Here is a good slide I found with a simple outline of the book of Hebrews:

The author is writing to Jewish Chrsitians in Palestine probably, some of whom are leaving faith in Christ and returning to follow the Law of Moses. He shows rhem the several ways that Jesus is superior to Moses and the Levitical High Priests. He shows them that His offering of his blood is superior to animal sacrifices. He shows them that his new covenant is superior to the old covenant. He shows them that the new and living way of faith in Christ is superior to the legalism of the Law.

He begins with a most interesting part that Jesus is better than the angels. Why would the author need to argue that point? AI: “In the first century CE, a diverse range of Jewish communities showed a significant interest in angels, particularly within apocalyptic and mystical traditions. Angels served as divine intermediaries, providing guidance and carrying out God’s will, with named figures like Michael and Gabriel being popular. This “preoccupation” wasn’t monolithic, however; it varied by group and included ideas from Hellenistic thought, with different groups holding unique traditions, from the desire to achieve angelic status to the invocation of angels in ritual texts and amulets for aid and protection. ” Then there was the Book of Enoch speaks of the origin of demons and fallen angels. It said that the fallen angels had sex with the godly daughters of Seth’s line and produced giants. The book names the fallen angels, the “watchers”. AI: “the Book of Enoch was widely read and held in high regard by many 1st-century Jewish Christians, although it was not considered canonical scripture by all. It was very popular during the Second Temple period and influenced early Christian thought, as evidenced by its presence in the Dead Sea Scrolls and its direct quotation in the New Testament book of Jude.”

Colossians 2 even mentions the “worship of angels”. 2:¹⁶ Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food and drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon, or a Sabbath day— ¹⁷ things which are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. ¹⁸ Take care that no one keeps defrauding you of your prize by delighting in humility and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind.” The false teachers in context seem to be Jewish, perhaps the Judaizers who tried to force Gentile Christians to keep the Law. What was the “worship of angels”? AI: “the “worship of angels” refers to a heretical practice in the early church where false teachers insisted that believers should worship or revere angels as mediators to get closer to God. This false teaching, often linked to Gnosticism and syncretic Jewish practices, is condemned by Paul because it detracts from Christ’s supremacy and suggests He is not sufficient for salvation. The practice was associated with a system of asceticism and claims of special angelic visions, which Paul refutes by reminding the Colossians that Christ is the head of all powers.”

In the book of Hebrews, the emphasis on angels is connected to the Jewish Christians leaving the faiath to go back to following the Law. The Law was ordained by angels (Acts 7:52) and “ordered through angels” (Galatians 3:19). Hebrews 2:2 For if the word spoken through angels (i.e. the Law) proved unalterable.” So it is easy to see these apostate Jewish Christians elevating the role of angels since the giving of the Law to Moses at Mt. Sinai was somehow “ordained” by angels.

Having said all that, the Hebrews writer gives several arguments to show that Jesus is “better than the angels” in chapter 1.

1. To which of the angels did the Father ever say “You are my Son” (Psalm 2:7). He said that to Jesus.
2. God commanded the angels to worship Jesus when he came into the world.
3. The angels are just “ministering spirits” but the Son Jesus is called “God” in Psalm 45.
4. The heavens will wear out but the Son Jesus will be eternal.
5. To which of the angels did the Father say, “Sit at my right hand”, but He told Jesus that (Psalm 110).
6. In 2:5 he adds one more argument: the Father subjected the world to come (the Messianic Age) to the Son Jesus, not the angels.

Christianity condemns the worship of angels. Some Catholic parish recite the prayer to St. Michael the archangel, but they do not worship any angels. AI: “Catholic veneration of angels is a form of respect and is a way to ask for their intercession and help from God. This is a practice of venerating them as God’s messengers and servants who assist in the divine plan (but not the worship of angels).”

It is interesting that the discussion of angels in Hebrews chapters 1 and 2 ends with this comment: 2:¹⁶ For clearly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendants of Abraham.” He took on human form, lower than the angels, but He did not do so to save fallen angels. He did that to save fallen mankind.

I don’t know if we can really relate to all the arguments about Jesus being “better than the angels”. It obviously was something that the Hebrew writer felt was needed to be discussed. I don’t even know what the role of angels is today. I assume that they still are God’s “ministering spirits” that He uses in some way. In the Bible there are a lot of times when angels appear and speak directly to people. Do angels still do that? Many claim that they do. Do children have a guardian angel (Matthew 18:10)? Do angels do many unseen things in our lives? Perhaps, but certainly the focus is on Jesus, not angels.

Hebrews 1:1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, ² in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world. ³ And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

These 3 verses tells us so much about God’s Son, Jesus. He spoke in the Old Testament through inspired prophets and in the last days (which were the very days at the time of writing) has spoken to us in His Son. If we stopped there, we would have the Islamic view of Jesus that he was just a prophet like Moses, and nothing more than another spokesman for God. The Islamic view is that God cannot and does not have a Son (from the Koran). They say that Jesus never claimed to be God or that the New Testament never claims Jesus to be God. Wrong on both counts! Notice what the author of Hebrews says about the Son.

