Introductory remarks:
Because I believe there is ample evidence that Paul was the apostle the Holy Spirit used to give us this great epistle, I will continue to use Paul's name. Paul uses the same method he used in his other epistles of presenting doctrine first in chapters 1-10, and then the practical portion in the rest of the letter. This letter was written to Hebrew Christians making a transition from the Law and the Prophets to the finished work of Christ in the gospel of grace. "The God of the Hebrews in the past has now revealed His Son to man. He shared God's power and after purging our sins, sat down at God's right hand. He is not a servant, like the angels but a son, who is heir to the throne above everything. The Heaven and Earth will pass away, but He will live forever, unchanged" (A Survey of Hebrews - By Brenda). This chapter may be outlined as follows: God has spoken by His son vv. 1-4: The Son superior to angels vv. 5-14.
God Has Spoken by His Son
Verse 1, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets."
LGT "God, in many parts and in many ways of old, having spoken to the fathers by the prophets:"
God: "God has given a revelation of salvation in two stages. The first was preparatory and transient [temporary], and is completed. The second, the revelation through Jesus Christ, is final. The readers who have accepted this second revelation are warned against returning to the economy of the first" (Vincent). It is essential that this understanding of dispensations be understood in order to understand this letter to the Hebrews. In many parts: the Old Testament revelation is the first part. "The truth as a whole never comes to light in the O.T. It appears fragmentarily, in successive acts, as the periods of the Patriarchs, Moses, the Kingdom, etc. One prophet has one, another element of the truth to proclaim" (Vincent). And in any ways: God revealed Himself in the O. T. in various ways; out of the burning bush to Moses; the handwriting on the wall to Daniel; the giving of the Ten Commandments on Sinai to Moses; in dreams to Abraham. God did not say the same thing to Abraham as He did to Moses, nor to Daniel or Isaiah. When we get familiar with the contents of the O.T. we realize that God spoke in many parts and in many ways. He revealed His great plan of Salvation by signs and types, of which Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of these signs and types, that is, He is the Great Anti-type. Having spoken to the fathers: to the men of ancient times. By the prophets: God spoke through the divinely inspired prophets to the men of old the revelation of Jesus Christ in part, that is, in the Messianic prophecies that have been fulfilled in Christ. The way of salvation was made very clear in times past, but there were things concerning God's grace that was not revealed until Christ came and finished the work of redemption.
Verse 2, "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."
LGT "At the last of these days He has spoken to us in [His] Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the universe."
At the last of these days: this is the last days of the Old Covenant, the first period of God's dealing with man. He has spoken to us in His Son: the first period did not come to an end with Christ's earthly ministry; God was still speaking to His people through His son. The first period came to a close at the crucifixion of the Christ. The word "us" is very important for it is referring to the Hebrew believers whom God spoke to through the O.T. prophets, and through Christ's earthly ministry, and now in grace through the New Covenant of grace. Whom He appointed heir of all things: Christ became heir of all things through His incarnation and conquering sin in the flesh; He did not gain His deity, for He possessed that from all eternity past; but he did become sovereign over all the universe; and the beauty for us in all this is that we have become joint-heirs with Him through faith. Now this could not have been known in O.T. times through types and signs. Through whom also He made the universe: Christ was not an intermediate agent through which God created the universe, He was a cooperating agent; Christ did not think it was robbery to be equal with His Father. Christ is co-equal and co-eternal with the Father.
Verse 3, "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."
LGT "Who being [the] brilliance of [His] glory, and exact expression of His substance, and upholding all things by the word of His power, having made [the] purification of sins, sat down on [the] right hand of the Greatness on High."
Who being the brilliance of His glory: the brilliance is an eternal brilliance. God could never be known without the Son. The word glory means all of God's divine attributes collectively shining forth in the pre-incarnate Christ. And exact expression of His substance: the Greek word for exact expression is charakter, meaning the same essence as the Father, not just an image of the Father. And upholding all things: Christ is at the present sustaining the universe. By the word of His power: Christ spoke the universe into existence, and He sustains the universe by His word.
