Enjoying the book of Hebrews

I think I’ve mentioned before my favorite books of the Bible. In the Old Testament I can read Genesis over and over again. The character that I feel most like is Jacob. There was one night when he had a dream of the ladder to Heaven. His reaction was that he was terrified. Jacob was a thinker and was always planning. It was only when he had to that he sought out God. Jacob never seemed to grasp his heritage and his blessings.

My favorite books in the New Testament are the Gospel of John, the Acts of the Apostles and the epistle to the Hebrews. I read other books in the Bible but I come back to these over and over again. John shows Jesus as the Son of God and I see in it the beautiful and artless way that he deals with people even while going to the cross. The Acts of the Apostles shows the gospel starting out in Jerusalem and then spreading to the Gentiles by the apostle Paul. His experience on the road to Damascus makes him an apostle. My favorite chapter is when he goes to Mars Hill and addresses the thinkers of the day.

To me Hebrews is a rising crescendo. It takes all the things that a Hebrew would value from their religion. He then brings in how Christ fulfills that and supersedes it. To me the book rises in chapter 1 to chapter 11 and then talks about what we refer to as “the Hall of Fame of faith”. Paul identifies many different people and their faith and the effect on their lives. So many of these don’t fit in with our preconceived ideas of what faith should look like.

Lately I have been enjoying these verses:

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” Hebrews 4:12-13 KJV

in my own case I learned this firsthand. I started reading the Bible to find evidence that it was not true. I read and read and read. I came to Proverbs and there are so many verses that seemed to divide my good intentions and my bad intentions and clearly outlined the fallacies I held. I remember clearly coming to a conclusion that the Bible was the truth! The main evidence was that it clearly had me figured out and spiritually dissected between good and bad. I can only praise Jesus for what was then an emotionally and pride crushing experience. The Bible says “let God be true in every man a liar”.