El Shaddai Ministries

[ 0m0s428ms - 0m3s58ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] I am so excited about teaching you the book of Hebrews.

[ 0m4s938ms - 0m12s658ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Do we have the up Yes, we are going to take an indepth look at the book of Hebrews.

[ 0m12s658ms - 0m14s368ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] I am going to shock you today.

[ 0m15s478ms - 0m17s548ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] I promise you, what's new, right?

[ 0m19s28ms - 0m20s588ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] We're going to look at Hebrews.

[ 0m20s588ms - 0m24s488ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Here's some of the questions and maybe you already know the answers.

[ 0m25s498ms - 0m27s378ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] First question is who wrote it?

[ 0m29s178ms - 0m35s668ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Was it originally written in Hebrew and then translated into Greek or was it written in Greek from the very beginning?

[ 0m36s578ms - 0m38s268ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Who was it written to?

[ 0m40s288ms - 0m45s308ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] So, first we're going to look at one thing is who wrote it?

[ 0m46s228ms - 0m47s568ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] And I'm going to prove to you.

[ 0m49s318ms - 0m54s668ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] But first, let me just check something.

[ 0m55s148ms - 1m6s528ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Do you know, several scholars over the last 2000 years have disagreed on who wrote Luke?

[ 1m7s878ms - 1m8s888ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Scholars.

[ 1m9s938ms - 1m11s298ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Or, I mean, yeah, who wrote Hebrews?

[ 1m12s438ms - 1m18s648ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Several scholars over the last 2000 years have disagreed on who wrote the book of Hebrews.

[ 1m18s838ms - 1m21s308ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] And they're all scholars, and yet they disagree.

[ 1m22s228ms - 1m26s188ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Let me tell you some of the scholars who proclaimed who wrote the book of Hebrews.

[ 1m27s688ms - 1m37s628ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Origen, Tertullian, Augustine, Jerome, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, et cetera.

[ 1m39s208ms - 1m43s8ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] And some of the people who they suggested wrote the book of Hebrews.

[ 1m44s388ms - 1m46s228ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Some of them had suggested Paul.

[ 1m47s718ms - 1m48s758ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Some Barnabas.

[ 1m49s878ms - 1m50s898ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Some Apollos.

[ 1m52s158ms - 1m53s538ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Some said Silas.

[ 1m55s128ms - 1m56s18ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Some said Peter.

[ 1m56s958ms - 1m59s338ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Some said Priscilla and Aquila.

[ 2m0s118ms - 2m1s168ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Some said Philip.

[ 2m1s618ms - 2m3s358ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Some of these scholars said Jude.

[ 2m3s978ms - 2m5s338ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Some said John, some said Timothy.

[ 2m7s48ms - 2m9s818ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Some even said Yeshua's mother, Mary.

[ 2m11s458ms - 2m12s508ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] As well as Luke.

[ 2m12s878ms - 2m17s888ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] There's, I mean, these are all scholars and then all the scholars have been disagreeing.

[ 2m17s888ms - 2m21s388ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] There, there was, you know, two or three agreed on some.

[ 2m22s178ms - 2m24s848ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] But you're going to see and I will prove to you.

[ 2m27s898ms - 2m31s438ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Not that I'm a scholar, but I have common sense.

[ 2m34s858ms - 2m36s228ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] That it was Luke who wrote it.

[ 2m38s728ms - 2m44s958ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Now, uh the other thing that we're also going to look at is who was Luke?

[ 2m45s688ms - 2m49s398ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Was Luke a Jew or a Gentile?

[ 2m50s478ms - 2m51s808ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Was he a God-fearer?

[ 2m52s818ms - 2m55s18ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Okay? Or maybe a believing Gentile?

[ 2m56s348ms - 3m2s248ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Then the other question is was it originally written in Hebrew and translated into Greek or not?

[ 3m2s798ms - 3m5s488ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Uh, who was it written to?

[ 3m5s878ms - 3m11s408ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] First, let me tell you almost, I believe almost all the New Testament was written in Hebrew but Hebrews.