McGee notes on this power of Christ's word:
"Have you ever stopped to think about the amount of power that is required to hold it together? Man has learned very little about that power, but he has learned something. For instance, man has discovered the atom, a little bitty fellow. And when man united the atom (they call it splitting the atom), he sure did release a lot of power. Who put all that power in the atom? Who holds all the little atoms together? The Lord Jesus Christ. He furnishes the program and the purpose; He is the person of God, and He is the preserver of all things. He not only created the universe by His word, but He holds everything together. If He let go today - well, since you and I are held on this earth by His glue, His stickum, which we call gravitation - we would go flying out into space. He holds everything together. This universe would come unglued without His constant supervision and power. He is not like an Atlas holding up the earth passively; He is actively engaged in maintaining all of creation. As far as I can see, that is greater than creating it in the beginning. He keeps the thing running, keeps it functioning. This is one of the tremendous things He is doing today."
Having made the purification of sins: the world has been thrown into confusion by man's sin, and Christ had to purify man by His blood on the cross, in order to make things right. The person who comes to Christ fully placing his or her trust in Christ as Savior, is purged forever of all sin. Sat down on the right hand of the Greatness on High: When Christ sacrificed Himself on the cross, He paid the complete price of redemption for all who believe; In His glorified body He returned to His Father the God-Man. Christ added something to the Godhead; He now is the true God and true man; the very God of very God, and very man of very man; this is something that had not existed in eternity past, except in the mind of God. Christ, in His glorified body, will display the scars of the cross as a wonderful reminder to us of the sacrifice he paid, that you and I are able to spend eternity with Him as joint-heirs. I cannot think of anything more wonderful than this, can you?
Verse 4, "Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they."
LGT "Having become so much better than the angels, as much as a name more excellent beyond them He has inherited."
Having become: the issue now discussed is that the ministry of the angels in the O.T. is far inferior to the gospel of grace Christ authored. This ministry of Christ began after He sat down at the right hand of the Father; this was sort of mission accomplished. So much better than the angels: "It is not denied that the Son was essentially and eternally superior to the angels; but His glorification was conditioned upon His fulfillment of the requirements of His human state, and it is this that is emphasized. After having passed through the experience described in Philip. 2:6-8, He sat down on the right hand of the divine majesty as Messianic sovereign, and so became or proved to be what in reality He was from eternity, superior to the angels . . . He became superior to the angels, resuming His pre-incarnate dignity, as He had been, for a brief period, less or lower than the angels (chp. 2:7)" (Marvin Vincent). As much as a name more excellent beyond them He has inherited: this name He has inherited as a Son of God, which the angels never have been sons, but messenger servants. This we also inherit in Christ, that is, our sonship (John 1:12), making us also more excellent than God's created messengers, the angels.
The Son Superior to Angels
Verse 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 be to me a Son?"
LGT "For to which individual angel said He ever, You are My Son, today I have begotten Thee?
And again,
I will be to Him a Father, and He will be to Me a Son?"
For to which individual angel said He ever: as a class of people He called them sons of God (Elohim) (Psa. 29:1), but never individually as He did His only begotten Son. Paul quotes Psalm 2:7: You are My Son, today I have begotten thee: Christ was begotten of God when He raised Him from among the dead. No angel or man had ever been begotten of God. And again: Now Paul quotes 2 Sam. 12-14: God made this promise to King David and He had reference here to Christ.
Verse 6, "And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him."
LGT "And again when He brings in the first born into the habitable world, He says, And let all the angels of God worship Him."
And again when He brings in the first born into the habitable world, He says: Paul now quotes from Deut. 32:43 in the Septuagint, and Psalm 97:7: And let all the angels worship Him: the angels are His ministers, his worshippers, and His creation; they worship Him, He does not worship them. This verse does however prove that Christ is God.
