours out as well; thanks for taking the time to stop by mine.
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Thanks so much for checking mines out!
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