1. God is appointed the Son as heir of all things. All things in heaven and earth, spiritual and physical, would be subjected to Jesus (Hebrews 2:5-8). Just as a father usually leaves everything to his heir, i.e his son, so the Father left all things to His heir, i.e. His Son Jesus. That final subjection of al things to Jesus would be fulfilled in 70 AD at the end of the Jewish Age and of the last days.
2. God made all things through the Son. John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ” Colossians 1:¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation: ¹⁶ for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.” So the Son, in His pre-incarnate spirit form, was present in the beginning (Genesis 1:1) and created all things in the creation week. He used the power of the Holy Spirit to do that, just as He used the power of the Holy Spirit to do all His miracles.
3. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory. The Greek word for “radiance” means: apaugasma: Radiance, reflection, brightness. It is used in the NASB only one time. This means that in Jesus, the fullness of God’s glory shines forth. John 1:¹⁴ And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. The Amplified Bible reads this: “The Son is the radiance and only expression of the glory of [our awesome] God [reflecting God’s Shekinah glory, the Light-being, the brilliant light of the divine],” The Jews would no doubt would think of God’s glory as the Shekinah glory of the Old Testament. AI: “It is a concept describing the majestic, radiant presence of God that settled among His people (Shekinah comes from the Hebrew word for “dwelling”), often depicted as a cloud of light or fire. Key examples in the Bible include the cloud guiding the Israelites, the fire on Mount Sinai, and the light filling the Tabernacle and Temple.” So Jesus is the physical manifestation of that Shekinah glory of the Father. Not an actual bright light or fire, but you can see the glory of the Father when you see all the characteristics of God when you see the characteristics of the Father as expressed in all that Jesus was and did. A good illustration of this is the sun. AI: “you cannot look directly at the sun, even for a moment, as it can cause permanent eye damage and vision loss. The sun’s intense ultraviolet (UV) rays can burn the cells in your retina, a condition known as solar retinopathy, which can lead to blurred vision, blind spots, and reduced color vision. The only way to look at the sun safely is by using special, ISO (International Standards Organisation)-certified solar eclipse glasses or by using a pinhole projection method.” So we can look at the glory of God but only through special glasses when we look at Jesus!
   John Chrysostom 4th century church father and great preacher) preached that as radiance is inseparable from light, so the Son is eternally begotten, not made. The Nicene Creed’s phrase “Light from Light” reflects this exegesis. THE NICENE CREED (325 AD refers to Jesus as the “only begotten Son of God, God from God, Light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, through Him all things were made; the Son is the exact representation of God’s nature”.
4. The Son is the exact representation of God’s nature. The Greek word:
   exact representation: charaktér: NASB 1 time only. Character, exact representation, express image. 1. a graver (the tool or the person) 2. (by implication) engraving ((“character”), the figure stamped, i.e. an exact copy or (figuratively) representation).  the mark (figure or letters) stamped upon that instrument or wrought out on it; hence, universally, “a mark or figure burned in (Leviticus 13:28) or stamped on, an impression; the exact expression (the image) of any person or thing, marked likeness, precise reproduction in every respect”.
   In the Greco-Roman world, χαρακτήρ commonly described:
   • A mint stamp that left Caesar’s image on a coin.
   • A branding iron that impressed a mark of ownership on livestock.
   • A wax seal affixed to a document, guaranteeing authenticity. Paul uses a different word, “image”. Colossians 1:¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” The Greek is: eikón: Image, likeness, representation a likeness, i.e. (literally) statue, profile, or (figuratively) representation, resemblance — image. Matthew 22:19-21 Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a denarius. And He *said to them, “Whose image (eikon) and inscription is this?” They *said to Him, “Caesar’s.” 2 Corinthians 4:4 In whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they will not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image (eikon) of God.” John 14:9 The one who has seen Me has seen the Father.” God is a spirit that fills the universe, so how can we really know what that the Creator Spirit is even like? Well, look at the character and actions of Jesus and you can see what the Father is like.
5. The Son upholds all things by the word of HIs power. Colossians 1:¹⁷ He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” What holds the force of gravity together and thereby allows Newton to discover the laws of motion? What holds the protons and electrons (called the electromagnetic force) so that the electrons don’t go flying off into space and thereby destroying all matter? What holds the planets in our solar system orbiting around the sun with such precision that we can send men to the moon and back safely? But it’s not “what” does all this, but “who”. does all this. It is Jesus “who” holds all things together and by His power does all these things that are essential for life on earth. There are over 30 physical laws and constants that must all come together with exact precision in order to have life on earth, and Jesus is the One who holds all these together. Also notice that it is by the “word” of His power. Just as God spoke the worlds into existence in the beginning, “God said, Let there be Light”, etc. All Jesus needs to do is to speak and it will be done. He says, “Gravity, hold things together”, and it is done.
6. When he had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of God the Father, the Majesty on high. After he died to purify, cleanse, and forgive sinners Jesus ascended back to the Father 40 days after His resurrection and sat down at the right hand of the Father. Figuratively, of course, since the Father is a Spirit. The 10th chapter of Hebrews makes the point that Jesus’ offering of His body was “once for all time”. The author says that the old covenant priests are continually offering animal sacrifices for sins. The high priest had to go into the Most Holy Place every year to offer the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement to cover his own sins and the sins of the people for the past year. The author concludes, 10:¹¹ Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; ¹² but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.” As Jesus said while hanging on the cross, “It is finished”. His work of redeeming mankiind was finished for all time. Now it just needs to be preached to the whole world so that sinners can come to Jesus and be saved by that one time offering of Jesus.

