(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better…and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see why)
Focus Question:
What is Divine revelation?
Intro:
Imagine you’re a fly on the wall in a counseling office. A couple sits there in tears, and you hear the counselor say,
I am truly sorry for the events that have your marriage, and each of you, in this much pain. Unfortunately, this type of wound is very familiar to me, which means we know how to treat it. If you are willing to stay on the journey, you can heal quite fully. Your marriage is forever changed, but it can grow from this point into the kind of marriage you both really want and others deeply admire.(1)
What a beautiful sentiment — in the midst of pain there is hope. Nothing’s going back to how it was, but you can look forward to a relationship worth striving for.
In a way, that’s what is in front of us in the book of Hebrews.
NEW TESTAMENT SEGMENT:
(The book of Hebrews’) primary exhortation is an appeal for endurance. Familiar with the great personalities of Old Testament times, these Jewish believers are reminded that Abraham ‘patiently endured’ because God had made a promise to him (6:15). Moses endured…(and) Most significant of all, Jesus endured. ‘The joy set before him’ sustained him when sinners opposed him and reviled him (12:2–3). …all experienced fierce temptation and hostile opposition. Under the pressure of these adversities they might well have given up, but they were not deflected from their course. How could these Jewish Christians endure? What would enable them to stand firm in hazardous times? They must look to Christ.(2)
And that kicks off what will be an interesting journey, particularly since we’ll traverse this path from now ‘til beyond Christmas, is the uniqueness and exclusiveness of Jesus and asking today, “What is divine revelation?”
Oh, and one other note. The author here uses a ton of OT references, and most of the time I’ll give a simple verbal cue.
Passage: Hebrews 1
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 14
Words: ~319
OLD TESTAMENT SEGMENT:
Nehemiah 7 is one of “those” chapters, a long list of names. As usual I’ll condense a little, but I’m going to read it all. Remember that
Nehemiah charged Hanani with the security of the city because he was able and pious. The city was now secure for new residents (7:1–4; compare 11:1–36). God impressed upon Nehemiah the need to keep genealogical records (7:5). Therefore Nehemiah began by reciting the first record of the exiles under Zerubbabel’s tenure (7:6–73; compare Ezra 2:1–70).(3)
Passage: Nehemiah 7
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 73
Words: ~1770
Wisdom SEGMENT:
Passage: Psalm 140
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 10
Words: ~164
The bottom line:
Hebrews begins with a bold assertion…that Jesus is the ultimate and final revelation of God. But what exactly is Divine revelation? Here’s an answer to that question from Gordon Lewis in the CSB Apologetics Study Bible:
Revelation is an activity of the invisible, living God making known to finite and sinful people his creative power, moral standards, and gracious redemptive plan.
First, God discloses himself and his power to everyone by the marvels of his creation—the amazing life support system of planet earth….(Ps 19:1–6; Rm 1:19–20).
Theologians call this “general revelation,” and as we know from Paul’s argument in Romans, all know of God via creation.
Second, God makes plain his moral nature and ethical principles for our well-being by implanting oughts and ought nots in every human spirit. Even people who do not have Moses’s Ten Commandments (Ex 20:1–20) feel an obligation to obey those universal principles of right and wrong and suffer guilt when they do not (Rm 2:14–15). God’s moral principles restrain evil and prompt all to seek and find him (Ac 17:27). However, everyone sins, worships, and serves the creation rather than its Creator (Rm 1:25; 3:10–23). Our habitual failure to live up to God’s laws demonstrates our need for his mercy and redeeming grace.
Third, God made his merciful redemptive purposes known centuries before Christ both through mighty acts such as delivering Israel from slavery in Egypt (Ex 12) and through the reliable messages of his prophetic spokesmen (as we read in) (Heb 1:1). Criteria by which to distinguish true from false prophets included the logical consistency of teaching with previous revelation (Dt 13:1–5) and the verification of visible signs (Dt 18:20–22). God promised to send his anointed one to defeat Satan’s destructive purposes in many ways. The Messiah would be a son of Eve (Gn 3:15), a descendant of Abraham (Gn 22:18) and David (2Sm 7:12–16), and would be born of a virgin (Is 7:14) in Bethlehem (Mc 5:2). Because those who chose the way of sin chose a way that ends in death, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. So believing citizens of Israel pictured Christ’s coming sacrificial atonement for sin by animal sacrifices and the Passover.
Fourth, God made his just and loving plan of redemption known supremely in Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah. “No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and at the Father’s side—he has revealed him” (Jn 1:18). To appreciate more fully what God is like, study the life, words, works, and atoning death of Jesus. At Calvary, the guiltless Savior substituted himself for the guilty. In doing so he defeated Satan and provided the just basis for his reconciling mercy and grace (Rm 3:25). Then the risen Christ demonstrated his saving power over sin, guilt, death, and Satan (Rm 1:2–4; 10:9–10)!
Fifth, after Jesus’s ascension to heaven, God communicated his redemptive purposes through spokesmen called apostles. Jesus taught and trained them for three years, and they were eyewitnesses of his resurrection (Ac 1:21–22). Through Paul, an apostle who later saw the risen Christ, God revealed his plan to unite both Jewish and Gentile believers in one body, the church (Eph 2:11–22).
Sixth, the King of kings will be revealed in all his power and glory at his second coming.
Seventh, all the above sources of revealed truth have been preserved for us in the Holy Scriptures.(4)
This is a big deal today for you for a couple reasons. One, you may have to endure those who look down on you for thinking Jesus is the only way. But if the argument stands and Jesus is the final revelation, then any other prophets or someone making a truth claim contrary to Scripture is false. Two, as the writer of Hebrews will argue, this is the hope that gives you confidence in a future that, even if you don’t know the timing, is more sure than anything in life.
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources:
(1) Zondervan,. Counseling Techniques (p. 563). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition. (NOTE:
(2) Raymond Brown, The Message of Hebrews: Christ above All, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 14.
(3) David S. Dockery, ed., Holman Bible Handbook (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 1992), 297.
(4) Terry L. Wilder, “Hebrews,” in CSB Apologetics Study Bible, ed. Ted Cabal (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1523.