Episode 1: The Mystery of Hebrews

Hebrews Episode1 YT

Well praise the Lord everybody. This is brother Jason coming to you from the Gaffney Bible fellowship. The title of this podcast is at the systolic Bible study time, we're going to be digging into the book of Hebrews. First there will be a list of Scripture references over at www.apostolicbiblestudytime.org. They won't be there for this first episode, we are going to have a discussion here. But this is dealing with who wrote Hebrews. But if you would like to reach out to us for any reason, you can follow us on facebook@facebook.com/apostolicbiblestudytime. You can also email us at apostolicbiblestudytime@gmail.com.

We're going to get in here to the authorship of the book of Hebrews. I found this interesting when I began scratching around and digging and looking we have history with a few different views on it. But up until right around the 1800s. Most people believe that the Apostle Paul was the writer of the book of Hebrews. Personally, I use the King James Bible, if you use another one, I mean, there shouldn't be enough difference really to have you reading one thing and have me the host reading another thing, but I use the King James version and the King James Version. It lists this as the epistle from the Apostle Paul to the Hebrews. But that's really just people taking an educated guess. But that's what we're going to get into today. And just taking a look at this and I would be glad to have your feedback, I would be glad for you to share with me your thoughts that email address again is APA systolic Bible study. time@gmail.com Facebook page again is facebook.com. forward slash I apostolic Bible study time. But who wrote the book of Hebrews? We've heard different theories. Some say Paul, as I said, that was the given throughout most of the history and our dispensation of time. There are others believe it was a polis, and we're going to get into look at a policy but Barnabas Luke, new idea is Priscilla, as as in Aquila, and Priscilla the tentmakers that Paul was associated with because they were the same craft. There are some that say it was Philip. There are some that say it was Silas. There are some that say it was Clement. And there are some that say a path for us. We know that it is a legitimate letter. Clement back in 96 ad, I believe it was his first epistle to the Romans. He quotes the book of Hebrews. Now personally, I believe if he's quoting the book of Hebrews, most authors would not quote their own work. You've read the Apostle Paul, when he's quoting when Peters quoting when any of them are quoting, they go back and they take from the Old Testament and they quote, the Old Testament, most people are not going to write a book and then have the vanity to quote from their own books. So like I said, there are some that believe Clement was the one who wrote it. But I just I really don't believe there's any evidence whatsoever for that. And people that are much smarter than I am the Greek scholars out there, they believe that it was a different style of Greek than what most of the Bible is written. And whoever wrote the book of Hebrews was evidently very highly educated. He knew what he was doing. And I mean, the grammar and everything that goes along with it, which really narrows the field down quite a bit. The original theory was that the Apostle Paul had originally written the book of Hebrews, in Hebrew, and then Luke, the beloved physician that traveled around with Paul translated it into Greek and then shared it amongst the Greek believers amongst the Gentile Christians. But, Paul,

he's rejected by modern scholars. For one thing Paul really didn't share a great love. He loved the Jewish people, but the Jewish people obvious did not love him back, you can go to the eighth chapter of the book of Acts and the ninth chapter of the book of Acts. And you can see its uses the word havoc, Paul was just wrecking havoc on the believers in Christ, he was causing so many problems for the believers. And then Jesus chooses this man on the road to Damascus, to send him out with his word, but when Jesus calls him, he calls him as the apostle to the Gentiles, not to the Jews. Okay, so Paul is really rejected amongst so so many scholars, people that understand this, and you could go over to us and Second Thessalonians, the third chapter, the 17th verse, and the Apostle Paul says, the salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is the token in every epistle, so I write, will Paul didn't sign Hebrews, there was no evidence that anybody signed Hebrews, there's nobody claiming credit for it. There's nobody saying, hey, this was my work. Yeah, any questions? Yeah, just look me up. None of that was going on. It was just written and it was just put out there. So the Apostle Paul, again, another reason why he's rejected over in Hebrews, the second chapter, the third verse, it says, How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him, the Lord appeared to Paul and Paul was an apostle, so he doesn't fit into the second or third generation believers. Jesus appeared to him, Jesus gave him his ministry. And Jesus gave him his revelation, pulling from what Paul knew of the Old Testament, you have to remember Paul was a very learned man, he was a faricy. He was a fantasy of Pharisees to hear him say it, he sat at the feet of Gmail, and he was learning at the temple. And there's other reasons to believe that he was also educated in Rome. And he was of evidently of a very wealthy background, but he was a very educated Jew. So the Lord chose him and the Lord used him but people are now rejecting the idea that this was of Paul. And we're going to revisit Paul here in just a little bit, but I want to move on to the next candidate, which is actually Barnabas, and I was curious to read this, but when they give their reasons, it really makes sense. Barnabas was

a lever, right?

