Introductory remarks:
In chapter one Paul stressed to us the deity of Christ, and that He has been exalted above the angels. Here in chapter two we will learn of Christ's humiliation, in that, in His incarnation He was made lower than the angels. "Since everything angels have said has been true, how can we ignore the message of our salvation by His Son that was attested to by miracles. Angels aren't going to rule, but though Jesus was made lower than the angels, God will place Him over everything. He became flesh and blood, and tasted death for every man in order to make many sons of God. He became as one of us to become our high priest and make reconciliation for our sins" (A Survey of Hebrews - By Brenda). This chapter may be outlined as follows: The great salvation vv. 1-4: the pioneer of salvation vv. 5-18.
The Great Salvation
Verse 1, "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip."
LGT "On account of this it is necessary for us to give heed more abundantly to the things that were heard, lest at any time we should let them drift away."
On account of this: on account that Jesus is far superior to angels, and the covenant of grace is far superior to the covenant of the law. It is more necessary: it is necessary under grace, rather than the obligation under the law. For us to give heed more abundantly to the things that were heard: the gospel of grace that was taught by God's messengers. Lest at any time we should let them drift away: through in attention and laziness, we let the truth drift by without proper notice. Inattention to grace is the same as drifting along without a care in the world, letting the time rush by, and then waking up and saying, why didn't I spend more time in the Word of God: sorry, too late!
Verse 2, "For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward."
LGT "For if the word spoken by angels was confirmed, and every transgression and disobedience received just recompense,"
For if the word spoken by angels was confirmed: God used angels in the Old Testament to speak to man, especially in the giving of the Law, which was after the flesh. The Law was confirmed true showing the righteousness of God. And every transgression and disobedience received just recompense: every transgression of the law was punished; the law made no provision for disobedience.
Verse 3, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed by us by them that heard him."
LGT "How shall we escape, having neglected so great salvation, which having received a beginning to be spoken of by the Lord, by those that heard, was confirmed to us."
How shall we escape: this is a rhetorical question not requiring an answer; the answer is obviously, there is no escape. Having neglected so great salvation: to neglect is to ignore or avoid. A man does not neglect salvation by sinning; he neglects it by considering it useless. Which, having received a beginning to be spoken of by the Lord: this was only one generation from when Christ began to preach the gospel. By those who heard: the apostles that spent three years with the Lord. Was confirmed to us: the apostles passed on the gospel of grace to all who believed; and now the Word of God is confirming the gospel of grace to us in the twenty first century.
Verse 4, "God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will."
LGT "God bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and various acts of power, and distributions of the Holy Spirit, according to His will."
God bearing witness with them: this was added to convince the readers that the gospel was not only proclaimed first by the Son, then borne witness to by the apostles, but it is inspired by God Himself. Both by signs and wonders and various acts of power: here we have proof that the signs, wonders, and miracles were performed by God to prove that the gospel of grace is His Word. Now that we have the completed Word, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, God is not using these 'various acts of His power' are no longer needed. And distribution of the Holy Spirit: Paul is referring to the spiritual gifts that were distributed to the church by the Holy Spirit for the same reason as God's 'various acts of power'. To prove that the gospel of grace is superior to the Law, and that it was from Him. And we know that in this age of grace these gifts are no longer needed. According to His will: the Holy Spirit distributed these spiritual gifts as God willed. They were not earned, or bought, but were also the free gift of God, that is, they were given by His wonderful grace.
The Pioneer of Salvation
Verse 5, "For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, wherefore we speak."
LGT "For not to angels did He subject the habitable world, which is to come, of which we speak."
For not to angels: Paul now proves in verses 5- 18 the superiority of the deity of Christ to angels. Did He subject the habitable world, which is to come: this means the thousand-year reign of Christ in His kingdom. Of which we speak: "The writers object is to show that the salvation, the new order of things inaugurated by Christ, is in pursuance of the original purpose of creation, to wit, that universal dominion was to pertain to man, and not to angels. The great salvation means lordship of the world to be. This purpose is carried out in Christ, who, becoming man, became temporarily subject to the earthly dispensation of which angels were the administrators. This was in order that He might acquire universal lordship as man. Being now exalted above angels, He does away with the angelic administration, and, in the world to come, will carry humanity with Him to the position of universal lordship. This thought is developed by means of Psalm 8" (Vincent).
