1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.
As I reflect on Hebrews 1:1-2:4, and combine it with the general message of the rest of Hebrews, I hear the writer responding to a question. The question seems to me to have come from a group of Jewish believers and Jewish unbelievers. Perhaps they worshiped at the same synagogue and were settling a disagreement.
The recipients seem to have asked a question similar to the following:“We’ve read and listened to God through the prophets and other messengers for thousands of years. Now ‘new scriptures’ have emerged by people like Paul, Peter, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Are you telling us that our treasured scriptures are no longer any good and we should be reading those new ones instead?”
[Keep in mind that Hebrews was one of the later New Testament books to be written, likely in the mid-to-late 60’s.]
The Hebrews writer answers that question in this way:“In those ancient scriptures, God through His messengers promised that both punishment and salvation would come (1:1, 14). That ancient message has now been proven true (1:2). God took that punishment upon Himself and delivered that promised salvation to us in person, in Christ, Who is greater than all of those messengers because He is the Son of God and is God Himself (1:3-14). Christ spoke directly to humanity while He was here (1:2) and fulfilled those ancient promises. When He left, those who heard Him shared His message about salvation in these ‘new scriptures’ you are asking about, and God confirmed that their messages were true through signs, wonders, miracles, and gifts from the Holy Spirit according to His will (2:3b-4; compare Acts 2:22 and 1 Corinthians 12:11).
“So yes, these ‘new scriptures’ are from God. They have preserved Christ’s message that the promises in ancient scriptures are now fulfilled. This message is a far superior to the ancient message because it is a message of salvation that can now be had, not just hoped for.
“God’s peoples are now saved. Their sins have now been punished in Christ (2:2). This message of fulfilled promises is our anchor to prevent us from drifting away. So we must pay even closer attention to these ‘new scriptures’ and the salvation they proclaim than we did the ‘old scriptures’ and the salvation they promised. (2:1). If we neglect to do so (2:2), how will we escape punishment ourselves (2:3a)?
I tentatively believe a question like this prompted the writing of Hebrews – that the writer was teaching Jewish believers and pre-believers who were not comfortable with the new writings. I’ll see how this idea plays out as we study forward.
I would love your feedback on this perspective.
5 For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. 6 But one has testified somewhere, saying, “What is man, that You remember him? Or the son of man, that You are concerned about him? 7 You have made him for a little while lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, and have appointed him over the works of Your hands; 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.
Notice that those messengers (“angels”) from God have not been given mastery over the world to come. Yet David prophetically wrote in Psalm 8:4-8 that God would put everything in subjection under the feet of mankind (as was intended from the beginning – Genesis 1:28; Genesis 2:15).
But man will again have dominion over the earth when God crowns him with glory. For now, man is a little lower than the angels. That began, it seems, when man subjected obedience to God to the lustful temptation of a fallen angel.
SIDE NOTE
You may notice that I believe the Greek word “angelos” in v.7 refers to heavenly angels even though I explained in the previous study that I believe it referred to God’s messengers more generally, such as the Old Testament writers. To the original readers of this letter, context would make it clear which meaning was intended. If I’m talking to you about things going on at the company I work for and say “the President is a great leader” you would know that I don’t mean the President of the United States. But in a more general context if I said something about the President you would rightly assume I was talking about the President of the USA because that’s the most common use of the word in America. The context that defines “angelos” in Hebrews 2:7 is Psalm 8, which the writer quoted. And it’s clear in that passage that “angels” are heavenly beings.When God promised to subject everything to man, He meant everything. But it sure doesn’t look like that now, does it? You and I can see that just as clearly as people in the first century could see it. We look around at the disease and violence and natural disasters that attack us and we know that the world itself is not subjected under our feet. We look at the addictions and deception and anger and fear and worry that we are all prone to and realize that we don’t even have dominion over our own lives. We still appear to be helpless, hopeless, weak creatures whose power is quite limited.
We try to pump ourselves up. We humans constantly try to put the creation under our own power. Look at us! We defy death and diseases by prolonging life and reducing suffering through medicine. We defy geography and gravity by instantly talking to people across the world and hopping into a 25 ton machine to fly to visit them in a matter of hours. We defy distance as we explore the universe with high powered machines and telescopes. We defy natural processes as we increase the production of vegetables many times greater than they would grow on their own and raise special breeds of animals to produce meat that is more pleasing to our pallets. And on and on, we try to have dominion over the world.
But our medicines have terrible and often very unhealthy side effects. When we cure one disease a new one develops. While we communicate and travel around the world, we become less patient and less content while our closer relationships such as families and churches deteriorate. As we alter our food supplies, we strip them of the nutrition that is necessary for our health. And then - despite all our advances - evil and hatred continue to increase and the mortality rate is still 100%.
Even more, these things artificially make this world attractive to us, and we end up loving it more than we should. We no longer long for our heavenly home because we are comfortable here as we turn a blind eye to the fact that every time we make one thing better, we make something else things worse.
There will be a day, though, when everything is subjected to man. This will begin with everything being subject to Christ Himself: “For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, ‘All things are put in subjection,’ it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. 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 15:25-28). When death is abolished and we and Christ are “all in all” with the God, everything will be subject to us as it will be to God Himself.