Wow! So many truths in just a few verses. Jesus is not just another prophet! Meditate on these things.

Hebrews 1:1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, ² in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world. ³ And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

1. “In these last days.” The author is saying that the “last days” are the current days at the time of writing. He is not speaking of “the last days” as being sometime in the future. I watched a preacher on TV this morning who kept using verse to try to save that the “last days” predictions of the end are occurring today. But that’s not what Hebrews 1:2 says. So what are “the last days”? My church taught that the last days were the Messianic Age that began in Acts 2 and continue until the 2nd coming. I disagree. The last days referred to the last day of the Jewish Age and the Jewish system. The last days began in Acts 2 with the establishment of the church in 30 AD and lasted until the destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple by the Romans in 70 AD. The end of the last days in 70 AD also was the final removal of the old covenant (Hebrews 8:13).
2. “In these last days God has spoken to us in HIs Son.” God spoke in the Old Testament through the inspired prophets, but spoke through Jesus, beginning in those last days at the time of writing of the Hebrew letter. We read God’s words spoken through Jesus as recorded in the gospels. Jesus affirmed this truth in John 12:⁴⁹ For I did not speak on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.” After he died Jesus then gave miraculous inspiration to the apostles to know and speak all truth (John 14:26; 16:13). He left 5 miraculously inspired positions for he early church. Ephesians 4:¹¹ And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers. These 5 continued to speak God’s word and then many of their teachings were recorded in the New Testament books from Acts through Revelation. The 27 books of the New Testament were all written before 70 AD and are our guide to all the truth that we need to know. Ephesians 4:¹⁴ As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.” Christians today can disagree on a lot of miinor doctrines and issues, but we are usually united on the basic truths of Christianity. Ephesians 4:⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” There is no excuse for all the cults that deviate from these basics.

Thanks for reading. More to come on Hebrews 1:1-4.

Who wrote the book of Hebrews? Paul, Apollos (my choice), Barnabas, Luke, Aquila? As Origen (200 AD) said, “Only God knows for certain!” When quoting the Old Testament, the author usually uses the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Hebrews OT, done in 250 BC in Alexandria, Egypt. The early church was divided over who the author was and whether the book should be included in the New Tesstament canon. The Eastern church and many church fathers believed that Paul wrote it, so they considered it canonical early on. The Western church doubted that Paul was the author and was much slower to accept its canonicity, but did so by the 4th century. I do not think that Paul wrote it. Why not? Because of a statement in Hebrews 2:³ how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard (i.e. heard directly from Jesus which would be the apostles), ⁴ God also testifying with them (i.e. the apostles), both by signs and wonders, and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit (which the apostles gave to baptized believers by laying their hands on them, Acts 8:14-18) according to His own will.” The apostle Paul would never have said that! In the Galatian letter, Paul is adamant that he received the gospel that he preached directly by a revelation from Jesus and that he did not get it from the apostles. Galatians 1:¹¹ For I would have you know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel which was preached by me is not of human invention. ¹² For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” So who wrote it? I think Apollos wrote it. He was from Alexandria, Egypt, which is where the LXX was translated and widely used by 1st century Christians there. The author is keen at using logic in his arguments in the letter. Apollos was eloquent (logios: Eloquent, learned) and proficient (dunatos: Powerful, mighty, able, possible) in the Old Testament Scriptures. Acts 18:²⁴ Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was proficient in the Scriptures (i.e. Old Testament Scriptures). Martin Luther was the first to suggest that Apollos wrote Hebrews (for the reasons just given). I agree with Martin Luther!

The first test for canonicity of a New Testament letter or book was if it was written by an apostle or a close associate of an apostle. Thus the gospels of Matthew and John were automatically accepted.  Irenaeus (3.1.1.) claims that John Mark wrote the Gospel of Mark based on Peter’s preaching, so that helped get that gospel in. Luke was a close associate of the apostle Paul, so his gospel was accepted. John the apostle wrote 3 letters (the 2nd and 3rd were disputed as to canonicity) and Revelation which were accepted (although Revelation was disputed). Peter wrote 2 letters which were accepted (although 2 Peter was disputed). Jude and James, brothers of Jesus, were disputed but accepted.

