OUR FATHER WHO TEACHES US THE WAY WE SHOULD GO Part 8.

The author of the book of Hebrews concludes with a benediction in chapter 13 verses 20 - 21 that reads this way;

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

The astonishing doctrinal point revealed in this request to God to bless those who would read his letter, is that the Lord Jesus, our great shepherd, was Himself brought back from the dead by the Father through the blood of the eternal covenant that the Lord Jesus Himself shed.

Further to that, the writer asks God the Father to equip those to whom he writes with all the necessary tools by which they could do His will and he also asks God to do the work in them to reveal in them what is pleasing to God through the Lord Jesus. 

The writer then adds some notes in verses 22 and 23 saying this;

Brothers and sisters, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for in fact I have written to you quite briefly.

I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.

As a postscript, the author entreats his readers to patiently hear out his exhortation to them because even though it is a fairly lengthy and densely written work,  it is a brief  treatment of an otherwise very voluminous subject.

He then mentions that his brother Timothy had been released from prison and that if he arrived soon, they would both come to see the people to whom the letter was addressed.

By calling Timothy a brother, we could conclude that the author of the book was not Paul of Tarsus as is traditionally believed but rather was a student of Paul's who had inherited Paul's mantel of doctrinal exposition and was a peer of Timothy.

Amen

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