The Creation

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Patriarchs and Prophets :  Page 44-51

5. The Creation

"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." "For He spake, and it was;" "He commanded, and it stood fast." Psalm 33:6,9. He "laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever." Psalm 104:5.
As the earth came forth from the hand of its Maker, it was exceedingly beautiful. Its surface was diversified with mountains, hills, and plains, interspersed with noble rivers and lovely lakes; but the hills and mountains were not abrupt and rugged, abounding in terrific steeps and frightful chasms, as they now do; the sharp, ragged edges of earth's rocky framework were buried beneath the fruitful soil, which everywhere produced a luxuriant growth of verdure. There were no loathsome swamps or barren deserts. Graceful shrubs and delicate flowers greeted the eye at every turn. The heights were crowned with trees more majestic than any that now exist. The air, untainted by foul miasma, was clear and healthful. The entire landscape outvied in beauty the decorated grounds of the proudest palace. The angelic host viewed the scene with delight, and rejoiced at the wonderful works of God.
After the earth with its teeming animal and vegetable life had been called into existence, man, the crowning work of the Creator, and the one for whom the beautiful earth had been fitted up, was brought upon the stage of action. To him was given dominion over all that his eye could behold; for "God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over . . . all the earth. . . . So God created man in His own image; . . . male and female created He them." Here is clearly set forth the origin of the human race; and the divine record is so plainly stated that there is no occasion for erroneous

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conclusions. God created man in His own image. Here is no mystery. There is no ground for the supposition that man was evolved by slow degrees of development from the lower forms of animal or vegetable life. Such teaching lowers the great work of the Creator to the level of man's narrow, earthly conceptions. Men are so intent upon excluding God from the sovereignty of the universe that they degrade man and defraud him of the dignity of his origin. He who set the starry worlds on high and tinted with delicate skill the flowers of the field, who filled the earth and the heavens with the wonders of His power, when He came to crown His glorious work, to place one in the midst to stand as ruler of the fair earth, did not fail to create a being worthy of the hand that gave him life. The genealogy of our race, as given by inspiration, traces back its origin, not to a line of developing germs, mollusks, and quadrupeds, but to the great Creator. Though formed from the dust, Adam was "the son of God."
He was placed, as God's representative, over the lower orders of being. They cannot understand or acknowledge the sovereignty of God, yet they were made capable of loving and serving man. The psalmist says, "Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet: . . . the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, . . . and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas." Psalm 8:6-8.
Man was to bear God's image, both in outward resemblance and in character. Christ alone is "the express image" (Hebrews 1:3) of the Father; but man was formed in the likeness of God. His nature was in harmony with the will of God. His mind was capable of comprehending divine things. His affections were pure; his appetites and passions were under the control of reason. He was holy and happy in bearing the image of God and in perfect obedience to His will.
As man came forth from the hand of his Creator, he was of lofty stature and perfect symmetry. His countenance bore the ruddy tint of health and glowed with the light of life and joy. Adam's height was much greater than that of men who now inhabit the earth. Eve was somewhat less in stature; yet her form was noble, and full of beauty. The sinless pair wore no artificial garments; they were clothed with a covering of light and glory, such as the angels wear. So long as they lived in obedience to God, this robe of light continued to enshroud them.