Hebrews was disputed due to the question about who wrote it, as already discussed. But it was eventually accepted because of the belief that Paul wrote it. But if Paul did not write it (which I don’t think he did), then can we be sure that it is canonical anyway? Yes we can. Why? First of all, it was written before the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. The temple was still standing and priests still entering the temple to offer sacrifices at the time of writing of the book. Hebrews 9:⁶ Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing the divine worship, ⁷ but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. ⁸ The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing, ⁹ which is a symbol for the present time.” The NASB correctly translates the verbs here in the present tense, not past tense as the NIV does. The priests “are continually entering”, the high priest “enter” once a year and “offers” blood. That was still going on at the time of writing. The way into the new holy place (the Holy of Holies in heaven where God dwells) has not yet been disclosed while the tabernacle “is still” standing.

Not only that, but the book accurately predicts that there will be a judgment on the unbelieving Jews that is about to happen. Hebrews 10:²⁶ For we — willfully sinning after the receiving the full knowledge of the truth — no more for sins doth there remain a sacrifice, ²⁷ but a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery zeal, “about to” (mello, to be about to)devour the opposers” (Young’s Literal Translation). YLT is one of the few translations that correctly translate the Greek word mello to be “about to”, which means something is imminent. This verse could only refer to the judgment of the unbelieving Jews in 70 AD where the Romans destroyed the temple and the city of Jerusalem, killing over a million Jews according to Josephus. So the book had to be written before 70 AD.

Then, the book accurately predicts the imminent 2nd coming of Jesus and says that it will be “very soon” and there will be “no delay” in that 2nd coming. Hebrews 10:³⁷ For yet in a very little while,
He who is coming will come, and will not delay.” The 2nd coming of Jesus was the coming to judge the Jews (10:26-27) the which was predicted right before 10:37. The 2 events are connected and occur at the same time. This prediction of a 2nd coming that was imminent at the time of writing is consistent with Jesus’ predictions in Matthew 10:23; 16:27-28; 24:30-34; 26:64 and with other such predictions by Paul and the other NT writers. So the book had to be written before 70 AD. This prediction also destroys the theory of many who say that Jesus did predict his 2nd coming to be imminent but that he delayed that 2nd coming (going on about a 2,00 year delay as of today). They say that because they expected Jesus to establish an earthly kingdom but he did not. They say that he delayed his 2nd coming and will some day come to establish an earthly kingdom. The problem with their theory is that Jesus never intended to establish an earthly kingdom. John 18:36 “my kingdom is not of his world”. Matthew 16:²⁸ “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” He did establish his kingdom in the first century, but it was a spiritual kingdom, the church. He did not delay his 2nd coming.

Another proof that the book was written before 70 AD and is canocial is found in Hebrews 8.:¹³ When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is about to disappear.” This is a prediction that the old covenant was about to be (eggus: Near, close, at hand) taken away, to “disappear” (aphanismos: Disappearance, destruction, ruin). That could only refer to the destruction of the temple in 70 AD and the final removal of the old covenant, to be replaced by the new covenant. After 70 AD, animal sacrifices have never been offered and there is no genealogically confirmed priesthood to offer sacrifices.

One final proof that the book was written before 70 AD and is canonical is found in in another accurate prediction in Hebrews 12:²⁶ And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” ²⁷ This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let’s show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; ²⁹ for our God is a consuming fire. This is a prediction of the imminent destruction of the old heavens and earth, i.e. the old Jewish system to be replaced by the new heavens and earth, i.e. the new covenant system. Again, that would occur in 70 AD. The old covenant system was phsical with the physical city of Jerusalem and could be “shaken” and destroyed when the temple was destroyed. The new covenant system “could not be shaken” because it was spiritual with the new, heavenly Jerusalem, which is the church.

The conclusion? It doesn’t matter if we can be sure who wrote the book. It doesn’t matter if the book was accepted in the canon b/c the early church thought that Paul wrote the book and probably were mistaken about who wrote the book. The book is full of accurate predictions about the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The book was written while the temple was still standing at the time of writing, and thus is was written before 70 AD and before the predictions would be fulfilled. It accurately predicts the future, which is the first test of a true prophet.

Here is a slide I did that summarizes all this.

The first test of canonicity of a new testament book was if it was written by an apostle (Matthew, John, Peter, Paulof close associate of an apostle (Mark and the apostle Peter, Luke and the apostle Paul). The early church eventually accepted Hebrews in the canon based on belief that it was written by Paul, which is highly unlikely. So, if they were wrong about the author, how can we be sure that the book was indeed canonical? The book is full of accurate predictions about 70 AD which is proof of a true prophet of God.

1. The book was written while the temple was still standing (Heb 9:6-9) so it was written before the destruction of the temple by the Romans in 70 AD.
2. The book accurately predicts in 10:27 the judgment on the unbelieving Jews that was “about to happen” (Mello) in 70 AD.
3. The book accurately predicts the 2nd coming of Jesus to judge the Jews which was imminent at the time of writing (10:37) and which would not be delayed. 
4. The book accurately predicts the imminent removal of the old covenant (8:13) to be replaced by the new covenant, which would also happen in 70 AD.
5. The book accurately predicts in 12:26-27 a final destruction of the old heavens and earth, i.e. the old Jewish system, which would happen in 70 AD. 

