AM Oct 25th Heb 1

October 25^th Hebrews 1 A. Christ better than the Old Religion – Doctrinal Superior to the Prophets

1: God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 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; 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;

Superior to Angels

4: Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 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? 6: And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. 7: And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.

There is much debate about who this letter was written by and who it was written to. We do not know who wrote this letter but my opinion is, that Paul wrote it and that he wrote it not to christians as his other letters are but he wrote it to ‘the Hebrews’. The Hebrews are the Hebrew speaking Jews of the first century. Some of them were believers like himself, but this letter is specifically aimed at unbelieving Hebrews. The writer is calling on Israel to go on from adherence to the law to faith in Jesus their Messiah. He thinks in terms of Israel’s past and future – The Messianic Kingdom. The writer uses the word ‘us’ to refer to ‘us Hebrews’ rather than us Christians. The writer begins by reminding the Hebrews that God had appeared many times and in various ways to ‘the fathers’ through the Jewish prophets but now has appeared unto us (Israel) by his Son. And he says God has appointed him to be the heir of everything because through him he made the whole universe. He Christ is the outshining of the glory of God and the exact representation of his person, and he upholds all things by the power of his word, and when he had all by himself cleansed the blot of our sins he sat down on the right hand of the majesty in heaven. Christ has solemnly and formerly taken the dignity and authority over everything and everyone. This is because in his being he was so much better than angels because he has inherited and come into a more excellent name than they have. (It is really necessary to explain that the creator is greater than those that he created, May be not but the writer needs to emphasise this point) the writer characteristically asks a question to make his point. He asks, to which of the angels did God say, you are my Son, This day l have begotten you. This quote is from Psa 2v7 which addresses the king of Judah and in which the king becomes his ‘son’ in a special way when he recognised as King. The same point applies to Christ. He will one day take the throne in his kingdom and then he will be the recognised King over the whole earth. The quotation continues I will be to him a Father and he will be to me a son. The word ‘son’ is used of angels collectively and of Israel collectively but never of one individual. This has nothing to do with origins but sonship and authority. he quotes again, when he brings in the first begotten into the world God said let all the angels of God worship him. Yet of the angels he said he makes his angels’ spirits and his servants a flame of fire. In this first section the writer has declared his subject in this book to be Christ and his pre-eminence over all things and everyone. In this passage he is over all angels.