Grace Thoughts
The Great Reveal: Our Epic Journey Through Time, Space and Eternity – Part 36
God determined before time and space that He was going to take some of His created beings on an epic journey through time and space. Those created beings are what we call ‘human’ beings – you and me.
I find that an amazing honor and wonderful gift that the Almighty God would want to do that for us. It’s not something God had to do. It’s something He wanted to do. God’s love and grace are truly ‘amazing.’
We looked at the importance of the Old Testament in a recent part of our series. We saw that Jesus Christ is the central focus of the writings of the Hebrew prophets. Jesus made that abundantly clear in His teachings.
Jesus fulfilling ‘Old Testament’ Scriptures was also foremost in the preaching, teaching and writings of the New Testament apostles. We’ve looked at several of the Apostle Paul’s writings in recent studies and turn now to the Book of Hebrews.
Hebrews
Hebrews is exactly what it sounds like — writings to the Hebrew people. These Jewish people believed that Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah, though some were doubting their belief. The author wrote to the Jewish believers to both confirm and bolster their faith in Christ as the promised Messiah. The author referenced the Old Testament Scriptures to confirm Jesus as the Messiah.
Hebrews includes more than 40 direct quotes from the Old Testament, but also has many allusions to OT Scripture as well. Only Romans has more direct OT quotes. However, Hebrews contains more words from the OT than Romans. The Jewish readers would have also appreciated the many references to Hebrew life and religious worship in the Book of Hebrews as well. They would understand that in a way Gentiles could not.
The Book of Hebrews quotes prominently from the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuagint), which might point to an audience of Jewish readers living outside of Israel (part of the Diaspora). The Apostle Paul also quoted often from the Septuagint since much of his ministry was to Jews of the Diaspora in addition to Gentiles living throughout the Roman Empire.
Old Testament Scriptures in Hebrews
Here are some of the Old Testament Scriptures that the author used to support Jesus as both the Messiah and Greater than all other beings. You’ll notice in the early chapters of Hebrews that the author references some of the Psalms of King David. David was a type of the future King of the world – Jesus Christ. Some of the supporting verses are direct quotes, while others are allusions.
Chapter One
For to which of the angels did He ever say: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You’? Hebrews 1:5
I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Psalm 2:7
But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him. Hebrews 1:6
Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, Who boast of idols. Worship Him, all you gods. Psalm 97:7
And of the angels He says: ‘Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire. Hebrews 1:7
Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire. Psalm 104:4
But to the Son He says: Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” Hebrews 1:8-9
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions. Psalm 45:6-7
And: ‘You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail. Hebrews 1:10-12
Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will have no end. Psalm 102:25-27
But to which of the angels has He ever said: ‘Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool’? Hebrews 1:13
The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” Psalm 110:1
Chapter Two
But one testified in a certain place, saying: ‘What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet. Hebrews 2:6-8
What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet. Psalm 8:4-6
saying: ‘I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You. Hebrews 2:12
I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.Psalm 22:22
And again: ‘I will put My trust in Him.’ And again: ‘Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.’ Hebrews 2:13
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:2
And he said: The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; 2 Samuel 22:2-3
Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel From the Lord of hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion. Isaiah 8:18
Chapter Three
Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. Hebrews 3:1-2
Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house. Numbers 12:7
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest’ … while it is said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’ Hebrews 3:7-11, 15For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: ‘Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ Psalm 95:7-11
Chapter Four
… again He designates a certain day, saying in David, ‘Today,’ after such a long time, as it has been said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.” Hebrews 4:7
For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: ‘Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness. Psalm 95:7-8
Chapter Five
And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. Hebrews 5:4
The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was set apart, he and his sons forever, that he should sanctify the most holy things, to burn incense before the Lord, to minister to Him, and to give the blessing in His name forever. 1 Chronicles 23:13
So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Hebrews 5:5
I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Psalm 2:7
As He also says in another place: You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 5:6
The Lord has sworn And will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.’ Psalm 110:4
Chapter Six
For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.’ Hebrews 6:14
and said: ‘By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. Genesis 22:16-17
Chapter Seven
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him. Hebrews 7:1
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. Genesis 14:18
For He testifies: ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek’ … (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: ‘The Lord has sworn And will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek’ ”). Hebrews 7:17, 21
The Lord has sworn And will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.’ Psalm 110:4
Chapter Eight
… who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.’ Hebrews 8:5
And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain. Exodus 25:40
Because finding fault with them, He says: ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know theLord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ Hebrews 8:8-12
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this isthe covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.’ Jeremiah 31:31-34
Chapter Nine
But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance. Hebrews 9:7
And Aaron shall make atonement upon its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement; once a year he shall make atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.’ Exodus 30:10
For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Hebrews 9:13-14
He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle itwith his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. Leviticus 16:14
Now the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land. Numbers 14:36
… saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.’ Hebrews 9:20
And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.’ Exodus 24:8
Chapter Ten
Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: ‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’ Hebrews 10:5-7
Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, ‘Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.’ Psalm 40:6-8
And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. Hebrews 10:11
Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs of the first year, day by day continually. Exodus 29:38
But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. Hebrews 10:12-13
The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.’ Psalm 110:1
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,’ then He adds, ‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ Hebrews 10:16-17
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.’ Jeremiah 31;33-34
For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith;
But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.’ Hebrews 10:37-38For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. ‘Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith. Habakkuk 2:3-4
Chapter Eleven
By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Hebrews 11:3
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. Hebrews 11:4
Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering. Genesis 4:4
By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. Hebrews 11:5
And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Genesis 5:24
By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. Hebrews 11:7
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord … Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. Genesis 6:8, 14
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. Hebrews 11:8
Now the Lord had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. Genesis 12:1-2
By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. Hebrews 11:9
Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. Genesis 12:5
And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, ‘Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing’ … And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved. Genesis 27:11-12, 14
By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Hebrews 11:11
Genesis 18:1-33
Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. Hebrews 11:12
… blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. Genesis 22:17
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son. Hebrews 11:17
Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, “Here I am.’ Genesis 22:1
… of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called’ Hebrews 11:18
And He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.’ Genesis 22:12
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. Hebrews 11:20
Therefore may God give you Of the dew of heaven, Of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and wine. Genesis 27:28
By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command. Hebrews 11:23
So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. Exodus 2:2
By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. Hebrews 11:28
And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover … In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. Exodus 12:11, 18
By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned. Hebrews 11:29
So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Exodus 14:22
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you. Hebrews 13:5
No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Joshua 1:5
So we may boldly say: The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ Hebrews 13:6
The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? Psalm 118:6
For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Hebrews 13:11-12
He shall bring the bull to the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and kill the bull before the Lord … Then he shall carry the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is a sin offering for the assembly. Leviticus 4:12, 21
The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. And they shall burn in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their offal. Leviticus 16:27
You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it outside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him. Numbers 19:3
For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Hebrews 13:14
Arise and depart, For this is not your rest; Because it is defiled, it shall destroy, Yes, with utter destruction. Micah 2:10
Next Time
We’ll look at how other apostles used the Old Testament in their letters to reference Jesus Christ when our series on The Great Reveal continues.
[You can read more about the story of the Old Testament Prophecies in our book A History of Man’s Quest for Immorality.]
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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