[ 3m12s658ms - 3m13s558ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Hebrews was written in Greek.

[ 3m14s588ms - 3m16s388ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] And I'm going to prove that to you as well.

[ 3m17s358ms - 3m21s308ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] The reason why you know many of the books were written in Hebrew is because like in the book of Matthew.

[ 3m22s758ms - 3m28s198ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] When you take it from English back into Hebrew, there's poetry.

[ 3m28s708ms - 3m30s548ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] There is no poetry in Greek.

[ 3m31s298ms - 3m36s398ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] And so there there's some very common sense things that let you know whether a book was originally written in Hebrew or Greek.

[ 3m36s698ms - 3m43s38ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] But we're going to look and we're going to and I'm going to show you how the book of Hebrews was written in Greek from the very beginning.

[ 3m43s828ms - 3m46s708ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] And then who was Hebrews written to?

[ 3m47s918ms - 3m55s218ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Uh, I believe Hebrews was written to the Jews as well, the believing Jews as well as the grafted in Gentile believers.

[ 3m55s988ms - 4m0s408ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] But it was written in a common language that would be understandable by both.

[ 4m1s598ms - 4m3s838ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] So, first off, let's take a look at something.

[ 4m5s338ms - 4m7s338ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] We have original man, we don't we do not have.

[ 4m7s338ms - 4m11s718ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Let me just say, there were original manuscripts that the Torah was written in.

[ 4m11s718ms - 4m19s828ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Okay, that, you know, 3000 years ago or whatever Moses, you know, wrote the Torah and they had original manuscripts.

[ 4m21s238ms - 4m23s268ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] But, how many of you've ever heard of the Septuagint?

[ 4m24s848ms - 4m36s678ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Okay, the Septuagint was written approximately, give or take a few years, 250 BCE, okay, before current era or before Christ, however you want to look at it.

[ 4m37s548ms - 4m47s488ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] 250 years and what was amazing about the Septuagint, it was Greek was the very first language that the Hebrew Bible was ever written into.

[ 4m48s438ms - 4m57s718ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Now, um it was during the reign of Ptolemy II, and the name comes from the Latin, meaning 70, uh or the the 70.

[ 4m57s718ms - 5m10s38ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Actually, the king commissioned his royal librarian, King Ptolemy of Egypt, commissioned his royal librarian named Demetrius to acquire all the books of the world, either by buying them or by copying them.

[ 5m10s898ms - 5m16s248ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] And so Demetrius, he wrote a letter to the high priest in Jerusalem, and his name was Eleazer.

[ 5m17s148ms - 5m26s738ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] And he requested that six elders from the 12 tribes, totaling 72, to come and translate the Torah into Greek.

[ 5m27s668ms - 5m32s878ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Now, among the Jewish people, it was deemed miraculous.

[ 5m33s428ms - 5m42s248ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Okay? And the reason why was the 72 Jews worked in separate rooms, but they all came up on the same translation into the Greek.

[ 5m43s568ms - 5m57s38ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Now, they say that was, they felt that the Septuagint was truly inspired by God because you have 72 Jews, how often do they agree? uh and here you have them all supposedly coming up with the same Greek translation.

[ 5m58s268ms - 6m14s638ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Now, but the Septuagint was just the Torah at that time, to finish translating the rest of the Old Testament or the Tanakh, uh into Greek, actually took place over the next 250, 300 years, finally being finished around the time of Yeshua.

[ 6m15s488ms - 6m19s998ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] So when they talk about Septuagint, it refers to the number of people that.

[ 6m20s598ms - 6m26s648ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] The Jews who were leading Jews, who knew Greek and they all translated into Greek.

[ 6m27s288ms - 6m30s648ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] But the rest of the Old Testament, it took several centuries.

[ 6m31s768ms - 6m33s718ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Then you have what's called the Masoretic Text.

[ 6m34s348ms - 6m35s308ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] How many of you heard of the Masoretic Text?

[ 6m36s418ms - 6m36s798ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Okay.

