Introduction to the letter to the Hebrews

The Book of Hebrews is the most challenging book of the New Testament. Although it is considered a letter, it looks more like a sermon and a series of exhortations. In most of the New Testament letters, the authors would identify themselves at the onset of the letters, but this feature is not seen in this book. The only semblance to a New Testament letter is in the conclusion where the author sent his personal greetings and his invocation of grace. Hebrews is one of the most important books in the Bible because it seeks to unify the Old and New Testaments. Through the Book of Hebrews we see how the sacrificial system of the Old Covenant finds its fruition in the life and death of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. The main theme of Hebrews is about the supremacy of Christ.

Down through history, different people had been proposed as the possible author of this letter. However, no one could pinpoint quite conclusively to one particular author. The wide selections of possible author of Hebrews include Peter, Paul, Luke, Barnabas, Apollos, Aquila and Priscilla, Timothy, Philip and even Silvanus. Some theologians attribute this book to Paul, but in reality no one knows exactly who wrote it. Origen, one of the early church fathers wisely said that God alone knows who wrote this epistle. Not knowing exactly who the author was should not be the reason to deny its canonicity. For the authors of some of the Old Testament books such as, Judges, Samuel, Kings and Chronicles were also unknown. Just as those books were accepted as canonical, so also should the canonicity of the Epistle to the Hebrews be without doubt. However, from Hebrews 6:9-10, we can tell that the author was known to the recipients.

When exactly was this letter written? Many believed that this letter was written before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. Why? It is inconceivable for the author not to mention the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple to substantiate his argument if indeed they were destroyed. Furthermore, in Hebrews 9:6-13 and 13:10, the temple rituals were referred to in the present tense implying that the rituals were still being practiced during his time.

As the title of the letter suggests, it was written to a group of Jewish Christians. These Jews were converted during the time when their community was hostile towards Christianity. Despite the tremendous opposition to their new found faith they stood firm and suffered the persecution. But with the passing of time they became weary and found it hard to cope with the demand of the faith. And the constant antagonism to their new faith soon wore them down and many returned to their old practices of Judaism. But there were yet others who were tottering and contemplating whether to emulate those who had deflected. Hence, this letter was sent to them to address the crisis that they were facing. The author was essentially making an appeal to them to stay true to their new found belief.

We can learn from the experience of the Hebrew believers and avoid the pitfalls that also confront us today. This book will help us see the superiority of Christ and stay confident in our walk with Him.

2 Peter 3:17-18 – Maximize living

In these two verses, Peter concluded by summarizing what he had said, before rounding up with a doxology. Here, his thoughts were compressed so that we, his readers can be redirected to live our lives to the glory of God. We are to be on guard since we are now warned and are aware of the activities of false teachers and their erroneous teachings. We must not be misled by the errors of those unprincipled men, and be led to lose our steadfastness in Christ.

While shunning the negative was needful, the building of the positive was equally important. Thus Peter tells us believers to keep on growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We can do this by relying on His power and promises that he shared in the opening chapter of 2 Peter. We believers should also add to this grace, knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We should build on the relationship and get to know Him more intimately. While actively removing all the hindrances, we should diligently foster conditions that would ensure growth. While living for Christ’s glory here on earth, believers must also focus on the day of eternity, the time when our lives will be lived perpetually on a new plane.

Consistency is an important element if we are to experience a triumphant life. Let us learn to depend on the Lord and the grace He will supply for every experience. Yes, there will be difficult experiences that will baffle us, but we can be sure that God is still reigning and He is in control. Recently, my son reminded me of what Steven Curtis Chapman said in his song:

This is not how it should be, this is not how it could be

But this is how it is, and our God is in control

This is not how it will be, when we finally will see

We’ll see with our own eyes, He was always in control

And we sing holy, holy, holy is our God

And we will finally really understand what it means

And we sing holy, holy, holy is our God

While we’re waiting for that day

This is not where we planned to be, when we started this journey

But this is where we are, and our God is in control

Though the first taste is bitter, there will be sweetness forever

When we finally taste and see, that our God is in control

And we sing holy, holy, holy is our God

And we will finally really understand what it means

And we sing holy, holy, holy is our God

While we’re waiting for that day

We’re waiting for that day, we’ll keep on waiting for that day

And we will rise, our God is in control!

2 Peter 3:11-16 – Godly living

In the light of the impending judgment, Peter’s concern was on how believers ought to live their lives. He called on them to aim at cultivating holy behavior and doing godly deeds. He wanted them to have a life set apart unto God and separated from sin. Furthermore, believers should look forward to Christ’s Second Coming and hasten it.