Every morning I try to read Chuck Swindoll’s daily devo that comes in my email (for free). They are always really good and meaningful. I highly suggest you subscribe for his daily devo. You can sign up here: https://insight.org/resources/daily-devotional You can also see past daily devotionals.

Here is the one for today, verbatim:

The Attributes of God

by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

Psalm 5:4–6

After the plea in Psalm 5:1–3, David begins to think through the day that spreads out before him, giving extra consideration to those he would encounter. His song addresses four specific realms of interest (Psalm 5:4–11).

1. David meditates on the Lord Himself (5:4–6).
2. David describes himself (5:7–8).
3. David describes his enemies (5:9–10).
4. David describes the righteous (5:11).

Let’s examine each realm of interest, beginning with the first: God Himself.

For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness;
No evil dwells with You.
The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes;
You hate all who do iniquity.
You destroy those who speak falsehood;
The LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit. (Psalm 5:4–6)

He mentions seven specific things about his Lord:

• He takes no pleasure in wickedness.
• No evil will “dwell” with Him (literally).
• Arrogant boasters will not stand before Him.
• He hates workers of iniquity.
• He destroys those who lie.
• He abhors murderers.
• He abhors deceivers.

Why does David review these things? Because it is therapeutic to review the attributes of God—to remind ourselves that He is always good, and that He is always right in His ways. His love for us never fails and His timing is perfect. Many of the pent-up angry feelings and frustrations of our inner emotional tank are diffused as we review God’s character and remind ourselves that He is for us, not against us. Focusing on His character helps dispel discouragement! Furthermore, we are reminded that our enemies are really God’s enemies. He is more powerful than any evil and more persistent than any difficult circumstance. As for those who try to harm us, the Lord is far more capable of dealing with them than we are.

Taken from Living the Psalms by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2012 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Worthy Books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

I thought this was really good. There is so much evil in the world today. Probably no more than in times in the past even though some say that the amount of evil today means that the world is about to end (I don’t believe that). Today the battle is between good and evil. It is about belief in God or atheism. If atheistic evolution is true, as is taught in public schools, then all life began from a chemical slime and humans evolved from some fish common ancestor millions of years ago. If there is no God, then we are mere animals and products of random, mindless evolution. If there is no God, then there are no moral absolutes. That doesn’t mean that all atheists have no morals. Most atheists have good morals and are good people. But if there is no God, then there is no absolute right and wrong. If there is no God, then we do not live with some eternal existence in mind: we die and that’s it. Jeffrey Dahmer said that this was his thinking that led him to do what he did.

I believe that God created us with the ability to reason and choose. Why and how would mere chemical evolution ever evolve this unique ability in humans? Chemicals can’t produce reasoning ability. The brain would just be chemical neurons reacting to stimuli. This same reasoning ability prompts us to stop and think about eternity, about why we are here, about what the purpose of life is.

As Swindoll noted, we need to just stop often and meditate on God and what He is like. When we do, we are told in the Bible (as in Psalm 5 and many other places) that He is a God of love who hates evil. He hates all the evil that men and women choose to do today, but He gives us freedom of choice. Yes, God allows evil to exist. Why does a loving God allow evil to exist? Mainly b/c he has allowed freedom of choice. He didn’t want to create puppets or robots incapable of choosing wrong. He wanted us to love him out of our free will choice and not b/c we are programmed to love him. But that means also allowing people to make evil choices that often hurt other people. The choices of Adam and Eve to sin led to a cursed earth that brings about many harmful things also. But all that doesn’t mean that God is not a God of love. We must remember eternity when we view the problem of evil. No matter what suffering and evil someone faces or endures in this life, he/she can live happily and suffering free in eternity with God and Jesus. Any evil suffered in this life will seem like nothing once we enter eternity with God.

The clearest picture of this eternal life with God and Jesus is perhaps in Revelation 7:¹³ Then one of the elders responded, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” ¹⁴ I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵ For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. ¹⁶ They will no longer hunger nor thirst, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any scorching heat; ¹⁷ for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

Paul told us in 2 Corinthians 4:¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, ¹⁸ while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” In other words, keep your mind thinking about eternity. Trust God that eternal life with Him will be so wonderful that will be far beyond all comparison to the suffering we might go throug in this life.

Mass shooting in schools and public places, Christians being killed by radical Muslims in Nigeria, wars all over the world led by evil people. The list goes on and will go on. We have a loving God who hates all this evil. Don’t let the evil discourage your faith in a loving God. Keep your eyes on eternity. Try to help others who lose their faith b/c of the problem of evil and suffering. Help them to fix their eyes on eternity. That will give us all hope in the midst of evil and despair. Many lose their faith in God b/c of the loss or a child or a loved one. Faith in God actually helps us deal with that if we trust God. It helps us see our loved one or child in heaven, free from suffering, waiting for us to join them some day when we die. That can make our faith even stronger. I love the part in the movie, The Shack, when Mac is allowed to see his daughter (who had been killed by a serial killer) in heaven playing in the meadow with other children and hugged in the arms of Jesus. That helped him get rid of all his anger toward God.