[ 6m37s648ms - 6m43s468ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Now, the Masoretic Text was actually begun about 600 years after the Messiah.

[ 6m45s418ms - 6m45s748ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Okay?

[ 6m46s368ms - 6m52s748ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] It was completed around the year 1000. It took 3 to 400 years to write the Masoretic Text.

[ 6m53s268ms - 6m59s388ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Okay, it was written by scholars at the Talmudic Academies in Babylonia and Palestine.

[ 7m0s368ms - 7m5s818ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] In an effort, and listen to this, this is written 600 AD or CE.

[ 7m6s818ms - 7m12s658ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] It was an effort to reproduce as far as possible the original text of the Hebrew Old Testament.

[ 7m13s518ms - 7m26s938ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] They are the ones who supplied the vowel markings to enable correct pronunciation, cantilation markings, and exact word and letter count, and put spaces between the words and created verses all with the purpose.

[ 7m27s838ms - 7m31s388ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Of saving the scriptural integrity.

[ 7m31s728ms - 7m40s798ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Because there were many interpretations that were coming out and get a load of this, fewer Jews could even read Hebrew as the language was dying out.

[ 7m42s378ms - 7m49s868ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Think about this, over 600 years, they're scattered among all the nations, how many know Hebrew was a dead language and really got revived again back in the late 1800s.

[ 7m50s998ms - 8m3s248ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Well, that they see 600 AD, CE, whatever you want to call it, the Hebrew language is dying out, people they didn't know how to pronounce it because there were no vowel markings and so there was many scriptural interpretations that were coming.

[ 8m4s198ms - 8m11s498ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] There, now, here's the thing, so the Masoretic Text was written around 600 CE and then took several hundred years.

[ 8m12s338ms - 8m13s268ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] But here's what's interesting.

[ 8m14s288ms - 8m19s538ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] There are textual differences between the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text.

[ 8m22s478ms - 8m27s398ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Here's what you have to realize, the Jewish people in the time of Yeshua were using the Masoretic Text.

[ 8m29s418ms - 8m30s378ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] It didn't exist.

[ 8m31s438ms - 8m34s148ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Okay? They were using more of the original Hebrew Text.

[ 8m34s778ms - 8m38s368ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Most of your Protestant Bibles are based on the Masoretic Text.

[ 8m40s768ms - 8m49s188ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Now, the author of the book of Hebrews, you're going to find exclusively quotes the Septuagint Translation.

[ 8m50s948ms - 8m57s778ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Now, if they're quoting the Septuagint Translation, obviously they could be quoting the Masoretic Text because it wasn't around, all right?

[ 8m58s318ms - 9m12s658ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] What's interesting is the Masoretic Text that is the traditional text the Jews use today, there was no original text for them to use it. They were using scrap fragments from Dead Sea scrolls that had been found and different things.

[ 9m13s788ms - 9m17s328ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] All right? It's not like there was the original Torah Scroll that they used.

[ 9m18s968ms - 9m20s528ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Okay? Now, here's the other thing.

[ 9m22s658ms - 9m27s838ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] There are 11 scriptural Old Testament quotations in the book of Hebrews.

[ 9m28s558ms - 9m35s178ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] That are all basically from the Pentateuch or the Greek translation.

[ 9m35s758ms - 9m38s848ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] So, here's the thing. Let me show you something.

[ 9m38s848ms - 9m46s798ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] In Philemon, chapter 1, verse 23 and 24, I want to explain to you who was a good friend of the Apostle Paul.

[ 9m47s818ms - 9m59s968ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Here Paul is writing and he says, Aphra, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, salute you and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow worker.

[ 10m0s108ms - 10m2s498ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] So, is Luke a fellow worker with Paul?

[ 10m3s638ms - 10m8s308ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Look at 2 Timothy 4:11, Paul says, only Luke is with me.

[ 10m9s348ms - 10m16s628ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Colossians 4:14, we see Luke is the beloved physician and Demus, they salute you.

[ 10m17s548ms - 10m20s968ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] So, Luke is very close to the Apostle Paul, right?