Verse 6, "But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that thou visitest him?"
LGT "But some one in a certain place solemnly testifies, saying. What is man, that thou art mindful of him, or son of man that thou visitest him?"
But some one in a certain place solemnly testifies: this is a rhetorical statement; for it does not mean that Paul did not know Psalm 8 he was quoting. Saying, What is man that thou art mindful of him: this statement lets us know how insignificant we are in this universe. McGee has an interesting paragraph on man's value:
"Of himself, man is nothing. Physically, if you break down the elements of his body into chemical components and put them on the market, at one time he would have been worth about ninety-eight cents. Today due to inflation man's worth is a little more than that. But it is not of much value, especially when you think of how much a dollar is worth. So, physically, man is not very valuable. Mentally, man thinks he is something, but he knows very little. What does man actually know about this vast universe in which we live? We have spent billions of dollars to send a man to the moon to see if we could find out how it all began. Since our nation doesn't believe the first chapter of Genesis, we are exploring the moon! Genesis 1:1 certainly sounds a lot better than any of man's theories. Man today isn't very much physically or mentally. He can't lift very much, and he can't do very much. Man is quite limited. When you take a good look at man, you see that he is a lost sinner. He is in terrible condition. What is man that God is mindful of him?"
Or son of man that thou visitest him: son of man here is not referring to the Messiah, but to mankind, the sons of Adam. God visited us in the Person of his only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, when He came down and gave Himself for us all on the cross.
Verse 7, "Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands."
LGT "Thou didst make Him for a little [time] lower than [the] angels, with glory and honor Thou didst crown Him."
Thou didst make Him for a little time lower than the angels: Paul is quoting Psalm 8:6 from the LXX. Christ, who had been previously described as superior to the angels, is now said to be lower than the angels; this of course, is referring to His incarnation, when he took the form of human flesh, and dwelt among men. Christ became a man in order that He might reveal God to man, and that He might sacrifice Himself for man. There are those who take this clause to refer to degree and not time; this is, that they say that Christ only became inferior to angels in that three hours of darkness, when He bore the sins of the world on His own body. I personally believe that it refers both to degree and to time, that is, it refers both to His human life, and His sacrificial death. With glory and honor Thou didst crown Him: after His death on the cross, and His resurrection and ascension, God crowned Christ with the honor and dominion over the universe, Adam lost in the garden; Christ's present session in heaven now is as our mediator and sustainer, and we will reign with Him someday. The best manuscripts do not have the last phrase in the Authorized Version "And didst set him over the works of thy hands."
Verse 8, "Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him."
LGT "All things Thou didst subject under His feet. For in subjecting to Him all things, He left nothing to Him un-subjected. But we do not yet see all things to Him subjected."
This verse has not yet been fulfilled. "Although our earth has not slipped out from under His control, He is not ruling to day. When the Lord Jesus does rule on this earth, there will be no need of a hospital or a jail. There will be no crime or poverty. When He rules this earth it will be a millennial paradise. As the writer quotes Psalm 8, he makes it abundantly clear that the psalmist spoke of Christ, and the prediction is not fulfilled up to the present moment" (McGee). Those who make man the subject of this verse certainly do not observe the context either in the Psalms or in this letter.
Verse 9, "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man."
LGT "But we see Jesus who [was] made [for a little time] lower than [the] angels on account of the suffering of His death crowned with glory and honor, so that by [the] grace of God, for everyone He might taste death."
But we see Jesus: Paul uses the human name Jesus for Christ. At His birth the angel announced, "Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21). The Greek word for see is blepomen meaning to discern mentally with understanding. By the Word of God we see Jesus in all His wonderful beauty; we see His love for us; we see His sacrifice for us; we see His grace to us; and most of all, we see him as our beloved big brother. Who was made for a little time lower than the angels: this is repeated from verse 7. The little time was the thirty-three years he spent on this earth. On account of the suffering of His death crowned with glory and honor: it was because of His suffering and humiliation that Christ Jesus was crowned with the honor and glory of preeminence over the entire universe including angels. It was because of His humiliation that we see Jesus. The glory and honor is that because He passed through death on our account, all things will be delivered into His hands. So that by the grace of God, for everyone He might taste death: Christ suffered death for all men, "His death was sufficient for all, efficient [effective] for some" (Andrew Fuller). It is by the grace of God that men are saved; this is truly a Pauline doctrine.
