The title to the book of Hebrews (although the title is not inspired and was added much later by those who collected the authorized letters into one “New Testament,”) gives us a clue to the intended original audience. They were Jewish followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. From a hermeneutical standpoint (the discipline and practice of interpreting the Bible) knowing the original audience helps us understand the meaning of the letter in its original context. This book (as we call the letter) was written by a human person to human people, for a specific purpose. Thus as an inspired communication of God, we recognize that in it God used the standard conventions of communication of that day.

Judging from the content of the letter, the readers were being pressured to return to the old ways of the Mosaic Law. This may have been physical persecution or rejection by other Jews. In the earliest days of Christianity, the Jewish believers continued to meet in the synagogues (Acts 2:46), until persecution drove them underground (Acts 8:1-3). They did not see themselves as a separate sect, denomination or religion, but continued to think of themselves as Jews who became followers of Jesus Christ.

However, it became apparent that there were things in the Mosaic Law that no longer applied, and if believers continued in those old ways, they would in essence be straying from God. So the pressure was on to conform. The writer explains in a painstaking way that returning to the Law of Moses was worse than going backward.

The grand, over-arching theme of the book is the supremacy of Christ to all that has gone before. He is greater than angels, Moses, Joshua, the Levitical priesthood. He is a priest of an altogether different sort, a Melchizedekian high priest. In these pages we find the excellence of Christ to far surpass a religious system that puts weight on a man’s pious efforts to attain an acceptable presence with God. Only through Christ’s once for all sacrifice for all time, can we have the confidence to enter into God’s presence, as it were.

We find in the book of Hebrews a deep presentation of the life of faith, not only stated, but also modeled in those of faith who have gone before us throughout biblical history. Christ, the Son of God, Jesus incarnate is presented as superior, sufficient and ceaselessly unchanging. Through Him we find true rest from all human efforts to be acceptable to God. We can truly rest in Him. That is what the book of Hebrews is all about.

This series of devotionals will take you through one year of reading in the book of Hebrews, one or two verses at a time. This is not meant to be a commentary, but to help the reader understand the meaning of what is taught there—with a goal of falling more in love with the Lord Jesus Christ. Our desire is that you would learn to fully rest in Him, not only for salvation, but also for your spiritual growth.

We have provided the devotionals for five days a week, for 52 weeks, based on a typical five-day work-week. This will fit into the normal routine for most working people. On weekends, we suggest a change of pace, with setting up your own reading schedule.