Heb 1:1-14. THE HIGHEST OF ALL REVELATIONS
IS GIVEN US NOW IN THE SON OF GOD, WHO IS GREATER THAN
THE ANGELS, AND WHO, HAVING COMPLETED REDEMPTION, SITS
ENTHRONED AT GOD'S RIGHT HAND.
-
- We do not know the writer although
it was likely the apostle Paul. In any case he was away
from them temporarily:
-
- But I beseech you the rather to
do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.
Hebrews 13:19
-
- Because Peter wrote to the
scattered Hebrews, his letter may give some evidence that
Paul was the writer:
-
- And account that the
longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our
beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom
given unto him hath written unto you; 2 Peter 3:15
- As also in all his epistles,
speaking in them of these things; in which are some
things hard to be understood, which they that are
unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the
other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 2
Peter 3:16
-
- Background:Matthew Henry on Hebrews 1:4-14 Many Jews
had a superstitious or idolatrous respect for angels,
because they had received the law and other tidings of
the Divine will by their ministry. They looked upon them
as mediators between God and men, and some went so far as
to pay them a kind of religious homage or worship. Thus
it was necessary that the apostle should insist, not only
on Christ's being the Creator of all things, and
therefore of angels themselves, but as being the risen
and exalted Messiah in human nature, to whom angels,
authorities, and powers are made subject. To prove this,
several passages are brought from the Old Testament. On
comparing what God there says of the angels, with what he
says to Christ, the inferiority of the angels to Christ
plainly appears. Here is the office of the angels; they
are God's ministers or servants, to do his pleasure. But,
how much greater things are said of Christ by the Father!
And let us own and honour him as God; for if he had not
been God, he had never done the Mediator's work, and had
never worn the Mediator's crown. It is declared how
Christ was qualified for the office of Mediator, and how
he was confirmed in it: he has the name Messiah from his
being anointed. Only as Man he has his fellows, and as
anointed with the Holy Spirit; but he is above all
prophets, priests, and kings, that ever were employed in
the service of God on earth. Another passage of
Scripture, Ps 102:25-27, is recited, in which the
Almighty power of the Lord Jesus Christ is declared, both
in creating the world and in changing it. Christ will
fold up this world as a garment, not to be abused any
longer, not to be used as it has been. As a sovereign,
when his garments of state are folded and put away, is a
sovereign still, so our Lord, when he has laid aside the
earth and heavens like a vesture, shall be still the
same. Let us not then set our hearts upon that which is
not what we take it to be, and will not be what it now
is. Sin has made a great change in the world for the
worse, and Christ will make a great change in it for the
better. Let the thoughts of this make us watchful,
diligent, and desirous of that better world. The Saviour
has done much to make all men his friends, yet he has
enemies. But they shall be made his footstool, by humble
submission, or by utter destruction. Christ shall go on
conquering and to conquer. The most exalted angels are
but ministering spirits, mere servants of Christ, to
execute his commands. The saints, at present, are heirs,
not yet come into possession. The angels minister to them
in opposing the malice and power of evil spirits, in
protecting and keeping their bodies, instructing and
comforting their souls, under Christ and the Holy Ghost.
Angels shall gather all the saints together at the last
day, when all whose hearts and hopes are set upon
perishing treasures and fading glories, will be driven
from Christ's presence into everlasting misery.
Chapter 2:14-18 The angels fell,
and remained without hope or help. Christ never designed
to be the Saviour of the fallen angels, therefore he did
not take their nature; and the nature of angels could not
be an atoning sacrifice for the sin of man. Here is a
price paid, enough for all, and suitable to all, for it
was in our nature. Here the wonderful love of God
appeared, that, when Christ knew what he must suffer in
our nature, and how he must die in it, yet he readily
took it upon him. And this atonement made way for his
people's deliverance from Satan's bondage, and for the
pardon of their sins through faith. Let those who dread
death, and strive to get the better of their terrors, no
longer attempt to outbrave or to stifle them, no longer
grow careless or wicked through despair. Let them not
expect help from the world, or human devices; but let
them seek pardon, peace, grace, and a lively hope of
heaven, by faith in Him who died and rose again, that
thus they may rise above the fear of death. The
remembrance of his own sorrows and temptations, makes
Christ mindful of the trials of his people, and ready to
help them. He is ready and willing to succour those who
are tempted, and seek him. He became man, and was
tempted, that he might be every way qualified to succour
his people, seeing that he had passed through the same
temptations himself, but continued perfectly free from
sin. Then let not the afflicted and tempted despond, or
give place to Satan, as if temptations made it wrong for
them to come to the Lord in prayer. Not soul ever
perished under temptation, that cried unto the Lord from
real alarm at its danger, with faith and expectation of
relief. This is our duty upon our first being surprised
by temptations, and would stop their progress, which is
our wisdom.
