HEB-01 The Background and Purpose of Hebrews

Followers of Christ have suffered persecution throughout history. Stolen property, beatings, imprisonment and martyrdom have been the fate of countless Christians. And by some reports, Christ’s followers are being persecuted more than ever in our own day.

For those of us who aren’t suffering in these ways, it’s hard to imagine the temptations that persecution brings. Christians who live in peace and safety often compromise their faith even without threats. But can you imagine how tempting it would be to compromise what you believe to protect yourself, your spouse, your children and closest friends from serious harm? How could we possibly encourage fellow believers in these conditions?

This was the challenge that faced the author of the book of Hebrews. He wrote to a group of Christians who had suffered in the past and were now threatened with even more suffering. They’d done well years ago, but the author of Hebrews feared that they might now turn away from Christ to avoid further persecution.

This is the first lesson in our series The Book of Hebrews and we’ve entitled it, “The Background and Purpose of Hebrews.” In this lesson, we’ll introduce a number of perspectives that should guide our interpretation of this complex book.

As our title suggests, we’ll look at the background and purpose of Hebrews in two ways. First, we’ll consider the book’s background. And second, we’ll summarize the overarching purpose for which Hebrews was written. Let’s begin with a sketch of some important background issues related to the book of Hebrews.

We’ll explore the background of Hebrews by considering three interrelated topics. We’ll look first at its authorship. Then we’ll investigate the original audience. Lastly, we’ll examine the date when the book of Hebrews was written. Let’s look first at Hebrews’ authorship.

From the earliest times, there have been a variety of positions on the authorship of Hebrews. For our purposes, we’ll touch on two issues. First, we’ll discuss the identity of the author. And second, we’ll construct a profile for the author by focusing on some features of his book. Let’s begin by examining the author’s identity.