Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters. My thanks for the prayers through my recent sickness. I did sleep in until a little after 10, which I can do since I have Saturdays off. As for the other area, I’m learning and growing a lot more in that area and I believe some progress is being made. For now, let’s move to the text. Tonight, we’re going to be looking at Hebrews 1:4-7:
4So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.5For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father”? Or again,
“I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son”? 6And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.” 7In speaking of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels winds,
his servants flames of fire.”
The writer of Hebrews was dealing with a system that held to several mediators between God and men. There were angels, the high priest, Moses, and Melchizedek. We’ll see in this book that all of them are dealt with. The first is angels.
First off, the Son is superior to angels because he has inherited a superior name. That name is of course the name of YHWH. Inheritance doesn’t mean that he got it at a point in time, but rather that he showed himself to be the true bearer of the name by what has been said about him throughout time, meaning not just the incarnation but the Scriptures as a whole.
The writer demonstrates this by showing the truths that apply to the Son that do not apply to the angels. The first is asking to which of the angels did he ever say “You are my son; today I have become your father.” This is a statement that was said at the coronation of the new king of Israel, but it does apply to the ministry of Jesus.
The Son did not become the Son at a point in time, but rather was declared to be the Son of God by God’s approval of his ministry at the baptism and at the transfiguration. The final vindication of this of course was at the resurrection. No angel ever received such confirmation of his relationship to YHWH.
The second statement of “I will be his father; and he will be my son.” This is a passage again about the king of Israel and the covenant relationship being continued through the king, but established par excellence in Christ. None of the angels were ones that God made a covenant promise with. They could be mediators of that covenant, but they themselves were not the basis for the covenant.
Also, when the firstborn is brought into the world, all the angels are to worship him. No angel is the proper object of worship. (Readers are recommended to see my earlier series on the Angel of the Lord as an appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ.) The idea of Christ being worshiped should be sufficient to show his unique status.
Angels are also said to be servants. The Son is given a contrasting position even though he does willingly submit. What is that contrasting position?
That is what tomorrow’s blog is for.
Support Deeper Waters on Patreon!
