In the past few weeks I have been posting reflections on Habakkuk and Hebrews. This week, my interest in these two books dovetailed as I got into Hebrews chapter 11, the famous “hall of faith.” Hebrews 11 follows from 10:35-39, in which the author of Hebrews quotes Habakkuk 2:4 (as Paul does in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11 [cf. my first post on Habakkuk]) and sets forth two possibilities for his suffering readers: (1) faith (v. 38)/endurance (v. 36) or (2) shrinking back (v. 38)/throwing away confidence (v. 35). Its very significant that faith and perseverance are associated in the…

In my continued reading through Hebrews, I am struck by the significance of 9:11-12 within the larger section of 8:1-9:28. In these verses the writer develops a comparison between the annual sacrifice made by the High Priest on the day of Atonement, as described in Leviticus 16, and the sacrifice made by Christ on the cross. Verse 11: But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) Verse 12: he entered once for all into the…

I am reading through Hebrews in my devotions right now, one of my favorite books of the bible, and a book I would like to do further study on in the years to come. For the first several chapters I had avoided commentaries, but this weekend I hit chapter 7, an extremely difficult text, and finally gave in and turned for help to William Lane’s Hebrews: A Call to Commitment (Regent College Publishing, 1985). I found it extremely helpful and I want to share some of the insights I gathered. My most basic question was, what’s up with Melchizedek? Why…