-
- GOD, who at
sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past
unto the fathers by the prophets, Hebrews
1:1
-
- The Jews survived
with the Water from the Rock and the Manna, but they
never understood that it was from God who was now made
known to them as a Light shining in the face of Jesus
Christ. And even as God spoke in many different ways,
there was never but One God.
-
- However, in
various forms God's Spirit spoke and because there is
only One Spirit God this was the Spirit of Christ
speaking:
- Searching what,
or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was
in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the
sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should
follow. 1 Peter 1:11
-
- 1. at sundry
times--Greek, "in many
portions." All was not revealed to each one prophet; but
one received one portion of revelation, and another
another. To Noah the quarter of the world to which
Messiah should belong was revealed; to Abraham, the
nation; to Jacob, the tribe; to David and Isaiah, the
family; to Micah, the town of nativity; to Daniel, the
exact time; to Malachi, the coming of His forerunner, and
His second advent; through Jonah, His burial and
resurrection; through Isaiah and Hosea, His resurrection.
Each only knew in part; but when that which was perfect
came in Messiah, that which was in part was done
away
-
- Polumeros (g4181) pol-oo-mer'-oce; adv. from a
comp. of 4183 and 3313; in many portions, i.e.
variously as to time and agency (piecemeal): - at
sundry times.
- For now we see through a
glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in
part; but then shall I know even as also I am
known. 1 Corinthians 13:12
-
- Polutropos (g4187) pol-oot-rop'-oce; adv. from a
comp. of 4183 and 5158; in many ways, i.e. variously
as to method or form: - in divers manners.
-
- in divers
manners--for example,
internal suggestions, audible voices, the Urim and
Thummim, dreams, and visions. "In one way He was seen by
Abraham, in another by Moses, in another by Elias, and in
another by Micah; Isaiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel, beheld
different forms" [THEODORET]. (Compare Nu 12:6-8). The
Old Testament revelations were fragmentary in substance,
and manifold in form; the very multitude of prophets
shows that they prophesied only in part. In Christ, the
revelation of God is full, not in shifting hues of
separated color, but Himself the pure light, uniting in
His one person the whole spectrum (Heb 1:3).
- spake--the expression usual for a Jew to employ
in addressing Jews. So Matthew, a Jew writing especially
for Jews, quotes Scripture, not by the formula, "It is
written," but "said,"
-
- in time past--From Malachi, the last of the Old
Testament prophets, for four hundred years, there had
arisen no prophet, in order that the Son might be the
more an object of expectation [BENGEL]. As God (the
Father) is introduced as having spoken here; so God the
Son, Heb 2:3; God the Holy Ghost, Heb 3:7.
- the fathers--the Jewish fathers. The Jews of former
days (1Co 10:1).
-
- by--Greek, "in." A mortal king speaks by his
ambassador, not (as the King of kings) in his ambassador.
The Son is the last and highest manifestation of God (Mt
21:34,37); not merely a measure, as in the prophets, but
the fulness of the Spirit of God dwelling in Him bodily
(Joh 1:16 3:34 Col 2:9). Thus he answers the Jewish
objection drawn from their prophets. Jesus is the end of
all prophecy (Re 19:10), and of the law of Moses (Joh
1:17 5:46).
-
- Hath in these
last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the
worlds; Hebrews 1:2
-
- The Jews were looking for a
political king much like David or others who could count
upon God working through His own agents to win battles.
However, Jesus was not like the warrior, political David
but like the young David whom God loved "in his early
ways." Now, Jesus as the Messiah does not meet their
expectations and they will just have to murder
Him.
-
- God left His majesty and power and
put on the "clothing" of a meek human Who had no
intentions of going to war or adding excitement to their
religious rituals. Here was the man who worshipped in
private and made fun of the Jewish clergy as "children
playing games."
-
- In this role, God is "imaged" or
revealed as the Son or Word which is the projection of
God's Spirit or Mind but not of His inclination to
control the military battles.
in these last
days--In the oldest
manuscripts the Greek is. "At the last part of these
days." The Rabbins divided the whole of time into "this
age," or "world," and "the age to come" (Heb 2:5 6:5).
The days of Messiah were the transition period or "last
part of these days" (in contrast to "in times past"), the
close of the existing dispensation, and beginning of the
final dispensation of which Christ's second coming shall
be the crowning consummation.
- by his Son--Greek, "IN (His) Son"
-
- Believest thou not that I am
in the
Father, and the
Father in
me? the words that I
speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father
that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. John 14:10
-
- If I am in a box and the box is
in me then I must be the box!
