Book Review - Wrath or Rest: Saints in the Hands of an Angry God

The American Culture ^ | 1-20-14 | Michael Soderberg

[Olympiad Fisherman]

The key to understanding the infamous warning passages in the book of Hebrews is to understand the history of the Exodus generation. The Exodus generation is used throughout the book of Hebrews as the primary point of departure to help the Bible student chart his way through the difficulties of the book. Not only does the history of the Exodus generation provide interpretive controls to narrow down the field of meaning when it comes to exegetical problems in the text of Hebrews, but it also provides the serious student of the Word a biblical framework from which to being digging into the details of the text. When it comes to the proper exegesis of the book of the Hebrews, rustic and realistic Old Testament history comes before preconceived theological theories and niceties ...

[Rich21IE]

ping

[editor-surveyor]

The book of Hebrews was NOT written to Hellenized ‘Jews.’

It was written to the same people to which Yeshua was sent: The Lost Sheep of the House of Israel.

[Olympiad Fisherman]

Hellenistic Christian Jews would certainly be considered the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Hellenistic Jews simply means diaspora Jews. The author of Hebrews quoted to his readers the Greek Old Testament, not from the Hebrew, and so that is why the book must have been written to Hellenistic Christian Jews.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “Hellenistic Christian Jews would certainly be considered the lost sheep of the house of Israel” <<

.
Absolute nonsense!

Jews are the House of Judah.

The diaspora contained no Jews. They were entirely of The House of Israel plus their Levites.

Paul did not use the LXX, that was substituted in for the Hebrew text by the Greek translators after Paul wrote his epistle. The dispersed Israelites all were fully capable of reading Hebrew. They had the scrolls.

The epistle was written to Messianic Hebrews that were still attempting to maintain their traditions afar off from Jerusalem. Hellenists were pagans, as that was the essence of Hellenism, not Christian.

The author of the book must be a Biblical illiterate.

[Olympiad Fisherman]

Hellenistic Jews does not mean they adopted paganism, only that they lived outside the promised land as you said of the Messianic Hebrews (Acts 6:1). There is no disagreement here ...

[editor-surveyor]

Hellenism is paganism plain and simple.

No “Jew” was ever Hellenized, that is mostly what the Maccabee revolt was all about.

Paul was never sent to Jews, but to “The Lost Sheep of the House of Israel.” The term “sheep” implies that they are Yehova’s elect, not lost paganized Israelites. These sheep were the “gentiles” to which Paul was called. They were gentile because they were not “in covenant.”

Romans 2:

[12] For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
[13] (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
[14] For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
[15] Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

Thus, if they were Hellenized, Paul was not writing to them.