In | Workbook: Proximity and Presence in Hebrews

Grab your Workbook Journal!

[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]

Hebrews’ themes of discontinuity—its contrasts of the “new” and the “old,” the former and the “better” now available in Christ—frame a shift in the way believers approach God in the Bible. As God’s people move away from the sacrifices and manmade dwellings that mediated Israel’s relationship with God throughout history, they are invited into a new intimacy with YHWH that isn’t housed in the structures and forms of ancient worship, but in God Himself, in the person of the Son, Jesus.

In some ways, this is a development that we have been looking forward to since the loss of primal intimacy in the garden of Eden. Human persons are invited into a daily proximity with God that they haven’t enjoyed since the first chapters of Genesis. Track the language of nearness and intimacy in Hebrews 4:16; 6:19; 7:19, 25; 10:1, 19 and 22; 11:6 (navigate to these passages using YouVersion). After reading the passages, answer the questions below.

Reference: Donald Hagner, Encountering the Book of Hebrews, 2002, p. 77.

3. How do believers draw near to God?

4. What attitude does the author encourage as we draw near?

5. What physical space within the temple is identified with this act of drawing near?

6. What effect does drawing near to God have on believers?