• Hebrews Outline:

Chapter 1 Jesus is greater than the prophets and the angels.

• Introduction

Last week we discussed the issue of this book's authorship, the author's purpose and date of writing as well as the primary theme. Knowing precisely the author's identity is apparently not necessary, otherwise God would have seen fit to preserve it for us. But we do know that the author was a skilled writer, saturated in the Old Testament, and was writing to Jews who were either Christians or those who were at least professing to be Christians.

The first chapter has seven quotations from the Old Testament. Five of these quotes, in their original context pertain to the nations of the world being brought into submission to the Lord. This is certainly not by accident in that the primary theme of the entire book is the supremacy of Christ and His covenant over the former things. It is apparent that the recipients of the letter were struggling with returning to the types and shadows of the former age after having embraced the reality in Christ. The letter is a warning about making such a mistake.

• Exposition

Hebrews 1:8-2:1

8 But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions."

• In this quote, it is noteworthy that the author begins by saying "But to the Son He says. . ." and the verse is about the throne of God lasting forever. Here we have an explicit declaration of the deity of Christ in that the author attributes this verse as being descriptive of Jesus. Christ is not simply a prophet as the others were. Nor is He an angel. He is declared in various ways to be the Son of God and therefore to be God throughout the scriptures.

• This verse is quoted from Psalm 45:6-7 and we see in context from verse 4 that the enemies of God are pierced and peoples falling beneath the feet of the Lord. We know that not only did God foretell these things through the prophets and this author, but we also know that God will ensure that it all happens.

• Christ can be set above His companions because He has companions-us. This is a very central thought in this book in that Christ became one of us. He took on our lowly form so that He might intercede for us. This point is developed more fully in later chapters but it is central to the book that Christ became our brother in humanity but in His deity He rules over all things.

10 And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 11 They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; 12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail."

• When we say that all things were created by Jesus we are not talking about the person, Jesus of Nazareth, but rather, the second person of the Trinity the Eternal Word of God. Jesus is not a created being, He is the Creator. God is called a necessary being and everything else is called a contingent being because they exist only because the necessary being created them.

• The universe is wearing out-like a favorite pair of Levi's. Also like an old pair of Levi's, we have a temptation to become attached to the physical world not realizing that the new world to come will be far more glorious than the one we cherish today.

• These verses come from Psalm 102 where again the context from vs. 12 is the nations shall fear the Lord and all of the Kings of the earth shall fear His glory.

13 But to which of the angels has He ever said: "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool"?

• This is quoted from Psalm 110 which is the same Psalm quoted by the Lord when He explained how it is that David called his son his Lord. (Matthew 22:41-46)

• In Acts 2:25, Peter is quoted as saying that Jesus Christ was already sitting on the throne at the right hand of the Father. The point is that this ascension is not going to happen some day in the future, Christ sits in the position of prominence right now. He intercedes for us daily since that time and He has ruled well and will continue there until all things have been brought into submission to Him. This will continue until the last enemy, death is destroyed.

14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

• What is inferred in other verses throughout Scripture is plainly taught her in this book; God has entrusted His Angels with the care of the Saints. Although there is a great deal of thought regarding Angels in the world, much of it is not shaped by the Word. We can learn many things from this verse which gives a fuller understanding of the other verses of Scripture.

• All of the Angels are included in this verse. We know the Angels have different functions but this teaches us that they are all ministering.

• As is confirmed elsewhere, we know that Angels are spirit beings and that they are not deities but rather are created beings themselves.

• They are sent forth [by God] and are not acting on their own accord but are accomplishing the purposes of God. The Angels are referred to in Scripture as the Host of Heaven and the Lord is referred to as the Lord of Hosts (notice not the Host of Hosts).

• Their purpose is to minister, which is to protect and provide for the Elect. We cannot say on the weight of Scripture that each of us is assigned our specific Angel but we do know that we are protected by them. This verse also explains that they minister in this way only to the Elect. Refer to 2 Kings 6:8-23 and Psalms 34:7

1 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. (NKJV)

• At the conclusion of the instruction on Christ's superiority to angels, the author gives us the point of teaching; given that Christ is superior to angels, messages or commandments from Him should be received by us much more readily than those from angels.

• The result of not holding to the message from the Lord is drifting away. Christians do no wake up one day after many years of faithfully serving God and decide to get into big-time sin. It is usually a process of small consistent compromises. This is drifting. It doesn't take much work to drift.