The word “hastening” in verse 12 had been taken by some to mean “earnestly desiring”. In other words, they see this as Peter asking believers to earnestly desire the return of the Lord. However, there are also some others who take this to mean that believers by praying and actively preaching and reaching the world could hasten the Lord’s return.

In the phrase, “the day of God”, Peter was probably referring to a time in the future when God’s ultimate rule will be firmly established. Hence, he said that on account of that day, the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements melt with intense heat. God promised that in place of the existing heavens and earth, new heavens and a new earth will be created. The latter will be where righteousness shall prevail. Peter said all these to motivate believers to live right.

In verse 14, the connective “Therefore” looks back to all that he had said. Peter was not looking back to the heavens and the new earth where righteousness dwells. He was making a reference to all that he had been talking about from verses 10-13. The intention of this admonition was clear. It was calculated at stirring believers to work diligently to be at peace with God. They should also strive to be spotless, meaning free from any form of defect, as well as being blameless i.e. giving no justifiable cause for reproach. 

In verse 15, Peter returned to re-emphasize on the Lord’s patience and salvation, which he had dealt with in verse 9. The two-fold purpose of God in His patience is implied. Christ’s delay is to give time so that all unbelievers may repent and be saved, and that all believers may go through the process of sanctification. Here, he also borrowed Paul’s teaching to add weight to what he had said. Paul also had taught on the importance of living right in the light of Christ’s Second Coming. Paul spoke and taught with the wisdom given Him by God in all of his letters. 

Here, Peter concurred that some of the things Paul had taught were also hard to understand and accept. Hence, the false teachers being uninitiated, unschooled and unstable in these truths, had twisted and distorted them. Peter said that they did not just distort these eschatological issues but all the rest of Scriptures too. All these they did to their own peril and destruction. These false teachers did not realize that in their attempts to destroy sound teachings, they were also destroying themselves.

No wonder Paul tells us to be circumspect in life, to live as wise and not as fools. We are urged to understand what the will of God is, and to redeem every opportunity because we live in evil days. Let us live to please God!

2 Peter 3:7-10 – The certainty of a final judgment

In verse 7, Peter revealed that God had already foretold that the heavens, earth and all ungodly men were earmarked for judgment in future. And God will use fire to judge them. This, he maintained was the foreseeable and predictable destiny of the heavens, the earth and the ungodly.

Peter pointed out that believers should not be like the false teachers, who ignored the fact of the impending judgment. God is consistent and whatever He has promised He would definitely do. He never forgets! Even if a thousand years had passed, what He had pledged to do He will ultimately do it.

However, he explained that the delay in the fulfillment of Christ’s promised return does not negate what God had earlier said He would do. It is just that God is displaying His patience. He is giving time and opportunity for everyone to repent and be saved. In His goodness, God has no desire for any to perish but that all should repent and come into His saving knowledge. In verse 10, Peter used the phrase “the day of the Lord” to refer to Christ’s Second Coming. And that day, he warned, will appear like a thief, meaning suddenly and unexpectedly.

The word “heavens” in these verses refers to “the first heaven”, the immediate atmosphere surrounding the earth and the "second heaven", where the stars and the planets hang. It is not referring to the dwelling place of God. The “elements” would be the material building blocks of the physical realm e.g. atoms, molecules, etc. All these, Peter said, will be destroyed with intense heat and will all be burned up.

As concern believers, we must seize every opportunity to present Christ. God’s patience and forbearance is still holding up and He is still saving mankind. The Holy Spirit is still at work and we must. This is what the Lord says, “Work while it is yet day. Night will soon come where no man can work.” Since we are still living in the day light of God’s revelation, we must not let any opportunity go to waste. 

Like Paul, “We must proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also we must (I) labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within us (me).”  (Colossians 1:28-29 – words in bold italics are mine insertion)

2 Peter 3:3-6 – Features of the last days

In referring to “the last days”, Peter was talking about the period between the First and Second Coming of Christ. Here he tells us what would take place during this period. Peter maintained that there would be the presence of false teachers going about busily propagating their harmful teachings and activities. They were referred to as mockers and their teachings as mocking. In other words they were scorners, who scoffed at the truth by showing disdain for them. Besides, their teaching also followed the dictates of their lust, meaning their lifestyle were indulgent and sinful.

The rhetorical question, “Where is the promise of His coming?” was a sarcasm that scoffed at the teaching concerning Christ’s Second Coming. In that, they were insinuating that Christ would never come again, causing them to live licentiously. To support their falsehood, the false teachers claimed that since the passing of the patriarchs, everything had been much the same. They insisted that since the dawn of creation nothing had really changed.

