The words from the flight attendant always filled me with joy and happiness: “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Memphis International Airport.” My job required me to travel out of town a few times each year. While I was away, I experienced the words first penned in Francis Davison’s Poetical Rhapsody…
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“I know that’s what it says, but that is not what it means,” said my red-faced father to my maternal grandfather. Grandpa Smith had a second-grade education but loved God. I often saw him read the Bible and pray with tears streaming down his cheeks. He was also a died-in-the-wool…
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Many of us consider Hebrews 11 to be one of our favorite scriptural passages. This “Hall of Faith” inspires us to imitate the heroes of the faith in past ages. This is as it should be. God’s word is timeless and its lessons apply to God’s people in every age.…
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Paul uses the same basic arrangement in many of his letters. He first lays a doctrinal foundation, then gives practical exhortations based on that foundation. Hebrews conforms to this pattern. We have seen the doctrine: Christ surpasses angels (Heb. 1:4 – 2:18), Moses (Heb. 3:1 – 4:13), and Aaron (Heb.…
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This post will continue tracing Paul’s thoughts as he persuades the Hebrews to stay true to their profession of faith in Christ. They must not cling to the Temple-based worship instituted by Moses but embrace the word God had now spoken through his Son. Paul presents his arguments in a…
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Paul wants the Hebrew believers—and us—to know that Christianity excels Judaism. Our previous posts examined his two opening arguments: Christ excels the agents—angels (Heb. 1:4 – 2:18) and Moses (Heb. 3:1 – 4:13)—through whom God gave the law. This post will examine Paul’s next step as he argues that Christ…
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We are tracing Paul’s arguments in Hebrews that show how Christianity excels Judaism. We contend that Inmillennialism supports his reasoning well. This will hold true as he takes the next step: Christianity excels Judaism because Christ excels Moses (Heb. 3:1–4:13). Paul supports his argument in ways that affect our prophetic…
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We are exercising our prophetic model, inmillennialism, in Paul’s letter to the Hebrews. The apostle argues for the superiority of God’s revelation in the “last days” of the Mosaic age over others, especially the law. One reason is the superiority of Christ as the agent through whom God gave the…
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Paul shows the superiority of the Messianic covenant to the Mosaic in Heb. 1:4 – 2:18. He does so by comparing the agents through which God established the covenants. The Mosaic covenant—also called “the law”—came with a prominent display of angelic ministry. Israel “received the law by the disposition of…
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We have completed the inmillennial prophetic model. Future posts will add other details, but the basic structure is now available to help us interpret Scripture. We will begin doing so with a series of posts dealing with the letter to the Hebrews. The identity of the author of Hebrews is…