Verse 10, "For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering."
LGT "For it was becoming to Him, for whom [are] all things, and by whom [are] all things, bringing many sons to glory, the Leader of their salvation through sufferings to make perfect."
For it was becoming to Him: the "Him", in this verse, is referring to God the Father. All one has to do to understand this is read John 3:16. For whom are all things, and by all things: God is the Mastermind behind the entire universe, and everything that was made, was made for His glory. Bringing many sons to glory: this is God's purpose in Christ's humiliation, the salvation of all who will believe. It was God's purpose in Christ's suffering to not only have His Son in glory with Him, but that His Son would bring many sons with Him, for Him to glory in. the Leader of their salvation through sufferings: through His suffering, Christ has become our big brother, leading us to glory. "How did He do this? He did it by coming down to this earth and taking upon Himself our humanity. What did He do when He came to earth? He tasted death for every man. He came to redeem mankind and to procure man's salvation. He revealed God on earth, and today He represents man in heaven" (McGee). To make perfect: Christ was perfect, and was not in need of God making Him perfect, until he hung on that cross for three hours bearing your sins and mine; Christ lost fellowship with the Father when he bore our sins, and through this time of suffering, when it was over, He cried it is finished; then, He was perfected, and it was the complete satisfaction to the Father that now the sins of the world are no longer an issue, and He raised His Son to His right hand, a glorified and perfect Son once again. "Christ took humanity to heaven, and there is not only a Man in glory, but there is glory in that Man which was not there before." "Christ is different from God in that He is Man, and He is different from man in that He is God."
Verse 11, "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren."
LGT "For both the One who sanctifies and the ones sanctified [are] all of one, for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren."
For both the One who sanctifies: Jesus is the Sanctifier. To be sanctified is to be set apart belonging to God. And the ones sanctified are all of one: the Sanctifier, and the sanctified have one Father, and they constitute His family. For which cause: because we have been redeemed, justified, and sanctified: He is not ashamed to call them brethren: because we have been redeemed, and Christ has imputed on us His righteousness, He is not ashamed, that is, uncomfortable to call us His brothers. This puts to rest once and for all that horrible heresy of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. The only ones that have the right to call God our Father are family members; and this is why Christ is pleased to call us brothers.
Verse 12, "Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee."
LGT "Saying, I will declare Thy name to my brethren, in the midst of [the] assembly I will sing praise to Thee."
Paul is quoting Psalm 22:22. This Psalm treats with the humiliation of Christ teaching the actual last seven words of Christ on the cross. The "church" here is the assembly of believers, probably the Hebrew believers. I am sure the songs He would sing are far removed from the horrible nonsense that is forced on the church today. The crap that the church sings is from the garbage can of hell.
Verse 13, "And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me."
LGT "And again, I will be trusting in Him. And again, Behold, I and the children God gave me."
And again, I will be trusting in Him: this is a quotation from Isa. 8:17. This shows that the Lord put his trust in the Father as He expects His people Israel to do. And again, Behold, I and the children God gave me: this quotation is from Isa. 8:18. In this phrase the Lord is stating that He expects the children of Israel to carry out God's will.
Verse 14, "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil."
LGT "Since therefore the children have become partners in blood and flesh, also He in like manner took part in the same, that through death He might annul him who has the might of death, that is, the devil."
Since therefore the children have become partners in blood and flesh: blood and flesh is a standing phrase for human nature in contrast with God's divine nature. Also He in like manner took part in the same: Jesus Christ came into this world by way of the Virgin Mary, conceived of the Holy Spirit. This is referring to Christ's incarnation; the Jews were looking for the Messiah to come as a reigning King. They did not study their own Scriptures or they would have known that the prophets foretold how He would come as a man in order to save His people from their sins. George McDonald wrote:
They were looking for a king
To slay their foes and lift them high;
Thou cam'st, a little baby thing
That made a woman cry.
Christ had to come into this world the same as you and I, that is, born of a woman; only He did not have a human father. Christ became a man in order that He might die for us; this is exactly what He did, and now all may live eternally with Him, simply by believing He did come and die for us. That through death He might annul him: Christ made Satan of none effect by His death on the cross. Who has the might of death, that is, the devil: Satan is the author of sin, and also the author of death. Christ released us who believe from the power of Satan and death; those who do not believe are still under the power of Satan, and they will experience eternal death.