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After the creation of Adam every living creature was brought before him to receive its name; he saw that to each had been given a companion, but among them "there was not found an help meet for him." Among all the creatures that God had made on the earth, there was not one equal to man. And God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." Man was not made to dwell in solitude; he was to be a social being. Without companionship the beautiful scenes and delightful employments of Eden would have failed to yield perfect happiness. Even communion with angels could not have satisfied his desire for sympathy and companionship. There was none of the same nature to love and to be loved.
God Himself gave Adam a companion. He provided "an help meet for him"--a helper corresponding to him-one who was fitted to be his companion, and who could be one with him in love and sympathy. Eve was created from a rib taken from the side of Adam, signifying that she was not to control him as the head, nor to be trampled under his feet as an inferior, but to stand by his side as an equal, to be loved and protected by him. A part of man, bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh, she was his second self, showing the close union and the affectionate attachment that should exist in this relation. "For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it." Ephesians 5:29. "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one."
God celebrated the first marriage. Thus the institution has for its originator the Creator of the universe. "Marriage is honorable" (Hebrews 13:4); it was one of the first gifts of God to man, and it is one of the two institutions that, after the Fall, Adam brought with him beyond the gates of Paradise. When the divine principles are recognized and obeyed in this relation, marriage is a blessing; it guards the purity and happiness of the race, it provides for man's social needs, it elevates the physical, the intellectual, and the moral nature.
"And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed." Everything that God had made was the perfection of beauty, and nothing seemed wanting that could contribute to the happiness of the holy pair;

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yet the Creator gave them still another token of His love, by preparing a garden especially for their home. In this garden were trees of every variety, many of them laden with fragrant and delicious fruit. There were lovely vines, growing upright, yet presenting a most graceful appearance, with their branches drooping under their load of tempting fruit of the richest and most varied hues. It was the work of Adam and Eve to train the branches of the vine to form bowers, thus making for themselves a dwelling from living trees covered with foliage and fruit. There were fragrant flowers of every hue in rich profusion. In the midst of the garden stood the tree of life, surpassing in glory all other trees. Its fruit appeared like apples of gold and silver, and had the power to perpetuate life.
The creation was now complete. "The heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them." "And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." Eden bloomed on earth. Adam and Eve had free access to the tree of life. No taint of sin or shadow of death marred the fair creation. "The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." Job 38:7.
The great Jehovah had laid the foundations of the earth; He had dressed the whole world in the garb of beauty and had filled it with things useful to man; He had created all the wonders of the land and of the sea. In six days the great work of creation had been accomplished. And God "rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." God looked with satisfaction upon the work of His hands. All was perfect, worthy of its divine Author, and He rested, not as one weary, but as well pleased with the fruits of His wisdom and goodness and the manifestations of His glory.
After resting upon the seventh day, God sanctified it, or set it apart, as a day of rest for man. Following the example of the Creator, man was to rest upon this sacred day, that as he should look upon the heavens and the earth, he might reflect upon God's great work of creation; and that as he should behold the evidences of God's wisdom and goodness, his heart might be filled with love and reverence for his Maker.

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In Eden, God set up the memorial of His work of creation, in placing His blessing upon the seventh day. The Sabbath was committed to Adam, the father and representative of the whole human family. Its observance was to be an act of grateful acknowledgment, on the part of all who should dwell upon the earth, that God was their Creator and their rightful Sovereign; that they were the work of His hands and the subjects of His authority. Thus the institution was wholly commemorative, and given to all mankind. There was nothing in it shadowy or of restricted application to any people.
God saw that a Sabbath was essential for man, even in Paradise. He needed to lay aside his own interests and pursuits for one day of the seven, that he might more fully contemplate the works of God and meditate upon His power and goodness. He needed a Sabbath to remind him more vividly of God and to awaken gratitude because all that he enjoyed and possessed came from the beneficent hand of the Creator.
God designs that the Sabbath shall direct the minds of men to the contemplation of His created works. Nature speaks to their senses, declaring that there is a living God, the Creator, the Supreme Ruler of all. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge." Psalm 19:1, 2. The beauty that clothes the earth is token of God's love. We may behold it in the everlasting hills, in the lofty trees, in the opening buds and the delicate flowers. All speak to us of God. The Sabbath, ever pointing to Him who made them all, bids men open the great book of nature and trace therein the wisdom, the power, and the love of the Creator.
Our first parents, though created innocent and holy, were not placed beyond the possibility of wrongdoing. God made them free moral agents, capable of appreciating the wisdom and benevolence of His character and the justice of His requirements, and with full liberty to yield or to withhold obedience. They were to enjoy communion with God and with holy angels; but before they could be rendered eternally secure, their loyalty must be tested. At the very beginning of man's existence a check was placed upon the desire for self-indulgence, the fatal passion that lay at the foundation of Satan's fall. The tree of knowledge, which stood near the tree of life in the midst of the garden, was

