The Abrahamic Interpretation - Healing, Prosperity and Family Well

140 Pages·2001·3.24 MB·English

H e b re w s

The Abrahamic
Interpretation

Jay Snell

H e b re w s

The Abrahamic
Interpretation

Jay Snell Evangelistic Association
PO Box 59
Livingston, TX 77351
936-327-3676 Fax: [phone] [email protected]
Hebrews: The Abrahamic Interpretation Copyright 2001 by Jay Snell. Published by
Jay Snell Evangelistic Association, P. O. Box 59, Livingston, Texas 77351
http://jaysnell.org
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or
otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher, except as provided by USA copyright law.

First Printing 2001

Printed in the United States of America

ii
Table of Contents

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………….7

Chapter One ……………………………………………………………………………………..15

Chapter Two ……………………………………………………………………………………..19

Chapter Three ……………………………………………………………………………………25

Chapter Four …………………………………………………………………………………….33

Chapter Five ……………………………………………………………………………………. 41

Chapter Six ………………………………………………………………………………………55

Chapter Seven …………………………………………………………………………………...65

Chapter Eight ……………………………………………………………………………………75

Chapter Nine …………………………………………………………………………………….79

Chapter Ten …………………………………….………………………………………………..87

Chapter Eleven ………………………………………….……………………………………….93

Chapter Twelve ………………………………………………….……………………………..101

Chapter Thirteen ………………………………………………………….……………………107

Chapter Fourteen …………………….…………………………………………………………111

Chapter Fifteen ……………………………….………………………………………………...117

Chapter Sixteen……………………………………….………………………………………...127

Chapter Seventeen…… ………………………………………………………………………..133

iii

Abbreviations
Rather than using footnotes in this work, we have selected to insert the following simple form of
documentation right into the paragraph in which we allude to, refer to, or quote another
authority:

(JS3, P147)

In the preceding parenthesis, the beginning capital letters, JS, stands for the name of the author
quoted or alluded to. The 3 stands for the volume of his work referred to. The P147 stands for the
page number where the quote or reference occurs. Consequently, the meaning of the above
parenthesis is Jay Snell, Volume 3, Page 147. A glance below tells you the author is Jay Snell
and the name of the work cited is The Unbroken Force of Abraham’s Blessings. This is Volume
3 of his work and the quote occurs on page 147.

(AC3, Romans to Revelation) = Adam Clarke, Vol 3, Romans to Revelation
(ATR5, Hebrews) = A. T. Robertson, Vol 5. Word Pictures in the New Testament
(BW) = Brooks and Winbery, Syntax of New Testament Greek
(DM) = Dana and Mantey, A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament
(GWB) = George W. Buchanan, To the Hebrews; Volume 36 in The Anchor Bible
(JHT) = J. H. Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament
(JS1) = Jay Snell, What are Abraham’s Blessings Anyway?
(JS2) = Jay Snell, What’ve They Done with Abraham’s Blessings?
(JS3) = Jay Snell, The Unbroken Force of Abraham’s Blessings
(JS4_ = Jay Snell, How to Obtain Abraham’s Blessings
(KW2) = Kenneth Wuest, Vol. 2, Hebrews, Word Studies in the Greek New Testament
(MFU) = Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Bible Dictionary
(RCHL) = R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Epistle of
James
(TDNT) = Theological Dictionary of New Testament Theology, One Volume Edition
(UVW) = Unger, Vine and White, Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New
Testament Words
iv

