Lesson 9 | Identify the Structure
What’s at Stake: The Unity of the Bible
Gain:
Understanding God’s Plan
In this lesson, we'll introduce you to five types of structural markers. Observing them is critical to correct interpretation.
Notice the word "then" in the following passage. It is a temporal marker, marking a change in time.
In verses 5-7, the author of Hebrews is quoting Psalm 40:6-8, after which he notes the sense of the word “then” in the original quotation. He observes that when Jesus said that the Father didn't desire sacrifices, he then added, “I have come to do your will.” In other words, he is noting the time transition marker “then” and drawing a theological conclusion from it: “He does away with the first in order to establish the second" (v. 9). Jesus Christ did away with the Old Covenant in order to establish a New Covenant.
In other words, in this lesson we are learning to study Scripture exactly how the author of Hebrews did! And this is a big deal. After all, looking carefully at temporal markers helped him understand the implications of the New Covenant!
Loss:
An Impotent Hope
But if the author of Hebrews hadn’t marked the importance of the word “then,” he could have misread the Old Testament, thinking that the sacrificial system was meant to be permanent. If he had done so, he might have thought that the sacrifices could do what they cannot do.
Without its fulfillment in Christ, those who offered animal sacrifices would have been left imperfect, having only a reminder of sin, illustrated in a “shadow” and with no actual forgiveness. How do we know this from the OT? Again, the author of Hebrews discovers it by carefully considering the transition marker “then,” as he explains in vv. 5-10.
So don’t miss transition markers that are so often crucial to the Bible’s argument! Failure to do so may leave you with a false and impotent hope.