In Chapter 1 the writer to the Hebrews will begin to show us how much better it is now that Christ has come to save us and how much greater He is than those who foretold His coming. This introduces the theme of the entire book.

1:1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in 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 has always communicated with his creation, both individually and en mass, both in person and from a distance.

In the Garden of Eden, God spoke to Adam and Eve about their own lives in person. The early parts of the Bible show Him speaking to other individuals in this way (think of Cain, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and others).

Then there are those to whom God spoke a message for others – the prophets. Abraham is the first person in the Bible to actually be called a prophet (Genesis 20:7). In a sense, Adam was a prophet in that God spoke something to him directly that was intended for the rest of humanity (Eve). Enoch is called a prophet in Jude 1:14-15. Noah spoke a message from God to the world that God was going to wipe it out. Certainly every biblical writer was a prophet in this sense.

As history unfolded, the Bible shows God speaking to people in person about their own lives less and less, and a new class of prophets arose. These are the ones we usually think of as “the prophets” such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc. Their entire lives appear to have been dedicated to communicating God’s messages to the world. These prophets prophesied of Christ. They told about His coming and the salvation He would bring.

How would you like to have lived during that time – hearing that something wonderful would happen eventually, but not in your day, and you could only know about it in the abstract?

The privilege we have today - when many of those promises are present realities and when even the ones that have not come yet are much clearer - is intense and profound. God spoke to them in the abstract; He speaks to us in realities! They could only understand the antidote to Genesis 3 through metaphors; we know and have a relationship with the Antidote! Salvation through the Messiah is no longer a future promise; it is a present reality! We don’t have to long for salvation; we can claim it as our own!

God speaks to us now with fulfillment rather than promises; in Christ rather than in prophecies. Oh, thank God that we live, as the Hebrews writer put it, in “these last days” and possess what those before us could only long for!

1:3 And 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,

Moses went to speak with the Lord behind a veil, and when he came out the people saw “that Moses’ face was radiant” (Exodus 34:34-35). Moses reflected the light of God’s radiance.

But v.3 says Jesus IS that radiance. He IS the light! We no longer have to settle for the reflection. God has now spoken to us through the One who holds up everything by the word of His power.

He came here to tell us in person! That is SO much superior.

1:4 having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

ANGELS. It puzzled me a little why the writer abruptly begins talking about angels in v.4.

It could be that the original readers were getting off track and worshipping angels. We’ve seen that become popular in America in the last several decades, but it’s not new. Paul had to warn the Christians in Colossae about this: “Let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels…” (Colossians 2:16-18).

So the writer of Hebrews could be addressing a group who thought angels were worthy of their worship.

But it could also be that the writer is using the word “angel” in the most basic sense. “Angel” (Greek, “angelos”) literally means “messenger.” Any messenger - good, bad, or neutral, holy or human – can be called an “angelos/angel“ in Greek.

And the Bible does use the term in that general sense a few times. Here are 4 examples:

1. LUKE 9:51-52: “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent MESSENGERS (Greek, “angel”) ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him.”
   - The people Jesus sent to make accommodation arrangements for Him in Samaria are called “angels” in Greek.
   
   
2. JAMES 2:25: “Was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the MESSENGERS (Greek, “angels”) and sent them out by another way?”
   - In this verse, James refers to the two spies Joshua sent out, who stayed at Rahab’s home, as “angels” because they were messengers.
   
   
3. MATTHEW 11:10: “This is he of whom it is written, "'Behold, I send my MESSENGER (Greek, “angel”) before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'”
   - In this verse John the Baptist is referred to as an “angel” because he was a messenger – a prophet.
   
   
4. LUKE 7:24: “When John's MESSENGERS (Greek, “angel”) had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John…”
   - In this verse John the Baptist’s own messengers were referred to as “angels.”
   

This meaning fits the immediate context of Hebrews 1 much better in my opinion.

Looking again at v.4, the prophets through whom God spoke in the past were God’s messengers. But Jesus is better than they.

How much superior is He? The writer gives us 4 incredible ways:

HOW JESUS IS SUPERIOR #1
HEBREWS 1:5 For 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”?

God directly called Jesus His son. The Hebrews writer quoted from Psalm 2:7, but God also directly called Jesus His Son at the beginning of His earthly life (Matthew 3:17) and near the end of it (Matthew 17:5)! God never said that to His messengers. He is greater than they!

HOW JESUS IS SUPERIOR #2
HEBREWS 1:6 And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.”

He is the One whom all of God’s messengers worship! The writer refers to Psalm 97:7 here.

HOW JESUS IS SUPERIOR #3
HEBREWS 1:7 And of the angels He says, “Who makes His angels winds, And His ministers a flame of fire.” 8 But 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.” 10 And, “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands; 11 they will perish, but You remain; and they all will become old like a garment, 12 and 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.”

God’s messengers are no greater than the wind or fire. God created the wind and fire just as He created them, and they are fleeting and will burn up just like the wind and fire. But the Son of God is not only eternal, He laid the foundations of creation and everything was created through Him! The Hebrews writer quoted from Psalm 104:4, Psalm 45:7, and Psalm 102:26-28 here.

HOW JESUS IS SUPERIOR #4
HEBREWS 1:13 But to which of the angels has He ever said, “Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet”?

God placed the Son at the right hand of His throne until all of His enemies are subjected to Him! God has never said that to any of His messengers. The Hebrews writer quoted Psalm 110:1 here.

Incidentally, Paul told us what happens after that: “When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28).

IN CONCLUSION,

HEBREWS 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?
So with all of that evidence in front of us it’s easy to see that those messengers of God are just ministers (“spirits” in v.14 is the same Greek word as “winds” in v.7, “pneuma”) whom God sent to those who would inherit salvation to pint them to the Son, their Savior.

All of this is familiar to us, and it may seem like the writer goes on and on. But the first century Hebrew Christians he is writing to needed this. In fact, the entire rest of the book of Hebrews is going to decompress for us just how much more awesome it is to love now, when we have access to Christ Himself!