The Book of Hebrews
HIEBERT'S COMPLETE OUTLINE

HIEBERT'S COMPLETE OUTLINE OF THE BOOK OF HEBREWS
Dr. D. Edmond Hiebert 1

 PART ONE - DOCTRINAL. 1:1-10:18

  1. CHRIST THE INCARNATE SON OF GOD-His Supremacy. 1:1-2:4
    1. His essential glories. 1:1-3
      1. The contrast between the old and new revelation. l-2a
      2. The nature and work of the Son. 2b, 3
        1. His relationship to the Father. 2b
        2. His divine personality. 3a
        3. His incarnate work. 3b
    2. His superiority over angels. 1:4-14
      1. His supremacy indicated. 4 b. His supremacy confirmed from Scripture. 5-14
        1. The essential dignity of the Son. 5, 6
        2. The supremacy of the Son as anointed King. 7-9
        3. The superiority of the Son as creator. 10-12
        4. The superiority of the Son as enthroned. 13, 14
    3. Warning: The danger of neglect. 2:1-4
      1. The nature of the peril warned against. 1
      2. The peril in view of punishment under the old revelation. 2, 3a
      3. The superior authority of this salvation. 3b, 4
         
  2. CHRIST THE SON OF MAN - His Suffering and Death. 2:5-4:13
    1. The fulfillment of man's promised sovereignty in Jesus. 2:5-9
    2. The fulfillment grounded in the incarnate work of Jesus. 2:10-18
      1. The relationship between the Son and the sons. 10-13
        1. The fitness of the sufferings of the Son. 10
        2. The oneness of the saved with the Son. 11-13
      2. The object of the incarnation of the Son. 14, 15
      3. The necessity of the Son's incarnation. 16-18
    3. The glory of the Son over the House of God. 3:1-6
      1. The call to consider Jesus. 1, 2
      2. The superiority of Jesus over Moses. 3-6
    4. Warning: The danger of failing of God's rest through belief. 3:7-4:13
      1. The exclusion from God's rest through unbelief.
        1. The example of unbelief in the wilderness. 7-1
        2. The application of the wilderness example. 1;
        3. The interpretation of the lesson from the +++1 16-19
      2. The abiding reality of the promised rest. 4:1-13
        1. The application of the promise to believers in ( 1,2
        2. The nature of this rest. 3-10
          1. The Christian experience of rest. 3a
          2. The identity of the rest of Christians. 3b-10
            1. Neg.�what this rest is not. 3b-8
              1. Not the rest of creation. 3b-5
              2. Not the rest of Canaan. 6-8
            2. Pos.�what this rest is. 9, 10
        3. The exhortation to those having this promise of rest. 11-13
           