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to be a test of the obedience, faith, and love of our parents. While permitted to eat freely of every other tree, they were forbidden to taste of this, on pain of death. They were also to be exposed to the temptations of Satan; but if they endured the trial, they would finally be placed beyond his power, to enjoy perpetual favor with God.
God placed man under law, as an indispensable condition of his very existence. He was a subject of the divine government, and there can be no government without law. God might have created man without the power to transgress His law; He might have withheld the hand of Adam from touching the forbidden fruit; but in that case man would have been, not a free moral agent, but a mere automaton. Without freedom of choice, his obedience would not have been voluntary, but forced. There could have been no development of character. Such a course would have been contrary to God's plan in dealing with the inhabitants of other worlds. It would have been unworthy of man as an intelligent being, and would have sustained Satan's charge of God's arbitrary rule.
God made upright; He gave him noble traits of character, with no bias toward evil. He endowed him with high intellectual powers, and presented before him the strongest possible inducements to be true to his allegiance. Obedience, perfect and perpetual, was the condition of eternal happiness. On this condition he was to have access to the tree of life.
The home of our first parents was to be a pattern for other homes as their children should go forth to occupy the earth. That home, beautified by the hand of God Himself, was not a gorgeous palace. Men, in their pride, delight in magnificent and costly edifices and glory in the works of their own hands; but God placed Adam in a garden. This was his dwelling. The blue heavens were its dome; the earth, with its delicate flowers and carpet of living green, was its floor; and the leafy branches of the goodly trees were its canopy. Its was walls were hung with the most magnificent adornings--the handiwork of the great Master Artist. In the surroundings of the holy pair was a lesson for all time--that true happiness is found, not in the indulgence of pride and luxury, but in communion with God through His created works. If men would give less attention to the artificial, and would cultivate greater simplicity, they would come far nearer to answering the

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purpose of God in their creation. Pride and ambition are never satisfied, but those who are truly wise will find substantial and elevating pleasure in the sources of enjoyment that God has placed within the reach of all.
To the dwellers in Eden was committed the care of the garden, "to dress it and to keep it." Their occupation was not wearisome, but pleasant and invigorating. God appointed labor as a blessing to man, to occupy his mind, to strengthen his body, and to develop his faculties. In mental and physical activity Adam found one of the highest pleasures of his holy existence. And when, as a result of his disobedience, he was driven from his beautiful home, and forced to struggle with a stubborn soil to gain his daily bread, that very labor, although widely different from his pleasant occupation in the garden, was a safeguard against temptation and a source of happiness. Those who regard work as a curse, attended though it be with weariness and pain, are cherishing an error. The rich often look down with contempt upon the working classes, but this is wholly at variance with God's purpose in creating man. What are the possessions of even the most wealthy in comparison with the heritage given to the lordly Adam? Yet Adam was not to be idle. Our Creator, who understands what is for man's happiness, appointed Adam his work. The true joy of life is found only by the working men and women. The angels are diligent workers; they are the ministers of God to the children of men. The Creator has prepared no place for the stagnating practice of indolence.
While they remained true to God, Adam and his companion were to bear rule over the earth. Unlimited control was given them over every living thing. The lion and the lamb sported peacefully around them or lay down together at their feet. The happy birds flitted about them without fear; and as their glad songs ascended to the praise of their Creator, Adam and Eve united with them in thanksgiving to the Father and the Son.
The holy pair were not only children under the fatherly care of God but students receiving instruction from the all-wise Creator. They were visited by angels, and were granted communion with their Maker, with no obscuring veil between. They were full of the vigor imparted by the tree of life, and their intellectual power was but little less than that of the angels. The mysteries of the visible universe--"the wondrous works of Him which is

