Paul concludes chapter five of his epistle by telling his readers that, by this late date, they ought to be teachers of the Gospel, but instead they really need someone to teach them the facts about their own religion, which embraces the first principles of the oracles of God (Hebrews 5:12). The Greek word for first in this verse is the same word Paul uses in Hebrews 6:1 for principles (G746 – arche). The word Paul uses for principles in Hebrews 5:12 is stoicheion (G4747), which he describes in Galatians 4:9 as beggarly elements, which he further describes as: “observing days, and months and times and years” (Galatians 4:10). Later, in his epistle to the Colossians, Paul uses the same word again (G4747) to say: “if you are dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are you subject to ordinances” (Colossians 2:20), which he describes in the next verse as: “touch not, taste no, handle not.” In other words, these first principles of the oracles of God have to do with observing the Law, not Christ!
Consider Jeremiah 5:1 and compare the Septuagint with that of the Hebrew. The idea is not trusting God per se, but trusting the system God has put in place, namely that as a man sows so shall he reap. Trusting that doing good, doing what is lawful etc. reaps a good return of goodness from others. Evil folks won’t trust in the system. Rather, they seek to get what they think they should have regardless of how that affects the good that should flow to others. The former is faith, but it isn’t “saving” faith in the sense of what is needed for eternal salvation (see also Nehemiah 11:23; Proverbs 12; 17; 14:22). The prophet says:
O Lord, thine eyes are upon faithfulness: thou hast scourged them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them; but they would not receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; and they would not return. (Jeremiah 5:3 – LXX)
Is there more than one baptism (baptizo – G907 ; cf. Ephesians 4:5)? Yet, the doctrine of baptisms (baptismos – G909) is in the plural (Hebrews 6:1)! Rather than the New Covenant doctrine, Paul is referring to the many washings under the Old Covenant in this verse, and these washings would even included the more abundant “baptisms” or washing done under the Oral Law (Mark 7:4, 8; Hebrews 9:10). In fact, Hebrews 9:10 refers to them as carnal ordinances.
Paul also mentions the laying on of hands, but this has nothing to do with the “laying on of hands” by the Apostles in the New Covenant (See: Acts 8:18; 1Timothy 4:14 and 2Timothy 1:6). The Old Covenant doctrine of laying on of hands had to do with judgment with intent to destroy. Under the New Covenant, judgment is to be left to God. Under the Old Covenant, it is found in 2Kings 11:16; 2Chronicles 23:15 and perhaps at Obadiah 1:13, where the intent was to confiscate property and goods. It could also be found in the New Covenant where the Jewish authorities tried to lay hands upon Jesus and the Apostles with intent to judge and destroy them (Matthew18:28; 26:50; John 7:30, 44; 8:20; Acts 4:33; 21:27). This doctrine has nothing to do with the Gospel of Christ.
Neither is the doctrine of the “resurrection from the dead” a New Covenant doctrine. None of the disciples of the Lord had any concept of Jesus rising out from among the dead. For the Jews of the first century AD the grave was a place of consciousness, despite the Scriptural teaching that there was no consciousness in the grave (Psalm 6:5; Ecclesiastes 9:10). Their worldview of death consisted of the righteous being with Abraham, referred to as Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:22), also called “paradise” (Luke 23:43), and the unrighteous being in torments and unable to pass over to Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:23-26). These, of course, are false doctrines, rabbinical stories that make the word of God void (Matthew 15:5; Mark 7:8, 13; Titus 1:14). Their idea of a resurrection had no place for one person rising out from among the dead. Rather their concept concerned a resurrection of all the just ones together, in which the unjust had no part. Moreover, it isn’t clear if they believed in eternal life. More likely, they looked for God to give them a blessed new life, wherein all their desires would be satisfied, but after which, they would die. The concept of not dying is new and comes from Jesus’ teaching.
Martha believed her brother, Lazarus, would rise one day with all the righteous dead in the final age (John 11:24), but Jesus claimed he was the resurrection and the life of the believer (John 11:25). Those who believe on him would never die, even though the believer’s body were laid in the grave. Thus, showing that after this life, our life is not physical. Paul claimed this resurrection life began in this age among believers, when they repented (Ephesians 2:1-6). It was Paul’s hope that he would become so conformed to the death and resurrection of Christ that the life of Christ would be all that one would see, when he looked at Paul (Philippians 3:10-11). Such a concept has no place in the Jewish worldview of the first century AD. They looked for the righteous to arise together in a future age, but this had nothing to do with Christ. Rather, it concerned whether or not they were righteous in this life.
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