  3. CHRIST THE GREAT HIGH PRIEST - His Superior Priesthood. 4:14-10:18
    1. His Person: The Melchizedek priesthood of Christ. 4:14-7:28
      1. The fact of Christ as our compassionate high priest. 4:14-16
      2. The characteristics of Christ as high priest. 5:1-10
        1. The necessary qualifications for priesthood. 1-4
          1. The purpose of the office of priest. 1
          2. The qualifications for the office of priest. 2
            1. The necessary relation to men. 2, 3
            2. The call of God to priesthood. 4
          3. His divine appointment to the priesthood. 5, 6
          4. His qualification for priesthood through discipline. 7-10
      3. Warning: The danger of failure through sloth and apostasy. 5:11-6:20
        1. The rebuke for spiritual degeneration. 5:11-14
        2. The exhortation to go on to spiritual maturity. 6:1-3
        3. The warning against falling away. 6:4-8
          1. The description of the apostates. 4-6
          2. The illustration of apostasy from nature. 7, 8
        4. The encouragement to press on in their spiritual life. 6:9-20
          1. The expression of apostolic encouragement. 9-12
          2. The certainty of the divine promises. 13-20
            1. The encouragement from the example of Abraham. 13-15
            2. The double certainty of the promise to us. 16-18
            3. The nature of the hope set before us. 19, 20
      4. The supersedure of the Aaronic priesthood by the Melchizedek priesthood. 7:1-28
        1. The person of Melchizedek. 1-3
        2. The relation of Melchizedek to the Levitical priesthood. 4-10
          1. The call to consider the greatness of Melchizedek. 4
          2. The evidence of the superiority of Melchizedek. 5-10
            1. His superiority to Abraham. 5-7
            2. His superiority to the Levitical priesthood. 8-10
            3. The contrast between the two priesthoods. 11-25
              1. The imperfections of the Levitical priesthood. 11-19
                1. Its transitional and non-permanent nature. 11-14
                2. Its temporal and non-eternal nature. 15-19
              2. The superiority of Christ's priesthood. 20-25
                1. The immutability of its foundation. 20-22
                2. The permanence in its unchanging Person, 23-25
            4. The suitableness of Christ as our high priest. 26-28
    2. His work: The perfection of Christ's atoning work. 8:1-10:18
      1. The ascended Christ as high priest in the new sanctuary. 8:1-6
        1. His status as our high priest. 1, 2
          1. His enthronement in the heavens. 1
          2. His ministry as priest in the new sanctuary. 2
        2. His work as our high priest. 3-6
          1. His offering as high priest. 3
          2. His present ministry as high priest in Heaven. 4-6
      2. The supersedure of the old covenant by the new. 8:7-13
        1. The need for the new covenant. 7, 8a
        2. The prophetic announcement of the new covenant. 8b-12
          1. The source of the new covenant. 8b
          2. The recipients of the new covenant. 8c
          3. The nature of the new covenant. 9-12
        3. The passing of the old covenant. 13
      3. The better sacrifice of Christ. 9:1-10:18
        1. The atonement under the old covenant. 9:1-10
          1. The description of the tabernacle. 1-5
            1. The tabernacle associated with the old covenant. 1
            2. The parts and contents of the tabernacle. 2-5
              1. The holy place and its furniture. 2
              2. The holy of holies and its furniture. 3-5
          2. The priestly service in the tabernacle. 6, 7
          3. The lessons from the tabernacle services. 8-10
        2. The perfect atonement of Christ. 9:11-28
          1. The summary description of His priestly work. 11, 12
          2. The significance of the shedding of the blood of Christ. 13-22
            1. The superior efficiency of His blood. 13, 14
            2. The ratification of the new covenant in Christ's blood. 15-22
              1. The validation of the covenant through death. 15-17
                1. The effects of the death of Christ. 15
                2. The necessity of death for a valid covenant. 16, 17
              2. The blood conveying the thought of atonement. 18-22
                1. The recognition of the principle under the old covenant. 18-21
                2. The necessity of shedding of blood for atonement. 22
          3. The significance of Christ's entry into the presence of God. 23-28
            1. The necessary cleansing of the heavenly things. 23
            2. The entry in fulfillment of His atoning work. 24-26
            3. The anticipated return of the High Priest. 27,28
        3. The abiding efficacy of His sacrifice. 10:1-18
          1. The ineffectiveness of the old sacrifices. 1-4
            1. The evidence from their repetition. 1, 2
            2. The evidence from their nature. 3, 4
          2. The nature of the self-sacrifice of Christ.. 5-10
            1. The source in the will of God. 5-7
            2. The character of it as obedience to God's will. 8, 9
            3. The effect of the sacrifice. 10
          3. The evidence of the efficacy of His sacrifice. 11-18
            1. The evidence from the exaltation of Christ. 11-14
            2. The witness of the Holy Spirit. 15-17
            3. The conclusion from the evidence. 18
               

PART TWO - PRACTICAL. 10:19-13:25

  1. THE PRIVILEGES AND PERIL OF BELIEVERS. 10:19-39
    1. The present privileges possessed by believers. 19-25
      1. The possession of glorious privileges by believers. 19-21
        1. The privilege of entry into the presence of God. 19,20
        2. The possession of a great high priest. 21
      2. The exhortation to use these privileges. 22-25
        1. The exhortation to approach as worshipers. 22
        2. The exhortation to maintain a public profession of hope. 23
        3. The exhortation to mutual stimulation. 24, 25
    2. Warning: The peril in the willful rejection of Christ. 26-39
      1. The warning against apostasy from Christ. 26-31
        1. The description of the apostasy warned against. 26, 27
        2. The confirmation of the fate of apostates. 28, 29
          1. The fate under the Mosaic law. 28
          2. The fate under the present revelation. 29
        3. The certainty of the punishment of apostates. 30, 31
      2. The encouragement to perseverance. 32-39
        1. The reminder of their past courageous faith. 32-34
        2. The admonition to retain their confidence to the end. 35-39