Thanks for reading. Stop and mediate often on our loving God, as Swindoll suggested. Subscribe to his daily devotionals.

You could have gathered all my info in this article from wikipedia, but I have enjoyed researching it and sharing about about Charles Spurgeon, one of the greatest preachers and Christians in the history of Christianity. Charles Spurgeon lived from 1834 to 1892. “He was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, to some of whom he is known as the “Prince of Preachers. By the time of his death in 1892, he had preached nearly 3,600 sermons and published 49 volumes of commentaries, sayings, anecdotes, illustrations and devotions. On October 7, 1857, he preached to his largest crowd ever – 23,654 people – at The Crystal Palace in London. Many sermons were transcribed as he spoke and were translated into many languages during his lifetime. He is said to have produced powerful sermons of penetrating thought and precise exposition. His oratory skills are said to have held his listeners spellbound in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, and many Christians hold his writings in exceptionally high regard among devotional literature. He wrote his sermons out fully before he preached, but what he carried up to the pulpit was a note card with an outline sketch. On March 18, 1861, his congregation, the New Park Street Chapel, moved permanently to the newly constructed purpose-built Metropolitan Tabernacle, seating 5,000 people with standing room for another 1,000. The Metropolitan Tabernacle was the largest church edifice of its day. Spurgeon continued to preach there several times per week until his death 31 years later. He never gave altar calls at the conclusion of his sermons, but he always extended the invitation that if anyone was moved to seek an interest in Christ by his preaching on a Sunday, they could meet with him at his vestry on Monday morning. Without fail, there was always someone at his door the next day.” (Wikipedia) He was a firm proponent of the 5 tenets of Calvinism. He preached for the Baptist Church. He wrote several hymns. Singing at the Metropolitan Tabernacle were acapella and he was opposed to the use of insturmental music in worship. He was a friend and supporter of James Hudson Taylor, the founder of China Inland Missions that sent hundreds of missionaries to China. David Livingstone carried one of Spurgeon’s sermons with him to Africa. Inspired by George Muller, he founded the Stockwell Orphanages in 1867 which cared for hundreds of orphans until being bombed in WWII. He founded the Almshouse for charity for the poor. He founded 24 groups with ministries distributing Bibles, caring for the poor, supporting missionaries, building hospitals, etc. He gave generously to those groups. He made millions of pounds from his published sermons and books, but died poor, leaving his wife only 2,000 pounds. In 1887 he was involved in the “downgrade controversy”. His church had joined the Baptist Union, but some were denying the inerrancy and inspiration of the Scriptures, (i.e., they had “downgraded” the Bible and the principle of sola scriptura). He felt that Darwin’s theory of evolution was weakening the union. His church left the Baptist Union b/c of this controversy. He strongly opposed the owning of slaves. He lost support from the Southern Baptists as a result of that. He praised William Wilberforce for ending slavery in England with the Act of Emancipation. “Like other Baptists of his time, despite opposing Dispensationalism, Spurgeon anticipated the restoration of the Jews to inhabit the Promised Land.” (Wikipedia) He suffered from depression in his later years. He began a lifelong battle with gout when he was just 33, and died in 1892 at the age of 57 from gout and kidney failure. “An estimated total of 100,000 people either passed by Spurgeon as he lay in state or attended the funeral services. An unknown number lined the streets for the cortége. As the cortége passed the Stockwell Orphanage it stopped briefly while the children sang a verse of one of his favorite hymns “For ever with the Lord,” with the refrain “Nearer home.”. Along the route, some flags were at half-mast.” (Wikipedia) Here is that song sung by the Metropolitan Tabernacle Choir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B_0nDStx3Q&list=RD5B_0nDStx3Q&start_radio=1

I had read about Spurgeon preaching to thousands but I could not visualize holding an audience of 5,000 spellbound with his sermons. But then I read one of his sermons sent to me by a friend, sermon #2257 to be read at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in 1892. He used Romans 1:20-21 as his text: “They are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful.”

