Page 104 - Hebrews- Student Textbook

Here Dana says that this verse implies that the letter was written to the Jewish faction of the church at
65
Rome. The first mention of the book of Hebrews was by Clement of Rome about A.D. 97. However, I
think it was sent to a Jewish synagogue (possibly in Rome) that had believers as members. The warnings
are directed to two groups, the believing Jewish group (the "you" of chapter 6), for them not to "shrink
back" (cf. 10:38) and to the unbelieving group (the "those" of chapter 6) to profess/confess Jesus as the
Messiah and for both groups to fully embrace Christianity.

15.4 Let’s Practice…

1. 13:3 "Remember the prisoners" Their imprisonment was not for evil deeds, but for
(cf. 1 Pet. 4:14-15).

2. What name is given to this Greek philosophical heretic teaching affecting the early church
which stated that the body was evil, and that to deny its wants and needs (including
marriage) showed a superior spirituality? .

3-4. The term "fornicators” in the OT means sexual relations between two unmarried people, but in the
NT it has the wider connotation of sexual immorality of . We get the English word “
" from this Greek term.

5. Based on this 13:5, money is bad for Christians. True or false?

6. According to Hebrews 13:5, Key to happiness is

7-11. What kind of sacrifice are Christians encouraged to offer to God in Chapter 13? Also list the five
types of sacrifices Isrealites offered to God?

15.5 Let’s Personalize this Lesson…

Activity: The recipients of Hebrews face a crisis of commitment. The author seems afraid that
some of his readers were dangerously close to abandoning Jesus and the Christian faith. They
are yet to reach spiritual maturity, and a spiritual lethargy seems to loom on the horizon (Heb
5:11–14). The writer challenges his readers to hold fast to their confession in Jesus (Heb 4:14;
10:23) and to persevere with patient endurance (Heb 12:1).
Sometimes the challenges and persecutions that come with following Jesus become so severe that we
feel like we would rather quit. The thought process goes something like, “Why not take a month or two
off from being a Christian and just cruise through life the easy way? After all, there are plenty of people
who aren’t believers, and many of them seem to be doing just fine. Why not take a break from swimming
upstream and simply go with the flow for a while?” Hebrews has a surprisingly basic answer for us: Christ
is better—and He can provide the rest we really crave. We simply must ground ourselves in the truth of
Christ and everything else will change as a result.

65 Dana H. A., Jewish Christianity, (p. 270).
102