[ 10m21s998ms - 10m33s708ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Now, one of the things that uh one of the books I'm using proving that Luke wrote the Bible is this book called The Lucan Authorship of Hebrews by David Allen. I met him about 30 years ago or so.

[ 10m34s638ms - 10m35s668ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] And was introduced to this book.

[ 10m36s278ms - 10m42s598ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Uh, but it is a very scholarly college level book that most people wouldn't like.

[ 10m43s228ms - 10m56s658ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] But it's uh it's a very good book, uh and I'm using a lot of his, as well as other things, but I just wanted you to know my source, plus another book I'm using for the book of Hebrews is called Hebrew through Hebrew Eyes.

[ 10m57s448ms - 11m3s248ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] But here's the thing, in proving that Luke is the one who wrote the book of Hebrews.

[ 11m4s788ms - 11m13s318ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] In this book, he mentions how Luke's vocation as a physician harmonizes well with the content of Hebrews.

[ 11m14s338ms - 11m24s848ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] From an anatomical or physiological point of view, look at Hebrews 4:12, he talks about the word of God is living, active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow.

[ 11m27s928ms - 11m38s708ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] And this word refers to a surgeon's knife or a butcher's knife, it's not this this Greek word for sword here is not a big sword, it refers to a surgeon's knife.

[ 11m39s398ms - 11m41s418ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] And he's talking about joints and marrow.

[ 11m42s518ms - 11m47s118ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] How about uh his vocation as a physician in terms of dietary?

[ 11m48s248ms - 12m14s638ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Hebrews 5:12-14, it talks about, when by reason of the time you ought to be teachers, you need again that someone teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God, you become such who have need of milk, not solid food. Everyone that partakes of milk is without experience of the word of righteousness. He's a baby, solid food is for full grown men, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.

[ 12m15s258ms - 12m22s778ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] So, when someone's, how many of you know if you've read a book and you know the writing style of that person, you can tell when another book is written it's not that person?

[ 12m24s468ms - 12m28s708ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Okay? Well, here you see as a physician, he he uses things that he's familiar with.

[ 12m29s338ms - 12m30s938ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] How about therapeutically?

[ 12m31s888ms - 12m33s798ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Hebrews 12, 12 and 13.

[ 12m35s178ms - 12m44s798ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] It says, therefore, lift up your drooping hands, strengthen your weak knees, make straight paths for your feet so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.

[ 12m45s388ms - 12m50s588ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] I mean, a lot of these things that he's saying is from a physician point of view.

[ 12m51s978ms - 12m56s488ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Then he talks about the linguistic argument or the writing style.

[ 12m57s718ms - 13m11s218ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Did you know in the book of Hebrews, there are 50 words of though all those words that are used in the book of Hebrews, over 50 of them are used nowhere else but in the book of Luke.

[ 13m12s908ms - 13m16s488ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] So, I mean there's some commonality as far as the writing style.

[ 13m17s328ms - 13m22s758ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Over 50 words in Hebrews are used nowhere in the New Testament except in the book of Luke.

[ 13m24s88ms - 13m26s648ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] The Hebrew word for star or stars.

[ 13m27s928ms - 13m37s698ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Obviously appears in the Old Testament as Jesus said the Jews would be like the stars of heaven and the star that uh Balaam saw.

[ 13m37s988ms - 13m48s888ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] But I want you to know this, in the Septuagint or the Greek translation, there are two different Greek words for stars.

[ 13m49s868ms - 13m50s388ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Okay?

[ 13m50s878ms - 14m8s998ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] So, in the Greek translation of the Old Testament or the Torah in particular, they use the word star and when they wrote, okay, the Septuagint, or the Pentateuch, they had it uh 50 different times.

[ 14m9s278ms - 14m29s158ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] But do you know 23 times the word star or stars, it's translated into the Greek in the New Testament, every New Testament writer uses one of the specific words and the other word for star is only used uh in Luke and in Hebrews.

