Hebrews
1:1
God, who at sundry times
and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers [of Israel] by
the prophets,
The
book of Hebrews begins with how the writer of Hebrews, God, has a plan and purpose for the people of
Israel, and that spoke to them time past by his prophets.
Jeremiah
34:13a
Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel;
But:
Hebrews
1:2
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;
What
the writer of Hebrews is beginning to do in Chapter 1 is to declare that Jesus
of Nazareth, the Son of God, is the issue for the people of Israel. Up until that point, God prophesied and spoke
about this coming Messiah. When Messiah
showed up, the nation of Israel as a whole rejected him; and now God is
offering them another chance to receive their kingdom.
Matthew
3:2
And saying, Repent ye:
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
But
in order to do that, they have to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
the living God.
John 6:69
And we believe and are
sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
That
capital S in Son has to do with
Christ’s deity as the Son of God. He
goes on to explain how, as the Son of God, he holds all the same attributes as
God the Father. Look at the flow:
Hebrews
1:2-6
Hath in these last
days [of prophecy] spoken unto us by his Son, whom he
hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Peter spoke about it at Pentecost in
Acts 2 and 3. That time period 2,000
years ago was the last days of prophecy.
Acts 2:16
But this is that
which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
(Because of the dispensation of God’s grace (Eph. 3:2) – the
Mystery dispensation – those last days have been put on hold. When the rapture takes place (I Thess.
4:16-17), God will resume the last days of Israel’s prophetic program before he
brings in his King (the Lord Jesus) and his kingdom. So these last days were in the past, but they
will also be in the future. It has
nothing to do with our day [dispensation].)
Who being the
brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,
(When they saw God they saw him through the Lord Jesus
Christ, the second person of the Godhead.)
and
upholding all things by the word of his power,
(He is the one in whom God has vested all power and
authority.)
when he had by himself purged
our sins,
(Those are Israel’s sins purged under the New Covenant by Christ’s
shed blood at Calvary.)
sat down on the right hand of the Majesty
on high:
(Majesty is a term used
because he is King. The Lord Jesus
Christ is at the right hand of the Father and he has power and authority as
King over the nation of Israel.)
Being
made so much better than the angels,
(Now he begins to speak about other beings that are higher
than man. The people of Israel held
angels in high esteem, and God is saying that the Lord Jesus Christ is greater;
he is better than the angels.
Christ was not created, he is eternal, so when he says that
he is ‘made’ he is talking about his authority. Christ is sitting at the right hand of the
Father with authority. The angels have
authority before God; they are the sons of God (Job 1:6), but he is higher
because he is the Son of God, and he
is the one who went to the cross as well.)
as he hath by inheritance
obtained a more excellent name than they.
(The Lord Jesus Christ inherited at his resurrection because
he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross (Philippians 2:8).
Psalm
2:6-8
Yet have I set my king
upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son;
this day [resurrection] have I begotten thee. Ask of me,
and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the
uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
(He should have been sacrificed on the altar in the temple by
the Hebrew people in faith; but Israel rejected their Messiah and put him on
that cruel Roman cross and crucified him in rejection and shame. Because of his faithfulness and perfect obedience
to the Father’s word, even unto the death of the cross [the faith of Christ, Rom.
3:22], he was resurrected and was made even so much better than the angels in
his position and authority.)
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? And
again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let
all the angels of God worship him.
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