-
- The true "Prophet" of God. His
majesty is proven: by being:
-
- (1) Compared to God by the very name "Son," and by three
glorious predicates, "whom He hath appointed," "by
whom He made the worlds," "who sat down on the right
hand of the Majesty on high;" thus His course is
described from the beginning of all things till he
reached the goal
-
- Hath in these
last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the
worlds; Hebrews 1:2
- Who being
the brightness of his glory, and the express image
of his person, and upholding all things by the word
of his power, when he had by himself purged our
sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on
high; Hebrews 1:3
-
- (2) Relatively, in
comparison with the
angels,
-
- Being made so
much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance
obtained a more excellent name than they. Hebrews 1:4
-
- (3) the confirmation of this follows, and the very name "Son"
is proved at Heb 1:5;
-
- For unto which
of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son,
this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to
him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? Hebrews 1:5
-
- The heirship:
-
- And again, when
he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he
saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
Hebrews 1: 6
- And of the
angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and
his ministers a flame of fire. Hebrews 1: 7
- But unto the
Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and
ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of
thy kingdom. Hebrews 1: 8
- Thou hast
loved righteousness, and hated iniquity;
therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee
with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Hebrews 1: 9
-
- The creation of the World:
-
- And, Thou,
Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the
earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
Hebrews 1: 10
- They shall
perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax
old as doth a garment; Hebrews 1: 11
- And as a
vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall
be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years
shall not fail. Hebrews 1: 12
-
- Return to sit at the right hand
of His Glory and Majesty:
-
- But to which of
the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right
hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
Hebrews 1: 13
- Are they not
all ministering spirits, sent forth to
minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation? Hebrews 1: 14
-
- His being made heir follows His
sonship, and preceded His making the worlds. God is
invisible and immaterial. Therefore, when He acts in the
dimension of the physical world, because there is no one
else, he sends "His Arm" or "breathes" or "fans a fire."
Winds and firs are figurative of His action in the
physical world and God uses literal wind and fire as His
agents.
-
- Our world was "spoken" into
existance by God's Word. The image is of the Father who
"breathes" our wind (spirit) through His "lips" or
double-edged swords to produce Words. The ancient writers
always believed that the spoken word produced action. For
instance, the word "guilty" has the power to get you
electrocuted.
-
- In Proverbs, "Wisdom" is
personified as a "she" just as the 'Word" or "Spirit" is
a He. God always had His Spirit (mental ability), His
Word and His Wisdom with Him:
-
- The Lord possessed me (Wisdom
or Word) in the beginning of his way, before his works
of old. Proverbs 8:22
- I was set up from
everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth
was. Proverbs 8: 23
-
- According to the eternal
purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
Ephesians 3:11
-
- As the first begotten, He is heir
of the universe (Heb 1:6), which He made instrumentally,
-
- Through faith we understand
that the worlds were framed by the word of
God, so that things which are seen were not made of
things which do appear. Hebrews 11:3
-
- Perhaps in a parabolic sense
that "invisible
substance" was the Word
of God.
-
- Where "by the Word of God" answers
to "by whom"' (the Son of God) here. The image is not
that of a person so much as it is of that spoken power
and wisdom which proceedes from the invisible realm of
the Spirit Father. In any case, that which the Word
created was created by Him alone and it was created for
His purposes alone:
-
- All things were made by him;
and without him was not any thing made that was made.
John 1:3
-
- Christ was "appointed" (in God's
eternal counsel) to creation as an office;
and the universe so created was assigned to Him as a
kingdom. He is "heir of all things" by right of creation,
and especially by right of redemption. The promise to
Abraham that he should be heir of the world had its
fulfilment, and will have it still more fully, in Christ
-
- For the promise, that he should
be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to
his seed, through the law, but through the
righteousness of faith. Romans 4:13
- Now to Abraham and his seed
were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as
of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is
Christ. Galatians 3:16
-
- Hath in these
last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the
worlds; Hebrews 1:2
-
- worlds--the inferior and the superior
worlds
-
- For by him were all things
created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or
dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things
were created by him, and for him: Colossians
1:16
-
- Literally, "ages" with all
things and persons belonging to them; the universe,
including all space and ages of time, and all material
and spiritual existences. The Greek implies, He not only
appointed His Son heir of all things before creation, but
He also (better than "also He") made by Him the
worlds.
-
- Who being the
brightness of his glory, and the express image of his
person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down
on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Hebrews 1:3
The Son is the radiance of God's
glory and the exact representation of his being,
sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had
provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right
hand of the Majesty in heaven. -- Heb 1:3NIV
God's Son shines out with God's
glory, and all that God's Son is and does marks him as
God. He regulates the universe by the mighty power of his
command. He is the one who died to cleanse us and clear
our record of all sin, and then sat down in highest honor
beside the great God of heaven. Hebrews 1:3LIV
- Who being--by pre-existent and essential being.
