Hebrews One Summary

In Hebrews one, we find that in the past God spoke to the ancestors many times and in many ways through the prophets. The ancestors, where those of the author and his audience. Right away, the author identifies himself with his audience. Throughout his sermon he will use the personal pronouns, we1Heb. 2:1,3,5,8,9; 3:6,14,19; 4:3,13,14,15,16; 5:11; 6:3,9,11,18,19; 7:19; 8:1; 9:5; 10:10,26,30,39; 11:3; 12:1,9,10,25,28; 13:6,10,14,18
and “us”2Heb. 1:2; 2:3; 4:1,2,11,14,16; 6:1,18,20; 7:26; 9:12,24; 10:15,20,22,23,24; 11:40; 12:1,9,10,28; 13:13,15,18. The writer and his audience are both first century Jews. The author goes on to say that “in these last days” God has spoken to “us” (the first century Jewish nation) through his Son3Jesus, who is the Christ.. The author wants his audience to know that God’s most recent revelation had come through His own Son. It is important to take note of the phrase “in these last days.” In the Greek, the phrase is “at the last of these days”4Word Studies in the New Testament (M. R. Vincent). Hebrews 1:2 The writer, like all Jews of his day5The Jews of the interbiblical period saw two ages: the current evil age of rebellion and sin (starting at Genesis 3) and the coming age of righteousness inaugurated by the coming of the Messiah in the power of the Spirit. The OT emphasizes the coming of the Messiah in judgment and power to establish the new age. Dr. Bob Utley. HEBREWS 1. http://www.freebiblecommentary.org/new_testament_studies/VOL10/VOL10_01.html, sees the history of the world as falling into two great periods. The first he calls “these days” (Heb. 1:2), and “the present season” (9:9). The second he refers to as “the time of reformation” (9:10), which is “the world to come” (2:5); “the age to come” (6:5), “the city to come” (13:14). The first period is the period of the old covenant. The writer says that he is in the last days of this period. The second period is the time when the new covenant is implement. This is “the age to come.” The second period does not begin with Christ’s first appearing. His appearing and public ministry are at the end of the first period but still within it. The dividing-point between the two periods is “the end of the world”6The word “world” here is the Greek aiōn meaning “age.” or literally “the consummation of the age” (9:26).7Word Studies in the New Testament (M. R. Vincent). Hebrews 1:2 This does not mean the same thing as at “the last of these days” in 1:2. This  is the end of the first period denoted by these days, but the conclusion of the first and the beginning of the second period, at which Christ appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. This is the end of the καιρὸς ἐνεστηκώς the present season: this is the limit of the validity of the old sacrificial offerings: this is the inauguration of the time of reformation. The phrase ἐπ’ ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν τούτων therefore signifies, in the last days of the first period, when Christ was speaking on earth, and before his crucifixion, which marked the beginning of the second period, the better age of the new covenant.

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