Verse 15, "And deliver them through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."
LGT "And might set free those, whosoever by fear of death through all their lifetime were subject to bondage."
"To break this sway, Jesus takes upon Himself that mortal flesh and blood to whose infirmities the fear of death under the O.T. attaches. But while He passes through all the weakness of the fleshly life, and, finally, through death itself, He, unlike all others, proves Himself not only exempt from the fear of death, but victorious over the accuser. To Him, who in His sinlessness experienced every weakness of morality, without diminution [decrease] of His unbroken strength of fellowship with God, death is not the dreaded sign of separation from God's grace (cf. vs. 7), but a step in His divinely appointed career; not something inflicted on Him against His will, but a means whereby He consciously and designedly accomplishes His vocation as Savior. For this victory of Jesus over the devil, or, which is the same thing, the fear of death, must be taken, like every other part of His work, in connection with the idea of His vocation as Head and Leader of His people" (Robertson Smith - quoted in the Expositor's Greek New Testament).
Verse 16, "For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham."
LGT "For not indeed of angels takes He hold, but of [the] seed of Abraham He takes hold."
For not indeed of angels takes He hold of: in the O.T. Christ would take the form of angels to communicate with His people. But of the seed of Abraham He takes hold: Christ came to this earth in His incarnation a Jew, in the line of Abraham. Paul uses the O.T. examples throughout the letter to the Hebrews because it is the Hebrew Christians He is addressing. The fact that Christ came unto the Jews, and showed them His special love, does not preclude the rest of the human race. The fact that I love my daughter, and I do something special for her, does not mean that I do not love my other daughter and my son, or my wife. God has made the same provision for the entire human race that they might be saved by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Verse 17, "Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people."
LGT "Wherefore it behoved [Him] in all things to [His] brethren to be made like, in order that a merciful and faithful high priest He might be [in] things relating to God, for to make propitiation for the sins of the people."
Wherefore it behoved Him: the word "behoved", means it was necessary to His incarnation. In all things to His brethren to be made like: He became like fallen man without the sin; He was born in poverty, temptation, and He died a violent unmerited death. "Christ our Elder Brother, resembles us in reality (Phil. 2:7 in the likeness of men" as we shall resemble Him in the end (Rom. 8:29 first born among many brethren; 1 John 3:2 like Him), where the same root is used as here (hoioma, homoios) (Robertson). In order that a merciful and faithful high priest He might be in things relating to God: on the Day of Atonement the high priest entered the Holy of Holies once a year on behalf of the people to obtain mercy form God, that is, to propitiate God with his confession for their sins. Christ as our high priest has propitiated God, once for all, with His sacrificial death on the cross, a sweet-smelling savor, satisfying God's just demand for sin. For to make propitiation for the sins of the people: the Greek word ilaskesthai, is an infinitive meaning "to make propitiation", and not as the Authorized Version has it, "to make reconciliation." Christ did reconcile us to God, that is, He brought us together with God, but the idea here is that He satisfied God's justice, and now is able to show us mercy. This had great meaning to the Jewish believer who had been brought up under the legal system of the Law of Moses, and the Levitical system of the O.T.
Verse 18, "For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted."
LGT "For in that He has suffered Himself having been tempted, He is able to help those being tempted."
For in that He has suffered Himself having been tempted: Christ was not only tempted in the wilderness those forty days and forty nights, but He suffered temptation every day of His life. Jesus was not tempted by Satan to see if He would sin or not, but to prove that He was God, and He could not sin. Christ could not sin because He was God, so the temptation was not to prove to Himself that He could no sin, but to prove to all who read about it, that He was who He said He was. The experience He went through qualified him to fully understand our sufferings. He is able to help those being tempted: In His humanity Christ suffered temptations of the "lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; Satan used these on Christ, and He uses these same threefold basis of appeal on us. Christ experienced these appeals without yielding, therefore He is able to help us in our temptations; had he sinned, He would not have been God, and therefore unable to help us. The next chapter continues this theme.
Share freely but cite the source: http://bbbiblehelps.epizy.com