In this sermon, he challenged nominal Christians who “know God” but seldom think about God. He said, “I (personally) must have a God; I cannot do without him. He is to me as necessary as food to my body, and air to my lungs. The sad thing is, that many, who believe that there is a God, yet glorify him not as God, for they do not even give him a thought. I appeal to some here, whether that is not true. You go from the beginning of the week to the end of it without reflecting upon God at all. You could do as well without God as with him. Is not that the case? And must there not be something very terrible in the condition of your heart when, as a creature, you can do without a thought of your Creator, when he that has nourished you, and brought you up, is nothing to you, one of whom you never think? Again, dear friends, there are some who think of God a little, but they never offer him any humble, spiritual worship. When the organ peals out its melodious tones, but the heart is not in the singing, dost thou think that God has ears like a man, that can be tickled with sweet sounds? Why hast thou brought him down to thy level? He is spiritual; the music that delights him is the love of a true heart, the prayer of an anxious spirit. (Remember that he was opposed to instrumental music in worship although he did not condemn it). Further, the people mentioned in my text did not glorify God, for they did not obediently serve him. My dear hearer, have you served God? Have you looked upon yourself as a servant of God? When you awoke in the morning, did you say, “What does God expect me to do to-day?” When you have summed up the day, have you applied this test, “How far have I endeavored to serve God to-day?”  There is another charge to be brought against those who glorified not God, although they knew him; that is, they did not trust him. You trust your old uncle; but you never trust yourGod. In addition to this, they did not seek to commune with him. Are there not some here who never tried to speak to God? It never occurred to you, did it? And God has not spoken to you; at least, you have not known whose voice it was when he did speak. It is a very sad business when a boy, who has been at home with his father and mother for years, has never spoken to them. He came down in the morning, and ate his breakfast; he came in, and devoured his dinner; he took his supper with them by night; but never spoke to them. Would you have a boy of that kind living with you? You would be obliged to say. “John, you must go; it pains me to send you away, but I cannot bear to have you sitting here in silence. If I speak to you, you never answer me.” Some of you cannot remember the time when you spoke to God, or God spoke to you: it is so very long ago, if it ever did occur in your past experience. There are some who, although they know God, they do not want to be reconciled to him. Whosoever believeth in Christ Jesus is at once forgiven; he is adopted into the family of God; he drinks the wine of the love of God; he is saved with an everlasting salvation. There are many who know this in their minds; but it never excites any desire for it in their hearts. Those who are mentioned by Paul are accused of WANT OF GRATITUDE (this sermon is called GRATITUDE). I cannot say anything much worse of a man than that he is not thankful to those who have been his benefactors; and when you say that he is not thankful to God, you have said about the worst thing you can say of him.” (All quotes from his sermon).

WOW! When I read this sermon, it spoke to me like it did to those he preached to in the 1800’s! I can see why they were spellbound to his preaching! So practical and yet profound. His illustration about the boy who never spoke to his parents was so good. I thought, “I hear sermons today but nothing like what Spurgeon preached.” Churches today might be filled if we had preaching like that. He convicted people of their sins and lack of reverence for God. You don’t hear a lot of sermons today convicting people of their sins. In his opening remarks of the sermon, he said that he was not talking about how bad the Romans were 2,000 years ago (and they were evil), but that he was talking about the sins of the 1800’s. That sermon would fit very well in the 2,000’s, wouldn’t it. Especially in the U.S. where we are so materially blessed that we don’t think about God, etc. as the sermon points out.

I hope you enjoyed this article, but more importantly I hope the the Spirit of God that inspired Spurgeon to preach that sermon will work in you (and me) today through that sermon. I know it made me think a lot about my own spiritual experience with God.

You might not enjoy an article about eschatology (the study of the end times). You might think that eschatology doesn’t even matter, which is probably true for most believers. But you might want to know more about it. You are confused by the constant predictions of end time events, none of which come true. In 1948 when Israel became a recognized state was that God fulfilling Old Testament predictions Israel that He would one day “restore their fortunes and give them back their land”? What about those verses in the Old Testament that predicted that God would “restore the fortunes of Israel and put them back on their land” (Jeremiah 30:3; Ezekiel 36-37)? Is that literal or could there be some figurative fulfillment of that?

There is a verse that kinda settles it all for me. It is found in what Jesus predicted in Luke 21:²⁰ “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. ²¹ Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are inside the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; ²² because these are days of punishment, so that all things which have been written will be fulfilled. ²³ Woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land, and wrath to this people; ²⁴ and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.“

We know this is predicting the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Romans in 70 AD. Luke 21:³² Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place.” That verse makes it clear that the predictions of Luke 21 must be fulfilled within the lifetime of the generation of those he was speaking to. That word “generation” always refers to a period of about 40 years or to the people living withing a period of about 40 years. The same as we use it when we say the “baby boomers’ generation”, or “gen z”. The only event within that next generation that Jesus could be referring to was 70 AD.

But “the verse” that settles a lot of the confusion about Old Testament prophecies is found in Luke 21 in verse 21:²² because these are days of punishment, so that all things which have been written will be fulfilled.” Which have been written where? Since Luke 21 is predicting the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, that must refer to the Old Testament since the New Testament had not been written yet when Jesus spoke this. That means that all Old Testament predictions would be fulfilled by 70 AD. That means that Israel being restored to their fortunes and land had to be fulfilled by 70 AD. But you might object, “Israel was not restored to their power as a nation by 70 AD and they did not get all the Promised Land by 70 AD”, which is true. What that means is that those predictions were fulfilled figuratively, not literally. In Romans 9-11, Paul clearly says that all of God’s promises to Israel in the Old Testament did come true, but that those promises were only made for the remnant of Israel who would accept Jesus as the Messiah and not for the whole nation. The fate of most of the nation was to be judged and killed in 70 AD (Josephus said that one million Jews died). The fortunes of the remnant of believing Jews were restored spiritually with all the spiritual Messianic blessings of forgiveness and salvation. If not, Jesus is a false prophet for predicting that all Old Testament things that had been written would be fulfilled within that generation, in 70 AD.