Introduction

How to Understand the Book of Hebrews
Here’s what we show you to make the Book of Hebrews crystal clear for you:
1. We show you to whom the Book of Hebrews was written.
2. We show you how the Abrahamic covenant works.
3. We show you the real purpose of Moses’ law.
4. We show you how Moses’ law worked in conjunction with Abraham’s covenant.
5. We show you the Six Things Jesus did to Moses’ law that changed the Old Testament
system forever.
6. We show you the skillful way the author used pronouns in the Book of Hebrews.
7. We give our outline of this book at the end of this introduction.
In this Introduction, we briefly explain each of these seven items. They are not complicated. You
do not have to remember them. Therefore, you don’t have to memorize them. After the following
brief explanation, we will use them and apply them for you in the balance of this commentary.
As we use them, you will clearly see and understand how they work. Then, you will remember
them.
1) To whom was Hebrews written?
First, it was not written to Gentiles. It was not written to Gentile Christians. There is nothing in
the Book of Hebrews that was written directly to Gentiles--Christian or otherwise.
Lenski said it well. “The recipients of this epistle were not Gentiles although such a view has
been advocated. Nor were they a mixed group, partly Jewish, partly Gentile. Hebrews nowhere
deals with or addresses Gentile Christian readers; and it is impossible to assume that Hebrews is
addressed only to the Jewish members of a mixed group to the exclusion of the Gentile
members.” (RCHL, Hebrews, P14)
Some things in Hebrews apply to Gentile Christians by grafting, but not one thing applies to
Gentiles directly. You Gentile Christians cannot find yourself in Hebrews except those places
that God grafted you into the Abrahamic covenant on an equal footing with the Hebrews
themselves. (Of course, many practical, devotional, and faith building lessons exist for Gentile
Christians in Hebrews.) Consequently, you Gentile Christians are grafted into most of the
“positives” in Hebrews. But you are not in the “negatives.”
Second, it was written to the Hebrew people. (The original audience might have been a house
church.) Even though the original audience might have been a house church, the Author wrote its
message to them as a people, a nation. (In this work, we always refer to the Author of Hebrews
as “our Author’ or ”the Author.”) Furthermore, he addressed certain groups within the Hebrew
nation. Actually, he divided them into three distinct groups and addressed each group separately.
Finally, he divided the third group below into three more, distinct groups.

(cid:153) Group One: He addressed some of the Book to the Hebrews as a complete
entity, that is, as a nation of people.

Hebrews: The Abrahamic Interpretation Page 7
Introduction

(cid:153) Group Two: He addressed some of it to the group (out of the nation) who had
accepted Jesus as their Messiah, Savior and final sacrifice for their sin under
Moses’ law.

(cid:153) Group Three: He addressed some of it to another group of them (out of the
nation) who had not accepted Jesus as their Messiah, Savior and final sacrifice for
their sin under Moses’ law. He also divided this group into three more distinct
groups.

(cid:153) Group 3A: This group had absolutely, finally and irrevocably rejected Jesus as
the final sacrifice for their sin under Moses’ law.

(cid:153) Group 3B: This group was considering accepting Jesus as the final sacrifice
for their sin under Moses’ law, but were undecided.

(cid:153) Group 3C: This group professed to have accepted Jesus as the final sacrifice
for their sin under Moses’ law, but they had never actually done so. They were
professors only. They professed but did not possess.
We have Group 3C above in the churches today. How many members of the church do you know
who talk the talk but do not walk the walk. How many of them profess but do not possess?
2) How the Abrahamic covenant works
In Genesis 12, God made a covenant with Abraham that was composed of Sixty Different
Promises. Thirteen of these Sixty Promises pertained to Gentiles. See Chapter 1 in our book,
What are Abraham’s Blessings Anyway?. for a complete list of the Sixty Promises. (The book is
free on the Internet--www.jaysnell.org.) The key term in these Sixty Promises is the word bless.
This word contains four basic things that belonged to Abraham, to his physical descendants, and
to us Gentile Christians by grafting.

1. Physical Healing for their body
2. Prosperity for their pocket book
3. Family Well Being
4. Salvation for their soul
In addition to these four things contained in the term bless, this covenant also contained God’s
promise of the land. Remember this well: God gave the land in addition to the four things
contained in the concept of bless that are listed above. The addition of the land, therefore, gave
them these five things: healing, prosperity, family well being, salvation, and land. Later, we shall
see that, in addition to these five, He gave them two more, wonderful blessings.
The beauty of these four things, plus the land, was that the Hebrews were born with them. They
did not have to get them. Because they were born into the Abrahamic covenant, they had them.
These blessings were theirs by birthright. They did not have to earn them. They were the givens
of the Abrahamic covenant blessing system.

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