Verse 7, "And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire."
LGT "And as to the angels He says, Who makes His angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire."
Paul is quoting Psalm 104:4. The first two chapters of Hebrews are setting a foundation for the rest of the letter. The Jews thought very highly of angels, even to the point of worshipping them. Paul has to set the record straight proving by their own O.T. Scriptures that Christ is above His ministers, the angels. Today we have the Catholic Church that remains in the dark as to the ministry of angels. Angels do not have a ministry to the church in this age of grace. The Catholic Church, and many Protestants today still superstitiously worship angels. The meaning of this verse is that the angels are subject to God and Christ, and they make them ministering spirits to their eternal end. Just as the winds and flames obey His voice, so the angels do also.
Verses 8, 9, "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with oil of gladness above thy fellows."
LGT "But as to the Son: Thy throne, O God, is to the ages of the ages, and the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. Thou didst love righteousness and didst hate lawlessness: Because of this God, thy God anointed thee with [the] oil of exultation above thy companions. "
Paul is quoting Psalm 45:6-7. David is saying in this Psalm that Christ will come in his kingly line; He will be a God who loves righteousness and hates lawlessness. Christ is glorified above the angels, and above every king who ever reigned on this earth, for He is the King of kings, and Lord of lords.
Verses 10-12, "And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are works of thine hand. They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they shall wax old as doth a garment; 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."
LGT "And, Thou in the beginning Lord, the earth didst found, and works of Thy hands are the heavens. They shall perish, but thou continuest, and [they] all as a garment shall grow old; and as a covering thou shall roll them up, and as a garment they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail."
Paul is quoting Psalm 102:25-27. Paul is writing that Jesus Christ is the creator of the universe, and angels are His creation. "All other parts of the Psalm exactly suit the Person of Christ, such as the following, that He is the eternal God, the creator of heaven and earth, that perpetuity belongs to Him without any change, by which His majesty is raised to the highest elevation, and He Himself is removed from the rank of created beings".
Verse 13, "But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?"
LGT "But as to which of the angels said He ever, Sit at My right hand, until I place thine enemies [as] a footstool for Thy feet?"
Paul quotes Psalm 11:10. This Psalm states the unequivocal, indisputable deity of Christ. No angel ever sat at God's right hand; the meaning of this seventh quotation from the Psalms is that Christ, after His resurrection and ascension was to take His rightful place in association with the Father in His royal dignity. Christ session at God's right hand is mediatorial, in that, all who oppose His kingdom will be laid waste at His feet.
Verse 14, "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"
LGT "Are they not all ministering spirits, for service being sent forth on account of those being about to inherit salvation?"
Are they not all ministering spirits: this verse does not teach that we all have a guardian angel. Angels have been sent from time to time in the Old Testament, as servants of God for specific duties according to His will. For service being sent forth: Christ is the Redeemer, angels are servants of His to aid in accomplishing His will. On account of those being about to inherit salvation: what exactly is the angels duties at this time in the spiritual warfare on behalf of believers I have no idea. I do know that in this age of grace we have the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the infallible Word of God, and Christ and God Co-ruling this universe, I don't know how much more secure I could possibly be. I don't believe there is a need today for guardian angels, for my life is hid with Christ in God. (Col. 3:3) "There was a danger which the writer to the Hebrews wished at all costs to avoid. The doctrine of angels is a lovely thing; but it has one danger. It introduces a series of beings other than Jesus through whom men and women make their approach to God. In Christianity, there is no need for anyone else in between. Because of Jesus and what He did, we have direct access to God . . . The writer to the Hebrews lays down the great truth that we need neither human nor supernatural beings to bring us into the presence of God. Jesus Christ has broken every barrier down and opened a direct way for us to God" (William Barclay).
Paul continues laying this great foundation of faith in the next chapter.
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