And if you know anything about the book of Hebrews, when you read the book of Hebrews, the understanding of the law is evident in whoever was writing the book. It goes into Jesus being our high priest, and it goes into the covenant and how all things are, the way it's worded is almost all things are sanctified with blood. So the writer Barnabas, I mean, that would certainly fit in there, he would know and we have an idea that Barnabas was also a very learned man. But the problem is, when we go back to Hebrews two and three again, it was confirmed unto us by them that heard him will evidence points to Barnabas actually being a first generation Christian, it is believed that he was around Jesus at the time that Jesus performed His earthly ministry. I found it interesting. Also, when you're studying Barnabas, they believe that it's possible that he was the rich young ruler that came to Jesus and went away sad because he had great possessions. But anyway, there's there's much evidence that Barnabas was out there with Jesus and with the apostles, and he learned what he knew at the mouth of Jesus. So that also kind of eliminates him. And honestly, it just goes back to everybody else. There's not enough evidence for us to put our finger on Barnabas and say, yes, this is the author. The next one I'd like to look at is Luke. And I had never heard this before. I've even heard in the past that people believe Timothy was the one that wrote it, but it talks about Timothy being in bondage and hopefully released to us soon. I can't see Timothy wording it that way if it was Timothy. But when we look at Luke and we read and we see Luke one and one, and also verse two, for as much as we have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of Those things which are most surely believed among us, verse two, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word. Okay, now that is very closely related to what the writer of Hebrews says, when he says these things were delivered unto us from them, which were eyewitnesses. It's a very close statement. So people look at Luke, and they begin studying and once again, these people that are Greek scholars, which I admire people of that learning of that caliber, this just not something I've really had time to delve into. Nor do I believe I probably have the intelligence that they have, they can nitpick words, and they can go into the the the meat of the matter, the heart of the matter. And they recognize writing styles and who was learned and who wasn't so learned as they were writing these epistles, and as they were writing our New Testament, but according to the Greek scholars, the writing style of Hebrews is very close to the two books that Luke and written. Now if we think about this, Luke tells you, it's everything he's telling you in his gospel, and also everything he was telling you. And the book of Acts is a conglomeration. He had access to the apostles, he had access to Paul, he had access to all the early believers. And being the physician that he was, he was an educated man, and he had the opportunity to receive his learning from them. And he gotten much of his understanding. Now, he was a Gentile believer, but he spent a lot of time with the Jews. And he spent a lot of time with those that had walked with Christ. So it is a very good reason to believe that Luke had been the writer of Hebrews, that the biggest problem with Luke being the writer of Hebrews, again, there's just no evidence. History doesn't give him this, this.

This honor of being the writer of Hebrews hit history doesn't look to Luke history knows who he was and what he did and everything, but history doesn't go to Luke. So he's really kind of scratched off the list even though evidently he was just as educated as the author of Hebrews. So we can neither prove this nor disprove this, all we can do is look and we can weigh and we can look into the traditions of the early believers and what they had to say. When we look at the timing, we look at the way it was written. There's nothing written about the destruction of the temple, which was accomplished in 70 ad by Titus. Titus was a future Roman Emperor, son of as piscean. Okay, that's Pacey. And he had to leave, he took over after Nero and fell and he was proclaimed Emperor and everything, but 70 ad the words of Jesus and Matthew the 24th chapter, they came in and they leveled at one stone was not left upon another. I mean, they just totally leveled it. They drove the Jews out, they sold many of them into slavery. But we look at that being in 70 ad, and there's no mention of that being in the book of Hebrews. So apparently, Hebrews was actually a fairly early book. There's no evidence that it was written after that time. There's another candidate that is mentioned in the Bible that believe Martin Luther had believed this theory. he the one more candidate is a Paulus. Now, you know, Apollo was how he was baptized under John's baptism and how he spoke fervently. And he was a very eloquent man and he has mentioned a few times in the Bible, but the Guthrie's New Testament introduction, this is what he had to say. Reason number one of policy is close acquaintance with Paul, thus accounting for the Pauline influence they were together quite a bit evidently, his connection with Alexandria, which would account for the alexandrian coloring his knowledge of the Scriptures which would explain the biblical content of the argument and his use of the Septuagint that the version that the Greek version of the Old Testament the Septuagint over an X 18 and 24. It says, a certain Jew named Apollo was born in Ireland. Born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the scriptures came to emphasis. So he was a very eloquent man very well spoken, very knowledgeable. His eloquence is number four given, which well suits the oratorical form of the epistle, his contacts with Timothy and the six threes and he gives his considerable influence in various churches. First Corinthians, the third chapter, the third verse Paul is writing here he says, For a year yet carnal for whereas there is among you envying, and strife and divisions, are you not carnal, and walk as men? For why one say at I am of Paul and another, I am of a Paulus. Are you not carnal? Who then is Paul and who was a Paulus, but ministers by whom he have believed? So he's mentioned in here even even as the Lord gave to every man I have planted, a Paul is watered but God gave the increase. So a Paul is being there in the Corinthian church, they look to him and they admire his scholarship and his anointing, I guess would be a good word for in the way he preached and the way he was able to convince others of what he was saying. So it's a very good reason to believe that apologists also could have been the author of Hebrews. But we have the same problem with a powers that we had with loot. There's just no evidence that a Polish wrote it, it would have been a very handy thing. If someone put assign their name to it. That would have given us more information. And we can say, hey, look, Paul wrote this, or, hey, look, Apollo is wrote this. But I believe there is a better reason that it wasn't signed. And I want to go back and I want to visit Paul again. And I want to look at this. This is a theory. This is not my own theory. This is not something I came up with. But I believe probably out of all of