Because no human could intercede between Himself and
others, it was necessary that God Himself become the
"gate" or "door" of intercession. Isaiah wrote:
-
- And he saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his
arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it
sustained him. Isaiah 59:16
-
- God laid aside His Glory and came
into the physical world as His "Arm."
-
- Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus: Philippians 2:5
- who, though he was God, did
not demand and cling to his rights as God,
Philippians 2:6LIV
- but laid aside his mighty power and
glory, taking the
disguise of a slave and becoming like men.
Philippians 2:7
-
- The Son of man returns to His own
glory. Because He was sent as God's own Arm, Jesus
asked:
-
- What and if ye shall see the
Son of man ascend up where he was before?
John 6:62
-
- And now, O Father, glorify thou
me with thine own
self with the glory
which I had with thee
before the world was.
John 17:5
-
- In the imagry of Philippians, God
laid His power and glory down at the right of the throne.
The Son left His own Glory Whom He understood to be the
Father. When Christ returned to where He was before, the
glory was that of God's own
self. He was "at the right"
of the throne because in the image of Isaiah God sent His
own right Arm to redeem the lost world.
-
- brightness of his
glory--Greek, the
effulgence of His glory. "Light of (from) light" [Nicene
Creed]. Or as the Father is "Light" the Son is the "off
flash" of that Light.
-
- "Who is so senseless as to
doubt concerning the eternal being of the Son? For
when has one seen light without effulgence?"
[ATHANASIUS, Against Arius, Orations, 2].
-
- "The sun is never seen without
effulgence, nor the Father without the Son"
[THEOPHYLACT].
-
- "It is because He is the
brightness, and because He upholds, that He sat down
on the right hand, It was a return to
His divine
glory
-
- express image--"impress." But veiled in the flesh.
-
- of his person--Greek, "of His substantial essence";
"hypostasis.." The early church fathers used the word
personae or image in agreement with the Bible. The
word "person" (people) was not applied to God until the
liberal 19th century.
-
- upholding all
things--Greek, "the
universe." Compare Col 1:15,17,20, which enumerates the
three facts in the same order as here.
-
- by the word--Therefore the Son of God is a Person; for
He has the word [BENGEL]. His word is God's word
-
- Through faith we understand
that the worlds were framed by the word
of God, so that things
which are seen were not made of things which do
appear. Hebrews 11:3
-
- of his power--"The word" is the utterance which comes
from His (the Son's) power, and gives expression to
it.
-
- When the visible Christ returned
to His "full Deity" (Col 2:9) He returned as he had
promised (John 16:16-18). His message is pure
spirit:
-
- It is the spirit that
quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing:
the words that I speak
unto you, they are
spirit, and they are life. John
6:63
-
- But we all, with open face
beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are
changed into the same image from glory to glory, even
as by the
Spirit of the Lord. 2
Corinthians 3:18
-
- We have also a more
sure word of
prophecy; whereunto ye
do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that
shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the
day star arise in your hearts: 2 Peter 1:19
-
- by himself--omitted in the oldest manuscripts.
- purged--Greek, "made purification of
. . . sins,"
-
- The mediation between man and God,
who was present in the Most
Holy Place, was revealed in
three forms:
-
- In sacrifices
(typical propitiations for guilt);
- In the priesthood
(the agents of those sacrifices);
- In the Levitical laws of purity
(Levitical purity being attained by sacrifice
positively, by avoidance of Levitical pollution
negatively, the people being thus enabled to come into
the presence of God without dying, De 5:26)" (Le 16:1-34).
-
- sat down on the right hand of
the Majesty on high--Remember that Christ laid aside His own
Glory as full Deity to take on the form of a man. In that
form only God Personally acting as His Own Arm could
"reach through" and intercede:
-
- Zechariah wrote a double
prophecy which has its spiritual fulfillment in Jesus,
the Branch:
-
- Then take silver and gold,
and make crowns, and set them upon the head of
Joshua (Jesus or Jehovah-Saves) the son of
Josedech, the high priest; Zechariah 6:11
-
- And speak unto him,
saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying,
Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he
shall grow up out of his place, and he shall
build the temple of the Lord: Zechariah 6:12
-
- Even he shall build
the temple of the Lord; and
- he shall
bear the
glory, and
- shall sit and rule upon his throne;
- and he shall be a
priest upon his throne:
- and the counsel of
peace shall be between them
both. Zechariah
6:13
-
- The Psalmist worships the
king as God. In
fact, the kings had been chosen to replace the True
God. Christ would be both King and High priest but the
throne would not be shared. David sang of his earthly
throne which had replaced God's Theocratic rule over
the nation of Israel:
-
- Your throne,
O God, will last for ever and ever; a
scepter of justice will be the scepter of your
kingdom. -- Psa 45:6
- You love righteousness
and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God,
has set you above your companions by anointing
you with the oil of joy. -- Psa 45:7
- All your
robes are fragrant with myrrh and
aloes and cassia; from palaces
adorned with ivory the music of the
strings makes you glad. -- Psa 45:8
-
- Paul understood: two on the
throne is King and Priest -- not two people
-
- But about the
Son he says, "Your
throne, O
God, will last for
ever and ever, and righteousness will be the
scepter of your kingdom. -- Heb 1:8NIV
- You have loved
righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore
God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy." -- Heb 1:9 NIV
- He also says, "In the
beginning, O Lord, you
laid the foundations of the earth, and the
heavens are the work of your hands. -- Heb
1:10
- They will perish, but you
remain; they will all wear out like a garment.