[ 14m30s448ms - 14m34s148ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] So, you have a Greek word for star, we have two Greek words for star.

[ 14m34s148ms - 14m41s698ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] One of the Greek words, Luke and Hebrews is only found in those two, the other new all the other books, it's the other Greek word.

[ 14m41s698ms - 14m49s638ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] So, the fact that you have one version of the word star used in just Luke and Hebrews tells you more than likely Luke wrote it.

[ 14m51s108ms - 14m54s748ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Now, I'm going to give you four verses that aren't on your notes that I added this morning.

[ 14m57s288ms - 14m59s968ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Get a load of this, here is Psalms 2.

[ 14m59s968ms - 15m1s18ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] verse 7.

[ 15m3s18ms - 15m10s478ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] I will tell of the decree, the Lord said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you.

[ 15m11s438ms - 15m12s608ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Everyone familiar with that verse?

[ 15m13s948ms - 15m19s118ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] That verse is only found quoted in Hebrews.

[ 15m19s238ms - 15m25s768ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Hebrews 1:5, to which of the angels did God ever say, you are my son, today I have begotten you?

[ 15m26s228ms - 15m38s508ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] That's Hebrews 1:5 and then the author of Hebrews quotes it again in Hebrews 5:5, so Messiah also glorified not himself to be made a high priest, but he that spoke to him, you are my son, this day have I begotten you.

[ 15m39s208ms - 15m45s118ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Guess what? That verse is only found in one other book, in Acts, and who wrote Acts? Luke.

[ 15m45s958ms - 15m57s568ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] We bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, which he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Yeshua, as also it is written in the second Psalm, you are my son, today I have begotten you.

[ 15m58s558ms - 16m2s538ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] This is only found in Acts, where Luke wrote Acts, and in Hebrews.

[ 16m2s538ms - 16m6s148ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] So again, there's a commonality from the linguistic style.

[ 16m7s338ms - 16m12s38ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Now, the question is, was Luke a Jew or a Gentile?

[ 16m13s388ms - 16m15s488ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] How many of you heard he was a Gentile or a convert?

[ 16m15s488ms - 16m16s868ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] That's what most everyone hears.

[ 16m18s648ms - 16m22s228ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Okay? What does every mother want their son to be?

[ 16m23s268ms - 16m23s988ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] A doctor.

[ 16m24s588ms - 16m25s688ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] He was a physician.

[ 16m26s648ms - 16m28s678ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Okay, a doctor or a lawyer, a scribe.

[ 16m29s728ms - 16m36s278ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] But get a load of this, Dr. Luke was a constant companion of the Apostle Paul.

[ 16m37s208ms - 16m37s568ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Okay?

[ 16m38s428ms - 16m50s858ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] From the time he joined the missionary Apostle, when he sailed from Troas to Europe, Luke accompanied Paul, even, if you remember, on his faithful last return trip to Jerusalem.

[ 16m51s588ms - 17m3s888ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Do you remember when we were talking in the book of Acts, how Paul went into the temple and they accused him of bringing a Jew, I mean a Gentile? Remember when they they accused Paul of bringing a Gentile into the temple?

[ 17m4s478ms - 17m16s508ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] This is in Acts 21. The crowd was greatly agitated by the presence of Paul in the temple, he charged him with bringing Gentiles into the temple precincts, which was a crime punishable by death.

[ 17m17s378ms - 17m23s598ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] And remember, who wrote the book of Acts? Luke, Luke's writing about this incident, he was there.

[ 17m24s118ms - 17m28s108ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Luke explains that Paul never did bring any Gentiles into the temple.

[ 17m29s598ms - 17m32s198ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] So if Luke was a Gentile, how could he say that?

[ 17m34s408ms - 17m36s128ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Luke was with him in the temple.

[ 17m36s618ms - 17m42s918ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Not only that, he was seen on the streets of Jerusalem with Trophimus, who was an Ephesian.

[ 17m42s918ms - 17m49s318ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] The point is, when the Jewish people wanted to accuse Paul of bringing a Gentile into the temple, they chose Trophimus.