this, this would be the most plausible of all of them. When you get into the book of Hebrews, it doesn't read like a letter. It actually begins God who at sundry times in divers manners spake in the time passed under the fathers by the prophets. And he just unpacks his argument from there, and he unpacks his teaching from there. It's evidently a sermon that has been taken down and transcribed is the word we would use in English. It has been transcribed, but that would be the reason why it was never signed, is because it wasn't a letter addressed to any individuals. It was a sermon. So how can we look at this? How can we believe maybe Paul has something to do this, something to do with this? Let's go down to Acts 17. We're gonna pick up here in the first verse, he says, Now when they had passed through and Fidelis and upali, in the easy for me to say, they came to Thessalonica where was a synagogue of the Jews, and Paul as his manner was went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead, and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ, and other chief women, not a few, I'm sorry I skipped there. Christ must needs a suffered the risen from the dead, and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you as Christ, and some of them believe, and consorted with Paul and Silas, and other devout Greeks, a great multitude and of the chief women, not a few, but the Jews, which believe not moved with envy, took under them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and it sought to bring them out to the people. Okay, so we read that Paul, being the apostle to the Gentiles, as his manner was, when he entered into this city, the first thing Paul did was to go into the synagogue and to talk to the Jews to speak to the Jews, to try his best to convince the Jews that Christ was Jesus that Jesus was the Christ. Oh, Hey Galatians the second chapter, we're going sec pick up here in the seventh verse, but contrariwise when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of circumcision was under Peter, for he that rot effectually in Peter to the apostle ship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles. And when James seavus and john, who seemed to be pillars proceed, the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go on to the heathen, and they do the circumcision. So even the apostles themselves recognized that Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles. But even though Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, Paul still had a heart to his own people, to the people that had been God him to where he speaks in the book of Romans, how that the Jews and the oracles of God, they were the ones that were entrusted. Jesus told the woman at the well in sumeria, he said, he worship You know, not what for salvation is of the Jews. And indeed to begin with. That is where it was given it was given to the Jews, this was not a Gentile religion. Our people were wandering around the woods somewhere living in grass huts, and all the other things What, what, while the Jews were out there, and they had a very civilized society,

