Hebrews 1

 ¹God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,

 ²in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

God’s Word was given over a great length of time, spoken directly to the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, along with great faithful men such as Moses and Joshua.  As time went on, God spoke to His people through the mouthpiece of the prophets.  David, for example, was confronted not by God directly but through the mouth of the prophet Nathan.  God spoke through Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and many others to give Israel the thoughts and intentions of God.  More recently, God spoke directly through His incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, sending Him directly to this earth to speak of the kingdom of God and salvation.  It is risky business and outright dangerous to be looking for additional revelation other than what has already been given in God’s Word (Revelation 22:18-19).  What has been given in Old Testament times is for our learning (Romans 15:4), and it is sufficient to make us adequate and equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  As the church was established, the epistles that were inspired of the Holy Spirit were added to the inspired canon of God’s written Word, the Bible.  God now tells us not to add or take anything away.  God spoke in many ways and over many portions of time to give us one cohesive and complete revelation of Himself and what He wants from us in this world.  If we don’t listen to that, we have no hope for salvation or sanctification (Luke 16:31).  Speaking to the Hebrews, the person and deity of Jesus Christ was of ultimate importance.  The Jews needed to recognize how He fulfilled the qualifications of an ultimate High Priest Who could provide atonement for His people once and for all.  They needed to see how He was God and perfect for the task.  Jesus Christ is heir of all things; in other words, He, by virtue of being the Son of the God Who owns everything, also owns all things.  Jesus even made the world along with the Father (John 1:1, Genesis 1:26-27).  Though we cannot be sure of human authorship of the book of Hebrews, we know that it is given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 

 ³And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

When we see Jesus as recorded in the Scripture, we see God.  He is the radiance of His glory, meaning that we see the majesty of God, a hint of which was given at the transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9).  We see His power, His authority, and His sovereignty over all of creation, including sin, sickness, and death.  Nothing is more powerful than He is.  We see that Jesus is the exact representation of the nature of God.  The love, the righteous indignation, the perseverance, and the holiness of Jesus all reflect precisely the values and virtues of God Himself.  When we see the Son, we have also seen the Father (John 14:9).  Just by His very word, He upholds all things.  As Colossians 1:17 says, “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”  Without the word and power of Christ, the world couldn’t even exist.  Jesus did what God had asked Him to do, making purification for sins so that we could be forgiven and have the hope of heaven.  We know that He succeeded in His mission because He is now seated at the right hand of God in heaven, a position of authority over all things, submitting only to God Himself, the Majesty.  The Hebrews needed to see that Jesus was indeed God in nature, in essence, and in authority.  He was God even though He was the Son of God. 

 ⁴having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

 ⁵For to which of the angels did He ever say,
         "YOU ARE MY SON,
         TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU"?
         And again,
         "I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM
         AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME"?

The author’s point to the Jews are that these passages in Psalm 2:7 and 1 Samuel 7:14 demonstrate that God had a begotten Son.  In other words, Jesus was more than just a heavenly being or an angel, which are also created beings.  Jesus is God, having not been created but rather having been with God from the beginning.  Simply put, He is higher than the angels in authority and position, and He has a more important name than they have, namely “Son.” 

 ⁶And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says,
         "AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM."

Drawing from the passage in Psalm 97:7, we see that God did indeed have a firstborn Son that was higher than the angels because the angels were told to worship Him.  Worship of anything other than God the Father is an abomination, and certainly the Jews would have understood that.  So, the fact that Scripture says that the angels should worship Jesus affirms His Deity and Oneness with God.  As the firstborn of God, He was with God in the beginning.  When He came into the world and was obedient to the point of death, He received the name above all names, deserving worship even from the angels. 

 ⁷And of the angels He says,
         "WHO MAKES HIS ANGELS WINDS,
         AND HIS MINISTERS A FLAME OF FIRE."

 ⁸But of the Son He says,
         "YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER,
         AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM.
    ⁹"YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS;
         THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU
         WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS."

 ¹⁰And,
         "YOU, LORD, IN THE BEGINNING LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH,
         AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS;
    ¹¹THEY WILL PERISH, BUT YOU REMAIN;
         AND THEY ALL WILL BECOME OLD LIKE A GARMENT,
    ¹²AND LIKE A MANTLE YOU WILL ROLL THEM UP;
         LIKE A GARMENT THEY WILL ALSO BE CHANGED
         BUT YOU ARE THE SAME,
         AND YOUR YEARS WILL NOT COME TO AN END."

 ¹³But to which of the angels has He ever said,
         "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,
         UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES
         A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET"?

 ¹⁴Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

The contrast between the angels and the Son is again made.  Psalm 104:4 says that the angels are His ministers.  Psalm 45:6-7 says that Jesus was anointed above His companions, meaning that He stands in a position of higher authority than the angels, being seated at God’s right hand.  Psalm 102:25-27 affirms the eternal nature of Jesus, that He was with God in the beginning and that His years will have no end.  To no angel did God ever say to sit at His right hand as Psalm 110:1 indicates.  This status is unique to the Son of God.  The angels, on the other hand, are ministering spirits, servants of the believers.  Jesus was a servant and now is exalted in heaven.  His name, nature, and place is much higher and better than the angels whose job it is to minister to the saints.  It should be clear to the Jews that the Old Testament taught of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, that He was indeed the Son of God and higher than the angels.

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