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perfect in knowledge" (Job 37:16)--afforded them an exhaustless source of instruction and delight. The laws and operations of nature, which have engaged men's study for six thousand years, were opened to their minds by the infinite Framer and Upholder of all. They held converse with leaf and flower and tree, gathering from each the secrets of its life. With every living creature, from the mighty leviathan that playeth among the waters to the insect mote that floats in the sunbeam, Adam was familiar. He had given to each its name, and he was acquainted with the nature and habits of all. God's glory in the heavens, the innumerable worlds in their orderly revolutions, "the balancings of the clouds," the mysteries of light and sound, of day and night--all were open to the study of our first parents. On every leaf of the forest or stone of the mountains, in every shining star, in earth and air and sky, God's name was written. The order and harmony of creation spoke to them of infinite wisdom and power. They were ever discovering some attraction that filled their hearts with deeper love and called forth fresh expressions of gratitude.
So long as they remained loyal to the divine law, their capacity to know, to enjoy, and to love would continually increase. They would be constantly gaining new treasures of knowledge, discovering fresh springs of happiness, and obtaining clearer and yet clearer conceptions of the immeasurable, unfailing love of God.

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Bab 1 (Sekilas tentang buku Ibrani)

LESSON 1

A PREVIEW OF HEBREW

(Sekilas tentang buku Ibrani)

Ayat Inti                                                                                       

Pada salam di bagian terakhir buku Roma terdapat 2 buah petunjuk sehubungan dengan latar belakang Sebab itu marilah kita dengan penuh keberanian menghampiri takhta kasih karunia, supaya kita menerima rahmat dan menemukan kasih karunia untuk mendapat pertolongan kita pada waktunya. Ibrani 4:16

WHAT HEBREW SAYS ABOUT ITSELF

(APA YANG DIKATAKAN DALAM BUKU IBRANI)

Buku Ibrani bukan seperti surat-surat lainnya dalam perjanjian baru, buku ini sangat sedikit menceritakan tentang dirinya. Jika engkau membaca buku Roma, engkau dengan jelas dan mudah menemukan bahwa penulisnya adalah Paulus, surat itu ditulis untuk gereja di Roma yang beribadah di rumah-rumah, dan ditulis saat Paulus berada di Korintus, Tertius menulis surat yang didikte oleh Paulus, dan informasi detail lainnya secara jelas.

Buku Ibrani hamper saja tidak memberikan informasi apa-apa tentang semuanya itu. Tidak ada ucapan salam di awal buku, penulisnya siapa, dan kepada siapa tujuan buku itu ditulis. Ini artinya kita perlu menyelidiki lebih cermat buku itu, agar kita dapat mengenali latar belakang sejarah buku itu ditulis.

Mungkin engkau suka dengan pekerjaan seorang detektif??? Mari kita coba menyelidiki buku Ibrani dengan bermain bagaikan seorang detektif!

sejarah buku ini.

Ibrani 13:23-24

1.

2.

DUA PETUNJUK INI SEDIKIT MENOLONG

Petunjuk pertama membuat kita dapat memperkirakan waktu dimana buku Ibrani ini ditulis. Jika Timotius sedang melayani, berarti buku itu ditulis pada abad pertama, dimana Timotius hidup. Timotius mulai bekerja dengan Paulus ketika ia masih mudah dan Paulus memulai perjalanan missionarinya yang kedua (kisah 16). Ini terjadi sekitar tahun 50 AD. Timotius kemungkinan hidup selama akhir abad pertama itu.

Kita mengenal bapa gereja Clement dari Roma, ia menulis suratnya ke korintus pada tahun 96 AD dan mengutip dari buku Ibrani. Oleh karena itu, buku ini ditulis diantara tahun 60-an (Ketika Timotius dipenjarakan) hingga 90-an di abad pertama.

