Page 40 - Hebrews- Student Textbook

Study Section 7: Chapter 4 – Contextual Insights

7.1 Connect

You ever get really tired? I’m sure you have been after a very long day at work. You are so
tired that sometimes you can’t even eat! All you want to do is lay down and rest. You want
to stop doing anything and just sit still. In a sense, that is what the author of Hebrews asks
us to do – to rest. He likens the rest to the battle the children of Israel had for the land in
Canaan. They battled for months, sometimes to exhaustion, to take the land God had
promised them. But after they had completed the task, they rested from the battles just as God rested
on the seventh day of creation. He ceased His work. God is telling us today that we need to rest in Him.
All our efforts will get us no where in God’s sight. We just need to rest in His Son’s finished work on our
behalf. Let’s learn more about resting in God...

7.2 Objectives

1. The student should be able to explain what it means to enter into Christ’s rest.

2. The student should be able to explain what it means to persevere to the end.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN, Read Hebrews Chapter 4 from your Bible...

7.3 Chapter 4 – Contextual GUIDE

A. The author moves back and forth between the superiority of Jesus and warning to hold
fast to Him.

B. Jesus' superiority (new covenant) over the old covenant
1. He is the superior revelation (the prophets, 1:1-3)
2. He is the superior mediator (angels, 1:4-2:18)
3. He is the superior servant (Moses, 3:1-6)
4. He is the superior priest (Aaron, 4:14-5:10; 6:13-7:28)
5. He is the superior covenant (OT, 8:1-13; 9:15-22)
6. He is the superior sanctuary (temple, 9:1-11, 23-28)
7. He is the superior sacrifice (animals, 9:12-14; 10:1-18)
8. He is the superior mountain (old covenant as Mt. Sinai and new covenant as Mt. Zion, 11:18-29)

C. In light of Jesus' superiority there is a series of warnings against rejecting His gospel (i.e., the New
Covenant, cf. Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-38) or reverting to Judaism (i.e., Old Covenant).
1. 2:1-4
2. 3:7-4:13
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