The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture

40 purpose of this book is not simply an historical accounting as was Josephus' purpose . Since the destruction of the Temple would have been crucial to the author's argument we may regard his silence as a strongly suggestive of the early dating (before A.D. 70) of the letter. 61 Conclusions We have seen that the Old Testament personages of prophets, angels , Moses and Aaron figure prominently in the book of Hebrews but that they do not enjoy individual significance. That is, they are only included in the argument of the book insofar as they are related to the Old Covenant. The actual contrast of the book does not merely involve Jesus and angels or Moses but the new revelation brought through Jesus with the old revelation brought principally through Moses. Each one of the Old Testament personages are important as they relate to this revelation. From the introduction to the conclusion, the book of Hebrew ' _,. is interested in the contrast between the Mosaic economy and the Messianic economy. Two basic implications are drawn in the book from the comparison of previou revelation to that which has come in Christ: (1) greater revelation demands greater obedience (chapters 1-4) and (2) greater revelation displaces previous revelation (chapter 5- 12). In chapters one through four the listeners are warned that better revelation involve greater obligation to obey. If those who rejected the me age of the Old Covenant (a gi n b angel , 1:5-2: 18 and by Mo e , 3: 1- 4 :16) were punished then urely tho e wh r j t th me age of the New ovenant a deliv red thr ugh Je u will r c ive gr ater judgm nt. In chapter fiv through twelve the econd implicati n of di pla m nt plain d . in th M iah h d com ho w ju t lmrodu tton (D f diff r nt pri th d (M 1 hiz d ki n, P 110) hi h a ' 1 n bl t r g rd th1 p1 ti th d tm t1 n , r uthn , eli le 'tamem