-- Heb 1:11 NIV
- You will roll them up
like a robe; like a garment they will be
changed. But you remain the same, and your
years will never end." -- Heb 1:12 NIV
-
- fulfilling Ps 110:1. This sitting of the
Son at God's fight hand was by the act of the
Father (Heb 8:1 Eph 1:20); it is never used of His
pre-existing state co-equal with the Father, but always
of His exalted state as Son of man after His sufferings,
and as Mediator for man in the presence of God (Ro 8:34):
a relation towards God and us about to come to an end
when its object has been accomplished (1Co 15:28).
-
- Being made so
much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance
obtained a more excellent name than they. Hebrews 1:4
-
- To the Jews who
trusted only angels to deliver God's message that the Law
was not valid for producing spiritual life, Jesus died
and was resurrected. This proved that He was superior to
angels:
-
- Being made . . .
better--by His exaltation
by the Father (Heb 1:3,13):in contrast to His being "made
lower than the angels" (Heb 2:9). "Better," that is,
superior to. As "being" (Heb 1:3) expresses His essential
being so "being made" (Heb 7:26) marks what He became in
His assumed manhood (Php 2:6-9). Paul shows that His
humbled form (at which the Jews might stumble) is no
objection to His divine Messiahship. As the law was given
by the ministration of angels and Moses, it was inferior
to the Gospel given by the divine Son, who both is (Heb
1:4-14) as God, and has been made, as the exalted Son of
man (Heb 2:5-18), much better than the angels. The
manifestations of God by angels (and even by the angel of
the covenant) at different times in the Old Testament,
did not bring man and God into personal union, as the
manifestation of God in human flesh does.
- by inheritance
obtained--He always had the
thing itself, namely, Sonship; but He "obtained by
inheritance," according to the promise of the Father, the
name "Son," whereby He is made known to men and angels.
He is "the Son of God" is a sense far exalted above that
in which angels are called "sons of God" (Job 1:6 38:7).
"The fulness of the glory of the peculiar name "the Son
of God," is unattainable by human speech or thought. All
appellations are but fragments of its glory beams united
in it as in a central sun, Re 19:12. A name that no than
knew but He Himself."
-
- For unto which
of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this
day have I begotten thee? And again,
- I will be
to
him a
Father, and
- he shall be
to
me a
Son? Hebrews 1:5
-
- For--substantiating His having "obtained a more
excellent name than the angels."
- unto which--A frequent argument in this Epistle is
derived from the silence of Scripture (Heb 1:13 Heb 2:16
7:3,14) [BENGEL].
- this day have I begotten
thee--(Ps 2:7). Fulfilled
at the resurrection of Jesus, whereby the Father
"declared," that is, made manifest His divine Sonship,
heretofore veiled by His humiliation (Ac 13:33 Ro 1:4).
-
- Christ has a fourfold right to
the title "Son of God";
- By generation, as begotten of
God;
- By commission, as sent by God;
- By resurrection, as "the
first-begotten of the dead" (compare Lu 20:36 Ro 1:4
Re 1:5);
- By actual possession, as heir
of all [BISHOP PEARSON].