Some say that all predictions must be taken literally, but no necessarily so. The Bible uses a lot of figurative language. The context determines if a prediction is to be taken literally or figuratively. Malachi predicted that Elijah would come before the day of the Lord, but that was fulfilled by the coming of John the Baptist and not literally by Elijah the prophet coming back from the dead. Jesus said it was fulfilled in John. So the original prediction had to be figurative. Another example is the kingdom of God that was to be established in the days of the 4th kingdom (the legs of iron) of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue in Daniel 2. The Jews expected the Messiah to restore the kingdom of Israel to its physical power as in the days of King David. But Jesus, in the days of the Roman Empire, said “the kingdom is at hand”. He also said that some of those he was speaking to would be alive to see him coming in his kingdom” (Mark 9:1; Matthew 16:27,28). So, unless he is a false prophet or mistaken, that kingdom had to be establish in the first century. A literal power oriented kingdom was not established, but a spiritual kingdom, the church, was established. Thus the prediction of the kingdom being established was fulfilled figuratively in the spiritual church that Jesus built.

That explains how Old Testament predictions of “restoring the fortunes of Israel and bringing them back to their land” could be fulfilled figuratively but only for the remnant of believing Jews. That might go against our normal way of interpreting Scripture, but we must accept figurative fulfillment of predictions when other verse demand it. Again, Luke 21:22 demands a figurative fulfillment of all of the predictions about the Messianic future of Israel, the “resotoration of the fortunes of Israel”, i.e. that is only refers to the remnant of Israel who accepted Jessu as the Messiah..

But notice Luke 21:²⁷ And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” This also had to be fulfilled within the generation of those Jesus was speaking to (21:32). So did Jesus come in 70 AD? Yes. If not, then Jesus is a false prophet or just mistaken. He only predicts a “2nd coming” or “coming back” (the parousia) 4 times in the synoptics (Matthew 10:23; 16:27,28; 24:29-34; 26:64 and the parallel readings in Mark 13 and Luke 21), and in all 4 times he predicts that 2nd coming to be within the lifetime of those he is speaking to. There are no predictions of a coming back after their lifetime. He did return in 70 AD to judge the nation that rejected him as the Messiah. If these predictions did not come true just as he predicted, then he is indeed a false prophet, which is what the atheists, Muslims, and unbelieving Jews claim. Most Christians just ignore these verses and say that Jesus’ 2nd coming is still in our future. Or they come up with some theory that Jesus delayed his 2nd coming, but there are no verses to support that. Instead, Hebrew 10:37 For yet in a very little while,
He who is coming will come, and will not delay.” That verse refutes any delayed coming theory!

Again, all this might not interest you at all. But surely you feel the pressure of being told that as a Christian you should believe in Israel and that God has a special place for Israel in eschatology? Or maybe you are just confused about it all and you don’t know what to believe or who to listen to? Or maybe you just don’t want to even discuss or study eschatology, which is fine. But someone needs to defend the Bible predictions in light of their misuse so often. I hope that is all that I am trying to do!

Thanks for reading if you made it this far!!!

In Swindoll’s Sept 2 “Insight For Living” he wrote: “Stay with the Scriptures. While our individual experiences may vary somewhat as the Lord uses each of us in unique ways, we must never—and I mean never—get too far from the revealed and reliable Word of God. If you do you will begin to use your experience as a basis for your beliefs, and the Scriptures will diminish in importance as you make more and more room for more strange experiences.”

“I have pastor friends who have done just that. And today when I talk with them, I find that they no longer believe that the Bible is God’s final Word. If that’s true, then how do I know where His Word starts and their vivid imagination stops? How much of it can I trust? No matter how persuasive the preacher, you and I need God’s inspired Word, not additional revelations of “truth.” When that happens, we are hopelessly awash.”

I teach “Christian Evidences” in my Bible classes, so the inspiration of the Word is a dear subject to me. It is true that we do not have the original writings of the apostles and prophets. But we do have thousands of manuscripts (copies) that help assure us that we have trustworthy translations today. It is true that there are “apparent contradictions” in the Word. But those can be explained if you give the Bible the “benefit of the doubt”. But today we hear more serious doubts about the inspiration of Scripture. Paul is considered to be just an uninspired man giving his homophobic, misogynistic opinions. Thus the LGBQT movement splits churches (the Methodist church and others). The inspired teachings of Paul are no longer the standard for determining right and wrong.

So they tell us that some parts of the Bible are inspired but that the false ideas of the writers are mixed in with the inspired portions. As Swindoll said, how can we determine which part is the actual word of God? Do we leave it to some uninspired preacher to tell us which parts of Scripture are “truth”?

I hope what Paul said of the Thessalonian Christians can be said of you. 1 Thessalonians 2:¹³ For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of mere men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which also is at work in you who believe.”