[ 17m49s318ms - 17m50s198ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Why didn't they choose Luke?

[ 17m52s108ms - 17m55s398ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] This is telling you, Luke was Jewish, or they would have all been upset.

[ 17m55s838ms - 17m58s908ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Okay? He was also with Paul, he was an eyewitness of the event.

[ 18m0s368ms - 18m5s248ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] The fact that Luke was not mentioned in the accusation is a strong indication he was not a Gentile.

[ 18m5s908ms - 18m9s368ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] The issue was never raised about Luke being a Gentile, although he was right there with him.

[ 18m10s478ms - 18m15s528ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] But to me, here is one of the biggest reasons to prove that Luke was a Jew.

[ 18m16s628ms - 18m18s838ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] He had a knowledge of the temple.

[ 18m20s228ms - 18m28s988ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Another argument for the idea that Luke was a Jew is that he showed a very intimate knowledge of the temple, more than any of the other gospel writers.

[ 18m30s818ms - 18m35s668ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] When he described the announcement to Zacharias, concerning the birth of John.

[ 18m36s588ms - 18m37s18ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Okay?

[ 18m37s18ms - 18m46s88ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Luke goes into considerable detail to describe the rotating selection of the Levitical priests, according to the course of Abijah. Remember that?

[ 18m46s88ms - 18m53s868ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] He further described the position of the priest before the altar of incense, where the angel appeared to Zacharias.

[ 18m54s538ms - 18m57s268ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Much of the book of Hebrews is also temple related.

[ 18m59s678ms - 19m10s398ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] The fact that Luke alone of the four gospel writers gives us account and he does so in such vivid detail, argues for his being a Jew, familiar with the temple procedures.

[ 19m11s148ms - 19m15s268ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] One could even speculate, get a load of this, that Luke might have been a Levite.

[ 19m17s548ms - 19m19s958ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Because he knows so much of the temple service.

[ 19m22s198ms - 19m23s268ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] He knew how it operated.

[ 19m23s268ms - 19m31s528ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] It is illogical to assume that Luke was a Gentile, when he had such a clear understanding of the most intimate workings of the temple, where no Gentile was ever allowed to go.

[ 19m33s848ms - 19m34s978ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] But here's even more.

[ 19m36s128ms - 19m41s48ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Look how close Luke was to Miriam or Mary, the mother of Jesus.

[ 19m41s48ms - 19m41s868ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Get a load of this.

[ 19m44s198ms - 19m56s348ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] First off, Matthew's gospel gives us a brief account of the circumstances of the birth of Jesus, his flight into Egypt, but only Luke gives us much greater detail.

[ 19m57s168ms - 2m4s758ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Luke tells us of the visits of the Archangel Gabriel, both to Zachariah and to the Virgin Mary.

[ 2m4s968ms - 2m9s118ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Luke gives us a precise recounting of the birth of Yeshua.

[ 2m10s278ms - 2m18s968ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] He talks about the Roman census, the journey to Bethlehem, the visit of the shepherds, even the intimate moment of the child being wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in the manger. He tells of Yeshua's circumcision as an infant, the fighting in the temple at the age of 12.

[ 2m25s348ms - 2m28s488ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Where did Luke get all of this extraordinary detail?

[ 2m31s238ms - 2m39s648ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Some of these details in Luke would not have even come from the Apostles, since Luke is recording events that predate their arrival when he was 30.

[ 2m45s848ms - 2m48s858ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] All right? I'm referring of course to the events surrounding the birth of Yeshua.

[ 2m49s518ms - 2m57s718ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Luke states that he has composed his narrative by talking with those who were involved in the life of ministry in Yeshua from the beginning.

[ 2m58s758ms - 3m11s68ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Look at Luke 1, 1-4. In as much as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us.

[ 3m11s68ms - 3m18s128ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] It seemed good to me also, what? having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellently uh Theophilus.

[ 3m18s448ms - 3m21s38ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] that you may have the certainty concerning these things.

[ 3m21s38ms - 3m21s358ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] All right?

