Christ over the Prophets and Angels

Remember the Audience

A Christian Jew living in the mid-1st century under the Roman Empire.

Still held on to Jewish practices/traditions because its how they know and understand God

Roman Empire was familiar with Jews and Jewish practices but NOT of the developing fraction between Jews & Christians

Jews received some lenience from Rome.

New and developing Christian Practices fell outside of Jewish norms and therefore fell outside of the lenience offered by Rome to the Jews.

Christian-Jews were challenged to uphold their faith and different practices or concede to the pressures and return back to Judaism.

Hebrews was written to the Christian Jew who was facing the pressure and it encourages them to adhere to their faith despite the sacrifices they will face.

OPENING QUESTIONS: Whose word will you follow?

Who is an authority figure in your life and what impact have they had on your life?

Why do you trust them and the lessons they have imparted to you?

What are the blessings and pitfalls of strictly adhering to an individual?

Revelation of God to the Jews

QUESTION: Apart from God who did the Jews look to as an authority?

How did God reveal himself to the Jews of the OT

prophets: Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Isaiah

angels: Stephen right before being stoned convicted them of not believing the angels who were sent to them

Acts 7:53 NKJV

53 who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

Hebrews 1:1–2 NKJV

1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

Hebrews 1:3–4 NKJV

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 at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

The many ways God revealed Himself to us in OT

The Epistle to the Hebrews: High Priest in Heaven I: Prologue (1:1–4)

He revealed Himself in many ways, using oracles, poetry, parables, visions, proverbs, discourse

Despite the various ways God revealed Himself to us, they were incomplete.

BUT now He has revealed Himself to us in the most complete way…His Son.

Description/Qualifications of the Son

Heir of all things

maker of the worlds

Brightness of His glory

Image of His person

True light of true light

Glory

Upholder of all things

Purger of sins

Better than the angels

Seated at the right hand!

Remember: Jews believed the humanity of Christ but not the divinity....therefore Paul is highlighting His divinity.

The Supremacy of Christ over the Prophets and angels

in V. 5-14 the author uses well known bits of Jewish history and shows how Christ is supreme to them.

David and the angels are the primary subjects

These are what any Jew would hold on to faithfully even to a fault.

ex. present day adherence to the Coptic Church

Church of the Martyrs

The Bishop said...

My priest told me...

“Blessed be my people Egypt”...

I learned this hymn from my teacher this way...

Two comparisons

David and the Messiah

David was the greatest King in the history of Israel

Hebrews 1:9 NKJV

9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”

David was anointed by God because of his righteousness, but David’s kingdom eventually came to an end.

The kingdom of the Messiah will have no end

Hebrews 1:10–12 NKJV

10 And: “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 11 They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; 12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail.”

Angels and the Messiah

The angels who delivered messages to the prophets divinely acknowledged as authoritative.

In chapter 1 perspective is given as the creator and sender of the angels has visited His people to speak to them directly.

Hebrews 1:13–14 NKJV

13 But to which of the angels has He ever said: “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

First Warning: Don’t Neglect

Hebrews 2:1–2 NKJV

1 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward,

Angels were sent as messengers many of whom spoke of what was to come.

As events transpired, those sayings were found to be true giving credibility to the angels.

Sodom and Gomorrha

Also the Old Covenant between God and his people, if broken would incur a penalty, some of them being very severe.

NOTE: Old Covenant is described here as “the word spoken through angels’

Hebrews 2:3–4 NKJV

3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 4 God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?

so now if the consequence of not listening to angels was sever, how much more severe will it be if we do not listen to the incarnate God.

God himself communicated the new covenant to us (humanity) without any mediators or examples of the heavenly things.

Our faith is a pursuit of truth

In light of this warning its important to think about the dogma of the church.

Dogma are non-negotiable fundamental beliefs that form the foundation of our faith.

its in a desire to not ‘drift away’ that the church adheres to certain dogmatic beliefs till the point of death.

In that same vein, its because we are pursuing after the absolute truth about God, we must maintain some flexibility to course correct with some of our non-essential beliefs...

ex. local flood v. global flood

ex. authorship of biblical books

Unique relationship between God and Man

God has a special relationship with man which is different than that with angels.

The world was given to humanity, not to angels.

Humanity is consider ‘lower than the angels’

Hebrews 2:5 NKJV

5 For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels.

Hebrews 2:8 “8 You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.”

All of this world was given to humanity, and it was subject to them.

Taking care of the plant and acting responsibly with this gift is part of our Christian Ethic.

Humanity is the ‘love of God’....God is the ‘lover of mankind’…’philanthropic one’

Humanity receives a special treatment from God.

Hebrews 2:11 NKJV

11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,

Hebrews 2:14–16 NKJV

14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.

Hebrews gives lines of reasonings as to how God incarnate is greater than both the angels and David.

Not only is He more supreme than them, but He is also so much closer to us as He became human for us in order to save us.

Take home point.

As our belief in Christ will lead us to crossroads and many difficult decisions that come at cost, we must remember that He doesn’t ask us to sacrifice anything He hasn’t already sacrificed.

This is a major leap for the Christian Jew who knew God through angels and prophets....but now they can know God directly

The same for us. we know of God through a variety of means, but they are all incomplete or can only paint a partial picture for us of God…We must take a step towards a personal relationship with God.

Its only in knowing God personally that we will be able to make the sacrificial steps need.

Next week: Read ch 3-4