- The Psalm here quoted applied
primarily in a less full sense to Solomon, of whom God
promised by Nathan to David. "I will be his father and he
shall be my son." But as the whole theocracy was of
Messianic import, the triumph of David over Hadadezer and
neighboring kings (2Sa 8:1-18 Ps 2:2,3,9-12) is a type of
God's ultimately subduing all enemies under His Son. whom
He sets (Hebrew, "anointed," Ps 2:6) on His "holy hill of
Zion," as King of the Jews and of the whole earth. the
antitype to Solomon, son of David. The "I" in Greek is
emphatic; I the Everlasting Father have begotten Thee
this day, that is, on this day, the day of Thy being
manifested as My Son, "the first-begotten of the dead"
(Col 1:18 Re 1:5). when Thou hast ransomed and opened
heaven to Thy people. He had been always Son, but now
first was manifested as such in His once humbled, now
exalted manhood united to His Godhead. ALFORD refers
"this day" to the eternal generation of the Son: the day
in which the Son was begotten by the Father is an
everlasting to-day: there never was a yesterday or past
time to Him, nor a to-morrow or future time: "Nothing
there is to come, and nothing past, but an eternal NOW
doth ever last" (Pr 30:4 Joh 10:30,38 16:28 17:8). The
communication of the divine essence in its fulness,
involves eternal generation; for the divine essence has
no beginning. But the context refers to a definite point
of time, namely, that of His having entered on the
inheritance (Heb 1:4). The "bringing the first-begotten
into the world" (Heb 1:6), is not subsequent, as ALFORD
thinks, to Heb 1:5, but anterior to it (compare Ac
2:30-35).
-
- And again, when
he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he
saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. Hebrews
1: 6
-
- And--Greek, "But." Not only this proves His
superiority, BUT a more decisive proof is Ps 97:7, which
shows that not only at His resurrection, but also in
prospect of His being brought into the world (compare Heb
9:11 10:5) as man, in His incarnation, nativity (Lu
2:9-14), temptation (Mt 4:10,11), resurrection (Mt 28:2),
and future second advent in glory. angels were designed
by God to be subject to Him. Compare 1Ti 3:16, "seen
of angels"; God manifesting Messiah as one to
be gazed at with adoring love by heavenly intelligences
(Eph 3:10 2Th 1:9,10 1Pe 3:22). The fullest realization
of His Lordship shall be at His second coming (Ps 97:7
1Co 15:24,25 Php 2:9). "Worship Him all ye gods" ("gods,"
that is, exalted beings, as angels), refers to God; but
it was universally admitted among the Hebrews that God
would dwell, in a peculiar sense, in Messiah (so as to be
in the Talmud phrase, "capable of being pointed to with
the finger"); and so what was said of God was true of,
and to be fulfilled in, Messiah. KIMCHI says that the
ninety-third through the hundred first Psalms contain in
them the mystery of Messiah. God ruled the theocracy in
and through Him.
-
- the world--subject to Christ (Heb 2:5). As "the
first-begotten" He has the rights of primogeniture (Ro
8:29); Col 1:15,16,18). In De 32:43, the Septuagint has,
"Let all the angels of God worship Him," words not now
found in the Hebrew.
-
- This passage of the Septuagint may
have been in Paul's mind as to the form, but the
substance is taken from Ps 97:7.
-
-
The type David, in the Ps 89:27
(quoted in Heb 1:5), is called "God's first-born, higher than the kings of the earth"; so
the antitypical first-begotten, the son of David, is to
be worshipped by all inferior lords, such as angels
("gods," Ps 97:7); for He is "King of kings and Lord of
lords" (Re 19:16). In the Greek, "again" is transposed;
but this does not oblige us, as ALFORD thinks, to
translate, "when He again shall have introduced," namely,
at Christ's second coming; for there is no previous
mention of a first bringing in; and "again" is often used
in quotations, not to be joined with the verb, but
parenthetically ("that I may again quote Scripture").
English Version is correct (compare Mt 5:33; Greek, Joh
12:39).
-
- And of the
angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his
ministers a flame of fire. Hebrews 1: 7
-
- of--The Greek is rather, "In reference TO the
angels."
-
- spirits--or "winds": Who
employeth His angels as the winds, His
ministers as the lightnings;
or, He maketh His angelic ministers the directing powers
of winds and flames, when these latter are required to
perform His will. "Commissions them to assume the agency
or form of flames for His purposes" [ALFORD].
Then we will no longer be infants,
tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of
teaching and by the cunning
and craftiness of men in their
deceitful scheming. Ep.4:14
-
-
- English Version, "maketh His
angels spirits," means, He maketh them of a subtle,
incorporeal nature, swift as the wind. So Ps 18:10, "a
cherub . . . the wings of the wind." Heb 1:14,
"ministering spirits," favors English Version here. As
"spirits" implies the wind-like velocity and subtle
nature of the cherubim, so "flame of fire" expresses the
burning devotion and intense all-consuming zeal of the
adoring seraphim (meaning "burning), Isa 6:1. The
translation, "maketh winds His messengers, and a flame of
fire His ministers (!)," is plainly wrong. In the Ps
104:3,4, the subject in each
clause comes first, and the
attribute predicated of it second; so the Greek article
here marks "angels" and "ministers" as the subjects, and
"winds" and "flame of fire," predicates, Schemoth Rabba
says, "God is called God of Zebaoth (the heavenly hosts),
because He does what He pleases with His angels. When He
pleases, He makes them to sit (Jud 6:11); at other times
to stand (Isa 6:2); at times to resemble women (Zec 5:9);
at other times to resemble men (Ge 18:2); at times He
makes them 'spirits'; at times, fire." "Maketh" implies
that, however exalted, they are but creatures, whereas
the Son is the Creator (Heb 1:10):not begotten from
everlasting, nor to be worshipped, as the Son (Re 14:7
22:8,9).
