God's Has Spoken (Heb 1:1)
God Spoke in the OT
The whole mystery of His will antecedently to the revelation of it, is said to be hid in God, that is, the Father (Eph. 3:9), it lay wrapt up from the eyes of men and angels, in His eternal wisdom and counsel (Col. 1:26, 27)
And it is the Father, that is, His will, mind, purpose, grace, love, that the Son declares (John 1:18); in which work He speaks nothing but what He heard from, and was taught by the Father (John 8:28). And thence He says, “the doctrine is not Mine,” that is, principally and originally, “but His that sent Me” (John 7:16).
And the gospel is called, the “gospel of the glory of the blessed God” (1 Tim. 1:11)
There is also love. It was out of infinite love, mercy, and compassion, that God would at all reveal His mind and will unto sinners
The Jews were apt to imagine that Christians undervalued the ancient institutions.
In the past” (palai) means “of old,” rather than simply “formerly.”
God’s speech through the prophets comprised commandments and exhortations, oracles and stories, and it came to its human recipients sometimes directly,23 sometimes in visions or dreams, sometimes in awesome theophanies,25 and at other times in a still, small voice.
Hebrews’ basic affirmation is that such diversity contrasts with the singularity and finality of God’s eschatological speech in the Son.
But might not all the pieces taken together, when the last had been given, and the Hebrew canon was complete, amount to a full, adequate revelation, possessing the character of finality?
The likelihood was that the prophets collectively, including under that category all the men by whom the Hebrew books were written, were but luminaries of the night—street lamps set in a row to show travellers their way through the gloom; stars set in the spiritual firmament to mitigate the darkness till the sun should arise, bringing in the day.
It is that the revelation made to each prophet was relative—relative to his temperament, circumstances, and historical position. This
In each case it is the same God who speaks and the same message of salvation that he offers
Cf. Heb 4:2* and 11:40* for the intimate link between the old and new recipients of God’s word.
what God says in the prophets has direct and special relevance for contemporary hearers of the word, because scripture contains warnings and exhortations that ought to be heeded by those living “at the end of days”; because it offers promises fulfilled in Christ;33 or because it provides a vehicle for understanding the nature and salvific work of Christ himself.
“the fathers” of the old covenant were regularly viewed as the spiritual ancestors of the new
here they simply stand in contrast to “us” as recipients of that word
Cf. esp. 1 Cor 10:1*, where in referring to the exodus generation Paul speaks of “our fathers,” although he is addressing a primarily Gentile community; or Rom 4:11*, where Abraham is described as “father of all those who believe.”
The writer expresses himself in accordance with the Jewish mode of viewing the history of the world as divided into two great periods, the present age, and the age to come