Hebrews Intro and Chapters 1-2 Jesus is Better!

WBS Hebrews Introduction & Chapters 1-2

You are about to start a study of Hebrews. Please take the time to read through the whole book. Repetitive reading is key. We will be reading 2 to 3 chapters each week. I encourage you to read through each weeks chapters of study at least 3 times, keeping in mind the back ground information we learned in the introduction questions. 

Introduction Questions

Reading the envelope: We will go over these questions together so you don’t have to fill these in unless you want to. This info can be found in most study Bibles.

1. Who wrote the Book of Hebrews? No one really knows. However, there are some things that we know about him.

1. He knows his audience well and has a close connection with them.

2. He knows Jewish religious customs and is very familiar with the Old Testament. 
3. He is concerned foe these new Jewish Christians.

2. When was it written? Not exactly know.

However it could be written between 67-69 AD. We know this because of:

1. There is no mention of the destruction of the temple in 70AD

3. To whom was it written? Not known. However we know :

1. They were Jewish Christians who neither heard nor seen Jesus, but heard through those 
    before them. 
2. They were in danger of going back to Judaism. 
3. They were being persecuted because of their new found faith (Jesus is the Messiah). Yet, 
    their persecution is not yet unto death. 
    These people are being persecuted not just by the Romans but also by their own family 
    and community. Judaism was "legal" but this new  Christianity was not. So one way out to this pressure would have been for them to just go back to their old ways. The author is admonishing them to stay the course. How many of us today can relate? 

4. In what style was it written? (example: was it a psalm, letter, narrative etc…) A letter/ epistle 

5. What is the central theme of the book?
1. Jesus Christ has preeminence, He is sufficient, enough, better than...
   Superior to Moses, Angels, Joshua, Abraham, He is a better covenant, and preisthood.

Read chapters 1-2

Focus on Chapter 1

6. The writer of Hebrews wastes no time in getting to his point he wants his hearers to 

    understand in verse 1-4. 

    Write in the space below everything you learn about Christ in these first four verses. 

Who He Is		What He Does/ Has Done
God in the flesh		Creator of everything
Heir of all things		Sustains all He creates
Creator of all things		took away our sins
Better than the angels		has all power-majesty
Better than the law
Name is greater

7. In Chapter 1:2a what time period do you think the author was noting with the phrase “in 

    these last days”? That space between when Christ came and died until He comes again. It may seem to us in our limited understanding of time that it's a long time... but it is the last time. 

8. Why do you think the author compares Christ to Angels? Because the Jews Worshiped them and understood that it was the angels the brought the Law to Moses. He makes the point that who the angels are and what they did are not superior to Christ. 

9. So, in this first chapter we see Jesus Christ is better than: 

    #1 The Prophets (verses 1-2)        #2 ______Angels_________ (verses 5-14)

Focus on Chapter 2

10. What is “the message declared by angels” referenced in 2:2? Look up the following verses 

     to help with your answer? Deuteronomy 33:2, Acts 7:53 , Galatians 3:19 

It was the Law

11. apply: In 2:1a, there is a warning to not drift away. In what ways are modern believers prone to drift away or neglect the truth we know? What regular practices might help us “pay much closer attention to what we have heard? It says neglect, not reject which implies  having something to begin with. So one way to neglect something is to do nothing about it. Just let life happen and it will be neglected. Not praying, reading our Bibles, not staying in community with other believers... etc...being busy with life can cause us to neglect our salvation. 

12. In 2:5-8, when you read this think about what the original hearers were going through. Now 

      think about what it is like in our world today. Does it seem like everything is “under His 

      feet”?It doesn't look a lot of times that everything is under His Feet. This is because of the way our world is... They must have felt the same way. ( That he has total  subjugation of His enemies). But He does!!! 

13. In 2:5-9  the author quoted and discussed Psalm 8:4-6, the section of the psalm describing 

      humanity. Why do you think the author of Hebrews applied this psalm to Jesus in 

      particular? What did he want us to understand? Compare Hebrews 2:9 to 1 Corinthians 

      15:22 to help with your answer. 

He was human and understands our weaknesses. 

16. Who does God help in 2:16?

Humans

If some of these questions seem difficult, no worries. We will go through them together when we meet via Zoom.