Recalculating
All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. Hebrews 11:13 NASB
The promises – Is it really true that all the saints in the hall of fame, all those righteous Old Testament figures, died without realizing the saving grace of Yeshua? If you accept one view of this verse, that the promises were the mighty acts of God in Christ, then you will read this verse as if it were a great disappointment to men like Abraham. They yearned for salvation. They hoped for deliverance. They strained to see it. But alas, they were just born too soon. As one Christian suggested, “This verse says they had to wait for a later date of atonement to be perfected along with us, implicitly by the cross.”
But is that what this verse really says? Are the epangelias the life and death of the Messiah? Niewind and Friedrich (TDNT) tell us that there is “no prior history in the OT, for the MT and LXX use different words for God’s pledges and promises. Paul, however, links epangelia and epangellesthai. We thus think of Heb. drb and LXX lalein or eipein. . . in terms of promise.”[1] What does this imply? It implies that for Paul the Greek term is not about the coming of the Messiah but rather about God’s faithfulness in answering prayer, relating the Torah to the new covenant and the olam ha’ba.
Since Paul didn’t write Hebrews, we must ask if the author of Hebrews has a special meaning for epangelias. Hebrews takes an “already but not yet” view of the promises. In other words, God’s promise about the land, the generations of Abraham, the covenant in Torah are all already here . . . but they are not yet completed. The olam ha’ba is the world coming, but the Kingdom is already at hand. The promises are reliably established, the performance guarantee is in the bank, but those who received the initial contract waited for its full expression, some of which was additionally revealed in the Messiah. And we are still waiting too! The ultimate fulfillment of the promises has not happened. We see more than those heroes of the Tanakh, but God’s final glory is yet far off. The author of Hebrews has Jeremiah 31 in mind when he speaks of the fulfillment of the promises. The Millennial Kingdom is still to arrive. Read what Jeremiah says. Is his description of the “new” covenant a present reality? Has it ever been so? No, not yet.
Some Christian interpretations of this verse and the surrounding context would suggest that the promises of God are exclusively about salvation as a result of the incarnation, but such a reading depends on prior theological assertions. You can’t find it in the text by itself. And when we realize that Hebrew time is not like Greek time, the whole idea that God restrained His forgiveness and withheld atonement until the arrival of Yeshua makes no sense at all. Promise is an “already but not yet” process, not a static state of doctrinal belief. God is at work, has been at work and continues to be at work. That’s a promise!
Topical Index: promise, epangelia, olam ha’ba, time, Hebrews 11:13
Hebrews 11:13 vrs Jeremiah 31
I’ve been cleaning condo all day and have had more energy than usual so I finally made some progress
Reading Hebrews has always annoyed me, with the author attempting to turn many interesting stories
Into one uninteresting story about faith
But the one redeeming passage for me comes in 11:9 with its prefiguring of Robert Heinlein
The American science fiction writer, often called the “dean of science fiction writers”
And most famous for Stranger in a Strange Land
But when I read Jeremiah 31 it brought a smile to my face and made me think of that old prophet
Bob Dylan and the classic lyrics from “Mr Tambourine Man”
Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I’m not sleepy and there is no place I’m going to
Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I’ll come followin’ you.
AMEN!!!!!
The writer of Hebrews, as well as the whole volume of our Bible, is The Holy Spirit.
“The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”
*.:｡✿*ﾟ’ﾟ･✿.｡.:*Psalms 12: 6*.:｡✿*ﾟ’ﾟ･✿.｡.:*
✩ ✩ ✩
No, the writers were all kinds of men and women. The AUTHOR is the Spirit.
You got me on a technical error! Lol
I did want to hear more of what you say on this tho. I guess now is good.
Paul said he received his revelations directly from the Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 11:23; Gal. 1:12).
The writer of Hebrews specifically says that he was taught by an apostle (Heb. 2:3).
Some good people say it seems like a sermon Paul gave and it was later transcribed by Luke or Barnabas.
Peter wrote to the Hebrews (the Jews; see Gal. 2:7, 9 and 1 Pet. 1:1). He wrote: “… even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; (2 Pet. 3:15).
That seems like Scripture is confirming that Paul had also written a letter to the Hebrews.
What say you? Please point me to a TW if you already said.
Paul didn’t write Hebrews? What?!!
Take a look at any of the scholarly commentaries, evangelical or liberal. It is VERY UNLIKELY that Paul wrote this letter. Lots of reasons.
I just started reading, “Hebrews For the Practical Messianic” by J. K. McKee. I haven’t read anything by him before so I don’t know where he will go in his study yet. However, he had an offering as to the authorship of Hebrews in his Introduction to the book to covered some helpful territory. Here is a link that allows you to peruse six pages of his 18 page introduction, if interested.
http://www.amazon.com/Hebrews-Practical-Messianic-J-K-McKee/dp/147523709X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369253930&sr=8-1&keywords=hebrews+for+the+practical+messianic+by+J.+K.+McKee
I couldn’t tell if you were genuinely surprised or saying it in jest. If surprised, here’s the link. If not, never mind. 🙂
Undecided.
I have questions about Hebrews that evolved after i realized that almost all of the NT were translations of letters, or, better yet, copies of copies (of copies, probably) of letters.
As of that discovery i’ve focused mostly on the OT, and of that Torah.
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed high,
to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace.
Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually . Hebrews 7:1-4
Hmmm
Seems to me that the author of Hebrews would like to turn Jesus into a Roman Catholic Priest
But in his most dramatic scene, Jesus is seen revolting against Jewish priests
Who are seen aligning themselves with the Imperial Roman Empire
The wrong Kingdom
And Paul, after his conversion, is seen as a man of the people
Like Jesus
In verse 10,
..for he, Abraham was looking for the city without foundations, whose Builder and Maker is Elohim. Amein! That is not a man-made Kingdom of shaky foundations in a temporal world, but an everlasting Kingdom where the King of kings rules with justice, truth and righteousness -such beauty!
As in a marathon, our fore fathers, the patriarchs began the race, they can see the finishing line, and know the rewards that come with that, but the baton has to be passed on to the generations after, and then to us in the present, so they are cheering us on to run a good race, Hebrews 12:1.
Chapter 10:23-Let us hold us the confession of our expectation without yielding, for He Who promised is trustworthy.
We too look forward to promises of a better Earth, Land, People and Life. Amein!
Meanwhile we are to strengthen and encourage one another to be fruitful, mature, and pleasing to ABBA YHWH.
Shalom!