Para scholar berbeda pendapat tentang isi buku ini, apakah berbicara tentang waktu sebelum atau sesudah kaabah Yahudi di Yerusalem dihancurkan pada tahun 70AD. Tidak jelas apakah buku ini berbicara tentang kaabah di abad pertama, namun nampaknya buku ini berbicara tentang tabernacle/kaabah di padang gurun ketika orang Israel meninggalkan Mesir. Yang pasti, jika Paulus adalah penulis buku ini, maka buku Ibrani ini seharusnya sudah ditulis sebelum kematiannya di pertengahan tahun 60-an.

Petunjuk kedua sedikit mengatakan tentang tempat, tapi tak seorangpun yakin dengan itu! Penulis mengirimkan salam dari “orang-orang Italia.”

Ini memiliki dua pengertian. Boleh jadi penulis sementara berada di Italia dan menuliskan salam dari mereka untuk orang-orang di tempat tujuan surat tersebut, dan jika ini benar berarti buku Ibrani ditulis di Italia.

Atau boleh jadi penulis berada di suatu tempat dengan orang-orang italia yang bersama-sama dengan dia, dan ketika penulis membuat suratnya ke Italia, ia menyertakan salam dari orang-orang yang bersamanya itu. Jadi kita dapat mengatakan bahwa buku Ibrani di tulis untuk orang-orang Italia atau ditulis dari Italia.

Pandangan tradisional mengatakan bahwa buku Ibrani ditulis untuk orang-orang Kristen Yahudi di Palestina, namun tidak ada peristiwa yang membuktikannya.

THE ORIGINAL READERS OF HEBREWS

(PARA PEMBACA PERTAMA BUKU IBRANI)

Hanya sedikit yang dapat kita temukan tentang penerima buku Ibrani yang pertama itu. Tentunya mereka sudah memiliki pemahaman yang cukup tentang Perjanjian Lama dan sistem upacara korban orang Yahudi. Hal ini membuat orang berasumsi bahwa penerima surat itu mungkin adalah orang Kristen Yahudi, tapi belum tentu itu benar!

Perjanjian Lama adalah satu-satunya “kitab suci” yang dimiliki orang Kristen mula-mula (Perjanjian Baru masih dalam proses dan belum disatukan sebagai kitab suci), jadi bahkan orang kafir yang masuk Kristen telah diajarkan tentang Perjanjian Lama, dan mereka memahaminya dengan baik. Sekalipun jika penerima surat ini adalah orang Kristen Yahudi, ini tidak membuktikan bahwa buku Ibrani ditulis kepada orang-orang di Palestina, karena selama abad pertama, tiga perempat orang Yahudi tinggal di luar Palestina di zaman Greco-Roma.

Kita menemukan bahwa para penerima buku Ibrani telah menerima Kristus dan menderita penganiayaan (10:32-35) tapi tidak sampai mati (12:3,4), meskipun begitu, mereka dalam bahaya kehilangan semangat mula-mula yang mereka miliki dalam Kristus (2:1), lamban (5:11), bahkan dalam hal rohani mereka lemah dan goyah (12:12,13), dan berapa diantara mereka telah meninggalkan peribadatan di gereja setiap pecan (10:25). Mereka perlu disegarkan dan itulah yang buku Ibrani ingin lakukan.

WHO WROTE HEBREWS?

(SIAPA YANG MENULIS BUKU IBRANI?)

Mengenai penulis buku Ibrani, buku itu sendiri tidak memberikan petunjuk apa-apa. Di zaman gereja mula-mula ada banyak spekulasi. Asumsi umumnya mengatakan bahwa Paulus penulisnya. Namun setelah Perjanjian Baru disatukan, surat-surat Paulus nampaknya disusun menurut ukuran dari surat yang terpanjang, Roma, hingga yang terpendek, Filemon, yang terakhir. Buku Ibrani diletakkan di akhir, mungkin karena ketidakjelasan siapa penulisnya. Dalam gaya penulisan, bahasa Grika yang digunakan dalam buku Ibrani sangatlah berbedah dengan yang Paulus gunakan dalam surat-surat lainnya. Buku Ibrani ditulis dalam tingkatan bahasa Grika yang lebih tinggi menyebabkan buku itu cukup sulit dibaca. Origen, salah satu bapa Gereja mula-mula yang hidup di awal abad ketiga, menyimpulkan bahwa hanya Allah yang tahu siapa penulis buku Ibrani.