[ 3m22s38ms - 3m23s868ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Get a load of this, Luke relates the story.

[ 3m23s868ms - 3m30s618ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Of the birth of Yeshua primarily from Mary's point of view.

[ 3m31s438ms - 3m33s958ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] And then says that she hid these things in her heart.

[ 3m34s498ms - 3m44s18ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Look at Luke 2:18-19. All who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them, but Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

[ 3m45s378ms - 3m47s488ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] There were no Apostles and no disciples around there.

[ 3m49s438ms - 3m52s168ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Luke gets the scoop interview of a lifetime, he's interviewing Mary.

[ 3m56s188ms - 3m57s448ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] All these things he pondered where?

[ 3m59s338ms - 4m4s338ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Look at Luke 2:49-51. After Yeshua was found, when he was 12 years old, talking to the religious leaders and he doesn't go home with his parents.

[ 4m4s338ms - 4m11s328ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] They come back and he says to them, why are you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my father's house? And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.

[ 4m11s328ms - 4m14s638ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them, and his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

[ 4m15s478ms - 4m16s868ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Who told Luke all these things?

[ 4m19s108ms - 4m20s228ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] It had to be Mary.

[ 4m21s458ms - 4m28s48ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Now, how did Luke of all the gospel writers get so close to Mary that he was able to find out what she had hidden in her heart?

[ 4m29s908ms - 4m32s838ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Now think about this, Peter as a man saying we want nothing to do with you Gentiles.

[ 4m32s838ms - 4m33s848ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] We don't even eat with them.

[ 4m34s778ms - 4m37s928ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Luke only could have been a Jew to be that close to Mary to get all this information.

[ 4m39s928ms - 4m41s108ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Now, this identifies.

[ 4m41s108ms - 4m48s778ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Mary is the source of the information, as close knit as the Jerusalem assembly was and as difficult as it must have been for Gentiles to have gotten into the inner circle of the apostolic leadership.

[ 4m48s778ms - 4m52s178ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] It seems highly unlikely that Luke could have gotten that close to Mary if he were a Gentile.

[ 4m53s518ms - 4m54s58ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] To find out all these things.

[ 4m55s298ms - 4m57s788ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Get a load of this, now this is going to be a shocker.

[ 4m59s228ms - 5m1s218ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Actually, it appears that Dr. Luke might have served Mary.

[ 5m1s218ms - 5m3s38ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] For a time as her personal physician.

[ 5m6s648ms - 5m7s58ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Yeah.

[ 5m7s58ms - 5m10s88ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] This is speculation, but how else could he have had such a close relationship with her that he could have drawn from her the details she had hidden in her heart and discussed with very few others?

[ 5m10s388ms - 5m18s608ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Luke would have had the opportunity to consult with Mary on the occasions when Paul made his reporting trips to Jerusalem, especially while Paul was in prison in Caesarea for two years.

[ 5m19s148ms - 5m23s218ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Such access would have been quite understandable if Luke were a Jew, but would have been most unlikely.

[ 5m23s218ms - 5m24s68ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] If he were a Gentile.

[ 5m26s228ms - 5m27s288ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] So how could Luke have got all this?

[ 5m27s288ms - 5m28s788ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] So, to me, it is so obvious.

[ 5m28s788ms - 5m30s38ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] When you look at these, that Luke had to be a Jew.

[ 5m30s398ms - 5m32s38ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] How else could he have been so close to Miriam?

[ 5m32s38ms - 5m35s368ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] How else would he have known all the temple? Do you think a new if you remember in the book of Acts.

[ 5m36s278ms - 5m38s958ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Many of the Gentile believers, again, their morality was based on Plato.

[ 5m39s488ms - 5m42s938ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Socrates, they knew nothing about the Bible, they didn't, they might have been able to read some Greek, but they had no clue about the inner workings of the temple.

[ 5m42s938ms - 5m47s458ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] For Luke to know such the, you know, the intimate workings of the temple, he more than likely was a Levite.

