Review of Hebrews, Life Application Bible Studies (NLT)

Hebrews Life Application Bible Studies: NLT Series Soft Cover, 86 pages Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers Language: English ISBN-13: 9781414325644

First of all, thanks go out to Tyndale House for this review copy of Hebrews, Life Application Bible Studies (NLT).

I took my time with this book study, and am glad I did. Hebrews points out the supremacy of Christ and the need for the body to persevere  corporately and individually as they follow him. Using a bounty of Old Testament Scripture to firmly cement Christ’s mission and person, it stands out as a powerful encouragement to trust in Christ alone. As for this study, I really enjoyed the insightful questions that challenge the reader to do more than just regurgitate the text. The lessons were reasonable in length; I would estimate I spent about half and hour on each lesson (not counting the “in-depth” questions), and then more time on my own in Hebrews on the side.

This book covers the book of Hebrews in 13 lessons. It is made up of two parts. Part 1 is the full text of the book of Hebrews, with footnotes at the bottom of each page, and scripture references in the gutter. Footnotes that will be assigned as reading in the lesson are marked with a dot. Part 2 is the lesson questions, with space for notation. Each lesson is divided into 5 basic parts:

1. Introductory questions that do not require reading of the Scripture, but introduce the topics to be addressed. These could be used as warm-up questions if this study was done in a group setting.
2. Scripture assignment, with specific footnotes assigned for review to reinforce and support the reading.
3. Questions that deal with the content of the Scripture
4. Questions that require personal reflection and application of the principles found through part 3. This section has an introductory remark that highlights the major theme of the reading.
5. Additional questions for more in-depth study.

I thought that the reading was divided well, and that the questions were well written to make the reader go back over Scripture and apply it. The fact that the entire text of Hebrews is provided in the text make this a very portable Bible study for someone who is on-the-go. However, this comes with a price. There are many scripture references in the gutter – Hebrews is full of Old Testament references – and if you go the route of only carrying this study with you, deeper study will be impossible at the time. And there is no way of getting around double book-marking with this study if using the provided scripture text, since the lessons are not inline. I’m torn as to whether this is good or bad. Having scripture chopped up throughout the lessons makes me cringe. Overall, I think multiple markers is the lesser of two evils.

I give this book ★★★★☆, gladly suggesting this study to individuals and groups. Hebrews is a great book for personal study in its own right, and the lesson authors do a great job of bringing the richness of the book to the forefront.