Hebrews
Chapter 1
Bible TextNotes and Thoughts
1 ¶ God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times 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 He is the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His person, upholding all things by the word of His power. When He had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
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 God 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 First-Begotten 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."
8 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.
9 Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows."
10 And, "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thine hands.
11 They shall perish, but Thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment.
12 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."
13 But to which of the angels said He at any time, "Sit on My right hand until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool"?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation?
  1:1-4 Introduction.
The aim of this letter is to show that the revealed Son is more superior than anyone or anything and His action is to allow man and God be brought back together.
v1 God has in many ways spoken to man, He did not give a full revelation to any one person, just small bits of information by dreams, visions, by angels to Abraham, to Moses, to the prophets.
v1 God spoke in the past through the prophets, now God is speaking through His Son. See Matt 11:27.
v2 Jesus is God’s appointed Heir. Jesus was the creator of all things. John 1:3.
There are eight direct statements about Christ in v2 to v4. He is absolute Deity, a visible appearance of God and His glory, the eternal Son of the Father. He was ‘Creator’, ‘Sustainer’ (keeps things going) and the ‘Final’ and the ‘End’.
The last message from God occurred 400 years before the birth of Jesus. But now God has spoken in the "last days," the Greek shows that it would be better put as "at the end of these days," with Christ came a new age. Previous prophecies were now being fulfilled, for Jesus was the heir of all things, the Lord of the universe. "He made the worlds" The word in the Greek "worlds" indicates "ages."
v3 Jesus reveals God’s glory, He reveals God to mankind. John 14:9. By his Word, Christ holds together and controls all things. But once He had died for the sins of man He sat on the right of God in heaven.
v4 Greater than the Angels, (Heb 1:4-2:18). The Jewish nation were very interested in angels but this verse shows that Jesus was greater than angels. The term ‘is made’ is not against His eternal existance, it is referring to His act of redemption on the cross, He was then exalted (lifted up) to take the throne in heaven, so becoming more ‘excellent’ than any angelic powers.
Angels were used to announce the birth, Luke 1:32. Involved in the resurrection, Luke 24:4-8, Mark 16:5, Matt 28:2.
v5 Angels, as a group, have been called "sons of God" but no one has ever been called "Son of God" apart from the Messiah.
The writer now uses seven Old Testament quotations to support his arguments. v5-14.
The writer seems to assume that the readers have accepted Jesus as the Messiah as he quotes Psalm 2:7. "I have begotten Thee." must be talking about ‘eternal Son ship’ and not an earthly king which some of Psalm 2 could be referring to. There never was a time when the Father could not say this to Him. On the cross and following resurrection things changed slightly as He became the firstborn in glorified humanity, exalted Man. The Son is therefore superior to the angels.
v6 Angels told to worship as "He bringeth in the First-Begotten into the world," Rom 8:29; Col 1:15, 18. As ‘v2’ states the world was created by the Son then He must have been before the foundations of the world, He was the eternal Son of God who took on a human form, was made flesh, and lived with us . John 1:1,14. Then was the first to be first born from the dead for eternity.
As Creator and Redeemer, though He had been made lower than the angels for a while, they must now worship Him.
v7-9 The next two quotations Psalm 104:4; Psalm 45:6,7 show that the angels operate and fulfil their services by the use of wind and fire, in a material world, the Son is on the Throne of God for ever. The symbol (something which stands for something else), the sign is righteousness.
v10-12 The sixth quotation show that the Son is the unchanging creator of the changing universe. The creation may age, wear and die, but the unchangeable Lord will remain for ever, no aging, no wear, no death. Psalm 102:25-27.
v13 the seven quotation from Psalm 110:1 shows that the Son is superior (higher in position,rank) to the angels not only because He is God the Son but that God the Father is now doing for Him as the God Man, the Messiah, He will have complete triumph (victory) over everything.
v14 The angels are sent from the throne as servants to those who will one day share in the glorious salvation of Man, "heirs of salvation," the people of God, Jesus is the final and ultimate Man.

Easy English Translation




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