Beberapa kali Ellen White memperkenalkan kutipan dari buku Ibrani dan mengatakan bahwa penulisnya adalah Paulus, namun beberapa kali juga ia hanya merujuk pada “rasul” itu. Beberapa theologian Advent tidak setuju untuk menjadikan referensi tulisan-tulisan Ellen G. White itu sebagai bukti siapa penulis buku tersebut.

Akhirnya, mengenal identitas penulis bukanlah masalah yang utamanya. Apa yang kita ketahui pasti yaitu penulis buku Ibrani adalah rasul yang diinspirasikan Allah, yang memilih untuk tidak menyatakan identitasnya dalam buku itu. Pesan dari dalam buku itulah yang terpenting.

WHAT DOES HEBREWS HAVE TO SAY?

APA YANG DIKATAKAN OLEH BUKU IBRANI?

Tentunya kita akan memahami pekabaran dalam buku ini jika kita mempelajarinya, namun sebelumnya mari kita lihat 3 tema utama yang akan terus-menerus diangkat selama pembelajaran kita.

1.       Buku Ibrani mengangkat Yesus sebagai satu oknum yang lebih dari malaikat, bapa-bapa, ataupun imam. Buku Ibrani mengidentifikasi yesus sebagai Imam Besar Agung yang menyelamatkan kita. Tidak ada seorangpun yang seperti Dia dan tidak ada jalan lain dimana kita boleh beroleh keselamatan. Buku Ibrani menjelaskan banyak hal detail tentang kaabah dan berbagai upacaranya. Semuanya itu untuk satu tujuan, yaitu untuk menunjukkan kepada kita bahwa yesus adalah Imam Besar yang sesungguhnya di kaabah surgawi. Melalui pengorbanannya yang sekali dan untuk selamanya di salib itu dan melalui pekerjaan keimamatannya, dia menggenapkan apa yang upacara korban dunia atau kaabah dunia tidak dapat lakukan-yaitu keselamatan kita.

2.       Tema utama mengenai keberanian, keyakinan, dan jaminan yang dapat kita miliki oleh karena Yesus adalah Juruselamat dan imam Besar kita. Buku Ibrani adalah sebuah buku kabar baik yang penuh keyakinan. Berulang-ulang kali buku itu berbicara tentang keberanian yang orang Kristen dapat miliki dalam kristus (4:16;10:19,22). Penulis buku ini tidak ingin orang Kristen menjadi bingung dan mengkhawatirkan apakah dia cukup baik untuk diselamatkan atau tidak. Sebab faktor yang menentukan keselamatan kita bukanlah kebaikan kita, melainkan pekerjaan penyelamatan kristus yang cukup untuk kita.

3.       Tema yang ketiga, mengakui bahwa kita juga bertanggungjawab. Kita harus terus menjaga mata kita tetap tertuju kepada Yesus dan pekerjaan penyelamatanNYA. Orang-orang pertama yang membaca pekabaran ini berada dalam bahaya kehilangan komitmen mereka kepada Kristus. Itulah sebabnya tema yang ketiga yang diajarkan dalam buku ini adalah satu teguran dan peringatan. Penulis buku ini memberikan nasihat kepada pembacanya. Mereka harus tetap kuat dan tidak lemah atau kehilangan hati/kepercayaan (12:3,4).