To dispel this false notion, Peter used the history of creation and the great flood in Noah’s day to refute their errors. He pointed out that they had deliberately chosen to disregard truth. Not as they had suggested, Peter insisted, things did not remain unchanged. For God, Who created the world out of the waters and sustained it with the same water, afterward used the great deluge to judge and destroy it. For when sin became prevalent, God dealt with it by sending a flood.

The point of Peter is this: the false teachers had deliberately ignored the explicit teachings of the Old Testament. God created a moral universe and would not let sin go unpunished. Because of sin, He had destroyed it with a flood in the past. For the same reason, God will again judge it in the future at Christ’s Second Coming. With that Peter warned them of the future judgment. 

We need to live discerningly and not gullibly. Events that we see happening seem to affirm that the Christ’s Second Coming is looming. Let’s brace up and be ready! Let’s look up as we anticipate that His return won’t be long!   

2 Peter 3:1-2 – God’s Word is important

Peter once again reinforced by telling the believers that this letter was the second time he was writing to them. Immediately he made known his purpose for writing. He said that he wanted to stir up their sincere mind by reminding them of the truth. By the word “sincere” Peter meant wholesome. In other words, his intention was to stimulate them to wholesome thinking. Essentially, Peter was exhorting them not to be gullible and be misled by the false teachings.

Here in verse 2, he placed the words of the apostles on par with that of the Old Testament prophets. Both sets of teachings, he asserted, share God’s authority. The “commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles” refers to the same thing he said in 2 Peter 2:21. Peter called it holy commandment that contains the way of righteousness because they were prescriptions for ethical and godly lifestyle.

However, we can also sense Peter’s concern for the eschatological expectation in the light of the return of Christ. Peter knew that in not believing in the Second Coming of Christ and the impending judgment, believers could be lured into a life of indifference. Hence, he felt the urgency and need to deal with these matters. 

There is an unflattering inference in these verses that we can be a forgetful people, and we sometimes truly are. We can be so caught up in the thick of mundane things and become so intoxicated by them, till we lose sight of the more critical things of life. How needful it is to get back to the essential truth of the Lord, taught through the apostles. 

How can one expect to grow in the spiritual dimension without spending time in the Scriptures? Spending time in knowing the Word of God can save us untold hours of undoing the wrong we unknowingly embrace in our life. It’s a good practice to read the Bible in a quiet and unhurried way. In fact it should be our daily exercise. In so doing, we will be informed about our faith, which is the first step to being transformed. We cannot become what we do not know, for we can only act on what we know. Many would spend countless hours acquiring or improving professional skills but would come to the Word of God and read it cursorily and skimpily. While we give due diligence to our profession we must not neglect the all-important Word of God!

2 Peter 2:20-22 – The ultimate end of false teachers

In three verses, Peter dealt with the ultimate doom of these false teachers. He did it to warn his readers of the dire consequence of following their instruction. The pronoun “they” in verse 20 refers to the false teachers, the main target of Peter. He was talking about this group of people whom he was warning the Christians about.

Peter was talking about those false teachers who professed to be Christians. They had once heard the Gospel preached and totally understood the teaching that Jesus Christ is both Lord and Savior. Because they understood the implication of the Gospel, they had in a sense escaped the defilements of the world. However, they now rejected it. They had chosen not to embrace the deliverance afforded to them. In their first state, they were eternally condemned because they had not heard the Gospel, but now their “last" and backslidden was worst. Why? Because they have heard the Gospel, and could have escaped eternal damnation yet they now chose to reject the Gospel. This rejection hardened their hearts and made it harder for them to respond to God’s grace again.

In verse 21, the word "them" again refers to the false teachers. Peter said that it would have been better for them never to know about the "way of righteousness" than to know it, only to reject it. While ignorance is bad, disobedience is worst.

Finally, in verse 22, Peter compared the false teachers to dogs and swine. He was saying here that a person’s practice betrays his nature. Dogs would often return to their own vomits; so also would pigs return to the filth. Peter’s implication is this: Just as dogs naturally would return to their vomits and pigs to their filth, these false teachers’ natural tendency would be to their flaws and sin.

The impending condemnation of the false teachers serves as a warning for us not to follow in their foot-steps. Let’s bear in mind that to remain ignorant is bad but to disobey is worst. In bringing up the illustrations of the dog and the pig, Peter brings our mind back to what the Lord Himself had said in Matthew 7:6. ‘Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs.’ Hence we must be careful not to listen and follow false teachings. We must understand and be firmly rooted in the Word of God which alone can purify and renew the mind.