"After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth."~Genesis 8:6-11

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Hebrews

While conjecture is involved in determining the authorship and original readership of the letter to the Hebrews, I have presumed it to be written by Barnabas to Roman Jewish Christians.  It was written c. 64-68AD when Nero was emperor.  Nero was an extreme mad-man.  During his reign, a great fire in Rome in 64AD destroyed much of the city.  While it is widely believed that Nero started the fire for his own amusement, he accused the Christians, conducted mass arrests, and had many burnt alive.  The Roman public had already been suspicious of Christian morals, and Nero's organized persecution resulted in a legal precedent enabling the pursuit of Christian persecution.  Thus, the Jewish Christians in Rome had the tempting option of returning to their Jewish roots to escape this persecution.  If salvation could be found in following the Law, why not return to it?  The author saw the Jewish Christians' great need for encouragement to remain steadfast in Christ alone (Stephanie Armbruster, 2010).

 "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." -Hebrews 4:16

 OBSERVATION

What should lead the original reader to have confidence?
Christ has been tempted as they have, yet is without sin, and he is their high priest.
What should they do with that confidence?
They should draw near to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

INTERPRETATION
Why would this be a shocking suggestion to the original reader?
They are Jewish, and drawing near to the throne of grace used to only happen once a year by the high priest, and he would need to purify himself first, and then (just in case he was somehow unclean in a way the people did not know about) they died a rope around his ankles so that, if he dropped dead, they would be able to pull him out.
What does this tell the original reader of Jesus’ power? 
That it is mighty enough to negate the need for all of that hullabaloo in order to approach God.  They can approach God with confidence now, because of Christ and what he has done.

TIMELESS TRUTH 
We can come before God with confidence to receive mercy and grace because of what Christ has done.
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