[ 5m47s888ms - 5m51s528ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] He could have been Mary's personal physician, he definitely had to be Jewish.

[ 5m51s978ms - 5m55s98ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] So, my conclusion is then that we must infer that Luke was a Jew.

[ 5m55s398ms - 6m1s318ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] The idea that he was a Gentile appears to be based on nothing more than wishful thinking and tradition. The biblical evidence strongly supports the position that Luke was a Jew and we should always believe the scripture over tradition.

[ 6m1s618ms - 6m2s918ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] When there is a conflict between the two.

[ 6m3s638ms - 6m8s128ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] But we're going to look at that more next week as we really dig into the book of Hebrews.

[ 6m8s128ms - 6m13s548ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] But for us to understand Hebrews, we need to realize it was more when you realize it's written by Luke.

[ 6m13s548ms - 6m15s668ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] And you realize he was more likely a Levite even.

[ 6m16s138ms - 6m33s938ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Because when you talk about Hebrews and the temple, you want to relate to it from his perspective, not from a Greek Gentile perspective, who has no concept of what the whole purpose of the temple was. Uh so, anyway, let's look at Hebrews 1, 1-4. Get a load of this.

[ 6m38s908ms - 6m54s588ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] I cannot but think, I want to go instead of long ago, I want to go long, long ago. I want to add an extra long. Long, long ago at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

[ 6m55s8ms - 7m0s698ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] He is the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of his nature.

[ 7m0s698ms - 7m8s248ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] He opposed the universe by the word of his power, after making purification for sins, he sits down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

[ 7m9s958ms - 7m10s478ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] I tell you what.

[ 7m10s478ms - 7m12s688ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Hebrews is going to be Now, does that sound Jewish or Greek?

[ 7m14s358ms - 7m18s248ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] This is about as Jewish as you can get. So, you have to realize two things.

[ 7m20s968ms - 7m21s718ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Luke wrote it.

[ 7m22s998ms - 7m23s898ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Luke was Jewish.

[ 7m24s818ms - 7m26s68ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] But he's writing it in Greek.

[ 7m26s938ms - 7m33s498ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] And the reason he's writing it in Greek is because that was the much of the language of the day. Everybody knew Greek.

[ 7m33s908ms - 7m34s158ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Okay?

[ 7m34s158ms - 7m38s918ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] He wanted to reach everybody, the believing, the reason why the Septuagint was written.

[ 7m38s918ms - 7m40s798ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Was because most of the Jews didn't know Hebrew.

[ 7m41s518ms - 7m42s88ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] They only knew Greek.

[ 7m42s518ms - 7m46s308ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Could you imagine it had been, you know, since Alexander the Great, over 300 years.

[ 7m46s308ms - 7m47s408ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Greek has been forced upon them.

[ 7m47s918ms - 7m48s778ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] They know Greek.

[ 7m49s238ms - 7m53s538ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] And so it was written in Greek because they would needed to have the scripture in their language.

[ 7m54s748ms - 8m1s938ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] And so when we look at that and when I show you all these verses that I'm going to be quoting you and you're going to see that they're from the Greek language. But guess what? English has made it even worse.

[ 8m2s418ms - 8m2s828ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Amen.

[ 8m4s8ms - 8m15s28ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] There's going to be some shocks that is going to shock you when you see how bad the English was. Uh but it's just important. So with that said, let's stand.

[ 8m6s448ms - 8m7s8ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Let's pray.

[ 8m7s8ms - 8m15s28ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Uh, Abba, our Father and King, we just thank you that we can jump into this book with fresh insight.

[ 8m15s808ms - 8m22s758ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Father, we don't uh want to look at the bias uh that has been in this for thousands of years.

[ 8m23s218ms - 8m28s768ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] Father, we want to see this from your eyes. We want to see this book of Hebrews through Hebrew eyes.

[ 8m29s468ms - 8m37s188ms ] [--Pastor Mark Biltz--] So, Father, I pray you would open up our hearts that we would have understanding of what you're saying and we just ask this in Yeshua's name. Amen.