Jadi pekabaran dalam buku ini dapat diringkas sebagai berikut: Yesus adalah Imam Besar Agung yang telah dinyatakan dengan jelas kepada kita dan oleh karena kematianNYA di salib dan pelayananNYA di kaabah surgawi telah menyelamatkan kita. Itulah mengapa sebabnya kita dapat memiliki jaminan dan keyakinan. Kita tidak perlu ragu! Namun kita harus bertekun dan tetap setia dalam komitmen kita pada Kristus, karena itu, adalah berbahaya jika kita tertidur dan hilang kepercayaan kita kepadaNYA. Penulis buku Ibrani tahu adalah satu halyang sulit untuk menolong seseorang memiliki keyakinan dan keberanian. Ia tahu bahwa memiliki keberanian tidak semudah memberikan nasihat. Oleh karena itu, ia terlebih dahulu memberikan satu-satunya dasar untuk keberanian kita pada tingkat kesadaran kerohanian kita yang paling dalam. Kita begitu lemah untuk memiliki keberanian yang layak. Tapi kita memiliki juruselamat dan Imam Besar yang duduk diatas tahta alam semesta, yang sementara melakukan pekerjaanNYA untuk kepentingan kita sekarang inilah yang mendasari keberanian itu, bukan karena diri kita melainkan karena Yesus, apa yang telah Dia lakukan untuk kita, dan apa yang sedang terus ia lakukan untuk kita hingga sekarang ini.

WHAT IS THE STRUCTURE OF THIS BOOK?

(Bagaimana susunan Buku ini?)

Sangatlah menarik jika engkau memperhatikan bagaimana buku ibrani disusun untuk menyampaikan pekabaran ini.Penulis percaya bahwa teologi yang tepat dan nasihat praktis berjalan bersama. Oleh karena itu penulis menyampaikannya berselang-seling dalam kebanyakan surat-surat Paulus , ia memulainya dengan teologi dan kemudian beralih kepada nasihat praktis hingga akhir suratnya. Namun buku ibrani tidak demikian, buku ibrani berselang-seling antara teologi dan nasihat praktisnya selalu diawalai dengan kata “therefore”, sekalipun dalam bahasa asli, grika,bahwa yang digunakan untuk buku ibrani, penulis sebenarnya menggunakan berbagai istilah.

Peralihan teologi dan nasihat praktis dalam buku ibrani dapat dipetakan sebagai berikut

Theologi	Advice
1:1-14	2:1-4
2:5-3:6	3:7-4:13
4:14,15	4:16
5:1-10	5:11-6:20
7:1-10:18	10:19-39
11:1-40	12:1-13:25

Sungguh penulis ini meyakini bahwa teologi seharusnya menjadi dasar nasihat yang praktis.

What kind of book is this?

Buku jenis apa ini?

Hal yang terakhir tentang buku ini, apakah ini sebuah surat? essay? risalah? atau? buku ini tidak memiliki tanda sebagai sebuah surat, kecuali di bagian salam akhir (13:22-25) banyak scholar meyakini bahwa ini adalah sebuah kotbah. Ada petunjuk dalam buku ini dimana pekabarannya diberikan secara lisan.contohnya dalam 11:32 penulis ingin memberikan lebih banyak contoh tapi tidak cukup waktu. Munkin saja kotbah ini yang kemudian dikirimkan ke gereja-gereja lain hingga sampai kepada kita. Buku ini lebih panjang dari kotbah-kotbah yang kita dengarkan membutukan satujam seperempat sampai satu jam setengah untuk membaca buku ini. Tapi kita tidak akan membacanya sekaligus sekarang, seperti yang dilakukan orang-orang yang pertama kali menerima buku ini.

Buku Ibrani mengangap para pembacanya telah mengenal banyak materi dari perjanjian lama. Oleh karena itu adalah hal yang baik jika kita melihat relevansi buku ini dengan perjanjian lama yang akan dapat menolong kita memahami apa yang buku ibrani sedang bicarakan. Tiga pelajaran berikutnya akan membahas mengenai dosa , keselamatan ,kaabah,dan imam-imam dalam perjanjian lama.

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