but Paul says in the book of Romans, the 10th chapter, the first verse, he says, brother, and my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel, is that they might be saved. And as we read in Acts 17, and two, Paul is his manner was went in under them, and three Sabbath days, reason with them out of the Scriptures. So the way I read that is Paul, for three weeks, he went into the assembly of the Jews, and he tried to convince them he tried to give them the understanding that Jesus is the Christ. And they rejected him. They rejected the words of the Apostle Paul. Now, why would Paul do this? In the book of Acts, and the second chapter, and the 39th verse, the apostle Peter stands up and he says, For the promise is unto us speaking to the Jews, and to your children. So when Paul went to the Jews, first, he was actually commanding X to 38 and 39, he took the trues, first to the Jews that were in the cities that he would go to. Let's take another look at this over in the book of Acts in the 13th chapter, we're going to pick up in verse 44. And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the Word of God. But when the Jews saw them out into the woods, they were filled with envy, and speak against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said, it was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, but seeing he put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, low we turn to the Gentiles. So the idea that I am putting forth to you is that this was indeed the words of the Apostle Paul, over in Second Peter, the third chapter, we're gonna pick up in the 15th verse, the apostle Peter says, and account that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable rest, as they do also other scriptures under their own destruction. Okay, the apostle Peter, being the apostle to the Jews now was Second Peter written to the Jews. He actually doesn't address it, he just addresses it to the strangers and then he gives the various regions where the letter is supposed to go out to. But being the apostle to the Jews, I believe he was talking to the Jews, and he was referencing Paul reaching out to these people. He was referencing quite possibly the book of Hebrews that was written to the Jews. So when Paul goes around, this is quite possibly the sermon that he would preach when he would go into the synagogue and speak to the Jewish leaders. Now he was traveling I mean his group it sometimes Luke was with him. eponymous Timothy Barnabas Silas, I mean at different times a man named Demas. And then different times, people would leave him. And sometimes he would give accolades. And sometimes he would give thanks for this one being with him. And as I said before, he refers to Luke being the beloved physician that traveled around with him. But all these learned men come together, and it would make sense that all they're learning in Greek, when they would sit down to transcribe this, the Greek would be perfect. It would be something that a scholar wrote, because there were multiple scholars working with the Apostle Paul, and setting this down, that would give a reason for the perfection of the Greek and also a reason for nobody signing the letter. Nobody taking credit for the letter and nobody being addressed in the beginning of the letter. This all would make sense and the conglomeration of coming together in all the knowledge of the law as he traveled with Barnabas at first and he traveled was Silas, and he had all these people around him that had so much understanding. In the Scripture, I think of Timothy often because Timothy is given credit for nothing. But he helped Paul writes so many letters to these different churches, he's mentioned in so many different places, but all these men pulling their minds together, pulling together their their their knowledge, and writing this down and making it perfect. But the truth is, we'll never know not on this side of eternity. Well, I don't believe they're ever going to be digging around over the area in Europe or digging around in Asia, and suddenly find a signed copy of the book of Hebrews. Doesn't mean it's not out there. It's just as not likely as time progresses and time has moved on. But what do you think?

Again, if you want to share your thoughts on the matter facebook.com forward slash APA stoic Bible study, you can email us at APA systolic Bible study time.com. Now after today, the scripture list and the materials list that I am using as we dig into this chapter by chapter, it will be available in blog form over at APA systolic Bible study time.org. That's www dot APA systolic Bible study time.org. Now there's no references over there for today's message. This was an introduction. And this was for you to kind of get the feel of what we're trying to do here as we go into this book. And as we dig in, there's going to be different authors used, I try my best to use oneness Pentecostal books when you go to trinitarians. And I was raised Trinitarian. So don't get me wrong when I say this. But if I'm standing next to a blind man looking up at a sunrise, I don't need that blind man to explain to me what I'm seeing. Because I'm the sighted one, I can see it. So I would much rather get into APA systolic authors and use the APA systolic Study Bible and see their input on these different matters and see what they have to say. There's another book I also use, it's actually on the public domain. It's not under copyright anymore. But Barnes notes on the Bible. I don't use him for revelation. But many times he gives background and different things. He was a greatly learned man, but he has background information that I don't possess on my own. And he's another reference that I will use from time to time, but this is the format I'm looking forward to it personally. I love Bible study time being apa starlix. We love preaching so much. It's so easy to go out there and find preaching on the internet. You can find so many on YouTube. I listened to Holy Ghost radio all the time. I love Holy Ghost radio, the Oneness music, the Oneness preachers, I love Holy Ghost radio, but through all that we have all this preaching, we have all this exhortation. We have all this encouragement. We have all this edification. But what we lack so much is a good solid Bible study. And that's part of the reason why I'm here that's part of the reason why I'm doing this. I love to teach. I love to study the Word of God, I love to dig in. I love to get understanding. I love it when God gives me new revelation. But this is being brought to you in the form of a Bible study. And I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. Lord willing, we'll be back with you next week, these podcasts are going to be in between 30 to 45 minutes. And when we come to you, the length is going to depend on the length of the chapter. It's going to depend on how far we can get and stop without interrupting our thoughts. So it's not going to be a 30 minute segment or a 45 minute segment. It's going to try to it's going to differ from week to week, but I'm trying my best to keep it in between 30 minutes to 45 minutes, but Lord Whelan we'll be back with you next week. But until then, this is brother Jason at the Gaffney Bible fellowship, reminding you that Jesus is not in the Godhead, the Godhead is in Jesus, For in him dwelleth, the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Colossians, two and nine. Goodbye and God bless

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