           
  2. THE TRIUMPHS OF FAITH. 11:1-40
    1. The meaning of faith. 1, 2
    2. The illustrations of faith. 3-38
      1. The function of faith in relation to creation. 3
      2. The faith of the antediluvians. 4-7
        1. The faith of Abel. 4
        2. The faith of Enoch. 5, 6
        3. The faith of Noah. 7
      3. The faith of the patriarchs. 8-22
        1. The faith of obedience and patience. 8-16
          1. The faith of patient obedience seen in Abraham. 8-12
          2. The characteristics of the faith of obedience. 13-16
            1. The perseverance of faith, supported by trust in the invisible. 13
            2. The satisfaction in heavenly things. 14-16a
              1. The meaning of their pilgrim testimony. 14
              2. The heavenly nature of their quest. 15, 16a
            3. The divine response to their faith. 16b
        2. The overruling of natural judgments by faith. 17-22
          1. The triumph of Abraham's faith under trial. 17-19
          2. The operation of faith in the patriarchial blessings. 20, 21
          3. The faith-prompted command of Joseph. 22
      4. The faith of conquest in the beginning of national Israel. 23-31
        1. The faith of Moses the leader of Israel. 23-28
          1. The faith of Moses in its personal workings. 23-26
            1. The faith of the parents of Moses. 23
            2. The faith of Moses shown in his personal choice. 24-26
          2. The faith of Moses in its public workings. 27, 28
        2. The faith of the people of Israel. 29-31
          1. The victory by faith over difficulties of nature. 29
          2. The victory by faith over Jericho. 30
          3. The eliciting of saving faith in Rahab. 31
      5. The operation of faith in Israel's national life. 32-38
        1. The victorious successes of faith. 32-35a
          1. The enumeration of representative heroes of faith. 32
          2. The characteristic achievements of faith. 33-35a
            1. The public victories through faith. 33a
            2. The personal deliverances through faith. 33b, 34a
            3. The personal gifts attained through faith. 34b
            4. The victory over death through faith. 35a
        2. The victorious sufferings of faith. 35b-38
          1. The refusal by faith to yield in suffering. 35b, 36
          2. The varied forms of the sufferings of faith. 37, 38
    3. The conclusion concerning these heroes of faith. 39, 40

       
  3. THE APPLICATION OF THESE EXAMPLES TO THE PRESENT TRIALS. 12:1-29
    1. The significance of suffering as Christians. 1-11
      1. The motives for enduring suffering. 1-4
        1. The recognition of the Christian life as a race. 1, 2
          1. The position of the believer in the arena, la
          2. The preparation of the believer for the race. Ib
          3. The effort of the believer in the race. Ic
          4. The goal of the believer in the race. 2
        2. The consideration of the sufferings of Christ. 3
        3. The comparative slightness of their sufferings. 4
      2. The interpretation of suffering as discipline. 5-10
        1. The scriptural exhortation regarding suffering. 5, 6
        2. The view of suffering as divine chastening. 7, 8
        3. The comparison between human and divine chastening. 9, 10
      3. The result of enduring the divine chastening. 11
    2. The consequent exhortations to Christian duty. 12-17
      1. The exhortation to personal duty. 12, 13
      2. The exhortation to social duties. 14-17
        1. The duty toward men generally. 14
        2. The duty toward fellow church members. 15-17
    3. Warning: The danger in rejecting Christ. 18-29
      1. The nature of the believer's privileges. 18-24
        1. The contrasted approach to God at Mt. Sinai. 18-21
          1. The physical terrors of Mt. Sinai. 18-20
          2. The confession of the lawgiver himself. 21
        2. The privileged approach of believers under grace. 22-24
      2. The warning not to reject the One speaking from Heaven. 25-27
      3. The exhortation to go on having grace. 28, 29

         
  4. THE CONCLUDING ADMONITIONS ABOUT PRACTICAL DUTIES. 13:1-17
    1. The moral duties of believers. 1-6
      1. The general duty of continued brother-love. 1
      2. The social duties of believers. 2-4
        1. The duty of hospitality. 2
        2. The duty of aiding the suffering. 3
        3. The duty of chastity. 4
      3. The duties as to personal attitudes. 5, 6
        1. The duty to avoid covetousness. 5a
        2. The duty of contentment. 5b, 6
    2. The religious duties of believers. 7-17
      1. The duty to remember their past leaders. 7
      2. The duty of complete devotion to Jesus Christ. 8-16
        1. The centering of our life in Christ. 8, 9
        2. The continuous support for life from Christ. 10-12
        3. The duty of union with Christ in suffering and service. 13-16
          1. The union with Christ in reproach. 13, 14
          2. The union with Christ in sacrifice. 15,16
      3. The duty to obey their present leaders. 17

         
  5. THE PERSONAL MATTERS IN CONCLUSION. 13:18-25
    1. The request of the writer for their prayers. 18, 19
    2. The prayer of the writer for the readers. 20, 21
    3. The concluding comments of the writer. 22, 23
    4. The concluding salutations. 24
    5. The closing benediction. 25

 1 Hiebert, Edmond D. Th.D., An Introduction to the Non-Pauline Epistles, "An Outline of Hebrews," Moody Press, Chicago., 1974 pp. 95-103

2019-07-15
2024-03-18 update