-
- But unto the
Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a
sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
Hebrews 1: 8
-
- God--the Greek has the article to mark emphasis
(Ps 45:6,7).
-
- for ever . . .
righteousness--Everlasting
duration and righteousness go together (Ps 45:2
89:14).
- a sceptre of
righteousness--literally,
"a rod of rectitude," or "straightforwardness." The
oldest manuscripts prefix "and" (compare Es 4:11).
-
- Thou hast loved
righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even
thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness
above thy fellows. Hebrews 1: 9
-
- iniquity--"unnrighteousness." Some oldest
manuscripts read, "lawlessness."
therefore--because God loves righteousness and hates
iniquity.
God . . . thy
God--JEROME, AUGUSTINE, and
others translate Ps 45:7, "O God, Thy God, hath anointed
thee," whereby Christ is addressed as God. This is
probably the true translation of the Hebrew there, and
also of the Greek of Hebrews here; for it is likely the
Son is addressed, "O God," as in Heb 1:8. The anointing
here meant is not that at His baptism, when He solemnly
entered on His ministry for us; but that with the "oil of
gladness," or "exulting joy" (which denotes a triumph,
and follows as the consequence of His manifested love of
righteousness and hatred of iniquity), wherewith, after
His triumphant completion of His work, He has been
anointed by the Father above His fellows (not only above
us, His fellow men, the adopted members of God's family.
whom "He is not ashamed to call His brethren," but above
the angels, fellow partakers in part with Him, though
infinitely His inferiors, in the glories, holiness, and
joys of heaven; "sons of God," and angel "messengers,"
though subordinate to the divine Angel--"Messenger of the
covenant"). Thus He is antitype to Solomon, "chosen of
all David's many sons to sit upon the throne of the
kingdom of the Lord over Israel," even as His father
David was chosen before all the house of his father's
sons. The image is drawn from the custom of anointing
guests at feasts (Ps 23:5); or rather of anointing kings:
not until His ascension did He assume the kingdom as Son
of man. A fuller accomplishment is yet to be, when He
shall be VISIBLY the anointed King over the whole earth
(set by the Father) on His holy hill of Zion, Ps 2:6,8.
So David, His type, was first anointed at Bethlehem (1Sa
16:13 Ps 89:20); and yet again at Hebron, first over
Judah (2Sa 2:4), then over all Israel (2Sa 5:3); not till
the death of Saul did he enter on his actual kingdom; as
it was not till after Christ's death that the Father set
Him at His right hand far above all principalities (Eph
1:20,21). The forty-fifth Psalm in its first meaning was
addressed to Solomon; but the Holy Spirit inspired the
writer to use language which in its fulness can only
apply to the antitypical Solomon, the true Royal Head of
the theocracy.
-
- And, Thou,
Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the
earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
Hebrews 1: 10
-
- And--In another passage (Ps 102:25-27) He
says.
in the
beginning--English Version,
Ps 102:25, "of old": Hebrew, "before," "aforetime." The
Septuagint, "in the beginning" (as in Ge 1:1) answers by
contrast to the end implied in "They shall perish," : The
Greek order here (not in the Septuagint) is, "Thou in the
beginning, O Lord," which throws the "Lord" into
emphasis. "Christ is preached even in passages where many
might contend that the Father was principally intended"
[BENGEL].
-
- laid the foundation
of--"firmly founded" is
included in the idea of the Greek.
heavens--plural: not merely one, but manifold, and
including various orders of heavenly intelligences (Eph
4:10).
-
- works of thine
hands--the heavens, as a
woven veil or curtain spread out.
-
- They shall
perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as
doth a garment; Hebrews 1: 11
-
- They--The earth and the heavens in their present
state and form "shall perish" (Heb 12:26,27 2Pe 3:13).
"Perish" does not mean annihilation; just as it did not
mean so in the case of "the world that being overflowed
with water, perished" under Noah (2Pe 3:6). The covenant
of the possession of the earth was renewed with Noah and
his seed on the renovated earth. So it shall be after the
perishing by fire (2Pe 3:12,13).
-
- remainest--through (so the Greek) all changes.
as . . . a
garment--(Isa 51:6).
-
- 12_1-11.htm
-
- vesture--Greek, "an enwrapping cloak."
fold them up--So the Septuagint, Ps 102:26; but the
Hebrew, "change them." The Spirit, by Paul, treats the
Hebrew of the Old Testament, with independence of
handling, presenting the divine truth in various aspects;
sometimes as here sanctioning the Septuagint (compare Isa
34:4 Re 6:14); sometimes the Hebrew; sometimes varying
from both.
changed--as one lays aside a garment to put on
another.
thou art the
same--(Isa 46:4 Mal 3:6).
The same in nature, therefore in covenant faithfulness to
Thy people.
shall not
fail--Hebrew, "shall not
end." Israel, in the Babylonian captivity, in the hundred
second Psalm, casts her hopes of deliverance on Messiah,
the unchanging covenant God of Israel.
-
- But to which of
the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand,
until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Hebrews 1: 13
-
- Quotation from Ps 110:1. The image
is taken from the custom of conquerors putting the feet
on the necks of the conquered (Jos 10:24,25).
-
- Are they not
all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them
who shall be heirs of salvation? Hebrews 1:
14
-
- ministering
spirits--referring to Heb
1:7, "spirits . . . ministers." They are
incorporeal spirits, as God is, but ministering to Him as
inferiors.
sent forth--present participle: "being sent forth"
continually, as their regular service in all ages.
to minister--Greek, "unto (that is, 'for')
ministry."
for them--Greek, "on
account of the." Angels are
sent forth on ministrations to God and Christ, not
primarily to men, though for the good of "those who are
about to inherit salvation" (so the Greek): the elect,
who believe, or shall believe, for whom all things,
angels included, work together for good (Ro 8:28).
- When one ministers, another has
the right to command. Therefore, the angels are not at
the command of individuals. Rather, those messengers who
minister do so before people
are saved:
-
- Are not all
angels ministering spirits sent to serve those
who
will
inherit salvation? Heb 1:14NIV
-
- Christ as Spirit
appeared to Paul to make Him a minister of the Spirit by
preaching the gospel:
-
- Who also hath made us able
ministers of the new
testament (contract);
not of the letter, but
of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit
giveth life. 2 Corinthians 3:6
- For God is my
witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his
Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you
always in my prayers; Romans 1:9
-
- Don't lose sight of the fact that
Jesus said the same thing:
-
- It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh
profiteth nothing:
- the words that I speak unto you, they are
spirit, and they are life. Jn 6:63
-
- To the Galatians, Paul shows that
receiving
the Spirit is not by
external works (singing, dancing, chanting, pleading for
God to save you), but by hearing and believing the
message of and about Christ:
-
- O foolish Galatians, who hath
bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes
- Jesus Christ hath
been
- evidently set
forth, crucified
among you? Galatians 3:1
- This only would I learn of you,
- Received ye the Spirit by the works of the
law, or
- (Received ye the Spirit)
by the hearing of faith? Galatians 3:2
-
- No one ever received the Spirit as
a supernatural power of incarnation simply by
hearing with faith.
-
- Therefore, when they heard the
inspired Word they were receiving the Spirit which is
the Words and Mind of Christ.
-
- The primary ministry to those who
shall (future tense) receive salvation is to teach them
the gospel. Paul said:
-
- He (Paul) therefore that
- ministereth to you the
Spirit, and (he that)
worketh miracles among you,
- doeth he it by the works of
the law, or
- by the hearing of faith? Galatians 3:5
- Or, from the NIV:
- Does God give you his Spirit
and work miracles among you because you observe the
law, or because you
believe what you heard? Galatians 3:5NIV
-
- God does not give His Spirit as an
"inside being" as the result of
believing what one hears.
-
- Rather, by teaching the gospel the
preacher actually gives or conveys God's Spirit.
-
- In another account, Paul
ministered by ministering the gospel:
-
- That I should be the
minister of Jesus
Christ to the Gentiles,
ministering the gospel of
God, that the offering
up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being
sanctified by the Holy Ghost. Romans 15:16
-
- Jesus, who said that His Words
were Spirit and Life also asked:
-
- Sanctify them through thy
truth: thy word is truth. John 17:17
-
- Paul did not hand-feed the Holy
Spirit as a "person" to the Galatians. Ministered
means:
-
- Epichoregeo (g2023) ep-ee-khor-ayg-eh'-o; from 1909
and 5524; to furnish besides, i.e. fully supply,
(fig.) aid or contribute: - add, minister nourishment
-
- When a literal angel or messenger
appeared to Zacharias:
-
- And Zacharias said unto the
angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man,
and my wife well stricken in years Luke 1:18 .
- And the angel answering said
unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence
of God; and am sent to
speak unto thee, and
to shew thee these
glad tidings. Luke
1:19
-
- From this we can understand that
any messanger who speaks God's Words is an angel because
we have all been sent to speak the words of the
Gospel.
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